pretty stoked to see three really good new movies this week!!
Superman (2025 XD theatrically)
I shoulda learned my lesson when i stated "ugh they're doing another version of Spiderman??" before the MCU version dropped and i quite liked it. Turns out that famous IP will always be done and redone but theres potential for goodness within. In this case i had a LOT of fun with Gunns version of Sup!! The biggest surprise and scene stealer is his take on Krypto. Otherwise its a bright, kindhearted, not too complex, enjoyable take on the character. Gunn knows his strengths and doesnt waver (every thing he's done since GoG1 is a 'rag tag band o misfits' and this is no different). I enjoyed the casting for all the main characters (thou the entire Daily Planet group sans lois was really poorly written/unnecessary). Theres also a pretty solid twist on his lineage that played into an incredibly sweet aspect of the ending. Most of all, again, its a fun time at the theater. Man thats what its all about.
Novocaine (2025 4k)
Ive been on the fence about Jack Quaid but between the Boys, Companion, and this, i really think i like him (thou he's always pretty much the same character). This flick does a good amount with the premise of a guy who feels no pain. First act is a very well done "meet cute" between an introvert and coworker. Then after a bank heist goes awry it goes full bonkers action. Its over the top violence with shades of looney tunes, 3 stooges, and home alone.
Sinners (2025 streaming)
Wow. This one blew me away. You know how From Dusk Till Dawn felt like two completely different movies? Welp this takes that formula (and choice of monster) and doubles down on it, theres a LOT going on within. I love that they choose 1932 Mississippi Delta for the setting. The writing, direction, set design, acting, and atmosphere are all phenomenal. The music is INCREDIBLE and helps drive the story from the mythology presented to the amazing Juke Joint that serves as the primary location. Michael B Jordon continues to blow me away..in this case playing TWO main characters!? Wow. Unquestionably one of the best movies of the year.
(PS: slight actor spoiler ahead: I am a huge fan of blues music and read about the subject a bunch. This movie touches on some big aspects of Blues history including references of the movement from the Delta to Chicago as many Blues greats did. I almost fell out of my chair when Buddy Guy showed up in the movie near the end. He is a personal fav artist, a living Blues legend, and a Chicago ambassador. Buddy made the move from the south (Louisiana) at a young age, just as characters in the movie do. I think its INCREDIBLE that Ryan Coogler choose to have him in this movie in the role he plays. It also is important to note that Buddy is 88 and STILL performing incredible Blues live.)
That was a bad week at the movies for me. It fits with the shitty week I've had. Always trust Hollywood to provide a bad time for movie lovers. I didn't even touch the super cool pile I recently got from Vinegar Syndrome, maybe this weekend.
Lilo and Stitch was boring. The changes made felt they did them just to change things to have it just different enough from the original, giving us a spineless and emotionless movie.
How To Train Your Dragon was unnecessary. What's the point of remaking a CGI movie into live action when 75% is still gonna be CGI?
M3GAN 2.0 was boring and predictable. Didn't even finish it. And I liked the first movie.
Bad Boys Ride or Die is a bit better than the others, not good, but fun enough, especially the Reggie scene.
SINNERS (2025). Gave this a rewatch. Still great! Coogler is one of these artists who’s operating on some higher level that the rest of us just can’t get to.
CROCODILE DUNDEE (1986). This isn’t a good movie, exactly, but it is charming. I’m mostly fascinated with how this was once a mega-blockbuster.
LUCY (2014). Sure, she becomes a telekinetic super-genius, but when does she pull the football away from Charlie Brown?
THE DARK HALF (1993). George Romero goodness!
THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1978). This is an unwieldy story, with a lot of side avenues and subplots it didn’t need. Like, did we need the whole jailbreak scene? But, Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland have great chemistry, and their back-and-forth kept the whole thing moving.
THE MUMMY (1999). Back in ’99, I dismissed this movie as crap. But after watching it this week, I think it might be… good?
I remember Crocodile Dundee was always on tv when I was young. I don't I've ever seen it in original english, only the french dub. And the sequel too, which even in my youth could tell it was bad
Crocodile Dundee was indeed very popular in the '80s. You've only seen in it in French, Kunider? Paul Hogan's Australian accent is part of the charm. I picked up a blu-ray edition with the first two films quite cheaply at the start of the year.
Last year there was a controversy in Australia about scenes being cut from a Crocodile Dundee release there. I believe it was for "offensive" language.
Cackled at the charlie brown riff. Honestly i would have loved that scene within..randomly and unexplained.
As for The Mummy...honestly id say its better than good. Raiders spawned a zillion imitators but this one worked on so many levels. The casting is wonderful, theres tons of charisma between leads, and the mummy/tomb stuff is legit great action/horror/mythos. Its a smidge hampered by the ability of CGI at the time but if you can see past that, its a HOOT!
I kinda love the structure of Great Train Robbery, with a bunch of sub-missions (ratting dogs, wooing the daughter, sting op at the brothel, prison break, Sutherland time trials) to get all the keys needed for the main mission (train robbery). But it's definitely a story that jumps around (not a surprise that such a plotty movie is book-based), and I can see how it might come off kinda tangent-heavy for anyone who prefers a more focused story.
All right, I had a better selection of movies today...
A Quiet Place - Day One (2024): The original movie was good enough and I didn't need more, so I never watched the sequel. Then they released this prequel (only a year ago, I thought it was at least 2 years ago), which I though was unnecessary. But they had to cast Lupita Nyong'o and Djimon Hounsou, so obviously I had to watch it. All I needed was a cheap 4k disc at my local used dvd store. It's as good as can be, better than expected, considering prequels usually suck. I mean, what's the point, we know humanity won't be saved at the end. On its own, it's a very efficient alien invasion horror with Lupita bringing her usual great screen presence. There are the usual clichés that comes with this type of movies, with the usual story beats, adequate score and decent cinematography, so don't expect anything genre-bending. The cat is cool.
Six-String Samurai (1998): A total blind buy from the latest Vinegar Syndrome sale. It was cheap, it's 4k, and comes in the super cool magnetic snap case. Total package. What a fun movie. With a title like that, I knew I wouldn't waste my money. The plot is almost inexistant, ton of action, one liners, cool music, a bunch of people clearly having fun. The one cool surprise, the main actor can actually do martial arts. I was expecting just another dude trying to look cool on screen.
Your positive reaction to Six-String Samurai is one of the few I have encountered. I have heard so many Youtube film channels trash Six-String Samurai over the years. Comments always go like this: It was such a stupid choice for a VSU package. The film is dull and not well made.
I do not own anything of the Vinegar Syndrome VSU line nor have I seen Six-Stream Samurai.
woot! Six-String love!! That flick is special to me as, if memory serves, it got a really good review in EW but was very under the radar and hard to find...typically one copy on the shelves of some video stores. I absolutely admired the low budget but high concept fun within. Dystopian future with weird characters, a killer rockabilly soundtrack (red elvises!), and a creative riff on the silent stoic hero. The kid bit can be annoying but adds heart. It was one of those movies where i couldnt wait to see what came in the future for the creators, but regrettably Jeffery Falcon, i think, retired and Mungia didnt do much after. The VS disc is a personal fav but i think there's a fair amount of nostalgia love in my feelings.
@Casual, I was surprised when I got the disc, I didn't realised it was that packaging when I ordered it, especially at that price. So I get it when people complain, but then again their new VSU release will be Mac &Me, so....
Hey, everyone! Just wanted to recommend Eva Victor’s debut, Sorry, Baby. I missed the press screening, so I didn’t get to review it, but I just caught it and it’s my favorite movie of the year right now. Worth the trip if it’s playing nearby!
Only 2 ½ more months until the Scary Movie Month marathon begins. I am starting to think about what I would like to watch for October. In the meantime, there are plenty of movies to get to.
THE LAST VOYAGE (1960, dir. Andrew Stone) – A warm-up to the disaster films that would come over a decade later. Though I missed the beginning, I was still able to easily follow the plot of this ocean journey disaster. When a boiler on a steamship blows up, it is a race against time to get the passengers off the boat. The pace is quick and the action quite furious. Robert Stack gets lead billing, but I would consider Woody Strode’s muscles as the star. The guy was fit, and he would have to have been to handle all of the running he does in the film. The set-pieces of the water flooding the ship are well-staged. The one warning is that there is an annoying child performance that can get distracting. Besides that, this was a fun watch.
PICKPOCKET (1959, dir. Robert Bresson) – Crime drama meets existentialism in Pickpocket. A Parisian pickpocket named Michel gets deeper and deeper into his life of crime while getting deeper and deeper into the indifference he feels toward life. Bresson’s legendary economy of style is present throughout the film, but there are still some amazing scenes. How he got some of those shots around Paris locations puzzles me. There are scenes in a train station that feel stolen even though they had to all be planned. The techniques of the pickpockets are shot with some great detail, as well.
WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR? (1965, dir. Joseph Cates) – Drama, exploitation, thriller, and crime. It is a film that does not always know what it is, and that is what makes it interesting. For many years Who Killed Teddy Bear? was a forgotten film, largely because it did fit not the the cinematic market of the period. An aspiring actress in New York City working in a music club gets suggestive and threatening phone calls. A policeman sympathetic to women targeted by “perverts” tries to discover who the perpetrator is. In so many ways the story is the least engaging element of the film. It captures New York City, largely through stolen shots, in the mid-1960s. The portrayal of Sal Mineo’s character is very “queer” for the time period.
INTRUDER IN THE DUST (1949, dir. Clarence Brown) – One of the most upfront Hollywood films of the period confronting the racial issues of the South. When a black man, a very dignified farmer, gets accused of murdering a white man, you know there is going to be trouble. As a mob assembles in front of the jail waiting for a lynching to happen, a frantic investigation of the case goes on with an amateur detective, a white adolescent with a personal connection to the suspect. The balance of the crime story and the social commentary is handled well by the script and the director. While the racial abuse is very explicit, the black characters have a humanity that is usually lacking for the 1940s.
I passed the afternoon and the evening watching Taiwanese fantasy wuxia films today. All four of the films were prints shown at Chinese theaters around 1970. The subtitles had to be used for all of them, which was not as difficult to handle as I thought it would be for over six hours. Nobody had a day like it outside of the Gap Theatre.
CONQUERORS OF EVIL SPIRITS (1970) - Though the print is very washed out by now, the film is bonkers in a such a good way that I could deal with the lack of quality in the image. A dead man finds his soul in hell, but he is given a chance to go back to the world of the living if he would fight the demons tormenting humankind. It is a really fun film.
13 WORMS (1970) - This was the most convoluted film of the evening. A gang of outlaws gets drawn into the hunt for treasure and freeing a woman held captive by the government. The film is defined more by a goofy tone than the others, but there are a lot of fight sequences to keep you entertained.
THE MAGIC SWORD (1969) - A swordsman goes on a perilous journey to deliver a magical sword and the ashes of his lost love, but he is met by attackers all along his path. Though by far the slowest of the films, there is a strong dramatic supernatural element to the story that set it apart from the parade of crazy action in the other films.
EIGHT IMMORTALS (1970) - A tale of eight mythological beings with magical powers who fight against the injustices of an evil demon king. This was by far the the best-looking print of the night. Eight Immortals goes into bonkers territory a lot. I enjoyed this the most of the four.
pretty stoked to see three really good new movies this week!!
ReplyDeleteSuperman (2025 XD theatrically)
I shoulda learned my lesson when i stated "ugh they're doing another version of Spiderman??" before the MCU version dropped and i quite liked it. Turns out that famous IP will always be done and redone but theres potential for goodness within. In this case i had a LOT of fun with Gunns version of Sup!! The biggest surprise and scene stealer is his take on Krypto. Otherwise its a bright, kindhearted, not too complex, enjoyable take on the character. Gunn knows his strengths and doesnt waver (every thing he's done since GoG1 is a 'rag tag band o misfits' and this is no different). I enjoyed the casting for all the main characters (thou the entire Daily Planet group sans lois was really poorly written/unnecessary). Theres also a pretty solid twist on his lineage that played into an incredibly sweet aspect of the ending. Most of all, again, its a fun time at the theater. Man thats what its all about.
Novocaine (2025 4k)
Ive been on the fence about Jack Quaid but between the Boys, Companion, and this, i really think i like him (thou he's always pretty much the same character). This flick does a good amount with the premise of a guy who feels no pain. First act is a very well done "meet cute" between an introvert and coworker. Then after a bank heist goes awry it goes full bonkers action. Its over the top violence with shades of looney tunes, 3 stooges, and home alone.
Sinners (2025 streaming)
Wow. This one blew me away. You know how From Dusk Till Dawn felt like two completely different movies? Welp this takes that formula (and choice of monster) and doubles down on it, theres a LOT going on within. I love that they choose 1932 Mississippi Delta for the setting. The writing, direction, set design, acting, and atmosphere are all phenomenal. The music is INCREDIBLE and helps drive the story from the mythology presented to the amazing Juke Joint that serves as the primary location. Michael B Jordon continues to blow me away..in this case playing TWO main characters!? Wow. Unquestionably one of the best movies of the year.
(PS: slight actor spoiler ahead: I am a huge fan of blues music and read about the subject a bunch. This movie touches on some big aspects of Blues history including references of the movement from the Delta to Chicago as many Blues greats did. I almost fell out of my chair when Buddy Guy showed up in the movie near the end. He is a personal fav artist, a living Blues legend, and a Chicago ambassador. Buddy made the move from the south (Louisiana) at a young age, just as characters in the movie do. I think its INCREDIBLE that Ryan Coogler choose to have him in this movie in the role he plays. It also is important to note that Buddy is 88 and STILL performing incredible Blues live.)
I really liked the music of Sinners. I listened to the soundtrack a bunch of time. I like this kind of old blues
DeleteOOOO i cant wait to buy the soundtrack!
DeleteJust rewatched Sinners, i received the 4k disc this week. Still an excellent movie
DeleteThat was a bad week at the movies for me. It fits with the shitty week I've had. Always trust Hollywood to provide a bad time for movie lovers. I didn't even touch the super cool pile I recently got from Vinegar Syndrome, maybe this weekend.
ReplyDeleteLilo and Stitch was boring. The changes made felt they did them just to change things to have it just different enough from the original, giving us a spineless and emotionless movie.
How To Train Your Dragon was unnecessary. What's the point of remaking a CGI movie into live action when 75% is still gonna be CGI?
M3GAN 2.0 was boring and predictable. Didn't even finish it. And I liked the first movie.
Bad Boys Ride or Die is a bit better than the others, not good, but fun enough, especially the Reggie scene.
bumming news about M3GAN 2.0, but not unexpected, i too liked the first flick but found myself disinterested in the trailers premise.
DeleteSINNERS (2025).
ReplyDeleteGave this a rewatch. Still great! Coogler is one of these artists who’s operating on some higher level that the rest of us just can’t get to.
CROCODILE DUNDEE (1986).
This isn’t a good movie, exactly, but it is charming. I’m mostly fascinated with how this was once a mega-blockbuster.
LUCY (2014).
Sure, she becomes a telekinetic super-genius, but when does she pull the football away from Charlie Brown?
THE DARK HALF (1993).
George Romero goodness!
THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1978).
This is an unwieldy story, with a lot of side avenues and subplots it didn’t need. Like, did we need the whole jailbreak scene? But, Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland have great chemistry, and their back-and-forth kept the whole thing moving.
THE MUMMY (1999).
Back in ’99, I dismissed this movie as crap. But after watching it this week, I think it might be… good?
I remember Crocodile Dundee was always on tv when I was young. I don't I've ever seen it in original english, only the french dub. And the sequel too, which even in my youth could tell it was bad
DeleteCrocodile Dundee was indeed very popular in the '80s. You've only seen in it in French, Kunider? Paul Hogan's Australian accent is part of the charm. I picked up a blu-ray edition with the first two films quite cheaply at the start of the year.
DeleteLast year there was a controversy in Australia about scenes being cut from a Crocodile Dundee release there. I believe it was for "offensive" language.
Cackled at the charlie brown riff. Honestly i would have loved that scene within..randomly and unexplained.
DeleteAs for The Mummy...honestly id say its better than good. Raiders spawned a zillion imitators but this one worked on so many levels. The casting is wonderful, theres tons of charisma between leads, and the mummy/tomb stuff is legit great action/horror/mythos. Its a smidge hampered by the ability of CGI at the time but if you can see past that, its a HOOT!
I kinda love the structure of Great Train Robbery, with a bunch of sub-missions (ratting dogs, wooing the daughter, sting op at the brothel, prison break, Sutherland time trials) to get all the keys needed for the main mission (train robbery). But it's definitely a story that jumps around (not a surprise that such a plotty movie is book-based), and I can see how it might come off kinda tangent-heavy for anyone who prefers a more focused story.
DeleteAll right, I had a better selection of movies today...
ReplyDeleteA Quiet Place - Day One (2024): The original movie was good enough and I didn't need more, so I never watched the sequel. Then they released this prequel (only a year ago, I thought it was at least 2 years ago), which I though was unnecessary. But they had to cast Lupita Nyong'o and Djimon Hounsou, so obviously I had to watch it. All I needed was a cheap 4k disc at my local used dvd store. It's as good as can be, better than expected, considering prequels usually suck. I mean, what's the point, we know humanity won't be saved at the end. On its own, it's a very efficient alien invasion horror with Lupita bringing her usual great screen presence. There are the usual clichés that comes with this type of movies, with the usual story beats, adequate score and decent cinematography, so don't expect anything genre-bending. The cat is cool.
Six-String Samurai (1998): A total blind buy from the latest Vinegar Syndrome sale. It was cheap, it's 4k, and comes in the super cool magnetic snap case. Total package. What a fun movie. With a title like that, I knew I wouldn't waste my money. The plot is almost inexistant, ton of action, one liners, cool music, a bunch of people clearly having fun. The one cool surprise, the main actor can actually do martial arts. I was expecting just another dude trying to look cool on screen.
Your positive reaction to Six-String Samurai is one of the few I have encountered. I have heard so many Youtube film channels trash Six-String Samurai over the years. Comments always go like this: It was such a stupid choice for a VSU package. The film is dull and not well made.
DeleteI do not own anything of the Vinegar Syndrome VSU line nor have I seen Six-Stream Samurai.
woot! Six-String love!! That flick is special to me as, if memory serves, it got a really good review in EW but was very under the radar and hard to find...typically one copy on the shelves of some video stores. I absolutely admired the low budget but high concept fun within. Dystopian future with weird characters, a killer rockabilly soundtrack (red elvises!), and a creative riff on the silent stoic hero. The kid bit can be annoying but adds heart. It was one of those movies where i couldnt wait to see what came in the future for the creators, but regrettably Jeffery Falcon, i think, retired and Mungia didnt do much after. The VS disc is a personal fav but i think there's a fair amount of nostalgia love in my feelings.
Delete@Casual, I was surprised when I got the disc, I didn't realised it was that packaging when I ordered it, especially at that price. So I get it when people complain, but then again their new VSU release will be Mac &Me, so....
Delete@Mashke, the kid gave the movie kind of a Lone Wolf and Cub vibe, I liked it. And i'm usually the first to complain about kids in movies
DeleteHey, everyone! Just wanted to recommend Eva Victor’s debut, Sorry, Baby. I missed the press screening, so I didn’t get to review it, but I just caught it and it’s my favorite movie of the year right now. Worth the trip if it’s playing nearby!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rob! Sounds like a heavy flick but one that folks are absolutely connecting with.
DeleteOnly 2 ½ more months until the Scary Movie Month marathon begins. I am starting to think about what I would like to watch for October. In the meantime, there are plenty of movies to get to.
ReplyDeleteTHE LAST VOYAGE (1960, dir. Andrew Stone) – A warm-up to the disaster films that would come over a decade later. Though I missed the beginning, I was still able to easily follow the plot of this ocean journey disaster. When a boiler on a steamship blows up, it is a race against time to get the passengers off the boat. The pace is quick and the action quite furious. Robert Stack gets lead billing, but I would consider Woody Strode’s muscles as the star. The guy was fit, and he would have to have been to handle all of the running he does in the film. The set-pieces of the water flooding the ship are well-staged. The one warning is that there is an annoying child performance that can get distracting. Besides that, this was a fun watch.
PICKPOCKET (1959, dir. Robert Bresson) – Crime drama meets existentialism in Pickpocket. A Parisian pickpocket named Michel gets deeper and deeper into his life of crime while getting deeper and deeper into the indifference he feels toward life. Bresson’s legendary economy of style is present throughout the film, but there are still some amazing scenes. How he got some of those shots around Paris locations puzzles me. There are scenes in a train station that feel stolen even though they had to all be planned. The techniques of the pickpockets are shot with some great detail, as well.
WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR? (1965, dir. Joseph Cates) – Drama, exploitation, thriller, and crime. It is a film that does not always know what it is, and that is what makes it interesting. For many years Who Killed Teddy Bear? was a forgotten film, largely because it did fit not the the cinematic market of the period. An aspiring actress in New York City working in a music club gets suggestive and threatening phone calls. A policeman sympathetic to women targeted by “perverts” tries to discover who the perpetrator is. In so many ways the story is the least engaging element of the film. It captures New York City, largely through stolen shots, in the mid-1960s. The portrayal of Sal Mineo’s character is very “queer” for the time period.
INTRUDER IN THE DUST (1949, dir. Clarence Brown) – One of the most upfront Hollywood films of the period confronting the racial issues of the South. When a black man, a very dignified farmer, gets accused of murdering a white man, you know there is going to be trouble. As a mob assembles in front of the jail waiting for a lynching to happen, a frantic investigation of the case goes on with an amateur detective, a white adolescent with a personal connection to the suspect. The balance of the crime story and the social commentary is handled well by the script and the director. While the racial abuse is very explicit, the black characters have a humanity that is usually lacking for the 1940s.
I passed the afternoon and the evening watching Taiwanese fantasy wuxia films today. All four of the films were prints shown at Chinese theaters around 1970. The subtitles had to be used for all of them, which was not as difficult to handle as I thought it would be for over six hours. Nobody had a day like it outside of the Gap Theatre.
ReplyDeleteCONQUERORS OF EVIL SPIRITS (1970) - Though the print is very washed out by now, the film is bonkers in a such a good way that I could deal with the lack of quality in the image. A dead man finds his soul in hell, but he is given a chance to go back to the world of the living if he would fight the demons tormenting humankind. It is a really fun film.
13 WORMS (1970) - This was the most convoluted film of the evening. A gang of outlaws gets drawn into the hunt for treasure and freeing a woman held captive by the government. The film is defined more by a goofy tone than the others, but there are a lot of fight sequences to keep you entertained.
THE MAGIC SWORD (1969) - A swordsman goes on a perilous journey to deliver a magical sword and the ashes of his lost love, but he is met by attackers all along his path. Though by far the slowest of the films, there is a strong dramatic supernatural element to the story that set it apart from the parade of crazy action in the other films.
EIGHT IMMORTALS (1970) - A tale of eight mythological beings with magical powers who fight against the injustices of an evil demon king. This was by far the the best-looking print of the night. Eight Immortals goes into bonkers territory a lot. I enjoyed this the most of the four.
Neither The Magic Sword or Conquerors of Evil Spirits has even one review on Letterboxd. That is obscure.
Delete