1UP: Directed by Kyle Newman. With Paris Berelc, Taylor Zakhar Perez, Ruby Rose, Hari Nef. Follows a gamer who quits her college esports team due to sexism from her male counterparts. Equal parts low budget gamer movie and low budget girl power movie and low budget Revenge of the Nerds, there’s a pretty ok movie at the heart of “1UP”, though you’ll need to look past some pretty offensive performative tropes that are right up in your face. Buy On Amazon!

Empire of Dreams: The Story of the ‘Star Wars’ Trilogy: Directed by Edith Becker, Kevin Burns. With Robert Clotworthy, Walter Cronkite, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg. An in-depth making of documentary about the original Star Wars trilogy, covering the productions of the three films and their impact on popular culture. Released in 2004 with interviews from the 1990’s, but with some scenes updated to their 4k versions, this is a weird hybrid of time traveling opinions from many of the behind the scenes characters and most of the on screen actors. It’s good, but I distinctly remember some of these interviews...

Conan the Destroyer: Directed by Richard Fleischer. With Arnold Schwarzenegger, Grace Jones, Wilt Chamberlain, Mako. Conan leads a ragtag group of adventurers on a quest for a princess. Arguably better than the first one, but that’d be a fun argument to have, as both films have exceptionally strong portions and co-stars. In this case Arnold is joined by Grace Jones and Wilt Chamberlain, both of whom did a fantastic job as Conan’s traveling buddies. Buy On Amazon!

The Red Shoes: Directed by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger. With Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann. A young ballet dancer is torn between the man she loves and her pursuit to become a prima ballerina. Supposedly one of “the most beautiful” films in the world, this is a fantastically restored film by Criterion that’s worthy of viewing simply on the merits of the main lead and her ability to show her descent into desperation while being torn in two by her competing desires for love of a man and love of dancing for one of the most talented...

Re-Animator: Directed by Stuart Gordon. With Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale. After an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue. It’s on sale on Apple for just $3, so if you’re a Lovecraft fan, a Zombie fan, a medical horror fan, or even a Jeffrey Combs fan, this is the movie for you! The special effects are terrible, the acting is terrible, the script is terrible, and it’s really amazing that I love it so much. Buy On Amazon!

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Created by Mike McMahan. With Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, Eugene Cordero. The support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, have to keep up with their duties, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies. I worched it again, because I have purchased it in a physical disk. Why do I continue to do this? Because who knows what’s going to be available tomorrow on the internet, that’s why! Buy On Amazon!

Autonomy: Directed by Alex Horwitz. With Eddie Alterman, Malcolm Gladwell, Ray Magliozzi, Andy Schaudt. Brief history of the development of self-driving cars along with an even-handed look at the pros and cons of giving up human control of something that has been a significant part of people’s lives for more than 100 years. The film suggests we are at a significant cultural and economic turning point. The horrifying future is now here, where cars are no longer driven by insane people that will run into you if you look at them wrong, but will now be drive by artificial intelligence...

The Gray Man: Directed by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo. With Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Billy Bob Thornton. When the CIA’s most skilled operative-whose true identity is known to none-accidentally uncovers dark agency secrets, a psychopathic former colleague puts a bounty on his head, setting off a global manhunt by international assassins. It’s a Netflix film, dumping ground for some pretty junky films, so it’s always nice to watch a film on their streaming service that’s actually good, which “The Gray Man” is not just good, it was a down right enjoyable film on every level I can...

Stan & Ollie: Directed by Jon S. Baird. With Steve Coogan, John C. Reilly, Shirley Henderson, Nina Arianda. Laurel and Hardy, the world’s most famous comedy duo, attempt to reignite their film careers as they embark on what becomes their swan song: a grueling theatre tour of post-war Britain. Much less polemic or fraud with conflict than I was expecting, “Stan & Ollie” is still a captivating story of how one of the greatest comedic duos fell apart due to bad expectations, money, bad heatlh, lack of money, marriage, and money problems. John C. Reilly disappeared completely into his character,...