Steve Stebbing

Breaking down all things pop culture

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Jul 27

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July 27, 2023

New Releases:

Haunted Mansion – A single mom named Gabbie hires a tour guide, a psychic, a priest and a historian to help exorcise her newly bought mansion after discovering ghosts inhabit it.

Expectations: Disney is taking a second attempt at making one of their storied theme park attractions into a movie following the 2003 Eddie Murphy film that didn’t do what they wanted business-wise. I’m mostly attracted to this film by the director, Dear White People’s Justin Simien, who hasn’t disappointed yet and is now saddled with a definite blockbuster. The cast is also awesome, featuring Sorry To Bother You’s Lakeith Stanfield and some legends in Rosario Dawson, Owen Wilson and, a forever favourite, Danny Devito. Not much chatter about this one but it could be a low-key hit for Disney, a studio that really needs it at the moment.

The Beanie Bubble – Why did the world suddenly treat stuffed animals like gold? Ty Warner was a frustrated toy salesman until his collaboration with three women grew his masterstroke of an idea into the biggest toy craze in history. “The Beanie Bubble” is an inventive story about what and who we value, and the unsung heroes whose names didn’t appear on the heart-shaped tag.

Review: Obviously, being a nineties kid, I knew about the obsession over Ty’s Beanie Babies but I really didn’t know the rabid degrees that the consumers when to in their quest to obtain the discontinued ones nor the story about Ty Warner, the founder of the company, played by an oddly beardless Zach Galifianakis in the film. The film is a solid comedy biopic with great performances and some really beautifully shot sequences. Another studio dump to streaming, this time on AppleTV+, but I think word of mouth will do it well.

Hidden Strike – Two ex-special forces soldiers must escort a group of civilians along Baghdad’s “Highway of Death” to the safety of the Green Zone.

Expectations: This is kind of the best surprise action comedy because it pairs legendary action star Jackie Chan and former WWE superstar and current “that guy’s in everything” star John Cena and, judging from the trailer, it looks like a hell of a lot of fun. I mean, a tanker truck backflip? You’ve got my money for that alone, gentleman. The film is one of those non-Netflix productions, produced by a Chinese company but directed by Need For Speed’s Scott Waugh so the action beats may be the reason to check this out. To be honest, Cena is a big draw for me as the guy improves every time I see him.

Theater Camp – Amos (Ben Platt) and Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon) are lifelong best friends and drama instructors at a rundown camp in upstate New York. When clueless tech-bro Troy (Jimmy Tatro) arrives to run the property (into the ground), Amos, Rebecca-Diane and production manager Glenn (Noah Galvin) band together with the staff and students, staging a masterpiece to keep their beloved summer camp afloat.

Expectations: I want to get behind this new comedy musical but seeing Ben Platt’s face makes me have bad flashbacks to the movie version of Dear Evan Hansen, a truly awful experience. The point where I can hook back in si Molly Gordon, an actress who has currently surfaced on the hit series The Bear but also wrote and directed this film as well as starring alongside Platt. This movie definitely has potential but I’m still a little reserved on it.

Talk To Me – When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and opens the door to the spirit world forcing them to choose who to trust: the dead or the living.

Expectations: This is the dark horse of the week, a horror film from first-time writer and director brothers Danny and Michael Philippou with a story that seems a bit familiar in horror, pushing on the Monkey Paw tale. There are no big actors in this one, just a creepy tale from the glorious studio of A24, the people responsible for distributing some of my favourite films of the past decade. The festival buzz about this creepy movie has been bouncing around the internet since the beginning of the end and the trailer is super effective so I, as a huge horror fan, say “bring it on”. I want a best of 2023 for the genre and this may be it.

Kokomo City – In the wildly entertaining and refreshingly unfiltered documentary, filmmaker D. Smith passes the mic to four Black transgender sex workers in Atlanta and New York City, Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell, and Dominique Silver, who unapologetically break down the walls of their profession. Holding nothing back, the film vibrates with energy, sex, challenge, and hard-earned wisdom.

Review: A deeply personal film, shot in stark black and white, giving the spotlight to four people of a community that is mercilessly and relentlessly under attack by today’s society at its core. The four ladies are so fascinating, just as characters, and came across as so likable and lively that it is so easy to get on their side of the struggle. The film isn’t likely to get a lot of attention but I think it is one of the best docs I’ve seen in 2023.

Blu-Ray:

Book Club: The Next Chapter – The highly anticipated sequel follows our four best friends as they take their book club to Italy for the fun girls’ trip they never had. When things go off the rails and secrets are revealed, their relaxing vacation turns into a once-in-a-lifetime cross-country adventure.

Expectations: After the “what the hell am I watching?” experience of 80 For Brady, I think I need a cooling off period before I jump into another Jane Fonda vehicle, especially this film that had a loathsome first film. I’m very aware that these films are written for a very specific age group but the construction of the first film felt so clunky that no one could elevate it. I do like that cast though as I adore Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen. All of this aside, this movie is definitely digging for that Mother’s Day market this weekend and will surely make some money.

Master Gardener – Deep within the lush grounds of Gracewood Gardens, horticulturist Narvel Roth tends to more than just plants. With a meticulous hand and unwavering devotion, he’s created an idyllic sanctuary for his demanding employer, Mrs. Haverhill. But when troubled great-niece Maya arrives seeking an apprenticeship, Narvel’s perfectly cultivated life begins to unravel, unearthing secrets from a violent past that threatens to destroy everything he holds dear.

Review: Paul Schrader returns with another complex character drama that gives Joel Edgerton a career-best performance in a filmography full of them. Schrader’s gift of getting the audience to care so deeply for conflicted and tortured men is fully on display here again and supporting work from the great Sigourney Weaver and Black Adam actress Quintessa Swindell strengthens it all that much more. Like the usual outcome of the Taxi Driver writer’s films, I doubt it will be spoken about around Oscar time but at this point, it’s one that I’d have at the top of the best actor and original screenplay conversation.

Polite Society – A merry mash-up of sisterly affection, parental disappointment and bold action, Polite Society follows martial artist-in-training Ria Khan who believes she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting the help of her friends, Ria attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood.

Review: A fun rush of martial arts action embedded in the story of two British Pakistani sisters living in Sheperd’s Bush that works for the most part. There start to be some unbelievable cliches and action tropes that feel forced from the teen comedy beats the main artery of the film is trying to pull from which start to dull the edges as you’re watching it. At the end of the film, it lands on being pretty entertaining but forgettable, even if it is a sweet lead role for The Umbrella Academy’s Ritu Arya.

Paint – Owen Wilson portrays Carl Nargle, Vermont’s #1 public television painter who is convinced he has it all: a signature perm, custom van, and fans hanging on his every stroke… until a younger, better artist steals everything (and everyone) Carl loves.

Expectations: There is no doubt at all that Wilson is channelling Bob Ross in this comedy, so this is as close as we will get to a biopic but that sort of wackiness is kind of my wheelhouse so I’m willing to excuse it’s bad review meter online. The film comes from a first-time writer and director in Brit McAdams but the veteran help of Wendi McClendon-Covey, Stephen Root and Michaela Watkins can’t hurt the whole situation and the story just seems so wacky and fun. It’s also great to see Owen explore some character work because I know he’s good at it.

Buddy Games: Spring Awakening – After the death of one of their own, Bobfather and the boys steal the urn and go on a trip to commemorate his life at the place where the Buddy Games began, but everything goes wrong when they find themselves in the middle of spring break.

Review: This is the sequel to the directorial debut of Josh Duhamel, a really personal one that he wrote as well. Although he didn’t write this one, he returns to direct as well as play one of the lead roles in a comedy that pulls on the comedy strings of lesser Adam Sandler films like Grown Ups but it manages to find some charm within it from time to time.

The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is The Blood Of The Baboon Heart – A nationwide manhunt for Hank Venture leads to untold dangers and unexpected revelations. At the same time, an imposing evil from the past reemerges to wreak havoc on the Ventures, The Guild, and even the Monarch’s marriage.

Review: Just over a month after the release of the complete series box set, an absolute beauty, we get an all-new movie to whet our appetites for more Venture Bros. This movie plays to every strength the series had and, if this is the last time that we see the doctor and his sons, it was a really great send-off. I think there are some hints of a continuation within the film but I really don’t want to get any hopes up.

One False Move – After an “LA drugs deal” leads to blood and carnage, the perpetrators end up in a small town in Arkansas where the leader Ray contacts his ex-girlfriend. Two LA Detectives ensue and soon find themselves out of sorts in the sticks. Chief Dale ‘Hurricane’ Dixon sees his chance to impress and get a dream a move to the big city but his Hicksville approach leads to mockery and derision. Keeping important information from the two officers he tries to play clever and capture the criminals himself. ‘Classic’ neo-noir, tough is tough but evil is evil.

Review: I was so excited to get this 4K upgrade of this Bill Paxton-led classic from director Carl Franklin as it was a blind spot in my viewing of the entire filmography of the late actor. To be honest, I hadn’t even heard of it but the Criterion Collection seal of approval is enough for me and now it is one of my favorite new discoveries this year. Fantastic character work and a darkly funny script that always knew where to show up. This is definitely a hidden gem.

Television:

The Witcher: Season 3 Volume 2 (Netflix) – Geralt of Rivia is a witcher, a mutant with special powers who kills monsters for money. The land is in a state of turmoil, due to the empire of Nilfgaard seeking to enlarge its territory. Among the refugees of this struggle is Cirilla, the Princess of Cintra, one of Nilfgaard’s victims. She and Geralt share a destiny. Meanwhile, another figure looms large in Geralt’s adventures: Yennefer, a sorceress.

Review: Weare now at the end for Henry Cavill as Geralt OF Rivia, a role he was destined for and had the reverence and responsibility to play, and I can’t say I’m excited to see a new person do it. All we have left is to savour what we’ve got as I enjoy this series and its lore plus the action scenes are awesome and the progression of the story has been handled very well. I also adore Jaskier, the bard, played brilliantly by Joey Batey. His dialogue is hilarious.

Heels: Season 2 (Crave) – The show is a story about the men and women who chase their dreams in the world of small-town pro wrestling. Set in a close-knit Georgia community, it follows a family-owned wrestling promotion as two brothers and rivals, Jack Spade and Ace Spade, war over their late father’s legacy. In the ring, somebody must play the good guy, and somebody must play their nemesis, the heel. But in the real world, those characters can be hard to live up to — or hard to leave behind.

Expectations: Finally my passion for dramatic television combined with my love for professional wrestling has collided with this series starring Arrow’s Stephen Amell and Vikings star Alexander Ludwig. Season one was really solid and also had the inclusion of real-life former AEW and WWE champion CM Punk and this year sees the inclusion of his wife, AJ Mendez, a former WWE champion herself. The drama is great, the love for the industry is always present and, as a fan, it makes me yearn for more wrestling-related movies and TV shows.

Good Omens: Season 2 (Prime Video) – A naked archangel turns up at the door to renegade angel Aziraphale’s bookshop, with no memory of who he is or how he got there, and Aziraphale and retired demon Crowley’s lives become extremely complicated. Heaven and Hell are both desperate to find the runaway. As Crowley and Aziraphale attempt to fix a human romance, things become increasingly unsafe for them, in the past and the present.

Expectations: Two of the best character actors out of the United Kindom who happen to share brilliant chemistry and connection, Michael Sheen and David Tennant, playing a counterpart of Heaven and hell, all written by Neil Gaiman. Yes, you’ve definitely got a hit here and it’s so cool that we’ve got, not just one season, but now this follow-up, sure to be filled with great dialogue, incredible endo f the world scenarios and hopefully the opening for the third series.

Special Ops: Lioness (Paramount+) – Cruz Manuelos, a rough-around-the-edges but passionate young Marine, is recruited to join the CIA’s Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organization from within. Joe, the station chief of the Lioness program is tasked with training, managing and leading her female undercover operatives.

Review: Pretty soon they’re going to have to rename Paramount+ to Taylor Sheridan+ because the guy has made so much content fr the streaming services and we get another new one this week, led by Zoe Saldana and featuring Morgan Freeman and Nicole Kidman. Episode one is a solid establishing point, giving us an entry point with the new recruit Cruz, played by In The Tall Grass actress Laysla De Oliveira. It is a bit formulaic and corny, suffering a bit from that unpolished nature that plagues all first episodes. I have a feeling it will even out though.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Jul 20

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July 20, 2023

New Releases:

Barbie – To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken.

Expectations: It’s crazy to think that this film is part of the most anticipated one-two-punch screenings of the year but “Barbieheimer” is a real phenomenon and I can’t wait to check out this new film from writer and director Greta Gerwig. This film feels tailor-made for lead actors Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and I can’t wait to see what they do with a story about falling relevancy in the toy world. This might be one of the year’s best here, who knows?

Oppenheimer – The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in developing the atomic bomb.

Expectations: Master filmmaker Christopher Nolan returns with a huge passion project of his and what is surely going to be deemed the front-runner for the Oscars in 2024. The cast is incredibly stacked here, toplined by Cillian Murphy in the title role but also featuring Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt and many, many more and I expect there to be some breakout performances from some of these supporting stars. This is most likely the top film of 2023 but at a daunting runtime of three hours, will audiences make it a box office success or will it get a knockout punch from Barbie?

They Cloned Tyrone – A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio (John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris) onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy in this pulpy mystery caper.

Review: This is the surprise hit of the week, a genre-laced comedy that has a great sense of character and a fantastic scope of cinema. I don’t want to get to any sort of spoiler talk because it’s best to go in cold but I will say that Boyega, Foxx and Parris all deliver career-best performances with each in a cleverly nuanced way and debuting writer and director Juel Taylor nails this film from the opening moments. I hope this one becomes an instant weekend hit for Netflix because this film deserves acclaim.

The Deepest Breath – Descending to remarkable depths below the sea on one single breath, Alessia Zecchini enters what she describes as the last quiet place on Earth. The Italian champion is determined to set a new world record in freediving, a dangerous extreme sport in which competitors attempt to reach the greatest depth without the use of scuba gear. Freedivers are often subject to blackouts upon ascent, necessitating the help of safety divers like Stephen Keenan, a free-spirited Irish adventurer who fell in love with the sport in Dahab, Egypt. Having formed a special bond on the freediving circuit, Alessia and Stephen train together to make an attempt on Dahab’s legendary Blue Hole and its challenging 85-foot-long tunnel 184 feet below the Red Sea, their fates inextricably bound together.

Review: Some of my favourite documentaries are the ones that get an almost physical reaction out of me and this film joins the National Geographic release Free Solo as stories that almost turned me inside out with viewer anxiety. Much like that previously mentioned film about climbing Yosemite without ropes or gear, this one left me in awe, watching Zecchini plummet to beyond fifty feet deep in the beautiful waters of the Blue Hole. The thread of ambition leading to obsession is fascinating as the limits of what these two could do as humans are pushed in the lead-up to these beautifully shot dives. I feel like this is a broad enough documentary to grab a big audience on Netflix and I know people will be talking about it next week.

Blu-Ray & DVD:

Love Again – What if a random text message led to the love of your life? In this romantic comedy, dealing with the loss of her fiancé, Mira Ray sends a series of romantic texts to his old cell phone number…not realizing the number was reassigned to Rob Burns’ new work phone. A journalist, Rob is captivated by the honesty in the beautifully confessional texts. When he’s assigned to write a profile of megastar Celine Dion (playing herself in her first film role), he enlists her help in figuring out how to meet Mira in person…and win her heart.

Expectations: It’s an easy assumption to make to assume that romantic comedy dramas are generally not my thing unless they are really well written, subversive or have cast members that I love and I will say that this movie has none of the above I think. What’s that, Steve? Not going to watch it for Celine? That’s right, it has no appeal for me. I will say that I am enjoying Citadel with Priyanka Chopra-Jonas and I do like her lead in this, Sam Heughan, in his series Outlander but nothing from the trailer has any effect on me.

Little Richard: I Am Everything – The film tells the story of the Black queer origins of rock n’ roll, exploding the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the innovator — the originator — Richard Penniman. Through a wealth of archive and performance that brings us into Richard’s complicated inner world, the film unspools the icon’s life story with all its switchbacks and contradictions. In interviews with family, musicians, and cutting-edge Black and queer scholars, the film reveals how Richard created an art form for ultimate self-expression, yet what he gave to the world he was never able to give to himself. Throughout his life, Richard careened like a shiny cracked pinball between God, sex and rock n’ roll. The world tried to put him in a box, but Richard was an Omni being who contained multitudes — he was unabashedly everything.

Review: Those who know my thoughts or follow this page know that I love a good music documentary and this is a special one because of how widely spread Little Richard’s musical influence was spread but, also, what he himself as a persona meant to the pop culture zeitgeist. Told through one and one interviews with those who were affected by one of the Kings of Rock ‘n’ Roll as well as archived interviews with the man himself and other mega-stars who have since passed, the film gives a pretty in-depth look at an icon who was cool and charismatic on the outside but conflicted from time to time on who he was a sexual being and how that would be received. Another interesting film from the combination of CNN Films and HBO Max.

The Last Of Us: Season 1 – 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed, Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal heartbreaking journey as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

Review: The video game adaptation story has been long and storied as large narrative failures with a few exceptions but this HBO series broke the mold. Featuring fantastic performances from both Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, I think it’s safe to say that this series is an easy candidate for best new series of the year and the anticipation for the second season is at a fever pitch. I don’t have a connection to the games, as I’ve never played them, but this story is so well written, the production level is so high and it feels so fresh and different from any other post-apocalyptic or zombie fare.

Your Honor: Season 2 – Bryan Cranston stars as a New Orleans judge who is forced to confront his own deepest convictions when his son is involved in a hit-and-run that embroils an organized-crime family. As a storm of vengeance, lies and deceit threatens to engulf the entire city, Michael Desiato faces a series of increasingly impossible choices and discovers just how far an honest man will go to save his son’s life.

Review: It came and it went quickly with just two seasons but Bryan Cranston’s return to television gave us an intense twenty episodes filled with unpredictable tension and another fiery performance from character actor Michael Stuhlbarg. The series comes from UK writer and creator Peter Moffat who finally got a solid hit in America after a few cancelled shows and he and Cranston created something pretty memorable here. I don’t know how popular this show was during its run but it definitely deserves some views.

Steve’s 4K Geekout:

National Lampoon’s Vacation 4K – The Griswold family–father Clark W., wife Ellen, daughter Audrey, and son Rusty–set out in high spirits to spend their vacation driving cross-country from Chicago to the glorious Walley World on the West Coast. The trip Clark planned down to the minute slowly loses its smoothness from the moment the first grain of sand gets in. A meeting with constantly-in-debt, simple-minded cousin Eddie results in the Griswold family giving cantankerous Aunt Edna a lift to Phoenix. Of course, the Griswolds receive one strike of bad luck after another. But Clark promised his beloved family the best vacation ever.

Review: One of the most iconic if not THE iconic vacation movie, this film doesn’t lose its lustre at all as being one of the funniest Odyssey comedies ever made, with fantastic directing from Harold Ramis and a great script from one of the greatest of all time, John Hughes. Chevy Chase stars in the most memorable role of his career, the driven and determined Clark Griswold, and everyone plays so brilliantly off of his lead, most notably Beverly D’Angelo who is a lifetime favourite from these films. It was a true pleasure to revisit this film at the higher level of 4K.

Television:

The Bear: Season 2 (Disney+) – Carmen Berzatto, a brilliant young chef from the fine-dining world is forced to return home to run his family sandwich shop – the Original Beef of Chicagoland – after a heartbreaking death in his family. A world away from what he’s used to, Carmy must balance the soul-crushing reality of trading in Michelin-star restaurants for the small business’ kitchen filled with strong-willed and recalcitrant staff and his strained familial relationships, all while grappling with the impact of his brother’s suicide.

Expectations: This is without a question the best show on television right now and the series I have been looking forward to most so a lot is riding on it’s sophomore season. Jeremy Alan White is so gifted on screen but the whole ensemble that rounds out the crew in the restaurant, like Ayo Edibri and Eban Moss Bacharach, make each episode so gripping due to a fantastic writing team as well. Everybody was talking about the first season and I expect that to resume this week. Heck, it may go down as one of the best network shows of all time in my eyes.

Minx: Season 2 (Crave) – In 1970s Los Angeles, an earnest young feminist joins forces with a low-rent publisher to create the first erotic magazine for women.

Expectations: This is a low-key hit from HBO that o one is seemingly taking notes of and it won’t be appreciated until it’s gone. Starring the incredibly likeable Jake Johnson from New Girl and British actress Olivia Lovlibond, the chemistry and scriptwriting for the two actors is so damn good and drives the series in such a good way. I also like that it can be a good recommendation for anyone who enjoyed the Maggie Gyllenhal and James Franco series The Deuce but it also has a great feminist angle and energy to it that I really enjoy.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Jul 13

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July 13, 2023

New Releases:

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One – Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan’s past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission — not even the lives of those he cares about most.

Expectations: Shoot for the sky in your excitement for this film because Tom Cruise and this entire franchise have done nothing but dazzle us with phenomenal action, intriguing stories and a fast-paced ride that thrills at every turn in the whole lead-up to this point and from the advance reviews, including some from friends of mine, this might be the best one yet. I’m an easy mark for these movies but Tom Cruise’s uber enthusiasm and love for cinema translates to the big screen and always guarantees a satisfying movie experience. This one is going to be massive.

Blu-Ray:

Scream VI – Following the latest Ghostface killings, the four survivors leave Woodsboro behind and start a fresh chapter.

Review: So quickly after the Radio Silence team brought back this franchise in the first film not directed by creator Wes Craven, we get this new installment featuring our new core four of players while omitting one of the legacy characters, Neve Campbell’s Sydney Prescott, and bringing one back into the fold with a personal favourite, Hayden Panitierre’s Kirby Reed. The film is bigger and badder with Ghostface slashing up the Big Apple this time around and I’m game for even more if there is any left in the tanks. It also has an opening scene that vies for a series’ best award, simply brilliant and kind of game-changing.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret – For over fifty years, Judy Blume’s classic and groundbreaking novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. has impacted generations with its timeless coming-of-age story, insightful humour, and candid exploration of life’s biggest questions. In Lionsgate’s big-screen adaptation, 11-year-old Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) is uprooted from her life in New York City for the suburbs of New Jersey, going through the messy and tumultuous throes of puberty with new friends in a new school. She relies on her mother, Barbara (Rachel McAdams), who is also struggling to adjust to life outside the big city, and her adoring grandmother, Sylvia (Kathy Bates), who isn’t happy they moved away and likes to remind them every chance she gets.

Review: I can’t believe it has taken this long for a literary classic like this to get a film adaptation but I will say that they put it in the perfect hands with Edge Of Seventeen filmmaker Kelly Fremon Craig. With brilliant performances from young actress Fortson and Canadian actress McAdams, this film soars on heart and soul while being unflinching to its central issues. Margaret’s story is every girl’s story of self-discovery, no matter the time period, and its reliability is what makes the film soar. I know this because my wife told me.

Renfield – R.M. Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) decides to leave his centuries-long line of work as a henchman and familiar to Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage) and finds a new lease on life in modern-day New Orleans when he falls in love with a feisty but perennially aggressive traffic cop named Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina).

Review: A lot of people were turned off by this colourful and bloody little horror comedy offering and, yes, it is a bit of a mess in its narrative but there is one key thing that makes this can’t miss, Nicolas Cage’s Dracula. He relishes every moment in the iconic role and is clearly having the time of his life, which translates well to the audience. This film isn’t going to blow you away to any degree but I contend that it is a fun watch at least.

Sisu – During the last desperate days of WWII, a solitary prospector (Jorma Tommila) crosses paths with Nazis on a scorched-earth retreat in northern Finland. When the Nazis steal his gold, they quickly discover they have just tangled with no ordinary miner. While there is no direct translation for the Finnish word “sisu”, this legendary ex-commando will embody what sisu means: a white-knuckled form of courage and unimaginable determination in the face of overwhelming odds. And no matter what the Nazis throw at him, the one-man death squad will go to outrageous lengths to get his gold back — even if it means killing every last Nazi in his path.

Review: This is a crazy one-man army epic that has nods to the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone starring Clint Eastwood while also forging its own path littered with blood, guts and bone. A silent figure up until the very end, Tommila’s main character becomes bigger than life like an 80s Stallone or Schwarzenegger character and I was here for every second of him dispatching Nazi soldiers. If you love a good action flick and are looking for something John Wich adjacent, this is the film for you.

Beau Is Afraid – With his mother’s gloomy spectre looming over his entire life, grizzled outcast Beau has never made sense of his miserable existence. And perpetually baffled by reality and his conflicting urgent needs, the neurotic New Yorker gets a hearty slice of crippling anxiety and sheer paranoia when he sets foot in a strangely familiar war zone: his neighbourhood. But as the pill-popping hermit reluctantly embarks on a Sisyphean quest for answers, determined to reunite with his estranged mum at all costs, Beau must summon every last ounce of courage to confront everything that has kept him in the dark. To have a fighting chance of deciphering the sinister secrets that continue to rule his life, Beau must grapple with deep-seated phobias, deal with heavy guilt, and face the menacing parent. Because, in his case, love was a fiendish trap–the labyrinthine depths of maternal affection were only the means to an end. Now, the drugs don’t work, and Beau is afraid. As the universe conspires against his conquest and the end draws near, will Beau be able to fight his inner demons for a change?

Review: I had been waiting for writer and director Ari Aster’s new film, being a huge fan of Hereditary and Midsommar but I was certainly not even a little bit prepared for this film and I don’t think anyone was. This is definitely for a niche audience who love to see things that are widely left than center so, with that in mind, you know I absolutely loved it. Joaquin Phoenix is brilliant in his loser character’s odyssey into his own fears of every degree and, if this wasn’t such a wild arthouse swing, he might be praised for it more. I think it’s one of my favorites this year and I will definitely be watching it again but is a hefty sit at three hours long.

Steve’s Blu-Ray Geek Outs:

King Solomon’s Mines – Allan Quartermain leads an expedition into uncharted African territory in an effort to locate Elizabeth Curtis’ husband Henry, who was searching for King Solomon’s legendary treasure. Along the way they encounter a variety of wild animals including snakes, a leopard and a rhino. Quartermain isn’t keen on having a woman on the expedition and he and Elizabeth quarrel regularly. Elizabeth and her husband were not very fond of one another and her journey is driven by her own guilt. She and Quatermain fall in love but survival becomes their goal when they meet dangerous tribesmen.

Review: A marvel of its time in 1951, this film had a lot of technical acclaim behind it and won two Oscars, for cinematography and editing, but also got the nod for Best Picture as well, losing to All About Eve, which is understandable. The adventure film was a box office smash and was progressive enough to be the first time the Watusi tribe allowed themselves to be filmed and gave an in-depth look at indigenous culture, employing existing villages and locally recruited extras. The film was also to blame for the affair between stars Deborah Kerr and Stewart Granger who were both married at the time.

Queen Christina – Queen Christina of Sweden ascended to the throne at the age of six and as an adult has proven to be a wise and just ruler. There is much speculation about who she will marry – and produce an heir – but she is not interested in any of the possibilities mentioned, including Prince Charles. She does fall in love with the Spanish ambassador, Antonio, but marriage is out of the question given that he is a Roman Catholic. Some around her, such as Count Magnus, demand that she send him away and the mob rises openly against him. She insists that she has the right to be happy and is forced to choose between love and her duties as queen. Hers is not a happy future, however.

Review: A story about Swedish royalty, made in 1933, this is definitely a project to show off the legendary beauty of lead actress Greta Garbo. She was the driving force of the production as well as she had a big say in the casting of her co-star, somebody that almost was Sir Laurence Olivier before it was discovered that they shared zero chemistry. The film is also interesting as it has been said that the real Queen was a known lesbian which makes this an early entry into queer cinema I think.

One Ranger – British Intelligence meets Texas Justice in this white-knuckle action-thriller. A gunslinging Texas ranger (Thomas Jane) tracks a bank robber (Dean Jagger) across the desert — only to discover he’s an international terrorist set on detonating a bomb in the heart of London. When the lawman’s partner is killed, he is drawn into partnership with a British intelligence agent (Dominique Tipper) and her boss (John Malkovich) to bring the outlaw to justice — dead or alive.

Review: Being a direct to video release, the hopes that this will be fantastic are pretty low but it has the genre grit of Thomas Jane being the lead actor, someone I enjoy a lot. It also is the continued questionable film choices of John Malkovich who seems to do these films more than theatrical releases these days. The film was done by writer and director Jesse V. Johnson and I was hoping for more of a cohesive story like Hell Hath No Fury was but this one, with the convoluted storytelling, is a bit of a mess. Although, it was an entertaining one.

Television:

Quarterback (Netflix) – Following NFL quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota on and off the field from the beginning of the 2022 season to its conclusion.

Review: I would consider myself a sports guy for sure but football has always been a bit of a hard sell for me as I find myself bored with what I’m seeing time to time. That said, I found myself really intrigued by this series and especially the in-game pieces with the quarterbacks all mic’ed up. Hearing the players talk on the field, the trash talk and the moments of self-doubt leading, sometimes, to elation, is a really interesting aspect of the game to focus on. I hope this goes beyond one season because it is a really great concept.

What We Do In The Shadows: Season 5 (Disney+) – Based on the feature film of the same name from Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, “What We Do in the Shadows” is a documentary-style look into the daily (or rather, nightly) lives of four vampires who’ve “lived” together for hundreds of years in Staten Island. The self-appointed leader of the group is Nandor the Relentless, a great warrior and conqueror from the Ottoman Empire. Then there’s the British vampire Laszlo — a bit of a rogue and a dandy and a fop, he might say. He’s a lover of mischief and a great soirée, but not as much as he loves seeing Nandor fail miserably in every attempt. And then there’s Nadja: the seductress, the temptress, the vampiric Bonnie to Laszlo’s Clyde. Also cohabiting in the vampire household is Guillermo, Nandor’s familiar; and Colin Robinson, an energy vampire and day-walker of sorts — he feasts on humans, but not on their blood.

Expectations: Easily one of the funniest shows on television, the Staten Island crew is back for more late-night hijinx and this time Kristen Schaal is part of the main cast and I couldn’t be happier. As a big fan of the original film from Taika Waititi, this series can do no wrong and Matt Berry is a comedic gem but I also now have a deep love for the entire cast, most of whom I had never seen before. This is definitely one of the most quoted shows in my household and for good reason.

Foundation: Season 2 (AppleTV+) – Far in the future, The Empire is about to face a reckoning unlike anything else it’s faced before: several millennia of chaos have been predicted by the galaxy’s leading psycho-historian, Hari Seldon. But can The Empire offset the disaster before it begins?

Expectations: I remember when AppleTV+ released the first season of this series, I knew it looked cool and I knew about the source material by famed Science fiction writer and real scientist Isaac Asimov but had kind of forgotten about it. In my prep for my blog this week, I decided to finally start my journey and I’m so sad that I’m just realizing its brilliance now. Well cast, incredibly shot and intriguing from the first moments, this finally feels like my sci-fi replacement for shows like Battlestar Galactica and The Expanse. There is a braininess to the storytelling that hooks me in and makes me wildly wonder what’s next because it is so unpredictable. All in all, I’m not caught up yet but feverishly making my way to season two.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Jul 6

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July 6, 2023

New Releases:

Insidious: The Red Door – The horror franchise’s original cast returns for the final chapter of the Lambert family’s terrifying saga. To put their demons to rest once and for all, Josh (Patrick Wilson) and a college-aged Dalton (Ty Simpkins) must go deeper into The Further than ever before, facing their family’s dark past and a host of new and more horrifying terrors that lurk behind the red door.

Expectations: The finale of a chilling and jump-scare-filled series arrives and lead actor Patrick Wilson steps behind the camera in his debut as a director to shepherd the end to the screen. This film definitely has its built-in audience so I don’t see it grabbing any new fans. I will also say that the first two films, directed by creator James Wan, are the best in the bunch so I don’t see this one outdoing it at all.

Joy Ride – The hilarious and unapologetically explicit story of identity and self-discovery centers on four unlikely friends who embark on a once-in-a-lifetime international adventure. When Audrey’s (Ashley Park) business trip to Asia goes sideways, she enlists the aid of Lolo (Sherry Cola), her irreverent, childhood best friend who also happens to be a hot mess; Kat (Stephanie Hsu), her college friend turned Chinese soap star; and Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), Lolo’s eccentric cousin. Their no-holds-barred, epic experience becomes a journey of bonding, friendship, belonging, and wild debauchery that reveals the universal truth of what it means to know and love who you are.

Expectations: Every trailer I see for this movie makes me more and more intrigued to check this movie out because it looks absolutely hysterical and a film destined to get the same praise as Bridesmaids or The Hangover. Stephanie Tsu is a future star, without a doubt, already having earned an Oscar nomination but I really think that the rest of the cast will get some love as well, especially Sherry Cola who also has the comedy Shortcomings releasing soon, the directorial debut of Randall Park. I must recommend that people check out the red band trailer for the film and you too will be on the road to seeing Joy Ride just like I am.

The Out-Laws -Owen Browning (Adam Devine) is a straight-laced bank manager about to marry the love of his life, Parker (Nina Dobrev). When his bank is held up by the infamous Ghost Bandits during his wedding week, he believes his future in-laws (Pierce Brosnan, Ellen Barkin) who just arrived in town, are the infamous outlaws.

Review: The new collaboration between Netflix releasing and Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison production company, luckily this pretty dim action comedy doesn’t feature Adam or his merry band of friends but instead extends it to Workaholic’s Adam Devine. which definitely includes a small part for Blake Anderson. The is pretty dumb, as I’v said, but it has sparks of really great comedy in it that had me laughing, so I definitely won’t call the film a waste of time. There is a Pierce Brosnan joke in it that absolutely delighted me so I have to give the film a little love.

July Talk: Love Lives Here – A natural project for a band that has built a compelling and artful visual world alongside their award-winning, chart-topping catalogue, July Talk: Love Lives Here asks a fundamental question: What is essential in a time of upheaval? Farhat documented the months of panic and epiphany in the leadup to July Talk’s lauded Drive-In Shows of 2020, and with the help of unreleased archival footage spanning a decade, follows the thoughtful group of artists to a crossroads of identity and circumstance. July Talk: Love Lives Here balances the raw spontaneity of July Talk’s live performances with the intimacy of closed-circuit interactions – phone conversations and backstage moments that go unseen by fans – against a backdrop of ten years of band history.

Review: I love a music documentary and the post-pandemic landscape of live performances has definitely been an area of interest and that’s exactly where this story resides with a very gifted and entertaining Canadian band. With the uncertainty of live venues looming, their idea of doing an all-inclusive drive-in show in Ontario is so fascinating and the way it is pulled off is really cool. It’s also neat to see the creative processes of July Talk, an energetic and lively bunch that definitely rotates on their own access. This is a cool doc full of great Canadiana.

Blu-Ray:

The Truman Show 4K – Truman Burbank is an ordinary man, living in an average town. He grew up to be a desk clerk for an insurance company, living an ordinary life, having an ordinary wife, an ordinary neighbour and an ordinary bud, who pops in from time to time with a six-pack. But Truman is not happy with his life. He wants to see the world. He wants to get away from his happy-happy, ever-tidy, nice ‘n’ shiny little island town at the seaside. In reality, Truman was an unwanted pregnancy. His “father”, Christof, a reckless TV-Producer whom he had never met, made up the Truman Show – the greatest show on earth – a show in which life is lived. So, everyone around poor Truman is an actor with a little headphone in the ear. One day, Truman accidentally bumps into a catering area backstage and gets pretty suspicious. His plan now is: Pretend to be sleeping and steal away…

Review: This is probably Jim Carrey’s best performance, along with his portrayal of Andy Kaufman in Man On The Moon, and it comes from legendary Australian director Peter Weir, the man behind Walkabout and Picnic At Hanging Rock to name a few. Now in 4K, I think with today’s reality show clime it is the perfect time to revisit a film that seems to capture so much of the reality versus false backdrop so brilliantly. The originality of this story is also so well done. 

Steve’s Blu-Ray Geek Outs:

The Boy With Green Hair – In a police station, a child psychologist uses his ability to interview a runaway boy with hair completely cut-off that is reluctant to speak. The boy tells that his name is Peter Fry and his parents had travelled to London and have not returned yet; meanwhile, he is living with Gramp Fry, after being lodged in the houses of many relatives for short periods. He gets along with Gramp, the locals, his schoolmates and his teacher; however, when he discovers that he is an orphan of war, his hair turns green the next morning and Peter is rejected by his community.

Review: This one is cool as a David Lynch fan as Blue Velvet star Dean Stockwell features in the title role as a child actor in a film that got both director Joseph Losey and screenwriter Ben Barzman blacklisted shortly after the McCarthyism era. Funny enough, in another Twin Peaks connection, this was the feature film debut of Russ Tamblyn who would go on to play Dr. Lawrence Jacoby in the legendary series so Lynch must have been a young fan of this film as well. The film was also featured recently in the Fran Lebovitz Netflix documentary “Pretend It’s a City” which was done by Martin Scorcese.

The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father – Realizing that he needs a mother — and his widower father, Tom (Glenn Ford), requires a wife — precocious Eddie Corbett (Ron Howard) is determined to get his dad remarried. While Tom dates numerous women, including the uptight aristocrat Rita Behrens (Dina Merrill), nobody seems to be a good fit for Eddie or his father. Soon it becomes apparent that Tom’s ideal match may be closer than he thought, as he develops feelings for his lovely neighbour, Elizabeth Marten (Shirley Jones).

Review: Featuring a very young Ron Howard and a younger Ms. Partridge with the lovely Shirly Jones, this film was widely loved as a sweetheart crowd-pleaser and still pretty much plays that way today. One of the many hits of Oscar-winning filmmaker Vincente Minnelli, the film is a big inspiration for the widely beloved nineties from com Sleepless In Seattle, which features many of the same tropes. Sadly, when Minnelli’s many cinematic accomplishments are listed, this film is rarely mentioned.

Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear – Ranger Smith, tired of Yogi’s picnic basket stealing, has he and Boo-Boo shipped off to the San Diego Zoo. Yogi escapes being sent away, unknown to Yogi’s girlfriend Cindy, who goes looking for him and is kidnapped by a circus owner. Yogi and Boo-Boo are forced to sneak out of the park and travel across the country to save Cindy and bring her back home.

Review: If you ever thought that the live-action hybrid movie with Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake was the debut of Yogi Bear on the big screen, well, this Warner Archive release is here to prove you wrong. The film was the first theatrical feature from Hanna-Barbera Productions and the first animated film based on a TV series. It would also feature a snickering dog named Mugger, belonging to the Chizzling Brothers, who would eventually be developed into the character Muttley for the widely popular animated series Wacky Races. As a Saturday morning cartoon veteran, I had an appreciation of this film that not many under my generation do.

Television:

The Lincoln Lawyer: Season 2 Part 1 (Netflix) – Mickey Haller, an iconoclastic idealist, runs his law practice out of the back seat of his Lincoln, as he takes on cases big and small across the expansive city of Los Angeles. Sidelined after an accident for almost a year, Haller is back in the courtroom, recovering from a drug habit. When Hollywood lawyer Jerry Vincent is murdered, Haller inherits his practice, including the defence of Trevor Elliott, a tech billionaire accused of murdering his wife and her lover. But as Haller prepares for the case that could launch him into the big time, he learns that Vincent’s killer may be coming for him next.

Review: The film that predates this series, starring Matthew McConaughey and directed by Brad Fuhrman, was a decent enough movie, a well-told drama mystery with a solid cast around the lead including Marisa Tomei, John Leguizamo and Bryan Cranston. That said, I never once thought I needed a series continuation but this show won me over in its first season. The cast is again where it excels with The Magnificent Seven remake’s Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and, a personal favourite, Canadian actress Neve Campbell but the added charm is with Ugly Betty’s Becky Newton who I absolutely adore. This is a solid little law series and, with part one of two hitting this week, I assume this is the beginning of the end of it.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Jun 29

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June 29, 2023

New Releases:

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny – Experience the return of legendary hero, Indiana Jones, in the fifth installment of this beloved swashbuckling series of films. Finding himself in a new era, approaching retirement, Indy wrestles with fitting into a world that seems to have outgrown him. But as the tentacles of an all-too-familiar evil return in the form of an old rival, Indy must don his hat and pick up his whip once more to make sure an ancient and powerful artifact doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Expectations: Fifteen years after the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, Harrison is back for a real send-off to one of his all-time greatest characters and it is under the eye of director James Mangold who hasn’t had a theatrical stumble yet. I can’t lie, the de-aged Indy stuff gets me excited as it looks so well done and there’s a quality to these movies that makes me feel like a kid again. I’m so excited for this one and I know I’m not the only one.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken – Sixteen-year-old Ruby Gillman learns she is in the next legendary line of sea Kraken. Despite her lofty destiny, she is desperate to fit in at Oceanside High. Ruby struggles, even more, to fit in when her mother forbids her from going to the beach. After disobeying her mother’s rules, she discovers that she is descended from the warrior Kraken queens and will ascend to the throne as the Warrior Queen of the Seven Seas, her grandmother. The Krakens are a race sworn to protect the world’s oceans from the vain, power-hungry mermaids by battling with eons. Ruby would need to embrace Chelsea, a mermaid-turned-human who enrolls at Oceanside High School.

Expectations: It looks like Dreamworks is trying to launch a new franchise here and the animation looks fun and colourful which has my kid excited about it. The humour for adults will be present here as well as it comes from writer and director Kirk DeMicco, the mind behind The Croods movies and I contest that those films are hilarious. Featuring the voices of Lana Condor, Jane Fonda, Toni Collette and Will Forte, this movie has the potential to grab a good audience, especially after Disney and Pixar fizzled with Elemental.

Nimona – When Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed), a knight in a futuristic medieval world, is framed for a crime he didn’t commit, the only one who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz), a mischievous teen with a taste for mayhem – who also happens to be a shapeshifting creature Ballister has been trained to destroy. But with the entire kingdom out to get him, Nimona’s the best (or technically the only) sidekick Ballister can hope for. And as the lines between heroes, villains, and monsters start to blur, the two of them set out to wreak serious havoc – for Ballister to clear his name once and for all, and for Nimona to…just wreak serious havoc.

Review: Another big studio animated film dumped onto Netflix and, once again, just like The Sea Beast and The Mitchells Vs. The Machines, it is absolutely fantastic. Great chemistry between Ahmed and Moretz in the lead roles, a queer-coded storyline that is sweet and original and eye-popping animation from the guy behind the Will Smith animated flick Spies In Disguise. I had no idea what to expect from this film but it got me chuckling early then I buckled in for the full ride. This is a real hit here.

Blu-Ray:

Evil Dead Rise – In the fifth Evil Dead film, a road-weary Beth pays an overdue visit to her older sister Ellie, who is raising three kids alone in a cramped L.A. apartment. The sisters’ reunion is cut short by the discovery of a mysterious book deep in the bowels of Ellie’s building, giving rise to flesh-possessing demons, and thrusting Beth into a primal battle for survival as she is faced with the most nightmarish version of motherhood imaginable.

Review: With a Twitter handle like Stevil Dead, it is no surprise that these movies are the tops of the genre for me and I love them deeply. That said, none of the films have disappointed me and this film is no different. Director Lee Cronin has gifted us with a glorious and gory entry that keeps you on the edge of your seats and gets in your ear with an incredible sound design that is award-worthy. I also contend that this film has possibly the greatest title card in film history, one of my all-time favourites now.

Television:

Hijack (AppleTV+) – A tense thriller (told in real-time) that follows the journey of a hijacked plane as it makes its way to London over a seven-hour flight, while authorities on the ground scramble for answers. Sam Nelson (Elba) is an accomplished negotiator in the business world, who needs to step up and use all his guile to try and save the lives of the passengers — but, his high-risk strategy could be his undoing.

Review: There’s something weird about the catalogue of shows on AppleTV+ and it is the distinct knowledge that most of the shows were rejected from other networks and streaming services and this one in particular feels very much like a BBC co-productio. This is not necessarily a bad thing because BBC and star Idris Elba combined talents for the fantastic series Luther and anything he does just oozes his charisma so if you are a fan of his, then you have to check this one out. Beyond that, the show doesn’t feel particularly special and maybe a bit formulaic with the big grand arching problem and the potential genius played by Elba to fix it. It feels entertaining on a surface level and the pilot plays out well but can the interest be sustained?

The Witcher: Season 3 Volume 1 (Netflix) – Geralt of Rivia is a witcher, a mutant with special powers who kills monsters for money. The land is in a state of turmoil, due to the empire of Nilfgaard seeking to enlarge its territory. Among the refugees of this struggle is Cirilla, the Princess of Cintra, one of Nilfgaard’s victims. She and Geralt share a destiny. Meanwhile, another figure looms large in Geralt’s adventures: Yennefer, a sorceress.

Review: We now reach the beginning of the end for Henry Cavill as our title character, which is so unfortunate as now the plum role of Superman has also been taken from him since that announcement was made. I guess I’ll savour what I’ve got as I enjoy this series and its lore plus the action scenes are awesome and the progression of the story has been handled very well. I also adore Jaskier, the bard, played brilliantly by Joey Batey. His dialogue is hilarious.

Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Season 4 (Prime Video) – When CIA analyst Jack Ryan stumbles upon a suspicious series of bank transfers his search for answers pulls him from the safety of his desk job and catapults him into a deadly game of cat and mouse throughout Europe and the Middle East, with a rising terrorist figurehead preparing for a massive attack against the US and her allies.

Expectations: John Krasinski has done a phenomenal job with this character and given Harrison Ford a run for the best to have played him at this point and it is with that going out on top feeling that he and the creators of this series have decided to bring it to a close with this final group of episodes. Always well told and believable, I think Tom Clancy himself would be proud of what they’ve done with the character and the modernization of the world he faces. It also makes me wonder if we may see some limited movies in the future within this world.

Warrior: Season 3 (Crave) – A crime drama that takes place in the latter half of the 19th century during brutal gang wars in San Francisco’s Chinatown, it follows martial arts prodigy Ah Sahm, a Chinese immigrant who arrives in the City of Lights under mysterious circumstances. Once he proves his prowess as a fighter, Sahm becomes a hitman for one of Chinatown’s most powerful organized crime families. As he is mentored by the son of the crime family’s leader, learning the ins and outs of gang warfare, Al Sahm wins the confidence of brothel madam Ah Toy, eventually revealing to her his true intentions.

Expectations: This is a series that is definitely rough around the edges but the action scenes consistently elevate it and set it apart from other crime shows. In a world where Peaky Blinders, Sons Of Anarchy and Yellowstone have massive popularity, there is definitely a space for an Asian-driven show to be successful and I think this is well worth the time to check out. I wish the script was a bit tighter as it makes some of the acting a bit wooden but the series is so entertaining that I can get over it from time to time.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Jun 22

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June 22, 2023

New Releases:

Asteroid City – Following a writer on his world-famous fictional play about a grieving father, who travels with his tech-obsessed family to the small rural town of Asteroid City, to compete in a stargazing event. Only to have his worldview disrupted forever.

Expectations: Wes Anderson returns for what looks like one of his most, uh, Wes Anderson-like movies yet and I’m already so enamoured with it, only having just seen the trailer for it. This looks like a different film from The French Dispatch, which was a step down from The Grand Budapest Hotel but I love all of his work so I’ll be patiently expecting a Criterion for it anyways. I don’t see Anderson winning new fans with this one but the ones he already has will be delighted.

No Hard Feelings – In the enigmatic town of Montauk, New York, Maddie, a struggling Uber driver facing dire financial circumstances, stumbles upon an intriguing Craigslist ad. Responding to the cryptic posting, she enters into an unconventional arrangement with secretive parents who harbour concerns about their introverted 19-year-old son, Percy. In a secret pact, Maddie agrees to immerse herself in Percy’s life, delving into a world where dating and intimacy are foreign concepts. Little does she know the enigmatic path that awaits her as she embarks on this mysterious journey to guide Percy toward adulthood while grappling with her own uncertainties.

Expectations: I am really all for JLaw doing a raunchy comedy but I do have to address that if the gender roles were reversed in this story, well, we would all have a problem with it. That said, there is something really fun to seeing Lawrence as a sexpot who also happens to be a bit of a piece of crap and having Good Boys’ director Gene Stupnitsky is the perfect fit I think. I also can’t get over Matthew Brodericks terrible yuppy mullet in the trailer, it just sets up the idea of a helicopter parent so well.

Blue Jean – England, 1988 – Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government is about to pass a law stigmatizing gays and lesbians, forcing Jean, a gym teacher, to live a double life. As pressure mounts from all sides, the arrival of a new girl at school catalyzes a crisis that will challenge Jean to her core.

Review: This is a perfect movie to be released in Pride Month during a time that is a bit freer and a bit more accepting. Rosy McEwen delivers an incredible lead performance, playing a character so desperate to keep her sexuality secret that she ends up sabotaging more lives than just hers. It’s tragic to see this era represented on the screen and to see how vicious the government and the citizens were about it. The film is a stunning and deep character drama from writer and director Georgia Oakley in her debut feature and I look forward to what she does next.

World’s Best – A12-year-old mathematics genius Prem Patel, in the midst of navigating the tumultuous hardships of adolescence, discovers his recently deceased father was a famous rapper and immediately sets out to pursue a career for himself as a rap superstar. While his actions may appear reckless and the quickest way for him to lose everything, Prem, empowered by imaginative hip-hop music-fueled fantasies where he performs with his father, is determined to find out if hip-hop truly is in his DNA. As his father always used to say, “The world’s best never rest”.

Review: I didn’t know a lot about this movie heading in but I really enjoyed writer and director Roshan Sethi’s debut feature film 7 Days, a pandemic-set romantic comedy, and the story for this was really intriguing. Young star Manny Magnus carries this film beautifully on his shoulders with some solid help from a favourite of mine, Utkarsh Ambudkar, who has appeared in Free Guy, Never Have I Ever and Blindspotting. This is a great family story about a multi-faceted prodigy that will surely win audiences over with its charm and grow from word of mouth.

Blu-Ray:

Avatar: The Way Of Water – Pandora, 2170. Having found meaning and purpose in the heart of the extrasolar Garden of Eden, formerly paraplegic Marine veteran Jake Sully and his fierce warrior princess companion Neytiri enjoy peace and prosperity after the life-altering events of the first film. But happiness is fleeting. And when the unsightly ghosts of Sully’s past emerge, sixteen years after the all-out Assault on the Tree of Souls, the human Toruk Makto and the Na’vi must fight back. Now, Jake and the Omatikaya clan have no choice but to pick up where they left off to defend their home. In the upcoming war against the unstoppable Sky People, will blind revenge destroy everything Sully holds dear?

Review: Nobody does a film like Jim Cameron and it was one to experience on the big screen in the full immersive 3D world he has created, the ultimate and best way to do it. On your screens at home, I will admit that the first film paled a bit so I expect some of the lustre to be washed off when it gets to the smaller screen but there are still so many breathtaking wonders to behold in this story and the sheer artistry contained within and the imagination of it all can’t really be dulled. This is blockbuster cinema at its core and no one does it better or in his own way like Cameron.

Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant – The story follows US Army Sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Afghan interpreter Ahmed (Dar Salim). After an ambush, Ahmed goes to Herculean lengths to save Kinley’s life. When Kinley learns that Ahmed and his family were not given safe passage to America as promised, he must repay his debt by returning to the war zone to retrieve them before the Taliban hunts them down first.

Expectations: Guy Ritchie releases his second film in 2023 after his Jason Statham action comedy Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre skipped Canadian theatres altogether and landed on Prime Video last month just like this one but I have to say that this film doesn’t even look like one of his productions. It looks fairly standard, a one-man army rescue and survival story but Gyllenhaal absolutely delivers and he and hs co-star, Dar Salim, create characters you want to see survive this insurmountable challenge. While I do miss Ritchie’s gangster flicks of the past, this new team of writers he has paired with on The Gentlemen, Wrath Of Man and Operation have produced some really solid and entertaining movies.

Skinamarink – Two children wake up in the middle of the night to find their father is missing, and all the windows and doors in their home have vanished. To cope with the strange situation, the two bring pillows and blankets to the living room and settle into a quiet slumber party. They play well-worn videotapes of cartoons to fill the silence of the house and distract from the frightening and inexplicable situation. All the while in the hopes that eventually some grown-ups will come to rescue them. However, after a while, it becomes clear that something is watching over them.

Review: This is a film that took audiences by storm when it was released on Shudder at the beginning of the year and it had the horror world so buzzed that it even spilled over into mainstream film chatter. Everyone loves a mysterious film and that is exactly what writer and director Kyle Edward Ball crafted here. It gets even more heightened as the conduit in which we see this story is the eyes of children which ramps up the horror and elevates the stakes big time. No exaggeration here but this film actually chilled me to the bone in many parts.

I Am T-Rex – After a power-hungry dinosaur from outside the valley attacks the king of dinosaurs by surprise, a young T-Rex escapes and begins to train, vowing never to return until he is the biggest and bravest in all the land—and finally strong enough to challenge the evil Fang and restore peace to Green Valley.

Review: This is an odd one, a fully animated prehistoric adventure film out of China, something that was reminiscent to me of the Disney non-Pixar animated film Dinosaur which came out in the year 2000. There aren’t any stars that you know of but the animation is pretty slick and the runtime isn’t over bearable, clocking in at a good portion under an hour and a half. I can’t see it getting a lot of press so my little page might be the only place you see it mentioned.

Criminal Minds Evolution: Season 16 – An elite squad of FBI profilers analyzes the country’s most-twisted criminal minds, anticipating the perpetrators’ next moves before they can strike again. Each member of the “mind hunter” team brings his or her expertise to pinpoint predators’ motivations and identify emotional triggers to stop them. The core group includes an official profiler who is highly skilled at getting into the minds of criminals, a quirky genius, the former media liaison who manages to adeptly balance family life and the job, and a computer wizard.

Review: This is long celebrated and loved procedural mystery right here and even without my original draw to the show, Mandy Patinkin, still in the cast I find this series so damn great and am happy it was resurrected. The revival being on Disney= through Hulu also helps the show considerably as they don’t have to conform to the network ratings and can be more, um, untethered. This means more violence, more bloody crime scenes, more deranged characters and more, leading to a wickeder story at its core.

Steve’s Blu-Ray Geekout:

Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice: Volume 1 – From deep inside the Warner Bros. vault comes an anthology chock full of animation gold! Restored, remastered and uncut, the shorts in this set have been carefully selected for discerning fans. Enjoy the finest and funniest golden-era cartoons with the brilliance of high-definition audio and video. These treasures feature A-listers like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester the Cat and Porky Pig, just to name a few. Even better, included among these 20 shorts are classics that have never before been released on home video. Whether you grew up with them or you’re introducing them to a new generation, these timeless and iconic characters will keep fans of all ages young at heart.

Review: Not much to say about this collection of classics other than you are a Looney Tunes person or you are simply not. This is a collection of some of the most iconic little shorts that Cuck Jones and company put together and the springboard and inspiration for many other creators. I think it’s pretty awesome that Warner Archive is releasing them in a restored fashion.

Television:

Glamorous (Netflix) – Marco Mejia, a gender non-conforming high school graduate who lands the gig of a lifetime interning at a cosmetics company whose products he panned on YouTube. Madolyn Addison, CEO, entrepreneur and founder of Glamorous Cosmetics and former supermodel, built one of the top companies in the world from the ground up. However, something’s happening of late. The company isn’t just slipping, it’s plummeting, like it’s being sabotaged from the inside. Not about to let that happen, Madolyn hires Marco right out of high school to be her summer intern. She has a plan, she wants him to be her eyes and ears, to make friends and find out what’s going on behind her back, to discover “what they’re hiding and what they’re stealing.” In exchange, she’ll teach Marco everything she knows, but she warns him “This business isn’t all glitter and glamour and neither is life”.

Review: So this is what Ms. Samantha Jones is up to while she isn’t being a major player in the Sex And The City revival. Kim Cattrall was definitely made for this role but as a first-timer to YouTube star Miss Bunny in their debut role, I was definitely charmed by their leading performance a lot. I have to say that this series probably owes something to a favourite series of mine, Ugly Betty, as well as the Meryl Streep fashion film, The Devil Wears Prada. So far so good on this though and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen.

The Righteous Gemstones: Season 3 (Crave) – Well into the second generation of a grand televangelist tradition, the world-famous Gemstone family is living proof that worship pays dividends in all sizes. Patriarch Eli, the man most responsible for the tremendous success of the family’s megachurch, is in mourning over the loss of his wife. Jesse, the eldest of the three grown Gemstone siblings, looks to lead in his father’s footsteps but finds his past sins jeopardizing the family ministry. Next in line comes middle sister Judy, who secretly lives with her fiancé and dreams of escaping the Gemstone compound. Rounding out the dysfunctional trio is pseudo-hipster Kelvin, the youngest of the preachers and a thorn in Jesse’s side. As the family battles numerous threats to their renowned religious empire, they continue to spread the good word… and make a solid buck doing so.

Expectations: Ever since creator Jody Hill and co-creator and usual star Danny McBride debuted ten years ago in the comedy Foot Fist Way they have been churning out abrasive comedy gold ever since. That said, this may be their crowning achievement and an evangelical lampooning that seems to be coming at the perfect time in this political and religious-dominated time. The cast is phenomenal, with the breakout star going to Edi Patterson who I adore, and I feel like it will just get better with Steve Zahn coming in to antagonize our characters this year. This is definitely a most anticipated series and after the exit of Barry, we need more solid HBO comedy on our TVs.

Secret Invasion (Disney+) – In Secret Invasion, set in the present-day MCU, Fury learns of a clandestine invasion of Earth by a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls. Fury joins his allies, including Everett Ross, Maria Hill, and the Skrull Talos, who have made a life for themselves on Earth. Together they race against time to thwart an imminent Skrull invasion and save humanity.

Review: This series is exciting to me just based on it featuring an original MCU character in Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury and it having so much history contained within the storyline, which is deeply rooted in the fibre of this cinematic universe as well as being a huge event in the comics that same the emergence and exits for many characters. The first two episodes are electric with intrigue and espionage and I’m really looking forward to what they do with the central villain, played by One Night In Miami’s Kingsley Ben-Adir. I know a lot of people are burnt out on the whole Marvel thing but I’m definitely still all here for it.

I’m A Virgo (Prime Video) – A coming-of-age joyride about Cootie, a 13-foot-tall man, who escapes to experience the beauty and contradictions of the real world; he forms friendships, finds love, navigates awkward situations, and encounters his idol named The Hero.

Review: For those who haven’t had the mind-twisting please of experiencing Sorry To Bother You, it’s really hard to explain the energy, drive and straight-up insanity of a project from writer and director Boots Riley but it really must be seen to be believed. The sheer fact that Prime Video has believed in his vision enough to give him this incredibly original limited series is an absolute gift for any fan of his or just a fan of weird cinema in general. With the celebration of Everything Everywhere All At Once this year, a film that had hot dog fingers, I hope audiences are now ready for the mind of Boots because it is wild.

And Just Like That…: Season 2 (Crave) – The new chapter of “Sex and the City” follows Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte as they navigate the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s.

Expectations: I honestly thought this was just going to be a one-season companion piece but when Carrie and the gang return, so do the fans and, of course, we were going to get more. The show has skirted the scandal that was the Chris Noth allegations and dealt with it handily which now opens the door for one of my favourites of Carrie’s exes, Aiden, played by John Corbett. I can’t say I was favourable on the first season but this development makes me more invested for the new episodes plus I’m hearing there is a return for Ms. Samantha Jones as well.

The Walking Dead: Dead City (AMC) – Maggie and Negan travel into a post-apocalyptic Manhattan long ago cut off from the mainland. The city is filled with the dead and denizens who have made New York City their own world.

Expectations: While a spin-off series featuring Maggie and Negan doesn’t feel like a necessary story to be told, I’m definitely here for it because I will watch anything Jeffrey Dean Morgan does and I really love both characters. What intrigues me further is that the show is run by first-timer Eli Jorne, a guy who isn’t a stranger to the Dead world, having written and produced on the mothership but he is also a producer on the FX comedy Wilfred, an underrated gem that everyone should see. But back to this show? Episode one was fun and I like Zelko Ivanek as a villain.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Jun 15

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June 15, 2023

New Releases:

The Flash – Barry Allen is struck by a bolt of lightning and thus, an extraordinary power is born inside him: The Speed Force. When he uses this power to run back in time and save his mother, he creates a world without heroes and General Zod has returned. To defeat him, his only hope rest in the hands of a retired Batman, another Barry and an imprisoned Kryptonian.

Expectations: I have mixed feelings and projections regarding what I believe to be part of the hard DC Cinematic Universe reset with only Blue Beetle and the second Aquaman film left on the list of releases for the Warner Bros. properties. I love that Michael Keaton is back in a fan-favourite role and it’s cool to see Affleck’s Batman again in some capacity. Still, Ezra Miller, beyond his legal and personality issues, has never come across as a tangible Barry Allen in my opinion and, to be honest, his involvement still kind of turns me off to the whole thing. The reviews, a week out of release, are still pretty favourable so I do have more good thoughts than bad heading into it.

Elemental – The film journeys alongside an unlikely pair, Ember and Wade, in a city where fire, water, land and air residents live together. The fiery young woman and the go-with-the-flow guy are about to discover something elemental: how much they have in common.

Expectations: This may be the first Pixar release that the trailer gives me absolutely no drive to go out and see the film. The feel of this film has such a comparison to Inside Out that it is still an original concept, it borrows a little bit from that sort of world-building. The film is the second directorial effort from Peter Sohn whose last feature was one of Pixar’s lowest-scoring films, The Good Dinosaur, which I feel is a little bit underrated, so going off that, maybe this film will surprise me as well.

Extraction 2 – After barely surviving his grievous wounds from his mission in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tyler Rake is back, and his team is ready to take on their next mission. Tasked with extracting a family who is at the mercy of a Georgian gangster, Tyler infiltrates one of the world’s deadliest prisons in order to save them. But when the extraction gets hot, and the gangster dies in the heat of battle, his equally ruthless brother tracks down Rake and his team to Sydney, in order to get revenge.

Expectations: It might not be the popular opinion of what is turning into the Extraction franchise, but I really enjoyed the first film quite a bit, a tactical espionage action flick that tried to do big and original things in its execution. Heck, I enjoyed it more than the recent release of The Gray Man and that one was both written and directed by the Russo Brothers, unlike them just penning the script for these films. I also think that Hemsworth has a hell of a lot of charisma when he is allowed to show it and this is better in his action oeuvre I think.

The Blackening – The film centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain’t no motherfu**in’ game. Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like A Man, Barbershop) and co-written by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip, Harlem) and Dewayne Perkins (The Amber Ruffin Show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine), The Blackening skewers genre tropes and poses the sardonic question: if the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?

Expectations: Horror comedy is a genre that will always have a warm place in my cinematic heart and when they pull at tropes that are solidified in how we look at slasher films, well, that gets me even more. The setup is all here but the unpredictability and winks to the audience will surely be what wins audiences over and if it is all executed right we could have a runaway hit, much like the writers of this film’s previous work, Girl’s Trip.

Stan Lee – This is the official documentary film about Stan “The Man” Lee and his rise to influence in the world of comic books and pop culture. Tracing his life from his upbringing as Stanley Lieber to the rise of Marvel Comics, the film tells the story of Stan Lee’s life, career, and legacy in his own words through personal archive material.

Expectations: I’m really sad that Disney teased me by getting me to fill out a form for this film and not sending it as I adore Stan and his legacy and was absolutely looking forward to it. During the year that would have been his hundredth, it is honestly about time that we got to see his story in this format, even though a lot of his fans already know the rundown. I’m excited to see how they approach his work with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and to see his creations realized on the big screen.

Persian Lessons – Nazi-occupied France, 1942. Having escaped death by the skin of his teeth by claiming to be half-Persian, Gilles, a Jewish man from Belgium, is spared so that he can teach Persian to Klaus Koch, a mid-grade SS officer in charge of the concentration camp’s kitchen. Luckily, Gilles doesn’t speak a word of Persian, and to save himself from certain death, he must fabricate an entire language of convincing gibberish without raising suspicion. Now, Gilles’ life is hanging by a thread, and one small mistake can blow his cover. Will the lie that has just saved Gilles bring about his downfall?

Review: Every time a new World War II-centric film involving the Nazi occupation or the horrific history of the holocaust comes out, I wonder how much more my heart can take of it because each one of them is devastating. This film will sadly not get as wide of a reach as many other big studio films do or even the internationally celebrated ones but it surely deserves the attention. The plot is where this film excels and even with a couple questionable moves in motivation for the characters, it all comes together for a great ending.

Blu-Ray & DVD:

The Super Mario Bros. Movie – A Brooklyn plumber named Mario travels through the Mushroom Kingdom with a princess named Peach and an anthropomorphic mushroom named Toad to find Mario’s brother, Luigi, and to save the world from a ruthless fire-breathing Koopa named Bowser.

Review: A far superior film than what we were given in the nineties, the combination of Illumination and Nintendo pays off with an authentic feeling origin story for Mario and his brother with scads of in-jokes, references and a good old Mario Kart race sequence to dazzle us. The animation is colourful, the voices are spot on and I hope to see more of these movies down the Rainbow Road.

John Wick: Chapter 4 – Condemned by the tyrannical High Table to be on the run for the rest of his life, deadly assassin maestro John Wick (2014) embarks on a Sisyphean mission of suicidal fury to decide his fate after the merciless carnage in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019). At last, John’s violent journey, fuelled by vengeance and grief, ultimately leads him to a fateful confrontation with his former employers, the crime masters that forced him into exile. And as the blood-stained vendetta to destroy those who pull the strings continues, old companions face the brutal consequences of friendship, and all-powerful, well-connected adversaries emerge to bring Wick’s head on a platter. But talk is cheap–now guns have the final say. Can Baba Yaga, the grim messiah of death, make every bullet count in this bloody, once-and-for-all struggle for freedom?

Review: In a seemingly impossible succession, each John Wick movie outperforms the earlier entry making this fourth film an easy masterpiece of action set pieces. Starting from the very Lawrence Of Arabia to a long climb up the stairs to Wick’s final battle, this movie grips you and never relents, a true treat to see on the big screen. The best news is now that it is a home release you can make your windows rattle with the bone-crunching sounds whenever you want.

The Pope’s Exorcist – Rome, 1987. Having performed hundreds of successful exorcisms throughout his decades-long career, Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican’s chief exorcist, travels to Spain to shed light on the peculiar case of troubled Henry, a boy reportedly possessed by a powerful unholy spirit. But as the child’s condition deteriorates, the grizzled priest joins forces with local cleric Father Tomas Esquibel to cast out the demonic legions from possessed Henry. However, the exorcism is just the tip of the iceberg. Can guilt, sin, and a well-hidden, centuries-old conspiracy threaten the soul of the Pope’s exorcist?

Review: This had all the markings of a terrible movie but somehow Russell Crowe, with a terrible and possibly offensive Italian accent, manages to lead a pretty fun possession horror film. I can’t say it will be a memorable one at all and not a must-see but anyone who loves movies like this will want to check it out because director Julius Avery constructs some really cool genre set pieces. After seeing his Nazi horror flick Overlord, I knew he had more good filmmaking in him. Oh, check out Overlord if you haven’t!

The Man From Toronto – Teddy, a struggling fitness entrepreneur in Yorktown, Virginia, is fired from his job at a local gym for giving ad brochures without the gym’s address. He decides not to tell his wife, Lori, to take her to Onancock for her birthday. Leaving her at a spa, Teddy arrives at the wrong cabin, where a man named Coughlin is being held, hostage. Mistaken for “The Man from Toronto”, a mysterious assassin with a talent for brutal interrogation, the clueless Teddy manages to intimidate Coughlin into giving up a code. The cabin is raided by the FBI, who convinces Teddy to pose as the Man from Toronto to help capture would-be Venezuelan dictator Colonel Marin in exchange the FBI will pay off his overdue mortgage. As he navigates through a web of intrigue and danger, Teddy’s relationships are put to the test, including his marriage to Lori and his unexpected bond with the actual Man from Toronto, named Randy. With twists and turns along the way, Teddy and Randy find themselves entangled in a mission to prevent a catastrophic event. The film culminates in a series of confrontations, leading to unexpected consequences and a surprising resolution.

Review: This had so much potential out of the gate, an action-comedy about mistaken identity with Kevin Hart and Jason Statham directed by Patrick Hughes, the guy behind fun action films like Red Hill, Expendables 3 and The Hitman’s Bodyguard. Due to scheduling issues, Statham had to drop out and Woody Harrelson stepped in which isn’t a downgrade in my opinion so everything is looking good. This movie starts with that promise I described and then quickly pulls into a nose dive as things get worse and worse. The CGI and effects are horrible, the script is lame and wastes both actors’ talents featuring lines I know I’ve heard in better movies and the only saving grace is some well-done action scenes. If only I could care about those because everything in between screams bad Netflix action and it’s evident why Sony Pictures offloaded this dud to a streaming service. An utter waste of time.

Sakra – Based on the classic wuxia novel Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils by Louis Cha (known worldwide by his pen name Jin Yong), the film stars Donnie Yen as Qiao Feng, the respected leader of a roving band of martial artists. After he is wrongfully accused of murder and subsequently exiled, Qiao Feng goes on the run in search of answers about his own mysterious origin story–and the unknown enemies working to destroy him from the shadows.

Review: It’s probably needless to say that the fight sequences and stunts in this film are where the true viewing worthiness lies, a fact that is easily gleaned from the fact that it stars Donnie Yen, one of the greatest martial artists to come out of Hong Kong cinema. That said, it’s a little awkward to have him play such a young character which some serious smoothing to make him look that way. That said, the writing isn’t phenomenal and careens into cheesy territories but it manages to be pretty entertaining which is good because it seems this is being set up as a bigger cinematic universe.

Bone Cold – An experienced Black Ops sniper attempts a nightmarish escape after a failed mission, tracked by enemy soldiers hellbent on revenge, and hunted by something sinister and monstrous, hungry and determined.

Review: This has the simple action thriller potential of being a man versus beast battle and it has worked out well in the past. Think Arnie versus Predator or… Amber Midthunder vs. Predator again in the Disney+ gem, Prey. The sad thing here is the premise is wasted on a movie that starts, teetering on the edge of being terrible, and then just plunges into the abyss of awfulness. I’m bummed out by the quality of the Well Go USA movies this week, to be honest, I’m usually higher on them.

Time Bandits – A young boy’s wardrobe contains a time hole. Through this hole an assortment of little people (i.e. dwarfs) come while escaping from their master, the Supreme Being (Sir Ralph Richardson). They take Kevin (Craig Warnock) with them on their adventures through time from Napoleonic times to the Middle Ages to the early 1900s, to the time of Legends and the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness where they confront Evil Genius (David Warner).

Review: Criterion and Terry Gilliam films are a match made in heaven as some of my favourite Blu-rays in my collection are his entries, like Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas and the recent Fisher King release. This 4K upgrade of the classic 1981 sci-fi epic is a glorious gift to a fan like me and the film still hasn’t lost its lustre, one of my favourite movies of all time, easily. This cast and Gilliam’s delightfully weird and idiosyncratic feel to his films make every watch just as exciting as the first time watch.

The Venture Bros.: Complete Series – The warped misadventures of a former boy adventurer turned washed-up, middle-aged mad scientist Dr. Rusty Venture; his moronic teenage sons; their maniac bodyguard; and the Doctor’s arch-nemeses, incompetent super villain The Monarch and his masculine sounding paramour, Dr. Girlfriend.

Review: As a network, I’d definitely consider Adult Swim one of the perfect producers of episodic television this show was part of the beginning of the network and I’m all for it getting its flowers in this box set. Featuring a great voice cast of network favourites with James Urbaniuk, Patrick Warburton, Brendon Smalls, Dana Snyder and more, it’s so awesome to rewatch all seven seasons before the all-new movie comes out next month.

Television:

The Full Monty (Disney+) – The original band of brothers as they navigate Sheffield and it’s crumbling healthcare, education and employment sectors, exploring the brighter, sillier and more humane way forward where communal effort can still triumph over adversity.

Review: I had no idea this was even coming until Disney+ sent me the screener for it and I’m so happy they did because I adored this late-nineties film and the cast and am so happy to see the story continued with all of the original players. The charm is still here, a return to Sheffield to see old friends with new problems and Robert Carlyle has no deficit in his charisma whatsoever.

Star Trek Strange New Worlds: Season 2 (Paramount+) – Captain Pike, Science Officer Spock and Number One explore new worlds around the galaxy on the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Expectations: Not being a Trekkie but following along with all of the Paramount+ releases under the franchise, this series is the golden goose in the bunch. I think this is rooted in the straightforward, back-to-the-basics approach that it takes, being more a “problem of the week” procedural and paying attention to making great characters and letting the actors play to their strengths. I’ve been excited about this sophomore season and it is for great reason.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Jun 8

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June 8, 2023

New Releases:

Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts – Set in the 1990s, this spin-off prequel takes audiences on an action-packed, globetrotting adventure as the Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons join the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons on Earth. Noah, a sharp young guy from Brooklyn, and Elena, an ambitious, talented artifact researcher, are swept up in the conflict as Optimus Prime and the Autobots face a terrifying new nemesis bent on their destruction named Scourge.

Expectations: This is one of these franchises that is far from perfect but I still manage to check out every installment on the big screen. Starting from the first Shia Labeouf-led film, none of them were great but they lost me when Mark Wahlberg came in for what I thought were two pretty lacklustre fourth and fifth movies. Those films aside, Bumblebee was great and the infusing of a new director’s style seems to be helping out, I loved Steven Caple’s last film, Creed II, so he already knows how to approach an existing intellectual property with care. This might be a surprise hit, who knows?

Past Lives – Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life, in this heartrending modern romance.

Expectations: This is exactly my type of movie, a Before Trilogy-like story that follows a journey of connection between two characters. Yes, this is a piece of cinema I love and the buzz on this film is very high which gets me excited for it. Sadly for me, the film is set to be a pretty limited release so if you’re in a small town you will most likely have to wait for this possibly future Oscar-nominated drama from South Korea.

The Wrath Of Becky – Three years after escaping a violent attack on her family by four Neo-Nazis, Becky and her beloved dog Diego live with a kind elderly woman named Elena Connor to rebuild her life. But when a fascist organization known as the “Noble Men” break into their home, attack both Becky and Elena and kidnap Diego, it’s up to Becky to fight back by returning to her old ways to protect herself and her loved ones, rescue Diego, and uncover the Noble Men’s mastermind plans before it’s too late.

Review: Look, when you cast Kevin James in his first villain role as a neo nazi escaped convict, you have my attention but when you have a young girl dispatch him and his crew in gory fashion, well, you’ve got my fandom. Easy to say, I was psyched for this follow-up and I was satisfied with what I got, an older Becky pushed to the edge by a new group of assholes. Lulu Wilson kicks every ass around her in this hero whose glee for killing may thrust her into the anti-hero category. Even still, I could be totally swayed into watching a third film, hell, make a Becky cinematic universe at this point, I’m game. 

Daliliand – Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Mary Harron (I SHOT ANDY WARHOL, AMERICAN PSYCHO), DALÍLAND stars Sir Ben Kingsley as the titular Salvador Dalí, one of the most world-renowned artists of the 20th century and focuses on the later years of the strange and fascinating marriage between Dalí and his wife, Gala (Barbara Sukowa), as their seemingly unshakable bond begins to stress and fracture. Set in New York and Spain in 1974, the film is told through the eyes of James (Christopher Briney), a young assistant keen to make his name in the art world, who helps the eccentric and mercurial Dalí prepare for a big gallery show.

Review: This movie had all the markings of a hit, Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley playing Dali, directed by the woman who brought American Psycho to the big screen, it all had me very intrigued. Sadly, the execution of the film left me a bit cold as the narrative is muddied and the character that the story is centred around feels really uninteresting and unremarkable, more of a foil for all of the other characters to shine off of. I do like that Suki Waterhouse has a small role in this film, an actress who impresses me every time.

Blu-Ray:

Champions – Woody Harrelson stars in the hilarious and heartwarming story of a former minor-league basketball coach who, after a series of missteps, is ordered by the court to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, together, this team can go further than they ever imagined.

Review: I will admit, this movie had bad reviews so I went into it with a chip on my shoulder and I ended up really liking it. I’ve been done in by some of the solo work of the Dumb And Dumber and There’s Something About Mary directing duo, the Farrelly brothers, but Woody wins me over in this alongside his very funny team players and a great romantic role for It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s Kaitlin Olsen who is honestly incapable of phoning it in. Ignore the slights on this one, I had fun with it.

Mafia Mamma – An American mom (Toni Collette) inherits her grandfather’s mafia empire in Italy. Guided by the firm’s consigliere (Monica Bellucci), she hilariously defies everyone’s expectations as the new head of the family business.

Review: The terrible trailers for this movie nearly scared me off completely but the mere fact that it stars Toni Collette, who I would watch in anything, and directed by Thirteen and Lords Of Dogtown director Catherine Hardwicke kept me on board. That said, Collette is the saving grace in a film that is cartoonish and slapstick but oddly charming in the end. If you read elsewhere bout this movie you will see many low scores for this one but I kind of had fun with the movie.

Tulsa King: Season 1 – Follows New York Mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi, just after he is released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Realizing that his mob family might not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a “crew” from a group of unlikely characters, to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet.

Review: Taylor Sheridan expands his Paramount+ universe further, this time with the giant star of Sylvester Stallone to lead it in his first television series and, like everything the Yellowstone creator does, it is great. Stallone brings a fantastic anti-hero-like energy to Dwight, a man who is a fish out of water in every way, but with his current surroundings but also not being behind bars. This is coupled with the fact that he is smart, devious, always able to sort things out on the fly and, most importantly, blessed with an amazing knockout punch ability, well, it makes him a damn interesting dude to watch. Can’t wait for season two. 

Steve’s Blu-Ray Geekouts:

Border Incident – Illegal Mexican migrant workers paying coyotes for the chance to cross the border and work for unethical American rancher Owen Parkson are ambushed and killed upon their return to Mexico by soulless bandits. To stop the vicious cycle of exploitation and murder, Mexican federal agent Pablo Rodriguez is assigned to infiltrate a group of ‘braceros’ in cooperation with American federal agent Jack Bearnes. Risking their lives to uphold the laws of their respective countries, the success of the operation depends on Pablo and Jack’s ability to outsmart the predators without becoming the prey.

Review: It’s fascinating that a film-noir drama from 1949 about illegal migrant workers in America could be so relevant in 2023 but here we are. Equally intriguing, it’s interesting to know that the production of it was actually pretty progressive at it’s time as well because this is the only time in his career where leading man Ricardo Montalban got to play his own nationality with the Mexican character Pablo Rodriguez. The film was directed by Anthony Mann who later found bigger success with his films El Cid and The Glenn Miller Story which may have been his most widely renowned.

Clash By Night – After ten long years of absence, Mae Doyle returns to her hometown of Monterey, California, disillusioned by the big-city lifestyle of New York. There, unattainable Mae’s air of sophistication and confidence catches the eye of the hard-working, good-natured fisherman, Jerry, and his misogynistic, patronizing, movie projectionist friend, Earl, who begins to court her right from the start. But, Mae has had her share of loser boyfriends, and even though she seems determined to spare an innocent her cynicism, she decides to take a second chance at love and marries Jerry. Now, one year and a baby daughter later, a silent undercurrent of unspoken desires and raw lust threaten Jerry’s happiness. Once, Jerry promised that he would do anything for Mae. Is he prepared to lose everything in the aftermath of love?

Review: Warner Archive is coming through with the film noir gems this week and this romance also boasts a phenomenal cast of the early 1950s elite with Robert Ryan, Barbara Stanwick and Marilyn Monroe. It seems like it would be a dicey set as Stanwick was in the midst of a divorce but it actually helped with the tolerance of Monroe’s inability to remember the lines and the calmness, I say, gets a great performance out of both of them. I think both actresses are the highlight of the movie, for sure.

Fist Of The Condor – Upon the empire’s fall to invading conquistadors, the 16th-century Incas quickly concealed a sacred manual containing the secrets behind their deadly fighting technique. But after centuries of careful safeguarding, the manual is again at risk of falling into the wrong hands, leaving its rightful guardian to battle the world’s greatest assassins to protect the ancient secrets within.

Review: This film was a total surprise for me and I should have known that those genre masters at Well Go USA had a gem in their hands because they always come through with titles I end up loving. The big shock for me in this martial arts film was the country of origin as this action epic actually comes from Chilean writer and director Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, a filmmaker I know only from his segment in the ABCs Of Death anthology film. He crafts a really cool world here and the action scenes feel hard-hitting and exhilarating. It’s also a great platform to show off how awesome lead actor Marko Zaror is, a dude who needs to shoot to the top of the action a-list in my opinion.

Television:

Human Resources: Season 2 (Netflix) – This spin-off pulls back the curtain on the daily lives of the creatures Hormone Monsters, Depression Kitties, Shame Wizards, and many more that help humans navigate through every aspect of life from puberty to childbirth to the twilight years. It quickly becomes clear that though the creatures are the protagonists, they have a lot of humanity themselves.

Review: Just like the show it has spun off from, Big Mouth, this series aims for the same thing, rude and crude sexually explicit comedy almost designed to make you uncomfortable. I do enjoy this and Big Mouth but as much as I do, I’m ready for all of this universe to come to a planned end, I mean, where else can we go but down at this point? Nick Kroll and his friends have had an incredible time grossing us out with our own bodies and urges and I do love Maury and Connie the hormone monsters but, you know, let’s get that Netflix money somewhere else now.

The Idol (Crave) – After a nervous breakdown derailed Jocelyn’s last tour, she’s determined to claim her rightful status as the greatest and sexiest pop star in America. Her passions are reignited by Tedros, a nightclub impresario with a sordid past. Will her romantic awakening take her to glorious new heights or the deepest, darkest, depths of her soul?

Review: This is a series that got people divided right out of the gate. On its surface, it is a series created by Euphoria’s Sam Levinson and megastar and Canadian singer The Weeknd who also stars in the show alongside Lily Rose-Depp. Well, the sleaziness of the storyline did not go over well at the Cannes Film Festival, prompting man walkouts, but I’m intrigued by its unflinching provocativeness, something that is a common theme with me for a long time. I also dig the satire the show is going for and, if the vitriol against it is so bad, I better watch it all now before the eventual cancellation from HBO.

Never Have I Ever: Season 4 (Netflix) – The complicated life of a first-generation Indian-American teenage girl, inspired by Mindy Kaling’s own childhood.

Review: This is a series that I wish Netflix would put their money on because I am definitely not ready to see it go. On the other hand, a show that decides to go out on its own can be much more satisfying and I adore Devi and her friends so much and seeing them get their resolutions is really bittersweet. It’s just a little too much after I just went through The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Barry and Ted Lasso. A guy can only take a certain amount of emotions on the television.

Arnold (Netflix) – Follows the life of Arnold Schwarzenegger, from his days of lifting weights to his successes in Hollywood, his time serving as governor of California, and both the joys and volatility of his family life.

Review: As a guy who has been an Arnie fan since childhood, I was all about this new documentary series that follows the action hero in an unflinching and, at times, remorseful look at his life. To see this legendary performer, former politician and forever advocate for the environment be brutally honest with himself ain front of the audience at home is inspiring and really humanizes a man who I looked at like a cinema god for decades. Even if you aren’t a fan of his, the story he has to tell is really extraordinary and worth a watch.

The Crowded Room (AppleTV+) – Danny Sullivan is arrested following his involvement in a shooting in New York City in 1979. Through a series of interviews with curious interrogator Rya Goodwin, Danny’s life story unfolds, revealing elements of the mysterious past that shaped him, and the twists and turns that will lead him to a life-altering revelation.

Review: Tom Holland is in such a Hollywood limbo situation. In one aspect, he is an international darling, as an endearing actor that has been Spider-Man and video game character Nathan Drake in some pretty solid films, is an endearing young man on the various press circuits and Zendaya has to see something in him, right? The other side of this is the less than stellar other acting projects, the lower of which are both things he has done for AppleTV+, starting with the Russo Brothers film Cherry and now this lacklustre limited series. Holland is good in both things, don’t get me wrong, but he is the only thing that works and in this show, everyone around him, including favourites like Amanda Seyfried and Emmy Rossum, feels like forgettable background noise.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Jun 2

stevestebbing

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June 1, 2023

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.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – May 25

stevestebbing

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May 25, 2023

New Releases:

The Little Mermaid – The youngest of King Triton’s daughters, Ariel is a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. Longing to learn more about the world beyond the sea, Ariel visits the surface and falls for the dashing Prince Eric. Following her heart, she makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, to experience life on land.

Expectations: I have to say that the live-action reimaginings from Disney of their animated catalogue haven’t really done a lot for me in improving upon the originals so I can’t say the bar is set considerably high for possibly the biggest in that trend, a film that all the girls of my generation adored and still revere. I like the casting and the fact that they brought in Lin Manuel Miranda to punch up the songs a bit is promising so I’m curious t see how it all goes. It also comes from a hit-and-miss director with me, Rob Marshall, but musical adaptations are his thing so this may work out to be an enjoyable experience.

Kandahar – An undercover CIA operative gets stuck in hostile territory in Afghanistan after his mission is exposed. Accompanied by his translator, he must fight enemy combatants as he tries to reach an extraction point in Kandahar.

Review: This film, on the outside, felt curiously similar to Guy Ritchie’s latest film with Jake Gyllenhaal last month but it is a kind of perfect vehicle for Gerard Butler. Playing the grizzled contractor caught behind enemy lines, he and director Ric Roman Waugh pair for the third time and seem to have a good chemistry down as I found the movie pretty entertaining. As I write this, it is being slaughtered on Rotten Tomatoes, but I encourage an open mind on this one.

You Hurt My Feelings – Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a popular writer, and her husband Don, a well-liked teacher, share the kind of relationship that truly, seriously, for the love of God cannot be real: that is, they’re actually in love. Even after decades of marriage, parenting, and their own successful careers, their physical spark has somehow not diminished; in fact, they seem to relish the opportunity to share a single ice cream cone and drive others — including their son, Charlie — mad. Should it come as a surprise then that his own marriage is in crisis? But when Beth discovers that Don has been untruthful to her about his opinion of her work for years — Beth’s world comes crashing down. Has their whole relationship been one Big Fat Lie?

Review: On the surface, this looks like a film about rich New York intellectuals going through a tiff in their long marriage but writer and director Nicole Holofcener manages to craft a relatable story that can fit into any romantic relationship. With a deft character-driven nuance, this film navigates the unspoken thoughts that exist in relationships, the white lies or dismissive support that is sometimes given and the hurt that comes from the revealing of the truth. Dreyfuss and her counterpart Tobias Menzies play this film with a veteran’s touch that makes it not only believable but makes us root for their relationship and mental health.

About My Father – The film centers around Sebastian (Sebastian Maniscalco) who is encouraged by his fiancée (Leslie Bibb) to bring his immigrant hairdresser father Salvo (Robert De Niro) to a weekend get-together with her super-rich and exceedingly eccentric family (Kim Cattrall, Anders Holm, Brett Dier, David Rasche). The weekend develops into what can only be described as a culture clash, leaving Sebastian and Salvo to discover that the great thing about family is everything about family.

Expectations: I know this film is all about the big leading man debut of popular comedian Sebastian Maniscalco as his big screen vehicle but it is another indication of De Niro having either a terrible manager, a pending bankruptcy or padding up for his retirement because this loos bad. Not Dirty Grandpa bad or The War With Grandpa bad but still a certain quality of yikes bad. There are some laughs to be had in the trailer but it all looks so cliche and corny that I can’t say it would be that fun of an experience even with a less than hour and a half run time.

Blu-Ray:

Creed III – After dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) has been thriving in both his career and family life. When childhood friend and former boxing prodigy Damian (Jonathan Majors) resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face-off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian–a fighter who has nothing to lose.

Review: I know we are in a post-Jonathan Majors praise environment now due to the charges levied at the rising star but, damn, he is such a force in this movie and such a formidable opponent for Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Creed in the lead actor’s debut behind the camera. Jordan makes this feel so within the fibre of the franchise while also taking some real cinematic chances with the look of the film that always works out beautifully. I was surprised with how much I liked the movie but also how necessary it felt in the story and not just an extra story tacked on for an obvious cash grab. Just a damn good boxing film with great character work from all involved.

Shazam! Fury Of The Gods – Bestowed with the powers of the gods, Billy Batson and his fellow foster kids are still learning how to juggle teenage life with their adult superhero alter egos. When a vengeful trio of ancient gods arrives on Earth in search of the magic stolen from them long ago, Shazam and his allies get thrust into a battle for their superpowers, their lives, and the fate of the world.

Review: As a guy who enjoyed the first movie, this film feels like a direct continuation of that, with David Sandberg leaning into that fun atmosphere with Zach Levi doing his best as a superhero that is a teen at his core. The film took a lot of flack in being the death rattle of the DC Comics Cinematic Universe as we know it with his character’s future in the James Gunn and Peter Sarafin-led movies being unknown but as far as a story that doesn’t seem to have stakes beyond it’s just over two-hour runtime, it was a thrilling ride even if it was a bit predictable from time to time.

Cocaine Bear – 1985, Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia. When a duffel bag crammed with cocaine bricks falls from the sky, a massive American black bear eats $14 million worth of nose candy. And as a pair of drug dealers comb the tangled woods to retrieve the goods, the coked-up beast goes on a rampage for more white powder, carving a bloody path of destruction along the way. In the next few hours, the black-haired mountain of muscle and razor-sharp claws will be the most dangerous apex predator on any continent. Do the intruders have what it takes to confront the unstoppable Cocaine Bear?

Review: In a Tarantino-esque romp through a Georgia state park with a myriad of characters, this movie manages to be entertaining, bloody and pretty damn funny, a complete surprise from director Elizabeth Banks who has seemed to find an interesting storytelling stride in the big studio B-film department and I am totally ready to see her do more of them. Multiple actors have scene-stealing moments in it, like The Wire’s Isiah Whitlock Jr. and one-time Han Solo actor Alden Ehrenreich who prove their importance every time they are on screen. I had such a fun time with this movie in theatres and am so happy for this Blu-ray to experience it again and also dig into the gag reel for it.

The Quiet Girl – Set in 1981, this film tells the story of a young girl, Cáit, who is sent away for the summer from her dysfunctional family to live with “her mother’s people”. These are Seán and Eibhlín Cinnsealach; a middle-aged couple she has never met. Slowly, in the care of this couple, Cáit blossoms and discovers a new way of living, but in this house where affection grows and there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers one.

Review: There is a trend in the nominees this past year of the Academy wards and that is devasting stories from other countries about kids that sat in the nominees for Best Foreign Film. Along with the Scandinavian drama Close, this film was selected as well, told in Irish garlic, about the salvation of a young girl to hopefully open up her world and bring her out of the shell that her birth parents had put her in and the tragedy of that being all ripped away. Beautiful performances punctuate a deeply resonant story that will level you heartbroken in its final moments. I loved this film from beginning to end but I will definitely contend that it is a hard sit and you definitely will need the tissues to get through it.

SEAL Team: Season 6 – Failure isn’t an option for the new Navy SEALs, and that kind of pressure can take a toll on the members of the special operations forces’ most elite unit. This team — which includes Jason, the group’s intense leader, and Ray, Jason’s longtime confidant, along with loyal soldier Sonny and SEAL hopeful Clay — trains, plans and executes some of the most dangerous, high-stakes missions and deploys for clandestine missions around the globe at a moment’s notice. While serving their country is a worthy and rewarding cause, it can put a strain on the SEALs and their families, causing the guys to look out for one another in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds, both on and off the job.

Review: Being a big David Boreanaz fan since the Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel years, I was an easy mark to check this series out and I have more love for it than I did with his Fox procedural Bones. The show is tactical military, something I really like in a story, reminiscent of Strike Back or, a show I loved on CBS years ago, The Unit. The best thing is ever since it moved to Paramount+ exclusively they have been able to give more of an R-rated feel which has drastically improved the storytelling and combat on screen obviously. With six seasons of episodes and a seventh on the horizon, this is an easy pick if you’re looking for an action series.

Bonanza: The Complete Series – The Cartwrights’ one-thousand-square-mile Ponderosa Ranch is located near Virginia City, Nevada, the site of the Comstock Silver Lode, during and after the Civil War. Each of the three sons was born to a different wife of Ben’s; none of the mothers are still alive. Adventures are typical Western ones, with lots of personal relationships/problems thrown in as well.

Review: Only getting the Paramount releases for probably just over five years, I was at the tail end of the release of this classic series on DVD and received the final three only, making my collection decidedly lopsided. Well, that was all short-lived as I have your dad and their parent’s favourite television series in my possession and I definitely ever the series and know what it means to the television we have today. Lorne Greene is also a total legend and I get where it comes from because he is a total force on this show.

Steve’s Blu-Ray, 4K & DVD Geek Outs:

The Greatest – Teenagers Rose and Bennett were in love, and then a car crash claimed Bennett’s life. He left behind a grieving mother, father, and younger brother, and Rose was left all alone. She has no family to turn to for support, so when she finds out she’s pregnant, she winds up at the Brewers’ door. She needs their help, and although they can’t quite admit it, they each need her so they can begin to heal.

Review: This was an easy pick-up for me as it stars the incredible Carey Mulligan who was just a rising star at the time and this movie doesn’t get nearly enough love in my opinion. A film that is deeply mixed in both grieving and mourning but the optimism of new life and the continuation of a life snuffed out too soon, writer and director Shana Feste absolutely delivered in her debut feature film and hasn’t really come back with the same calibre of film since. I also love the dramatic work from Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon here as the grieving parents, such great character work.

Deep Impact 4K – A comet is hurtling toward Earth and could mean the end of all human life. The U.S. government keeps the crisis under wraps, but crack reporter Jenny Lerner (Tea Leoni) uncovers the truth — forcing U.S. President Beck (Morgan Freeman) to announce his plan. Grizzled astronaut Spurgeon “Fish” Tanner (Robert Duvall) and his team will land on the comet and lay explosives, hopefully deterring the object from its doomsday course. If not, humanity will have to prepare for the worst.

Review: Back when disaster porn movies were all the rage, like Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day or Jan De Bont’s Twister, studio director Mimi Leder made this film, one that focuses more on its characters with the impending world-ending comet being the backbone to the story and, well, no one saw it and it bombed. Now Paramount is giving it the 4K treatment for a re-release and while I can’t say it improves the film’s problems, being the sappiness of the melodrama, it really makes the special effects look solid, even twenty-five minutes later. It’s also great to see that we’ve accepted Morgan Freeman as president long before Gerard Butler had to protect him in the latest Has Fallen movies.

His Dark Materials: The Complete Series – One of the supreme works of imaginative fiction for both children and adults published in the 20th century. Northern Lights introduces Lyra, an orphan who lives in a parallel universe in which science, theology and magic are entwined. Lyra’s search for a kidnapped friend uncovers a sinister plot involving stolen children and turns into a quest to understand a mysterious phenomenon called Dust. In “The Subtle Knife” she is joined on her journey by Will, a boy who possesses a knife that can cut windows between worlds. As Lyra learns the truth about her parents and her prophesied destiny, the two young people are caught up in a war against celestial powers that ranges across many worlds and leads to a thrilling conclusion in “The Amber Spyglass.”

Review: I won’t mix words here, I was a fan of the New Line-produced film adaptation of this Philip Pullman book series starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig and would have watched more but low box office returns squashed that from happening. That said, the right way to tell this story was in series form and with the power of HBO and BBC we got a damn good version of it with Logan actress Dafne Keen doing a killer job as the lead character, Lyra. The show also had the full experience of adapting the entire series of books and not getting an early cancellation this time around which really is so satisfying and an opportunity a lot of adaptations don’t get.

Television:

FUBAR (Netflix) – A father and daughter have both been working as CIA Operatives for years, but each kept their involvement in the CIA hidden from the other, resulting in their entire relationship is a gigantic lie. Upon learning of each other’s involvement in the CIA, the pair are forced to work together as partners, and against the backdrop of explosive action, and espionage, learn who each other really are.

Review: The cool news about this show is that it is action film legend and former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger’s television debut but it feels like a bit of a retread as the secret agent family action stuff was already done with James Cameron in True Lies I thought. Sadly, the show is a bit corny and feels like a rough-around-the-edges Netflix series, or at least the pilot really does. It’s a bit of a bummer as great Canadian Jay Baruchel has a supporting role here and I worshipped at the feet of 80s icon Arnie so I feel obligated to see the whole series through no matter what.

American Born Chinese (Disney+) – Jin Wang, an average teenager, juggles his high school social life with his home life; when he meets a new student on the first day of the school year, even more worlds collide as Jin is unwittingly entangled in a battle of Chinese mythological gods.

Review: Disney may have an underlying hit here when people catch on. I hope it’s through the conduit of Academy Award winners Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh’s involvement in the show, even if their roles in the series are very supporting. Based on a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang, the show is charming, colourful, and fun and has some really great action choreography plus it features a Monkey King and I have a weakness for that classic martial arts inclusion.

The Kardashians: Season 3 (Disney+) – The family you know and love is back with a brand-new series that gives an all-access pass into their lives. Kris, Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, Kendall, and Kylie bring the cameras back to reveal the truth behind the headlines. From the intense pressures of running billion-dollar businesses to the hilarious joys of playtime and school drop-offs, this series brings viewers into the fold with a rivetingly-honest story of life and love in the spotlight.

Review: I don’t know how I got so wrapped up in this show, having never watched the Keeping Up version aside from clips on the internet of Joel McHale’s E series The Soup, but I am now three seasons deep and kind of ingest it as a character series rather than a reality one. Now, as a viewer, I’m hoping for a more interesting season as the Kourtney and Travis Barker heavy season two was so tedious and almost made me drop the show entirely. This one has already raped up the sibling drama though so that is a good sign. Oh my god, what have I become?

Platonic (AppleTV+) – Former childhood best friends reconnect as adults and try to get past the rift that led to their falling out.

Review: Produced by Nicholas Stoller and starring Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen in a Neighbors reunion of sorts, this is my adult pick of the week for sure. Seth and Rose’s proven comedic chemistry is fully on display in a show that seems tailored to their talents. Unpredictable, funny, charming and sometimes totally relatable, this one may fill the void that Ted Lasso is going to leave next week after the series finale.

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