Author Archives: Doc

The Bikeriders

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The Bikeriders is a new film from director Jeff Nichols and was inspired by a photograph book by Danny Lyons of the same name that depicted the life of a motorcycle gang in Illinois. Despite the fact that this is inspired by this photo-book, the film itself is a fictional story.

According to IMDB, “After a chance encounter at a local bar, strong-willed Kathy (Jodie Comer) is inextricably drawn to Benny (Austin Butler), the newest member of Midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals led by the enigmatic Johnny (Tom Hardy). Much like the country around it, the club begins to evolve, transforming from a gathering place for local outsiders into a dangerous underworld of violence, forcing Benny to choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club.”

The ensemble cast in The Bikeriders is tremendous and they all provide great performances no matter how long they were on screen. Austin Butler is wonderful and the relationship between him and Jodie Comer are the backbone of the movie. Tom Hardy gives a top notch performance as the head of the bike group. Others in the ensemble include Michael Shannon, Boyd Halbrook, Norman Reedus, Mike Faist, Damon Herriman, Emory Cohen, Beau Knapp, and Toby Wallace.

The story is solid as we see how much this motorcycle club means to the individual. Tom Hardy and Austin Baker work very well together. I enjoyed the struggle within the story for Baker.

I also liked the format for the narrative as we see Jodie Comer being interviewed by the character played by Mike Faist, who was a former member of the motorcycle club and returned as the photographer Danny Lyons who would be the person who did the photo-book this was based upon.

I was not looking forward to this movie, but it was better than I expected it to be. Great actors working well together to tell a solid story.

3.85 stars

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (2023)

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June 21, 2024

The next movie in the June Swoon 3 is the third film in a sequel called My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.

This really feels like a sitcom that has done that special episode that sends the family to a vacation spot and they go on location to film. You know, like the Brady Bunch in Hawaii or the Grand Canyon, Happy Days in Los Angeles with shark jumping, or Blossom in Paris.

The plot of the film centers around a family reunion in Greece after the death of Toula’s (Nia Vardalos) father. However, most of the film just has a bunch of individual moments among the run time for the different characters. These conflicts through the film appeared, were mostly solved easily and then the film moved on. Just like a sitcom.

There are a few giggles throughout, but most of the film’s humor is at that ‘bad-sitcom’ level. Most of them fall flat.

I do like Andrea Martin and Maria Vacratsis and their little old Greek women characters. They had the best one liners and, if something was funny, it usually came from them.

There was some beautiful exterior shots of Greece. It’s like a postcard for tourists.

There is not much here for a movie. It feels very disposable and fluffy. Nothing of substance here.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #103

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June 20, 2024

It is time for the EYG Comic Cavalcade! This weekend, I went to the Northpark Mall in Davenport to go to the Quad Con Comic & Toy Show. I went to this in Dubuque last year at the Five Flags Center, but I enjoyed that one more. This time was spread out throughout the entire mall and I spent a lot of time just walking around and I was tired by the end. I did pick up a ton of books, specifically several Amazing Spider-Man books. My favorite was Amazing Spider-Man #58, in a CGC case, rated 7.5. I got a bunch of Captain America Vol. 4 books out of the dollar box.

Loaded up on a bunch of books from eBay too. Some issue that were missing from my collection. With my CLZ, I can see the odd issues that I did not have. So I grabbed some things such as Patsy Walker aka Hellcat #10, Groo the Wanderer #90, New Warriors #58, Rom #40, Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade #4, and Ms. Marvel #8.

Other books this week:

Saga #66. Another of the eBay books was the most recent Saga issue. I have been desperate to get these since completing the ninth volume. I can only say that I can’t wait for the next issue. Come on Vaughn and Staples…. let’s get this done!

Groo: Gods Against Groo #1-4. Another one I got from eBay (delivered today actually) and I love Groo. Yes, the jokes may be repetitive, but they are always funny. Sergio Aragones is exceptional and keeps getting Groo better and better.

The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #10. Written by Tate Brombal and art by Isaac Goodhart. Cover art by Nick Robles (Gold Medalist). This episode goes into more depth with Christopher Chaos as he tries to discover what he is.

Captain America #10. “Revelations from the West End” Written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Jesus Saiz. Taurin Clarke did the cover art for this issue. Cap goes to recruit a seer for Lyra, but Steve does not know that the seer has her own agenda.

Blow Away #3. Written by Zac Thompson and illustrated by Nicola Izzo. Annie Wu did the cover art for this one (Silver Medalist). Brynne has decided that she needs to find out what happened to the hikers she has dubbed Red and Blue, after their coat colors. What kind of danger is she going to find herself in?

Sensational She-Hulk#9. Written by Rainbow Rowell and art by Andres Genolet. Genolet and Romulo Fajardo Jr did the cover art. She-Hulk is being recruited for the Avengers and that might upset her entire life. Will it out her relationship with Jack of Hearts. This is the penultimate issue for this series (which makes me really sad) so we will see what the new normal for Jenn is going to be.

Invincible Iron Man #19. “If I Only Had a Heart” Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Andrea Di Vito. Kael Ngu was the cover artist. Tony and Rhodey reunited in their armor to finish up the Orchis battle. And Rhodey recruited a group of characters to form together to become “The Work-Release Avengers!” Not really, but that line made me literally laugh out loud.

Feral #4. Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Trish Forstner & Tone Rodriguez. Forstner & Fleecs teamed up for the cover art. The cats return to their human home only to find even more horrors going on. The rabies outbreak is not stopped by their home.

Amazing Spider-Man #52. Written by Zeb Wells and art by Ed McGuinness & Todd Nauck. McGuinness & Marcio Menyz did the cover art. Peter has been transformed into the Spider-Goblin by Norman Osborn, but is there someone who is here to help him? And how is it Ben Reilly?

Doctor Strange #16. Written by Jed MacKay and art by Pasqual Ferry. Alex Ross did the cover art. Another Blood Hunt tie in issue. The focus is on Wong and him trying to prevent the attack of Victor Strange. This is an intriguing Blood Hunt tie-in.

Captain Marvel #9. “Bezdar” Written by Alyssa Wong and penciled by Ruairi Coleman. Stephen Segovia & Romulo Fajardo Jr. did the cover art. Another penultimate issue of a series, Carol is trying to stop the Undone when she comes face to face with Yuna and Leonore, which brings about a tragic ending.

Uncanny Valley #3. Written by Tony Fleecs and art and cover art by Dave Wachter. Still a very creative story as Pecos Peet and Oliver are running from toons out to get them. Sorry, but the greatest thing ever happened as we meet the character Kung Fu Buggy. Yeah baby!!!! A whole lot of fun.

House of Slaughter #24. “The Butcher’s War Part Four” Written by Tate Brombal and illustrated by Antonio Fuso. Cover art was done by Nimit Malavia and Werther Dell’edera. Jace is facing all kind of troubles from the Dragons and Jolie is causing all kinds of problems.

Wolverine: Blood Hunt #2. Written by Tom Waltz and art by Juan Jose Ryp. Ben Harvey did the cover art. Wolverine and Nightguard are being pursued by Maverick’s vampires, as Maverick has a plan to take advantage of what is happening across the planet. Even though I do not collect Wolverine, I have enjoyed this short Blood Hunt mini-series so far.

Man’s Best #4. Written by Pornsak Pichetshote and illustrated and cover art by Jesse Lonergan. The two dogs and a cat are trying to find the Captain, and as they are going on, they are having all kinds of troubles with each other. They are displaying really human traits as they doubt each other and fight between themselves. I believe this is also a penultimate issue, setting up the conclusion next month.

Black Panther: Blood Hunt #2. Written by Cheryl Lynn Eaton and with art by Farid Karami. Andrea Sorrentino did the cover art. This is a tough read. As much as I have been enjoying the Wolverine mini series, this one is less so. There has been so much going down with gods such as Khonsu or Bast that there is less about Black Panther. I did consider this as one of the medal winners this week.

Under York #2. Written by Sylvain Runberg and art and cover art by Mirka Andolfo. I had a hard time with this book. It has been such a long time since issue #1 was released that I just did not remember much of anything that was going on. None of the characters stuck out to me and I found most of this a chore to get through. Hopefully it will not be multiple months before the next issue comes out.

Immortal Thor #12. “The End of All Songs” Written by Al Ewing and art by Valentina Pinti. Alex Ross did the cover art (Bronze Medalist). The children of Odin story continued as Thor and the rest come to face off with Tiwaz.

Uncle Scrooge and the Infinite Dime #1. Written by Jason Aaron and art by Oaolo Mottura, Francesco D’ippolito, Alessandro Pastrovicchio & VItale Mangiatordi and Giada Perissinotto. My variant cover was done by Ron Lim & Nolan Woodard. Marvel is owned by Disney. Hence, we get Uncle Scrooge, who, according to writer Jason Aaron, is the greatest adventurer of all time. I may disagree with that sentiment, but it is a cool issue to own for my collection. I am looking forward to the Disney What If books that are promoted within.

Spider-Woman #8. “New Kids on the Block” Written by Steve Foxe and with art by Ig Guara. Cover art was by Leinil Francis Yu and Sunny Gho. Jessica is in San Francisco and trying to deal with the new group of heroes, The Assembly. Is there something sinister behind this group. Duh, of course there is.

Ultimate Spider-Man #6. Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by Marco Checchetto. Checchetto teamed with Matthew Wilson as cover artists. Peter finally lets Mary Jane and his family know that he is being a super hero (part because of his bruised face, other part because of May’s blurting out). He also gets the name he will be going by… Spider-Man!

Dracula: Blood Hunt #2. Written by Danny Lore and with art by Vincenzo Carratù. Cover art was done by Mateus Manhanini. Dracula is in pursuit of Brielle, who is running away instead of going after her father. There is a great cameo by Daredevil here.

Displaced #5. “What’s Left?” Written by Ed brisson and illustrated and cover art by Luca Casalanguida. This brought this mini series to an end, and I have enjoyed this series. However, I am just not fond of the way this one ended. It felt a little anticlimactic.

Other books this week: Destro #1, Venomverse Reborn #1, Project Cryptid #6, and The One Hand #5.

The Boys S4 E4

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Spoilers

“Wisdom of the Ages”

Holy crap.

This episode was unbelievably brutal and full of shocking moments of violence and character developing beats.

I literally gasped multiple times in the episode. Each event worst than the last.

Homelander: butchering the people from the lab in the most tauntingly evil way possible. Burning Frank. Burning Marty’s penis off. Bloodbath with the rest.

Starlight: Violent attack on Firecracker because FC revealed her abortion.

Butcher: Has little parasites swimming around inside his body, assuming from the Compound V he tried to inject to save himself.

Hughie: His father nearing death, Hughie decided to try to save him with Compound V. Hughie’s mom does it.

Sage: Had The Deep give her a frontal lobotomy so she did not have to be herself for a couple of hours before her brain regenerated. This was a horrible scene that I could barely stand to watch.

Kimiko: With Hughie, fought off the Shining Light Liberation Army. Hughie sliced one of the Shining Lighters in the throat as it spurted all over him.

Frenchie: Confessed to Colin that he had killed Colin’s family. Colin flipped out and beat Frenchie badly.

It felt like every minute, something new and horrifying was happening. I feel as if my descriptions barely did this show’s scenes justice. They were truly horrendous.

So much happened. It was so bleak. It is half way through the season and they are definitely in dark times.

All of Us Strangers (2023)

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June 20, 2024

All of Us Strangers is the next film on the schedule for the June Swoon 3, and it is a lovely movie that deals with deep seeded loss and grief, while not falling into the trap of making the film maudlin or depressing.

Adam Scott gives a tremendous performance as Adam, a screenwriter who has a chance encounter with Harry (Paul Mescal) at his apartment building. Harry was drunk and looking for someone to spend time with, but Adam rejects him. Then, Adam goes to see and spend time with his parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell) at his childhood home. The only drawback… Adam’s parents died in a tragic car crash when he was a little boy.

As the audience member, you are never quite sure through the run of the film what was going on. Was this a ghost story? Was this all invented inside Adam’s mind? What exactly was happening? The uncertainty of the film played well as you connect with Adam and feel the pain that his unresolved grief was causing in him.

The film was beautifully shot. Andrew Haigh was the director and he did a fantastic job constructing the scenes, such as the trip to the night club, which had a dream-like aesthetic to it. It helped to create the mood of the piece, keeping the magical feel of the film while still rooting everything in the loneliness and grief felt by Adam.

I also thought the ending of the film was wonderfully constructed. While I had an idea by this point of what was going on, the actual truth of the story was unexpected and fit amazingly in the structure of the story. The very end was a lovely design to express such a hope of the world.

The four main actors: Adam Scott, Paul Mescal, Claire Foy and Jamie Bell are astonishing in these performances and their interactions with the others. The performances are the best part of the film, but far from the only parts that make this a beautiful film.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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Week of June 17

It is time to award the medals this week for the new comic covers. Now, usually, there is one book’s cover that jumps out and is the clear winner. However, this week, though there are several really good covers, there is no one cover that jumps out as the gold medalist. That meant that I had to go back and forth between the three choices.

Here are the medalists:

Bronze Medalist

The Immortal Thor #12

Cover art by Alex Ross

Alex Ross is back once again. He is most likely our cover artist of the year as he has won multiple medals this year. His work is always so epic and that fits the tone of Thor brilliantly.

Silver Medalist

Blow Away #3

Cover art by Annie Wu

I have typically loved the white on covers and this snow cover looks beautiful, with the blue tint around it. I also love the long shadow coming off the figure in the snow. This is a beauty of a cover.

Gold Medalist

The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #10

Cover art by Nick Robles

The shades of blue on this cover really work well together with the two red circles on the goggles. I’m really not sure what the cover is showing, but I am excited to see what it is.

Shortcomings (2023)

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June 19, 2023

The directorial debut by Randall Park is today’s entry in the June Swoon 3. It is an unconventional rom-com called Shortcomings.

According to IMDB, “Ben, a struggling filmmaker, lives in Berkeley, California, with his girlfriend, Miko, who works for a local Asian American film festival. When he’s not managing an arthouse movie theater as his day job, Ben spends his time obsessing over unavailable blonde women, watching Criterion Collection DVDs, and eating in diners with his best friend Alice, a queer grad student with a serial dating habit. When Miko moves to New York for an internship, Ben is left to his own devices, and begins to explore what he thinks he might want.”

This was an interesting film. Usually, I have problems when the protagonist is such an unlikable character, and Ben (Justin H. Min) is absolutely in that category. He is opinionated, mouthy, rude and arrogant. It seems like every scene he is in, all I want to do is yell at him to shut up. Yet, there was something about Ben that was appealing. Don’t get me wrong, I was cheering actively for him to understand what a jerk he was being, but I was also ready to support him learning from the events of the film and adjusting his behavior.

I have to say, I did like this conclusion to the movie. It felt real and played with all of the conventions of the rom-com.

The movie had some great laughs in in, although nothing that was going to be over the top hilarious. The situations are where the humor came from and they all worked very well. Probably the one moment that stood out was when actor Jacob Batalon joked about loving the Spider-Man movies, considering he played Ned in the MCU Spider-Man movies

Sherry Cola played Alice, Ben’s friend, and she was the standout performance for me in the movie. She had an Awkwafina type vibe about her and she was both funny and an excellent ‘straight-man’ character.

I found this to be very entertaining and a creative way to take the rom-com genre in a new way.

Eileen (2023)

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June 18, 2023

The June Swoon 3 film for the day was on Hulu and it was called Eileen.

It was another movie that I had a difficult time getting involved with as the first part of the film did not seem to have much of a story or progression. Then, the ending was disturbing and shifted everything in a completely different, nonsensical, direction.

According to IMDB, “The stagnant waters of Eileen’s dull, stifled life as a solitary worker at a juvenile detention center in 1960s Boston, are unexpectedly disrupted when the institution brings in a new psychologist, the vibrant Rebecca. The fervent enthusiasm that blossoms between the two women almost immediately gives way to a closer relationship, until their fragile connection takes a dramatic turn.“

There were some solid performances in the film from both Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway. Their performances were not an issue for the movie.

Nothing happened in the first hour of the film that would set up the finale, that seems to take the characters involved in a totally different direction. From what we had seen before, I did not buy the end result as anything more than just shock value. Then, it simply ended.

I found this one really disappointing as it sounded very intriguing. The film was based on the 2015 novel of the same name.

Battlestar Galactica S1 E2, E3

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Spoilers

“Water”

“Bastille Day”

With just a few episodes in, I can see why Battlestar Galactica was such a classic and beloved science fiction series. These two episodes are very strong.

Whoever stole the detonators and blew up the water containers is a neat little mystery. I, of course, have some ideas, but the fact that I am not 100% sure makes this even more enjoyable.

Then, I was shocked to see Richard Hatch walk into a scene as one of the prisoners that was being held. Richard Hatch was the original Apollo on the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series on ABC and seeing him as this terrorist was cool. Even better was putting him face to face with this new series’ version of Apollo, Lee Adama, played by Jamie Bamber.

That third episode, with the basic idea of a prison break with hostages, was well done and it built a lot of suspense as the episode progressed.

Hatch, as Tom Zarek, was a fascinating character and provided a real antagonist outside of the Cylon threat. He was solidly stuck in the grey area as his philosophy seemed to include good things, but he was taking bad steps to reach them. It was compelling.

However, I am already tired of Gaius Baltar and the image of Cylon Number Six that he sees and tells him what to do. I want him revealed sooner rather than later.

The show has been fantastic so far. I am looking forward to continuing on.

Bates Motel S2 E4

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Spoilers

“Check Out”

Norman is starting to show more of his dark side… going as far as to speak as if he were Norma in an tense confrontation with her brother, Caleb.

The whole Norma-Caleb-Dylan mess has threatened to push Norman from his tentative mental balance. We know where the character of Norman Bates ends up, but this Norman has become such a favorite that it is harder to see his ultimate downfall.

It is a credit to Freddie Highmore to be able to take one of the most well known movie murderers and make him a developed and complex character.

And Norma is just an amazing character too. For someone who just winds up in a wheelchair in the attic, Vera Farmiga has filled her with such a delicate and complicated life. Norma and Norman are complex characters that could have easily been just echoes of what the big screen counterparts were like, but they are rich, fully developed and entertaining.

I ache for Norma-Dylan and their relationship. I can understand the anger that Dylan feels but I want them to put it aside and bond as mother-son. Watching him storm away and Norma painfully watching is a tough scene.

Bates Motel also is willing to develop a secondary character such as Emma, and give her a storyline separate from the Bates clan (at least at the moment). Then, there is Alex Romero as well making his way through the dangers from the town. These characters are as great as a anyone on the show and that was not expected.

Flamin’ Hot (2023)

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June 17, 2024

This is another Oscar nominated film from 2023 that I missed. Flamin’ Hot received an Oscar nomination for Best Song, which was quite an accomplishment for this biopic about Richard Montañez and the beginning of the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

I will address the controversy off the top. As I was researching the film, I discovered that a report from the LA Times indicated that Richard Montañez did not have any direct involvement in the creation of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, and that the film was inaccurate. I won’t lie, when I first saw this, it did affect my thoughts on the film, but, the more I thought about it, the more I let that go. This is not a documentary. I know plenty of biopics that have exaggerated or downright made things up. So the accuracy or lack thereof of Flamin’ Hot, as a movie, will not go into my consideration of the film.

And, when it comes to my consideration of the movie, I loved it very much.

This was the first time directorial feature from director Eva Longoria, well known actor from Desperate Housewives among other shows. Longoria does a tremendous job of telling this story with a very distinct voice and a humorous touch.

Some of the scenes of Richard’s narration, which remind me of Luis (Michael Pena) from Ant Man, are very funny and show how the mind works in many ways.

Jesse Garcia played Richard Montañez and he has a natural charm in doing so. You can’t be help to root for him as an underdog, looking to escape the life of crime that threatened to ruin his life.

Two distinguished actors had supporting roles in Flamin’ Hot that gave the movie even more credibility. Bennis Haysbert played Clarence Baker (whose middle name is Charisma) as one of Montañez’s co-workers, and Tony Shalhoub, the star of Monk, appeared as Roger Enrico, the CEO of Frito Lays. Both actors are excellent as always and their roles do a great job of elevating the performance of Jesse Garcia.

The tone of this movie was very light and engaging, as Richard told the story of his life. The film’s focus was on the character of Richard Montañez, not specifically on the Cheetos.

This was an easy, enjoyable watch and worth the time. It is currently streaming on Hulu and Disney +.

Under Paris

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There have not been a lot of shark movies. Obviously, there is Jaws. Jaws II was decent. The Shallows had it moments. The Sharknado series can give some stupid fun. And then there is Deep Blue Sea. After that, the shark films usually are not very good.

We have another entry into the awesome end of these movies.

Under Paris is a French language film that tells the story of a specific shark that had evolved in ways that are never explained and that winds up in the Seine, a river that runs through Paris, France right at the time of an Olympic triathlon.

The shark, nicknamed Lilith by Sophia Assalas (Bérénice Bejo), a scientist whose team were tracking sharks that they had tagged. In an attempt to check in on Lilith, Sophia’s entire team is killed by the shark in an uncharacteristic attack.

Three years later, Lilith finds her way into the Seine and into the catacombs beneath the city. A young environmental activist name Mika (Léa Léviant) had found a way to track Lilith, but wants to save the shark and help the female shark to get back out to the ocean.

Sophia and Mika’s paths cross with the Paris Police, including police officer Adil (Nassim Lyes) who does not believe that there is a shark in the Seine at first, until undeniable evidence faces him.

This is a brutal shark movie with some really awesome moments. The tension of the film is off the charts and you can really feel it. Sure, the premise itself requires some serious stretching of credibility, and the film does not try to explain how this is happening. Sophia is constantly saying things like ‘this shouldn’t be happening’ or ‘it is not possible’ and the discoveries of the evolution of this shark is not scientifically sound, yet that does not bother me either.

Why are all mayors in shark movies jerks? Much like Jaws, whose mayor insisted on keeping the beaches open on the July 4th holiday, the Paris mayor (Ann Marivin) is likewise as blind when it came to the danger the shark posed the triathlon.

The sharks look pretty decent, though some of the CGI is questionable at times. My guess is that there is not a ton of budget on this, and I feel as if what we got was substantial enough for what they were going for. I was not taken out of the film by any of the special effects and that can not always be said about shark movies (hey there The Meg).

There were a couple of moments when I gasped out loud or cried something out in shock and that means that the film is doing its job. It is nowhere near Jaws quality, but it is much better than most of the shark attack movies out there. Under Paris is currently available to stream on Netflix.

4.1 stars

The X-Files S5 E14

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SPOILERS

“The Red and the Black”

I found the second part of this two part X-Files Mythology episode to be considerably stronger than the first part. Perhaps because it started to lead toward returning Mulder to the status quo, being the person who believes in extraterrestrial life.

Of course, it also saw the return of Cigarette Smoking Man, and I continue to wish he would just be dead.

Gillian Anderson was exceptional with her performance, especially during the hypnosis scenes. Those scenes were remarkably uncomfortable and you could see how they were affecting Mulder, even if he was not yet ready to accept once again his philosophy of “I Want to Believe.”

Agent Spender is a new recurring character from this two-parter that adds him to the list of other characters that I really dislike. It sure looked as if he were the son of CSM, which is just one more reason to find this guy unlikable.

We got even more of the Syndicate, and a lot of talk about an alien invasion/alien war, but that is not necessarily anything that would happen during the series.

This episode does help me feel better about the previous one, “Patient X.” Non-believer Mulder was just not a character that I want to spend a lot of time with. He seemed so spiteful that it took a lot of the charm of Fox Mulder away. I am glad this helped reignite Mulder’s belief moving forward.

Ferrari (2023)

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June 16, 2023

The June Swoon 3 continues this Father’s Day with a biopic from last about Enzo Ferrari directed by Michael Mann.

According to IMDB, “Set during the summer of 1957. Ex-racecar driver, Ferrari, is in crisis. Bankruptcy stalks the company he and his wife, Laura, built from nothing ten years earlier. Their tempestuous marriage struggles with the mourning for one son and the acknowledgement of another. He decides to counter his losses by rolling the dice on one race – 1,000 miles across Italy, the iconic Mille Migl!“

I have to say that I had a difficult time getting into this movie. I just did not relate to Ferrari and what he was going through and I found it to be fairly dull for a good chunk of the movie. Adam Driver is an excellent actor, but I just did not find his performance here electric.

That does not go for Penelope Cruz, however. She was amazing in her role as Ferrari’s grieving wife Laura. Every moment Cruz is on screen, she is totally vibrant and dominant. Penelope Cruz is absolutely the best part of this movie.

The racing screens were decent too. The couple of crash sequences were terrifying and filled the film with stakes. The second half of Ferrari was more interesting to me, even if I was not engaged with the character of Enzo Ferrari.

The film did feel long to me, which only played into my lack of engagement with the movie.

Again, Penelope Cruz is exceptional in her performance and electrifies everything around her. Unfortunately, that electricity does not crossover to the rest of the film.