Tag Archives: film

Godzilla Minus Zero

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Godzilla Minus One was a sensational film that found its ability to balance the monster story with the actual human story to be its biggest selling point. Many times, the human stories in the Godzilla movies just get in the way, but Minus One solved that puzzle. I am happy to say that Godzilla Minus Zero continued that ability.

I do think that there was more monster story in Minus Zero than there was in Minus One, which is not a bad thing because the special effects of this film is utterly spectacular. The original film won an Academy Award for Special Effects, and this one has to be considered right up there with any other film that comes out in 2026.

The Shikishima family (Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, and Sae Nagatani) are back in the forefront of the story as Noriko has an unexpected connection to Godzilla. We do see the flashback to how she is able to survive the attack that we all thought had killed her in Minus One. Kōichi Shikishima has been recruited as an expert when a danger resurfaced, but he did not want to risk his life again as a pilot.

The film kicked off with an absolutely stunning and brutal action piece that had the best sound design I have heard in an action film in awhile. I do believe this is another category that Godzilla Minus Zero could be nominated for at the Oscars.

The film ties part of the storyline back to Hiroshima, which we get a flashback to, revealing the horror of the after effects of the bombs.

The middle section of the film did drag a bit, specifically with some scenes dealing with Kōichi and Noriko leaving their adopted daughter behind. The film seemed to enjoy showing this trauma to the little girl and every time she cried it was like, please stop. I think part of those moments could have been weaved into one or two scenes.

Having said that, the ending of the film was emotional and I had tears in my eyes as it was playing out. The very end of the movie was extremely satisfying.

Another bit that was satisfying was the score from Naoki Sato, who also scored the original Minus One film. The music does such an amazing job of building feeling and emotion as well as tension and anxiety.

I really enjoyed this movie as well. It could have cut out a few scenes, but it is an incredibly powerful and spectacular looking movie that can really keep me invested in the human characters unlike most Godzilla movies.

4.7 stars

The Weight

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The Weight is a film that starred Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe that did not stay in the theaters for long. I would have gone to the theater to see the film, but, in my area anyway, it was gone pretty quickly and I could not fit it into my schedule. Fortunately, it came up on Fandango at Home this past week, and I was able to get it on the watch.

It was a solid historical drama with a great cast and some tense moments. Ethan Hawke showed, once again, what a versatile and powerful actor he is and his scenes with Russell Crowe were some of the best of the film. Crowe was not in the film as much, as his character was used at the beginning and then at the end of the movie.

According to IMDB, ” Desperate to save what is left of his family, during the height of the Great Depression, a battle-scarred veteran is hired to help smuggle a fortune in gold across 100 miles of impenetrable wilderness.“

The scenes set in the wilderness featured some spectacular imagery that stood out from the background. There is a scene on a rope bridge that takes that well-worn trope to a different level with some serious suspense in the crossing.

The ensemble cast was very good as well as it included Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash, Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen, Sam Hazeldine, George Burgess, Alec Newman, and Cameron Brady.

The Weight is directed by Padraic McKinley, and he does a solid job with this, his first full length feature film. This is a director who knew the kind of movie he wanted to make and placed the story an his actors into situations to get the best from them.

The Weight was a very strong film that has some great acting and a visual story to tell. It deserved more time in the theater.

3.75 stars

Crystal Lake S1 E5

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“The New Blood”

I was surprised by this episode because I am not as familiar with the first Friday the 13th film as I should be. I was thinking that the death of Claudette and Barry would be something the series would build towards, perhaps to be a scene from Crystal Lake’s finale. However, it is episode 5 and they supposedly did a shot-for-shot recreation of the murders.

But the show had the highly drugged out Grace who stabbed the pair because she thought she was saving Jason from drowning by stabbing Claudette and Barry. Pam showed up right as the stabbings were done and she talked Grace down, taking the knife from her and finishing off Claudette herself. Claudette had confessed to Pam that she was having sex with Barry in the boathouse when Jason had died last summer. Pam creepily told the girl that Jason should have been watched at all times, as she plunged the knife into her side again.

Jason’s spirit seems to have already returned, and he was responsible for skinning the girl Willow, who Dorf had discovered last episode hanging in Crazy Ralph’s cabin. Ralph was as shocked as anyone when he saw the dead girl so he was clearly not the killer.

The camp reopened in this episode as a bunch of kids show up, only to find that there was not going to be much that they were allowed to do, causing several of them to complain noticeably. I know that whining from my own classroom. Of course, the mention of a nearby dead body was not the best way to handle that.

This series is making me want to revisit Friday the 13th and see how it compares. Linda Cardellini has been exceptional as Pam Voorhees and she almost makes you want to root for her… and not just when she is offing a long snake with a cleaver.

Wildwood

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The new Laika top-action animation film was released this weekend. It was named Wildwood, and the trailers for this film looked tremendous. After seeing the whole film, it was even better than tremendous.

According to IMDB, “The adventures of Prue McKeel as she sets off to the forests outside Portland to find her kidnapped brother.“

Prue McKeel was voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee, and she was the main protagonist as she attempted to enter the Impassable Forest to save her little brother Mac, who had been abducted by a murder of crows.

The story is a master class in narrative storytelling. Everything combines together in such a perfect way and there are no loose ends or unimportant moments. Every character had an arc and the story did not leave anyone out. It is a top notch, emotional film that had me teary eyed in several moments of the third act.

It is also a masterpiece in stop-motion animation. It was the best stop-motion animation that I think I have ever seen. Every moment on the screen was gorgeous and filled with imagery and amazing color. I think this may be my favorite animation of the year.

The voice cast was powerful too. Along with Peyton Elizabeth Lee, the cast included Jacob Tremblay, Carey Mulligan, Richard E. Grant, Mahershala Ali, Jemaine Clement, Tom Waits, Charlie Day, Tantoo Cardinal, Marc Evan Jackson, Jake Johnson, Angela Bassett, Awkwafina, Maya Erskine, and Amandla Stenberg.

This is an epic fantasy that does not spare on the violence because it is animated. Several characters are killed and it is right up front about it. This is not a film for the youngest of the kids, but mid to teen would love this. It is such an amazing feature that showed what filmmakers are capable of with the medium. Director Travis Knight, who directed Kubo and the Two Strings, Bumblebee, and new Masters of the Universe, was also a producer on ParaNorman and Missing Link. He clearly has some skill when it comes to animation.

There are not many flaws to this magnificent movie. It may be a touch long, but it did not feel that way.

5 stars

You Can See Everything

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I do not usually have documentaries on the year end Best Movies because they are more difficult to compare them to scripted films. Won’t You Be My Neighbor about Mr. Rogers was a exception.

You Can See Everything will also be an exception. It will be on my Best Movies list for 2026.

I did not know anything about Elizabeth Holmes, nor did I watch the Hulu series The Dropout, so I came into the doc without any knowledge of what I was going to see. All I knew was that there was going to be some kind of twist, and that this was very well received. None of that was going to affect my enjoyment.

The fact is that I think the documentary started off a little slow. Part of that, I assume, is that I did not know any of the story previously. However, one this thing got cooking, man it was something else.

Nathan Fielder was one of the co-directors for this doc and he was the main, on-screen interviewer. He spent the last 34 days before Elizabeth Holmes surrendered herself to go to the prison.

This doc really kicked off for me when Nathan was interviewing Elizabeth’s father, and Elizabeth’s partner Billy Evans, interrupted, causing the father to change his entire attitude. It was creepy and very suspicious. There was also an awesome use of Abbot & Costello’s Who’s on First.

I was very impressed with the amount of participation this documentary got out of Amanda Seyfried, who played Holmes in The Dropout. The last part of this movie felt more like a movie than a documentary. I had to keep telling myself that the scenes with Amanda Seyfried were real. I thought this was designed so well that it gave me a total different feel (the whole scene about Charlie Kirk was uncomfortable as could be).

I was completely enthralled in the story this doc was telling and I was trying to figure out what was going to happen. Of course, doc endings are many times lacking because of the nature of the story. This ending was as satisfying as it could have been considering what had happened.

This is really not only a great documentary, but a great movie too.

4.8 stars

Harpoon (2019)

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October 23

#11 out of 13

The next film in the October 13 was a film that I had not heard about before, but found on Amazon Prime. It blended the horrors of a survival/revenge flick with the comedy of a dark nature. It worked extremely well.

According to IMDB, “Rivalries, dark secrets, and sexual tension emerge when three best friends find themselves stranded on a yacht in the middle of the ocean desperate for survival.”

This really mixed the two styles well, which is not an easy task. There have been so many horror/dark comedy amalgams over the years that simply failed to achieve the proper tone/balance. Harpoon hit a nice level between the two.

The best part of the comedy was the narrator, voiced by Brett Gelman (from Stranger Things and Fleabag) whose wry lines were the perfect soundtrack to the absurdity going on with these three friends.

The three actors who portrayed the central protagonists do a great job too. Munro Chambers played Jonah, Chris Gray played Richard and Emily Tyra played Sasha. They had a strong chemistry with each other and their emotions bounced around as we got to learn more about the trio.

Most of the film takes place aboard the stranded yacht and it created a real sense of isolation for each of the three. The use of Edgar Allan Poe’s only complete novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, as a plot point.

There are a bunch of scenes that were difficult to watch. Some that were painfully bloody or stomach wrenching. They fit well within the story unraveling on the screen.

I was not sure this was going to be for me after the very beginning of the film, but it rapidly became one that I was invested in and I really did enjoy watching it. The ending was satisfying too.

Two more movies to go in The October 13.

Street Fighter (2026)

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I did not think that the trailer to this new version of the video game, Street Fighter, was very good. In fact, I thought it looked bad. However, I knew that WWE Superstars Cody Rhodes and Joe ‘Roman Reigns’ Anoai appeared as characters, and so, even with Cody displaying the ridiculous hairdo of Guile, I wanted to see the film.

After watching the new Street Fighter, I confirm that the trailer was an accurate description of the film. This really did suck.

According to IMDB, “Street Fighters Ryu and Ken reunite when Chun-Li recruits them for the World Warrior Tournament. As they face a hidden conspiracy, they must confront each other and their past-or face destruction.“

Ken was played by DC Movie Black Adam’s Atom Smasher himself, Noah Centineo and Ryo was played by GI Joe’s Stormshadow, Andrew Koji. I am sorry to say that neither of these actors were good in this movie. Ken was especially difficult to watch because the character was meant to be stupid. He sure was that, so maybe Centineo does a better job of it than I expected.

Oddly enough, I thought Cody Rhodes was the most entertaining aspect of this movie, as Guile and his incompetent, smart-aleck quips. I even got use to the ridiculous hairdo. Unfortunately, Roman did not get much of a character in the film. But he did look great. I acknowledge that.

The story of Street Fighter is so dumb that it takes away from anything positive that the film may have. I found it boring for a good chunk of the film and I could not close my mind off enough to enjoy it. Things happened off screen that seemed to be important to the overall film.

I do like David Dastmalchian, who is always a great choice for a villain, even if M. Bison is a one-note villain. Jason Momoa was in this too, but I spent most of his time on screen trying to figure out if that was Roman Reigns playing the role.

The film looked decent. I liked the color and the design of most of the film. The music was filled with needledrops that were really on the nose.

The ending was left open for a sequel that, I can imagine, that if you were enjoying the movie, you would have been upset at the lack of a satisfying conclusion. I had long since given up on enjoying the movie so the crappy ending did not bother me any more.

The film was too long. It was too dumb. It was not a fun kind of dumb. It was more the stupid kind of dumb. This could have had a role as a satire/parody, but it was supposed to be too serious.

I did like the animated sections they used to fill in the exposition. They should have done more with that. Any time they went back to the live action, this movie suffered.

This was much worse that the Mortal Kombat film from earlier this year. Thank goodness for Cody Rhodes.

1.5 stars

It Came From Outer Space (1953)

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October 11

#6 out of 13

I had thought that I had seen It Came From Outer Space (1953) before, but there was no review on the site. Because of that, I decided to add it on the list for the October 13. After watching it, I think what I was thinking was “The Day the Earth Stood Still” instead of this one. Both of these films were named in the “Science Fiction/Double Feature” song from Rocky Horror Picture Show, which may have led to my confusion as well.

I have definitely not seen this movie before, but it was a really enjoyable. These kind of sci-fi outer space films from the 50s have a tone about them that really sets them apart from other films of the time. They are also great in comparison to the more recent because of their low budget and reliance on practical effects.

According to IMDB, “A spaceship from another world crashes in the Arizona desert and only an amateur stargazer and a schoolteacher suspect alien influence when the local townsfolk begin to act strangely.”

There was some good tension in the film as the aliens moved about taking over humans’ appearances in order to walk freely among them. The interactions between astronomer John Putnam and Sheriff Warren was fun, even if it was unlikely.

I was surprised when the Professor from Gilligan’s Island walked onto the screen. Russell Johnson played George, one of the earliest of the humans to be taken by the aliens and replaced. I have seen Johnson in other roles such as in The Twilight Zone before his most recognizable role on the sitcom.

I liked this a lot and it was fun watching the story develop. This film was not afraid to set the humans in a more aggressive manner when the aliens just wanted to fix their crashed ship and leave.

Other Mommy

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It has been a great year for horror. I spoke about it in a review just a few weeks ago after watching Resident Evil.

Then came Other Mommy.

They can’t all be winners.

Other Mommy was a huge disappointment because the initial trailer for this movie was so good. How could a trailer be so intense, creepy and disturbing while the movie it is from is dull, stupid and downright pathetic.

According to IMDB, “Bela, an 8-year-old girl living in a home with marital problems, confronts a sinister entity which comes out of her closet. The presence, whom she calls “Other Mommy,” becomes increasingly threatening to her and her family.”

Jessica Chastain committed to the role, but I was underwhelmed by the performance. It was funny at times, and that is not what the film wanted.

I will say that the young debuting actor Arabella Olivia Clark as Bela did a good job. She handled a lot of the heavy lifting in the story as she had most of the story on her shoulders.

The problem is the story itself was lacking in too many ways. There is no specific plot involved. What is Other Mommy’s motive? Not really sure. There are moments when the tone of the film is all over the place. It felt like they tried to infuse some humor into the story that just never worked and only served to pull me out of the film.

The biggest problem of Other Mommy is that, outside of the great jump scare that they showed in the trailer, this movie was just not scary. It was nowhere near as creepy or intense for almost the entire run time of the film. The trailer made me think this would be a tense and anxious film. Nope. I actually laughed at several of the scenes that were supposed to be scary.

I thought the acting was fine, but there are just too many problems with the film to add to the list of great 2026 horror films.

1.2 stars

War of the Worlds (2005)

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October 4

#3 out of 13

I adjusted the rules of the October 13 because I wanted to do a rewatch of Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds. Typically, the October 13 is reserved for films that I have never seen before, and I did see this film in the theater back when it came out. However, I decided to include this one in the October 13 as a rewatch this year because I did want to give it a second chance, and I am glad that I did.

I remember not liking this movie at all when I saw it in the theater. I distinctly remember sitting in the Voy Theater and hating this film. I pulled it up today on HBO Max and thought it was much better. I still wouldn’t say that I loved it, but I did enjoy it more than that first time, and I am happy I did the rewatch.

According to IMDB, “An alien invasion threatens the future of humanity. The catastrophic nightmare is depicted through the eyes of one American family fighting for survival.”

One of the reasons why I think I liked this more this time than back then was I was not as familiar with HG Wells’ novel War of the Worlds at the time. Since I have read it and taught it at school and I have more of an appreciation for it. While they made many adaptations to it, there are several key scenes that come from the novel, including the scenes involving Ogilvy (Tim Robbins).

I was now familiar with the ending of the story, and how the alien tripods were brought down. I remember being really unhappy with the conclusion when I first saw it, but now it feels much more acceptable, if not even somewhat iconic.

Tom Cruise is solid as well, and we get some great scenes of him running. The two kids (Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin) were annoying through much of the film, but they grew on me as the story progressed.

The film looked great with the tripods and the aliens, and the scene where the long tentacle searched through the basement where Cruise and Ogilvy were hidden was very tense and suspenseful.

In the end, this was way better than I had remembered, and, while it is nowhere near the top of my Spielberg list of movies, it is no long near the bottom either.

Unabomber

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I have always had a fascination with serial killers, and I remember when the chase for the Unabomber was going down in the 1990s and the capture and arrest of the Unabomber, Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski. When I saw the new film on Netflix entitled Unabomber, I put it on my queue. I saw some big named actors involved, including Russell Crowe, Jacob Trembley and Shailene Woodley. I was surprised to find out that it was Jacob Trembley who was playing Ted Kaczynski.

The film was told in two time periods. Jacob Trembley was playing Ted during his time as a 16-year old Harvard student and his involvement in a debate club led by Russell Crowe’s Professor Henry Murray. The second time period is the time period of the Unabomber Manifesto and the subsequent capture of Kaczynski, led by FBI Agent Joanne Miller, played by Shailene Woodley.

I thought that the casting of Trembley was Kaczynski was odd, but Trembley did a solid job in the role. His interactions with Russell Crowe were strong and both of their performances elevated the material.

Sadly, the basic idea of the film felt fairly low level and lacking some of the key components of the character. The psychological aspect of the film was questionable, and it even went as far as to imply that Crowe’s Murray helped turn Kaczynski into what he would become. I am not sure the writing of the film was to the level it needed to be, despite a couple of actors bringing the work to a higher level.

The present day storyline felt fairly typical of the true crime genre, without a ton of depth. Shailene Woodley was decent, but there just was nothing more to add to the story that hadn’t been covered before. The final scene of the capture of Kaczynski had some tension to it, but it was filmed straight up and simple when it could have had more layers.

There just was not much to the overall story, and that is a shame as the Unabomber was one of the 20th centuries biggest criminal cases.

2.8 stars

Avengers Endgame: Encore

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Are the new scenes that were added to the end of Avengers Endgame: Encore necessary to see to understand Avengers: Doomsday coming in December? Maybe not… but I don’t care.

It was freakin’ epic.

Would I have gone to the theater had there not been new scenes? Damn straight. Avengers: Endgame is my favorite movie of all time (right up there with Princess Bride) and I loved watching this movie on the big screen. I was in the same IMAX theater where I saw this movie the first time.

This was my tenth time seeing this movie in a theater, and it was every bit as awesome as the first time. The big moments still brought tears to my eyes despite having seen it as many times as I have (including multiple times on Disney +).

No spoilers for the new scenes at the end, but I found all of them extremely amazing. They were short. There were four bits that were added in a way or another.

The film is very long, but I have to say that I never felt its length. Each aspect of the film worked so well and flowed beautifully. That third act is one of the best third acts in all of movies. Yet I believe the first two acts are as great as any as well.

Watching this movie, I am amazed at the cast that they brought back for this movie. We had the Avengers and Thanos, of course, but also actors such as Robert Redford, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Douglas, Tilda Swinton, Frank Grillo, Rene Russo, John Slattery, Hayley Atwell, Jon Favreau, Angela Bassett, William Hurt, Hiroyuki Sanada, James D’Arcy, Jacob Batalon, Ken Jeong, and several surprise appearances in the new scenes.

I loved this experience again and the new scenes only helped but make me even more excited for Doomsday. Endgame remains at the top of my list of films.

5 stars, of course.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #87

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DTF St. Louis

“Cornhole”

An Emmy winning limited series from HBO Max is the next show for the Sunday Morning Sidewalk and I am a little disappointed. Not with the show, I thought it was a compelling and gripping first episode that I am excited to continue. I am disappointed because I knew the premise of the show before I watched episode one.

I knew that there would be a surprising murder in episode one… truthfully, it was what attracted me to the show… but I really wish I had not known this fact because the surprise would have been monumental.

We got some hints at the non-linear storytelling techniques in the first episode as we did see David Harbour’s character Floyd Smernitch in flashbacks after his body had been discovered dead. I do enjoy the non-linear structure as the use of flashbacks can help tell the story extremely effectively.

Jason Bateman’s weatherman character Clark Forrest feels like the classic red herring, as he was arrested in the first episode. Linda Cardellini, who was Floyd’s wife, Carol, was purposefully made to look sinister at times in the episode.

It’s really early to try to make a judgment on whom the killer is, because there could be any number of factors that played into it that we do not know yet. The manner in which Floyd was killed does seem to limit the number of possibilities.

I love a good mystery and a major character being offed in the first episode is great. It reminded me of when Laura Palmer was found wrapped in plastic, though I do not expect any sort of weirdness like I got in Twin Peaks in DTF St. Louis.

I do love the dynamic between Richard Jennings (who played Detective Donoghue Homer) and Joy Sunday (who played Detective Jodie Plumb). They will be a fun pair to follow as the facts of the case are laid out before the audience.

Jason Bateman, Linda Cardellini and David Harbour are awesome actors that I love in just about everything I have seen them in, so I expect this seven-episode limited series to be a fantastic ride. It already dropped a bunch of shocking reveals that I can’t wait to see play out.

Hope

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My friend Chris asked me if I was going to see Hope this weekend. I had no idea what it was. He sent me a link, which introduced me to this Korean action/sci-fi/monster movie. I also heard some chatter about how wild this movie was, so when I saw the film available at Cinemark, it moved up my list.

Wild is not the appropriate descriptor for the film.

According to IMDB, “A mysterious discovery is made on the outskirts of the remote harbor town. The residents find themselves in a desperate fight for survival against something they have never encountered before.“

The movie starts off with the Chief of Police (Hwang Jung-min) getting called by his cousin Ko Sung-ki (Zo In-sung) to investigate a dead cow on the road that had gaping claw wounds on its body. This led to a pursuit of some kind of monster that is rampaging through the heart of the small town.

Another character that I enjoyed a great deal in this movie was Im Sung-ae, who was played by Jung Ho-yeon- one of the stars of the first season of Squid Game.

The first act of this movie is basically the monster and Chief going through the city and it was tremendous. There were so many epic action moments that were amazingly shot. Some of the CGI was a touch shaky, but there were also some awesome CGI as well. There were no moments of bad CGI that took me out of the movie.

There was a switch along the line when we discover something unexpected and it changes the perspective. It is still some greatness, as there are a ton of great action chases and exciting, thrill ride scenes.

There were some extremely funny scenes too. Especially some of the dialogue of the film was hilarious and my entire theater was laughing at it.

Hope, though I am not sure where that name comes from, is so great for most of this movie that the long run time of over two and a half hours did not feel that way for me. I really was considering this being the second 5 star review of the day.

However, without spoiling anything, the ending of this movie dropped a gigantic HUH??? on the audience and came from out of nowhere. I was totally confused at the end of the film, and it hurt a film that I thought was superb so far. It felt like the film was incomplete. It does sound like they are working on the sequel.

As with any foreign language film, I forgot the fact that I was reading the English dub on the screen as the film progressed. It just becomes part of the experience. I prefer reading the subtitles over having English actors dub the words because the performances always seem to suffer in that way. The tone of voices is as important as the words that they are saying.

This was a lot of fun even though the ending dinged it. It is a bat-shit crazy film that flipped the script a couple of times and kept me tense and anxious the whole time.

4.5 stars

Practical Magic 2

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I was in the theater watching Practical Magic 2 and there were a couple of young women sitting a couple seats away from me. They were enjoying this movie so much. They were crying, gasping, leaning on each other and reacting to everything that was happening. It made me remember how I reacted to Avengers: Endgame on the first watch. There was an energy coming from them that was wonderful.

I wish I would have liked the movie anywhere near what they did.

I just watched Practical Magic for the first time earlier this week in preparation for this movie, and, while I did not like it that much, I am glad I watched it, because you needed to know the story of the original in order to know what is happening.

The curse of the Owens sisters (Sandra Bullock & Nicole Kidman) takes front and center once again as Sally’s husband Gary died off screen, confirming that the curse was still going on. The story transferred to Sally’s daughters, Antonia (Maisie Williams) and Kylie (Joey King), as they were coming to celebrate the birthday of Aunt Jet (Dianne Wiest). Sally had kept her daughters in the dark about their background as witches so when Kylie came with a boyfriend (Xolo Maridueña), things take a turn for tragedy.

The actors are all likeable. I have to admit to only seeing Blue Beetle when Xolo Maridueña was on screen. I was also happy to see Stockard Channing, who I really thought was dead.

The story felt very shaky and I found it to be the biggest weakness of the film. The writing was silly and it was really predictable. I was rolling my eyes several times.

I am glad the young ladies in my row enjoyed this so much. I did not hate the film, but I did not find it any better than the original, which I thought was below level.

2.8 stars