Tomorrow is my birthday, so this weekend I decided I would celebrate a little bit by returning to the multiplex. Despite my financial woes, it is still my goal to stay as far ahead of the potential slate for next year's Animated Feature contest as possible. Also, in a bit of good news, I finally … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Wheel of Four Toons
I admit to having felt a fair degree of trepidation when The Naked Gun was announced. Legacy sequels are, by and large, unnecessary, unwarranted, unwanted, and underwhelming. I understand the nature of the beast that is the entertainment industry's current business model, where basically nothing can get greenlit if it isn't associated with a well-known … Continue reading Living Up to Leslie – The Naked Gun
Congratulations to Kevin Feige for making the very best Fantastic Four movie ever... by default. Yeah, it's not hard to improve upon the unreleased 1994 Roger Corman abomination, the cringeworthy 2005 film that only existed to make Jessica Alba's underwear levitate (28% on Rotten Tomatoes), its wholly unnecessary and unwarranted sequel (37%), and the 2015 … Continue reading A Retro Fit – The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Two items of business to address right up front. First, my financial/employment situation has not improved, so as you've no doubt already noticed, coverage of new movies is down severely at this point, and will likely continue for the foreseeable future. I've only reviewed one film for July, and I have one more in the … Continue reading This Film Is Not Yet Watchable – August 2025
Superman is the original comic book hero. Sure, what we consider comics existed in various forms for years before his debut in 1938, but once he came into the cultural zeitgeist with Action Comics #1, the "Man of Steel" has been the standard by which all heroes are judged. An orphan from a distant and … Continue reading More Human Than Humans – Superman
You ever get that feeling that no matter how hard you try, everything not only turns out wrong, but seems designed to make life that much worse by its very existence? That's what the last several months have been for me. Between being unemployed for nearly a year, approaching a phase of literal worthlessness, insulting … Continue reading This Film Is Not Yet Watchable – July 2025
At the beginning of the year, I set a goal for myself to go full completist on potential contenders for next year's Animated Feature Oscar race. I've tried several times to finish the whole list, but I've invariably missed some titles that had limited runs or which weren't even screened in Los Angeles at all, … Continue reading DownStream – June Toons
There have been a couple of occasions in my life where I have looked up at the stars and openly wept. It wasn't necessarily because I was sad in the moment, or even hurt by something else going on around me. It was just the realization as I stared up into the vastness of space … Continue reading You Are Not Alone – Elio
There are basically three types of story when it comes to movies adapted from the works of Stephen King. The first is intricate, metaphor-laden horror that can fascinate as well as terrify. This is where you get the likes of It, Carrie, and The Shining. The second is batshit insane horror and science fiction that … Continue reading Doing the Math – The Life of Chuck
Summertime, and the living's easy! Well, unless you're perpetually unemployed and financially hanging by a thread, of course. In that scenario the living's excruciatingly stressful and what little sleep you get is filled with existential nightmares. Thank God we still have movies, though. Seriously, the tiny specks of sanity I have left would be completely … Continue reading This Film Is Not Yet Watchable – June 2025
I Actually Paid To See This 