The Wonder (2022)
The Wonder sets out right front in telling the audience that they are watching fiction, a trickery, yet does that make it real?
Read MoreThe Commitments (1991)
The main issue of The Commitments is not the drive or talent of the band being formed, but the fact that they are almost a dozen people. Jimmy (Robert Arkins) formed the group to play damn good soul music and for the most part the people do that.
Read MoreByzantium (2012)
Neil Jordan's Byzantium updates his earlier work on Interview with a Vampire, telling the story of a vampire mother and daughter finding a place in the world.
Read MoreSecret of Kells (2009)
Secret of Kells exemplifies that life changing feeling of art and culture. Brendan, a young monk, lives in a small monastery his uncle, the abbot, is fortifying against the oncoming Viking hoard.
Read MoreMagdalene Sisters (2002)
For over two hundred years, the Magdalene laundries in Ireland operated by taking in young women deemed to have loose morals. The women were slave labor in the laundries, often run by the Catholic church but with state sanction, only released by death or the signatures of two adult men.
Read MoreThe Quiet Girl (2022)
"You don't have to say anything. There's many a person missed the chance to not say anything, and lost much by it."
Read MoreEurotrip (2004) I wish I had taken
Twenty years ago, the best "not real" song from a movie was released. "Scotty Doesn't Know" may or may not have rocketed up the charts (I didn't care enough to look) with its pop-punk message about fucking another guy's girlfriend. The movie that delivered us this gem, Eurotrip, was also released because that's how time works. Get your shit together, reader.
Read MoreTake Me Home Tonight (2011) spends all night spinning its wheels
A mess can be enjoyable. Something about watching a story competently fail is worthy of consideration. Take Me Home Tonight is my idea of a good mess, blending realistic outcomes to wacky hijinks and some pretty dumb shit.
Read MoreThe Rule of Jenny Penn (2025) will hopefully not be with you at your end
Getting old seems like a giant pain in the ass. Your body and mind fail you, your support structures become few, and someone in better shape than you will terrorize you with a plastic doll. Life in a nursing home can be hell if you don't fall in line with The Rule of Jenny Penn.
Read MoreThe Monkey (2025) will kill you or somebody near you
The Monkey's plot is a haphazard string of events created to get us to the bloody parts. Twin brothers find an evil toy monkey that kills people when it is wound up using the method of mysterious coincidence. The Monkey exists to entertain an audience with over the top splatter, not caring about who will die or really even when.
Read MoreIt Could Happen To You (1994) is a fairy tale from another time
I know I watched this in the theater, but It Could Happen To You is such an afternoon TBS movie made to fill time that I believe I always felt that was its role. Not anything life changing, but a good time. Watching it now, I see the kindness and good nature of the film.
Read MoreStagecoach (1939) is a hell of a stunt show
Stagecoach jumpstarted the western genre by telling a simple story: a group of disparate individuals in a single vehicle traveling through dangerous terrain. Everyone had their own agenda and solidified the archetypes they represent. And it's also a hell of a western stunt show.
Read MoreAnora (2024) proves the grime of it all
Anora sets out to shine the light of truth on a classic story of a prostitute who marries a rich guy. Pretty Woman be damned as the heroine of our story is a disconnected vaping twenty-something not looking for anything but to get paid and do some good drugs. Our rich lothario spends most of his time on screen playing video games and being intoxicated. At the end of the movie you will be seduced by the grime of it all.
Read MoreFrozen Bug and Hit Man (2023)
A loose, useless metaphor and small discussion about the movie Hit Man (2023)
Read MoreSonic the Hedgehog 3: John Wickitude
The previous Sonic movies came and went, fun and fast and breezy with a good heart. Generally the tone of "found family" and "purpose of life" have been the undercurrent for slapstick nonsense. The trend continues in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with a metric ton of forgettable jokes circling around a dark and chewy center of loss and pain.
Read MoreOn Ghosts in Venice
Y'all ever seen a ghost? None of that "I was sitting in Pop-pop's favorite chair and felt a chill" shit. Pop-pop put his chair there because of the cold draft. He was used to it, liked it, and is not trying to tell you where his gold stamps are. So shut that shit.
Read MoreThe Fall Guy (2024) gets a big thumbs up
I walked into The Fall Guy with hope in my heart. I wanted fun action entertainment, and overall I got what I wanted.
Read MoreIn which I explain why I hate character decisions in Hidden Pictures
I was reading this book, Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak. Overall it’s a well written if rote little story about an ex-addict finding herself in charge of a young rich boy with a ghost as an imaginary friend. Story old as time.
Read MoreGhostbusters: Busting Sort of Makes Me Feel Good?
With the upcoming Ghostbusters: Getting Cold I Guess coming this summer, I've been thinking about my own history with the franchise. I didn't watch most of it, mainly skipping the cartoons, and did not like about half of what I saw. So with that being said and setting up a nice little list, here are the things I remember about the franchise that meant something to me at some time or another.
Read MoreAnyone But You (2023) is the half nekkid romcom you should see in the theater
Stop me if you've heard this one: clumsy smart girl and kind but aloof guy hook up but due to a misunderstanding hate one another until they don't. Both are ridiculously hot and don't kiss until the script says they are supposed to. Mix in some quirky friends, a romantic locale, and a dog. What you get is one of the most charming romantic comedies I've seen in a while.
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