This isn't for you. it's for me.
Expedition Mars brings to life one of the greatest sagas of the Space Age, the epic adventures of Spirit and Opportunity, the rovers that saved NASA’s Mars program after a string of failures in the 1990’s. Another film that I watched while building my LEGO Mars rover, this one had all sorts of fun cliffhangers and emotional beats that I didn’t expect from a documentary about rovers on Mars. Buy On Amazon!
Through the eyes of two state-of-the-art rovers, and with NASA scientists at your side, you’ll see Mars in a way no one ever has before-direct from the surface of the amazing red planet. Much shorter than the other two films that I watched while building my LEGO Mars rover, this one had the distinct feel of a corporate grant making it possible by Lockheed Martin. It was originally released for Imax theaters and I’m sure it looked amazing. Sadly while I have a huge tv, it’s nowhere near the size of an Imax screen. Buy On Amazon!
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to follow the birth of the Perseverance rover, whose primary mission is to search for traces of life in an ancient river delta on Mars and collect samples for eventual return to Earth. Watched this while I was building the LEGO mars explorer, it’s a pretty neat LEGO set and this movie helped pass the time during the 4 hours it took me to build it. Buy On Amazon!
In a war-torn world of elemental powers, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, and bring peace to the world. I now own this on bluray, dvd, and vudu streaming, I’ve watched all those versions (and the original airing too!) and have enjoyed every moment of it. Buy On Amazon!
Based on the life of successful poet Charles Bukowski and his exploits in Hollywood during the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Of those films that goes no where and has no real aim with it’s story but is still an interesting experience none the less. Buy On Amazon!
A devoted daughter is attempting to figure out the cause of her father’s passing. A fairly low budget action film with some super unfortunate and noticiable computer generated gun play in the opening scenes, all along with budget saving sequences in which all the expensive action like cars crashing or explosions happening is done off camera. It’s not a bad film though and fills a very specific ‘vet returns home to set things right’ void that we currently have, but the genre deserves better and Jessica Alba deserves better. Buy On Amazon!
A woman named Sam finds herself trapped in New York City during the early stages of an invasion by alien creatures with ultra-sensitive hearing. While I enjoyed the film, I would have enjoyed it so much more if there wasn’t a cat going in and out of scenes all willy nilly. By the end of the film I was beginning to seriously stress over the future of the cat and how it was going to make it out of this apocalypse and every scene I had one question on my mind: Where’s the cat? Buy On Amazon!
The Robinson family was going into space to fight for a chance for humanity. Now they are fighting to live long enough to find a way home. An enjoyable family friendly space romp that I remember seeing in the theater and enjoying at the time. I want to say this was one of the last films I remember having a song in the credits that included snippets of dialog from the film. Also that song i still a banger. Buy On Amazon!
This Documentary will feature interviews of fans of Jim Hensons work, interspersed with footage from Jim Henson’s works, including Wilkins and Wontkins Commercials that were previously lost. A fantastic look at the much too short life of Jim Henson, as prepared by director extraordinaire Ron Howard. Of particular interest is Henson’s work outside of the Muppets and Sesame Street. There’s familiar projects like the Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, but I really enjoyed his short works that were briefly highlighted. Buy On Amazon!
The story of Barney, an awkward middle-schooler and Ron, his new walking, talking, digitally-connected device. Ron’s malfunctions set against the backdrop of the social media age launch them on a journey to learn about true friendship. There was a rush of movies with similar feeling stories with Next Gen (2018), The Mitchells vs the Machines (April 2021), then this one in October of 2021. Out of the three this is the least interesting of the three, lacking the cool world of Next Gen or the emotional depth of Mitchells, It’s still an entertaining movie that tackles heavy topics, but I...
100 years of dreaming. 100 years of creating. 100 years of Stan Lee. I do love me some Stan Lee and this film is all about him! It features less video of him and more audio and doesn’t really do justice to any of his more controversial aspects and completely skips over all his work that wasn’t Marvel related, but this is a lovely look at his life with Marvel. Buy On Amazon!
The Fellowship of the Ring embark on a journey to destroy the One Ring and end Sauron’s reign over Middle-earth. Watching this after watching Peter Jackson’s live action films is pretty interesting, they both pull from the same source material and both directors liked the same lines from the book or at least chose the same story beats to adapt. Something interesting about this animated version is that they used a pretty cool and novel method of using film of live action actors (and horses!), applied an effect to them, then overlayed the now slightly animated looking characters over an...
In a post-apocalyptic world, a warrior wandering through the desert comes upon a group of settlers who are being menaced by the leader of a murderous gang who’s after the water they control. This film is absolute nonsense but I loved every moment of it, from the sand creatures to the sword that’s more of a dagger than anything else, to the nun chuck battles against desert bandits. Buy On Amazon!
A young girl named Asha wishes on a star and gets a more direct answer than she bargained for when a trouble-making star comes down from the sky to join her. I remember seeing the marketing and trailers for this and thinking it had no soul and I really had no reason to go see it, which is a shame because it turned out to be a pretty well done film with some really well done references to prior Disney works. Those references should have been a part of the marketing because this was released during the 100th anniversary celebration...
As the home planet of the Green Lantern Corps faces a battle with an ancient enemy, Hal Jordan prepares new recruit Arisia for the coming conflict by relating stories of the first Green Lantern and several of Hal’s comrades. A fun collection of Green Lantern legends as told by some pretty legendary Lanterns themselves with appearances from Kilowag, Sinestro, and even C’hp! The animation style is delightfully science fiction and the stories are all short enough to have a punch to them, but long enough to really get a sense of the situation. Buy On Amazon!
Follows Riley, in her teenage years, encountering new emotions. Pixar has long been able to provoke extreme emotional responses from me and Inside Out 2 continues that painfully delightful trend with an expansion of their concept of “what if feelings had feelings”, with a progression of our main character another year further into her more frustrating but formative teenage years. They stay away from the physical aspects of puberty (that “Turning Red” covered so well!) and stays in it’s emotional lane with the addition of some obvious but still interesting elements that result in a movie that I highly recommend...
A sweet blonde goes to the police looking for her missing husband. When it turns out her husband is both a murder victim and a bachelor – and that the blonde is suspect #1, tough cop Butch Saunders comes up with a scheme to crack the case. I think this may be one of the earliest films I’ve seen with a scrolling info dump at the beginning and this one is distinctly similar to the Law and Order series, which is fantastic to see. Also fantastic to see, Ms Glenda Farrell! She’s playing a background recurring character that steals all...
A Special-Ops commander leads his team into the Nigerian jungle in order to rescue a doctor who will only join them if they agree to save 70 refugees too. It’d been a while since I’ve watched this and while I remember liking it, it was so long ago that I wasn’t sure if it was the rose colored glasses or if I would still feel like it was a solid movie. Other than some Hollywood-funny casting decisions (Monica Bellucci as the wayward doctor requiring saving? ok!) this is still very much a solid film, with a solid and basic premise...
In the year 2154, the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth. A man takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarized worlds. I did watch this when it first came out, but apparently I wasn’t doing movie logging at the time, but I do remember being distinctly let down by the final product, a feeling that I no longer feel. Buy On Amazon!
Blonde: Directed by Andrew Dominik. With Ana de Armas, Lily Fisher, Julianne Nicholson, Tygh Runyan. The story of American actress Marilyn Monroe, covering her love and professional lives. I love Ana de Armas and I loved Marilyn Monroe’s film work, but the two of them don’t work very well. Ana gives it her best, but this lurid tale of sex, death, and obsession is just too morbid for my tastes. Buy On Amazon!
Days of Wine and Roses: Directed by Blake Edwards. With Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford, Jack Klugman. An alcoholic marries a young woman and systematically addicts her to booze so that they can share his “passion” together. Released in 1962 this is another emotionally draining and realistic glimpse into the relationship between two people and the booze they mutually love and the struggles involved when only one of them sees a need to cut back or stop completely. There’s a few scenes that strike home in uncomfortable ways, the first of which was when the lead actor began slamming...
The Lost Weekend: Directed by Billy Wilder. With Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Howard Da Silva. The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four-day drinking bout. Other than some period based phrases, this film could have been made yesterday and not in 1945 and there’s a surprising amount of content that I directly remember from my own experiences with booze. I never sunk to the level of self destruction this guy did, but when he’s out buying bourbon when he knows he shouldn’t and tells the store clerk “none of that barrel aged stuff for...
Inventing the Abbotts: Directed by Pat O’Connor. With Joaquin Phoenix, Billy Crudup, Will Patton, Kathy Baker. Two working class brothers court three wealthy and beautiful sisters in a small Illinois town. I had previously seen many of the key scenes due to the people participating in them but they were great to see again. I was pleased with how well done the story was, it’s been a fair bit of time since I’ve seen a solid coming of age story. I saw a glimmer of myself in the relationship between the two sons and even in the relationships among the...
Doom: Annihilation: Directed by Tony Giglio. With Amy Manson, Dominic Mafham, Luke Allen-Gale, James Weber Brown. A group of UAC Marines respond to a distress call from a top secret scientific base on Phobos, a moon around Mars, only to discover it’s been overrun by demons who seek to create Hell on Earth. I forgot that I had already seen this one and made it my choice from the ‘final’ selection of Universal rewards films and I fully regret that decision. It’s not a terrible film, but it’s not one that I was wanting to see again and there were...
Nurse: Directed by Douglas Aarniokoski. With Paz de la Huerta, Katrina Bowden, Judd Nelson, Corbin Bleu. By day, Abby Russell is a dedicated nurse, but by night, she lures cheating men to their brutal deaths and exposes them for who they really are. This is a much different movie than I had thought it was going to be and while I loved the more salacious content the story was middling and the acting was just straight up not what I was looking for in a movie. I’m not 100% sure, but i’m pretty sure that Paz de la Huerta was...
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga: Directed by George Miller. With Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne. The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and teamup with Mad Max. While this is a perfectly fine movie, I constantly had to ask myself why this movie needed to be made and why nearly everyone involved seemed to be winking at the camera asking “hey do you remember this person/place/thing from Fury Road?!? Here it is 20 years before you saw it in that movie! Isn’t that great?!”. There’s no major misteps, no majorly questionable decisions, but again...
We Own the Night: Directed by James Gray. With Joaquin Phoenix, Eva Mendes, Danny Hoch, Alex Veadov. A New York City nightclub manager tries to save his brother and father from Russian Mafia hitmen. I watched this due to some gratuitous scenes with Eva Mendes that were floating around the cybersphere and while those scenes were great they really had no bearing at all on the rest of the movie and in hindsight really stick out as being out of place in a grungy look at a family of cops that have a member that’s too friendly with the wrong...
Atlas: Directed by Brad Peyton. With Jennifer Lopez, Simu Liu, Sterling K. Brown, Gregory James Cohan. In a bleak-sounding future, an A.I. soldier has determined that the only way to end war is to end humanity. I spent nearly a decade as a data analyst and not even once was I ever offered a mech suit, but other than that curious part of the plot, this is a pretty solid mech suit movie with a barely there plot driven largely by using familiar concepts of terrorist robots that want to protect humanity from itself by killing all of humanity, much...
I Saw the TV Glow: Directed by Jane Schoenbrun. With Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Ian Foreman, Helena Howard. Two teenagers bond over their love of a supernatural TV show, but it is mysteriously cancelled. A confusing and frankly confused movie that feels like a rare misstep by the powerhouse A24, the story builds to a climax that never happens and it’s only in the third act that I realized that both the main characters were extremely unreliable narrators and that nothing that’s given in the plot can actually be trusted. What’s the story that they’re trying to tell here, is...
Mad Max: Fury Road: Directed by George Miller. With Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne. In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a woman rebels against a tyrannical ruler in search for her homeland with the aid of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshiper and a drifter named Max. Watched again because there’s a prequel coming out this weekend that tells Furiosa’s origins and wanted to refresh my memory of this utterly fantastic film. Buy On Amazon!
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens: Directed by J.J. Abrams. With Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver. As a new threat to the galaxy rises, Rey, a desert scavenger, and Finn, an ex-stormtrooper, must join Han Solo and Chewbacca to search for the one hope of restoring peace. I watched this again because I finally own it on 4k disk thanks to the Disney rewards program. My feelings on it have continued to soften in light of how poorly the following two films ended up being, and I’m constantly wondering what would have been the result...
Countdown: Directed by Justin Dec. With Elizabeth Lail, Jordan Calloway, Talitha Eliana Bateman, Peter Facinelli. When a nurse downloads an app that claims to predict the moment a person will die, it tells her she only has three days to live. With the clock ticking and a figure haunting her, she must find a way to save her life before time runs out. Other than some bad continuity with the shower curtain in one of the opening scenes, this is a pretty solid horror show that melds spiritual concepts with modern technology and our dependency on apps. Which are of...
Blue Jean: Directed by Georgia Oakley. With Rosy McEwen, Kerrie Hayes, Lucy Halliday, Lydia Page. In 1988, a closeted teacher is pushed to the brink when a new student threatens to expose her sexuality. A beautiful story of some unpretty things happening to a set of wonderful people. It’s the first movie from Georgia Oakley and judging from this one movie she’s going to have one hell of a career ahead of her. Buy On Amazon!
Alice, Darling: Directed by Mary Nighy. With Anna Kendrick, Kaniehtiio Horn, Charlie Carrick, Wunmi Mosaku. A young woman trapped in an abusive relationship becomes the unwitting participant in an intervention staged by her two closest friends. The movie didn’t really do it for me, but I think it has less to do with performances or anything to do with the final product but more to do with not knowing anyone like the Alice character that would allow themselves to either be treated like she is or internalize that treatment in such a self destructive way. It’s well acted and well...
Boulevard: Directed by Dito Montiel. With Robin Williams, Kathy Baker, Roberto Aguire, Giles Matthey. A devoted husband in a marriage of convenience is forced to confront his secret life. One of Robin’s last films and it’s one of his most emotionally charged and interesting films in a career of emotionally charged and interesting movies. I have a couple quibbles about extremely minor things, like how the husband makes the terrible choice to start to trust his new friend in ways that I wouldn’t trust my best friends, but considering the emotional situation he was in, it does make a twisted...
Bolero: Directed by John Derek. With Bo Derek, George Kennedy, Andrea Occhipinti, Ana Obregón. Set in the 1920s, a young woman sets out to lose her virginity. Her mission leads her to a Moroccan sheikh and a Spanish bullfighter. I watched a documentary (or two!) about the Cannon Group and this movie came up as something that should have worked well for them financially but didn’t end up doing as well as they had hoped. My interest was peaked because I’m familiar with Bo Derek’s work from this time period and knew that she was both a great actor and...
Mars Express: Directed by Jérémie Périn. With Léa Drucker, Mathieu Amalric, Daniel Njo Lobé, Marie Bouvet. Set in the 23rd century on Mars, the plot follows the investigation on a murder case carried out by the couple formed by private investigator Aline Ruby and her android companion Carlos Rivera. I didn’t see a single trailer for this movie in the wild and only caught it when I went to see a movie I wouldn’t have otherwise seen, but the theater had power and I had time. The first 90% of this movie is fantastic, with a lived in world that...
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: Directed by Wes Ball. With Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Dichen Lachman, William H. Macy. Many years after the reign of Caesar, a young ape goes on a journey that will lead him to question everything he’s been taught about the past and make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike. Another great entry in the modern reimagining of the Planet of the Apes franchise, with plenty of new stuff to keep old fans interested, plenty of references and call backs to the original films, and absolutely no requirement whatsoever...
The Mummy: Directed by Stephen Sommers. With Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo. At an archaeological dig in the ancient city of Hamunaptra, an American serving in the French Foreign Legion accidentally awakens a mummy who begins to wreak havoc as he searches for the reincarnation of his long-lost love. I got to see this in theaters the first time it was released back in ’99, but i was happy to go see it in theaters again! I love everything about this movie, the two leads were among some of the most beautiful people to grace the screen...
Alien: Directed by Ridley Scott. With Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton. The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin. My local AMC had this back in theater for the 45th anniversary and as I wasn’t even alive yet when it was originally in theaters I figured I’d give it a go and while I’ve seen the movie about 20 times, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I always forget how many times the dang cat almost get eaten or is used as bait by either the...
Boy Kills World: Directed by Moritz Mohr. With Bill Skarsgård, Jessica Rothe, Michelle Dockery, Brett Gelman. A fever dream action film that follows Boy, a deaf person with a vibrant imagination. When his family is murdered, he is trained by a mysterious shaman to repress his childish imagination and become an instrument of death. I’m a passing fan of Bill Skarsgard and a big fan of H. Jon Benjamin, so I thought this was going to be a sure thing, but sadly it didn’t turn out to be the knock out of the park that I had hoped for. The...
District 9: Directed by Neill Blomkamp. With Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Vanessa Haywood. Violence ensues after an extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth finds a kindred spirit in a government agent exposed to their biotechnology. I bought this as a three pack a few months ago, it came along with Chappie and Elysium. D9 is a great film that has a strong political message and I’ve been waiting for a sequel for more than the three or 5 years mentioned in the film, but I think the over waiting is part of the same...
The Crow: Wicked Prayer: Directed by Lance Mungia. With Yuji Okumoto, Marcus Chong, Tito Ortiz, Tara Reid. On his way to becoming an immortal demon, a gang leader orchestrates the murder of an ex-con and his girlfriend. No idea how the casting director managed this, but they got Tara Reid, David Boreanaz, Tito Ortiz, Danny Trejo, and Emmanuelle Chriqui all to appear in sizable roles in this direct to video final entry in the first run of “Crow” movies. This one is the most obviously low budget with minimal supernatural special effects and a whole lot of lingering static shots...
The Crow: Salvation: Directed by Bharat Nalluri. With Kirsten Dunst, William Atherton, Debbie Fan, Eric Mabius. Alex Corvis returns to the world of the living to solve the murder of a young woman that he was wrongly accused of. It’s always surprising to me that Kirsten Dunst is a scream queen, but she’s been doing horror since she was a wee lady. She does a great job here lifting the mediocre concept to a slightly higher level just by being present, but sadly she’s not able to save the movie from itself and the angst that it’s so hilariously full...
Black Mirror: Created by Charlie Brooker. With Wunmi Mosaku, Monica Dolan, Daniel Lapaine, Hannah John-Kamen. Featuring stand-alone dramas — sharp, suspenseful, satirical tales that explore techno-paranoia — “Black Mirror” is a contemporary reworking of “The Twilight Zone” with stories that tap into the collective unease about the modern world. This has been on my watch list for…months? years? Way too long considering how good the season ended up being. Buy On Amazon!
The Wrath of Becky: Directed by Matt Angel, Suzanne Coote. With Lulu Wilson, Seann William Scott, Denise Burse, Jill Larson. Two years after escaping a violent attack, a teenage girl must defend herself against a domestic terrorist cell. The second in a film series that I didn’t see the first one of, but this is the one that I’m able to watch on Hoopla (the first one is there, I just ran out of view credits for the month) and honestly this second one is the one that hit my radar. I’ll check out the first one next month when...
Abigail: Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett. With Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir, William Catlett. After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl. If you’re a fan of Dan Stevens (like me!) you’re having a good time this year, as this is his second movie that’s currently in theaters that you can see him in, the other being the current Godzilla x Kong: New Empire. This is the superior of the two movies, with more Mr Stevens...
The Crow: City of Angels: Directed by Tim Pope. With Vincent Perez, Mia Kirshner, Richard Brooks, Iggy Pop. The spirit of the Crow resurrects another man seeking revenge for the murder of his son. I’m astounded that the first one did well enough that a sequel was green lit, but I guess at this point they threw a few big names at the screen to see if they’d work, like Thomas Pane, Iggy Pop and Mia Kirshner. They’re using the same mid 90s miniatures and green screens, the same grungy soundtrack, locations, and people, and the story is just a...
Causeway: Directed by Lila Neugebauer. With Jennifer Lawrence, Danny Wolohan, Jayne Houdyshell, Neal Huff. A US soldier suffers a traumatic brain injury while fighting in Afghanistan and struggles to adjust to life back home. Fantastic acting by both Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry and a fantastic script that they both bring their A-game to. There’s a few car scenes that are obviously fake and they distract from an otherwise great movie that takes a long hard look at decisions that are made to get away from pain. Buy On Amazon!
Below Her Mouth: Directed by April Mullen. With Erika Linder, Natalie Krill, Sebastian Pigott, Mayko Nguyen. An unexpected affair quickly escalates into a heart-stopping reality for two women whose passionate connection changes their lives forever. There’s parts of this that might as well be considered pornography, but the framing story around the more lurid moments allow me to entertain the notion that I’m not just perving over ladies doing sexy things to each other and am instead consuming ‘art’. It’s a great film and reminds me greatly of “Blue Is the Warmest Colour” is is likely going to end up...
