A classic showing its age. Plenty of flaws and the lack of anyone with any cellphones is hilarious. Do you know, the whole story changes if cellphones existed in this film as they do now?
Die Hard 2
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
One of only a handful of films made in this era that you can rewatch and always find something new. The whole trilogy. Then they have the nerve to release extended versions. It’s crazy. No matter what anyone snooty has to say about the books over the films, enjoy these your way. That’s all that matters.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Truly Naked
Sexy, too preachy but I could be entirely desensitized and I disagreed with the entire resolution because of it. Regardless, worth it for the “Octopus”! I’ll just leave it like that.
Truly Naked
Mutiny
Never had I experienced the stiffest action movie ever. The lines were mechanical. The acting emotionless. The script reeks of AI developed for people with zero care for emotionally driven people. This movie is for “go through the motions” people that don’t blink or shed tears, laugh or generally indifferent. If this movie was a meal, it’s bland, no seasoning and forgettable. Oh, you’ll eat something but it’s like remembering that last “air” you inhaled. You only wish this film farted to get some sort of life out of it.
Mutiny
The Invite
It was good. The story felt like it was a play— dependent on the dialogue verses typical cinema visuals. Also felt like an older concept jazzed up with its more open subject matter. Maybe it’s me and I’ve seen and done too much, but the subject matter of the plot wouldn’t be enough for me to make it such a big deal.
One thing for sure, you’ll probably never find a more docile version of Edward Norton in your life!
The Invite
8 Ball Bunny
Took me way back.
Saturday mornings.
Grandmas house. Waking up early. TV on.
Didn’t get the jokes but still laughed.
No regrets.
8 Ball Bunny
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
The kid in me loves this film.
The adult I am, critical of story flow, is reducing one star every few years because this was a fan-service salvage job. Poorly resolved and what started (Force Awakens) that felt like a brilliant return to form… end with a sloppy hack-job resolution all because an idiot got his hands on the story and direction of “The Last Jedi” by Rian Johnson. The relationship between Rey/Finn was purposefully gutted during and after ‘last Jedi’ and the whole foundation of what could have been totally fell apart because Johnson decided to make a whole different film, causing Rise to just be poorly plugged up and the audience felt it. If I can ask anyone one question it would be J.J. Abrams: “Why the hell did you let the story direction fall to shit after Force Awakens?”
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
The Color Purple
Genuinely one of Steven Spielberg’s visually and emotionally stunning films he’s ever made. Combined with Quincy Jones on soundtrack, you felt every beat of this film. From time to time I will just watch the “God is trying to tell you something” sequence and just tear up.
The Color Purple
Evil Dead Burn
Not as good as I was led to believe. Keeping it so it can stay in the collection but it felt a little “extra” and gratuitous with the excessive gore. Something was missing that “Evil Dead Rise” had. The trailer just delivered better than the actual movie.
Currently in the middle of re-watching the MCU series and specific order toward the lead up to the Doomsday 2026 release. I think I’ve seen this movie a couple hundred times and it’s still refreshing but it also reminds me how much I do not like Josh Whedon. I can never put my finger on it, but it’s just he does stupid little things he doesn’t need to do in all of his movies. Mostly I think he’s squandered an amazing opportunity to direct the avengers and Justice league and just can’t keep his pervy little jokes out of everything. I think Marvel had a tighter leash on him.
I’ve watched this multiple times. Solid film and story. Right up till the end where it gets a little sloppy. It’s like some films, either they’re just tired or running out of budget, feels like they slap the final piece together and call it a wrap. Worthy of the horror collection.
Better than “Masters of the Universe”, but still something is off. The online hate is just female lead troll noise. Delete your social media and suddenly you can think and breathe clearer.
That said, think ‘buddy road film’-ish typical cheap banter. I blame the screenplay. The forced witty back and forth is, indeed, forced. You’ll feel you seen this before. They simply didn’t take any chances. But the chances they did take, the plot of the bad guys, though interesting, was shoehorned in. Like the plot about Krypto. That was obviously “let’s get dog lovers involved”…. Sorry. At least for me, didn’t care.
The DC animation of this story of Kara is soooooo much better. But that’s an industry that takes chances by simply staying closer to the source material. Film executives thinking: “we’re spending upwards of $250 million, our data shows from a theater audience likes plot A, B, C and D in order to make back our budget and do well overseas” That includes killing off the only Black characters in the film, by the way. Don’t think I didn’t catch that BS. That was a shit screenplay decision and it shows pandering to one of their “quadrants”.
There it is. The word I was looking for: “Pandering” Every film Hollywood strives to bring you to the theaters with is a pandering maneuver. Marvels forthcoming Doomsday (as of this July 2026) coming up in December 2026, bringing everyone back, is big budget pandering. Any reboot ever made is pandering. Suckering you back in because it worked before.
Meanwhile, there are a billion original novels out there unread by Hollywood. I foresee generative AI filling in that gap. A $3 million or less AI produced original story making the money Hollywood only wished it would is coming. But refer to my first paragraph. They would have to stop listening to online troll noise to be that brave. Online people only think they have power.
This is where the real contextual use of the word “woke” works: my eyes are wide open, I see what they’re doing, I’ll only go to the theater for films that take chances and tell a story that doesn’t pander to “me” or a racist “overseas market” (and domestic) but for the sake of its own original story.
Supergirl, good only for streaming or however you get your hands on it, but spend $50+concessions at the theater? GTFOH.
Supergirl
Disclosure Day
The first thing that strikes me about this film is that this generation is sorely missing a quality Director like Steven Spielberg. All of his shots, his angles, his lighting take me back to when he was in his prime and became what should’ve been the textbook example of storytelling with film to this generation. It’s different now. Like when we used to wait for the next Michael Jackson event video, we’re missing that Steven Spielberg event film.
Unfortunately this wasn’t it. It was a good film. It checked off all the Steven Spielberg boxes. But I found myself going to sleep in places. Don’t get me wrong Steven’s a master of what he does. The story was solid. But pretty much like how I felt about his last film, I thought maybe it was getting time for him to hang it up or upgrade with more riveting storytellers. He is still a great Filmmaker, but there’s something missing in the stories lately. And I think too many people are saying “yes” to him.
Fair enough… a kids movie. But here’s the thing: I grew up with He-Man. It was not going to work as a motion picture back then and it flopped. It was not going to work today. It’s like developing a “Lone Ranger” movie now or a “Flash Gordon” or “Buck Rogers”. Some fiction was only alive for the time it was created. So, greenlight dated fiction and expect a theater turnout is asinine. I waited for streaming and that’s where this film belongs. Glad I did not go. However, the ability to pause this slightly corny children’s movie or let it play in the background while I’m properly adulting is gold.
Masters of the Universe
Backrooms
What started off interesting dissolves into like a “found footage” POV like thing I thought we left back in the late 90s, then back to narrative filmmaking. Then it tries to get psychologically relevant to our traumas. I see what it tried to do but I simple wasn’t interested. This is top tier niche storytelling and only for a specific set. I’ve said this before many times for people coming out with their first films that supposedly are “genius”. …. “Let’s see your second story.” It’s that one that tells if the filmmaker has actual talent or it’s a one-hit-one-off. Chiwetel is, as always, a master class in acting as well as Renate Reinsve. But you feel like they were wasted. Like two big engines forced to hold back.
So, Secret Level, like Love Death and Robots, is a great anthology series. The stories are top notch, yadda, yadda, yadda so on and so forth. Hands down, great storytelling. You get engaged by the stories easily.
Do you sit watching the majority of these stories, or even the cutscenes in your favorite video game and say: “Man, that motion capture guy really captured the hell out of motion! Let me like, follow and subscribe to motion capture guy #14.”
No, you don’t and fuck you if you say you do because you’re just being snarky.
My point is generative AI is here and rapidly picking up pace with better visual consistency. As you know, online chatter expresses a lot of hate for AI videos. Thus the “AI slop” tag that’s as original as the people who say it.
What’s not being said is the hate behind it scuttles what could be once you ignore the excessive hate.
First, your average non-film industry filmgoer looking to be entertained … the ones who don’t care who directed the movie or who was the animator #56 from South Korea … isn’t thinking about jobs being lost in the film industry because it doesn’t affect them.
Second, jobs don’t have to be lost in the industry if they adapt to the tools and stop bitching.
There is zero difference between the use of motion capture technology and AI generated work when you start using it above the TikTok common user and really plow into it.
There is no hate for motion capture even when used in some of our favorite movies.
Change, especially in America, is the worst. Horses to cars, movies to TV, landlines to cellphones, “photoshopped”, President Barack Obama wearing a tan suit. If it’s not the same old same old, or better yet, if it threatens the job they’ve been slacking and skating by on…. Or it suddenly comes in a different color they are used to… it’s a problem (unless you’re a pedophile president)
AI movies, when done with command of good storytelling mastery, will succeed like Secret Level and you won’t even notice if you stop complaining and just listen and watch the story.
