Steve Stebbing

New Releases:

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse – Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar-winning Spider-Verse saga, an epic adventure that will transport Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man across the Multiverse to join forces with Gwen Stacy and a new team of Spider-People to face off with a villain more powerful than anything they have ever encountered.

Expectations: The anticipation for this follow-up to possibly the most perfect representation of Spider-man ever is off the charts and I can’t wait to immerse myself in this world. The animation itself is so original and breathtakingly gorgeous, the voice casting is absolutely endearing and the attention to character and story is unparalleled. I think we have another flawless epic on the horizon and we get the next piece in about a year, with more anticipation to live with.

The Boogeyman – A psychiatrist, where a man named Lester Billings talks to the doctor about the “murders” of his three young children, describing the events of the past several years. His first two children died mysteriously of apparently unrelated causes (diagnosed as crib death and convulsions, respectively) when left alone in their bedrooms. The only commonalities were that the children cried “Boogeyman!” before being left alone, and the closet door was ajar after discovering their corpses, even though Billings is certain the door was shut.

Expectations: As a big Stephen King fan, the author who really got me reading books avidly, I’m excited to see them tackle this short story, one that I felt was an easy transition to the big screen. It comes from the writing duo of Beck and Woods, mostly known for the A Quiet Place movies but coming from the sci-fi action of 65, and the big studio debut for Rob Savage who found genre popularity with his Shudder streamer Host during the pandemic. The early reviews are pretty solid and while it won’t knock you out of your socks like a film with this title should, they paid attention to character and plot along the way.

Bone Of Crows – The film is told through the eyes of Cree Matriarch Aline Spears as she survives a childhood in Canada’s residential school system to continue her family’s generational fight in the face of systemic starvation, racism, and sexual abuse. She uses her uncanny ability to understand and translate codes into working for a special division of the Canadian Air Force as a Cree code talker in World War II. The story unfolds over 100 years with a cumulative force that propels us into the future.

Review: An incredible and soulful story that is gorgeous in its visual scope and so important in its themes and message. Marie Clements has become such a strong writer and director in just a couple of feature films but this film is the one I feel left the bigger mark. It’s also awesome to see actress Grace Dove getting the lead role, a talent I have been interested in since her small but pivotal role in The Revenant. A film that I missed at the Vancouver International Film Festival, I’m really glad I caught up with it now and I hope more Canadian moviegoers do as well.

Cascade – A teenage girl’s wilderness hike with friends spirals after they stumble upon a crashed drug plane, forcing her to outwit a ruthless gang and face an enemy far worse than drug smugglers.

Review: This is a type of thriller I could really get into, a battle in the wilderness for survival, and one that the larger viewing audience is looking for after the success of Yellowjackets which features teenagers in the vastness of nature. Being a Canadian production, the film has a cast that is more known if you watch a lot of Netflix television, like Sara Waisglass from Ginny & Georgia but Greg Bryk has appeared in a great Cronenberg flick, A History Of Violence, so he gets immediate credibility. The film itself is a solid tense thriller but a little derivative of ones that have come before it.

Blu-Ray:

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – Having spent two long years in a dark and dank prison cell after a botched attempt to get his hands on a magical artifact, lute-playing bard-turned-thief Edgin Darvis decides he has had enough. And as the once respected former member of the noble Harpers and his fierce barbarian companion Holga Kilgore assemble a motley crew of old and new friends, a dangerous mission to reunite with Edgin’s daughter Kira begins. But the busy streets of mythical Neverwinter have eyes–evil sorcerers, powerful necromancers, and legendary creatures of lore now stand in the way. Do Edgin and his misfits have what it takes to complete their quest in the perilous world of Dungeons and Dragons?

Review: Firmly washing the bad taste of the New Line film from the 2000s era, what this iconic role-playing franchise adaptation needed was some levity and great characters and that is delivered in this two-hour thrill ride. The whole cast is fantastic with both Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez doing, in my opinion, the best work in their careers and I really hope this isn’t the last we see of this world on the big screen. If you are still on the fence about this film I implore you to watch at least the first fifteen minutes of the film to knock you into watching the rest. Trust me.

65 – After a catastrophic crash on an unknown planet, pilot Mills (Adam Driver) quickly discovers he’s actually stranded on Earth… 65 million years ago. Now, with only one chance at rescue, Mills and the only other survivor, Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), must make their way across an unknown terrain riddled with dangerous prehistoric creatures in an epic fight to survive.

Review: As a fan of the quintessential 90s sci-fi action films, the debut of A Quiet Place’s writers Beck and Woods behind the camera had me in the palm of their hand from the get-go. A straight-up self-serious actioner putting futuristic weaponry into a battle to survive during the prehistoric era seems like an idea I would have loved to see as a kid and I really enjoyed it as an adult as well. It may be corny and ridiculous but it is also damn entertaining as well.

Assassin – A private military operation led by (Bruce Willis) invents futuristic microchip tech that enables the mind of an agent to inhabit the body of another person to carry out covert, deadly missions. But when an agent (Mustafa Shakir) is killed during a secret mission, his wife (Nomzamo Mbatha) takes his place in an attempt to bring the man responsible to Justice.

Review: I keep saying this every time I get a new one but how many movies did Bruce film before his untimely retirement because I feel like we’ve gotten a dozen since we went public with his diagnosis. Sadly, they all suffer from the same anchors driving them to the depths of the Wal-Mart dollar bins but with this being the final one it really is sad to see him float out on a stinker. Nothing but respect and love for a man who brought so many memorable characters and stories to the big screen though in the end.

A Good Person – Daniel (Morgan Freeman) is brought together with Allison (Florence Pugh), the once thriving young woman with a bright future who was involved in an unimaginable tragedy that took his daughter’s life. As grief-stricken Daniel navigates raising his teenage granddaughter and Allison seeks redemption, they discover that friendship, forgiveness, and hope can flourish in unlikely places.

Review: I feel like the critics were really hard on this new drama from Garden State writer and director Zach Braff, many of them calling the film underwhelming or mediocre. I can’t even fathom this given the fantastic performance from Flo once again but also a great supporting outing from Morgan Freeman as well as a winning script that is full of heart and humanity. It’s times like this when I feel like I differ slightly from the verified reviewers because I really loved this film.

Thelma & Louise – Meek housewife Thelma (Geena Davis) joins her friend Louise (Susan Sarandon), an independent waitress, on a short fishing trip. However, their trip becomes a flight from the law when Louise shoots and kills a man who tries to rape Thelma at a bar. Louise decides to flee to Mexico, and Thelma joins her. On the way, Thelma falls for sexy young thief J.D. (Brad Pitt) and the sympathetic Detective Slocumb (Harvey Keitel) tries to convince the two women to surrender before their fates are sealed.

Review: One thing I love about the Criterion Collection is that every now and then they pull from the big box office pile of movies and release a gem just like this Ridley Scott classic. At the same time, it’s also a great opportunity to recognize a game-changing high-budget studio film that was led by women and written by one as well, something that rarely happened leading up to its 1991 release and still doesn’t happen to an equal degree. Beyond the legacy that this film has left, Geena and Susan still absolutely rule this film, Keitel plays to his type beautifully and that small Brad Pitt scene still contains a Hollywood star brightness of realized potential. This film is an absolute classic.

Transformers: 6-Movie SteelBook Collection 4K – This box set includes TRANSFORMERS, TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN, TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON, TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION, TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT and BUMBLEBEE all in eye-popping 4K Ultra HD. Each film is presented in a separate SteelBook with the feature on 4K Ultra HD Disc plus a Blu-ray Disc™ with legacy bonus content. All six SteelBooks are housed in a striking magnetic slipcase that also includes a collectible decal and access to Digital copies of each film.

Review: Look, I fully concede that the quality level of storytelling in this series is one of diminishing returns but the first three are still watchable in my opinion, the Shia Labeouf years if you will, and Bumblebee is a kick-ass movie that a lot of people slept on and still do to this day. I’m a sucker for steelbooks as well and this is a beautifully constructed one dropped in the red white and blue of the Autobot’s leader, Optimus Prime. For a guy that saw the original animated film in theatres as a kid, this is a true gift for a collector that is more than meets the eye. Yeah, I went there.

Steve’s 4K & Blu-Ray Geekouts:

Flashdance 4K – Alex Owens (Jennifer Beals) is a beautiful young woman who works a day job in a steel mill and dances in a bar at night. When Alex discovers that her handsome boss, Nick Hurley (Michael Nouri), is both interested in her and supportive of her performing career, she renews her efforts to get accepted into a prestigious dance conservatory. Although Alex is frightened of failure, she is cheered on by Nick, as well as by her mentor, former ballet performer Hanna Long (Lilia Skala).

Review: It’s crazy to look at the Rotten Tomatoes meter for this iconic film and see that it was critically panned when it came out with one reviewer saying it “might be considered one of the first signs of Hollywood’s Apocalypse” because I think the Adrian Lyne directed character story has so much charm to it. Beals is fantastic in the lead role and the cinematography from Don Peterman is such a great start to a streak in the 80s that included Splash, Cocoon and Planes, Trains & Automobiles. Plus the 4K makes that infamous dance scene just pop off the screen and the soundtrack is one of the best of the decade.

Superman I-IV 5-Film Collection 4K – It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s the Superman movies as never seen before! Get to know one of the world’s most iconic superheroes now in stunning 4K Ultra HD. Follow the Man of Steel’s big screen debut, directed by Richard Donner and starring Christopher Reeve. Then, witness Superman sacrifice his powers unaware that three Kryptonian villains are to descend on Earth. Welcome Richard Pryor and Annette O’Toole as they join Christopher Reeve in Superman III, before seeing Superman clash with Lex Luthor and Nuclear Man to save the Statue of Liberty, plug a volcanic eruption and rebuild the demolished Great Wall of China in Superman IV.

Review: This is a pretty obvious one that is a welcome addition to my movie collection and a 4K gem, even if the third movie is questionable and the fourth one is downright terrible but this presentation is so glorious that I may just go ahead and watch them more than the inaugural one. The really cool thing is that Warner Bros. has done fans a solid and included both the theatrical version of the second film as well as the Richard Donner director’s cut in separate editions in the set which just means my wife is, unfortunately, going to have to endure the second film twice. I should feel extra bad because of how south it goes afterwards.

Greenberg – Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller), a failed musician now making a living as a carpenter in New York, returns to Los Angeles to house-sit for his brother (Chris Messina). He is stranded there — since he doesn’t drive — until his brother’s assistant, Florence (Greta Gerwig), comes to his rescue. She is as much a lost soul as he is, and as the pair begin spending more time together, they form a significant connection — giving Roger a much-needed reason to be happy.

Review: I adore writer and director Noah Baumbach, one of my favourites who is pretty damn consistent in making films that resonate with me. His work with Ben Stiller has been among my favorite and this one in particular really gets me because he has such great chemistry with co-star Greta Gerwig, who happens to be married to Baumbach. I feel like he isn’t a well-kept secret, but if someone hasn’t checked out this little indie gem, I highly recommend it.

Television:

I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson: Season 3 (Netflix) – Actor Tim Robinson stars in this sketch comedy series — which he also co-created — that sees him trying to get people to go away. In each segment, Robinson and his guests do whatever they can to try to drive someone to the point that they need — or desperately want — to leave. Robinson spent several years as a writer on “Saturday Night Live,” so it’s not a surprise that the show’s roster of guest stars includes a number of SNL alumni. Among them are Andy Samberg, Will Forte, Vanessa Bayer and Cecily Strong.

Expectations: This is one of my most anticipated new seasons of 2023 as the insanity of Tim Robinson’s mind feels completely in line with my own and I find myself quoting and reminiscing about it with my wife almost constantly. There is no great way to describe the show but sketch comedy is an easy sell in my mind and the episodes are only about ten to fifteen minutes long. Yes, this is my sales pitch for this series but I only do it for the love of comedy and the need to spread it to everyone.