Category: Reviews of Movies
Green Zone: Directed by Paul Greengrass. With Igal Naor, Said Faraj, Faycal Attougui, Aymen Hamdouchi. Discovering covert and faulty intelligence causes a U.S. Army officer to go rogue as he hunts for Weapons of Mass Destruction in an unstable region. Matt Damon plays a good military guy fed up with the bullshit of bad intelligence, bad treatment from his superiors, and given a glimpse of being able to get something done in a war torn country that’s not really open to the idea of “getting things done”. It’s a bit of a wish fulfillment at the end with Damon’s character...
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One: Directed by Jeff Wamester. With Matt Bomer, Jensen Ackles, Darren Criss, Meg Donnelly. The Anti-Monitor (the Monitor’s evil counterpart) is released in the DC Multiverse and begins to destroy the different Earths that compose it. The Monitor attempts to recruit heroes from across the Multiverse, but is murdered. This is definitely loosely based on the Infinite Crisis books from the 80s and it definitely has some big names doing the voice work, but I never could find a way to get into the story in a way that felt enjoyable. Lots...
The Iron Claw: Directed by Sean Durkin. With Holt McCallany, Maura Tierney, Grady Wilson, Valentine Newcomer. The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. The second movie in my A-List week, I only went to see this one due to Zac Efron and the A24 logo. I don’t want to examine why it is that I find all of the A24 content so captivating for fear of learning how the sausage is made, but I know that Efron has been absolutely killing it in...
American Fiction: Directed by Cord Jefferson. With Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander. A novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him into the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain. As I’ve found myself in a state of full time unemployment, I’m going to be hitting some of these less actiony movies via my A-List subscription, after all, why not? This entire week had me seeing three movies that I would have normally waited until streaming or purchasing was...
The Black Hole: Directed by Gary Nelson. With Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms. A research vessel finds a missing ship, commanded by a mysterious scientist, on the edge of a black hole. I’ve long loved this film and watched it again over two nights that I had some anxiety related insomnia and the warm comforts of a familiar story, setting, and characters helped me get to sleep at 3am. It’s good classic science fiction film with black holes (obviously), flying robots, cyborgs, and for some reason, telepathy between a smoking hot woman and V.I.N.C.E.N.T., one of the...
Muppet Treasure Island: Directed by Brian Henson, David Lane. With Tim Curry, Billy Connolly, Jennifer Saunders, Kevin Bishop. The Muppets set sail in search of treasure, with Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver. Possibly the greatest Muppet story adaptation, second in my mind only to their version of The Christmas Carol, As always with The Muppets, the human actors are great foils for the well loved Muppets and Tim Curry really steals every scene he’s in with a devilish grin and glint in his eye. As with the Christmas Carol adaptation, this is no mere child’s film with dead bodies...
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom: Directed by James Wan. With Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Amber Heard. Black Manta seeks revenge on Aquaman for his father’s death. Wielding the Black Trident’s power, he becomes a formidable foe. To defend Atlantis, Aquaman forges an alliance with his imprisoned brother. They must protect the kingdom. I actually saw this a couple week ago and am just now getting around to mentioning it. Which isn’t so much an indication of how entertaining the film was, but of how little it stuck with me and how excited I was by seeing it....
Gold Diggers of 1937: Directed by Lloyd Bacon. With Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell, Victor Moore. When two investors inform an opportunistic dancer that they can’t fund an elderly stage producer’s production, she suggests they get an insurance policy on the producer’s life. The “Gold Diggers” franchise reminds me greatly of “The Producers” in which insurance payouts are the panacea for all the problems that some rather disreputable people are having. This is the third move of the franchise about women looking for love (and a paycheck) and the odd adventures and escapades they fall into. I’m obviously here...
The Marsh King’s Daughter: Directed by Neil Burger. With Daisy Ridley, Ben Mendelsohn, Brooklynn Prince, Gil Birmingham. A woman seeks revenge against the man who kidnapped her mother. While this is a perfectly fine movie with some good acting from both Ridley and Mendelsohn, it feels less than what I was expecting, it’s more of a character study of a situation than it is an action filled revenge adventure. There’s some gorgeous scenery for Ridley and Mendelsohn to chew through, but the story failed to really draw me in. Buy On Amazon!
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts: Directed by Steven Caple Jr.. With Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Luna Lauren Velez, Dean Scott Vazquez. During the ’90s, a new faction of Transformers – the Maximals – join the Autobots as allies in the battle for Earth. I can’t exactly remember why I rewatched this, other than it’s a popcorn movie that I could just turn my brain off and not worry about stressing myself about complicated plots, at least sorta, the time travel stuff is complicated enough for this type of movie. I’m more interested in what they’re doing in the final 5...
Kong: Skull Island: Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts. With Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly. After the Vietnam war, a team of scientists explores an uncharted island in the Pacific, venturing into the domain of the mighty Kong and must fight to escape a primal Eden. The most recent entry to this giant monster series (Monarch) had some direct references to Skull Island and I swear I couldn’t remember a single thing about the film. I had forgotten nearly everyone that was in it, remembered none of the plot points, and the only thing I honestly remembered...
RoboCop: Directed by José Padilha. With Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Abbie Cornish. In 2028 Detroit, when Alex Murphy, a loving husband, father and good cop, is critically injured in the line of duty, the multinational conglomerate OmniCorp sees their chance for a part-man, part-robot police officer. Saw a couple clips of the film on the TikTok and remembered that I didn’t exactly hate the film but couldn’t remember much about it, so here we are, having watched it again, I now remember why I don’t remember much about it. It does best when it doesn’t lean on the...
The Artifice Girl: Directed by Franklin Ritch. With Tatum Matthews, Lance Henriksen, Sinda Nichols, David Girard. A team of special agents discovers a revolutionary new computer program to bait and trap online predators. After teaming up with the program’s troubled developer, they soon find that the AI is rapidly advancing beyond its original purpose. There’s only three sets in this entire movie and only 5 or 6 actors with the entire thing being a talking head exercise in discussing exactly what the computer program is and just how much it’s capable of in three different time periods. It may sound...
Top Gun: Maverick: Directed by Joseph Kosinski. With Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly. After thirty years, Maverick is still pushing the envelope as a top naval aviator, but must confront ghosts of his past when he leads TOP GUN’s elite graduates on a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those chosen to fly it. Did you know this is a perfect christmas movie? It’s true! The 4k disc is also a fantastic demo of both your screen and surround sound system. Buy On Amazon!
Top Gun: Directed by Tony Scott. With Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards. As students at the United States Navy’s elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom. Did you know this is a perfect christmas movie? It’s true! The 4k disc is also a fantastic demo of both your screen and surround sound system. Buy On Amazon!
It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie: Directed by Kirk R. Thatcher. With Steve Whitmire, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, Eric Jacobson. ‘Twas the night before Christmas and the Muppet Theatre is in danger of being torn down, but with hilarious send-ups of just about every holiday movie ever made, the Muppets discover that what matters most is their love for each other. I watched this before the Christmas holiday but totally forgot to mention it here on the site because of how crazy my schedule got. There’s some good humor here, some bad humor, and some stuff we’re just not...
John Wick: Chapter 4: Directed by Chad Stahelski. With Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, George Georgiou, Lance Reddick. John Wick uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes. I watched this again because I had the disk and I wanted to see if my memories of it being as goofy good as I remembered it, especially in light of how poorly I thought the prequel television mini series was. It is still...
Shatner in Space: With William Shatner, Sarah Knights, Jeff Bezos, Chris Boshuizen. An inside look at the before, during, and after of William Shatner’s trip to space. It’s a good look at a brief moment in an elderly man’s life, but it’s a fun look behind the curtains of Jeffbo’s utterly insane “space” program. Buy On Amazon!
No Hard Feelings: Directed by Gene Stupnitsky. With Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Matthew Broderick. On the brink of losing her home, Maddie finds an intriguing job listing: helicopter parents looking for someone to bring their introverted 19-year-old son out of his shell before college. She has one summer to make him a man or die trying. Movies about people having sex with other people under false pretense have largely fallen out of favor with the general public, largely due to the implication that it’s actually a rape and if you lie to someone to have sex with...
Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire: Directed by Zack Snyder. With Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman. When a peaceful settlement on the edge of a distant moon finds itself threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling force, a mysterious stranger living among its villagers becomes their best hope for survival. Zack Snyder is back in another undeniably Zack Snyder film which features all the things that Snyder is well known for: slow motion, plot elements that swing for the fences, over the top action scenes, and enough dangling story threads that would require...
Hero Mode: Directed by A.J. Tesler. With Chris Carpenter, Mira Sorvino, Philip Solomon, Bret Harrison. A teenage coding genius has just 30 days to create the world’s greatest video game or his family loses everything. No pressure. This is a family values, family friendly wish fulfillment story with a main lead still in highschool that 1 – looks exactly like Ryan Reynolds and that’s all I thought about the entire movie 2 – was put in charge of design and development of an entire company’s output 3 – was the son of the owner 4 – was the functional manager...
Man of the Year: Directed by Barry Levinson. With Robin Williams, Christopher Walken, Laura Linney, Lewis Black. A comedian who hosts a news satire program decides to run for president, and a computerized voting machine malfunction gets him elected. Another step on my journey to watch (or rewatch as in this case) all of Robin Williams’ films and as I believe I mentioned last time this one came around, this is an obvious ‘what if we just elect Jon Stewart to be president” wish fulfillment story with the comedic genius of Mr Williams as the comedy host turned politician. Oddly...
I Love Trouble: Directed by S. Sylvan Simon. With Franchot Tone, Janet Blair, Janis Carter, Adele Jergens. P.I. Stu is hired to investigate the past of a millionaire Johnson’s wife who is missing. Stu finds that the wife had left her home town with an actor, went to college using a stolen identity and purloined $40,000 from a night club. Starring Franchot Tone as a slick talking private eye on a seemingly small time case that turns into something much larger and a series of some of Hollywood’s most beautiful women from the time: Janis Carter, Janet Blair, Adele Jergens,...
The Muppet Christmas Carol: Directed by Brian Henson. With Michael Caine, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson. The Muppets present their own touching rendition of Charles Dickens’ classic tale. The gold standard for Christmas movies and in my humble opinion the very best adaptation of the Christmas Carol, a story that’s about 180 years old, being first published in 1843 by Charles Dickens with hundreds of different versions being adapted for every single type of media that you can imagine, including over 20 movies made in the last 80 years. This is by no means a neutered version of the...
A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa: Directed by Kirk R. Thatcher. With Steve Whitmire, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, Eric Jacobson. When Gonzo accidentally diverts three letters to Santa, he talks Kermit and his friends into delivering them to the North Pole personally. A “made for tv movie” this isn’t the best Muppet content that I’ve ever seen, but it’s also not the worst, that sorta recent tv office comedy they did certainly takes that case. There’s a few fun guest stars and the songs are passable enough, but there’s no real bangers here like there are in the Muppet’s Christmas...
The Great Escaper: Directed by Oliver Parker. With Michael Caine, Glenda Jackson, Danielle Vitalis, Wolf Kahler. Bernard Jordan escapes from his care home to attend the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings in France. Based on a true story and reportedly is Michael Caine’s final film performance, though like most actors there’s likely a few projected that he filmed previously in post production limbo or in a vault somewhere. As far as final performances go, there aren’t many as emotional and well done as this. Sidenote that I think this is the first time that I’ve ever run into a...
Leave the World Behind: Directed by Sam Esmail. With Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha’la. A family’s getaway to a luxurious rental home takes an ominous turn when a cyberattack knocks out their devices, and two strangers appear at their door. If you haven’t seen the internet’s buzz about the ending, I’ll say that while the ending isn’t one that the general public is going to fall head over heels for, this is still a captivating look at how people react to the strange or other wise unexpected. There’s a few really big names in the film, but Julia...
Shin Godzilla: Directed by Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi. With Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara, Ren Ôsugi. Japan is plunged into chaos upon the appearance of a giant monster. After watching “Godzilla Minus One” I did a little bit of reading and there was a lot of talk about how “Shin Godzilla” was just as good and was one of the best in the franchise and had brought it to new heights. Unfortunately I don’t feel that’s the case, as there’s some pretty big gaps between what they’re trying to do and what ultimately ended up in the film. The...
Gran Turismo: Directed by Neill Blomkamp. With David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Archie Madekwe, Takehiro Hira. Based on the unbelievable, inspiring true story of a team of underdogs – a struggling, working-class gamer, a failed former race car driver, and an idealistic motorsport exec – who risk it all to take on the most elite sport in the world. “Gran Turismo” the movie was heavily promoted in theaters and they didn’t leave much of the story out of the dozens of different times I saw the various trailers, but honestly this type of film really doesn’t need to hold much back....
The Talk of the Town: Directed by George Stevens. With Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Ronald Colman, Edgar Buchanan. An escaped prisoner has to prove his innocence to a stuffy law professor with the help of a spirited school teacher. I bought a dvd of this silly movie in the hopes that there was going to be some good Glenda Farrell content and while she’s great in her two scenes, I do wish there was more. She’s not the main character by any stretch, that’s goes to the two leading men (Cary Grant / Ronald Colman) and Jean Arthur. It’s one...
DC League of Super-Pets: Directed by Jared Stern, Sam J. Levine. With Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski. Krypto the Super-Dog and Superman are inseparable best friends, sharing the same superpowers and fighting crime side by side in Metropolis. However, Krypto must master his own powers for a rescue mission when Superman is kidnapped. I think this is the final $8 4k disc I got from Best Buy and another that I’m not entirely sure I should have purchased to have in my physical collection, as I don’t think I’ll be rewatching this very much. Buy On Amazon!
The Wizard of Oz: Directed by Victor Fleming, King Vidor. With Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr. Young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others’ wishes. Best Buy had the 4k disc on sale for just $8 and this was one of my mom’s most favorite films, so I think I’m going to make a tradition of watching it...
Shazam! Fury of the Gods: Directed by David F. Sandberg. With Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler. The film continues the story of teenage Billy Batson who, upon reciting the magic word “SHAZAM!” is transformed into his adult Super Hero alter ego, Shazam. Another $8 4k blu-ray, but I’m not entirely convinced that this was worth even that much. It’s a well enough made movie but I don’t get enough enjoyment from re-watching it to really justify having it in my collection. Buy On Amazon!
It Follows: Directed by David Robert Mitchell. With Bailey Spry, Carollette Phillips, Loren Bass, Keir Gilchrist. A young woman is followed by an unknown supernatural force after a sexual encounter. I watched this after watching a different anxiety inducing movie and I still feel this is one of the most horrifying, terrifying, and anxious movie I’ve ever seen. Buy On Amazon!
Pacific Rim: Directed by Guillermo del Toro. With Charlie Hunnam, Diego Klattenhoff, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi. As a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures wages on, a former pilot and a trainee are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse. I got a new 4k player for the holidays and this is the film that I chose to be the first one played on it. It was a good choice! Buy On Amazon!
Moonfall: Directed by Roland Emmerich. With Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Charlie Plummer. A mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit and sends it hurtling on a collision course toward earth. Did you know that films that are in the “science fiction’ category don’t actually have to have any real science in them? Buy On Amazon!
Edge of Tomorrow: Directed by Doug Liman. With Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson, Bill Paxton. A soldier fighting aliens gets to relive the same day over and over again, the day restarting every time he dies. Another 2023 Black Friday pickup, this remains a solid reimagining of Groundhog day, but maintains some unique aspects and has it’s own dangling threads that have nearly driven me insane when I try to contemplate their solutions. Buy On Amazon!
Howard the Duck: Directed by Willard Huyck. With Lea Thompson, Jeffrey Jones, Tim Robbins, Ed Gale. A sarcastic humanoid duck is pulled from his homeworld to Earth where he must stop an alien invasion with the help of a nerdy scientist and a struggling female rock singer. I hadn’t seen this film in a while and the physical disk finally got down from it’s crazy prices, so now I have it in my collection (no Stan Lee appearance though!). Buy On Amazon!
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: Directed by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein. With Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith. A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers embark on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people. The 2023 4k black friday sale was kind to me and this film was one of my purchases. It’s a fun ride and well put together. Buy On Amazon!
Blue Beetle: Directed by Angel Manuel Soto. With Xolo Maridueña, Bruna Marquezine, Becky G, Damián Alcázar. An alien scarab chooses Jaime Reyes to be its symbiotic host, bestowing the recent college graduate with a suit of armor that’s capable of extraordinary powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero known as Blue Beetle. This is a fun movie and I hope they deliver on the promise of a multiverse of Blue Beetles all fighting the time traveling blue beetle infinity being from the end of time. Buy On Amazon!
Suicide Squad: Directed by David Ayer. With Will Smith, Jaime FitzSimons, Ike Barinholtz, Margot Robbie. A secret government agency recruits some of the most dangerous incarcerated super-villains to form a defensive task force. Their first mission: save the world from the apocalypse. This was like $5 for the 4k disc, so it’s in my collection now and I watched it again and I have this to say for it: it’s my guilty pleasure. I love nearly everything about this film and firmly believe that if the DCU had kept going in this direction it would have done worlds better than...
Watchmen: Directed by Zack Snyder. With Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley. In a version of 1985 where superheroes exist, the murder of a colleague sends active vigilante Rorschach on the trail of a conspiracy that will change the course of history. I finally have this in 4k on a disc, something that I’ve had an eye out for since I learned it was a thing, and the price was finally under $9, so I pulled the trigger. Watchmen remains the standard that all other comic movies will be judged against and the “Ultimate Edition” makes no...
The Big Sick: Directed by Michael Showalter. With Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano. Pakistan-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani and grad student Emily Gardner fall in love but struggle as their cultures clash. When Emily contracts a mysterious illness, Kumail finds himself forced to face her feisty parents, his family’s expectations, and his true feelings. Much sadder than I was expecting, but this was a film that I put on because my wife didn’t want to watch a movie and wanted me to watch a movie that I wanted to watch that she was totally not going to watch,...
Hulk: Directed by Ang Lee. With Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott, Josh Lucas. Bruce Banner, a genetics researcher with a tragic past, suffers an accident that causes him to transform into a raging green monster when he gets angry. Still not a great movie and I still hate all the violence towards animals in the film. But since it was just $8 now the physical version of the disk is in my collection for two reasons: MCU and Stand Lee appearances. Buy On Amazon!
Godzilla Minus One: Directed by Takashi Yamazaki. With Minami Hamabe, Sakura Ando, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Yuki Yamada. Post war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb. This is now the movie that all other Godzilla films are going to be compared to, and I’m even comparing it to the relatively amazing American one with Bryan Cranston from 2014. The only thing negative that I’m going to say about it is more about the state of the world than the movie itself,...
Streetwalker: Directed by Jeffery Husselman. With Corissa Gabor, Keith Ortiz, Ray Hansen, Nick Villaire. A woman survives a traumatic night only to find herself in a nightmarish reality when she is unwillingly pulled into the plans of inter-dimensional beings. That premise really got me hoping for more than what I got, but unfortunately the lack of budget and overly artistic camera work combined with overly burdensome filters in nearly every scene really ruined the experience. Buy On Amazon!
Clerks III: Directed by Kevin Smith. With Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Vincent Pereira, Mike Zapcic. Dante, Elias, and Jay and Silent Bob are enlisted by Randal after a heart attack to make a movie about the convenience store that started it all. I bought the 4k copy of this a while ago, I think right about a year ago, watched the flick, then put it back in it’s case with the intent to get back to all the special features that are on the disc, of which there are a couple hours of documentaries, which honestly shouldn’t be much of...
Napoleon: Directed by Ridley Scott. With Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim, Rupert Everett. An epic that details the checkered rise and fall of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his wife, Josephine. This was one of the rare films that I went to see all by myself because my wife had no interest and I couldn’t convince any of my other friends to make the effort and honestly I wish I had skipped seeing it in theaters myself. Putting aside the many major issues the film...
The Marvels: Directed by Nia DaCosta. With Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Samuel L. Jackson. Carol Danvers gets her powers entangled with those of Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau, forcing them to work together to save the universe. It’s finally out! I’m such a huge fan of Iman Vellani and her Ms. Marvel character and “The Marvels” deliveries absolutely everything I could hope for in a movie that features my new favorite MCU character along with more known (Captain Marvel) and vastly less known (Professor Marvel). There’s plenty of cats too, which is always a plus, along with a...
Captain Marvel: Directed by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck. With Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law. Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. Watched again because I’m about to go see “The Marvels”. Buy On Amazon!
