A Defibrilator to the Zombie genre of films, 28 Days Later remains as visceral and at times shocking as ever, even though it has been lapped in some areas by more recent zombie fare. Was happy to see a packed 730pm showing (so full that they set up a second screening) for whats now viewed as a classic (god I'm getting old) and a film that thankfully still lives up to its reputation. While it does show its age in a few spots, it does so in kind of a charming old way of doing things way and not in a omg this kills the movie way thankfully. Only a one night thing so I guess too late to tell people to check it out, but if you haven't seen this or haven't seen it in a while, its still worth a watch, especially before the new one comes out next month.

Quick Rewatch Thoughts...

- Had completely forgotten theres a shit ton of naked Cillian Murphy in this film. Like full frontal nudity. So uh, fans of his will be happy I guess lol.
- Had also forgotten Gleeson and Eccelston were in this! Both great as always and they add different kinds of emotions and layers of complexity to the story.
- I know this was mostly shot on handhelds and it never looked great but holy crap did this look like dogs shit on the big screen. Very disappointing because it's not a fathom event, Sony/Searchlight directly controlled this AND there is a 4K remaster coming. But somehow this is the version that got released? Tons of pixelation, smudging and all kinds of distortion just make the visuals a mess. I know some of it is intentional and some of it is just a matter of how handheld things were filmed at the time, but why not use the 4K remaster for this? Baffling decision imo. (Ending at least still looks much cleaner as always)
- The sound was also mixed incredibly low. I can't if this was always the case but I wish I had subtitles. Could hardly hear some dialogue and even some music. I'm sure being next to the Dolby theater didn't help but still, not great...
- Still some shocking moments after all these years. I haven't seen this since 2002, so beyond some very basic plot points and Murphy I didn't much, so it kind of made for a quasi-new viewing. The eyeball drip, the Rape push, The burger boy etc. Things I mostly forgot and were there to shock me again. Sometimes not being a rewatcher helps!
- Quite a bit of dated Zombie world stuff that doesn't hold up against things like Last of Us, Waking Dead, Train to Busan etc. But they were all kind of charming? Would hurt a newer movie but they all kind of made sense here. 
- Forgot this was brought to you by Pepsi. I wonder if they had those Phantom Menace Pepsi machines in London?
- Still quite good, but the 23 years of films it helped inspire bring it down to earth just a tad. Probably not fair, but what can you do.
- Looking forward to watching WEEKS (which I know I've seen parts of but maybe not the whole thing?) and YEARS in the coming weeks and seeing where the franchsie goes from here.
- Shocking short credits. I guess being a handheld zombie film keeps things short and sweet in that department.
- We got like a 5 minute clip from YEARS after the movie and it looks pretty good, even with me not being an Aaron Taylor Johnson fan.

Updated SeanScore™ - 84 -> 80/100

Easily my favorite of this anthology, 400 Boys has a lot of what I look for in these LDR shorts. Unique animation, wild story telling swings and something unique. 400 Boys manages to be interesting, fun and compelling despite giving us the bare minimum to work with story wise. Not perfect but absolutely worth a watch.

So begins How to Train Your Dragon Tuesdays!

A high flying and rousing adventure, How to Train Your Dragon is every bit as good as its fan claim. Relatable with rich themes, memorable characters and eye opening set pieces, it's one of those rare films that transcends its family film restraints and lifts into a stratosphere you weren't sure was possible. It's basic but memorable, familiar but in many ways extraordinary. It's very easy to why its spawned so much out of it. I was quite captured by this and look forward to finally seeing the rest of the series in the coming weeks. Also a film I can see the score going up on rewatches, but time will tell!

Some Thoughts...

- Really deep voice cast here. Baruchel, Butler and Ferrera do a great job at the center of the film but even beyond them it's a great group of talent. Jonah Hill, Craig Ferguson, Kristen Wiig etc.
- Even gotta give a begrudging good job to TJ Miller, didn't realize this came out a full 4 years before Silicon Valley and 6 years before Deadpool.
- I was a little worried at first as the night scenes looked just ok, but man, the daytime scenes in this look phenomenal, especially for 15 years old. Will be curious to see if I can track improvements over the 3 animated films.
- Speaking of the opening night scene, what a way to open a movie! They just throw you in it but in a way that tells you a lot and immerses you in the world. Top notch world building and story telling there imo.
- For some reason thought Hans Zimmer did the score here but its apparently his buddy, John Powell. Real stirring, evocative and soaring work. "Test Drive" has to be one of the signature movie songs this century, no?
- I'm sure being based on a book helps a lot here, but man they pack a lot of themes into 90 minutes. Coming of age, feeling like an outcast, living with a disability, Acceptance and more. And none of them feel like a throwaway. Truly effective writing at a high level can work even in family films, it's a shame we don't see writing this efficient more often.
- Of course now very interested in seeing the animated films, but also the remake. I am usually against these, but the fact that the remake is like 27 minutes longer is really interesting to me. I thought this was paced expertly. So the fact that they are messing with that while also claiming to do many scenes the exact same way has my eyebrow raised. Also not sure how I feel about Chris Sanders not being involved but hey, thats a concern for next month really.
- Extremely effective at amping up my emotions throughout, especially with Hiccup and Toothless.
- The Red Death vs Toothless at the end was very memorable and I was kinda shocked at how similar it felt to Vhagar vs. Arrax in House of the Dragon. I suppose it makes sense that they cribbed from this but I was not expecting it!
- Is uh, taking a bite of fish like that, good for you?
- Ok so what is the deal with Toothless, how is he both toothed and toothless?

Can I Recommend? - Very similar to Fantastic Mr. Fox this is a universal yes. Mainly for families but really for anyone. It's a story anyone can relate too, it still looks pretty damn good 15 years late and is a breezy ~90 minute watch. Doesn't get easier to recommend than that!

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - 99%
Metacritic - 75
SeanScore™ - 84/100

Box Office - $217.5M Domestic & $494.8M Worldwide Total Gross. A budget of a whopping $165M (In 2010!!!) which seems wild but nonetheless gave them a small theatrical profit buoyed by very likely peak DVD/BR says and years of streaming revenue. Add on 2 successful sequels and a likely successful remake and you have yourself a franchise cash cow.

Continuing on the trend of films with Motherhood near the center of storytelling, Yes Day was thankfully better than Drunk Parents but sadly not explicitly good on its own. Picture the most generic family film possible set around one story telling gimmick. Picture kids bristling against protective parenthood and how they might rebel in their own ways. Mix in the gimmick of parents needing to say yes to everything on one day and voila, you have Yes Day. There are some good performers here, it's watchable and you laugh lightly occasionally but overall it's as generic and forgettable as they come. I've seen worse movies like this but I've also seen countless better films, whether something like that is worth your time is up to you.

Some Thoughts...

- The cast is what primarily makes this watchable. Jennifer Garner and Jenna Ortega are the center of the film and their charisma and talent really lift it from awful to generic. Édgar Ramírez gets less to do but is fine and the two other kids, Julian Lerner and Everly Carganilla are both decent as well. It's one aspect the film gets pretty good.
- Not a ton of star power otherwise as things are focused on the family but we do get H.E.R., Nat Faxon and Molly Sims. All are like fine but of course underwritten.
- Fortune Feimster, are we sure she's funny?
- LOTS of generic 2010s electronic pop in here. Make you feel like you are in a Kohls throughout the film.
- I like the idea of a Yes Day and the concept of it, but outside of that there isn't much to love storywise. It's just a normal family, with 3 kids where the parents say no to stuff. I was a kid once, so I get it. But that video thats showcased as the centerpiece of why the day needs to happen is hilarious. In what world is that video and a haiku getting teachers worried? Come on lol.
- Where are all the parents for all these kids at the house party? How is that in any way realistic?
- Set in the Kool Aid cinematic universe?
- Did big Baking Soda pay for a large chunk of this movies budget? Would this destroy your pluming system?
- Been a minute since Arteta's one big hit with Garner and Steve Carrell. Wonder how many more shots he gets? I do like Youth in Revolt!

Can I recommend? - Do you miss the generic family fare of the 90s? Then Yes Day is for you! Reminded me of so many 90s TV sitcoms, TV movies and even movies in general from that time period. Really cheesy over the top stuff that gets you through 90 minutes on a summers day. Is it good? No. But is it tolerable enough to watch for people looking for family entertainment? Sure.

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - 52%
Metacritic - 46
SeanScore™ - 36/100

Box Office - N/A Direct Netflix release. Looks fairly inexpensive outside of some of the cast, so likely wasn't too expensive for Netflix. Also seems like something that would stream fairly well for them, so I'd bet it was a net positive venture for the service.

I continue on my journey to watch different types of films centered on or featuring Motherhood in a variety of ways. Tonight that lead me to this weird abomination. A truly bizarre combination of lots of acting talent, awful writing and really cheap/poor filming execution, making it one of the worst films I can seeing. Theres like bad movies and then theres good god when will this end bad movies and that was me like 25 minutes into this. I can now more easily understand why I had not heard of it before I went searching for some films about different types of Moms.

Some Thoughts...

- It's crazy the amount of talent wasted on this. Alec Baldwin, Salma Hayek, Jim Gaffigan, Kid Cudi, Treat Williams, Dan Soder, Colin Quinn etc. And none of them can really elevate the crap material. Baldwin and Hayek try, but when the material is this awful, there is only so far your charisma can get you.
- I don't think anyone will watch this so it's probably ok to spoil, but skip the rest if you really wanna see it I suppose. I was shocked when out of nowhere I heard Will Ferrells voice. I literally paused the movie and said to myself, "Will Ferrell did NOT do this did he???" turns out he did. Going to guess either the director or the writer or the producers had a lot of chits to cash in to make this and there we go.
- 2 Billions cast ?
- For a movie about fairly well off people, it feels incredibly cheap in a really obvious way.
- Maybe they just shot it weird but it felt like you could tell when only one person was on set that day. The nighttime couch scene was especially jarring in how it kept cutting back and forth between 2 people sitting on the couch right next to each other. Looked awful.
- Not only was this bad, it was genuinely boring for a large part of the run time. Maybe it was just me checking out after the bad start, but man the last hour was a SLOG to get through. Comedies should never feel like this!
- Seeing Kid Cudi as a Tow truck driver picking up delinquent cars was funny because I've been served Tow Truck tik toks the last few days. Weird coincidence.
- Wild that it took from 2015 to 2019 to make and fully release this. Never a good sign when it takes that long, especially for comedies.

Can I Recommend? - lol no. 

Movie Stats…

Rotten Tomatoes - 0%
Metacritic - N/A
SeanScore™️ - 14/100

Box Office - $1.6M Worldwide Total Gross. Can’t find budget info but I have to imagine this was a pretty decent sized loss for everyone involved.

Now this is a step in the right direction. Maybe a little thin details wise, but looked great, propulsive, felt made for adults and kind of exactly what this series should be overall. Ending felt a little short/weak but otherwise a good watch and the first solid entry of this anthology.

A true delight and one of Wes Andersons best, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a memorable film on multiple levels. Striking colorful stop motion visuals that quickly get seared into your mind, some of the best voice work in recent memory, a light but meaningful and propulsive story that you grab a hold of and never let go, its simply Wes at the peak of his powers and something that will stay with me for quite some time. While I enjoyed the recent Henry Sugar batch of shorts from Wes, this takes a Dahl story to much higher heights and is easily the best of those brought to life. To me, this is probably his second best of the films I've seen, just behind Grand Budapest Hotel. Curious if that will hold as I watch a few more before The Phoenician Scheme arrives next month.

Some Thoughts...

- Some truly great voice work here. George Clooney is literally perfect as Mr. Fox and Meryl Streep is the perfect pairing with him as Felicity. The cast is deep and memorable but the highlights for me included Willem DaFoe as Rat, Brian Cox as Daniel Peabody and Eric Anderson as Kristofferson. Top to bottom just magnificent casting and performances.
- Have to mention how perfect the Bill Murray role is for Bill Murray. Wes always finds the best spots to slot him in, love it.
- Truly gorgeous visuals. The colors! The animation! Just a great blending of worlds both imagined and real. So warm and comforting, feels like it could be a future Fall rewatchable?
- Great soundtrack as always in Wes movies. Just pitch perfect use of Beach Boys, Rolling Stones and more.
- The work Alexandre Desplat contributes is great as well. The music works so well with the visuals to create such a warm environment, makes you feel like you have a throw blanket around you.
- Not the biggest Roald Dahl fan, but I really like what Wes took from it and expanded upon here. Rich with themes of Class, self purpose, conformity, social structure and more, yes, it's a ~80 minute family film but man it packs a LOT into those 80 or so minutes. Just shows what powerful messaging even a shorter film can have.
- Loved the title cards throughout, fit the film perfectly and looked amazing. A nice touch that adds a real layer of creativity to the film.
- Wish the end credits were a bit more punchy (character cards would have been nice), but again the font was nice and the background was good to keep.
- I feel like visiting the Apple Cider Brewery by me now.
- Will Isle of Dogs stand up to Fantastic Mr Fox? Maybe the one Wes Anderson film that does not look good to me at first blush but now I feel compelled to find out before TPS.

Can I Recommend? - The rare and very deserved universal recommendation is something I can easily bestow upon Fantastic Mr. Fox. Great for people of all ages, families, date nights, solo viewings and more, it's the kind of film that anyone and everyone can enjoy and savor. I guess if you strongly dislike the Wes Anderson vibe it won't be for you but if thats the case, why are you even reading this far? Watch it!

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - 93%
Metacritic - 83
SeanScore™ - 86/100

Box Office - $21.0M Domestic, $58.0M Worldwide Total Gross. A budget of around $40M, so maybe not profitable theatrically, but I have to imagine its long shelf life and multiple physical releases have lifted it to profitability for Fox/Disney and co. And if not, hey this is the kind film you gotta be ok with losing a little change on.

A mostly enjoyable hour with a man who out of nowhere, took charge of Millennials lives in 1999. The music stuff doesn't really do anything for me and that was almost 1/4 of the special. But the rest of the set was solid (though a bit heavy on nostalgia) and Charlie is just the best. Absolutely worth a watch if you were around for Green in the late 90s, not sure if it works if it's your first experience with him though.

Should probably add that while I did moderately enjoy Green in 99, I was never a superfan. And I really don't get the Freddy Got Fingered revisionism. Maybe I need to give that another shot?

Well it’s an improvement over the RH music video opener at least. Cool miniature visuals paired with a “story” a 6th grade boy would write is an interesting exercise but ultimately it just feels like miniature Independence Day with butt jokes. A fine throwaway episode but not much beyond that. Hoping the rest of this anthology has better in store for us.

I'm a bit of a sucker for this one considering 30+ years of Star Trek fandom, but even setting that aside, this just rocks. Maybe even better on rewatch (to prepare for the sequel), USS Callister is not only a fun homage/parody of Star Trek (And also Twilight Zone I can't forget to mention) but it's a good and insightful episode of Black Mirror as well. Plemons does creepy so well and Miloti playing off of him is just pure magic. Really great ing cast too, forgot Michaela Coel, Jimmi Simpson and Billy Magnussen were in this. A personal Black Mirror favorite and I can't wait to see the followup shortly!

Was very curious to see how I'd feel about this on rewatch. I wasn't feeling great the night I originally saw it, I even missed a bit of the Club scene due to that, so even though I liked this quite a bit on first watch, I wondered how I'd feel on round two. Turns out my feelings are pretty damn similar. Some decent sized flaws compared to what comes just before it (Fallout) but still a very well done espionage action thriller that is firing on close to all cylinders. A rewatch has shifted this from 2nd to 4th, but thats more a credit to 1 and Rogue Nation than a ding to DR. Some great set pieces, some fun new characters and while yes, it does end with more to come, it's still a pretty well done single film story on its own too. A good time overall and I'm more excited than ever for Final Reckoning.

Rewatch Thoughts...

- Stop reading if you haven't seen this. I still think the way Ilsa is handled is a crime and a real blemish on the film. On rewatch its maybe not as anticlimactic as I originally thought, but still woefully short of what her character deserves, You can tell the film wants you to be deeply upset, but the way they did it, I just wasn't? And thats a bummer because she's the second best character in the franchise after Ethan. I hold out hope this will come into play in the last film but I know thats not likely.
- Hayley Atwell is her ostensible replacement and look, I like her, but she's no Rebecca Ferguson and that the film so quickly tries to slot her into the role is kinda weird and maybe even offensive? Still, willing to give her a shot in the last film since there won't be a direct in film comparison this time around.
- On rewatch I really loved Pom Klementieff here. She brings a deranged wackiness that is just what the series needs. One of the biggest things I look forward to in FR is more Paris.
- Shea Whigham who is always good is also a really nice pickup here. Just pitch perfect for these films alongside someone like Henry Czerny.
- But maybe the best person in this film beyond Cruise and Ferguson is Vanessa Kirby who lights up the screen every second she's in it. Doesn't sound like she's in FR which is a bummer but man she was a delight here.
- Esai Morales, we sure he's good in this? I go back and forth.
- I still think it stinks the signature stunt piece here was given away in trailers for a year before hand. Hopefully they didn't repeat that mistake again.
- Lots of memorable and extraordinarily well done set pieces here. The Initial Sevastopol sequence to The DC office meeting to The Club to the Train, lots of fun well thought out scenes that will imo stand the test of time.
- No end credits sequence is kind of a bummer but I'll bet they have a nice one planned for the series (supposed) finale. Opening sequence was great though!

Updated SeanScore™ - 78 -> 77/100

Rather strange opening to the new Love Death & Robots anthology. Like I get that Fincher wanted to do a music video, but why put it here? And why for a 23 year old song? As far as the video goes it’s like…fine? Looks good but there’s literally nothing else here beyond it being a music video for an old song. Maybe RH superfans will like it but I’m kind of befuddled.

After binging S1-2 of Twin Peaks probably a little too fast, half way through watching the Return I was like, holy crap, I gotta slow down, theres only so much to watch left and man am I glad I did that. What at first was a little off-putting and different from what I was expected quickly rolled into one of the best TV experiences of my life. Out of nowhere this show had me crying, it had me laughing, it had me walking out of the room in discomfort, it really ran the gamut of feelings for me. Maybe most importantly it was never what I expected.

Lynch truly delivered a SLEDGEHAMMER to nostalgia and expectations that I could only dream of being possible. Upset with how Twin Peaks ended? Sad about FWWM? You want closure and endings? Well how about this? What a mad man in the best of ways. And that ending! My god. I can only imagine how people watching it in real time felt. Did Cooper bring Carrie into real life? Should we stop digging endlessly into our trauma? Are we fated to live in endless loops? So many thoughts, I can't wait to discuss them with people.

As always, Lynch is something special and his final major work is nothing short of astounding. I love all of the parts of Twin Peaks and this is a welcome addition to the original TV show and the movie. I plan on watching the European Pilot and FWWM (once more) before moving on to the rest of his works that I have not seen but I am so very glad I did this even if it is years late. If you haven't given Twin Peaks a shot yet, make this your reason for finally changing that. It's worth every minute of your time and then some.

Had to reschedule my Final Destination 6 tickets into a doubleheader with Final Reckoning next week, so I figured I should try and dig into some of the director(s) works. This one was readily available on YouTube, so why not? I can’t say the story is original or even interesting but this is basically an 11 minute oner and features some rather strong staging and choreography for a student film. Doesn’t complete cover up the story and acting and such but it’s a really good sign for him knowing how to stage things and I think that will come into play big time in Final Destination. Can’t wait for next week!

I thought this one already hit emotionally like a ton of bricks but after the Andor finale? Man…Put the two seasons of Andor together with this and I think you have the best of Star Wars. I know some people don’t like the first two acts, but it all works for me. I’d agree the third act is the best (maybe the best act in any SW movie) but for me the film is the total package front to back. The kind of Star Wars story that’s not only just like the ones I’d conjure up on my mind post Return of the Jedi but somehow also the story we need today more than ever. Can’t ask for more than that. Have a box of tissues handy, especially if you just watched Andor. 

Quick Rewatch Thoughts…

- Greg Fraser the god. This movie looks amazing. Nearly 10 years later and it still looks brand spanking new and even better than films released lately. 
- Not only does it look great, it’s accompanied by a magnificent score. No slight to John Williams obviously but Michael Giacchino is the perfect guy to bring for a movie like this. A score that fits the material perfectly, building upon what Williams has done before and giving us something truly magical. 
- The third and ending is amazing, no doubt about that, but it’s interesting how Andor shifts what hits me harder. Previously it’s seeing Vader chew up the hallway. Now it’s the precious last few moments we get with our beloved Rogue One crew. All great but a definite change on this rewatch. 
- Tarkin and Leia CGI doubles, not good, huh? Still don’t think they are horrible but I can see the complaints now more clearly. I think the Mando Luke got the ball rolling on me changing my mind. Just re-cast! 

SeanScore™️ - 95/100

A real lifeless and inert affair, Mothers and Daughters seemed like a good Mothers Day Month watch when I started it. Indie production, stacked cast, 90 minute run time etc. Lots of positive off the bat! Unfortunately the movie itself contains virtually no positives. Awful writing, flat performances reading said awful writing, bizarrely quiet sound design, An overly complicated and twisty story about mothers that spends too much time trying to fool you and not enough time getting you to care for any of these characters etc. It's a real miss. I can only imagine that some of these actors owed someone a favor because....

Quick Thoughts...

- Selma Blair is really the only person here I fully connected to. It helps that she's the biggest storyline throughout, but I also thought she gave the best performance of anyone in here. Did not love the Doctor who couldn't act that she was paired with but she's still got it, or at least still did in 2016 anyways.
- Lots of big talent in here, Sarandon, Sorvino, Cox etc. I don't think any of them fly above the level of the awful material though. It's pretty clear each person was only on set for a few days to save money and it shows.
- Cannot get over the bizarre sound design. Just so incredibly quiet the vast majority of the movie. Dialogue and nothing else. It was unnerving especially when you added in the bad line readings of awful dialogue on top of it.
- ngl, the ending, with the picture book kind of got to me. I thought the whole film would be like that, but alas.
- Really disliked how twisty several of the main story parts were. You can tell this is where the writers energy went into because you really get no sense of who these people are or why they have their issues. This isn't Fight Club, don't twist yourself in a pretzel if you don't have to.

Can I Recommend? - No, plenty of good films about Motherhood in all of its different strips to watch to spend your time on this. Skip it and try the next Mother related film on your watchlist.

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - 19%
Metacritic - 29
SeanScore™ - 20/100

Box Office - Somehow only a $2M budget (I'm guessing the stars were only on set for a handful of days each) but when you don't get released theatrical its hard to make your money back. Thus a likely bust that has not taken on a new life on digital or physical.

I liking the first and tolerating the second growing up, so I was pretty surprised that I enjoyed the sequel quite a bit. Similar to the first it’s a parody of the tv show but the sequel plays with the mythos, the world, the cast a lot more. Success had been achieved, now how funky can they get with it? 

Updated SeanScore™️ - 54 ->60/100 

the days when we would get a sequel film approved and cranked out the next calendar year? What a time to be alive and watching movies.

An under-discussed well done tv adaptation that’s been kind of lost to time. It’s just how things move on, but I there being such a 60s moment over this and it reminds of recent 90s nostalgia. It’s 30 years later so it makes sense. 👴🏻 

Anyways, a really fun time capsule that has a very specific wavelength. If you can get on it, you’ll be rewarded. 

Updated SeanScore™️ - 60 -> 64/100 

Potential future Rewatchable? (This was on cable endlessly!)

Incredibly effective at not only taking the piss out of modern day subscription culture but also people handling loss and what we can and can't do to stop it. 3 great performances, really sharp and incisive commentary on both topics and directed quite well, I think its my favorite of the new season which overall has been very solid. No all timers like San Junipero, but all watchable and enjoyable at minimum and a handful are quite a few levels above that. Now all thats left is a rewatch of the original USS Callister and then the new sequel!

SeanScore™ - 76/100

Yet another in a long line of films that I should have seen when it came out (Tenenbaums was my first Wes), I at least saw PARTS of Rushmore through the years. But with Phoenician Scheme coming in less than I month I figured it’s finally time to correct that. It of course helps that it was finally added to Hulu as my library weirdly does not have it and it hadn’t been streaming for a while. 

Bottle Rocket was good fun but Rushmore is where Wes Anderson levels up and makes his mark. It’s more focused, funnier, quirkier, leaning into the classic WA formula but with a more adult twist than some of his later films. Nudity! Cursing! A 15 year old trying to bang his teacher! Obviously his later films has strong adult themes but in a more mature and grown up way. Rushmore does all of it in a very specific late 90s way that is perfect for the time, so much so that it’s easy to see why it was an instant cult classic.

Some Thoughts…

- Similar to Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman’s performance here really sets the tone for the rest of his career. I’m not his biggest fan but he’s undeniably great here. Feels like brings out something different with every performer he shares a scene with, but especially Murray and Williams. An iconic performance that has undeniably carried him far. 
- Similar to Schwartzman, this role defined the last 25 plus years for Bill Murray who while still doing some mainstream stuff, became known to newer audiences for his Wes Anderson performances maybe more than anything. He’s still in his prime here and is truly great, especially when on screen with Schwartzman. 
- Olivia Williams who I’ve seen before is a complete revelation. Feels like the movie stops in its tracks, in a good way, everytime she’s on screen. 
- Almost felt otherworldly to have a Wes film with cursing and nudity, and it all worked and felt very true to him. Wonder why everything since this has been PG-13 and a little more restrained in a sense? Perhaps just growing up?
- Banger of a soundtrack, my man had an ear for great needle drops and world building music. Loved it!
- Really dug the stories and especially the themes throughout. Trying to fit and whatever it takes to be accepted especially when people don’t want to accept you is a great centerpiece of the film and from a varying degree of angles it accomplishes that. Maybe it’s the 15 year old me obsessed with Star Trek and sports stats that identified with this so much, but regardless, it connected. I can only hope I didn’t annoy people as much as Max did 😅
- Man it feels good to see the Touchstone Pictures logo drop. Miss it!
- Forgot that Owen Wilson used to be a main co-writer with Wes. Wonder if they’ll ever write together again? 
- A huge step up from Bottle Rocket visuals wise. Wes really finds his home here with how he centers things. Especially loved the visuals of the Kite flying scenes. 

Can I Recommend? - Absolutely. A core Wes Anderson text, this film unlocks so much of whats to come down the line. It's funny, touching and somehow both a coming of age tale and one of his most adult movies? An all around impressive feat, it's not my favorite WA film but its one of the Wes films thats very easy to recommend to broad audiences and will be especially rewarding if it works as there is so much for the viewer to watch once they vibe with this one. Give it a shot!

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - 90%
Metacritic - 87
SeanScore™ - 78/100

Box Office - $17.1M Domestic & Worldwide Total Gross. Budget quite a bit higher than I expected at $10M or so, but still should have eeked out a profit theatrically and its long life on physical ensured an overall profit regardless.

A surprisingly fun time with genuinely enjoyable twists and turns that put the franchise back on track. Better but still not great character writing is thankfully helped by really good story writing that impressed me so much I had to look up who wrote it. Does it exceed the highs of the original story or the crazy kills of 1-3? Maybe not. But it comes far closer than I expected and was a blast to watch. Thankfully helped get my hopes back up for 6 after how bad 4 was.

Some Thoughts…

- While not the strongest cast nor the most memorable characters, these folks are leaps and bounds beyond what we had in 4. And thankfully you have people like Courtney Vance, Tony Todd and David Koechner (working at ANOTHER paper company!?!) to supplement the young cast. 
- Speaking of the young cast, literally had no idea Mr Deep Fake Tom Cruise, Miles Fisher was an actor too!
- Movie looks like a million bucks compared to 4. Real sets, minimal awful CGI and some really fun more practical looking kills. Yes some use CGI obviously but they look much better. Still a few 3D related kills but an improvement over the obsession with 3D in part 4. 
- Was really blown away by how good the story writing was compared to the rest of the series. Just really fun twists and turns, subversion of expectations and a holy shit ending. Wasn’t shocked to see the guy who wrote Arrival (or rather adapted it) wrote this but I am shocked he hasn’t done much else good since Arrival. 
- Really fun credits that serve as a greatest hits of the series but in a much better way than the similar credits in 4. 
- Stinks that they used the title THE final destination for 4, seems much more fitting for this one if anything. 
- Maybe not the best idea to watch this one on a plane. Didn’t think about that before I started it. On the plus side maybe not as big of a mistake as watching the Sully episode of the Rehearsal on a plane earlier in the week 😬 
- Like a genuinely gobsmacking holy shit ending. Hard to top! But…
- Was the film set in the area I think it was?

Can I Recommend? - Surprisingly yes! I was really dubious that the franchise could bounce back so quickly after the awful 4th installment but here we are. If you stopped after 4 or if you just had general doubts about going this far, I think this entry is quite worth your time. Only haters of horror and FD 1-3 should skip it. 

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - 63%
Metacritic - 50
SeanScore™️ - 57/100

Box Office - $42.5M Domestic & $157.8M Worldwide total gross. $40M budget so still a healthy profit though the balance between domestic and ww is a bet of a mess. Will be interesting to see if Bloodlines can take it in overseas in the very different post COVID theatrical landscape worldwide.

A solid concept, 2 stars and genre mashup that mostly works will carry you a decent bit with me and The Gorge is no different. Overall it's a mixed bag that I'm down the middle on, but what it does good kept me entertained for most of the time with a few parts dragging things down for me. Would I have been thrilled to have seen this in theaters? Probably not, it feels like a movie that you put on at home, thinks its ok and ultimately forget about it 12 hours later. Ending up in a tally of why we keep streaming subs but not much else. Still, not terrible, but with the talent involved it does feel a little bit of a let down.

Some Thoughts...

- ATJ, charismatic as ever is of course the highlight. Respectfully looking amazing in all black and owning the screen every time she's on it.
- Miles Teller is good here as well, though no ATJ. His character makes some brain numbingly stupid moves and in many ways feels like a generic 80s action character with a tinge of modern trauma storytelling.
- Not many other people in here but I liked Sigourney Weaver going against recent type here. Good to see her outside of franchise stuff.
- Some very obvious Green screen/volume/CGI stuff here that looks ok but clearly fake.
- I kind of dug the opening with the separation and learning of the job as well as some initial conflict. My biggest issue...
- Is when they go into the Gorge. Movie became instantly more generic and forgettable for me. It's such a cool mystery and then the answer is so...oh. It's not a terrible concept by any means, but I think they went about it in the most generic way possible.
- Ending bounces back a little bit but ultimately the last 45 minutes feel like a Marvel 3rd act CGI slopfest.
- Always happy to take a NIN score, which was good though not their most memorable work.
- Movie tries to weave between Romance, Action, Science Fiction and Drama, doing some better than others. I love genre swings so this didn't bother me, but I can see some taking issue with it, especially as none are done great.
- Talk about a cheesy final ending, wow lol. Very Twilight/Divergent coded.
- Kind of surprised this was Apple TV+ biggest movie launch ever, but maybe thats due to the cross genre style, it appealed to a very wide audience. If so, Apple may be heading towards Netflix style movie output, with lots of algo junk that lots of people watch and fewer and fewer auteur driven projects for awards plays. Time will tell.

Can I Recommend? - Strongly, no. But it mixes a few genres, features 2 good actors and does enough interesting things otherwise for it to be an ok Friday night with friends or family. I have issues with the film no doubt, but there is clearly some good here as well, and I think a lot of mainstream audiences will come away more positive than me and LB people in general.

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - 63%
Metacritic - 57
SeanScore™ - 54/100

Box Office - N/A, Apple TV+ exclusive. Supposedly a $80M budget which I suppose is possible with a small cast and limited locations. Is $80M with zero theatrical release worth it for Apple when theres no awards in sight? Only Apple can answer that but I have a hard time seeing the answer the answer to that question as yes. But then again its number 1 in movies on the service weeks after release, so maybe!

Possibly worse and even dumber than I originally thought. Not a huge fan of the Halloween series writ large but I did really like the 2018 film and wanted to finally have a strong in to the series. Alas, this one derails the trilogy and while I do like some of what ENDS does, KILLS is so bad it makes me very eh on the whole project. And then when you add how forgettable the new Exorcist was, you have to wonder what DGG and co. have left in the tank with horror. 

But anyways, while this is mostly well made and does have a few highlights, it’s on the whole quite poor, to the degree where I don’t know why this isn’t considered the worst of the trilogy. Skip it unless if you are massive Halloween franchise head. 

Updated SeanScore™️ - 30 -> 28/100

My dad wanted to watch another movie after The Order and he somehow landed on this one. I learned that he’s seen the entire Sniper series (I was aware of the Berenger film but not like 9 sequels) and is a fan of it. Unfortunately as one might expect, the 11th film in the Sniper series is uh, quite poor. Terrible acting, awful writing, mediocre action etc. the one thing lifting it above 1/2* is that the film has a weirdly strong sense of heart at the middle of it. 

Outside of the Snipe heads in your family this is an easy skip, but thanks to Netflix for pushing it to us, I guess. Would seeing 10 other Sniper films have helped my enjoyment here? I doubt it, but it’s probably best to go to Sniper 2 after Sniper 1 and not directly to 12 to be fair. 

SeanScore™️ - 24/100

Sold filmmaking that will remind of you a lot of 90s movies in good ways and maybe ways that hold it back a little, The Order is a solid throwback that tackles a very important topic in the 80s and today: White supremacy. How it corrodes our world, our country, our families, consuming everything around it until all thats left is a pile of rubble and ash. Strong performances, good location shooting, and a really snappy pace help you overlook some of the minor issues that maybe The Order back from being truly great. Wish this one had done better in theaters but hopefully it'll find an audience at home.

Some Thoughts...

- Nicholas Hoult, that boy can act, huh? I like that theres really no attempt to humanize Bob, he is who he is and he is a piece of shit. Hoult does a good job of bringing that life and making it hard for anyone to "feel" for Bob.
- Also quite good is Jude Law, who is a really great beaten down FBI agent. Not sure I really got the full deal between him and Jurnee Smollett but when it came to the core story they were great.
- Tye Sheridan is a fairly generic young cop who Terry takes under his wing. He's fine, but one of a few characters that feel a little shallow and copy/paste from other similar films.
- In very limited screen time I did like Odessa Young as Bobs lover on the side and Mother to his daughter. Would be interested to see what she does next.
- Overall the core story is quite compelling and the movie flies by, so my criticisms are small, but nonetheless there. Outside of the specific details of this story, some of whats here feels very seen before, theres not a lot of NEW here. And look, in some ways thats a positive. It reminds me of many films of years ago. But at times the movie feels like it's coasting on the fumes of those movies instead of using them to elevate it to a higher level. It helps that everything here is done at minimum competently, but this is still something I returned to.
- Adam Arkapaw has a good eye and knowing he shot this makes me want to see The King finally.
- Ending fell a little flat for me? History is history, so I get you can't change the final confrontation much, but it felt like such a whimper to end the film on. But to be fair, thats life sometimes, even for evil people. Raised an eyebrow especially at the hunting bit.
- Funny to watch this after hearing Maron talk about it on WTF like a year ago in an interview.
- Felt impressively 1980s, the production design was pretty damn good. Loved seeing all those early/mid 80s boxy cars. I must be the only one who liked them.
- It should be noted that the movie unabashedly shows how awful and damaging white supremacy is and never attempts to downplay it or obfuscate its effects. In 2024 I feel like thats worth mentioning.
- Some real Stormtrooper type aiming here, jeez.
- Gunna sound like I didn't like this but I promise you I did! There is a lot to like here. It just feels that if you tweaked a few things it could have been truly great, thats all.

Can I Recommend? - A solid yes! Some of it is pretty by the books but it's compelling and propulsive storytelling thats timely and important. Would make for a great double header with BlackKklansman.

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - 92%
Metacritic - 75
SeanScore™ - 74/100

Box Office - $2.0M Domestic & $2.2M Worldwide Total Gross. $20M production budget so uh, yea, not great. Not shocked it didn't do great but a little surprised it got made with a budget as large as that.

The Filoni-verse is increasingly not for me it seems. I guess this stuff hits like a Mack truck if you loved Rebels and Clone Wars but for me it was kind of a shrugfest. Just really boiler plate background character story expansion that left me surprisingly bored. This style of animation continues to irritate me, no idea why they won’t move beyond it. All that being said, there is still some decent action, it’s pretty short and each half had at least 1 mostly strong episode. If the next batch of these are more Filoni only characters I’ll probably skip it though.

For me, the peak of the franchise and right near the top of the pile for Action and Spy filmmaking. Every set piece a banger. Filled with humor that works perfectly with the tone of the film. A complete banger of a score that feels like all the music of all the movies building to the climax of this film. Real emotional heft that brings the third act to the kind of closure and ending other films can only dream of. I could go on and on but to put it simply, this movie rocks and got me reinvested in a franchise I grew up with and I will forever be grateful for that. Now the big questions is does Dead Reckoning hold up or improve for me next week?

Quick Rewatch Thoughts...

- Maybe the best Henry Cavill has ever been?
- If you have any doubts about Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, watch this again. She raises the temperature in the room multiple times in this movie, lighting up the screen like few others can. Wish we got more of her and Rebecca Ferguson interacting.
- Easily my favorite score of the entire series. Like the movie it's a seemingly never ending series of bigger and bigger climbs and crescendos. Would not work in every movie but man does it work here.
- The Wolf Blitzer set piece might be my favorite one of the entire series. I know its not the biggest but damn the reaction its get out of me, almost feels like I'm a part of the IMF team.
- Ethan feels so human here. The touches of humor, the acceptance of Erik and moving on, the endless willingness to sacrifice himself for his team and the world. The previous 5 movies laid some groundwork, no doubt, but Fallout lands that plane better than I thought possible and so much of that credit obviously goes to Cruise but also McQuarrie who clearly understands Ethan better than most. 

SeanScore™ - 95/100

Talented people in front of the screen and behind it can't change the fact that Havoc feels incredibly generic and derivative of previous films from Evans and others. That being said, there is clearly a level of quality here you can't get elsewhere, and while it all felt familiar, theres enough fun fights, good production design and people you like to make it a watchable affair. Do I wish Tom Hardy was picking better projects lately? Absolutely, but you could do worse with 100 minutes on a random Monday night than Havoc. Maybe not a ringing endorsement but what can you do. I've seen better, I've seen worse.

Some Thoughts...

- Tom Hardy doing his most Tom Hardy to try and drag generic crime drama across the line in-between action set pieces. Doesn't fully drag the movie across the line, but he's always watchable and this is no different.
- Luis Guzmán always funny when he shows in a ing role like this and Havoc was no different. Could have maybe used a little more of him tbh.
- Forest Whitaker and Timothy Olyphant also pop up but again, the writing is so generic you don't really get much beyond them as actors in a very familiar crime story. Nothing memorable about them beyond that.
- Was impressed by the production design and interiors of the film. Some of the outside stuff was questionable (did they use the Volume or the Netflix equivalent?) but I really dug some of the interior shooting.
- Wild that this wrapped like 4 years ago and only came out now. It's not great but it's also not terrible, so I'm surprised it took this long. Should have been released when The Raid got the 4K release.

Can I Recommend? - One for the Evans heads for sure. But beyond that known fandom and Tom Hardy heads it's hard to see this appealing to that many people, we've simply seen this done before and we've seen it done better.

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - 67%
Metacritic - 57
SeanScore™ - 46/100

Box Office - N/A Netflix direct release.

Not sure I've ever seen something that I agree with its core thesis so deeply but so strongly disliked it as a project. A weird hybrid of a film thats like 3/4 documentary about the crumbling of Democracy and the rise of the super rich and 1/4 dystopian future Sci-Fi drama thats incredibly empty and repetitive. Neither works and ultimately its just an incredibly on the nose, smash you over the head with sledgehammer affair thats weirdly surface level and devoid of anything beyond "the super rich are bad and killing us" which yes, of course, we know that. You gotta go a little deeper than that. Stop the Oligarchs makes for a fine line in a Bernie or AOC speech, but when you have 80+ other minutes after that thesis, you gotta fill things in a little more. And this sadly never does. A real bummer of a watch.

Quick Thoughts...

- Samantha Morton gets so little to do, not only because her part of the movie is maybe like 15 minutes total screen time? But also because she doesn't speak. A totally fine choice in a feature length picture. But it makes the very limited film parts feel very empty and slow.
- Naomi Ackie also in this, and gets to speak but thats about it. Can't say we really get an idea of who she is or anything beyond that. A real waste of 2 talented performers.
- The kind of movie that repeatedly shows you someone is reading Malcom Xs Autobiography to tell you what kind of movie it is and who the characters are. We know. We get it. You need to do more!
- The feature film stuff actually looks kind of good, makes me wonder what budget they had and how they did it? Did they create all that dystopian cityscape and such or did they just fly drones through abandoned cities?
- Ending features a very sad and weak call to action. Maybe it's because the film was rubbing me the wrong the entire time, but it ended on a really weak note for me.
- 100% agree we gotta do something about the Oligarchs and the rich and the populists and hopefully that includes better messaging than this film. We can and should do better.

Can I Recommend? - It's well intentioned but no, I don't think it's worth your time. Plenty of good books and reporting worth reading about the topics at hand instead.

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - 48%
Metacritic - 52
SeanScore™ - 34/100

Box Office - $7K Domestic & $50K Worldwide Total Gross. No budget info, but I have to imagine this is a money loser.

Did not love girlfriend bit to open things up but once you get past that there are some really solid and pretty timeless bits that I dug. Maybe the best part is his physical humor and expressions, not my favorite forms of comedy but really done well here. One of the more better HBO half hour specials I’ve seen thus far.

I actually had no idea this movie even existed until I listened to a horror pod I liked today about Until Dawn and this was mentioned. Thanks Hack or Slash lol. A movie so bad that I almost turned it off after 30 minutes and I probably should have. Genuinely so awful that I will actually have this be pretty short for once. Basically ends up being a half hour of lame setup and like 60 minutes of frolicking about an Island and Refinery type place with the most generic action and awful acting you can imagine. I don't care how big of a Far Cry fan you are, skip this and pretend it doesn't exist.

I really should have watched Another Simple Favor but figured I'd save that for a night where I started watching it earlier. Oh well.

Fast Random Thoughts...

- Til Schweiger, why? You can do better.
- Theres like 2 or 3 car and boat explosions that genuinely looked really good. So good that they feel out of place. The highlights of the film.
- Was Chris Coppola as Emilio actually funny? No. Was he so stupid that I still chuckled a few times? Yes.
- Similar vibes with the Whales couple. Just awful acting and terrible dialogue but still got some chuckles out of me.
- Reminded me of 90s Sega CD games my brother would play. And I mean that in the worst way possible.

Can I Recommend? - No.

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - N/A
Metacritic - N/A
SeanScore™ - 8/100

Box Office - $783K Worldwide Total Gross. $30M budget so a massive flop to say the least and deservedly so.

Well I had been hearing for years how bad this was and I was hoping people were wrong about that. But alas, this viewing of the franchise front to back has left me with the same opinion as many, 4 stinks. It feels like one of those straight to DVD sequels we'd get of movies in the 90s and early 2000s. Hardly connected and mostly just playing the greatest hits of the previous films, just not as good. And to make matters worse, this one has endless 3D pandering and some god awful 2000s CGI. There are some fun kills and thats about where the positives end unfortunately. Just an all around mess that is quite the drop in quality from the first 3. Glad I finally saw it but in the end I would have been fine skipping it and thats something you hate to see with a fun horror seres.

Some Thoughts...

- Really rough cast this time around. Not sure I can say anyone here was good and I like Shantel VanSanten on For All Mankind. Maybe Mykelti Williamson if anyone as his character has a sad and thoughtful storyline that feels real (Also, he was in his 50s in this???)
- Right off the bat you can see the pandering to the 3D energy of the times. Friday the 13th Part 3 of the 2000s. Don't do this. Just make good movies and people will come and see them (usually).
- And to make matters worse, the bad 3D effects are paired with awful and excessive CGI. There is way too much of it and it looks awful. The movie is super short as it is, but this stuff really pads the runtime and becomes super annoying fast.
- I know it's tough to compare but it is ROUGH that this came out the same year as Avatar. The effects here just like awful especially when you consider when it came out and that they had a decent budget.
- The same guy who did 2 did this? Doesn't even feel like it. 2 at least had some sauce visuals wise, this is completely lifeless and sauceless. Bad acting, forgettable visuals, awful effects etc. Wonder why this round was so different with the same guy behind the camera.
- Now the one thing saving this from * or lower is there are still some really fun kills here. I've never seen this one before but somehow, I guess through internet clips have a place in my brain. The Lawnmower and Swimming Pool kills are obviously smaller scale than the Log kills of FD2, but are nonetheless seared into my mind. Every time I mow and every time I go in a pool I think about these. And to be honest I think about the Escalator kill as well though more about the shoelace bit than the ultimate set piece with it. 
- The opening Race car set piece is alright too, though it feels like a really forced way to try and duplicate the energy of the opening to FD2.
- While the effects are awful, I did like the look through the series the opening credits provided.
- Was not expecting that ending.
- Does the series outside of this one ever have a character have multiple visions throughout the film? That felt different, though maybe I'm forgetting another one.
- The Final Destination, brought to you by PEPSI.
- Partially shot at Universal Studios Florida??? And no one there told me when I visited? I kid, but I wish I had known.
- Look, this was bad but I do think it was watchable. Even when I was like wtf why is this so bad, I was still getting some enjoyment out of it? So maybe so bad it's good? Always conflicted with how to rate stuff like that, but since it's clearly bad, here we are.

Can I Recommend? - Did you watch 1-3 and do you want to keep going? Then yes! Everyone else? No. I'm sure it will be referenced in Bloodlines so maybe good for that but otherwise I think you are good with sticking with 1-3 and I'll have to see about 5. It just feels disposable and inessential in every way.

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - 28%
Metacritic - 30
SeanScore™ - 34/100

Box Office - $66.4M Domestic & $186.1M Worldwide Total Gross. This somehow carried a $40M budget but thanks to healthy overseas grosses it still made a solid profit. No wonder they got 5 going so quickly. Interesting that 4 being so bad didn't kill the box office of 5 but I suppose thats a chat for another day.

A thought look at loss, anger and grief, Eulogy is maybe not my favorite Black Mirror, but a successful one nonetheless. Featuring an interesting tech that feels not so far away and 2 really good performances, it dives into one of my favorite times in the world, early 90s New York. It's an interesting dynamic between Phil and The Guide and Carol, though outside of the very end, I'm not sure I connected with it as much as I "should" have? Still, undeniably compelling storytelling, I just get the feeling I should have been sobbing at the end and I wasn't. Might need to rewatch this at some point and see if it was just the day I watched it.

SeanScore™ - 74/100

Forgettable PG-13 horror like Bagman is a time honored Hollywood tradition. We gotta hook the teens on horror without making them need to sneak in or drag an adult to the movie. Entry horror can and should be good, like all movies, but unfortunately Bagman is not. Thankfully it's also not as bad as I expected based on online . Theres actually quite a decent bit to like and discuss here. But ultimately, the core of the movie is boring and forgettable and it drags everything else down. An ok Friday afternoon watch? Sure. But something people should seek out and spend time on? Eh, probably not.

Some Thoughts...

- Sam Claflin genuinely feels like he's going through it in this movie and that amongst other things helped lift the film overall to watchably bad status for me.
- Rest of the cast felt VERY cable tv to me. Some of them were fine, but this is very generic material and no one beyond Claflin really helped elevate it into anything else.
- One exception is Frankie Corio from Aftersun. A bummer this is her followup to that but she's really got IT. She jumps from the screen like no one else in this movie and made the opening worth watching even though it's pretty short.
- Genuinely great opening credits which set things up quite well. They were so good I was kind shocked thinking back on them at the end of the film because they felt so much more cared for and thought about than anything else here.
- I really dug the Bagman look and aesthetic, creepy and fairly distinctive, especially the Bag (the zipper!) which is one of the more memorable horror accessories in recent years.
- Also loved the Bagmans lair, though we only get to see it for a little bit at the end of the movie.
- The stuffing in the bag effect was also really cool though we hardly got to see it. Def needed more bag stuffing!
- I have to add that I really liked how this movie ended. It takes a different route than many other modern horror films and films in general really. Takes guts to end it like that, so even if the movie overall was weak, I'll give it props for that.
- But beyond that it's just very generic. You've seen this movie countless times before. And maybe worst of all...
- It's boring for large stretches, especially the middle of the film. It's only ~90 minutes or so but feels like 120 with the way it drags.
- Recorders should be banned from households. Very thankful those days are behind me lol.
- Was disappointed that after the awesome opening credits that we got nothing at the end. Bummer.
- Do not watch this if you like horror for the kills, the gore or the violence. To say this has minimal of those is an understatement. And thats fine, but then you need to nail the psychological and trauma aspects and it doesn't.

Can I Recommend? - While it does a few things better than I expected and was not a total waste time, I don't think I can recommend it. In the end it's basically just yet another PG-13 entry horror film that does things by the book and safely. Jump scares, trauma based horror, little to no actual gore or killing etc. You can actually go watch a good entry horror film like The Ring or I Saw the TV Glow or No One Will Save You, so why watch this if you don't have to? Then again, with horror fans, who am I kidding, we watch a lot of stuff we don't have to.

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - N/A
Metacritic - N/A (Kind of surprised this had so few reviews that it didn't a score on either site)
SeanScore™ - 36/100

Box Office - $1.3M Worldwide Total Gross on a budget of $15M or so, a pretty big flop in a year of many flops for Lionsgate. Considering this has almost no buzz I have to imagine digital and physical were rough as well and this was just a big loser overall.

A return to form of at this point, many years ago, Thunderbolts* is a solid and entertaining Marvel film that most mainstream audiences will eat up. It's not a world changer but it feels like a complete movie and a swing for something more than cut and paste reshoot Marvel film that we've gotten for the past years. Maybe it sounds like I'm damning it with faint praise and thats not the intention, but it's been up and down lately, even for someone like me who is prone to liking these movies. It's big but intimate, fun but sad, it introduces new and expands the old, I could go on and on, but the bottom line is it's good! And it's worth your time. If you like comic book movies and you've left them recently for very understandable reasons, this is your sign to give one a shot again.

Some Thoughts...

- Florence Pugh, what a human on countless levels. A large chunk of this film is centered on grief and depression and loss and quite a bit of that is put on her shoulders. While I do think some of that material is a little surface level, she regardless puts her all into it and really makes you care for it. This is a team up movie, sure, but in reality it's HER movie and she is the biggest reason it works.
- And respectfully, Slicked back hair Yelena...ooooo boy.
- Pugh is surrounded by a lot of other talented folks putting in good work, though she clearly outshines all of them by a pretty significant level. David Harbour brings a nice level of chemistry with Pugh and some much needed humor throughout (Surprisingly along with Wyatt Russell who had me cracking up). Do Sebastian Stan and Lewis Pullman get enough to do? Questionable, but they carry what they do get quite well.
- As the world’s only Oblivion fan, I always like to see Olga Kurylenko and I will leave it at that. 
- I've been a little dubious of all the Valentina stuff in the MCU thus far, but I thought it paid off pretty well here. JLD felt the most comfortable in the role yet, at least to me and it was genius to pair her with Geraldine Viswanathan, who I'm a big fan of. Still not sure how much MORE of this character I want to see, but this was the first time where I felt like she was really utilized well. 
- The Valentina impeachment stuff does feel a little forgotten in the back half of the film though. 
- Really strong score from Son Lux, one of the more memorable Marvel scores of the post Endgame era.
- Less of an over-reliance on CGI throughout this which was nice to see. And the third act gets smaller and more intimate when you think it'll be another CGI-fest. Theres some of that, but it smartly subverts your expectations and goes smaller and is all the better for it. And the Void effect is pretty cool. 
- One of my bigger criticisms is that this all feels pretty familiar. Is this THAT different from Guardians or Suicide Squad? Not really. So while it was mostly well executed, it did not feel super fresh.
- Can I say Jake Schreier has a signature vision? Not sure I can to be honest. But it's competently made and does not feel like it was reshoot 6 times and changed, so I'm calling that a win for him. 
- Feels like they did more on location shooting than volume filming and that’s a big W now a days. 
- A fun mid credit scene and a really great end credit scene that sets us up nicely for the future. Really looking forward to July! 
- Love to see a nicely done end credit sequence. 

Can I Recommend? - Yes, actually. I think this is the first, pretty broad recommend with minimal homework Marvel movie in a while. Obviously these characters have been seen before, but I think the movie does a good job of laying out who they are and what they are going through and it allows you to enjoy the film untethered from the other ~40 films in the cannon. It's not top tier MCU, but it's the kind of good that many Marvel films from 6-7 years ago were that people have been craving. Most will like this quite a bit imo.

Movie Stats (As of 5/1/25, Opening Night)

Rotten Tomatoes - 89%
Metacritic - 68
SeanScore™ - 74/100

Box Office - N/A Too early. 830PM IMAX showing was PACKED though and it felt like a pre-covid Marvel release buzz wise. Could see this doing very well with positive word of mouth and should easily clear a healthy profit. Was dubious this would outgross Cap, but I think it will have nice legs that will last until F4 hits.

Format Check - IMAX w/Laser. Looked pretty great but only expanded ratios for like 1/3 of the film and it never felt essential? Still, probably the best format to see it in, though if you don’t have one near you, Dolby will likely be good as well.

The kind of horror movie that gets anchored into your bones if you let it, Oddity was quite the engrossing watch even if it was imperfect. Featuring an amazing dual performance, some of the best horror atmosphere building in a while and the occasional HOLY CRAP moment, it's not horror for everyone but when it fully clicked, it was really for me. The easiest way to discern if you will appreciate this or not is how do you feel when people discuss A24 horror or Elevated horror. If you are looking for a slasher, this isn't for you, but if you are open to something spookier but less savage, Oddity is worth your time.

Some Thoughts...

- Legit had no idea that Dani and Darcy are played by the same woman. Truly exquisite makeup and a real change up in performance really took these characters far. Between this and Sinners, I'll apparently need to revisit my distaste for one actor playing multiple roles.
- Hard to get into the other roles too much without getting into spoilers, but the cast was solid overall, especially Gwilym Lee.
- What a setting for a horror movie. It's like an old barn meets a castle meets a house? We only get to see like 1/4 of it or so, but man does it provide for a creepy setting. The vast majority of film is set in the house and one little section of a Hospital and it gives the film this immensely claustrophobic feeling that helps amp up the weird feelings. Did I wish we saw more of the house? Yes, but I understand why we got what we did.
- The Wooden Golem is one of the creepiest things in recent horror memory. I don't want to spoil anything so I'll just say that save for one moment I thought it looked great and creepy but that one moment did take me out of things. I'm guessing this had a low budget though and that makes it a little more understandable.
- Kind of flew by? Only like ~90 minutes or so minus credits but felt even shorter, in a good way.
- Great use of cameras and pictures, always love when a horror movie does that well.
- Not a ton of gore or violence but when it does happen, damn.
- That Charcuterie board looked good as all hell.
- I would love to work right below where I lived. Much better than my current commute, thats for sure.

Can I Recommend? - To "Elevated Horror" fans? Absolutely? To anyone else? Probably not. It's the kind of horror film that a lot of horror fans dislike due to low amounts of gore, death and even scares. If you can get over those humps and enjoy atmospheric horror, it could be worth your time. But certainly not a broad recommend or anything.

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - 96%
Metacritic - 78
SeanScore™ - 65/100

Box Office - $1.2M Domestic & $1.8M Worldwide Total Gross. No Budget info, but I have to imagine this was fairly low budget and it made a profit, right?

Now THAT is entirely my shit. The series hits its stride in a way that for me, it hadn’t since the original film. The set pieces are maybe smaller but more well thought out, more intricate and most importantly more thrilling. A truly gangbusters time from the Plane ride until the ending with Hunley and Brandt. 2 hours plus but it flies by in such a fun way that you want to start Fallout as soon as it ends. Was thinking of ing on rewatching Fallout this time around as I watched it before seeing Dead Reckoning but now? We watching both, let’s go!!!

Rewatch Thoughts…

- We start to hit peak Cruise performance in these films with this and Fallout. He’s older, more vulnerable but still risky as all hell. It creates a nice mix of circumstances and situations that only this time could. Really dig it. 
- Rebecca Ferguson, do I need to say anything else? My favorite ing player of the entire franchise. The screen lights up in such a magnificent way when she’s there, I love it. All Rebecca Ferguson everything (Silo season 3 plz be better). 
- Alec Baldwin and the shit McQuarrie has him say in this movie is fucking amazing. It’s somehow intriguing AND hilarious. I want more but also feel it’s the perfect amount. 
- The movie where Simon Peggs Benji finally comes into his own. But did I get distracted for a minute? Why isn’t he wearing a mask when he does the 3 locks and the walk?
- Look, he’s not PSH but Sean Harris is to me, the franchises 2nd best villain. Really dig what he does in limited screen time. 
- Not sure how to articulate it but McQuarrie just gets MI in a way that no one since DePalma really has. It just feels right. From the set pieces to the music to the ing cast, it’s firing on all cylinders and very much in my wheelhouse. 
- God what an ending, especially with how it leads into Fallout. Real edge of your seat filmmaking. 
- The opera sequence has to be top 5 of the franchise for me. A perfect merging of music, espionage and action. Stick it in my veins. 
- Genuinely perfect for the franchise opening and end credits. 
- I thought Lorne Balfe did the score here but turns out it’s Joe Kraemer who I’m not super familiar with. Music BANGS. This is my kind of MI score. Glad Balfe took the ball and kept it going. 
- Rogue Nation -> Fallout IMAX doubleheader would be dope. 

Updated SeanScore™️ - 74 -> 80/100

I could do without the Pro-Cig agenda and the over the top hatred of pop music (I get that New Kids and Milli Vanilli are no good, but I've heard this kind of lashing out against pop music before and its lame and predictable), but otherwise this was really good, if a little short. Have always heard about Hicks but never seen a special, I really enjoyed the physical comedy of the special and his timing. Also a very timely bit at the end about Fascism that resonates deeply today.

Didn't realize this was an HBO series, I guess before their Half Hour comedy show they had One Night Stand which is like grittier but very similar in concept. Special felt maybe a little rushed, with like only 24 minutes or so of actual material and thats likely why.

Well, if you ever wanted to watch an 80s satirical comedy about rich racists that doesn't fully land its hits and frequently has you cringing, Carbon Copy is the movie for you! I get what it's going for and sometimes it works, but frequently it falls flat and you feel like you are at a comedy show where the crowd is silent and all you hear is crickets. Thankfully Denzel, George Segal, Paul Winfield and others make it a decent try and worth watching. But ultimately it feels like a bad 80s sketch comedy thats stretched wayyyyy too long, and it's only ~90 minutes!

Some Thoughts...

- Not Denzels best performance but you can clearly see his talent here. The movie comes alive when he's on screen and feels a bit lesser when he's not. The material is at times dubious so there is only so much he can do. Worth a watch to see his first big role? Maybe? Just don't have high expectations.
- Seeing George Segal so young and yet he still feels kinda old is weird. Still, along with Denzel he forms a solid acting core that keeps the movie watchable at times.
- The movie throws a lot at you, especially for its time. Racism, Anti-Semitism etc. but maybe the most shocking thing was opening the film with an extended bit on spousal rape. Was really worried about the movie at that point but thankfully the movie itself calls out the scene right away letting you know exactly what kind of film it's going to be. That was good to see, though it didn't ultimately make the movie that much funnier or better.
- Enjoyed the over the top late 70s feeling credits. But...
- Weirdest Bill Conti score ever. How is this the same guy who did Rocky?
- One of the more obvious plot twists of all time in this one. You can probably figure it out in the first 15 minutes.
- Movie looks incredibly flat, cheap and almost TV-esque. That the budget was $6M and it looked like this is not great.
- Sucks this got cut down from R to PG. I'd bet the R rated version works a little better. You never want to neuter satire and comedy like this.

Can I Recommend? - If questionably done 80s satire about racist rich white folks sounds up your alley go for it! But if you need it done well or if you have no interest in that kind of movie, it's one of the easier skips out there. Should also note that most people will come here due to Denzel more than anything else and while it's interesting to see him so young, he doesn't make a very flawed movie, great.

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - N/A
Metacritic - N/A
SeanScore™ - 40/100

Box Office - $9.5M Worldwide Total Gross. Looks like it was made for dirt cheap, so I have to imagine this made a solid profit.

A mostly enjoyable watch for me which was a surprise considering the amount of disdain I bring towards Filoni projects. Short but effective, compressed but compelling, It's the right use of the format and thankfully doesn't get too weighed down by Filoni's obsessive and endlessly referential style. Not quite as good as Visions which to me is peak SW animation, but still absolutely worth the short watch.

Continuing the trend with 1 heading into 2, part 3 really leans into the zany over the top campy kills and leans away from any kind of character exploration. Thankfully it’s fun tone, wild kills and strong leading performance help you to look past its flaws. There are several memorable set pieces here and some shockingly great directing work for a bit in the middle of the movie. Well worth watching if you enjoyed 1 or 2, though now heading into the 2 movies in the series I haven’t seen, I’m curious as to how they keep it going. 

Some Thoughts...

- Mary Elizabeth Winstead really carries this film performance wise. As the series goes on and on, theres less and less reliance on writing, characters or performing and more reliance on tropes, over the top deaths and familiarity. MEW thankfully breaks out of that performance wise even while being saddled with the "control freak" storyline thats repeated quite often. Can we get her back in interesting projects again, please?
- Ryan Merriman who I vaguely from The Ring Two is the other lead and he's like fine generic counter lead to MEWs Wendy. But characters like his are where you can really see the series start to lean into the familiar and repetition.
- I did love seeing Amanda Crew in this. She was always a highlight on Silicon Valley for me and I think she should be in more stuff. Was happy to discover she was in this.
- Really the only other person of note in this, at least to me, is Tony Todd doing some light voice work. Really thin cast and even thinner characters.
- The first 40-50 minutes of the movie rip pretty hard. The Roller Coaster sequence is maybe not Log Highway great but it's still quite fun, if a little bit choppy visually. But after that we get the Tanning Bed, The Drive Thru and the Weight Room, all comically over the top and an absolute blast to watch. I don't think the last act quite lives up to all that, but it's still pretty watchable.
- Sometime before the halfway point we get 2 of my favorite things in the entire series and they feel pretty otherworldly compared to everything else. There is an awesome split diopter shot with MEW and Amanda Crew that comes out of nowhere and is never replicated again as far as I know in the series. And very close to that we get a god tier transition from Tanning Bed to Coffins. Like did Roger Deakins pop by the set for 2 days or something? They stand out from everything else so much it's kinda odd. But regardless that bit of the movie rips and it's worth watching this for that bit alone.
- Quite a bit of nasty mid 2000s sleaze here, especially in the Amusement Park and Weight Room. Real skeevy stuff.
- Ending is kind of jarring and feels like something was cut? It goes from the Tricentennial Fair to the Subway so fast. Wonder if something tested poorly and they quickly fixed things with reshoots or what not?
- Really paper thin characterization in this one, oh theres Paris and Nicole! Oh theres the MCR fans! Oh, theres the brain dead jocks! It does help keep these movies to 90 minutes but we could have done something different, right?
- Issues aside, the kills are so fun and MEW is so watchable, even with the flaws I still had quite a good time just like I ed having back in the day. These movies are just so effortlessly watchable in a way that many movies are not.
- We have to get a crossover between Final Destination and Saw at some point right? Death putting Jigsaw through some Rube Goldberg traps would be amazing. 
- Feels a little disconnected from 1 and 2, connected in a way that straight to dvd sequels usually are and not big studio theatrical releases. 

Can I Recommend? - Similarly to 2, this one relies a lot more on crazy over the top death rather than anything else, so it's pretty easy to know if this is for you or not. Do you want to see people die in the most complex Rube Goldberg ways of all time? Watch this. But if you didn't like 1 or 2 or if the concept doesn't interest you, it's a pretty easy skip. 

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - 44%
Metacritic - 43
SeanScore™ - 56/100

Box Office - $54.0M Domestic & $118.8M Worldwide Total Gross. A best of series gross at this point and a nice profit on a $25M budget. Looking at the money all these FD movies made, it's a shock the series has been on pause as long as it has, especially considering WBs need for profitable franchises.

Up close eating, puking, pissing, puking and more puking, I think I may have dug a little too deep in my 1981 deep dive. 

But hey, it’s a look at the ups and downs of life, soccer and bodily fluids in early 1980s (in a very early home video footage kind of way). So if that appeals to you…

Prestige streaming slop of the middest degree, G20 is as forgettable as they come. Try as they might, Viola Davis and Anthony Starr cannot manage to make this clearly algorithm informed mediocrity anything more than second screen forgeability. Theres some slick visuals, a few good performances, some soaring score work and some mildly interesting Crypto/Currency discussion but thats really it. Without Davis and Starr its easy to see this being worst of the year type bad as even with them its still not good. The type of movie your Aunt or Dad will tell you they watched last week but hopefully you can catch them before it happens and save them some time.

Some Thoughts...

- Viola Davis as a movie President, very believable! I wish we had gotten more of her being President and not Generic Action Star 101. She has this stately screen presence that is perfect for this and in a better movie would have been really nice to see her carry it.
- Playing off her is Anthony Starr who while even somewhat restrained manages to make currency terrorism kinda scary. I think they could have let him off the leash a little more and had him cook more, but what can you do. Is that his natural accent? I know Kiwis and Australians are obviously not the same, but are the accents THAT different?
- A lot of "Oh, I know that person!" in the ing cast. Obviously Anthony Anderson but also Elizabeth Marvel, Clark Gregg, Angela Sarafyan and Sabrina Impacciatore from The White Lotus season 2 all pop up in varying levels of ing roles. All fine, certainly not memorable characters but they do the work.
- I kind of liked the Cape Town setting and was happy to read they actually filmed there. Overall the movie looks pretty slick. The politicians, tactical teams, terrorists all fit the bill for a mid to big budget action thriller, But...
- The action was incredibly generic. So much point and shoot and repetitive tussling. The only action I will here is multiple missiles being fired at The Beast so that it does a flip over a gate.
- Movie tries to do 2 big fake out deaths back to back in the end. And that really sucks because just prior I was interested to see that multiple world leaders are done away with, something you don't see super often in films due to distribution worries and the like. Really sucked the air out of the ending when it was clear there were no real stakes. I get that we know how something like this going to end before we watch but jeez.
- Mild applause for some epilogue scenes during the end credits. Not the best, but hey, it's some effort.
- Back half really dragged. Felt like they could have cut out the kids plot line and made this a tighter 100 minutes or less but I'm guessing they are there so entire families can watch and the kids can relate?
- I laughed throughout at the ringer the movie puts Ramón Rodríguez's Manny through. Movies can stretch how much damage characters can take and survive but man did this guy last a long time with a critical wound while being bounced around lol.
- Surprised they didn't start with the G7 and work up to the G20.

Can I Recommend? - No, I cannot. Countless other better films about Presidents, action, currency and terrorism, no need to watch this mediocre mix of all 4. You can do better with your time.

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - 58%
Metacritic - 53 (Interesting that the score for both is lower than the critic score. This is the kind of action streaming slop I'd expect audiences to be somewhat favorable to.)
SeanScore™ - 40/100

Box Office - N/A Direct to Prime release. With Amazon getting back into the theatrical swing again with MGM, I wonder what this would have done at the box office? But considering it does not look super cheap and the poor response, It seems for once they made the right bet as this would have been a likely theatrical loser.

Part 2 of my ‘Until the Sith Dawn’ doubleheader. First time seeing RotS in theaters since opening day 2005.

Did I appreciate this more than recent rewatches thanks to seeing it on the big screen and in Laser? Yes, I think so. Did it fundamentally change my opinion? It did not. Still a lot of flaws mixed in with some truly great moments. Especially jarring to watch the dialogue here after watching 3 hours of Andor on Tuesday. Doesn't change my rating, but it did bump up a bit.

Laser Rewatch Thoughts...

- Some of the CGI here looks amazing. The opening sequence? General Grievous, the lightsaber battle on Mustafar etc. look spectacular. 20 years on and my jaw was on the floor. But also...
- The backdrops with people walking and talking look so obviously CGI and bad, it's laughable at times. No idea how the same guy oversaw both. Which brings me to...
- I know others have made this comparison, but the flat CGI backdrops, the questionable dialogue (Especially between Ani & Pe) and the big operatic swings really reminded me a LOT of Megalopolis. Makes sense considering their closeness, but still came up a lot in my thoughts.
- Obviously the contrast in dialogue with Andor is jarring, but on the good side, both have timeless political storytelling that is incredibly vibrant and hard hitting any day but especially today. Love that.
- Noticed on this viewing, it's kind of jarring and fast how quickly Anakin turns on Obi when talking to Pe. Obviously he has Palpatine egging him on but it still stood out, especially with her pushing back. One of many things that the Clone Wars series fills in, but frankly should have been in the film, at least somewhat.
- Wish they had done this in Dolby or at least Prime but it looked great in Laser so I can't complaint too much. 930PM showing was pretty much packed minus the first 2 rows. This might do really good business.

Updated SeanScore™ - 70 -> 74/100

Part 1 of my ‘Until the Sith Dawn’ doubleheader.

Cabin in The Woods x Escape Room x Edge of Tomorrow + a dash of My Bloody Valentine - Not as good as any of those = Until Dawn

A real mixed bag, Until Dawn was not the film I was hoping (A really good Cabin in the Woods dupe) for but was instead a loose combination of a bunch of movies I liked just done kinda blandly? I have never played the game, so I'm sure that lessened the appeal to me, but forgettable characters, weird pacing and a weird sense of "does any of this matter?" really dulled the films overall quality for me even while I liked some things. Some really fun kills, lots of blood/gore and a familiar but fun concept all kept me on the hook, but in the end I don't think I can say it's a total success. Maybe good enough to make me curious about the game, and maybe thats part of the point of the movie?

Some Thoughts...

- Really forgettable characters. Ella Rubin as Clover is the ostensible lead, dealing with the trauma of a missing sister and how she's handled that aftermath. Some pretty standard horror/trauma storytelling here. Rubin isn't bad but I don't think she, like most of the characters here are memorable in any real sense with maybe...
- Odessa A'zion who really felt alive and came off the screen more than the others. Apparently the daughter of Pamela Adlon. Is it just me or is the rate of nepo babies increasing? On the plus side, I genuinely liked what she did here, even if the writing was a little lacking.
- Look, Peter Stormare is a great character actor, but I'm not sure he can carry a horror franchise as a villain. Way too underwritten, though he does try his best.
- Obviously with the concept we have lots of deaths but I came away feeling odd about them. There were several really fun kills, I loved the exploding bodies/parts, A good hack in half, lots of deep stabbings etc. But there did come a point where I was like alright, we've seen a lot of this, where are we actually going. Like they weren't good enough to get me to look past that.
- They really should have varied the killers up more. Way too much generic Strangers types and vague Zombie types.
- Some good weather effects, including a scene with crazy rain and a massive being that I loved. More wild stuff like this would have been good!
- Maybe a tad too long? Felt myself getting antsy in the 3rd act. Should have been a solid 90 minute film and not a 100 minute plus one.
- They introduce a really great bit about filming videos in the back half that I thought worked really well and they should have used in the film more. I literally perked up and sat forward.
- Crazy that the same guy that did 2 Shazam movies did this. At least I liked it better than Gods of Fury.
- A lot of complaints but it's not the worst thing I've seen. It touches on a lot of films that I like and does some of it alright, making it certainly watchable. I was just hoping for better.
- Very curious to see how accurate to them game this is. It doesn't scream video game to me.

Can I Recommend? - Are you into the movies I listed above? Are you a David F Sandberg Stan (Do they exist?) then yes, give it a shot. Everyone else should give the other films a shot first and then go from there. It's not good enough to be your first swipe at the concept.

Movie Stats (As of 4/24/25, Opening Night)

Rotten Tomatoes - 58%
Metacritic - 56
SeanScore™️ - 54/100

Box Office - N/A Opening Night. Fairly empty 730pm showing but only a $15M budget. Maybe it’ll make a profit? Doesn’t look like a hit though.

Mission Impossible Tuesdays are now Andor Tuesdays and thus we now have Mission Impossible Wednesdays. I guess maybe I should have re-watched Draft Day today but oh well.

Yet another step up continuing the recovery of the series, Ghost Protocol improves on III which improved on II. Better set pieces, more fun tech, a big threat etc. It's maybe a step up on III in all but 2 departments: JJ Abrams camera moves and lead villain. Some seriously memorable set pieces, Cruise firing on all cylinders and some true glob trotting help lift this one above the weaker segments and frankly where I thought it was personally. Still, to me, its not a best of the series entry like some like to think but a solid one and I'm glad I revisited it.

Rewatch Thoughts...

- For me, this is where the modern Ethan Hunt really comes into play. His wife being a target is a catalyst of the character but clearly something changed behind the scenes for Cruise himself because he is more locked in than ever before here. I figured that would happen once McQuarrie came in but surprisingly its a movie earlier. Really helps carry the movie for me because...
- Kind of like 2 and 3, the ing team is kind of weak? Benji is good and fun but Jane has like zero characterization beyond being hot and wanting to revenge Hanaway. I like Renner most of the time but man it is so clear what they are trying to do here with him and Cruise and it's not great. Literally nothing beyond younger Ethan Hunt who helps Ethan Hunt. I guess I didn't realize how much I loved Luther and Ilsa as ing players for Ethan.
- I did love that we got to see Luther for a little bit at least.
- Michael Nyqvist is a good actor to get to play someone using Nuclear Weapons but we could have used a little more background and reasoning imo. Also doesn't help that he has to follow up Phillip Seymour Hoffman. 
- Maybe it’s just me but if you have Léa Seydoux as a professional assassin and she’s killing it, I probably wouldn’t sideline her for most of the movie and end her arc the way they did. Maybe it’s just me. 
- Also similar to 2 and 3, the main theme is kind of muted and they play with it a lot. Giacchino can be very good, and some of the music here bangs, no doubt. But man I love what Lorne Balfe does with the main theme and how powerful it is. Miss that in these middle films.
- Some truly amazing set pieces. The Kremlin Hallway sequence and the Burj Khalifa trickery and climb are all timers for the series and truly make this movie memorable.
- Budapest, Dubai, Moscow, Seattle, Mumbai etc. a true globe trotting movie. Not that 1-3 don't move around but this felt like a step up here.
- Also really loved the Car puzzle at the end with Ethan and Cobalt. Felt like an inspiration from video games in the best of ways.
- While I did love the set pieces and locations here, the hand to hand action was kind of blah and forgettable? Each time it happened I couldn't wait for it to be over so we could return to heists and espionage.
- "Mission Accomplished" had me dying. Glad Luther called it out.
- Glad Bird re-set the template visually for the series here. It all looks great minus some slightly dated CGI and feel bigger and more cinematic than 2 and 3. Wonder if he will ever get another shot at something big like this again.
- Ghost Protocol is a great name, maybe the best subtitle of the entire series? The concept is a little bit laughable, especially as we know there are more movies, but still a very dope concept.
- Interesting that it took 5 years for this to drop, but once Rogue Nation hit, we got 4 in 10 years. 
- Russia in this universe is pretty chill. They think we bombed the Kremlin and don’t immediately attack? Can we have 2011 foreign politics back? 

Can I Recommend? - The great thing about the Mission Impossible series is there are multiple entry points that would work for most people. Obviously I'd recommend starting with 1, but I think if you started with 1, 3, 4 or 5 you'd be pretty ok and able to watch though maybe have a few serialized details missing. A lot of fun heists, some solid (though unspectacular) action and great locations make this a fun watch for anyone interested in espionage and action. Not my favorite in the series, but a solid and entertaining option for sure.

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - 94%
Metacritic - 73
Updated SeanScore™ - 70 -> 74/100

Box Office - $209.3M Domestic & $694.7M Worldwide Total Gross. Budget of $145M so a decent theatrical success, though a little over-reliant on International where the studio returns are less.

I am starting to wonder if I’m holding these up to Fallout a little too much and if that’s fair or not. Something to chew on.

While I took more positives away from Wolf Man than I expected, it's still at best a mixed bag and it's very easy to see why many people walked away from it disappointed. Taking slow burn to lethargic new lows, Wolf Man really stops the clock and makes you sit with what it's like to transform into a Wolf Man. On the one hand, thats cool! On the other hand, if we are going spend virtually the entire movie with 3 characters, we should probably know more than the parents are fighting and the Kid really loves her Dad. Thankfully the first 30-40 minutes are pretty tense and there are some interesting transformation effects that make it a somewhat worthwhile viewing. But by the end you unfortunately come away feeling like "Thats it?" and thats never great. 

Some Thoughts…

- Garner and Abbott are genuinely good, the movie just gives them so little to work with. It’s easy to see how much worse this could have been with less competent actors trying to work through virtually nonexistent material. These two kept me somewhat invested and are largely the 2 main positives. 
- Some genuinely good remote atmosphere building. It becomes a little samey after a while but it is no doubt effective for a large swath of the film. 
- Purposefully lethargic pacing can work if you have the right characters, timing and ultimate payoffs but this unfortunately doesn’t have much of any of that to reward your investment in its slow storytelling. Yes, you are placed inside the world of a slow metamorphosis into terror but does the film do much of anything with that? I’m dubious. 
- I did love the playing with perspective, especially with regards to Blake and Ginger. Movie could have used a bit more of it, felt like the rare time that characterization actually paid off. 
- Loved the sound design. Felt really cared for and carefully made. Big plus. 
- The makeup and effects on the transformation were like cool I guess but didn’t really look super Wolf Man to me. I feel like a lot of people are going to expect something else visually. 
- A surprise twist in the middle of the movie felt very predictable and kind of unearned? 
- Ending also fell flat for me. The wide vista shot should be impactful after all that cramped dark time but instead it’s just like, alright, we get it, roll the titles. 
- What was up with the highlighting of certain letters during the end credits?
- And why were the end credits 11 minutes long for a 90 minute movie set in mostly 1 location???
- Not bad enough to sour me on Leigh Whannell but a little surprising this came from him considering Upgrade and Invisible Man. 

Can I Recommend? - Outside of Universal Monsters fans or Julia Garner Stans probably not to be honest. It's an interesting way to tackle the Wolf Man story but it's not fully successful and I think anyone outside of the core targets will have a hard time connecting with it. Add that up to what a total failure the Dark Universe is and I don't think theres much reason for people to go out of their way to see this.

Movie Stats

Rotten Tomatoes - 50%
Metacritic - 50
SeanScore™ - 50/100

Box Office - $20.7M Domestic & $34.1M Worldwide Total Gross. $25M budget so likely ended up making a small profit after PVOD, physical etc. were all taken into . But considering how wide open much of the winter was at the theaters, you can't help but feel that this was a fumble. If it was better I think it could have cleaned up decently.

Noticed this time around that the music is psychedelic as all hell and really got down with that. Couldn’t help but wince at the potential cost of all those eggs too. Tough times in Eggland now a days.

The films of 2025, added as I see them, ranked by how much I liked them.

1. Sinners
2. Mickey 17
3. Companion
4. Black Bag
5. Presence
6. Warfare
7. Thunderbolts*
8. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
9. The Monkey
10. Novocaine

...plus 21 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

The MI franchise ranked as I see it.

1. Mission: Impossible – Fallout
2. Mission: Impossible
3. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
4. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
5. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
6. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
7. Mission: Impossible III
8. Mission: Impossible II

How I see the FD franchise.

1. Final Destination
2. Final Destination Bloodlines
3. Final Destination 2
4. Final Destination 5
5. Final Destination 3
6. The Final Destination

Ranking all of the 2023 films I’ve seen so far.

1. Killers of the Flower Moon
2. Poor Things
3. Past Lives
4. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
5. Oppenheimer
6. Godzilla Minus One
7. May December
8. The Boy and the Heron
9. Anatomy of a Fall
10. John Wick: Chapter 4

...plus 127 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

me as I rank 2024 films as I see them.

1. The Brutalist
2. Anora
3. Dune: Part Two
4. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
5. The Substance
6. Nosferatu
7. I Saw the TV Glow
8. Love Lies Bleeding
9. Longlegs
10. Sing Sing

...plus 129 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Here I shall rank all of the Black Mirror episodes I’ve seen.

1. Black Mirror: San Junipero
2. Black Mirror: Hang the DJ
3. Black Mirror: Nosedive
4. Black Mirror: USS Callister
5. Black Mirror: Fifteen Million Merits
6. Black Mirror: Be Right Back
7. Black Mirror: The Entire History of You
8. Black Mirror: Black Museum
9. Black Mirror: White Christmas
10. Black Mirror: Beyond the Sea

...plus 21 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
2. Avengers: Endgame
3. Black Panther
4. Spider-Man: No Way Home
5. Guardians of the Galaxy
6. Spider-Man: Homecoming
7. Thor: Ragnarok
8. Avengers: Infinity War
9. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
10. Captain America: Civil War

...plus 26 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A ranking of all Alex Garland directed projects, as I see them.

1. Ex Machina
2. Devs
3. Annihilation
4. Civil War
5. Warfare
6. Men

A ranking of all A24 films I have seen thus far.

1. Aftersun
2. Hereditary
3. The Brutalist
4. Lady Bird
5. Past Lives
6. Eighth Grade
7. Moonlight
8. A Ghost Story
9. Midsommar
10. Ex Machina

...plus 60 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

How I see his movies, ranked as I go through the filmography and watch them.

1. sex, lies, and videotape
2. Ocean's Eleven
3. Traffic
4. Presence
5. Kimi
6. Out of Sight
7. Erin Brockovich
8. Contagion
9. Logan Lucky
10. The Limey

...plus 6 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

, not the best, just my personal favorites. List may change 99 times, sorry in advance.

• Possession
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Videodrome
• Blood Simple
• After Hours
• Pretty in Pink
• Broadcast News
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• Metropolitan

...plus 34 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Let’s rank all the Spider-Man and related Sony films.

1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
3. Spider-Man: No Way Home
4. Spider-Man: Homecoming
5. Spider-Man 2
6. Spider-Man: Far From Home
7. The Amazing Spider-Man
8. Spider-Man
9. Spider-Man 3
10. Venom

...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

How I view his films as I see them.

1. Pearl
2. The House of the Devil
3. X
4. MaXXXine
5. The Innkeepers
6. The Sacrament

How I see the films of Bong Joon-ho as I see them.

1. Parasite
2. Snowpiercer
3. Mickey 17
4. Barking Dogs Never Bite

Ranking all of the 2020 feature length films I’ve seen, updating as I see more.

1. I'm Thinking of Ending Things
2. Promising Young Woman
3. Soul
4. Boys State
5. Judas and the Black Messiah
6. Tenet
7. Nomadland
8. Another Round
9. First Cow
10. Palm Springs

...plus 48 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

How I see the films of WWA.

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. The Royal Tenenbaums
3. Asteroid City
4. The French Dispatch
5. Bottle Rocket
6. The Darjeeling Limited

How I see the films of Oz(good) Perkins.

1. Longlegs
2. The Monkey
3. The Blackcoat's Daughter
4. Gretel & Hansel
5. I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House

Welp

1. The Suicide Squad
2. Wonder Woman
3. Zack Snyder's Justice League
4. Man of Steel
5. Blue Beetle
6. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
7. Shazam!
8. The Flash
9. Aquaman
10. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

How I see RLs movies that I've seen.

1. Before Sunrise
2. Before Sunset
3. Dazed and Confused
4. Hit Man
5. Boyhood
6. Everybody Wants Some!!
7. Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood
8. Bernie
9. SubUrbia

Updated as I see more films made during the years 2020-2029.

1. Aftersun
2. TÁR
3. The Brutalist
4. Anora
5. Dune: Part Two
6. The Worst Person in the World
7. Killers of the Flower Moon
8. Licorice Pizza
9. Babylon
10. Poor Things

...plus 6 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Ranking all of the feature length films I’ve seen released in 2022.

1. Aftersun
2. TÁR
3. Babylon
4. Bones and All
5. Everything Everywhere All at Once
6. RRR
7. The Northman
8. Nope
9. The Banshees of Inisherin
10. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

...plus 98 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

How I see the world of Lynchian films updated as I see and rewatch them after his ing.

1. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
2. Mulholland Drive
3. Eraserhead
4. Dune

My personal ranking of Stollers films as I see them.

1. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
2. The Five-Year Engagement
3. Neighbors
4. Bros
5. Get Him to the Greek
6. You're Cordially Invited
7. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
2. Star Trek: First
3. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
4. Star Trek
5. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
6. Star Trek Beyond
7. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
8. Star Trek Into Darkness
9. Star Trek: Generations
10. Star Trek: Nemesis

...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Ranking all of the 2021 films I’ve seen, updated as I see more of them.

1. The Worst Person in the World
2. Licorice Pizza
3. Petite Maman
4. Dune
5. Spencer
6. Drive My Car
7. The Last Duel
8. Red Rocket
9. The Green Knight
10. Titane

...plus 67 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

In honor of the Big Pic doing a partner favorite 25 films of the century thus far, here is my take on it. Movies must have been released from 1/1/00 to now.

1. Interstellar
2. Aftersun
3. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
5. La La Land
6. Dune: Part Two
7. The Tree of Life
8. Mad Max: Fury Road
9. There Will Be Blood
10. Hereditary

...plus 15 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

How I see the films of Robert Eggers.

1. Nosferatu
2. The Northman
3. The Witch
4. The Lighthouse

How I see the Clint filmography, updated as I see more.

1. A Perfect World
2. Mystic River
3. Million Dollar Baby
4. Unforgiven
5. Play Misty for Me
6. Juror #2
7. Sully
8. Cry Macho
9. The 15:17 to Paris

My favorite non 2024 movies that I watched this year for the first time.

1. The Last Waltz
2. Sing Street
3. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
4. Akira
5. Ghostwatch
6. Brooklyn
7. Suspiria
8. Dark Waters
9. Take Shelter
10. Hannah and Her Sisters

Choosing from the already nominated films.

• Inglourious Basterds
• The Social Network
• The Tree of Life
• Zero Dark Thirty
• The Wolf of Wall Street
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• Arrival
• Lady Bird
• The Favourite

...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Ranking the films of Ridley Scott that I have seen so far.

1. Blade Runner
2. Alien
3. Gladiator
4. Prometheus
5. The Last Duel
6. The Martian
7. Kingdom of Heaven
8. American Gangster
9. Alien: Covenant
10. Gladiator II

...plus 9 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

How I see the filmography of Robert Zemeckis, updated as I see more.

1. Back to the Future
3. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
4. Back to the Future Part II
5. Forrest Gump
6. Cast Away
7. Back to the Future Part III
8. A Christmas Carol
9. Pinocchio

12 films I love, and may or may not rank as my favorites of all time. 

Standard asterisk that this would change based on the hour you asked me.

• The Exorcist
• Chinatown
• Barry Lyndon
• Do the Right Thing
• The Silence of the Lambs
• Boogie Nights
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• The Tree of Life
• Interstellar
• Arrival

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

How I see the Freddy movies.

• New Nightmare
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
• A Nightmare on Elm Street
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
• Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
• A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge
• A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child
• Freddy vs. Jason
• A Nightmare on Elm Street

1. WandaVision
2. Loki
3. Moon Knight
4. Ms. Marvel
5. Agatha All Along
6. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
7. Hawkeye
8. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

All the spooky related content I watched in October 2024, as I see them.

1. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
2. Ghostwatch
3. The Invitation
4. Angel
5. It's What's Inside
6. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
7. Terrifier 3
8. Woman of the Hour
9. Smile 2
10. The Strange Thing About the Johnsons

...plus 26 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

How I see the Jason franchise stacking up.

1. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
2. Friday the 13th Part 2
3. Friday the 13th
4. Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
5. Freddy vs. Jason
6. Friday the 13th Part III
7. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
8. Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
9. Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
10. Jason X

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Ranking one of my favorite horror franchises.

1. Scream
2. Scream 4
3. Scream
4. Scream VI
5. Scream 2
6. Scream 3

The movies of Todd Phillips, ranked.

1. Joker
2. The Hangover
3. Old School
4. Road Trip
5. Joker: Folie à Deux
6. School for Scoundrels
7. The Hangover Part II
8. The Hangover Part III
9. Due Date

How I see the films of FFC, as I see them.

1. The Godfather
2. The Godfather Part II
3. Apocalypse Now
4. The Conversation
5. The Outsiders
6. The Rainmaker
7. The Godfather Part III
8. Twixt
9. Rumble Fish
10. Jack

My rankings of Studio Ghibli films as I see them and get caught up with the catalogue.

1. Princess Mononoke
2. Spirited Away
3. Only Yesterday
4. Grave of the Fireflies
5. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
6. My Neighbor Totoro
7. Kiki's Delivery Service
8. The Boy and the Heron
9. Castle in the Sky
10. Howl's Moving Castle

...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

How I see the films of Jason Reitman

• Up in the Air
• Juno
• Young Adult
• Tully
• Thank You for Smoking
• The Front Runner
• Ghostbusters: Afterlife

How I view the Burton films I have seen.

1. Beetlejuice
2. Batman
3. Big Fish
4. Pee-wee's Big Adventure
5. Edward Scissorhands
6. Batman Returns
7. Corpse Bride
8. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
9. Mars Attacks!
10. Big Eyes

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

My personal ranking of all the Alien films.

1. Aliens
2. Alien
3. Prometheus
4. Alien: Covenant
5. Alien: Romulus
6. Alien³
7. Alien Resurrection
8. AVP: Alien vs. Predator
9. Aliens vs Predator: Requiem

How I see the films of M Night Shyamalan as I’ve seen them.

1. The Village
2. Unbreakable
3. Signs
4. The Sixth Sense
5. Trap
6. Split
7. The Visit
8. Knock at the Cabin
9. Lady in the Water
10. Old

...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

My personal rankings of David Fincher’s filmography.

1. The Social Network
2. Zodiac
3. Gone Girl
4. Se7en
5. Fight Club
6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
7. The Killer
8. Panic Room
9. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
10. The Game

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Ranking the filmography of Yorgos Lanthimos as I see them.

1. Poor Things
2. The Favourite
3. Kinds of Kindness
4. The Lobster
5. The Killing of a Sacred Deer
6. Dogtooth

1. Inside Out
2. WALL·E
3. Soul
4. Toy Story 3
5. Up
6. The Incredibles
7. Ratatouille
8. Coco
9. Toy Story
10. Toy Story 4

...plus 12 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

How I see the George Miller films in order of preference.

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
2. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
3. Mad Max 2
4. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
5. Mad Max

My personal LotR rankings.

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
4. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
5. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
6. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies