Category Archives: Doc’s Movie Reviews

Good Night, and Good Luck: Live From Broadway (2005)

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June 5

Day 5

I wish we got more of this.

This was originally a live broadcast of the Broadway play, Good Night and Good Luck on CNN and CNN International. I wish that there were more examples of this form, movie recorded as the Broadway play, so we could get more of an exposure to this type of entertainment.

I have been excited to see this since I put it on the Netflix queue and i figured the June Swoon 5 would be a perfect place for it.

This play showed the lead up and eventual confrontation between the junior senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy and CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow, as well as the journalists and news people behind the scenes at CBS.

I found this to be completely enthralling and totally thrilling. The play used videos of Joseph McCarthy as well as other important people of the time to help illuminate the story.

George Clooney starred as Murrow and he was excellent. A personal favorite of mine was also here, Clark Gregg, who was well known as Agent Coulson in the MCU. He played newscaster Don Hollenbeck. There was a scene in this play between Clooney and Gregg that was just amazing and showed off Gregg’s skills tremendously.

Glenn Fleschler played Fred Friendly and his relationship with Murrow was another part of this story. It was some of the best dialogue you will hear and consistently was both funny and poignant.

The only thing that was distracting for me was that fact that every time the character of Joe Wershba, played by Carter Hudson, spoke, it sounded like John Ratzenberger. That did not take away from his strong performance in the play, but it was something that I thought of every time he spoke.

I wish there were more of these type of films. Not just adaptations of stage plays, but actual stage plays as they are presented on Broadway. I would definitely go see something like this in a theater.

Rental Family (2025)

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June 4

Day 4

So the June Swoon film for the day is Rental Family, a film featuring Brendan Fraser. It was one that I thought about going to the theater to see, but it did not work out. I decided that I would save this one for June Swoon.

According to IMDB, “An American actor in Tokyo struggling to find purpose lands an unusual gig: working for a Japanese “rental family” agency, playing stand-in roles for strangers. He rediscovers purpose, belonging, and the beauty of human connection.”

I am torn on this movie. Not because I did not enjoy it, because this was a beautiful movie filled with emotion and lovely exteriors and great performances. The problem I had was with the central concept of the idea of rental family, not the movie but the business that Shinji Tada (Takehiro Hira) was running. He would send actors into situations to play relatives or friends or whatever to people who are emotionally challenged.

For example, in this film, Brendan Fraser played an actor named Phillip who was struggling with his career. He moved to Japan several years before and he joined in the company where he is sent into a situation where he was pretending to be the absentee father of a little girl, Mia (Shannon Mahina Gorman). He was hired by her mother to help her get into a specific school.

The problem is they do not tell Mia that he is pretending and they pretend that he is her long, lost father, and they told Phillip that he needed to not get close to her. How is he supposed to do that, get to know her and not get close to her.

It just felt gross. I felt that these characters were so emotionally manipulated in this that it, as I said, felt gross.

However, so much of the movie is so wonderful that I kind of held my nose and moved along. To be fair, I think that it is gross is meant to be part of the themes of the film.

There is another storyline where Phillip is pretending to be a journalist interviewing a big time former actor Kikuo Hasegawa (Akira Emoto) which was a beautiful tale of friendship and life.

I loved the relationships Phillip developed with both Mia and Kikuo, which made his constant lies all the harder to watch. You can tell from Fraser’s excellent performance how the lies were affecting him as well.

While I had trouble with the concept of the film, everything else was amazing. I loved the story, the characters, the performances, the relationships and the chorography. Rental Family was an outstanding movie that made me feel icky at a few times.

All the Empty Rooms (2025)

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June 3

Day 3

I thought we’d start off day 3 of the June Swoon with some tears.

Wednesdays are always a challenge during the June Swoon because it is “new comic book day” and I head out to spend time at the two comic shops that I patronize. So I have to look for a movie that can fit into the time frame available. Many times that means I use a short.

In this case, I pulled up the 2026 Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Short Film on Netflix, entitled All the Empty Rooms.

In this doc, we follow CBS newsman Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they travel around the country, documenting bedrooms of victims of school shootings.

In the short, we see the final four children’s bedrooms and hear from the families of the victims.

The four kids involved in this doc were Hallie Scruggs, Dominic Blackwell, Gracie Anne Muehlberger and Jacklyn Jaylen Cazares. According to Wikipedia, there were several others involved in Hartman’s project that were not shown in the doc.

The doc was directed and produced by Joshua Seftel.

This documentary was poignant and truly showed the pain and the love of these surviving family members and how much their loss affected their lives. It also showed how their love is everlasting, even years after the death of their children.

Hokum

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Ahhhhhhhhh

This was one of the creepiest movies of the year. I legitimately had chills as the movie progressed.

I missed this one in the theater because of schedule so when it popped up on Fandango at Home today for rental, I was ready to watch it. Then, I was scared throughout it.

Typically, I am not scared by movies, but there was no denying that this one hit just right for me.

According to IMDB, “A horror writer visits an Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, unaware the property is said to be haunted by a witch.”

Adam Scott starred as writer Ohm Bauman, a bad-tempered man who came to the area to spread the ashes of his recently deceased parents. He was really an unlikable character at the beginning of this movie, but you get past that very quick after a shocking event at the hotel.

This film falls into the sub-genre of haunted house films, and it does it in a magnificent way. The jump scares were kept at a minimum and when they happen, they are so well executed that it fit into the story.

Everything looked great, the music really worked well, and I was engaged in this film. I was rooting for Bauman to get out of the hotel and the story did not disappoint me.

I was so happy that I got to see this one.

4.5 stars

Pressure

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When I saw the trailer for this movie, it felt like a silly idea. How the meteorologists helped save D-Day? Apparently it was a true story, but it really seemed ridiculous. However, this movie rocked.

According to IMDB, “In the tense 72 hours before D-Day, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Captain James Stagg face an impossible choice–launch the most dangerous seaborne invasion in history or risk losing the war altogether.“

This movie was fascinating and full of intensity. I was very impressed with both Andrew Scott and Brendan Fraser. Fraser was Dwight D. Eisenhower and Scott was James Stagg, the meteorologist. The tension between the characters is absolutely sharp and fills the screen. Scott has some great performances with the stuff that he got to play was amazing.

I had no idea that weather could be as exciting as it was. The differing ideas behind the way to predict the weather from Stagg and Col. Krick (played by Chris Messina) was interesting. It showed how two different meteorologists can look at the same thing and come up with different points of view.

There was not much war scenes in this war movie, as it was more in the vein of Darkest Hour, but the scenes that they did include was very tough to watch.

Another actor who I thought did great job was Kerry Condon, who played Eisenhower’s associate Kay Summersby. She was one of the most empathic characters I have seen in a long time in a movie like this. She felt like she was holding everything together.

I never thought I was going to like this movie, and it turned out to be sensational. It goes to show that you should not make up your mind on a trailer before you actually see the product.

4.4 stars

Fackham Hall (2025)

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June 2

June Swoon 5: Day 2

The second film in this year’s June Swoon is a comedy that combines the feel of Wuthering Heights and Downton Abby with Airplane! and Naked Gun.

According to IMDB, “A new porter forms an odd bond with the youngest daughter of a well-known UK family. As the Davenport family, headed by Lord and Lady Davenport, deals with the epic disaster of the wedding of their eldest daughter to her caddish cousin.“

While I compared this to Airplane! and Naked Gun, I think the comedy and writing in this is a little more subtle at times, and does not have the real, over-the-top type jokes of those two, which I liked quite a bit about this.

I will say that it took a bit of time to get the story going, but it was always very funny.

The cast was led by Thomasin McKenzie and Ben Radcliffe as Rose and Eric. They made a nice pair together and gave the odd cousin-thing a surprise twist. Other cast members included Damian Lewis, Hayley Mills, Tom Felton, Katherine Waterston, Jason Done, Emma Laird, Adam Woodward, Ramon Tikaram, Lily Knight, and Erin Austen.

The film was lightweight, but funny and funny can overcome plenty of flaws.

Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching (2025)

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June 1

Day 1-June Swoon 5

And with that, the June Swoon 5 is underway.

The June Swoon kicked off this year with a documentary that I watched for free on YouTube that I had heard about from film critic William Bibbiani. He had it as one of his favorite movies from 2025, which sounded strange considering it was a documentary about birdwatching.

I tell you what…this thing was one of the most entertaining documentaries I have seen in quite a while. I found myself engaged and laughing loudly multiple times throughout the nearly two hour run time.

Two brothers, Owen and Quentin Reiser, with zero birdwatching experience, decided to attempt a “Big Year” by traveling across the USA in a Kia minivan and listing as many species of birds that they could see.

A “Big Year” is a competitive birding challenge to spot as many bird species as possible across the Lower 48 United States in a single calendar year.

During the year, the Reiser brothers met many other birdwatchers along the way and these people were every bit as engaging as the birds that they were following.

Another major aspect of fun in this doc was the inexperience and the reactions of these two men. Their observations were hilarious which came from a place of unfamiliarity.

Several “listers,” which referred to a group of highly competitive birdwatchers who compile a list of the number of species that they see in a calendar year, trying to break the record of bird species seen, appeared on the documentary as Owen and Quentin came across them on their travels.

Some of these included Tammy and David McQuade, a married couple who recorded 700+ sightings in multiple consecutive years, and Ezekiel Dobson, a 19-year old who broke the record of birdwatching with 758 recorded sightings in 2024.

The unconventional manner that they undertook was one of the most enduring parts of the doc. They spoke about things like eBird, an app that helped identify birds, how Cracker Barrel would allow them to sleep in their parking lot for free, and the advantages and disadvantages of playback, recorded sounds of birds intended to attract the birds. It reminded me a lot of the old Squatch calls from Finding Bigfoot.

The Reisers planned on spending as little money as they could, so they even went as far as attempting to build their own boats, to varying degrees of success.

This had no right to be as entertaining as it was, bit Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching was a great film to kick off the fifth annual June Swoon.

Toy Story 3 (2010)

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I finished off the original Toy Story trilogy tonight by watching Toy Story 3 on Disney +. Toy Story 3 is one of my all-time favorite animated films. It is top 3 for sure, if not number one. It had been too long since I have seen it. After the viewing tonight, I can say with certainty that this remains an all-time classic.

Andy has grown up and is about to head off to college, which means that he has to make a decision about what he is going to do with his toys. When they accidentally get thrown out, the toys decide to get themselves donated to a daycare. However, the daycare turned out to be nowhere near as awesome as they thought it would be.

There are a couple of reasons why I loved this movie as much as I did. First up was the arrival of what I consider one of the greatest Disney villains of all time in Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear, voiced by the iconic Ned Beatty. Lotso was such an evil character, but I could completely understand his story. I thought his origin story, which was told in flashbacks, was just perfection. Everything that Lotso did was relatable because of the trauma of being lost and replaced. It turned him bitter and angry, something that he never got over.

The second thing that made me love this movie was one of the most dramatic and suspenseful scenes you are going to get in any movie, let alone a Pixar kids movie. The scene where Woody, Buzz and all of the others were in the incinerator, slowly moving toward the flames. When I first saw that scene in the theaters, I actually couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I couldn’t see a way out for them and I truly thought that the film was going to send them all to a fiery grave. This time, I saw the foreshadowing with the little aliens on how they get rescued, but when I first saw this in 2010, I was sure they were all goners. It was one of the most effective scenes I had ever scene and one of Pixar’s greatest.

Thirdly, the final scene with Andy and Bonnie was spectacular, filled with real emotions, that couldn’t help but bring tears to my eyes. It was so beautifully written that you just can’t help it.

Another brilliant scene was the escape plan organized by Woody to get out of the daycare. The plan revealed some amazing skills for the different toys involved. Everybody had an important role to play and the ending of it with the confrontation with Lotso was such an amazing moment.

Buzz getting turned back into the Space Ranger and then eventually to the Spanish version was hilarious. Tim Allen does a great job voicing that character. It was wonderful to get the voices back for Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, John Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn, Estelle Harris, Jodie Benson, Laurie Metcalf, and John Morris.

We got some new voices too. Michael Keaton joined the cast as Ken, Barbie’s boy toy. Blake Clark replaced Jim Varney as Slinky Dog after Varney’s death in 2000.

This is a masterpiece of a film, filled with heart, emotion and a connection to one’s things that everyone can relate to. Toy Story 3 is easily my favorite of all the Toy Story movies and right up there with Into the Spider-Verse and Inside Out.

Backrooms

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So far this year, we have had several YouTubers taking a step into the world of big theatrical movies. Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach’s film Iron Lung, which made $51 million on a three million dollar budget, and Curry Barker’s film Obsession was hugely successful over the last couple of weekends.

This week, 20-year-old Kane Parsons entered the world of big screen films with this adaptation of his own web series, Backrooms.

Backrooms has been anticipated by a lot of the movie audience as they have done a great job of promoting the creepiness of the film.

Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell, this film was a crazy, weird, creepy film, using techniques of found footage movies, to build the suspense and anxiety of the situation.

According to IMDB, “After a therapist’s patient disappears into a dimension beyond reality, she must venture into the unknown to save him.“

The film was great. The mystery of what was going on was very psychologically scary and unsettling. The found footage camera work showed the strength of that technique. I found it thrilling and there was great acting involved in it.

This does a great job of using the concept of liminal space, which is one of those internet memes/deep dives that many are intrigued by.

I am not sure how I felt about the ending of the film. I was not as satisfied by the ending as I was the rest of the film. Obviously, I can not spoil it, but I just did not love the end.

I found this creative film fun and engaging, keeping the audience unsettled and anxious.

4.1 stars

Toy Story 2 (1999)

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I have not seen Toy Story 2 very many times. Of the three original Toy Story movies, Toy Story 2 was my least favorite. That is not saying that is was a bad movie. In fact, it is a sensational film, but the other two Toy Story films are just so exceptional.

I did a rewatch of Toy Story 2 tonight and I found it much the same way. It is extremely clever and well-written. I laughed out loud multiple times.

According to IMDB, “When Woody is stolen by a toy collector, Buzz and his friends set out on a rescue mission to save Woody before he becomes a museum toy property with his roundup gang Jessie, Prospector, and Bullseye.“

All of our favorite voices are back including Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, John Ratzenberger, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, Annie Potts, Laurie Metcalf, and John Morris. The voice cast had several huge additions with Joan Cusack as Jessie, Kelsey Grammar as the Prospector, Wayne Knight as the toy collector Al, Jodie Benson as Barbie, Andrew Stanton as Zurg, and Estelle Harris as Mrs. Potato Head.

The idea that Woody was a rare and popular toy that completed the set was a fun way to take the story. It brought us Jessie and Woody’s horse, Bullseye. I could relate to the collector part of the story, and I would have loved to have seen Al arrive in Japan only to find Woody gone.

I was not a fan of the musical song detailing Jessie’s origin. That felt too overly sentimental and manipulative on the emotions. It felt like the movie could have done this in a much more effective way. That was the one spot in the film where I thought the story took a dip.

Toy Story 2 is still on the lower end of the three original Toy Story movies for me (although it would be ahead of Toy Story 4 as of now). Though it was my least favorite of the three, does not mean it is not a spectacular movie with amazing CGI, clever writing, amazing characters and funny lines.

Next up will be Toy Story 3… one of my favorite animated movies of all time.

Swapped

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The final movie I got a chance to see today in an animated movie on Netflix called Swapped from Skydance. The main character of the show was voiced by Michael B. Jordan.

The synopsis of this movie says that two creatures swap bodies, hence the title, but to be honest, that is not accurate. They do not actually swap bodies like in Freaky Friday or any other number of movies. Instead, there is a magic plant that changes them into a different species. It is only coincidental that they change into the species of each other.

This movie started real slowly for me. I was having a hard time getting into the film and it was not grabbing my attention. However, the movie picked up and by the middle of the film, and by the end, I was fully engaged with the story and the results.

The animation was lovely and the character designs were very impressive. The kids will love the look of this movie.

Along with Michael B. Jordan, the voice cast included Juno Temple, Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer, Justina Machado, Ambika Mod, John Ratzenberger, and Nate Torrence.

It did feel a little long, but the last half of the film flied along with a better pace. I think this eventually found its voice and turned out well.

3.4 stars

The Crash

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Next up came a documentary on Netflix that looked at the story of a crash that cost the life of two boys and the trial of the driver, a teenage girl suspected of crashing her car intentionally in an attempt to murder her boyfriend.

The Netflix doc focused on Mackenzie Shirilla, an Ohio teenager who was behind the wheel of the car crashed into a brick house, killing her boyfriend Dominic Russo and friend, Davion Flanagan.

We got to hear from all of the family members of the three kids, including Shirilla’s father, who was wearing a tee-shirt with the word “BOOM” on it, in what had to be one of the dumbest wardrobe choices in the history of TV.

The doc laid out the case against Mackenzie Shirilla, giving info from both sides of the case, however it did feel as if the prosecution side was given more compelling moments.

There are several questions that were brushed aside that may have been significant. Mackenzie was not a very likable girl, at least from what we saw. Her persona may have been why she chose to forego a jury trial, which I think was a big mistake. The defense attorney did not seem to be remarkably competent in his defense as there were things that could have/should have been brought up that were not. Of course, we did not see the full defense and only see what the documentarians chose t include.

It is a fascinating story and I am not sure what side I fall on. I can absolutely say that, as the driver, Mackenzie Shirilla was responsible, but was she attempting to kill Dominic in the process? I am not sure.

3.75 stars

Exit 8

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Exit 8 was another film that I could have seen in the theater, but could not make it fit the schedule. So I rented it today on Fandango at Home. The Japanese sci-fi/thriller is one of the best movies that I have seen in 2026.

According to IMDB, “A man trapped in a endless sterile subway passageway sets out to find Exit 8. The rules of his quest are simple: do not overlook anything out of the ordinary. If you discover an anomaly, turn back immediately. If you don’t, carry on. Then leave from Exit 8. But even a single oversight will send him back to the beginning. Will he ever reach his goal and escape this infinite corridor?“

This movie engaged me so much, I was literally yelling at my computer screen, wanting the characters to follow my instructions. It was a simple set up with a complex morality tale. I absolutely loved this film and the experience of watching it.

The film was in Japanese, but the dialogue was limited, which made it a breeze to follow along with the subtitles.

Kazunari Ninomiya was our main protagonist whose point of view we start with in the very beginning of the movie. His eyes were literally the camera to the scenes we were watching. However, that does not last long as the POV switched once he was inside the subway corridor.

There was also the “Walking Man,” played by Yamato Kochi and the Boy, played by Naru Asanuma. The young actor does a sensational job with nearly zero dialogue. To be honest, I am not sure I understood the Walking Man’s role in this narrative, but that did not stop me from being invested in the characer.

Based on a video game, Exit 8 had me looking for every little detail and found me frustrated when the characters did not see the same.

The ending of the film had me screaming out loud, first in desperation and then in joyousness. It was beautifully shot and made me extremely happy.

I loved this movie. I did not expect that this was going to be one of the best movies I would see in 2026, but I am so pleased that I took the chance with a Japanese film.

5 stars

They Will Kill You

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Happy Memorial Day. With the day off school, I am using today to catch up on a bunch of films, now on streaming, that I have not yet seen in 2026. The first film up today is a horror/action/comedy movie called They Will Kill You starring Zazie Beetz.

I had seen the trailer for this film in the theaters, but it only lasted like a week or so in the theaters and I did not get to see it. Honestly, I did not think I would miss it much. It did not seem to be my cup of tea. However, after watching the film this morning, I have to say that I was wrong. This was a heck of a good time.

According to IMDB, “A woman takes a job as a housekeeper in a NYC high-rise, unaware of the building’s history of disappearances. She soon realizes the community is shrouded in mystery.”

That synopsis does not do justice to this story, which, admittedly, is rather thin and coincidental. Still, this is not one of those films where you go in expecting a deep and fully developed story. There was just enough background in the film to make the action and brutality to come understandable.

Zazie Beetz is sensational in her violent, bad ass way. After her first scene in her room inside the building, the shocking reveal of what was going on was out of nowhere and I was here for it.

The rest of the cast was fun, featuring some reasonably big names including Patricia Arquette, Tom Felton, Heather Graham, Myha’la, James Remar, and Paterson Joseph.

I found much of the film very funny. Again, this movie does an admirable job of blending tones through the film. It has comedic beats that feel like they work well with the gory horror moments and the action/adventure moments. It is not easy to blend tones and more movies that try to do it fail than succeed. They Will Kill You is one that makes it look easy.

I wish I had seen this on the big screen. I think the violence would have popped all the more. Still, I enjoyed renting this on Fandango at Home and it kicked off today’s binge in a exciting and dramatic manner.

3.8 stars

Toy Story (1995)

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I was watching a YouTube watch along with Toy Story, the original from 1995 and I realized that I had never reviewed Toy Story (or Toy Story 2 or Toy Story 3) at EYG. With Toy Story 5 coming up later this summer, I thought this would be a great idea to watch and review these absolute classic films.

Spoilers: Toy Story is epic!

The arrival of Buzz Lightyear, a special action figure, in Andy’s room throws off the balance of power among the other toys, who are able to come to life when Andy is not watching. Cowboy Woody, who was always Andy’s favorite toy, felt the pressure of the new toy and reacted with a lot of jealousy, which put both of the toys in jeopardy.

This movie is so great. It is brilliantly constructed in the writing, so clever and funny. The movie is able to put these toys into situations that everyone could relate with and built some of the best animated characters of all time. The relationship between Buzz and Woody developed naturally and believably, and the remainder of the toys in Andy’s room added so much to the comedy and the overall storyline.

Tom Hanks is absolutely perfect as Woody, and I can’t think of another voice over actor that could be better as Buzz Lightyear than Tim Allen. The rest of the voice cast included classic actors such as Don Rickles, Annie Potts, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Laurie Metcalf, and John Morris.

The animation is spectacular. Everything looked so amazing that you believed that these toys were coming to life.

The showdown with the misfit toys, Woody and Sid was just tremendous. The writing on this was so wonderful and it showed Woody finally as the leader that he was and not the jealous toy wishing he was better than Buzz.

The Randy Neuman music is amazing too and the theme “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” could not be more perfect.

I am so happy that I was able to watch this on Disney + and I am looking forward to seeing Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3 (which is one of my favorite movies of all time) again.