I can’t believe what I am going to say.

Clifford the Big Red Dog is a charming, funny, family-friendly adventure which is full of heart and should be a hit among kids and cute enough for parents to enjoy as well.

I would not have guessed that.

Clifford the Big Red Dog was adapted from a book series of the same name by Norman Bridwell. In this movie, Clifford is just a puppy and is nowhere near as large as he is in the books, which I think is a smart move. It allows you to relate to Clifford much more than you could if he was at his actual height.

In the film, middle schooler Emily (Darby Camp) is bullied and lonely at her school. When her mother (Sienna Guillory) had to leave for work, in desperation, she called her less than responsible brother Casey (Jack Whiteall) to stay with Emily. When Casey was taking Emily to school, they came across a tent outside her school of Bridwell (John Cleese), an animal rescuer who seemed to have something magical about him. Emily and Casey went inside the tent and discovered a very small, red puppy. Casey would not let Emily keep the dog, but the puppy snuck into Emily’s backpack.

With the dog at her apartment, Emily convinced Casey to let her keep the dog for the night. She named him Clifford only to find that the dog grew to ten feet tall by the morning.

I actually found this to be funny. I laughed several times and there were some definitely outlandish and surprisingly unconventional humor. The dialogue contained a bunch of silly jokes and witty remarks.

I loved the character of Casey. Jack Whiteall, who was great earlier this year in Disney’s Jungle Cruise, played this character that could have been a cliché with a ton of heart and humor. His delightful performance carried much of the film for me.

Sure the plot itself stretched credibility and the film does not explain much of anything, but none of that is what you want to see in a movie like this. This is a fantasy adventure where you want to see a little girl and her dog overcome the adversity to have a happy ending. That is all provided in Clifford the Big Red Dog.

The side cast included a ton of great actors providing a potpourri of oddball characters to help Emily and Clifford. They include Tony Hale as the lead antagonist, Tieran. There is also Paul Rodriguez, David Alan Greer, Horatio Sanz, Russell Peters, Russell Wong, Tovah Feldshuh, Keith Ewell and Bear Allen-Blaine. Special shout out to Izaac Wang, who played Owen, Emily’s friend from school who clearly had a crush on her. Wang had decent comic timing for his age and worked well with the cast.

The CGI on Clifford was fine. There were a few times when it did not look the greatest. It was obviously not at the level of an Avengers: Endgame or Dune. Still, it was not bad and it did not distract me in the simple moments, so I would say that, overall, the CGI was a success.

Clifford the Big Red Dog is a heart warming movie that may even elicit a tear or two in the proper placement. There is a plain theme of how people treat those who are different that is anything but subtle, but that is fine. Subtlety is not the expected strong point in a film about a giant red dog. The most important characters are carried through with some solid performances and Clifford looked decent. Sure, the film is not an Oscar winner, but it hits what it is trying to do. Fun for the family. Sweetness. Some humor. I liked this much more than I ever thought I would.

3.25 stars

I do enjoy these DC Animated movies. It is nice how they are able to adapt versions of important comic story arcs into stand alone animated movies. They tell stories that do not interlink. They can have characters that could die at any moment without affecting the ability to use the character in a future film.

In Injustice, the Joker comes to Metropolis, kidnapped Lois Lane (after killing Jimmy Olson), and tricks Superman into accidentally killing Lois (and the unborn baby she just realized she was pregnant was). Because of this, Superman kills the Joker by putting his fist through the Joker’s chest. Superman then decides that he was going to start changing the world by stopping the violence and the wars.

Members of the Justice League split to different sides. Wonder Woman backed Superman’s potentially Fascist tendencies. Batman, Green Arrow and Nightwing wanted Superman to stop.

I was expecting not to like this movie, but I have so say, I enjoyed most of this. It worked so much more than expected. The voice acting is spot on. The animation was okay. The animation on the DC Animated films has never been a strength. They maybe could have expanded on the time provided for the story. That would allow the story to breathe a little bit. Maybe if this was a two part film like the Dark Knight Returns or The Long Halloween, it would have felt more complete. It could have helped Superman feel less like he was doing things that went against his character.

However, for what we had, the story of the film worked well enough to make it interesting.

I did not like one big thing… Deadwing. While the idea and use of the character is fine, the use of that name was laughable.

The ending ends a bit too fast and could have wrapped up things some more, too.

I did think this was better than I anticipated and I was happy that I watched it. Using these films to be like Elseworlds stories is a fine use of them. Good cast and lots of characters help to balance out some of the structural issues of the film.

3.4 stars

Western. Real life historical figures. Fictional story.

Netflix’s new Western dropped this weekend on the streaming service and it is fire. Filled with an astounding cast and a hot tale of revenge, The Harder They Fall is stylish, exciting and energetic.

Outlaw Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) learned that the man who had killed his parents and carved a cross on his forehead, Rufus Buck (Idris Elba), was being released from prison with a full pardon, and Nat Love set his sights on exacting his revenge on the infamous killer.

Jonathan Majors continues his remarkable streak recently with an amazing performance as our protagonist. From Lovecraft Country to He Who Remains, Majors is showing himself to be a fantastic actor and everything that he starts in is something to pay attention to.

The interactions between Nat Love and Rufus Buck in the movie are just powerful and full of emotion. The chemistry between Majors and Idris Elba is off the charts and drives much of the film. Both men are fully invested in the material and the final scene with them is really strong.

Zazie Beets as Stagecoach Mary Fields and Regina King as Treacherous Trudy Smith brought serious rivalry to the screen and their knock-down battle in the third act is totally earned over the course of the film. Both of these actresses are dominant in their presence on the screen and bring a special touch to their characters.

The rest of the cast is solid too. We had LaKeith Stansfield as Cherokee Bill, Delroy Lindo as Sheriff Bass Reeves, RJ Cyler as Jim Beckworth, Danielle Deadwyler as Cuffee, Edi Gathegi as Bill Pickett, and Damon Wayans, Jr as Monroe Grimes. It is a cast of who’s who among black actors today.

The soundtrack of the movie was tremendous and really brought a new energy to the straight-forward story. The blend of period music and rap is original and some of the best of the year.

There is a ton of violence in the film, perhaps too much. It certainly does not shy away from some of the more graphic moments of bloodshed or teeth loss. There was a grit that the film was shot with that really made it feel down in the dirt. A lot more of the violence worked than did not, but I could have done with a little less. Then, much of the third act felt too produced, in contradiction to the violence up to that point. It was all shiny and ordered.

It is also perhaps a little long. The film clocks in at 2 hours and 10 minutes and could have shaved off about 15 minutes or so. Still, the film does a good job living with the historical figures in the fictional location.

Stylish to a fault, The Harder They Fall is an excellent revenge Western and boasts some great performances. It looked top notch and sounded better than most movies. The story may have been simple and the violence graphic, but The Harder They Fall is an enjoyable watch.

3.9 stars

This is the second Tom Hanks film to debut on Apple TV + over the last two years. In 2020, we saw Hanks in a World War II naval film called Greyhound. Now, we follow Hanks into a post apocalyptic world with Finch.

No matter where Tom Hanks heads, he is as charming and engaging as ever and he makes everything better around him, even a moderate, middle-of-the-road post apocalyptic film about a man, his dog and a robot.

Devastating solar flares caused rampant destruction to the earth, leading the human race to destroy itself. There are a few exceptions. Tom Hanks, playing Finch, is one of them. He was a knowledgeable engineer who could construct robots and use remaining technology to protect himself and his dog, Goodyear, from the dangerous UV rays that could cook you from even a few seconds of exposure.

Finch, with a understanding that his life would be changing soon, built a new robot, with the capability of speech and thought, and a prime directive to protect the dog above all else.

Eventually named Jeff (Caleb Landry Jones), the robot and the man learned about humanity, life and friendship when forced to leave Finch’s bunker because of a terrible storm.

Finch is a similar movie to Castaway, as Hanks is the only main actor, though this time, the volleyball Wilson, can speak back to him. And there is a dog.

This is one of the fluffiest post apocalyptic movies you are ever going to see, which makes it one of the more original one too. They cover some of the general topics that most post apocalyptic movies do, but the real focus of the movie is the relationship between the three characters: Finch, Jeff and the dog.

As mainly a Man (and robot and dog) vs. Nature conflict, it frames the characters into a small box and allows them to interact and discover more about each other. Jeff developed into more than just a robot, as he learns and makes errors along the way. Finch’s overall motive for constructing Jeff is eventually revealed and it make more sense than at first.

I am not sure that the story would hold up if there were any other actor in the lead role than Tom Hanks. However, since he is our protagonist, Finch worked considerably better than it had a reason to be.

3.75 stars

Eternals is a movie unlike any other Marvel Cinematic Universe movie we have had before. I can see that some critics have taken some shots at the movie, and I can understand why they may have the feelings that they do. The Eternals are not a property that is well-known, even among comic fans. I am a deep comic fan, but I do not have a deep knowledge of the Eternals. I believe that is part of the issue some will have with Eternals. I also believe the fact that the MCU is taking some huge swings with this movie that they may not have done in other films will be divisive to some. I went in nervous about the movie. I came out really enjoying it.

This movie truly is more of a science fiction film than it is a Marvel movie. Sure, they have the superhero beats involved and they have a few casual mentions of the MCU, but Eternals is much more its own thing than we have had before.

Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao was in charge of this film and she produced an epic that spanned the history of the universe unlike few films before it. She shot an absolutely gorgeous looking film with some massively interesting scenes and imagery. Chloé Zhao was allowed to make a Chloé Zhao movie inside the MCU. This was a huge risk.

In the Eternals, a group of powerful beings arrived on earth with instructions from the Celestial Arishem to protect the humans but to not interfere in their world unless there was an attack by the monstrous creatures known as the Deviants. After the Deviants are all destroyed, the Eternals spread apart, awaiting on earth for Arishem to tell them what was next.

They were around for 7000 years on earth. We get a bunch of flashbacks in the first part of the movie that helped suss out the list of characters in the Eternals. And there were a bunch of them.

Angelina Jolie was Thena. Gemma Chan played Sersi. Richard Madden played Ikaris. Salma Hayek played Ajak. Kumail Nanjiani played Kingo. Lia McHugh played Sprite. Brian Tyree Henry played Phastos. Lauren Ridloff played Makkari. Barry Keoghan played Druig. Ma Dong-seok played Gilgamesh. There was also Kit Harington as Dane Whitman. That is a ton of characters. When the flashbacks were happening in the beginning of the film, I was a little uncertain about these characters. I had very little connection to them and I was not sure how well the flashbacks were working. However, when the characters returned later in the film, without exception, I had a feeling that made me care about all of them. This told me the work the film did early on that might have been considered the iffy part was well worth it for the long run.

The film is utterly beautiful. The spanning shots of the world was amazing. Seeing the Celestial on the big screen is beyond any scope that we have seen to this point. I will admit there were a few moments of CGI that did not look great, but thankfully a lot of the film was shot in practical effects which allowed the CGI to lack here and there and still not derail the look of the movie.

The performances of the ensemble cast were just exceptional. Angelina Jolie was amazing. I loved the characters of Kumail Nanjiani and Brian Tyree Henry, especially. They brought an unbelievable amount of diversity without making it obvious that they were going for it. The diversity was not force. Every minute was earned.

The film is nearly 2 hours and 40 minutes long, but I did not feel the length. Perhaps the first 45 minutes or so dragged a touch, but it was a necessary time to establish the characters that would pay off in the second and third acts.

Eternals will take the MCU in a direction that is unexpected and ballsy. Without spoiling either of them, the two post credit scenes absolutely blew my Marvel-loving mind. Both post credits do some yeoman work setting up important moments for the future of Eternals, but also of the MCU.

This is a movie that demands that you pay attention to or you will be lost. While the film is exposition heavy, it impressively does a lot of its heavy lifting in dialogue between the characters. This is not a movie that talks down to the audience and it requires the audience to keep up, which is refreshing in a lot of ways. There is some humor in it, but, truthfully, some of it does not hit. Most of the humor involving Kumail Nanjiani worked the best. His relationship with the other Eternals and with his valet (Haresh Patel, who is a stand out in every scene he appears in) is great and works on every level.

Some of the music choices were off for me. While I enjoyed the inclusion of Pink Floyd in the early part of the film, some of the other songs, especially The End of the World by Skeeter Davis felt out of place.

I was nervous about Eternals, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. It is not my favorite Marvel movie of the year, but it turned out to hit with those big swings much more than it missed. It is a great cast and I think a second viewing may help me enjoy it even more. There is a lot of hate of Eternals out there, but none coming from me.

4.4 stars

How many times have we had a prequel to a movie come out in the same year as the original movie? I can’t think of any examples of this happening before, but the Netflix film Army of Thieves is a prequel to the Dave Bautista starring vehicle Army of the Dead from earlier this year.

It is also intriguing that the prequel to a movie about the Zombie Apocalypse does not feature zombies in it. Sure, there are a few references to the outbreak of the virus happening in America, and there are a dream sequence or two, but the main story is not about zombies. It is about a theft. Even more than just a theft, it is about a mythological journey.

In Army of the Dead, we met safecracker Ludwig Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer), recruited by Dave Bautista to crack an uncrackable safe, the Götterdämmerung. Little did Bautista know, but the Götterdämmerung was the White Whale at the end of the story for Ludwig Dieter.

In Army of Thieves, we meet loser Sebastian Schlencht-Wöhnert, the real name of Ludwig Dieter. Sebastian was working a nowhere job, going through a humdrum life and making YouTube videos about the world of safes and safecracking that literally no one was watching. When one of his videos finally received a view and a comment, Sebastian was excited. When the comment invited him to a mysterious location, he could not resist.

The location turned out to be a safecracking contest that he had been entered in without his knowledge. Though surprised and uncertain about the whole situation, Sebastian won the contest, impressing everyone in attendance.

We then meet Gwendolyn Starr (Nathalie Emmanuel), who had set Sebastian up to enter the contest to see how good his safecracking skills actually were. She was looking to recruit a new safecracker for her team in order to go and commit three crimes, all involving cracking the legendary safes designed by Hans Wagner, based on Richard Wagner’s legendary set of four operas, collectively called the Ring Cycle. These were all inspired by Norse mythology.

The rest of Gwen’s team included hacker extraordinaire Korina (Ruby O. Fee), getaway driver Rolph (Guz Khan) and ‘action hero’ Brad Cage (Stuart Martin).

The film immediately set the tone of the movie as we are introduced to Sebastian and see his miserable life and how pathetic he is. There are some really funny moments throughout Army of Thieves that work extremely well. Matthias Schweighöfer, who was also this film’s director, was one of the standouts from Army of the Dead, one of the quirkiest and most likable characters in that zombie film, and basing a prequel around him was a stroke of genius. I promptly connected with this character and could relate to his desires to strive for more than what he had. He was not a criminal at first, but the call of the challenge was too much for him to ignore. He was the antithesis of a heroic protagonist, but that only made him more relatable.

The film does a great job of playing with the tropes of a heist movie too. One perfect example was how they called out the old trick in the movies when the crew of a heist would talk their way through the crime and there would be a montage of what they were doing. Typically, this would then be complicated when they actually runt he plan. Here, however, when they were done talking it through, we realize that the plan was already done and their talking it through was actually them committing the robbery.

There were several moments like this in Army of Thieves. The dialogue was very clever as it constantly alluded to the movies and to the future in Army of the Dead. Sebastian kept having nightmares about zombies, the only place where the monsters would make an appearance in Army of Thieves.

I’m not sure how I feel about the very end of the film. I might have liked more of an open-ended conclusion instead of what we got, which I cannot go into details on without spoiling it. It just felt a little out of character for some of the participants.

I really enjoyed this movie. I would go as far as to say that I enjoyed this movie more than I enjoyed the Army of the Dead, which was something that I had not expected. Who knew what we needed was a film about the backstory of a secondary character from a zombie movie, without any zombie?

4 stars

The Paranormal Activity franchise was once one of the biggest in the horror/found footage subgenre, but its time ran out. The last few films in the series were not at the same level as the first few. However, now on Paramount + streaming, the franchise tries to return to prominence with a new film, Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin.

Unfortunately, it felt more like a poor man’s Blair Witch Project crossed with Weird Al’s Amish Paradise (only not as cool as that would be).

Looking to film a documentary about … the Amish?… two documentarians follow Margot (Emily Bader) who is heading into an Amish community to hopefully find information about the mother that gave her up as a child. Once Margot arrived at her extended family, strange things start to happen and Margot, Chris (Roland Buck III) and Dale (Dan Lippert) try to figure out what craziness is going on and why her Amish long lost family is acting in such a bizarre way.

Like all found footage films, the camera is constantly shaking, there are moments when you wonder why the camera is still on and why they have not dumped the camera.

So even after suspending your disbelief about the camera, the three of them have to be some of the stupidest people alive. I will admit to liking Chris and Dale some because they were such a odd pair. Chris had some funny lines, and Dale got on a horse.

Jacob (Tom Nowicki), Margot’s birth grandfather (?) was clearly a creep. This group were so obviously up to sinister plans that you wonder what kind of documentarians these people were.

I do not expect that this film, technically Paranormal Activity 7, will re-invigorate the Paranormal Activity franchise. If I had to guess, they placed the Paranormal Activity label on this film in hopes of increasing the eyes on the product. It won’t matter. This product is bad.

1.2 stars

I missed the first ten minutes or so of this movie. I had picked two films, Antlers and Last Night in Soho, and they were right up against one another so that, as soon as Antlers was finished, I would have been coming into Last Night in Soho with the trailers done. I was pushing the timing. Then, the power went out in the theater I was watching Antlers in.

I actually think the whole side of the Cinemark building went out. It was not really power because we had lights, but the film stopped playing, which was going to screw with the timeline I had so carefully planned out. I do not think I missed too much, but the film was definitely under way when I rushed into the theater.

From that point on, I was enthralled with the latest Edgar Wright film. It was not what I would call a common Edgar Wright film. I believe he absolutely pushed himself, taking a big swing with this horror/thriller/mystery combo film which hit much more than it missed.

Aspiring fashion student Eloise (aka Elle) (Thomasin McKenzie) moved to London to pursue her career, but she found the city to be unkind. Needed to move out of her apartment because of a party-hardy roommate, Elle found a room for rent in an old building owned by landlady Ms. Collins (Diana Rigg). Everything seemed to be working out great for Elle at first, and then something strange happened. When she went to sleep, Elle found herself sharing a body with a beautiful blonde singer named Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy) who was looking to become a success in the mid 1960s.

Unfortunately, success was not finding Sandie as she hooked up with an “agent” Jack (Matt Smith) who wound up pimping her out as a way of opening up opportunities. Elle became more frightened for Sandie, and, when she saw a vision of Sandie’s supposed death, Elle became unhinged, appearing to be losing grasp on reality.

The performances of Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy were excellent and carried this movie. These two women did a magnificent job working together and there were plenty of moments where the scenes were shot so brilliantly that it seemed as if the two actresses were exchanging positions. In is a beautiful example of movie magic that helps creates a wonderful narrative.

The film is remarkably stylish, especially the time travel back to the 1960s. The imagery of the film stands out as much as any character in the movie does.

The music is so important to the film’s narrative as well and is filled with some amazing period music. Edgar Wright does as well including music in his movies as any other director working today (right up there with James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy films).

I disliked the inclusion of a group of “mean girls” in the fashion class that Elle was in. This felt so cliché and unoriginal considering how much the rest of the film was avoiding the clichés. These snarling faced young women were just a weak link in an otherwise strong group of characters.

Some of the narrative structure of the third act breaks down a bit, but it does not do enough to derail what had been an enjoyable film. The twist at the end works somewhat, but I can understand if people believe that it weakens the film. It did not bother me much.

Original and creative, Edgar Wright absolutely tried for something new and he, mostly, succeeded.

3.6 stars

Antlers is a horror film that came out on Halloween weekend after being delay for who knows how long because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is finally out and playing in theaters.

Young Lucas Weaver (Jeremy T. Thomas) had a lot of trauma in his life. His father (Scott Haze) was attacked by something in the mines in town and became sick. He became so bad that he locked himself in a room at their house with strict instructions that Lucas and Lucas’s brother Aiden (Sawyer Jones) not open up no matter what. When Aiden began to show signs of the “sickness” as well, he joined what was left of the father in the room.

This left Lucas to take care of them, hunting animals and keeping a look out for dead carcasses. The anguish facing Lucas began to show at school as he was drawing pictures of the horrors happening to his father and his family as they slowly transformed into a monster.

Lucas’s teacher, Julia Meadows (Keri Russell), started noticing the red flags in Lucas’s behavior and started to investigate what was happening. As a survivor of abuse as a child, Julia was empathic towards Lucas. Julia, who just recently moved back to the town, was staying with her brother, Sheriff Paul Meadows (Jesse Plemons). The siblings had their own history to deal with as when Julia left the abusive home, she left Paul behind and he had been waiting for her to return.

At first, I was having some problems with Antlers. The biggest issue was that characters were doing things that were stupid and that they were doing only because the plot needed them to do it. They were doing things that made no sense and that was a major issue for me. For example, the principal went to try and talk to Lucas’s father at his house. A home visit would not be uncommon in this circumstance, but she went alone and that would never happen. If she did not have another school staff member accompany her, she would certainly contact the sheriff. She needed to be there alone because that is what the plot needed and that is never a good reason for a character to do something.

Another example that bothered me was that when Sheriff Paul showed up and saw one of his deputies down on the ground, he proceeded to move forward and check on him. He did not call for assistance. “Officer Down” should be the first thing he had done. Things like this pull me out of a movie and make we question the competency of the characters.

However, despite these missteps plot wise, I found myself invested in the film more than I thought I would. One of the major reasons was the performance of Jeremy T. Thomas. He did a magnificent job conveying fear, anger, frustration, desperation over what was happening to him and his father.

The creature too, which was SPOILERS a Wendigo END OF SPOILERS looked great and the film did a very solid job of keeping the creature under cover for most of the film, saving any major reveal for the third act. The film’s tone was perfect too as the setting was always cloudy, rainy and overcast. No sign of the sun, which was in correlation with Lucas’s life.

I was very surprised how much I was into the film considering some of the things that bothered me during it. Our theater lost power in the third act and it was something that I was not happy about. I can think of some films that I would have considered it a blessing. When the film finally resumed, I was engaged in what the story was and how the characters had to face the trials placed before them. Antlers was worth the wait.

3.5 stars

When I watched David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel, Dune, I did not like it. It was confusing and difficult to follow. It felt as if it were a film that just could not handle the span of the epic novel on which it was based. David Lynch did not feel like the proper director either considering the simplest of his projects are complex and demanding.

However, Denis Villeneuve may be the perfect director for tis material. Villeneuve is used to creating such sprawling and complex films as he has created beautiful movies such as Blade Runner 2049, Arrival and Sicario. If anyone could bring the science fiction novel to the big screen, Denis Villeneuve was the choice to make.

As Dune arrived in theaters and on HBO Max, the question was answered. Villeneuve succeeded beyond all hope.

Yes, the story is still very complex and dense and it, most likely, would reward those people who had read the books with specifics and details that may not be available to those who only come to the film alone, but it does not limit the scope of the story, nor does it hold back the enjoyment of this product.

Dune is a masterpiece in filmmaking. The creation of these worlds where the story is to take place is awe-inspiring. It feels real and tangible, unlike many sci-fi films. The images on screen are some of the most gorgeous designs you are going to see. The cinematography builds a setting unlike any we have seen prior, despite clear homages to previous films. The technical marvels involved in the creation of Dune is amazing.

The cast is top notch as well. Led by Timothée Chalamet, the remarkable ensemble boasted such notable actors as Oscar Isaacs, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgård, Chen Chang, and Sharon Duncan-Brewster. The performances of the ensemble is strong and fits beautifully within the structure of the story being told.

Timothée Chalamet stands out with his heartfelt and sensitive performance as Paul Atreides, the son of the Duke and a young man with more to him than meets the eye. There is a haunted aspect in Chalamet’s eyes that brings a realism to the role that was lacking in pervious performances (To be fair, I love Kyle MacLachlan and thought his work in 1984 Dune was one of the best parts. Chalamet really makes the role his own, though).

The movie definitely demands your attention. While I do not agree, I can certainly understand the criticism from some that consider the film too boring. The engaging storytelling aspect of Dune could be off putting for some and it does not spend time on explaining much along the way, though there are some decent scenes of exposition.

The biggest criticism I would levy against Dune is that it does not feel like a complete film. It is well known that Denis Villeneuve split the book into two parts for the movie and that he had hoped that the first film would be successful enough to warrant the filming of part two. You can definitely feel that in this movie as it has a Lord of the rings: The Fellowship of the Ring vibe to the ending. It might have been nicer to find a more conducive place to wrap up this movie. If the part two does get made, this feels like a film that would benefit from watching the two parts consecutively. The sudden ending might cause some frustrations among the typical movie goers who may not be familiar with the novel or the previous film.

Visually stunning, Dune does an admirable job beginning to adapt a novel that many believe was impossible to adapt to a movie screen. Denis Villeneuve has shown that it is possible and that his visionary work can create something that everyone can enjoy. While the story can be difficult to follow, the performances help to keep the film on track and there can be no denying that the world building, the CGI and the imagery is anything but masterful. Dune is an exceptional film and, with luck, will be successful enough so Villeneuve can finish the project.

4.4 stars

Copshop came available on Vudu this weekend. It was a film that I had not seen that was in the theaters only and I had heard good word of mouth on. I have never been a big fan of Gerard Butler, but I definitely liked his last film, Greenland, so I was willing to give it a go.

A con-man, Teddy (Frank Grillo), on the run from people who wanted him dead, assaults a rookie police officer Valerie Young (Alexis Louder), as a way of being arrested and, thus, protected from those after him. However, when hitman Bob Viddick (Gerard Butler) wound up in the cell across from Teddy, fireworks began to explode.

There is no doubt that I absolutely loved the character of Valerie Young, and how Alexis Louder brought this bad ass woman to life. She easily stood out among the rest of the male dominant cast as one of the most interesting and capable characters on screen.

The interactions between Teddy, Valerie and Bob were some of the best scenes in the film. You were never sure which of the two men could be trusted and we got a chance to see both of them reveal their true character.

The arrival of Anthony Lamb (Toby Huss) threw a real monkey wrench into the deal. Lamb was a real psychopath and he was bloodthirsty and dedicated to completing his task. He was dark and extremely entertaining, at least as entertaining as a brutal killer can be.

The story does stretch credibility quite a bit and requires some coincidental actions happening for it to work, but that is something that most action/adventures movies has and none of those affect my enjoyment of the show.

Copshop was a lot of fun and it is sad that there was not more people going to it while it was in the theaters. With it now on streaming, hopefully more people will get a chance to see it.

3.6 stars

I was really looking forward to the new Halloween movie. I have enjoyed the trailers and what I had seen up to this point. Michael Meyers is an iconic villain and monster. This new version of Michael Meyers ignored a lot of the previous films and came as a direct sequel to the first Halloween movie.

However, I was terribly disappointed with the new movie. Halloween Kills tries to give a message about the state of human affairs in face of horror, but it is so painfully apparent what they are trying to do that it lacks all subtlety.

The film picks up after the last Halloween movie ended, with Michael trapped inside a burning house and Laurie (Jamie Lee Curits) being rushed to the hospital by her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak). There were flashbacks setting up some of the other characters that were going to be involved in the vigilante mob.

Vigilante mob? Oh yeah, there is one of those.

I’ll get back to that. Halloween Kills takes Michael Meyers and makes him kill a bunch of secondary characters as he moved toward his childhood home. Not sure why he went inside some of those houses to kill these random people who were not doing anything. It was like a murder road trip. These kills seemed to be so random that it lessoned what Michael Meyers was.

When Michael Meyers was inside the car, well that was probably the most ridiculous part.

Meanwhile at the hospital, all of Michael’s victims were joining up, being egged on by Tommy (Anthony Michael Hall), the kid who Laurie was babysitting in the original Halloween movie. Tommy seemed to be really crazed on the “Evil must die tonight” bandwagon that was creating a mob. Tommy spearheaded the mob to chase after a short, fat guy whom they believed was Michael. I did not understand any of this since there was no way this guy matched the body type of Michael Meyers. That did not stop us though. Of course the analogy was being made that Michael had turned these normal people into monsters too. That message was bashing us over the head and was even verbalized by Judy Greer. This whole side story did not work at all.

Laurie, who had already jabbed a syringe filled with painkiller in her butt to be able to go fight Michael, wind up in a philosophical discussion with Will Patton’s Officer Hawkins. Laurie is not a major part of this movie despite the use of her in the promotional materials. Don’t be fooled by the trailers, Laurie is sidelined.

This movie felt as if its only purpose is to set up the sequel. There is not a story being told in this movie. It is just biding its time until the eventual finale with Michael vs. Laurie in next year’s Halloween Ends. The film had some ideas but they did not work and were some of the worst parts for me. Michael Meyers was too much of a cartoon to be scary and the excess blood and gore did not make these kills better.

Halloween killed here, but not in the way they may have wanted.

2.3 stars

Last week I watched an Amazon Prime exclusive, Black as Night, which was in the Welcome to Blumhouse series. There was a second film in that series and it was called Bingo Hell. I liked this one much more than I did Black as Night.

From IMDB: “In the Barrio of Oak Springs live a strong and stubborn group of elderly friends who refuse to be gentrified. Their leader, Lupita (Adriana Barraza) , keeps them together as a community, a family. But little did they know, their beloved Bingo hall is about to be sold to a much more powerful force than money itself.”

This movie is carried on the backs of some of the most likeable characters you are going to find. Lupita may be a bit of a Latina stereotype, but you can’t help but root for her. Then L. Scott Caldwell (the ever wonderful Rose from LOST) is here too as Dolores. They make a great pair.

The story has several themes inside it, from gentrification to community coming together. They may not be covered too deeply, but the ideas are here and the film puts it out into the world.

Richard Brake played Mr. Big and does a fantastic job of going over the top and being the face of the evil trying to tempt the older people of Oak Springs into easy money.

The conclusion of Bingo Hell is full out thrilling and exciting and brings our heroes to the forefront in a satisfying result.

Bingo Hell is a much more fun film than last week’s Black as Night and it feels as if it will maintain the score over time.

3.5 stars

The final Daniel Craig appearance as James Bond has finally come out after being delayed several times due to COVID-19. It is the official 25th film in the Bond franchise (though there are a few others that typically are not considered part of the franchise).

The Daniel Craig series of Bond films are very up and down. They have a couple of films that have to be considered top five/ten of all time with Skyfall and Casino Royale, but also has some of the lesser Bond films, such as Quantum of Solace.

No Time to Die picks up where the previous film had left Bond, retired and living with his love Madeleine (Léa Seydoux). However, when some shenanigans from Spectre occur and Bond is approached by his old friend from the CIA, Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), James finds himself back in the action.

This time, the villain is Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), who has stolen a new and deadly weapon that allows the user to target specific individuals’ DNA for destruction. Safin has a past connection with Madeleine that he will exploit for his dirty deals.

There is a lot going on in this movie, and because of that, it feels as if Rami Malek got short changed in his role. As a villain, he does not stand out despite being visually appealing and having a potential back story that could make him one of the upper echelon Bond bad guys. There was just so much packed into the film that, even at 2 hours and 43 minutes, the screen time for Malek was at a minimum.

The action is beautifully directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and the cinematography was excellent once again. The action is full out thrilling, from several cool car chases to the invasion of an island base (as much of a staple of a Bond film as you are going to find).

I’ve heard some people complain about the length, but I distinctly remember feeling that the film was flying by and I was never bored. There may be a few scenes here and there that could be cut for time, but I do not think there was anything obviously needing to go. I was fully engaged in the film all the way through.

Daniel Craig ends his run as James Bond in exceptional fashion. Although some of the Bond films may not be as strong as the others, Daniel Craig always gave his all every time. This one is no exception. He is the one actor playing Bond to create a feeling of anguish or melancholy in the super spy.

The great side cast continues to be awesome, with Ralph Fiennes as M, Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Christoph Waltz as Blofeld, Jeffrey Wright as Felix, Lashana Lynch as Nomi, and Rory Kinnear as Tanner. There was also the debut of Ana de Armas as CIA operative Paloma.

The ending did become too much of a gunfight for my taste, but it was rescued by some real emotion in the final few scenes, unlike most Bond films before it.

While this movie may not reach the heights of Skyfall and Casino Royale, it is only a few steps behind. If Rami Malek was used better, you might be looking at one of the tops in the franchise. Still, it is a great watch and was certainly worth the extra wait.

4.5 stars

Some of my absolutely favorite Muppet movies are the ones where they put the Muppets into a familiar story such as Muppet Treasure Island and Muppet Christmas Carol. Now on Disney +, we can add to this list with Muppet Haunted Mansion.

Gonzo the Great and Pepe the King Prawn skip out on the annual Muppet Halloween party to go instead to the mystery night at the mansion of The Great MacGuffin, a famous magician who disappeared without a trace. Once at the Haunted Mansion, Gonzo, who claimed to have no fears, was challenged to spend the night in the Haunted Mansion and, failing that, wind up spending all of eternity inside its walls.

This was such magic for me. I absolutely loved the film. It had so many of the bad puns, fun songs and corny jokes that make a Muppet movie what it is. Led by Gonzo and Pepe (one wonders why it was Pepe and not Gonzo’s usual sidekick, Rizzo the Rat), the jokes came flying fast through the whole 50 minute film. There were some nostalgic feels as well, especially the ghost version of Ballroom Dancing, one of the early bits on the Muppet Show.

The list of cameos is always impressive for a Muppet movie and here is no exception. We got Will Arnett, Yvette Nicole Brown, Darren Criss, Taraji P. Henson, John Stamos, Kim Irvine, Quinn McPherson, Danny Trejo, Pat Sajak, Craig Robinson, Chrissy Metz, Alfonzo Ribeiro, Sasheer Zamata and one of the final performances by legend Edward Asner, to whom the film is posthumously dedicated.

I am a little sad that the film only was about 50 minutes. I really wanted more.

I do not know much about the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyworld so the links to characters involved in that went right over my head (I guess Tarija P. Henson’s Constance Hatchaway is one of those examples). I did not require that information. I just enjoyed this.

I want to see the Muppets in these kind of films more often. Disney has struggled with this franchise to find the right way to use them. Hopefully this step in the right direction gives them the clue.

4.3 stars