I was, for a time, quite a fan of Dean R. Koontz's Odd Thomas books. The stories, which focus on a wisecracking medium who's also a fry cook, are a fun -- and sometimes tragic -- series of supernatural adventures. The first book is so good, and demanded to be turned into a feature film or TV pilot, as the character, and his adventures, are definitely franchise material. Stephen Sommers, he who made The Mummy (1999), Van Helsing and G.I. Joe, directed a big-screen version of the first novel back in 2013... therefor ending any chance of more Odd Thomas movies. This was a case of hiring the wrong man for the job. What Sommers did right: he cast Anton Yelchin as Odd Thomas. Tragically, Yelchin died a couple of years after this film was completed, but he did a good job as Odd, bringing the right combination of toughness (no one who sees the dead and fights evil can be a pushover) and quirkiness to the part. I liked his performance, and would've enjoyed watching him in th...

I know us Basement Dwellers are often behind the times when it comes to sharing thoughts on the Hollywood blockbusters. We do the best we can, but we're also B-movie focused, so sue us! That said, here's a few words on two of 2013's biggest movies. Iron Man 3 is way better than Iron Man 2, but not on par with the first. It is, however, a nice follow up to events in The Avengers and once again features a solid turn from Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark . But the real star is co-writer/director Shane Black . That's right, the same Shane Black who wrote the action classics Lethal Weapon , The Last Boy Scout and The Long Kiss Goodnight and directed Downey Jr. in the brilliant Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang . He breathes some real life, and humour, into what I hope will be the last of the Iron Man films. I think Stark and Downey Jr. will be better served in The Avengers movies to come than more solo outings. This is a nice, and entertaining, way to wrap the series up. A Good. ...

I've watched Van Helsing three times now, and while I keep finding things to like here and there, it just doesn't come together as a whole. I really, really wanted to like it more than I do. I'm a fan of Stephen Sommers, and I see what he was trying to do. He wanted to make one big homage to the classic Universal monsters (Frankenstein, Dracula, etc.). That's a noble sentiment, but when ambition outstretches the material, it's time to re-evaluate. Sadly, the changes that I think needed to happen never materialized, and we're left with this mess of a monster movie gone wrong. Van Helsing's biggest mistake is how much ground it tries to cover in terms of combining all these different elements from separate stories. The basic plot centers around Dracula using Dr. Frankenstein and his monster to figure out how to create and sustain life. Dracula and his three brides have tried - and failed - to make their offspring viable, but nature just wasn't hav...