I have not seen a movie start off with a bigger WTF in a long time than Tuesday, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
A24 has used some bizarre concepts to deal with serious issues, from farting corpses to being transformed into animals if they can not find love. On the surface, it may seem absurdist at times, but there are always deeper undertones in the narrative than what you would expect.
This movie deals with death, but not just the grief and pain of the loss, but specifically the inability to accept the inevitability of the end and the strides someone will go to to avoid that acceptance.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus played Zora, the mother of Tuesday (Lola Petticrew), who is a 15-year old, wheelchair bound girl with an incurable fatal disease. Julia Louis-Dreyfus gives the best performance of her career, which is saying something, as she struggled with the denial, taking steps to avoid the loss unlike anyone has every done before.
I am trying to remain somewhat vague in my details of this movie, because I went into it with no expectations for it and I was blown away by the surreal aspects of the film. If you can go into this film without any knowledge of the way the story progresses, the better your experience will be.
Tuesday is a powerful piece that deals with something that everyone can relate to and does it in a poignant and emotional way. It is another winner for A24 and their amazing catalogue of films. It is available on HBO Max.
Duster has started each episode with the old flashforward cold open, setting up something that will eventually happen in the episode. Some have been more interesting than others. This one was excellent.
Bringing up “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” set the tone for the scene extremely well and highlighted the characterization of Jim and Nina perfectly.
The scene where Jim, Nina, Ezra, Royce and Billy meet with the Russians was a tense scene. It really showed the cleverness of both Nina and Jimmy. Jimmy stepping in to cover for Royce who was having a reaction to his heart medication and the vodka was utter genius. Josh Holloway does a sensational job delivering the improvisation to the Russians in a huge spot.
The firefight afterwards was also cool, although it may not have been as improbable as they made it out in the first scene.
I am not sure there will be enough time for all the dangling stories that are available making me think that several of these plot holes will not be finished in season one.
My memory was that I was not a fan of this episode when I saw it for the first time in 2016. However, this rewatch was a totally different opinion. I found this to be extremely funny and very cleverly done.
This worked much like the previous comedic episodes such as “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space” and “Bad Blood.” Mulder, doubting his beliefs in the previous monsters, was hilarious in his depressive responses to the different monsters he had investigated as an X-File.
Rhys Darby does a fantastic job as Guy Mann, the horned lizard who had been bitten by a man and finds himself transformed into a man. The episode made it look like Guy Mann was the monster killing people, but, instead, it was Kumail Nanjiani.
There were a ton of easter eggs too. My favorite line was from Scully who said, after Mulder chastised her for approaching a dangerous suspect without backup, “You forget… I’m immortal.” This was a great reference back to “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” when Clyde Bruckman, who was a psychic who could see how someone dies, told Scully that she did not die. Scully also alluded to her dog Queequeg, who died in the episode “Quagmire.” Also from “Quagmire,” the stoner characters returned, played by Tyler Labine and Nicole Parker-Smith.
This episode is a parody of the “monsters-of-the-week” style of X-Files episode that have been peppered through the first nine seasons. This falls right in with the classic comedic episodes that this show has shown is capable of providing.
For the second film of the day for the June Swoon, I went to my queue at Netflix for a film recently released starring Vince Vaughn. It was a comedy/drama called Nonnas.
After the death of his mother, Joe Scaravella (Vince Vaughn) impulsively decided to open an Italian restaurant on Statin Island, using real life Italian nonnas as the chefs. He wanted their homemade feel of family for the restaurant, warm and loving.
Of course, there are a bunch of troubles that spring up for Joe in his attempt to create his dream restaurant that would honor his mother.
The four women the film cast as the nonnas have a fun chemistry together and their Italian flair truly is the strength of the film. The actors included Susan Sarandon, Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire, and Brenda Vaccaro. They were as real as you could expect, right down to some of the same stereotypical flavors. Still, I think these ladies were the best part of the film.
I did feel like I was watching a sweeter version of The Bear in movie format. Many of the challenges that we saw play out on The Bear were also on display in Nonnas and I am certain that the reason this was made was to play off the success of the FX TV show. That is not a bad thing, but it does limited anything new that we could see.
The sweetness and warmth of the script and cast go a long way here, as some of the moments were very warm-hearted. Vince Vaughn played his role beautifully, holding everything together even when things were never going to work. I do think the ending is a bit predictable, and seemed to come out of nowhere quickly, but it does work for what we get here.
This may not be the greatest film ever made, but it is a very enjoyable watch with some characters that will make you feel good and a menu that might make you hungry.
Today’s June Swoon film is the final of the 2025 Academy Award nominated films for Best Picture that I needed to see. Nickel Boys was directed by RaMell Ross.
Nickel Boys tells the story of its two main protagonists, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson), who meet at Nickel Academy, an abusive and brutal reform school in Florida during the 1960s.
The film is told through the first-person perspective of both Elwood and Turner, though never at the same time. The perspective of either Elwood or Turner is used as the camera, with the supporting actors looking directly at the camera. The technique makes this film different than most other movies that I have seen.
The story is also told in a nonlinear format with flashforwards to Turner’s future. There were some moments that were difficult to follow during the movie, considering the switching of the POVs.
There are several artsy scenes throughout the film including a few scenes from the Sidney Poitier film “The Defiant Ones” as well as clips with Martin Luther King Jr.
There are some powerful scenes during the horrors of the reform school. It is a long movie and I had some trouble focusing on it, but there is no doubt that this is an amazing piece of art.
This episode had some undercurrents that struck hard for Mulder and Scully. The investigation they were working brought them both to picture moments with their son, William, that they were unable to experience, and each of the daydream ended with a tragic circumstance that seeded the questions that they had about their son.
The scenes with David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson and the young boy playing William were very sad and poignant. Moments where normal parents have with their child that were denied to Mulder and Scully.
These scenes helped to give us hope that at some point our heroes will be reunited with their son. We know that William was sent away by Scully to protect him and we could see the pain that the decision brought to both of them, even though they understood that she did what she had to do.
The episode also brought us a pair of telepaths, Kyle and Molly, were were siblings that had been separated. The reunion between them became dangerous as Kyle popped the eyeballs of the doctor responsible for the separation. Mental powers are the most dangerous ones around and their exhibit of their abilities proved that they were formidable. Honestly, though seeing Mulder thrown across the floor was kind of humorous and not the greatest stunt I have ever seen.
The connection between Mulder and Scully was strong and this episode did a great job of showing that connection.
Awkwafina gets killed this week in Poker Face and Charlie has got to figure out what happened.
With Charlie’s truth detector, she is quite the handful for the criminals or con people of the world. In this case, we have Alia Shawkat, playing con woman Kate, who is trying to get married to Awkwafina’s grandma to get her hands on a rent controlled apartment in New York. Kate was definitely sinister, but even her slimy tactics were no match for Charlie.
Charlie setting up a trap for Kate to capture her on film being the heartless monster that she was. I love when Charlie out smarts the villain. This was a perfect example of her being ahead of everybody.
Charlie is also very kind and is a people person. She makes friends very easily, even if it does seem that death will follow her around.
2018 saw the release of a movie that caught the world by surprise. A Simple Favor was directed by Paul Feig and starred Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick in a black comedy/mystery that was really clever and creative. In 2025, Amazon Prime streamed a sequel to the film, Another Simple Favor trying to catch magic once again.
I will say that this sequel is not as great as A Simple Favor, but it is entertaining as well.
According to IMDB, “Stephanie Smothers and Emily Nelson reunite on the island of Capri, Italy for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman, which is interrupted by murder and betrayal.“
Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) becoming an author of true crime books and an online vlogger about other cases she investigated worked well for the character. Part of the key to the success of the original was the clever dialogue and interactions and this kept Stephanie active in that part. Then, with Emily’s unexpected return from prison and immediate reinsertion into Stephanie’s life, the film started to keep the audience on its toes with what was about to happen.
Allison Janney appeared as Emily’s Aunt Linda, and she provided her acting chops to a story that does get crazily weighed down with weird story elements.
The key to the film is the banter between Lively and Kendrick. This is the strength of the film as their dialogue is crisp and funny. Their barbs back and forth keep you guessing about what is actually going on with a convoluted story.
The story itself is really not great. It turned out to be more of a parody of the first film than anything else. There are so many bizarre choices that it made me wonder if that was the overall purpose of the sequel.
As an Amazon Prime streaming film, this is fun. A solid watch on a Sunday afternoon. There is a reason why a sequel to a surprise hit was not released in the theaters. It is because the film is not strong enough for that. However, I did enjoy this on the power of the two lead actresses, even when they are in the most ridiculous, bordering on stupid, situations.
The June Swoon continued this morning with a boxing movie detailing the pursuit of the Olympic gold medal by Claressa “T-Rex” Shields.
Claressa Shields became the first American woman to win a Gold Medal in boxing but she discovered that, even after the ultimate success, there is nothing in life that is guaranteed.
Ryan Destiny played Claressa Shields, teenager whose dream was to become a star in the boxing ring. She was trained and supported by Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry). Claressa did not have a perfect life. She had troubles with her mother and struggling with the dedication required in her training.
In most sports biopics, the big victory is the ending of the film, but, in this case, Claressa success at the Olympic games in 2012 was just the start of the story. She discovered how difficult it was for a woman to translate her success in the boxing ring into big time success in life. The product endorsements were not coming and Claressa was being offered less than the male boxers were to go for another gold medal.
The struggle for Claressa became the chunk of the movie, detailing how she nearly hit the bottom, nearly pawning her gold medal. The film is also inspiring to see how she was able to overcome these problems in a push for a second gold medal.
I did like how this movie flipped the general formula of the sport biopic upside down and told the story in a different way. Strong performances made the film even more compelling.
The Sunday Morning Sidewalk starts its third series today. I have watched Band of Brothers and The Sandman so far and this week, the new show is on Disney + and is from Pixar. It is called Win or Lose.
This sets a precedent for Sunday Morning Sidewalk because this is the first time that I will be watching two episodes a week. I had looked at the run time on the episodes and they were all right in that 22 minute sweet spot, so I decided that I would do two a week.
I am very happy about that because the first episode was so good that I really wanted to watch a second one no matter the time.
The show’s concept is that every episode will center around a softball championship game and the lead up to it. Then, with each episode, we will see the perspective from a different character leading to the same point. First episode focuses on Laurie, the daughter of the coach of the Pickles, who is terrible at softball, but she desperately wants to do well. Second episode looks at the umpire of the game, a low self-imaged teacher named Mr. Brown.
I love this concept. What a wonderful idea for an 8-episode series and this show has some awesome Pixar magic throughout. In the first episode, Laurie has a little creature on her shoulder that was born from her self-doubt and who just kept growing as the week leading up to the championship game happened. Kind of an Inside Out-style creature that fed into Laurie’s doubts and anxiety.
Poor Mr. Brown. I related to this guy because it showed him as a teacher. The scene of the overbearing mother trying to prevent a punishment for her cheating daughter, well to say that I understand is an understatement. The magical armor that appears around Mr. Brown to deflect the slings and arrows of criticism and negative comments also keeps him isolated and lonely.
The animation is great. I mean, it is Pixar. That is kind of expected. I had no idea that this short little series on Disney + would be as poignant as it seems to be. I am excited to see who the next characters we focus on next week.
Hey. It is time for the EYG Comic Cavalcade. It seems like I should stop saying that it is another big week this week since it seems as if every week has a ton of books any more. It’s lots of fun.
I have dived into Nightwing and I am awaiting an order from eBay where I picked up the Tom Taylor run (#78-113). I also picked up a few back issues from the Bettendorf shop, all at cover price. Awesome.
I’m trying to stay focused but there is a cricket cricketing like crazy in my room right now and it is driving me nuts. I do hate crickets so I may have to pause to go murder it soon.
Books this week:
Toxie Team-Up #1. Written by Mark Russell and art by Richard Pace. Cover art was done by Fred Harper. Blasphemy at its finest! Toxic Avenger teams up with the one and only Jesus H. Christ. This was such a lot of fun, even if I’m going to Hell. There are some really funny moments in this if you have a sense of humor.
Wolverine #10. “All Happy Families” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Javier Pina. Cover art was done by Martin Coccolo & Bryan Valenza. Logan goes into his childhood house looking for Sabretooth. This is actually one of my favorite issues of the week. Logan’s “voice over” is really great and I loved the script.
They Choose Violence #1. Written by Sheldon Allen and illustrated by Mauricio Campetella. Cover art was done by Rahzzah. Fun new series by AWA. Interestingly enough, this has been recalled by the company because one page is reprinted, I assume, accidentally in the story. I am not sure if there was a page missing where the one page was there again. It was weird when I read it, and then I saw the recall.
Emma Frost: White Queen #1. Written by Amy Chu and art by Andrea Di Vito. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. This story took place in the past of continuity during the time when Emma Frost was in the Hellfire Club as the White Queen. I would have rather this book tell a present day story of Emma Frost, who we have come to love over the last several years. Still, there is a fun X-Men appearance.
Psylocke #8. “Into the Snow.” Written by Alyssa Wong and art by Moises Hidalgo. Cover art was done by Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson. Kwannon goes to the land of where she was born. We have some major flashbacks going on.
The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos: Children of the Night #1. Script by Tate Brombal and art by Isaac Goodhart. Cover art is by Noah Dao. This feels like a re-introduction of Christopher Chaos and the rest of the Monster Club.
Iron Man #9. “Part Four: Great-Power Competition.” Written by Spencer Ackerman and art by Michael Dowling, Julius Ohta & Guiu Vilanova. Cover art by Yasmine Putri. Bucky, Black Widow, The Winter Guard guest star as Iron Man faces the challenge of providing weapons for Doom.
Vatican City #3. Written by Mark Millar and art and cover art was done by Per Berg. The vampire storyline comes to a dramatic conclusion with this three-issue story. Vatican City has been a pretty fun run and this wraps up nicely.
Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #9. “Clinical Trial” Written by Jed MacKay with art by Devmalya Pramanik. Cover art was done by Davide Paratore. Moon Knight and his group are reforming, getting ready to go after Fairchild. This sets up the major battle next issue, I am guessing.
I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #3. Written by Doug Wagner and art by Daniel Hillyard. Cover art was done by Daniel Hillyard & Michelle Madsen. This has been a great book so far. This issue initially left me with hope that Rennie would be able to get away from her killing, even though it was clear the signs were pointing at she could not do it.
Blood & Thunder #2. Written by Benito Cereno with art by E.J. Su. Cover art was done by E.J. Su & Msassyk. We get more in this issue of the relationship between Akeldama and her gun, including some background on her father. This has been a fun series so far and I do like how they have developed relationships moving forward.
Past Time #3. Written by Joe Harris and art by Russell Olson. Mark Chiarello did the cover art (Silver Medalist). Baseball and vampires go hand in hand, don’t they? It really works in this series and sets up a dramatic end for the issue. Very creative using these two story types in one.
Avengers #27.“Masters of Evil” Part 3. Written by Jed MacKay and art by Andrea Broccardo. Cover art by Valerio Schiti & Federico Blee. Black Panther and Captain America have to team up against the new Masters of Evil while the Mad Thinker sets his true plan in motion.
Vanishing Point #2. “The Tomorrow Family: Life in the Year 2100. Tonight’s Episode: You Leave Me Breathless.” Written by Mark Russell and art by Ryan Alexander-Tanner. Robert Hack did the cover art. Any fans of Hanna-Barbera’s classic cartoon, The Jetsons? This parody issue is for you. Vanishing Point is an anthology sci-fi series and it has been great so far.
X-Men #18. “Invitation” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Emilio Laiso. Ryan Stegman & Marte Garcia did the cover art. 3K is making some major moves in this issue, including making an untimely offer to Beast. Lots of mutant shenanigans going down here.
Godzilla vs. Avengers #1. Written by David F. Walker and penciled by Georges Jeanty. Lee Garbett did the variant cover art (the versus cover). This takes place in the New Avengers time so we have Luke Cage and Spider-Man and Spider-Woman in the Avengers along with Cap and Iron Man and Wolverine. It is kind of a fun way to tell the story as we also get an Ultraman type character.
West Coast Avengers #8. Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Danny Kim. Ben Harvey did the cover art. It was a bad day to be an Avenger. The West Cast Avengers try to take on the cult of Ultron. Things don’t go well.
Los Monstruos #2. Written by James Robinson and art by Jesus Merino. Cover art was done by Jesus Merino & K.J. Diaz. The noir story continues as our werewolf lead, Private Investigator Perry Cutter, heads into the Egyptian section to deal with mummies! Los Monstruos has been excellent so far, feeling very much like an old time movie from Universal.
Benjamin #1. Script by Ben H. Winters and art by Leomacs. The cover art was done by Christian Ward (Bronze Medalist). I loved this issue, as we dive into a mystery and the issue spends time trying to figure it out. Who is this writer and how is he not dead? Create use of the medium.
Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton #1. “Chapter One: Krypton” Written by Ryan North and art by Mike Norton. Jae Lee & June Chung did the cover art. Ever want a deeper dive into the origin of Krypto? Well here you go… all told by Ryan North, a writer whom I have loved from Fantastic Four.
Exquisite Corpses #2. Written by Michael Walsh with James Tynion IV and art by Marianne Ignazzi with Michael Walsh. Cover A art by Michael Walsh. I also go Cover B by Marianne Ignazzi (Gold Medalist). I love how this series is setting things up. Where it could have dived into a huge battle and slaughter fest, this book is taking things slow, with just one more death. This has been a huge winner so far.
Amazing Spider-Man #6. Written by Joe Kelly and penciled by John Romita Jr. Cover art was done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, and Marcio Menyz. Spidey and Black Cat find themselves working together on a potential heist… at least that is what Black Cat wants. They run into Hellgate, the new Spider-Man villain on the final, massive page.
The Ultimates #13. Written by Deniz Camp and art by Juan Frigeri. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan & Neeraj Menon. There are a lot of things going on in this issue, but everything feels as if it is building to something huge. The Ultimates has become on of the best Ultimate books around.
Absolute Flash #4. “The Trials of the Flash” Written by Jeff Lemire with art by A. I Kaplan. Nick Robles did the cover art. The Absolute Flash has become one of my favorite of the Absolute run. Probably a big reason being Jeff Lemire. I am a Lemire fan and his work on this book has been top notch.
Nightwing #127. “Other Part 1” Written by Dan Watters with art by Dexter Soy. Cover art was done by Dexter Soy and Adriano Lucas. I am just starting to learn about Nightwing. For example, I did not know Dick Grayson had a sister. I have been enjoying starting to learn more about a character that I always liked before.
G.I. Joe #8. Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Andrea Milana. Cover art was done by Tom Reilly. The Baroness is tired of the training, and so she needs 48 hours for a personal trip to Paris. They send Cover Girl with her. And they get in trouble right away.
Other books this week: Aliens vs. Avengers #4, The New Gods #7, Weapon X-Men#5, Spider-Verse vs. Venomverse #2, Doom’s Division #4, and Bloodletter #1.
Quick Hits: I finally got the new Sam and Twitch Case Files #14 after missing it a couple of weeks ago. Shout out to this book for still only being $2.99. More comics should be cheaper to try and help build the hobby. Bytch Craft #1 came from Mad Cave, but this one was not one of my favorites. I was not interested in this Mad Cave book. Another new mini series that I think I will be skipping is Jeff the Land Shark #1. I have picked up the It’s Jeff one shots over the last year or so, but this one does not interest me either. Power Man: Timeless #4 brings this short mini series to a close. I had kind of lost interest in this one too, after being really excited about the early couple of issues. The Keenspot book Don’t Run With Scissors #2 is really a weird book and has some art that keeps with that tone. Phantom Road #13 continues with the weird world of Jeff Lemire. The first of the new Marvel one-shot series called Bring on the Bad Guys: Doom #1 came out too. I have a cool Dr. Doom cover but there is a fun variant cover featuring the new villain Sister Sorrow. Connected with Dr. Doom, he goes to Valera’s birthday party in Fantastic Four Fanfare #2. There are three stories inside this book. Bug Wars #5 is, I believe, the big penultimate issue of this series from Jason Aaron. Another penultimate issue is the Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt #3. This is actually pretty funny this issue. Finally I have Zatanna #5. Honestly, I am having a harder time getting into this than the last Zatanna book, but I do love the art by Jamal Campbell. Zatanna must think she is She-Hulk as we get a big meta moment in the middle of the book.
The second film of the June Swoon today was one I rented off Fandango at Home and I rented it because they had Bill Murray on the cover and had a decent Rotten Tomatoes score. We are under ten days now left in the June Swoon and the 2025 movies have been tough to find to watch.
According to IMDB, “Novelist and creative writing teacher Iris (Naomi Watts) finds her comfortable, solitary New York life thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor (Bill Murray) commits suicide and bequeaths his beloved Great Dane to her. The regal yet intractable beast, named Apollo, immediately creates problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones, his looming presence constantly reminding her of her friend’s choice to take his own life. Yet as Iris finds herself unexpectedly bonding to the animal, she begins to come to terms with her past, her lost friend, and her own creative inner life.“
I had no idea what this movie was about. I did not know that this was going to be a story about a girl and her dog. I’ve never been a big fan of dog movies that try to tug on the heartstrings. However, this added more to the story than just the dog. The story of Walter (Bill Murray) having committed suicide and how that affected the people around him was very interesting for me.
Naomi Watts is always great. There could have been more Bill Murray for my tastes, but I understand why that is the case with the story.
I am not a dog person, but this was a nice film. I liked the balance between the guilt and sadness of one aspect of the story and the bonding between a very charismatic dog and a human.
Another Academy Award winning film came next in the June Swoon. This film won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film and had received nominations for Best Picture and Best Lead Actress. I’m Still Here is a political biopic from Brazil that detailed the story of Eunice Paiva, whose husband, a former congressman, was a victim of a forced disappearance during the military dictatorship in Brazil in 1971.
Fernanda Torres did win a Golden Globe for her role as Eunice Paiva, along with the Academy Award nomination. She was a powerful force in this film, showing so much depth of her character. It could have easily degenerated into a sob story, but the strength of Eunice and her constant desire to protect her family while searching for the truth really marked her as an amazing woman. Fernanda Torres brings all of the emotion and power to the role.
The resiliency of the Torres family was on full display as they had to go through so much uncertainty after armed men came into their house and took away their father. Then, Eunice and one of her daughters were taken for “questioning” and held for an extended period of time. Such behaviors of a government is and was unacceptable and I’m Still Here makes that argument clearly.
As an audience, we are given time at the beginning to get to know Rubens Paiva and see how important he was to his family before he was removed by the military. We could see the hole that his forced disappearance put in his family and how Eunice did everything she could to fill that gap herself.
The film did have a couple of sections at the end showing the family in the future, including one in 2016 where Eunice was in a wheelchair and suffering from Alzheimer’s. There was still a powerful hope within that family, a trait that came from Eunice’s decade long fight for the truth. I am not sure if these last two scenes were really needed, but it was nice to see how these people’s lives moved on after they realized that their father was not coming back.
This is a long film, but it was worthwhile thanks to an amazing lead performance and a story that helps us understand what life under a dictatorship could be like.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 