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.
We are ready to give the list of the Worst Movies of the Year. Or more specifically, the EYG Least Favorite Movie of the Year. These are my opinions and thoughts. It is okay if you disagree with me. I encourage it. In fact, I know there are a couple of films on my list that are high on the Tomatometer. Movies are subjective and what I think is the worst, may be someone else’s beloved.
I should also state that, during the year, I give star ratings to movies. I do not use these star ratings to order them. I do use them to choose the films that would make the list, but I may have a film that got 1.5 stars higher than one that has a 1.2. Movies and thoughts about movies are fluid and change over time with reflection or hindsight. Honestly, if I redid this list in a month, there might be differences.
The list this year is the Top 20. This year has had a lot of movies in the mid-range, from star rating between 2.5 and 3.8 or so. Most of the movies fell into that range. These are the ones that were under that.
I should mention that I have nothing but respect for the creative people who made these films. I may not like the work, but I respect the efforts you have made to try to entertain us.
Here are the Top 20 Least Favorite/Worst Films of 2025
#20. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. I hated this sequel. It is the first of my list that has FRESH reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. I still found this dull and dumb.
#19. After the Hunt. Julia Roberts gave her best for this flopper, but there was only so much she could do. It was too long, the story was mixed and it did not make a lot of sense.
#18. Tron: Ares. What a terrible film. Great soundtrack though (way to go, Nine Inch Nails). There are so many problems in this, including the lead performance from Jarred Leto. It did look great. It might be the final installment in this franchise as it flopped hard.
#17. Until Dawn. Great premise. Horrible execution. The story was boring and the killings were unoriginal or interesting. I watched this during the June Swoon and I was happy I rented it on sale.
#16. Screamboat. Here was the horror/murder film featuring a monstrous and brutal Steamboat Willie (aka Mickey Mouse) who entered into public domain recently. This was better than the Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey films (but that is a low bar).
#15. Flight Risk. Here is a good example of a film with a reasonable star rating that slipped with hindsight. A terrible and ridiculous performance by Mark Wahlberg. The characters do the dumbest things. This one has slipped down the list onto the Top 20 Least Favorite.
#14. M3GAN 2.0. The first Megan movie was such fun. The second one was far from it. I was so disappointed with M3GAN 2.0. It is too long. Too filled with nonsense. It broke into a song at one point.
#13. Friendship. Here is another one that everyone seemed to love, but I could not stand. It was a comedy with Tim Robinson that was just not funny. I did not enjoy this one at all.
#12. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. This got worse. I did not like the first film that much, and this sequel only got worse. The actors seemed to be just going through the motions.
#11. Love Hurts. I love Ke Huy Quan. Boring and a dumb story. It could not be rescued by the wonderful Ke Huy Quan.
#10. Fear Street: Prom Queen. The first trilogy of Fear Street was so great. This one was horrendous. A sloppy, stupid slasher killer story that was so dumb, almost as dumb as it was disappointing.
#9. Together. A body horror film that most of the critics loved. I hated it. There were a bunch of scenes that were laugh out loud funny, though I do not think they were intended to be funny. It felt so silly that I was rolling my eyes at it throughout.
#8. I Know What You Did Last Summer. One of the worst remakes of the year. What was the purpose of redoing this film? I guess it was sort of a sequel, but the killer turned out to be from the original and his turn made zero sense. It was done for just the shock value.
#7. Electric State. The big Netflix action movie was so bad. The budget on it was reportedly $320 million. It had the Russo Brothers as directors. Yet there were so many problems with this. Characters without depth, various tones, and humor that did not work.
#6. A Minecraft Movie. You know there is trouble when the best part of the movie is the memes for Chicken Jockey. I love Jack Black, but this is just a film with so much stupidity, designs that were poorly constructed and a feel that made it too cartoonish. It was repetitive and dull.
#5. Into the Deep. A shark movie. However, that was the highlight of this film. Dialogue that was so unnatural. Acting that was horrendous. Richard Dreyfuss was in this movie… why? Did he need a paycheck that badly? Another film I did for the June Swoon that made me wish I had not chosen it.
#4. 2073. I found this on HBO Max and it seemed interesting. It wasn’t. It was a weird blend of documentary, post-apocalyptic wasteland and history lesson. It was depressing and full of fearmongering.
#3. HIM. Again, this is not directed by Jordan Peele. Even though they kept putting his name on the advertising, he was not directly involved. This horror/thriller with football players is about as bad as it comes. I hated sitting in the theater watching this.
#2. Star Trek: Section 31. Michelle Yeoh? Why? You won an Oscar. Do the producers have something on you? This is the worst Star Trek anything that I think I have ever seen. This would have easily been the worst movie of the year except there was a film that was historically bad that surpassed it.
#1. War of the Worlds. What can be said about this film that hasn’t already been said? It is one of the most agreed upon worst movies of all time. It did creep its way up to 4% on Rotten Tomatoes, so there is that. Ice Cube deserved better, but his acting against the computer screen was laughable. This was shot during Covid and just now released. They should have let this one stay on the shelf. It was like a giant advertisement for Amazon Prime. Who knew their gift cards were so important? The worst product placement of all time. The special effects were ridiculous. The story was dumb. The characters made me want to root for the aliens.
Previous Winners:Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, Coco, Moana, Inside Out, Big Hero 6, Flashpoint Paradox, Paranorman, Winnie the Pooh, Klaus, Wolfwalkers, Mitchells vs. the Machines, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Inside Out 2
We had a really great year for animation this year. In fact, I usually connect this with the Worst Animation movie too, but I could not find one that I hadn’t given a fresh review to so I am just giving the Frame Award out. All positives here and that is great.
(Of course, I did not see Smurfs, which probably would have been that place.)
2025 Animated Movies: There are a couple of films that I would not put on the list which would be Elio and Stitch Head. Both are acceptable films. Elio might be considered weak if you used the Pixar metric to judge it, but other wise, it was decent.
Top 9 animated films of 2025.
#9. Dog Man. I did not like the trailers for this, but the film itself was decent.
#8. Ne Zha 2. This made almost 2 billions worldwide, but almost nothing in the US. Fun flick though.
#7. The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Loony Tunes Movie. This was fun, but I would have rather had Bugs Bunny than Daffy and Porky. Still, it was Loony Tunes goodness.
#6. In Your Dreams. A good film on Netflix that deals with family issues (specifically divorce).
#5. The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants. One of the most recent animated films that surprised me with how funny I found it. Mark Hamill always helps.
#4. Bad Guys 2. A sequel that was just about as good as the original with some fun characters in wild situations.
#3. Predator: Killer of Killers. The Hulu animated film in the Predator franchise. It really was a solid film and led into the badlands films brilliantly.
#2. K-Pop Demon Hunters. A film that should not have been this high on my list, but it had exciting story, great music and beautiful animation.
and #1….
Zootopia 2
This is possibly the highest grossing film of the year (we will see how Avatar ends up), but Zootopia has broken the billion dollar club and is just a really awesome story as well. The voice acting is tremendous and it is a really solid film in the Disney studios.
Dr. Robby kept saying in episode 11 that there was only two hours left in the shift, but I knew there were still multiple hours of episodes remaining. I did not know what was going to happen.
And then all hell broke loose.
Some of the most unbelievably intense, stressful stretches of television that I have ever seen. The whole active shooter storyline came back around and slammed everyone at the ER in one massive blast.
I get the feeling that David, the boy who had the hit list back at the beginning of the day was not the culprit of this shooting. It may seem a bit contrived, but I believe it is all coincidence. When David strolled back to the hospital to pick up his mom, he did not seem like someone who just shot dozens of people.
Either way, this series of episodes was amazing, in the most difficult and painstakingly horrendous ways possible.
Who would have thought that the high pressure baby delivery in episode 11, with Dr. Collins working it after suffering her own miscarriage, would be the low stress scene of these three episodes. That whole baby thing was just anxiety-filled and I was begging the screen to save the baby.
Then, it went crazy.
Watching the hospital prepare for the mass shooting before the victims arrived was fascinating. I wonder if that is the way most/all hospitals respond to an emergency like that? They knew what had to happen and they turned their ER into a MASH unit. I have never quite seen anything like it.
Then, Robby cracking at the end of episode 13 brought one more scene for Noah Wylie’s Emmy roll, with all the weight of the deaths of the day, compounded by this horrible triage situation, and trying to explain to his step-son (of sorts) how he could not save the girlfriend.
I can’t imagine what would be going through the minds of those doctors and interns who were having their first day on the job before everything went to crap. They all were having their moments during the chaos.
The first season is down to just two episodes remaining, which does not seem to be enough to manage everything that the show has set up. This makes me feel that there will be plenty of things dangling at the end of the season, when this day finally comes to a close.
Previous winners: Stan Lee (Big Hero 6*, Deadpool, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse* ), John Cena (Daddy’s Home), Chris Evans (Thor: The Dark World, Free Guy, Deadpool & Wolverine), Sigourney Weaver (Cabin in the Woods), Hugh Jackman (X-Men: First Class), Yoda (Star Wars: The Last Jedi), J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man: Far From Home), Harrison Ford (Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker), Rudy Giuliani (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), Val Kilmer (Top Gun: Maverick), Rhea Perlman (Barbie)
SPOILERS
I am adding a spoiler tag to this award because the winner of The EYG Stan Lee Movie Cameo of the Year Award came from a movie that I just saw and has not been out for a long time. So if you are wanting to see this certain movie and you do not want this cameo spoiled, please skip this award for the moment.
Stan Lee was the master of the cameo. He is a three time winner of this award and, of course, had it named after him. A cameo can be a great thing. It can be a sudden surprise, something that you couldn’t believe. It could be something that made the scene perfect. It could be an amazing Easter egg. It could be an inside joke that only some of the audience may get. Or it could be the appearance of a celeb or a character that shows how much respect or love they have for the content in which they are appearing.
I actually was not anxious to do this award, despite it being one of my favorites and one of the oldest we had. The reason is I do not have a great deal of cameos in movies this year. There are actually several big ones in TV (which we’ll give out with the More TV Awards later this weekend), but the movies were light for me.
Naked Gun had a couple of good ones. Dave Bautista appeared in a fun joke, replacing Liam Neeson for a bit of the film. Weird Al was in that film too. I considered giving it to Al because he has been in so many of the Naked Gun films over the year. Bradley Cooper appeared in Superman as Jor-El, which was unexpected. John Cena’s Peacemaker was also in Superman. Sarah Michelle Geller appeared in the reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer, but that film was such a mess that I wouldn’t want to give this award for that. Then there was William Zabka at the very end of the Karate Kid Legends, which was a fun shout out to Cobra Kai.
None of these were very impactful overall. I take nothing away from any of them, but I am not sure these were going to deserve this award, in the name of Stan Lee.
Then I saw Anaconda today.
Again, SPOILERS ahead. If you do not want to be spoiled by this… I’ll give you a countdown.
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
The EYG Stan Lee Cameo Award goes to…
Ice Cube as himself (Anaconda)
Star of the 1997 film Anaconda, Ice Cube makes a shocking return to the screen in 2025’s Anaconda. In the film, Jack Black and Paul Rudd are filming a reimaging of the film Anaconda, and they make plenty of references to the original film. Ice Cube pulls a Deus ex machina near the end of the film to show up and save the guys from certain death. Ice Cube strolls in as bad ass as they come. J-Lo makes an appearance later in a post credit scene, but Ice Cube gets this nod for being indispensable to the story itself.
I am very pleased for Ice Cube here after the disaster that was War of the Worlds.
When I first saw a trailer for this movie, I thought to myself, “This is like the Hand that Rocked the Cradle.” I said this to a friend of mine and she said that it was not anything like that. She mentioned that it was originally in a novel by Freida McFadden, which I did not know. I decided that I would give this a chance. My friend was right, this was not in that subgenre of horror film where the babysitter tries to do crazy things for reasons.
According to IMDB, “A struggling young woman is relieved by the chance for a fresh start as a maid for a wealthy couple. Soon, she discovers that the family’s secrets are far more dangerous than her own.”
This one has its ups and downs for me. I am not sure how I feel about it. I think the three main cast members, Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar, do a fantastic job with what the story asks of them. They have great chemistry with each other and are very believable in everything that they do.
One of my problems though is I hate it when people do stupid things in a thriller. There are several things that Sweeney’s character Millie does that makes me want to yell at the screen. Couldn’t she see this coming? Maybe at first, but as the film moved on, why are you not recognizing what is going on? I hate it when the characters do really stupid things.
The end of the movie was fun, but I did see it coming. There was something that, when mentioned in the beginning of the film, I knew was going to come back around as a major piece later in the film, and sure enough, I was right.
There was also a section near the beginning of the third act of the film where suddenly we were doing a ton of exposition, explaining what had gone down. I thought this was a weak point of the movie.
The Housemaid feels like Hollywood camp, but in a glorious way. It feels as if everyone involved understands the assignment in this story and are ready to give it their all. There are weaknesses in the film, but I think I came out of it more positive than negative.
Back in 1997, a horror film about a giant snake appeared. Anaconda, starring Ice Cube, J-Lo, and Jon Voight, was a terrible movie, but it survived the years and became an iconic cult classic film. In 2025, we now got a meta-sequel to the film starring Jack Black and Paul Rudd which debuted this weekend.
According to IMDB, “Four childhood friends are going through a midlife crisis so they decide to remake their favorite horror movie from the 1990s in the Amazon Forest When a real giant anaconda shows up, they get more than what they bargain for and their comically chaotic movie making turns into a life-or-death situation. The movie that they’re dying to remake? It might just kill them, literally.“
I heard some negative things about the new film before I went into it, which made me nervous because I had thought the trailers looked good and I was excited to see it. The negative comments made me feel much more tentative about the movie.
I can understand why some people might not have been a fan of this, but I enjoyed it a lot. I found this funny, the characters likable and entertaining, and the meta qualities of the film worked so well.
I thought there was a lot of clever writing involved in this movie. The humor is solid. There were a couple of jokes that I usually do not like, but, for me, even those worked well.
No spoiler here, but there was a great cameo in the film too.
There are some negatives to the film too though. I do think it started fairly slowly and the film really took off when the characters get on their boat. I do think that I wish the trailer hadn’t spoiled some of the best laughs in the film because I think it would have been so much better.
I am happy that I liked this movie more than what some were saying. I found it funny and engaging. I do enjoy a film with as many meta jokes and Anaconda falls right into that.
It really feels as if Pluribus has only just started its season. It’s hard to believe that the show is already up to its first season finale already, but that is the case. Apple TV + dropped the finale a couple of days early (before Christmas).
And what a finale this was. In some ways, it was smaller, quieter than I might have expected. But then again…
There was an A-Bomb!
Carol and Manousos come face to face in this episode and some of the early scenes between these two were truly hilarious. I loved the use of the umbrella to block out the chance of the drones spying on them, reading their lips.
The mistrust between Carol and Manousos was on display as they tried to communicate via cell phone translation programs. There was some high comedy with that translation program as well. When the phone was in the sewer, but still translating, well, that was the height of funny.
Carol seemed to believe that Manousos had taken it too far with his “experimentation” on the Others. Carol’s close relationship with Zosia was coloring her perspective and she joined Zosia on another isolation attempt. This time, however, it seemed clear that Manousos was not going to fold like Carol did. He seemed like a type of guy who does not mind some isolation.
Carol never really understood the relationship she shared with Zosia. Carol looked at it like it was a typical, normal relationship, but that was not the case. Carol looked to be in denial about a lot of what was going down. When Carol learned that The Others had her frozen eggs (that Carol and Helen had decided to harvest years ago) and that they could change that into stem cells, the same stem cells the Others needed to turn Carol into another member of the hivemind, things crashed around her. Carol had Zosia return her to her home and decided to join with Manousos after all.
And the atomic bomb reveal at the end was insane. Maybe it was not literally an A-bomb… though Carol had asked about it earlier in the season…
Pluribus’s first season was sensational. I know the series has been renewed for a second season. I hope we do not have to wait three years to get the next episodes.
The Batman and Robins are the awards we give out every year for the worst of the worst. The awards for rottenness are given out to stuff that just did not work.
Worst Movie: To be revealed at the Least Favorite Movies list.
Worst Actor: Ice Cube (War of the Worlds). Ice Cube is a talented performer who gave a horrible performance in a horrible movie.
Worst Actress: Gal Gadot (Disney’s Snow White). She was miscast as the Evil Queen and nothing that happened in Snow White showed that she could not elevate the material.
Worst Director: Justin Tipping (HIM). One of the worst films of the year. It’s so bad that they needed to pretend that Jordan Peele had something to do with it.
Worst Sequel: Fear Street: Prom Queen. The first Fear Street trilogy was so good and a lot of fun. This was the antithesis of that.
Worst CGI: Star Trek: Section 31. Not much was good about this one.
Favorite Rotten Movie: Captain America: Brave New World. There is a lot of hate for this movie, but I enjoyed it a lot. It could have been better, but it does not deserve as much hatred as it got.
Worst Movie That I Did Not See: The Smurfs
Cashing a Paycheck: Richard Dreyfuss (Into the Deep). Dreyfuss was one of the reasons why I watched this shark movie. That was a mistake.
Worst Reboot/Remake: I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Most Successful Bad Movie: A Minecraft Movie
Worst Movie Based on TV/Video Game: Smurfs
Worst Superhero Movie: Old Guard 2
Worst Trailer: A Minecraft Movie. This trailer showed me how terrible this was going to be
WTF: 2073. It was from HBO Max, but it was a bizarre mixture of doc and horrific film.
Worst Performance by Oscar Winner: Michelle Yeoh (Stra Trek: Section 31)
Worst TV Show I Watched: Alien: Earth. Started great, but fell off quickly. Too boring for an alien show.
Worst Product Placement: Amazon Prime in War of the Worlds. It played more like an advertisement for Amazon Prime.
It was a big year for the child actors. There have been some truly powerful performances in the world of entertainment in 2025. The days of kid actors getting cast because they were the niece of the director is probably over (at least, unless that niece is incredibly talented).
Previous winners:
I See Kid Actor Award
Previous Winners: Emjay Anthony (Chef), Jacob Trembley (Room), Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things), Dafne Keen (Logan), Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade), Noah Jupe (Honey Boy), McKenna Grace (Troop Zero), Jeremy T. Thomas (Antlers), Alisha Weir (Matilda the Musical, Abigail), Madeleine Yuna Voyles (The Creator)
Runners-Up: Last year, I speculated that our only two-time winner of the I See Kid Actor Award, Alisha Weir, was rumored to be up for Dorothy in Wicked: For Good and that she might be a threepeat. She was not cast in the role and will need to wait for awhile to gain that third award. Cary Christopher carried a lot of weight in the hit film Weapons as the one boy who did not disappear. His scenes were very powerful. Christian Convey has been a runner up for this award multiple times from his past work as Sweet Tooth, Cocaine Bear, and Oliver in Invincible. He is back in the runner-up column for his role in The Monkey.Maia Kealoha had a huge job stepping into the live action role of Lilo in Lilo & Stitch. The young girl did a fantastic job. The Gomer Award winner this year, Sketch, had a group of kids who were at the center of the story and did a tremendous job including Bianca Belle, Kue Lawrence, and Kalm Cox. Group of kids fighting monsters has been a popular trope lately. Stranger Things 5 has returned with a couple of new kids to go with the rapidly aging kids from past seasons. Nell Fisher became Holly, sister of Mike, and Jake Connelly, who stole the show in episode 4 as “Dipshit Derek.” Then, It: Welcome to Derry had two groups of kids. The first group Pennywise murdered including Matty, played by Miles Ekhardt. Teddy and Phil, played respectfully by Mikkal Karim-Fidler and Jack Molloy Legault, also died in the first episode, shocking us all. However, the next group of kids really became the focal point of the show, especially Will, played by Blake Cameron James, Lilly, played by Clara Stack, Marge, played by Matilda Lawler, and everyone’s favorite hero Rich, played by Arian S. Cartaya. I would have considered Cartaya for this award because of the impact that character had on the show, if the award winner wasn’t so obvious. Alfie Williams was one of the lead actors in 28 Years Later, and he did a great job in a very difficult role. Other actors included Helena Zengel (The Legend of Ochi), Sara Wong (Bring Her Back) and Patrick Scott McDermott (Rust).
The winner of the I See Kid Actors Award for 2025 is…
Owen Cooper (Adolescence)
I knew this winner back when I watched Adolescence on Netflix in March/April. Owen Cooper played Jamie Miller, the young boy accused of murder in the four episode miniseries.
Cooper was absolutely staggering in the role. He carried off the character with the professionalism of a long time actor. This was his first major role. He wound up receiving an Emmy Award for his performance.
Specifically episode three of the show, which was a continual one shot (as all of the show was) between Jamie and clinical psychologist Briony, played by Erin Doherty. The performance was chilling as the show dived deeply into the mind of the damaged boy.
I knew he would get this award and, despite some heavy competition above, Owen Cooper is the I See Kid Actor Award winner for 2025.
Okay, there were a couple of moments during these two episodes that we rough on me. There was a heart attack scene that was just about more than I could handle.
I do like how the show has been, for the most part, more about the characters than with the illnesses. Whether it be the staff of the ER or the patients, the characters are the driving force behind story.
The abortion arc is really good. There is a father abuse storyline that did not work for me. One comment was made that the doctors and nurses were mandatory reporters but couldn’t report without evidence. As a mandatory reporter, that is patently incorrect. That pulled me out of the scene.
Then, it took a dramatic twist with Trinity Santos, who was a character that I have not been a fan of so far in the series, and a vicious confrontation with the child abuser in question. It was fairly unrealistic, but very kick ass. It helped that storyline.
The end of episode seven was horrific, as Dr. Collins went into the restroom, with tears, seeing blood in her underwear. There had been subtle hints through the last couple of episodes that Collins, who was pregnant, was going to have something terrible happen to the baby. While it is unconfirmed as of yet, this ending scene did not make things look good.
This pair of episodes started to show Doctor Robby was acting unlike he normally would do. I had a bit of a problem with that too because up until here, he seemed like he was great. I had no idea that he was acting differently than normal. The show had told us about his struggles on the anniversary of his mentor’s death, but I still thought he was doing a great job. When Collins called him out on his behavior, I was surprised. Some of these scenes with Robby felt out of place from the rest of the season. Of course, we did not know Robby before this series, and all of the episodes have been the same day, so it is hard to see the changes.
The show brought up the kid with the “hit list” again, but it is a story arc that feels like it will come back hard later in the season.
I was so happy that Whittaker made it through episode 7 without having to change his scrubs!
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 