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.
I have been simultaneously looking forward to and dreading the fourth and final episode of the Netflix mini-series, Death by Lightning. Looking forward to because I have been thoroughly enthralled by this historical drama about James Garfield and dreading it because I have grown to admire and love the character of James Garfield and I knew what his fate held.
The Sunday Morning Sidewalk came this morning and I watched the final episode.
It was so powerful.
It made me wish for a man like James Garfield who could step up and face the corruption of the current political setting. What I wouldn’t give for an honest man, one who did not play the games, like James Garfield. Seeing how his presence and kindness transformed Chester A. Arthur was amazing.
But, it was not just James Garfield who changed Arthur. He had help from a force of nature that we got to witness in this episode: Crete Garfield. The First Lady spent the episode bringing forth the vengeance.
Betty Gilpin got her moments in this episode and she was tremendous.
There were no shortage of villains in this episode. Starting off with Charles Guiteau, who wound up shooting the president in the back. The joy he showed at his actions, despite how demented he was, was obscene. I took a lot of satisfaction in the confrontation with Crete and Guiteau’s eventual hanging. The moment just before he is hanged where he finally realized what was going to happen was best. I also found a strange satisfaction in seeing his brain removed from his dead body for research at the end.
Another villain in the episode was Roscoe Conkling. He was horrendous in his response to the shooting of Garfield. His machinations being turned back on him was great, and seeing how Chester Arthur finally stood up to him.
Then, there was Doctor Bliss. The bullet was not what eventually killed Garfield. He was killed by infection brought on because Bliss did not sterilize his instruments when he was probing for the bullet. The arrogance of this doctor came through clearly in this episode.
This was one of the most compelling four episode mini series I have seen in a long time. Great performances and amazing true stories highlighted the show. I did not expect to love this as much as I did. If you have time, binge this series on Netflix. You will not be disappointed.
Next week, the Sunday Morning Sidewalk switches to another Netflix mini-series: three episodes of a show called Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials. I can only hope that it is as excellent as Death By Lightning.
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.
I came back for Sha Na Na on YouTube and we got some issues with the recordings. Now, the recordings were loaded up from old VHS tapes, so the quality has always been iffy, but this was the first time when whole songs were cut out, specifically in episode 15. In the comments, the channel’s owner, pattyoc01, stated that it was because of YouTube needing to cut some out for copyright reasons.
Another issue came in this group of episodes with number 19. On the playlist, #19 is listed as starring Jimmie Rodgers. However, on the YouTube list, it was just a repeat of S2 E18 with the Ronnettes. Not sure what happened with that.
Another funny thing was at the end of episode 18, there was a brand new “Goodnight Sweetheart” closing. You can tell because the camera was closer to each member and Jocko had his mustache shaved off as he has had for most of the two seasons of the show. However, oddly enough, episodes 20-21 both had the old closing version, making me wonder if this playlist was in actual release order.
Interesting guest stars on these episodes. Dick Clark appeared as the only non-singing guest, but he certainly has big ties to music. They played some Rate the Music, like they did on American Bandstand in the old days. This was a fun use of Dick Clark. There was an appearance by Jan and Dean, who performed on the actual stage. They had a performance by someone named Johnny Tillotson, who I had never heard of before. He did Poetry in Motion, which I knew well, but I always thought it was by Buddy Holly, or someone like that. Del Shannon was on and he sang Runaway, of course. Trini Lopez sang La Bamba as The Angels did My Boyfriend’s Back.
There was a fun duet between Johnny and Pamela Myers, who plays Ginger. She sings every once in awhile and their version of Hey Paula was well done.
I really enjoyed the comedy bit with Bowzer playing “Sven Bowzer” in an opera with Dirty Dan as the reporter. I actually laughed several times during this section.
There are some of my favorite Sha Na Na songs on these episodes. Johnny singing Roy Orbison’s Cryin’, Tell Laura I Love Her ( also by Johnny), Screamin’ Scott leading the Sha Na Na sing along with the song Don’t You Just Know It, So In Love, and Peggy Sue.
Speaking of Peggy Sue, they did an homage to Buddy Holly on episode 18 with them doing four separate songs. They did this instead of the comedy bit and I think they should have done something like this more often. I know they had done an Elvis one previously.
Three more episodes in season two to go. Even with the quality and the copyright issues, I am pleased that I am able to revisit these shows.
The second season of Agents of Shield starts off with new team members and characters leading to the Inhuman story- tied to Skye’s arc.
With Shield, Mac has arrived. Mac becomes a major force on this show moving forward. At this point, he is just a semi-regular, but he will become more as the years go on. Trip remained with the team after the end of last season. Bobbi Morse arrived in episode six. Morse is the name of the Marvel comics character Mockingbird, but the TV show never called her that. Lance Hunter was a merc at first when he arrived with Lucy Lawless. Lucy did not make it though as she wound up dead at the hands of the Absorbing Man. Turned out Bobbi and Hunter were formerly married. I remembered how much I loved these two. They were not on this show long enough.
Kyle MacLachlan joined the show as Skye’s mysterious father. He dropped the first hint about a new name for Skye. We learn later that he is basically the character of Mr. Hyde. He played a wonderful crazy.
Jemma went undercover at HYDRA. It did not last too long, but it helped bring us Bobbi. It is also a way to show the problems being faced by Fitz. Fitz was struggling during his recovery from the water trap from last season.
Raina is having troubles all over the place. Karma is surely mucking her up badly. She is scared of Skye’s father and Hydra’s new baddie, Daniel Whitehall, who was actually tied to an object from the Peggy Carter days.
Ward is being held in a cell in the cellar of the Shield base. They were using him as info. Then his older brother came back into the arc in episode six.
Melinda May is still such a bad ass. I loved her episode where she had to fight herself.
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.
I just finished the first season of The Pitt on HBO Max just in time for the start of season two. And season two kicked off setting up the overarching drama that will be running through the day.
The show’s concept is that every hour is shot in real time as the day shift comes in to take over. Doctor Robby arrived at the hospital on what was supposed to be his final day before heading on a sabbatical.
The show had its typically gross injuries that made me turn my head away. I have always had trouble with medical shows dating back to Quincy. This is far more realistic than most medical shows.
We have a brand new attending physician who will be replacing Robby when he was gone. She is Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, and she definitely has a story to tell. They ended the episode on her as she stared down at a baby that had been deserted in the hospital’s bathroom. She also has a series of “improvements” for the Pitt that will surely create a conflict with Robby.
Dr. Langdon’s story continued. It did not seem that Robby had forgiven him yet. They had Langdon apologize to Louie, the patient we met last year who drank a lot. He is back and I am getting the feeling that something terrible is going to happen to him. The scene between Langdon and Louie, when Langdon revealed that he had stolen Louie’s medication in season one was a great scene and it made me like Louie all the more. I sense heartbreak coming.
Whitaker seems to have taken some steps to being even stronger than he was before. He led a moment of silence for a patient they lost (as Robby watched approvingly in the background). However, the first impression of the new interns was not the most impressive I have ever seen.
The Pitt is such a fantastic show and I am happy that it will be back weekly moving forward.
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.
I took a deep dive into season to of the Sha Na Na show and watched seven episodes. I watched this many cause I wanted to get to episode 10, where the run of musical guests came to an end. However, this was how you take a non-musical guest and use him effectively. Of course, it was Billy Crystal.
It was interesting when Johnny introduced Billy Crystal, telling a story about Billy working with Sha Na Na in the past, before Billy hit it big with Soap. He must have been a warm-up act for the group. Awesome that he was willing to come back to the group after he had become a star. It was shocking to see what a resemblance Billy Crystal had to Johnny. They could have easily been brothers.
Billy did an act on the stage and participated in the comedy song skit by doing his impression of Howard Cosell.
Earlier that episode, Sha Na Na did a musical tribute to Little Richard, which was very cool too. This might have been the best episode of the series so far.
Not that the other ones were bad. Actually, I have found season two to be very solid. The group has really spread out the songs among each other, even though there were several songs that I did not recognize.
The show has done an effective way of bringing on their guest stars in this stretch of episodes. With Brenda Lee, she came into the diner, looking for a hiding place because she didn’t want to sing. She wanted to hide in the powder room or behind the counter, but the waitress said they would find her in both places. She then mentioned how the Shirells hid behind the counter but was caught (in a previous episode). I appreciate the continuity.
Then, in episode 5, Sha Na Na did their opening number on the stage, Santini took the microphone, and introduced the Coasters, who came up and sang “Charlie Brown.” I thought that was a cool way to introduce the guest star in a way they had never done before.
Chubby Checker came back to the show to perform again. I wonder if he had filmed this at the same time when he was on the show before in season one. He became the first headliner to return as guest star, though Milton Berle was on the show twice too.
Donny really showed off his voice in this group of shows. He had a beautiful rendition of Mr. Blue, another ballad in Oh, Donna, sang with Johnny on Let the Good Times Roll, and a street set version of Singing the Blues.
Jocko also had a bunch of songs in this stretch, including Do You Love Me, Tossin’ and Turnin’, and, a personal favorite, Ya Ya. Jocko wound up in several background dance moments when one of the other background dancers had to sing.
Speaking of that, I have a question that I wonder any time I see Jocko up front and Dirty Dan on the drums. I know a lot of the times, they sing live but to a backing track and they do not do the instruments or background vocals live. I just wonder, does Dirty Dan know how to play the drums or is it just for show? It does the same thing when Screamin’ Scott is somewhere else. In these episodes, I saw Johnny and Lenny on the piano. Are they just sitting there?
Screamin’ Scott is another interesting one because he covers guitar at times when Dirty Dan is on drums and he has been shown to play the banjo. I do believe he knows how to play the banjo because during the comedy skit based on the song “Battle of New Orleans,” which Scott sang and played banjo. However, in between the song, where they did some comedy, Scott played a bit to help someone do a song. It sure sounded as if he really did play that banjo in that moment.
We rarely see Donny on any instruments (although I saw him on a guitar once) and Denny never plays anything either. I wonder if that is because they can’t play these instruments and when someone steps in for an instrument, they know how to play it, even with the backing track. It is an interesting thought and it makes me think about it any time someone is not in their spot.
They also made the first reference to Sha Na Na’s appearance in Grease. They also played “Those Magic Changes” which was one of their big songs from the film. I wonder what the timeline of that movie compared to the show was.
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 