Category Archives: Doc’s Movie Reviews

The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008)

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I have started season 10 of The X-Files, with just 15 more episodes to complete my rewatch of the whole series. I have been working on this on and off since late 2023. With the end in sight, I thought it would be a good choice to go ahead an rewatch the second of the X-Files movies that came out in 2008, The X-Files: I Want to Believe.

According to IMDB, “Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) worked at the F.B.I. as partners, a bond between them that led to them becoming lovers. But now they’re out of the F.B.I. and have begun new careers. Scully works as a staff physician at a Catholic hospital. Her focus these days is on a young boy with an incurable brain disease. Administration wants to give up on him. Scully, who feels a special bond with the boy, does not. Meanwhile, Mulder’s focus is on clipping newspaper articles, throwing pencils into his ceiling and writing about the paranormal. Scully and Mulder are brought together as partners again when a special case requires Mulder’s expertise, and Scully is prevailed upon to convince him to help. The case involves a pedophile priest who claims he is having psychic visions regarding the whereabouts of a missing F.B.I. Agent.”

First off, I love the characters of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. They are some of my all-time favorite TV characters. They are a major selling point for this movie, especially since I am right in continuity of the TV rewatch to where this film would take place. Seeing David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson together once again would improve any movie.

It just does seem that this movie does need that improving. The story in this film is fairly ugly and has moments where it is just not easy to follow. It is convoluted and turns into the weirdest “Frankenstein” type film, seemingly from out of nowhere. The secondary plot of the boy with the disease that Dr. Scully is trying to help despite the administration at the hospital that she works is too medical TV show for a movie like this.

Father Joe (Billy Connolly) is a bizarre choice in many ways, but I do enjoy the conflict that he throws into the mix. As a possible psychic seeing flashes of the kidnapping, that is questionable enough, but when it was revealed that he was a pedophile as well, it was a rough choice. The character is still kind of set up to be the heroic one, which did not go well for Scully and, I would guess, most of the audience. Billy Connolly is an awesome actor though and this was a solid performance.

I do wish this story had a little more construction to it, because what they gave us seemed too strung together without enough connective tissue. Still, I did enjoy seeing my two favorites back together in a movie that would be basically a “monster-of-the-week” structure from the show.

Rust

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June 17

The second June Swoon film of the day is one that had quite a tragic lead up until release. There was an accidental shooting with a gun with blanks that led to the death of the cinematographer of the film that caused a ton of negative press and a controversy in the political world. After charges were dropped against star Alec Baldwin, the decision was made to finish the film for release.

According to IMDB, “An orphaned boy of 13 left to fend for himself and his younger brother in 1880s Wyoming is sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher. His estranged grandfather breaks him out of jail and they go on the run to Mexico.”

Ignoring the backstage drama and tragedy that engulfed the movie prior to its release, I thought Rust was a pretty decent Western. Starring Alec Baldwin as Harlan Rust and Patrick Scott McDermott as Harlan’s grandson Lucas, Rust was beautifully shot and featured some solid performances from the cast.

Alec Baldwin and Patrick Scott McDermott had a nice pairing, working very well with one another. The strength of the grandfather/grandson relationship was at the heart of this film. Harlan was a notorious criminal and killer across the Western parts of the United States during the 1880s. He arrived to save Lucas from being hanged for the accidental shooting of a man.

Lucas did not know who Harlan was and their slow development of their relationship was well done and well acted. Throw in the constant pressures and dangers of being pursued by bounty hunters and the law and Harlan and Lucas had to face plenty of obstacles.

In the genre of the Western, Rust is not going to provide anything new and special, but had everything that a Western should have.

The imagery of the Old West looked spectacular in the film and the landscapes of the time were portrayed beautifully by the filmmakers.

Over all I thought this was a decent film. It took some time to set up and would be considered a slow burn, but I was never bored and I did enjoy the central relationship at Rust’s core.

3.85 stars

Ultraman: Rising

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June 17

The June Swoon film today sees us head back to animation for a fun tryst into the world of the classic superhero character of Ultraman. Ultraman: Rising brings the character back into the present world of Kaiju fighting and worldwide threats.

The original series of Ultraman debuted in 1966 and there have been many versions of the hero over the decades. This co-production between Tsuburaya Productions, who owns the franchise, and Netflix Animation looks to reintroduce the hero to the world. And with this film, they have done a wonderful job of it.

According to IMDB, “Ken Sato, a superstar baseball player who returns to Japan to become the latest hero to carry the mantle of Ultraman. His plans go awry, however, when he is compelled to raise a newborn kaiju monster the offspring of his greatest enemy as his own child. Sato will also have to contend with his relationship with his estranged father and the schemes of the Kaiju Defense Force.“

Tying this new hero Ken Sato to Japanese baseball is a excellent idea. Shohei Ohtani is a huge draw among the MLB baseball stars worldwide and having Ken Sato in that vein should help connect this to other fans around the globe.

The designs of the characters are great, as they are all awesome to look at and engage the creativity of the viewers’ imaginations.

The CGI/animation works very well too. There is the feel of old school Japanese monster flicks as well as the current day look of a big budget animated movie. The colors are flashy and entertaining.

The story does more than the typical fighting Kaiju story as it wraps itself around the idea of fatherhood and the relationship between father and sibling, both with Ken and his father, but also Ken and Emmy, the baby Kaiju that Ultraman rescues. This is a universal theme to which everyone could relate.

The villains of the KDF are a little underdeveloped. There are some interesting things going on with the KDF, but it is really basic and surface level. There are some deeper ideas available had the film chose to develop them.

Overall, I thought Ultraman: Rising was really solid. I enjoyed the superhero action and they developed the character of Ken Sato very well. This is a fun film on Netflix.

Magazine Dreams

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June 16

Magazine Dreams was intended to be released originally in 2023, but it was pushed back, and not released until 2025. Part of the reason was said to be because of the writer’s strike, but a big reason was because of the trouble that the movie’s star, Jonathan Majors found himself in.

Jonathan Majors was in a scandal involving his girlfriend at the time who claimed that he physically assaulted her. It led to Majors losing several major projects and jobs in Hollywood, most notably the main villain role in a future Marvel Studios Avengers film.

Pushing this film back makes real sense because it has Majors playing the role of a mentally ill bodybuilder, who while on steroids, was showing violent tendencies and was involved in several scenes featuring assault.

After watching this uncomfortable movie, it makes me all the more sad that Jonathan Majors derailed his career the way he did, because he is spectacular in this role. He was so believable as a man on the very edge of losing it that it felt like he wasn’t just acting. It is so sad that it is going to be difficult to separate real life from this performance in Majors’ situation.

Without any spoilers, I am not sure that the ending worked. I am not sure that the ending was earned, meaning, I don’t think the character’s choice fit with what the film had given us. Still, the fall of this character is developed extremely well.

There felt as if there were too many storylines in the film, none of which truly pays off. I think it could have benefited from a story rewrite, focusing down some of the events that occur. However, Jonathan Majors really does step up his game.

I don’t know what Jonathan Majors’ career holds for him, but he is undeniably a brilliant actor. His performance in Magazine Dreams is top line, but my guess is that a deserved Oscar nomination will not come.

3.6 stars

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

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June 16

The world of Middle Earth can hold many stories, both before and after the well known Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy. The world of animation seems to fit perfectly among the setting. Unfortunately, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim does not take advantage of the medium to the point that it could’ve.

According to IMDB, “Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, it tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan. A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless lord of Rohan, with dubious ancestry, having many ties to Dunland, he seeks vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg-a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep. Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Héra, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.”

This movie is okay, but it could have been so much more. The story of Héra is one that we have seen dozens of times. Filled with cliches, there are no really good character moments or story bits. The battles are the best part of the film, but they do not hold the same oomph that they could have because these characters are not deep and do not make you invested in their story.

The animation is, at best, average. Some background scenes look good, but much of the actual character animation looked choppy and, at times, cheap. They tried to cover some animation with snow and other imagery, but it did not work.

The relationship between Héra and Wulf was touched upon, but it was not developed to an extent that I believed the eventual response. Perhaps I can see Wulf’s anger toward Helm Hammerhand, but his all-consuming hatred is unexplained. He comes off as just a one-dimensional villain.

The film is way too long too. At two hour and fourteen minutes, it way exceeds what an animated film, even an animated epic as this intended to be, should be. Still, this is not the worst film I’ve seen. It just could have been so much better.

Finger Food

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Because of the length of The Brutalist and a couple other commitments today (including Sunday Morning Sidewalk and a Dodger game), the second June Swoon film had to be a live action short. Going on YouTube, I found a neat little sci-fi/comedy bit called Finger Food.

The film starred Ali Khan, Jessica Balmer, Angus Barnett, Debbie Chazen and the scene-stealing and totally hilarious Maggie Ollerenshaw. This cast has been very active in the world of movies and shows as they all have quite a strong list of projects they had appeared in.

The synopsis of the short in the YouTube said “Jason desperately wants to be liked by his girlfriend’s parents. Things prove more difficult upon a horrifying discovery...”

This was really well done. It was laugh out loud at times and I loved the work from all of the main actors in the short. As I said, Maggie Ollerenshaw stood out as Nana, perhaps the creepiest nana of all time.

There is a moment in the short movie that you suddenly get an understanding of what might be happening involving a fly that was a shocking and sudden event that truly caught me off guard and I did not see it coming. Well done on that.

The short ended with me wanting to know so much more. The situation that Jason had found himself stuck in was unbelievable and I really would like to know what was going to happen.

4.4 stars

The Brutalist

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June 15

This is probably the biggest film during the June Swoon this year. The Brutalist is a multiple Academy Award winning epic film. It is a massive three and a half hour long with an intermission in the middle, even on HBO Max.

Adrian Brody won his second Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as László Tóth, a Hungarian-Jewish architect who immigrated to the United States after surviving a concentration camp during the Holocaust. László meets industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren, played by Guy Pierce, who also received an Academy Award nomination for the role. He became László’s client, hiring him to design a project in honor of his dead mother.

Felicity Jones was another cast member to receive an Academy Award nomination for her role as Erzsébet Tóth, László’s wife, a journalist and a survivor of Dachau. These three performances were the backbone of the movie.

The look of the movie was amazing. The shots of the film was both wonderful and painful. There was a lot of dread in the shots. The music made this movie even more special, compelling the story to move in such a major way. Both the cinematography and the score were award Academy Award wins.

The second half of the movie does go off the tracks a bit, but that feels like it was destined to do so after such a brilliant first act. Some of the resolution of the ending seemed unsatisfying after such a commitment to the film. Without spoiling what happened, it felt as if it came out of nowhere. Still, there are some powerful ideas happening within the film.

I do think this is easily a film built on the performances, as well as the technical aspects. These are standout sections of The Brutalist.

The Life of Chuck

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This one was sensational.

Based on a novella by Stephen King, Mike Flanagan wrote this story about a man named Chuck, checking in on Chuck in three different time frames.

I was completely mesmerized with this movie.

It started off with Act 3, and then went backwards. A great storytelling tactic that I did not even realize until I saw Act 1 on the screen.

Chuck was played in Act 3 and 2 by Tom Hiddleston and he absolutely blew me away (especially with something that happened in Act 2. No spoilers, but it was absolutely brilliant).

In Act 1, three actors played the young Chuck. Cody Flanagan played 7-year old Chuck. Benjamin Pajak played 11-year old Chuck. Then Jacob Tremblay played 17-year old Chuck. All three of them were exceptional, but I thought Benjamin Pajak was the real standout as he seemed to have the most to do in this act. So while Jacob Tremblay was the biggest name of the three, Pajak did the best work for me.

The other wonderful performance of this movie, all in Act 1 was Mark Hamill, who played Albie Krantz, Chuck’s grandfather. Hamill got such a meaty role with this character that I sincerely think he has a strong case to get an Academy Award nomination for supporting actor. Hamill was brilliant as the grandfather with a bunch of secrets.

The narration over top of the movie was done by Nick Offerman and he provided such an amazing voice over. There was something about the way Offerman delivered his lines that made me feel as if everything was the way it was supposed to be.

The film is relatable, reflective and life-affirming. I loved The Life of Chuck. I did not know what it was going to be going in and I was absolutely thrilled coming out.

5 stars

Materialists

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What happens when Madame Webb is dating Reed Richards after breaking up with Captain America? I know that is not what is going on here, but I have to admit, I kept thinking about it as I watched this movie.

Since I was thinking about that more than I was thinking about what the story was or who these characters were, it tells you that this rom-com story did not grab my attention.

According to IMDB, “A young, ambitious New York City matchmaker finds herself torn between the perfect match and her imperfect ex.”

I had some problems with this story. I liked every actor involved here, but I just did not form any interest in the characters they were playing. The biggest issue I had was that I just did not feel anything for the couple of Dakota Johnson and Chris Evans. We met them after their break up and then when we got flashbacks, we only got flashbacks to them fighting. I thought there was more chemistry between Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal, but the film did not want them together.

I think this movie was too long as well. I did enjoy a side storyline with one of Dakota Johnson’s clients from her matchmaking company, but it was not a major part.

Three likable actors but I was bored for much of the movie and I did not care about any of them.

2.5 stars

The Rule of Jenny Pen

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June 14

Boy, John Lithgow can be creepy.

The second film in the June Swoon today is The Rule of Jenny Pen from Shudder and it is a psychological thriller set in a care home.

According to IMDB, “Confined to a secluded rest home and trapped within his stroke-ridden body, a former Judge must stop an elderly psychopath who employs a child’s puppet to abuse the home’s residents with deadly consequences.”

John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush are both excellent in this film. Lithgow is absolutely terrifying as the abusive resident with the hand puppet named Jenny Pen. Rush started off as an unlikable character, but his torment at the hands of Lithgow really humanized him, and made him someone you wanted to root for.

The setting of the care home was a really effective one, building the sadness and loneliness of the situation into the horrors of what was happening. The angles of shots and the way the camera moves adds to the anxiety of the scenes.

The lead performances of this movie really bring this New Zealand film to its high points, and the psychological horror works because it is so beleivable.

4 stars

Queer

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June 14

I do love Daniel Craig. I think his Bond may be my favorite of all-time. I love Benoit Blanc from the Knives Out franchise. He is just a tremendous performer.

I do think he is the best part of Queer, the movie I watched for the June Swoon today. He received a Golden Globe nomination for the role.

Unfortunately, I just did could not get into Queer, despite the topline performance of its lead.

According to IMDB, “William Lee, an American expat and heroin addict in Mexico City, spends his days almost entirely alone, except for a few contacts with other members of the small American community he lives in. His encounter with Eugene Allerton, an expat former soldier, makes him believe it might finally be possible to establish an intimate connection with somebody.“

Part of the issue was that this felt too stream-of-consciousness-y to me. It is designed, at times, as a dreamlike film with an abstract story. As in some independent movies, the plot is not important, and that does feel like what Queer is. It is a character piece, and that is fine, but I just did not engage in the film.

Daniel Craig is great, as is his co-star Drew Starkey. I just lost interest in the film early and it never got me back.

Fear Street: Prom Queen

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June 13

In honor of Friday the 13th, I figured the second part of the June Swoon I would watch a good slasher film. Unfortunately, instead I watched Fear Street: Prom Queen.

I really enjoyed the previous installments of the Fear Street films. They came out in 2021, released once a week on Netflix. Based on R.L. Stein books, the Fear Street films were based in 1994, 1978 and 1666. They were connected and was a lot of fun.

It only made sense that they would return to the series. Prom Queen was lacking a lot of what made the first three films so great… namely a story, any interesting characters and fun.

According to IMDB, “Welcome back to Shadyside. In this next installment of the blood-soaked Fear Street franchise, prom season at Shadyside High is underway and the school’s wolfpack of It Girls is busy with its usual sweet and vicious campaigns for the crown. But when a gutsy outsider is unexpectedly nominated to the court, and the other girls start mysteriously disappearing, the class of ’88 is suddenly in for one hell of a prom night.”

This was such a dumb movie. I mean, dumb even for a slasher movie. The story made no sense. The motives of the killer made no sense. The kills were uninspired and boring. It just had a whole list of horror/slasher tropes that were not fun at all.

The writing was so bad. The acting was over the top. What a waste of time.

I was sorry to see this because I really enjoyed the Fear Street films form 2021, but this was nowhere close to a worthy successor to those three movies. This felt like a high school production.

I wonder if I would have considered this so badly if it did not have the Fear Street name attached to it? The memory of the great movies that preceded this may have not allowed this one a fair shot. On the other hand, this was aggressively bad and if a better movie was made, perhaps it would have benefited from the previous films. Either way, don’t bother with this one.

1.2 stars

Small Things Like These

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June 13

Today’s entry in the June Swoon is a historical drama that was available on Hulu entitled Small Things Like These, starring Cillian Murphy, hot off his Oscar win for Oppenheimer.

According to IMDB, “In 1985 devoted father Bill Furlong discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent and uncovers shocking truths of his own.”

Cillian Murphy has placed himself square in the upper echelon of actors working today and this is one more outstanding and very subtle and sublime performance.

The movie deals with the concept of the Magdalene laundries, which according to Wikipedia, “were institutions usually run by Roman Catholic orders” which were “run ostensibly to house ‘fallen women’, an estimated 30,000 of whom were confined in these institutions in Ireland.”

“In 1993, unmarked graves of 155 women were uncovered in the convent grounds of one of the laundries. This led to media revelations about the operations of the secretive institutions.“

This was a bit of history that I did not know about and it was a truly harrowing tale. Cillian Murphy is remarkable with the backdrop of this history in the foreground of this movie. There are flashbacks used to Murphy’s character’s, Bill, childhood.

This is a small film but it carried a strong message about a terrible time in the world, including the potential questions that this could raise about religion and belief in such.

How to Train Your Dragon (2025)

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Masterpiece.

I am typically negative on these live action remakes of classic animation. There have been some good ones, but there have been so many more that just does not hit the mark.

How to Train Your Dragon knocked it out of the park.

I loved this live action adaptation. My one criticism is that it is basically a shot-for-shot remake with little if anything new to add. However, I don’t care about that when the adaptation is this epic.

I knew the story. I knew the beats. I was still getting chills and I still had tears running down my face in the final act. This was so well done and affecting to me.

Mason Thames was perfectly cast as Hiccup. You had to get this casting correct if you wanted this movie to be successful, and Thames was masterful. He connected to the audience, he expressed the emotions of his conflict beautifully, and his hero’s journey was just spot on. Toothless was impeccable with the CGI. This felt like a real dragon on screen and you could sense the chemistry between Hiccup and Toothless.

Gerard Butler reprised the role that he voiced in the animated movie with Hiccup’s father Stoick. Butler played this over-the-top role to perfection. His feelings for Hiccup are so obvious, even when he was disappointed b his son’s choices.

Nico Parker was a standout as Astrid. She had a star quality every moment she was on the screen. I was really impressed with her in the role that I was not as fond of in the animated movie. The film also featured Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, and the incomparable Peter Serafinowicz.

The cinematography of this movie was just outstanding, especially the flying sequences. I constantly sat in the theater in awe over some of the shots I saw on the screen. It was a beautifully designed and laid out with such care.

Yes, this is basically an exact remake of the animated movie and I know there are some who will crap on the film because of that. I will not be one of those. This is my favorite movie of the year so far.

5 stars

Karen

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June 12

It is a busy day so I went looking for a short film to watch for the 2025 section of the June Swoon. I found a short film called Karen on YouTube. It was supposed to be a horror film and was just over 13 minutes long. That was going to be perfect for my needs on this Thursday.

Karen runs a cottage for weekend getaways. A married couple came to stay at the cottage, and Karen gave them a list of rules to follow. It might be considered a tad obsessive.

The film felt kind of like a present day version of Misery. Starring Anto Sharp, Angie Sutcliffe and Alice Lucy. Angie Sutcliffe did a great job as the titular character.

This is one of those shorts that could certainly be expanded into something more.

3.5 stars