Category: Reviews of Movies
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!
Greta: Directed by Neil Jordan. With Isabelle Huppert, Chloë Grace Moretz, Maika Monroe, Jane Perry. A young woman befriends a lonely widow who’s harboring a dark and deadly agenda toward her. This is maybe one of Moretz’s best roles and that’s coming from a guy that’s tried to watch everything she’s been in. There’s some real plot movement that happens from the first moments of the film that never stop building on the tension and anxiety of knowing that something bad is going to happen, then when it does happen, wondering when or how the other shoe is going to...
Cop Out: Directed by Kevin Smith. With Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Juan Carlos Hernández, Cory Fernandez. Jimmy’s rare baseball card is robbed. Since it’s his only hope to pay for his daughter’s upcoming wedding, he recruits his cop partner Paul to track down the robber, a memorabilia-obsessed gangster. Many people point to this film when they say that Kevin Smith can’t hack it has a director of anything other than his own material and while I agree that his strengths are with things that he has complete editorial control over, I disagree with the idea that this is a bad...
Roman J. Israel, Esq.: Directed by Dan Gilroy. With Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell, Carmen Ejogo, Lynda Gravatt. Roman J. Israel, Esq., a driven, idealistic defense attorney, finds himself in a tumultuous series of events that lead to a crisis and the necessity for extreme action. I’ve recently become somewhat addicted to tiktok and one of the more interesting things they have is random highlight clips of movies and television shows and I flipped onto one featuring Denzel Washington acting as a belligerent lawyer who gets a $5k fine from a judge who was unhappy with all the talking back that...
The Night Listener: Directed by Patrick Stettner. With Toni Collette, Robin Williams, Joe Morton, Bobby Cannavale. In the midst of his crumbling relationship, a radio show host begins speaking to his biggest fan, a young boy, via the telephone. But when questions about the boy’s identity come up, the host’s life is thrown into chaos. There’s a solid story that could be made from this premise that’s based on the idea of a true story that maybe really happened, but this version of it isn’t as appealing as it could have been. I have no complaints about Robin Williams or...
Smashed: Directed by James Ponsoldt. With Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally. A married couple whose bond is built on a mutual love of alcohol gets their relationship put to the test when the wife decides to get sober. I was not expecting to see both Nick Offerman and Megan Mullaly in the same film and while they don’t have much on screen time together, they both really fleshed out the rather simple premise which turns into an emotionally roller-coaster of a movie. If you’ve seen this, do you think gave him one more game? Buy On...
They Cloned Tyrone: Directed by Juel Taylor. With John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, Teyonah Parris, Kiefer Sutherland. A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy in this pulpy mystery caper. There’s a good story here shoved under a Tarantino level of racial vulgarities and stereotypes, both of which can be easily dismissed as the creative team using them to make a point, and if you’re able to do that than you’ll enjoy a perfectly fine film. There’s some pretty interesting story elements at play here, none of which are unique but are...
The Martian: Directed by Ridley Scott. With Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels. An astronaut becomes stranded on Mars after his team assume him dead, and must rely on his ingenuity to find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive and can survive until a potential rescue. I watched something that referenced Mars or had a scene on Mars and for the life of me I cannot remember what series it was, but it gave me the push to rewatch one of the most optimistic Mars movies ever filmed. It’s still a great experience and...
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken: Directed by Kirk DeMicco, Faryn Pearl. With Jane Fonda, Lana Condor, Toni Collette, Colman Domingo. A shy adolescent learns that she comes from a fabled royal family of legendary sea krakens and that her destiny lies in the depths of the waters, which is bigger than she could have ever imagined. I’m pretty sure I’m not remotely in the target audience for this coming of age adventure, but I still felt like this was a fun movie. My wife felt there was a couple things that completely took her out of the film, the primary one...
Lego Marvel Avengers: Code Red: Directed by Ken Cunningham. With Laura Bailey, Haley Joel Osment, Will Friedle, James Mathis III. The Avengers meet a dangerous new foe quite unlike anything they’ve ever encountered before. A lower quality animation than I was expecting for a Marvel LEGO movie, but about what I would expect for a direct to dvd adventure that would have limited to no advertising. There’s some really funny jokes here (a nice MC Hammer / Mjoirnir joke is my favorite) and the entire “code red” thing ends up being pretty silly but fun. Buy On Amazon!
Clerks II: Directed by Kevin Smith. With Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith. A calamity at Dante and Randal’s shops sends them looking for new horizons – but they ultimately settle at the fast food empire Mooby’s. Another film by Kevin Smith that’s still as hilarious as the day I watched it, but still feel like there’s some topics here that just generally wouldn’t be approached because of how nuclear the pure racism or bigotry from the some of the characters land and we generally don’t even joke about the type of these that are joked about here....
Babylon 5: The Road Home: Directed by Matt Peters. With Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, Peter Jurasik, Bill Mumy. John Sheridan finds himself transported through multiple timelines and alternate realities in a quest to find his way back home. After I finished the TV series, I checked out the latest movie, choosing to skip all the other ‘made for tv movies’ and luckily “The Road Home” picks up just moments after the final episode of the original tv series, so the story flows extremely well with the order that I watched it in. It does continue some of the more silly...
Expend4bles: Directed by Scott Waugh. With Jason Statham, 50 Cent, Megan Fox, Dolph Lundgren. Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on, the Expendables are the world’s last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table. Much worse than I was expecting, and I’m sure you know that no one was expecting much from this franchise of goofball comedians that formed a merc squad to be the “expendables” that can take care of big issues with little responsibility. Believe me when I say this was shot nearly completely on...
