Category Archives: Doc’s Movie Reviews

Primate

Posted on by

Killer chimp. What more do you need?

Primate is a new horror film out in January where a family, who had a pet chimp, gets mauled by it after the chimp, named Ben, gets rabies.

That was about all the story of the film.

There are so many slasher movie tropes in this movie. A group of young people are trapped in an isolated house with their crazed chimp, and the chimp murdered many of them, in very gruesome and gory ways.

We had so many slasher movie tropes here including: cell phones not charged, stupid choices when faced with any decision, car issues with keys, a killer that can make its way around the house easily, the isolated house, and a group of characters that the audience would like to see killed off.

All this was in play in Primate.

The chimp looked pretty good. It was basically a practical effect and the kills were very gory that made sense. There was one involving an obnoxious boy in a bed that was specifically brutal.

Slasher movies always are tough for me because how stupid the characters always seem to be. That bothers me, but if you can get past that, the film was okay. It is certainly a simple film, but that is not a bad thing. It succeeds in what it sets out to be, without being anything deeper than that.

It does have a lot of tension in the execution of the chimp stalking and attacking its victims. There are a lot of white knuckle moments in the film which provides a great mood for the audience.

If you go to see Primate, go in expecting a tense film without anything resembling a plot or deep character depth. It has some fun, gory kills and a good looking chimp.

3 stars

Super Troopers (2001)

Posted on by

When I was trying to decide which genre to use this January in the Genre-ary, I was worried about comedies. One reason I was worried about choosing comedy as the Genre-ary gerne was because when comedy movies go wrong, they can be really tough to watch and I did not want to watch a month of terrible movies.

Super Troopers is exactly the kind of movie that I was worried about.

According to IMDB, “Five Vermont state troopers, avid pranksters with a knack for screwing up, try to save their jobs and out-do the local police department by solving a crime.”

I really disliked watching this movie. There were some funny moments, but I have never been a big fan of stupidity as comedy.

Juvenile dialogue and characters that were, in no way, even slightly believable as police officers. There was little story in the film and the characters were some of the most obnoxious and unlikable characters that I have seen in a long time.

There was a movie where this could have been funny, but this was not it. I grew to dislike this movie more as it progressed and it is why I really was not anxious to watch a bunch of comedies. I hope there are more good ones to come because I can’t take a month of this.

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (2009)

Posted on by

January 9

Today’s new movie for the Genre-ary was found on HBO Max and it was a sci-fi time travel film called Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel. It was a British film that had a definite flavor of Doctor Who.

According to IMDB, “While drinking at their local pub, three social outcasts attempt to navigate a time-travel conundrum.“

This was a decent little flick. It may not have been amazing and awe-inspiring, but it was engaging and fun. Anything with time travel can be problematic, but I think they handled that fairly well. I liked how the time travel future scenes in the bar were laid out and how they came back around at the end.

I am not sure I love the three lead actors. Chris O’Dowd was solid as Ray and I thought the desperation of Dean Lennox Kelly as Pete was good. I am not sure how I felt about Marc Wootton as Toby. The three of them had some good scenes as a trio, especially in the men’s bathroom.

Anna Faris was time traveler Cassie and she had an easy chemistry with Chris O’Dowd. I’m not sure I bought them as a couple, but they were solid together during most of their scenes.

The future scenes were all fun and creative. The variety of the futures that we saw were pretty decent and kept us guessing.

It was an easy watch that moved briskly and was engaging enough. It was not a perfect film, but it was harmless as a watch some afternoon or over the weekend.

The Other Guys (2010)

Posted on by

January 8

I did not have a review of this movie on EYG, but I know I saw the opening of The Other Guys with Samuel L. Jackson and The Rock. I did not remember anything else about this movie, so it is quite possible that as soon as Jackson and Johnson were done, I stopped watching.

I have never been a huge Will Farrell fan, but I have liked a few of the films he has been in and there has always had great word of mouth.

Sadly, there was just too much garbage in this film for me to enjoy it.

According to IMDB, “Two mismatched New York City detectives seize an opportunity to step up like the city’s top cops, whom they idolize, only things don’t quite go as planned.”

There were some funny bits, but there was so much ridiculousness in here that I just could not get into the story. I did not like either character that was the lead. Mark Wahlberg was nothing more than a yelling and screaming jerk who I had a lot of difficulty getting behind. Will Farrell’s cop was a little different at least, but he also found his moments to be cruel, specifically to his wife, played by Eva Mendes.

I do not know why when we have comedy movies about police detectives, the secondary partners are always gigantic assholes? I know that is about all Rob Riggle can play, as I swear every time I see him in a movie, he is playing the same character. His partner was Damon Wayans Jr. and he was at least not quite as obnoxious.

Why would Michael Keaton take the role as the police chief who is constantly coming down on our lead characters? I do not think you could get more cliche than that.

Why do so many people believe that comedy in this type of film substituted by stupidity in characters is the way to go?

I did enjoy the work of Steve Coogan, but there was nowhere near enough with him. I am also not 100% sure what his character was doing. It was very convoluted and messy.

I had hoped that this would be better than I thought it would be, but unfortunately, it was not. I should have turned it off again after Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson were done. That was the highlight of the night.

Sherlock Jr. (1923)

Posted on by

January 7

Going back over 100 years for today’s Genre-ary film, I picked up a rental on Fandango at Home for Sherlock Jr., a classic black and white, silent film starring Buster Keaton.

When I was doing the DailyView, I watched some Buster Keaton films, but I found that I preferred the Charlie Chaplin ones. Both were similar in their silent, comedic slapstick manner, but I just found Chaplin more appealing, more charming overall. However, after watching Sherlock Jr., I may have to reassess my opinion.

Buster Keaton was gold in this movie, giving a magnificent performance in both physical comedy and remarkable stunt work.

According to IMDB, “A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend’s father’s pocket watch.”

Some of the things that this film accomplished in 1923 was simply astounding. Some of the stunts were superior to what I thought it could be done.

The dream sequence of the projectionist was sensational. The dream sequence where Keaton was the amazing detective Sherlock Jr. and it was funny, it had amazing choreography and slapstick comedy.

Of course when we say silent films, we mean that there is no one we can hear speaking. The is a constant musical score playing over the imagery of the movie. The soundtrack was composed by Timothy Block and his score was perfect for the speechless film. It was light-hearted when it needed to be, it was silly at times, and it was dramatic at the appropriate moment. The score truly helped to make this a classic film.

I thought Buster Keaton was special in this movie and the film was so much fun. I can see why it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1991.

Alan Partridge (2013)

Posted on by

January 6

I went back to HBO Max for today’s Genre-ary film and it was considerably better than yesterday’s. Alan Partridge was hilarious, clever British style humor that truly was a joy to watch.

According to IMDB, “When famous DJ Alan Partridge’s radio station is taken over by a new media conglomerate, it sets in motion a chain of events which see Alan having to work with the police to defuse a potentially violent siege.”

Alan Partridge is played by Steve Coogan and this film featured his brilliant wit and great dialogue that was as funny as it was intelligent. Colm Meaney co-starred with Coogan as Pat Farrell, one of the DJs that got canned when the new media conglomerate took over the radio station. Little did Pat know, Alan Partridge had a hand in helping to make the decision.

Alan was being put into so many crazy situations with this siege that you could tell what a fantastic character this guy was… and that was with him being a jerk in much of the film. Even though he was selfish and putting himself first, I could not help but love Alan.

Apparently, Alan Partridge was a character originally on a television program in England. It would be an interesting thing to see, just to compare the comedy with the film.

I really enjoyed this movie and I loved the character of Alan Partridge.

Miss Pinkerton (1932)

Posted on by

January 5

We head back to 1932 today for the Genre-ary to a film called Miss Pinkerton. The 1932 film was viewed on HBO Max.

To be fair, it is labeled as a comedy/mystery/thriller, which is why it made its way on to the list for this year’s Comedy Genre-ary. Thing is…. there is not much of a comedy to it.

According to IMDB, “A hospital nurse is recruited by the police to watch a household where a suspicious death has occurred.“

Joan Blondell played the titular character, Miss Pinkerton, which was an alias she took on to help the police with their case. She was actually a nurse named Miss Adams. Blondell had some good presence as the lead of the film, but there was not a ton to the film.

The story of this movie is fairly convoluted and messy. I am not sure what was going on here.

Office Space (1999)

Posted on by

January 4

The Genre-ary continued on today with a classic comedy from the late 90s called Office Space. I had heard of this film before, but I can honestly say that I really had no idea what the film was about.

According to IMDB, “Three company workers who hate their jobs decide to rebel against their greedy boss.“

This film is a satirical look at big business and corporations, and the people who work mindlessly within the structure of said business. The ridiculousness of some of the situations did not feel totally made up. I could easily be convinced that things like this actually happen in the offices across the country.

Ron Livingston does a great job as Peter. He is very relatable and you can feel his frustration over his life and his job. Jennifer Aniston appeared as Joanna. David Herman and Ajay Naidu were part of the office staff and friends to Peter. Stephen Root was very invested in his eccentric character and made every minute on screen worthwhile. Diedrich Bader was another standout and his character was hilarious. Another character who maximized his screen time.

Gary Cole is one of the most unlikable characters in the film, and he does a great job with it.

I found this movie very funny and I enjoyed it. There is not a ton of story involved with it, but the characters are fun and the bits are funny.

The Jerk (1979)

Posted on by

January 3

The Genre-ary continued today with The Jerk, a movie that, when I was compiling the possible list of comedies for the Genre-ary, I realized that I had not seen the entire film. Of course, I had seen parts of the movie. The “The new phone book’s here” scene is iconic. However, I could not recall much of anything else, so if I had seen it as a youth, this would be like a whole new movie.

And, as I said, I did not remember most of this movie, telling me that I had not seen the film all the way through.

Steve Martin is one of my favorite comedic actors, especially recently with his turn as Oliver on Only Murders in the Building. I was a fan of his from the early 80s with his song King Tut and some of his other films such as Roxanne, Parenthood, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and Little Shop of Horrors.

In The Jerk, directed by comedy legend Carl Reiner, Martin played a slow-witted, innocent guy, Navin, who was raised as a poor black kid in a sharecroppers family. That very idea, considering Martin is as white as a person could be, was hilarious. It also was not as insulting as I first thought it might be.

After discovering his own life rhythm, Navin left home to try to find out who he really was. He then embarked on a wild ride that found him becoming a huge success and losing it all.

Martin’s performance reminded me of an actor who is always loud and over the top. I typically am not a fan of this type of role, but Steve Martin brought something extra to it that made it enduring. I can only guess that this film was an inspiration to actors such as Jim Carrey, Kevin Hart, Adam Sandler, and Chris Farley, as they all have made a career of the loud, obnoxious type character that Steve Martin was showing in this film.

The film’s title is not accurate to me though as Navin was not really a jerk, but more of a simpleton. There was an innocence about him that helped make him appealing to the audience.

The film featured several other actors in important roles including EYG Hall of Famer Bernadette Peters, Carl Reiner (as himself), Bill Macy, Mabel King, Richard Ward, M. Emmet Walsh, Jackie Mason, Dick Anthony Williams, Catlin Adams, and Dick O’Neill. Several of these key character actors add a perfect flair to the cast, playing off the ridiculousness of Martin’s Navin.

The Jerk is a classic and I am happy that I finally did take the time to watch the entire film. The plot itself is a little lacking, but it is more of a comedy sketch to see where Navin is at any time during his life.

We Bury the Dead

Posted on by

It is January and I am going to a horror movie. Typically, that is a bad sign.

However, We Bury the Dead was not your typical January movie. This was watchable.

Daisy Ridley starred as Ava, who is in search for her husband who was lost after a catastrophic military disaster. They discover that the dead was not just dying, but they would rise and hunt.

The zombies were kept at a minimum in the movie and I think that made them more effective. They were scary in appearance, though nothing specific that we haven’t seen before. They did make a creepy clicking noise that was disturbing.

Honestly, the drama among the humans were the creepiest of the movie. Much like the drama of the Walking Dead and other movies, you tend to find out that the human race is as much, if not more, of the monster than the zombie.

The beginning of the film started a little slow and the end turned into too much of a zombie fest.

I think Daisy Ridley was great as Ava and the film had enough feels and surprises to make it engaging. Overall, not a bad start for 2026.

3.4 stars

Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987)

Posted on by

January 2

It is Genre-ary time and today’s comedy is a stand up film featuring Eddie Murphy. Eddie Murphy’s Raw is a hilarious film that probably couldn’t work in today’s environment.

It is interesting that this concert film started off with a scene featuring famous black actors including Samuel L. Jackson, Tatyana Ali, Damien Wayans, Basil Wallace, Leonard Jackson, and Gwen McGee. It was a scene of a family night at home with a talent show among the kids. Little Eddie Murphy (Deon Richmond) did some comedy, setting the tone for the rest of the film.

Eddie Murphy showed a remarkable energy on the stage and his routines were very funny. There were a couple of them that made me cringe a bit (aka the homosexual jokes) but most of the show was entertaining. Murphy’s rapid fire delivery and pacing was an impressive demonstration of his comedic skill. He had the full audience enraptured with his words.

There was an ironic section too as Eddie did an imitation of a phone call he received from Bill Cosby about all the profanity Murphy would use on his stage show. In retrospect, a little swearing should not have bothered Cosby a much as some other things he was doing.

The stage section of the film was filmed in front of a live crowd in New York City.

Who Done It? (1942)

Posted on by

January 1

January is here and that means that it is time to start our annual tradition, the Genre-ary. We have done Sci-fi, Musicals, Documentaries and this year, we will be doing comedies.

I wanted to start off with one of the top comedy duos who I watched a lot as a child. I know there were great comedy duos/team like the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, but Bud Abbot and Lou Costello were my favorite ones.

Of their list of movies, I picked out one I did not remember at all called Who Done It? Bud and Lou get themselves involved in a murder investigation on the set of a radio broadcast of a murder mystery show.

Much like most Abbot and Costello movies, the plot is tangential to the comedy of the film. The comedy comes from the slapstick of Lou Costello physically throwing himself around, bashing his head into things and flopping his body around. There are also plenty of word plays and puns throughout. This film even goes as far as to include some allusions to Abbot and Costello’s most iconic bit, Who’s on First.

You are not waiting for a lot of sense to be made. It is truly ridiculous. But the lengths Abbot and Costello will go to get a laugh is really impressive. It seemed that their very presences would make the other characters around them be dumber, in a good way.

This film also included Mary Wickes, who was Mary Lazarus in the Sister Act films as well as Emma Allen in White Christmas. Her distinct voice and facial image made her stand out among the craziness associated with Bud and Lou.

The film was fast-paced, tangent-inducing, slapstick fun. Yes, Lou Costello was loud and acted in a chaotic, if not insane, manner. It all added to the fun of the pair. They kicked of the Genre-ary in a positive light.

Christy

Posted on by

Christy is a biopic of female boxer Christy Martin’s rise in the world of women boxing and her subsequent abusive relationship with her coach/husband James Martin. This is a film that I rented off Fandango at Home. It was one of the biggest flops of the year at the box office, which is truly a shame because the movie is tremendous.

I thought both Sydney Sweeney, who played Christy, and Ben Foster, who played James, did spectacular jobs. Sydney Sweeney was practically unrecognizable and, had I not known this was her in the lead role, I never would have guessed it.

Christy followed its titular character through her discovery when she won a tough person contest. She was brought into a gym and she showed off her skills at punching to James Martin. He began training her and prepared her to lead the way in the world of female boxing.

Christy had a relationship with another woman, which was frowned upon by her mother Joyce (Merritt Wever). The family sent Christy away to train with James and to control her. James immediately began to show his attempts to control Christy through manipulation. He pushed himself into a relationship with her and was able to get her to agree to marry him.

That was a major mistake. He showed himself to be not only controlling, but also abusive, as he hit her and strangled her during their marriage. While this was going on, he was skimming from the money earned by Christy from her fights. He even went as far as to say that if she ever left him, he would kill her.

It is a fascinating tale as a female boxer, who was one of the first and most dominate female boxers in the sport, would have troubles with an abusive husband. From the outside, you would think that she could take care of herself, but her boxing was not able to prevent his violence.

The third act events were shocking and brutal. I came into it without any knowledge of the life of Christy Martin and, if you can, I would recommend you do the same thing. It was a tough story.

This is a movie that should have done better at the box office. It did not deserve the audiences to desert it as they did. Hopefully, this will find an audience on streaming because this is an important story for people to see.

4 stars

Song Sung Blue

Posted on by

I like Neil Diamond. I was never a huge fan, though. At first, I thought this was going to be a biopic about Neil Diamond, however, it was not. It was about a Neil Diamond tribute act called Lightning and Thunder.

According to IMDB, “Lightning and Thunder, a Milwaukee husband and wife Neil Diamond tribute act, experience soaring success and devastating heartbreak in their musical journey together.“

Hugh Jackman played Mike, aka Lightning, and Kate Hudson played Claire, aka Thunder. They do a spectacular job in these roles. I believe they do all their own singing and this movie does a tremendous job of using music to create an amazing tone for the film.

I was so into this movie. It had me emotional throughout as the story progressed. I was surprised how impacted I felt with everything that was going down.

This was a true story, but I am not sure how much of the drama that happened actually happened. It was an extremely powerful story and the performances were wonderful.

I don’t want to go into any specifics to avoid spoilers, but there are some shocking moments throughout.

Greta performances, great music, great storyline. I really loved this movie which took me on an emotional journey that I did not expect to go on. Song Sung Blue was fabulous.

4.8 stars

The Housemaid

Posted on by

When I first saw a trailer for this movie, I thought to myself, “This is like the Hand that Rocked the Cradle.” I said this to a friend of mine and she said that it was not anything like that. She mentioned that it was originally in a novel by Freida McFadden, which I did not know. I decided that I would give this a chance. My friend was right, this was not in that subgenre of horror film where the babysitter tries to do crazy things for reasons.

According to IMDB, “A struggling young woman is relieved by the chance for a fresh start as a maid for a wealthy couple. Soon, she discovers that the family’s secrets are far more dangerous than her own.”

This one has its ups and downs for me. I am not sure how I feel about it. I think the three main cast members, Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar, do a fantastic job with what the story asks of them. They have great chemistry with each other and are very believable in everything that they do.

One of my problems though is I hate it when people do stupid things in a thriller. There are several things that Sweeney’s character Millie does that makes me want to yell at the screen. Couldn’t she see this coming? Maybe at first, but as the film moved on, why are you not recognizing what is going on? I hate it when the characters do really stupid things.

The end of the movie was fun, but I did see it coming. There was something that, when mentioned in the beginning of the film, I knew was going to come back around as a major piece later in the film, and sure enough, I was right.

There was also a section near the beginning of the third act of the film where suddenly we were doing a ton of exposition, explaining what had gone down. I thought this was a weak point of the movie.

The Housemaid feels like Hollywood camp, but in a glorious way. It feels as if everyone involved understands the assignment in this story and are ready to give it their all. There are weaknesses in the film, but I think I came out of it more positive than negative.

3 stars