I had thought that I had seen Dirty Rotten Scoundrels before, but I do not think I have. Certainly not all the way through to the end though I have seen clips of it. I always believed that I was not a fan and that it was not something that I would find funny. I guess this is a lesson to make sure that you have watched something before judging it, because I thought Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was fantastic.
According to IMDB, “Two con men try to settle their rivalry by betting on who can swindle a young American heiress out of fifty thousand dollars first.“
The Dirty Rotten Scoundrels were Michael Caine and Steve Martin and they were absolutely perfect together. The chemistry between the two con men carried the film. Glenn Headly added a nice touch of apparent innocence to the group with her portrayal of Janet Colgate.
I was rooting for Steve Martin in the beginning of the movie, but Michael Caine became someone better than you would expect. It was a fun ending which fit perfectly in with the story.
It had great comedy and showed the quick-wits of both characters. The rivalry between them was so believable, even if some of the things that they pulled off was out there.
This is a remake of the 1964 movie Bedtime story. This new version was directed by Frank Oz, who was well known as a Muppet performer (he did Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear), the voice of Yoda, as well as director of other classic comedy hits such as Little Shop of Horrors, Bowfinger, and What About Bob?
I was sure that I had seen this before, but I had not seen the full film. It was very entertaining and full of Martin and Caine’s comedy chops and timing. I was very pleased to include this one in the Genre-ary for 2026.
Ignition Press released a comic a few months ago called The Beauty, written by Jeremy Haun. I was unaware that there was a series before this one from Image Comics. I am enjoying the book from Ignition Press so I was intrigued when I heard that Ryan Murphy was adapting it to a FX series. The first three episodes dropped this past week and there will be a weekly drop on Wednesdays after that.
There is a virus that is transmitted sexually. When you get the virus, you become beautiful (in a horribly painful and gross way). Admittedly, there are some people who just explode in a big bloody mess. Not sure the difference at this point.
Evan Peters stars in the show as Cooper Madsen. The show also featured Rebecca Hall, Anthony Ramos, Ashton Kutcher, and Jeremy Pope.
FBI Agents Cooper and Jordan were investigating the mysterious deaths of several super models, including one that went crazy, killing a bunch of people before she exploded in a bloody splash. Meanwhile, out-of-shape and pathetic young man named Jeremy went to a plastic surgeon with the hope to make himself more attractive. The plastic surgeon worked on him, and it seemed to be successful. Jeremy went to a club where a group of women gave him some attention. However, they were just scamming him for free drinks.
Jeremy, in a rage, went to the surgeon’s office with a gun, killed several staff members, and threatened the doctor. The doctor, however, had another suggestion and hooked him up with a mysterious woman. Jeremy and the woman had sex and Jeremy wound up transforming into a more handsome, in shape person.
This series has a lot of body horror in it, and that is not one one of my favorite types of horror, but I am interested in the series so I will certainly be giving it a chance. I have been disappointed with Ryan Murphy lately (hated American Horror Story: Delicate and Grotesquerie). I did love early AHS and American Crime Story, so he has a hit-or-miss run for me. We’ll see how this goes.
A new “Screen Life” film is out this weekend featuring Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson, directed by Timur Bekmambetov, who was a producer on last year’s classic War of the Worlds. That should have been the first hint.
However, to be fair, this is better than War of the Worlds because, of course, it had to be, right?
I actually liked the premise of this film. It was a lesser version of Minority Report (much lesser), but there were some ideas here that were going to work.
Chris Pratt was fine as the lead actor, playing Chris Raven, the police officer who was on trial for his wife’s murder. All of the videos and internet stuff made him look real guilty.
Thing is.. the near future world this movie was set in had done something new. It placed AI in charge of the justice system, setting the AI up as judge, jury and executioner. It gave the accused 90 minutes in which to prove his/her innocence or else they would be executed. So the whole trial was on a counting clock, which created some tension in the tale.
The AI judge was Judge Maddox, played by Rebecca Ferguson, and I feel like I missed out on something here. Was she supposed to be all AI or was she meant to be somehow human, because the AI judge kept being influenced by Raven and gave some seemingly emotional responses, which seemed to go against the whole set up. This was one of my biggest problems with the movie as I just did not understand what the AI judge was meant to be.
I also picked out the killer immediately. I do not think it was a huge pull for me as it was painfully apparent and predictable.
I thought the beginning of the film wasn’t bad, but the last act or so was aggressively dumber than it should have been. Things happened that made zero sense and played against what the film had spent time setting up.
There was a drone scene too, but at least they did not have to go to Amazon Prime to order it before they use it.
In honor of Martin Luthor King Day, I scheduled Spike Lee’s film Bamboozled for the Genre-ary. It was quite the satire.
According to IMDB, “A frustrated African-American TV writer proposes a blackface minstrel show in protest, but to his chagrin, it becomes a hit.“
The idea of this movie was used recently in the film American Fiction starring Jeffrey Wright. The thing is that this was so much more satirical than I ever expected.
Damon Wayans played Pierre Delacroix, a highly educated and uptight TV writer whose pitches were being rejected by his boss, Thomas Dunwitty (Michael Rapaport). Delacroix decided to provide a protest by presenting a minstrel variety show embracing all of the negative stereotypes associated with blacks. He intended on the show being rejected and leading to his own firing to escape the contract that he signed.
The problem was that the show became a huge hit by the public and the critics. Delacroix became enthralled by the success, losing himself in the racism.
There are so many shocking moments throughout Bamboozled that it is a difficult movie to watch. It is a powerful dismissal of the manner of television and its portrayal of African-Americans over the years. Admittedly, Bamboozled is not subtle in its satire, which may make it too cartoonish at times.
The ending was extremely tough to watch as everything came to a head. The idea that this movie had times that were difficult to watch was clearly done on purpose. It was meant to shake up the idea of racial stereotypes and racism inside the entertainment industry as well as throughout history, and Spike Lee definitely reached that level.
This is one of those movies that I enjoyed, but will probably never want to watch again. I do think it is a worthwhile show and some of the big ideas are necessary to today’s world.
I liked this movie. I want to start off with that statement. However, my star rating may not be as high as it might have been.
I went to the XD theater at Cinemark to see the film today and, when I got there, I saw that the heat was not working in that theater. They had a sign posted that anyone who wanted a refund could get it, but I decided to give it a try. After about ten minutes, I was regretting my decision. It was really cold. I looked to see if there were any other possible showing of the movie and there wasn’t any until later in the afternoon, so I was fairly stuck.
By the end of the movie, I felt as if my body was so cold, it wasn’t working properly. That was an exaggeration, but I was shivering and shaking. The environment of a movie can affect the enjoyment of a film, and this is probably a lesser review than I would give The Bone Temple than one where I was comfortable.
I do believe that I enjoyed this more than I did the last 28 Years Later from last year. This movie featured more with Dr. Ian Kelson, played brilliantly by Ralph Fiennes. We also followed the exploits of Spike, who would wind up being called Jimmy through most of the movie, played by Alfie Williams. Williams, who was born in 2011 making him 15 this year, does a fantastic job with this role, having to provide a lot of emotional moments and he had a lot of the story arc on his back.
Spike was picked up by a group of Satanists led by Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell), who inducted Spike into the group he was leading. Jack O’Connell was sensational in Sinners last year and he brings the same energy to this movie.
The film, though, was dominated by Ralph Fiennes, giving a tour de force performance, not only when the Jimmies crossed his path, but also working in an attempt to save the life of the gigantic alpha he named Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry). Without spoilers, the scene with Iron Maiden’s song was absolutely breathtaking.
The tension and suspense was ratcheted up throughout the film with some confrontations being expertly filmed. Directed by Nia DaCosta, 28 Years Later is a solid installment of this franchise.
Polite Society has been on my queue over on Peacock since the 2024 June Swoon. I had just never gotten around to watching it. It was not that appealing for me.
However, when I came across it on my queue a few days ago and it listed it as a comedy, I thought this would be the perfect chance to put this one to bed. The Rotten Tomatoes score was strong and I thought I would finally give it a chance.
According to IMDB, “Ria Khan believes she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting her friends’ help, she attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood.“
I had a hard time getting into the movie at first. It did not grab my attention to really intrigue me. However, I have to say that about halfway through the film, I started to get into it and was much more engaged.
I do think the wilder the plot became for the film, the more interested I was.
I enjoyed the performance of Priya Kansara as Ria, the sister whose behavior did seem out of control. She was very funny, even if she was hard to like at first. She seemed so over the top that it made her a bit abrasive. However, once the shoe dropped, things took off.
I loved the performance of Nimra Bucha, who played Raheela. She became a devastating villain and an amazing foil for Ria. Bucha, who also appeared in Marvel Studio’s Disney + series, Ms. Marvel, showed exactly what she could have been on that show with her big time villain turn. She was sinister in the very best possible way. I would have loved to have seen this side on Ms. Marvel more. Even though the plot became exaggerated, she made it work with everything about her.
The film had a definite Bollywood feel to it, mixed with a martial arts film. It was very original and I wound up very much enjoying it, even after the slow start for me.
When I scheduled Superbad for the comedy Genre-ary, I was really not looking forward to it. It has typically been the type of movie that I hate. I was pushing it off as long as I could.
And then…
I really liked this.
I’m as surprised as anyone.
According to IMDB, “Two co-dependent high school seniors are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry.”
I found this surprisingly entertaining, with some excellent writing and witty dialogue. The lines were sharp and hilarious and the situations were over the top, and yet not so much that you roll your eyes.
Jonah Hill, who I have never been a big fan of, was really great as Seth, and he was actually quite deep in this loud and obnoxious character. Historically, this is the type of loud character that irritates me, but, for some reason, this was much better than other films with the same type of character. Hill had great chemistry with Michael Cera, who played Evan. His balance against Hill’s loudness worked well.
The film was also debuts of both Emma Stone and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Both actors had solid characters and I do think Mintz-Plasse’s run as McLovin was easily the best running joke of the film.
I do think it was too long. I would have liked to have seen about 10-15 minutes trimmed from the film as the middle dragged on a bit. However, the ending of the film was truly charming and hinted at more than just surface story.
The most over-the-top aspect of the film was the police officers, played by Bill Hader and Seth Rogen. I liked them, but there may have been too much of them over the course of the film. Some of these scenes would be the ones I would trim, but they had a wonderful scene near the end of the film with Mintz-Plasse, as that relationship had been built up during the middle.
This is the style of movie that I usually hate. Crude. Drug and alcohol jokes. Sex jokes. It just goes to show you that a film that is intelligently written, with strong characterization and plot that is legitimately funny even without the crude parts, can still be entertaining and well done. With quality, any style can be fun.
It was 1942 when this movie came out and it was a brutal satire of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in an extremely funny, dark comedy, To Be or Not to Be.
According to IMDB, “During the German occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier’s efforts to track down a German spy.“
I was surprised to see the opening credits include Jack Benny, who I knew of as a comedic performer from his radio and television show. I did not know that he was also an actor starring in movies. Benny was truly excellent in this film, and he played against Carole Lombard. The pair worked well together, having a wonderful charm and surprisingly solid chemistry. Their comedic timing was spot on and the dialogue of the film was remarkably clever and entertaining.
It is sad to note that this was the final film in the career of Carole Lombard as she was killed in a plane crash one month after the release of the film.
The film, having been released in the middle of World War II, took its shots at the Nazis and the Gestapo, as well as Hitler himself. It was very funny when the head of the Gestapo kept yelling for Schultz, as it brought me memories of Hogan’s Heroes.
It was very funny as well with all of the “Heil Hitlers” going on when everyone would meet. Such ridiculous fun I had to join in.
It did have several moments where it felt like the movie was going to abandon the comedy and turn into a more action centered film, but it never completely gave up the witticisms. Every moment Jack Benny was on screen, the film was hilarious.
Robert Stack was great as Lt. Stanislav Sobinski, which kicked off the entire story. Other actors in the film included Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwell, Sig Ruman, Stanley Ridges, Tom Dugan, Henry Victor, and Charles Halton.
This is an amazing movie, especially when considering when it was made, and I enjoyed it very much. I watched it on HBO Max.
I remember being unbelievably shocked with how much I enjoyed Greenland back in 2020. I think it even won the Year in Review Award for the Best Surprise (That is called the Gomer). I had not expectations that a Gerard Butler end-of-the-world film would be good at all, and I loved it.
Which meant that I had more expectations for the sequel, Greenland 2: Migration. While it was not a bad movie, the sequel was considerably lesser than the original and has several problems.
John Garrity (Gerard Butler) had gotten his family, wife Allison (Morena Baccarin) and son Nathan (Roman Griffin Davis), to the bunker in Greenland just before the comets struck the earth. This movie started by letting us know that the comets wiped out 75% of the human race and destroyed much of the planet. However, the bunker that they had been living in for the last five years was beginning to crumble and the survivors had to scatter to try an escape the dangers of the environment.
They had heard rumors that the impact crater of the original comet was a location where life had sprung forth and that it was where people could restart their lives. John and Allison decided to attempt to find their way to the crater, which was in France.
This was a much more common post-apocalyptic film than the original one was. As the family worked their way toward France, the surrounding were the typical backdrop you would see in The Walking Dead (without zombies) or The Last of us (without any creepy critters). The idea that humans would be the worst things about a post-apocalyptic world is once again at the center of the themes of Greenland 2.
I kept feeling bad during the film for Nathan as it seemed like there would be no young girls his age for him, but the film nicely took care of that.
There were some good moments in the film, though many of them felt too coincidental or forced. Everything kept happening to this family on their trip. Still, it could have been much worse. It is nowhere near as good as Greenland, but I did not hate watching it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
So here we are. The Year in Review arrived at the Best Movies of the Year. Again, just like the Worst list, this is my opinion. These are my Favorite films of 2025. If you disagree, that is okay. I respect your right to disagree.
We are doing a Top 30. Again, the star ratings that I give to each movie review is not what determines the final spot on this list. They help me choose the possible movies to make the list. Movies can become better or less so over time. It is just the nature of the beast.
Starting off with Honorable Mentions: The Ballad of Wallis Island, Kiss of the Spider-Woman, The Monkey, Phoenician Scheme, Black Bag, Caught Stealing, Good Boy, It Was Just An Accident, Nuremburg and The Roses.
#30. Wicked: For Good. I did not like this as much as last year’s film, but Wicked: For Good was still an enjoyable experience and had some outstanding performances, some good music, and a great story.
#29. Bugonia. One of the weirdest movies of the year. Emma Stone was great and the ending was so crazy that it really made the film special.
#28. Roofman. Channing Tatum does a tremendous job in this film about a man who has escaped from prison and decided to hide out in a Toys ‘R Us. This is a great story and an engaging script.
#27. Predator: Badlands. The Predator franchise has been hot lately, and Predator: Badlands is part of that fire. Placing a Predator in the protagonist role and giving him a sidekick of Elle Fanning worked really well. It was a lot of fun.
#26. Frankenstein. Guillermo Del Toro directed this stylish version of the classic story and dropped it on Netflix. Del Toro brought his indelible skills to this version.
#25. Marty Supreme. This was a strange film, as our protagonist was one of the most unlikable characters in the film. A strong performance by Timothée Chalamet took that complicated character and embraced the a-hole of it all.
#24. F1: The Movie. A great film with Brad Pitt that you really should see on the biggest screen you can. The story of Formula One racing was exciting and dramatic.
#23. Last Breath. A true story that tells the story of deep sea divers who have to go back to the depths to rescue a colleague who was lost in the waters. So exciting and intense.
#22. A House of Dynamite. Kathryn Bigelow’s latest film looks at a potential nuclear assault from multiple points of view. This is an excellent film with some real intensity and great performances.
#21. Naked Gun. Liam Neeson replaced Leslie Nielson in the Naked Gun franchise, as Frank Drebin Jr. , the son of Nielson’s character. The new Naked Gun was very funny and succeeded in following in the legacy of the previous versions.
#20. K-Pop Demon Hunters. This Netflix flick is one that I never would have expected to appear on this list. However, the film was exciting, was filled with awesome music, and animation that was exceptional. One of the most relevant films of th eyear.
#19. Final Destination: Bloodlines. Another that I would not have guessed would be on this list, but it was just a really great movie. The deaths were original and creative, the story was more than you would have thought and you did not know how it was going to go.
#18. Companion. A great film about an android who was built for human companionship, but finds herself in control of her life for the first time. This was a thrilling story.
#17. Dangerous Animals. A shark movie that succeeded in making the sharks NOT the villains. Jai Courtney does a great job as a serial killer who uses sharks to kill his victims. Dangerous Animals was an unexpected thrill of a movie.
#16. Captain America: Brave New World. There are a lot of people who hated this one. That is fine. I thought it was a very solid film. I loved the Red Hulk and I thought Harrison Ford was excellent. Could it have been better? Sure. I enjoyed it anyway.
#15. Zootopia 2. This sequel was funny, had great dialogue and some exceptional voice work. It is one of the most successful films of the year. It is a certified hit for Disney.
#14. Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. Spinal Tap reformed once again to play one final concert. The mockumentary followed the story of the reunion. This turned out to be Rob Reiner’s final film. This was full of music and the finale with Stonehenge was unforgettable.
#13. Strange Harvest. Another mockumentary, this time focused on a true crime type story. Two police officers look into a decades long case of serial killer “Mr. Shiny.” This was so excellent that I had a hard time thinking of it as fictional.
#12. Life of Chuck. One of my five star rated films of the year, Life of Chuck included three different arcs of the life of Chuck. There is a dance routine from Tom Hiddleston that was sensational.
#11. The Lost Bus. This Apple TV film with Matthew McConaughey was as intense as any film this year. Watching that bus drive through the burning fires was something that I will not forget.
#10. The Long Walk. This Stephen King adaptation was a tough watch. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The story could have been weak, but the characters were so developed and the dialogue was spectacular. There was a great performance from Mark Hamill too. A difficult watch, but highly engaging.
#9. Sinners. One of the best movies of the year. Directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan in a dual role, Sinners was one of the most original films you are going to see. Vampires. Music. Brutality. Just a fantastic film.
#8. Superman. The first main film of the DCU flew into theaters this past summer and it was just what Superman needed. James Gunn brought the humor, the action, the characters and a great start for Superman.
#7. Weapons. Such a fantastic film. A whole group of children disappear, causing the town to lose their minds. This is another movie that played with POV and it does it wonderfully. Great performances from Amy Madigan, Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich and Benedict Wong.
#6. Song Sung Blue. An emotional film detailing the life and career of Lightning and Thunder, a Neil Diamond tribute band. This was filled with amazing music and two top line performances from Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson.
#5. How to Train Your Dragon. The live-action version of the classic animated movie was done brilliantly. I loved what they did with the film. They kept most of the film the same, but what they did differently worked so well. I loved this movie.
#4. Thunderbolts*. A remarkable movie from Marvel Studios. The group of b-level characters came together with humor, emotion and excitement. We met Bob (aka Sentry) and his other side (The Void). This film was about the power of acceptance, and friendship and connection overcoming depression and self-doubt. Then, we learn that they are the New Avengers. This movie deserved so much better than it got at the box office.
#3. Sketch. The biggest surprise of the year, Sketch was an entertaining film that dealt with trouble kids and their sadness. It also has a magical lake that brings things to life… including the drawings of monsters done by our main character. The film was funny, engaging, and just sweeter than you could ever guess.
#2. Fantastic Four: First Steps. We finally got a FF movie worth our time. The film felt like a family. Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny have to take on Galactus, in order to save both their world and their son, Franklin. This was more than just a super hero movie. It felt like a fantastic sci-fi movie. The scenes in space are some of the best of the year. A brilliant cast and some fantastic writing.
#1. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. I thought FF was going to be #1 this year. Then, I saw the new Knives Out film and it was so sensational. The story was so exceptional, with twists and turns unlike any movie before it. I thought I had the story figured out… and then I didn’t. That happened a couple of times. Greta performances from Josh O’ Connell, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner, Andrew Scott, Thomas Hayden Church, Mia Kunis, Kerry Washington and, of course, Benoit Blanc himself, Daniel Craig. I was so enthused when I saw it on Netflix, I thought of Matilda the Musical. (What?) When I saw that movie late in the year, I debated about having it the #1 film of the year, btu I decided to leave Wakanda Forever in that spot. After posting the winner, I regretted it. I wish I had put Matilda the Musical at #1. This is the same situation, a film late in the year that was so great that I wanted to bump a Marvel movie out of the number one spot. I went ahead and did it. It deserves it.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 