Tag Archives: film

The Long Walk

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I am all stiff and tired after driving for 100 miles. I can’t imagine having to walk it.

A ensemble of characters have to do just that (and more) in the latest film based on a Stephen King novella called The Long Walk, and it is absolutely tremendous.

My first feeling was that this was a combination of Squid Game and Hunger Games, which made sense considering Francis Lawrence directed it and he had directed several of the Hunger Games movies.

In this dystopian future, a group of young men volunteers win a lottery drawing for the right to participate in the “Long Walk,” an annual event where the group start to walk and must continue to walk at a brisque speed or else they would be eliminated. The last man standing would be declared the winner and would earn a wish and prize money.

I tell you, The Long Walk is one of the most difficult, heart-wrenching, hard-to-watch movies of the year. It keeps you, as an audience member, off balance and uneasy, if not outrightly disturbed. There were some scenes in this movie that were totally unsettling, and I do not just mean the scene of the execution of the walkers.

I was extremely emotional during this movie because they did such an amazing job of setting up and developing the characters that I cared for them in a limited amount of time and I found myself tearing up on more than one occasion and felt gut-punched more than once.

The film really was a character piece, as the driving force of much of the movie was the dialogue that was going on between the actors. It was so expertly written that there were characters who only received minimal attention that I cared about so much. The interaction between these actors drove the story and only helped serve the shocking violence that would follow. Nothing was held back. The violence was brutal, crushing and significant.

Our main two fixtures among the characters were Raymond Garraty and Peter McVries, played brilliantly by Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, respectfully. The performances of these two actors really created a bond between the characters that carried you through a film where you knew that only one of the ensemble would survive. They became brothers-like and gave the film real heart.

Mark Hamill played the Major, the head of this activity who would show up throughout the Long Walk to be an a-hole and continue to harass and remind the walkers of what was going on. Mark Hamill is awesome as a villain, but to be fair, this Major is not the most developed character in the film as he was a bit too mustache-twirly. Hamill played him extremely well though as I had sufficient feeling of resentment toward him as the film progressed.

This is not a fun watch by any means. It gives us a depressing world with an even worse premise that will lead only to violent death and loss. As an allegory to the Vietnam War, which is was back in the 1960s when Stephen King wrote this novella, it works well. As a character piece, introducing us to these sad people through dialogue and death, it works even more. The Long Walk is a powerfully compelling, hard to watch film that gave me a lot of feelings and things to think about.

4.6 stars

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues

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I am a huge fan of This is Spinal Tap. It is not only a cult classic, but, for me, it is one of my all time favorite movies. So I was very excited when I saw that there would be a sequel bringing the boys back together.

Spinal Tap is David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel and Derek Smalls. These three, along with director of the film Marty Di Burgi, have been making the promotional rounds, talking about the movie. Of course, these characters are being portrayed in kayfabe by Michael McKeon, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, and director Rob Reiner.

The new “mockumentary” follows the guys as they reunite after years to play one more contractually required concerts. The film is about Spinal Tap getting back together, dealing with their problems and rehearsing for the big show in New Orleans.

I love Spinal Tap and this was a lot of fun. It was great seeing these characters again, even if seeing them aged is a bit of a shock. The music is wonderful. The lines are funny. I assume they did the same kind of improv that they used in the first film.

I am going to say that there was no way this was going to match the first film. This is Spinal Tap is such a brilliant film, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues was never going to be able to reach the levels of the first one. However, this was still a lot of enjoyment. There was something missing in the story. Perhaps it was the tension between the band that was causing that feeling, but there was something that brought the story down a touch.

It does tell you how iconic Spinal Tap is when you can get Paul McCartney and Elton John to come to your film and sing with the band. There were a couple of other cool cameos here including Questlove, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Chad Smith, and Lars Ulrich (of Metallica).

A lot of the jokes are recycled, including clips from the original movie. There are a bunch of new songs, but none of them received the full song version in the film. We do get full versions of “Cups and Cakes,” “Stonehenge,” and “(Listen to the) Flower People.” I would have liked to hear a few of the new songs extended outside of the slight usage in rehearsal footage or band discussion.

These critiques are minor for me as I laughed and enjoyed the reunion film. Fans of the original movie are going to have a lot of fun with this new sequel, which would make a great double feature with the original.

4.4 stars

The Conjuring: Last Rites

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What is supposed to be the final installment of the Conjuring franchise was released this weekend. This was the fourth Conjuring movie, but the Conjuring universe of movies included a total of nine when you add Annabelle and The Nun films.

According to IMDB, “Paranormal investigators, Ed & Lorraine Warren take on their most disturbing case to date. Jack & Janet Smurl and their family, move into a brand new home they’ve dreamed of, which turned into a nightmare as their home begins to show signs of demonic infestation.“

Ed & Lorraine Warren were real people and the films are listed as based on a true story. Of course, how much is “true” is anyone’s guess. This case with the Smurl family was apparently the final case for the Warrens.

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga have become extremely comfortable in these roles over the years and they are most likely the strongest part of this film. They have great chemistry with one another and they do all the heavy lifting.

The first half of the movie was a touch dull and the second half did pick things up. I thought the third act of the movie was satisfying and intense. The first half did drag a bit. I think there were parts of that first half of the movie that could have been trimmed to bring the run time of this movie down from its 135 minutes and would have helped the film overall.

There also felt as if there were too many things wrapped into the film. I’m not sure the overall tale of the haunted house needed to be as convoluted as it was.

The Conjuring movies have slipped in quality over the years, but it still does some things very well and it gives us a wrap up for the franchise that is satisfying.

3.2 stars

The Toxic Avenger (2023)

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The Toxic Avenger was a B-movie from 1984 that became a cult classic on cable. The character of Toxie has stuck around in different formats over the years. Now, we get a new version of The Toxic Avengers in 2025. Technically.

The film has been on the shelf for the last couple of years looking for studio to release it. Finally we get the film released.

Janitor Winston Gooze (Peter Dinklage) discovered that he had a progressive brain cancer that would kill him in the next year. In desperation, Winston approached his company’s head, Bob Garbinger (Kevin Bacon), for help. Bob brushes him off. Winston gets shot and dumped into the ooze, and he is transformed into a freaky new creature, The Toxic Avenger.

The creators and actors in this new version of The Toxic Avenger know exactly what type of movie this is and they carry themselves as such. The original movie was a huge B-movie and this film echoes that as well. Everything about the film makes you think this is a low-budget, over-the-top, low level film with the exception of the cast.

This movie has a big time cast. Not only do we get Peter Dinklage as Winston and Kevin Bacon as Bob, but we also get Justin Tremblay as Wade, Winston’s step-son, Taylour Paige as J.J. Doherty, and Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz.

This movie could have easily just done a big budget film and make it more straightforward, but that would have lost the tone of the original, which this film was trying to emulate. The story was silly and a lot of the dialogue was just bad at times. However, the actors played into the story in a way that you could tell that it was part of the joke. It was one of those film that didn’t care that it had stupid moments because it was meant to be that way. This film embraced the silliness and stupidity.

A perfect example is Kevin Bacon’s performance. He is chewing the scenery so much that you can tell he is having the time of his life. I should also mention that when Winston is transformed into Toxie, Peter Dinklage only does voice over. British actress Luisa Guerreiro is doing the physical performance of Toxie in the makeup.

This is the type of movie that will divide the audience. You have to be able to watch this understanding that it is a B-movie (at best) and that they are playing into that. This is a lot of fun. Yes, it will never win any awards, but you can have a good time if you let yourself.

3.3 stars

Caught Stealing

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Darren Aronofsky, director of The Whale, Mother!, Requiem for a Dream, Noah, Black Swan and The Wrestler, released his newest film this weekend, Caught Stealing, starring up-and-coming star, Austin Butler.

I have been hit-and-miss with Aronofsky’s film over the years. I love The Wrestler and Black Swan, but did not like Mother! or Noah much at all. So I approached Caught Stealing with an uneasy feeling, especially since the trailers for this did not excite me.

I am happy to say that I enjoyed Caught Stealing quite a bit, and it would be near the top of my list of Aronofsky films.

I will say that it has a distinctly different feel than other Aronofsky films, feeling more like a crime film directed by Guy Ritchie.

According to IMDB, “Burned-out ex-baseball player Hank Thompson unexpectedly finds himself embroiled in a dangerous struggle for survival amidst the criminal underbelly of 1990s New York City, forced to navigate a treacherous underworld he never imagined.“

Austin Butler is exceptional as Hank Thompson. Hank suffered from plenty of trauma from his life, shown expertly in dreams and flashbacks. These scenes provide a lot of details and specific traits for our main character and show what a relatable character he is to the audience. Butler provided such a strong performance to help amplify these traits for Hank, giving no doubt about who the audience should root for.

I did love the character of Yvonne, played by Zoë Kravitz. She had some great chemistry with Austin Butler and she provided some of the most amazing moments of the film. I also found Regina King’s work as Detective Roman to be on point. Being honest, the rest of the cast had great actors, but their characters were not developed deeply. The cast included Matt Smith, Vincent D’Onofrio, Liev Schreiber, Chris Russo, Griffin Dunne, Bad Bunny, Tenoch Huerta and Carol Kane.

Perhaps the best performance in the film was given by the cat that Hank had to carry with him through most of the film. The cat was definitely one of the best characters in the film.

The tone of the film did bounce around too much. It would go from anxiousness to almost humor, and it did make it feel somewhat inconsistent. I would not call this a comedy, even a black one. This is more like a film that we might have gotten in the 1990s.

The film was set in 1998, with the San Francisco Giants’ pursuit of the Wild Card being a backdrop for the storyline. Hank was a super fan and he was constantly rooting for his team. The choice of using this as a backdrop is interesting as the Giants did make it to the World Series, only for the series to be disrupted by an earthquake.

I have to say that some of the things that Hank was able to overcome in this movie stretched credibility a touch, but since I was enjoying the movie as much as I was, these issues did not detract from the overall enjoyment of the movie. I will say that the first thing that happened to him probably would have taken me out of the action right away.

This film kept my interest and I enjoyed the work of the actors and the overall story. The tone was shaky at times, but any flaws that the film showed were not major problems. Austin Butler is a major star in the future of films and this is one more great example.

4 stars

The Roses

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The War of the Roses was a 1989 movie starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito about a married couple who have fallen out and go to desperate lengths over the ownership of the house in the divorce.

Now we have a rebooted version of the film, The Roses, featuring Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman. It is difficult to review The Roses without thinking about the original film from the late 1980s.

According to IMDB, “Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Ivy (Colman) and Theo (Cumberbatch): successful careers, great kids, an enviable sex life. But underneath the façade of the perfect family is a tinderbox of competition and resentments that’s ignited when Theo’s professional dreams come crashing down.”

What made me the most excited about this remake was the lead actors. I really like Benedict Cumberbatch and I love Olivia Colman. I do not think that I have seen a bad performance from Colman in any films she had appeared in. Some of the films are not very good, but she always brings the goods. This is no exception and these two are easily the standout of the film.

The Roses spends a lot more time building the relationship between Theo and Ivy than the War of the Roses did with Oliver and Barbara. We see the tensions building between them and how it poisons their love slowly, over years. At first it seemed as if it was going to be mostly Theo who caused the rift, but the film definitely came back around to balance out the fault.

The only problem with the slow build in the movie was the finale felt more rushed and may have lacked some overall oomph, especially when compared to The War of the Roses.

I did like the way the film ended though some may not appreciate the manner in which the movie closes.

I thought the film was dark (though nowhere as dark as the first one) and it did have some funny moments that sprung out of character and, in particular, dialogue. I thought this was well written and worked with the tone it had been setitng.

I was not as much of a fan with some of the side characters, especially Kate McKinnon’s Amy. This joke seemed to be pushed too far in the film and was not as funny as it was at the first mention. Andy Samberg was basically the Danny DeVito role, but did not get much to do. It was fun to see The Doctor from Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa on the screen as one of Ivy’s employees at the restaurant (the name of which is one of the best jokes of the early part of the film).

I did enjoy The Roses, mainly because of Cumberbatch and Colman. It is not as good as the original film from 1989, but it is complimentary to it.

4 stars

Ne Zha II

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If you were not someone who followed box office results, you would not have any idea the answer to the question, “What is the biggest worldwide box office film of 2025?” The answer is the Chinese film Ne Zha II. It has nearly reached $2 billion worldwide, with not much of that total coming from domestic.

Ne Zha II is receiving a wide release in the US, which could push the film to join the $2 billion club.

According to IMDB, “After a great catastrophe, the souls of Nezha and Aobing are saved, but their bodies face ruin. To give them new life, Taiyi Zhenren turns to the mystical seven-colored lotus in a daring bid to rebuild them and change their fate.“

I am going to start off with the strength of this movie. It is, perhaps, the most spectacularly animated movie I have ever seen. Everything about the imagery on the screen was absolutely stunning. The images, the character design, the backgrounds, art design, the colors…. it was legitimately the greatest looking animated movie I have ever seen and that is saying quite a lot.

I usually prefer when a live action film uses subtitles instead of dubbing because the original voices tend to have the proper emotion. That is not usually the case with animated films that I have seen dubbed. Ne Zha II was dubbed with English and, if I am being honest, I was unimpressed with the voice over work. Part of that may have been how the main character of Ne Zha sounded, as he was screaming in that Anime manner, and I have never been a fan of that. None of the voices stood out to me and I found that a weakness of this version of the film. Of course, I do not speak Chinese, so there is that.

The story was a touch confusing, and that might be because this is a sequel to a film from 2019 that I had never seen. I think they updated that part in the opening exposition, or, at least, that is what I guessed. There was another part of the film that I did not love and that was the attempts at humor. I did not find most of the humor to work and I might have preferred them to stick to the action.

Speaking of the action, it was exceptional. This was part of the animation and it was wonderfully laid out and was amazing to look at in every battle. Everything was laid out perfectly and helped build the tension of the film and most of the action also helped to develop the characters.

Ne Zha II is a massive success and is one of the most visually stunning films of all time. It is also the most successful monetary film of all time too. I am glad that I got a chance to see it even the movie may have a few drawbacks when it comes to story and time. It was certainly worth the two and a half hours it took to watch it.

3.9 stars

Nobody 2

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A sequel was released this week to a movie that did not seem as if it needed a sequel. The 2021 action/thriller Nobody received solid reviews, though it did not make a ton of money at the box office. It found Bob Odenkirk of Better Call Saul fame in the lead role of a docile family man who had a real violent streak inside him.

This weekend, Odenkirk returned as Hutch Mansell once again as a man who just wants to take his family on vacation to make memories. However, as per his luck, Hutch went to a little town where his father had taken him as a youth, and he discovered that there was more to the town than one would expect.

Odenkirk is great as the wrong-place-wrong-time former lethal assassin walked into a mess in the small town and his bursts of violent anger worked against his better judgment.

Other cast members returning from the 2021 film included Connie Nielson as Hutch’s wife, Becca, Paisley Cadorath and Gage Munroe as their children Sammy and Brady, Colin Salmon as The Barber, Hutch’s “brother” and Christopher Lloyd as Hutch’s father, David. This film added John Ortiz as Wyatt, Colin Hanks as Sheriff Abel and Sharon Stone as the big bad Lendina.

Nobody 2 is sort of like a mix between Rambo, National Lampoon’s Vacation and Zombieland (sans the zombies), with a flare of an R rated A-Team. It is extremely violent in the cartoony way and Hutch’s reactions to the terrible things he does are wonderfully fun. The story is very simple. It does not get much more than Hutch wants to go on vacation and he runs into criminals who try to kill him. He responds. That is basically it, and, truthfully, that is all we need.

There are some very funny moments in the movie and they mostly work because of the charisma of Odenkirk and the other actors. There are some creative fights and brutality in the movie. However, there were too many moments when the fights were tough to watch because of a dark look of the film or the bouncy cam. I could really do without the bouncy cam during the fight scenes.

The violence requires a lot of suspension of disbelief too . Hutch makes it through some very difficult moments and he does things that makes you wonder if this guy is invincible. He pulls it off though because of the way Odenkirk carries the character.

Nobody 2 is a fun sequel that should entertain those looking for silly action and rampant cartoon-like violence. I enjoyed the experience.

3.8 stars

Dexter: Resurrection S1 E6

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Spoilers

“Cats and Mouse”

David Dastmalchian has an awesome twist in this episode of Dexter: Resurrection.

Dastmalchian’s serial killer, The Gemini Killer aka Gareth, showed up at Dexter’s place as the Blessing family above were having a wake for the dearly departed mother. Dexter took advantage of the situation and killed him.

However as Prater had organized a helicopter trip for the serial killer’s club, Dexter was worried that they would figure out that he was responsible as the new guy for the sudden disappearances of the group.

And then, The Gemini Killer showed up to get in the helicopter. Twins. Gemini Killers, plural.

What an awesome shock that I did not see coming.

This episode was packed full too. Mia wound up dead, hanging in her cell. It looked as if Charley had paid off a guard to take care of business. This happened coincidentally just as Batista, Wallace and Olivia had arrived at the prison to show Mia a photo of Dexter to see if she recognized him as the Bay Harbor Butcher. Of course, that would have been a big time reveal as she believed he was the Dark Passenger.

There were several great scenes here too. There were some wonderful moments with Dexter and Harrison. Harrison attended Blessing’s mother’s funeral. Harrison helped Dexter out after Dexter called his son and asked him if a hoody was proper attire for a funeral.

There was also a fantastic scene between Dexter and Blessing, who had came to apologize for being snippy about some ice. The scene was also very tense since Gareth was dead in the shower/tub.

Dexter is doing a wonderful job of being a part of Harrison’s life. Harrison told his dad that he had an image of killing the landlord, but Dexter talked him down, easing the anxiety that Harrison was clearly entertaining in his head.

I really enjoyed this episode. It felt like it was adding so many awesome moments that I kept waiting for it to end. The end with the reveal of the Gemini Killer was absolutely a masterfully campy end.

Mr. Deeds (2002)

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I was not sure what I wanted to watch as the final film in the Sandler Saturday, because the last couple had snake-bit me so hard. So I decided on Mr. Deeds.

This one finished up the day with a film that was not as bad as I expected.

According to IMDB, “When small-town pizzeria owner and poet Longfellow Deeds inherits $40 billion from his deceased uncle, he quickly begins rolling in a different kind of dough. Moving to the big city, he is besieged by opportunists all gunning for their piece of the pie. Babe, a television tabloid reporter, poses as an innocent small-town girl to do an exposé on Deeds, but his sincere naiveté has Babe falling in love with him instead. Ultimately, Deeds comes to find that money truly has the power to change things, but it doesn’t necessarily need to change him.”

The big difference between this movie and some of the others that I have watched today is that Adam Sandler’s character Longfellow Deeds was a sweet, kind hearted guy. He was not the obnoxious crude a-hole of some of the other characters in Sandler’s oeuvre. That was a nice little switch. He was still just playing himself, but without the misbehavior. Deeds went around helping everyone and he was a beloved individual in the small town where he lived. He was not a foul mouthed a-hole who had to learn a lesson.

This was a remake of the Frank Capra classic “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” which is a movie that I have not seen before so I did not feel the difference. I am afraid that if I see the Capra version, I would see the excessive problems of this film.

I did not recognize Winona Ryder as Babe Bennett, the reporter who pretends to be a school nurse to get close to Deeds. What is up with John McEnroe in these Adam Sandler movies? Were they friends of some sort?

I was happier with this non-offensive film finishing up the Sandler Saturday. At least I did not hate myself for watching it.

Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

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We’re off to a great start, this Sandler Saturday.

I would definitely say that Punch-Drunk Love is not an Adam Sandler movie. He stars in the film, but it is an Adam Sandler movie the same way Uncut Gems is an Adam Sandler movie. Uncut Gems was a Safdie Brothers and Punch-Drunk Love was a Paul Thomas Anderson movie.

According to IMDB, “Barry Egan hates himself and hates his life. The only male among eight siblings, Barry is treated poorly by his overbearing sisters. Despite owning his own business, he has gotten nowhere in life largely because of his insecurities. He leads a solitary life, which allows him to hide his violent outbursts that occur when he’s frustrated. His solitude however allows him to think, he stumbling upon a scheme to travel the world on a pittance, travel which he has never done. Concurrently, he meets two people who pull him in two different directions. The first is Lena Leonard, a friend of his sister Elizabeth. Barry is slow to realize that Lena is attracted to him, he making her make all the first moves. Lena is eventually able to get Barry out of his shell, she who sticks around despite his obvious problems. His burgeoning relationship and thus new life with Lena is threatened by the second, “Georgia”, who he contacted in an effort to alleviate his loneliness. Georgia and her “band of brothers” do whatever they can get get out of Barry what they want, no matter the price to Barry.“

Adam Sandler is really good in this movie. Again, he is playing a character and it is a character considerably deeper than most characters he plays. Barry is a socially awkward, lonely man who has a horrible self-image. He is extremely compelling during the film even when he is doing some of the strange things that he does. You can see how much talent Adam Sandler actually has as an actor.

The film is very much a PTA film, weird, strange and fairly chaotic. There are many surreal elements to the movie that work well within the context of the film.

I loved the relationship between Barry and Lena (Emily Watson). It was sweet and original. I liked how it did not go the way I expected.

We are 2 for 2 so far.

Together

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I did not know much about this movie. I knew it starred Dave Franco and Alison Brie, but that was about it. As I was watching the trailers before the movie (which were heavily horror), I thought to myself, “Is this going to be a horror movie?” Not only was it a horror movie, it was a body horror film.

Now, while I do love horror, body horror is my least favorite of the subgenres of horror. So it already had that working against it.

According to IMDB, “Years into their relationship, Tim and Millie find themselves at a crossroads as they move to the country. With tensions already flaring, an encounter with an unnatural force threatens to corrupt their lives, their love and their flesh.“

After the film was over, I looked at the Rotten Tomatoes score for this and it was 90%. I have to say, that score shocked me.

Because I hated this.

Not only did I not like the body horror stuff, but the biggest thing was I thought there were so many scenes and moments that I found funny. Laugh out loud funny. I was rolling my eyes at some of the scenes because they were so ridiculous. I was trying not to actually laugh out loud in the theater in case others in the room thought it was tense.

However, with the scene at the very end (no spoilers), I could not keep from belting out a laugh. It was the most ridiculous thing I think I have seen in a long time.

The more I thought about this, the worse it became. I thought both Franco and Brie were compelling during the film, but I just was not enjoying the story the film was telling me. It made little sense and I found the stuff that was supposed to be anxiety building to be silly.

I definitely do not agree with the whole world apparently. I hated this.

1.4 stars

Monster Island

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This B-monster movie debuted on Shudder at the end of July. I came across it the other day and thought it might be some scary fun to watch it.

Set during the last days of World War II, a Japanese Hell Ship, which was transporting POWs, was sunk by an American ship. Saito, a Japanese soldier and Bronson, a British POW end up stranded together on a mysterious island. In their attempt to survive on the island despite their differences, they come across a mythological monster from Malay folklore called Orang Ikan.

Orang Ikan means “Fish Man” in Malay and this monster (played by Alan Maxson) looked like a combination of the Creature from the Black Lagoon and the Sleestak from Land of the Lost. This Orang Ikan then went about a Predator-like hunt with the two men, as they struggled to survive.

It was really odd with the film since Saito did not speak English and there were no subtitles on the screen. We, as audiences, were every bit as uncertain about what was happening as Bronson was. You had to watch the way Saito carried himself and his body language if you wanted to see what kind of man he was.

His actions immediately showed that Saito was someone who you could trust and, despite the language differences, would be a friend in this situation. We do find out that Saito had been on the ship and chained together initially with Bronson because he was being returned to Japan to be put to death for being a traitor to Japan.

Dean Fujioka played Saito and Callum Woodhouse played Bronson. Both did a decent job in this clearly low budget film.

The film was short and moved along briskly. I did find myself engaged by the survival attempt by the two men and I did like that the film took some time to build the relationship between them. It was more than just fighting for their lives that brought them together but a little bit of character development.

It was an okay movie that was worth a watch on Shudder. The Orang Ikan may not have been as slick as most horror movies these days in appearance, but the film’s practical effects were appreciated.

3.2 stars

Sandler Saturday

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This coming Saturday I am going to do something because I feel I need to punish myself some more.

Last weekend Netflix dropped Happy Gilmore 2. I did not review it because of one major reason.

I do not like Adam Sandler.

Then, I had never saw the entire film Happy Gilmore. I have seen individual scenes, but not the whole thing. That made me think about what other movies of Adam Sandler I had not seen. I pulled up the list of Sandler movies and I had not seen very many at all.

What I have seen: The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy, Anger Management, Grown Ups 2, Uncut Gems, Spaceman, Hustle, all three Hotel Transylvanias, Leo, and Pixels.

That left a bunch of other Sandler movies, including some of the biggest of his career, that I have not seen. I thought that it might not have been fair of me to hate on Sandler so much without having seen some of these films. Of the ones I have seen, I did like The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy, Anger Management, Uncut Gems, Leo and Hustle. I hated Grown Ups 2 and Pixels. I did not like the Hotel Transylvania series, but did not hate them. That was a better percent of liking than I expected.

So I decided that this Saturday, I will watch as many Sandler movies as I can stand. I have not confirmed the actual list of films, but I plan on kicking off with Happy Gilmore and I may then do the sequel on Sunday.

There are times when I wonder why I am doing this to myself. I watched War of the Worlds on Prime this morning despite knowing it was terrible. This could be a massive fail of a day for me. Some of the films on Sandler’s list are just so reviled by the whole (aka Jack and Jill), should I really put myself through that?

Well, I’m going to do it. Pray for me.

Films for Sandler Saturday

#1. Happy Gilmore

#2. Punch-Drunk Love

#3. The Waterboy

#4. Murder Mystery

#5. Jack and Jill

#6. Billy Madison

#7. Mr. Deeds

And that brings the Sandler Saturday to an end. That was about all I can handle of Adam Sandler. My overall thoughts… I think there are some movies of Adam Sandler that I can like. There are too many of them that are just terrible.

Maybe I can approach Adam Sandler movies with a little less hatred before I see them.

War of the Worlds (2025)

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To be fair, I went into the new version of War of the Worlds on Amazon Prime expecting that it would be a terrible movie. I had watched a… review of sorts.. from Dan Murrell and it was a remarkably entertaining video, you can see HERE.

I also had watched Jeremy Jahns’ review, that he dubbed War of the Worlds “dogshit.”

So, my expectations could not have been lower, but my morbid curiosity overcame my better judgment.

Told in screen time (like much better movies Searching, Unfriended, Host), War of the Worlds featured Ice Cube as William Radford, an NSA computer security analysis, who is in charge of watching the people of the US. According to Rotten Tomatoes, “A computer security analyst working for the U.S. government finds his daily life disrupted by an alien attack. Accustomed to dealing with virtual threats, his struggle extends to secrets the government may be hiding.”

After watching it, I can why everyone hated this movie. It is truly bad. Everything about it was terrible. The acting was terrible. The story full of holes. Nothing makes sense. Characters do the stupidest things.

I do love to see Clark Gregg in roles. The former Agent Coulson is great, but even he could not make up for this travessty.

Now, this is one of those movies that had some laughs in it, but it was not written to be funny. Some of the situations were just so ridiculous that they couldn’t help but be laughable. It feels like a film that would be great for the RiffTrax guys to riff on.

The biggest part is how blatant the Amazon Prime advertising was in the film. If you did not know that this was showing on Amazon Prime, the product placement and reference would surely show you. If only I knew where to get an Amazon Prime gift card.

Truly one of the worst movies of the year.

0.3 stars