Yes, some of the special effects are terrible, and yes, the film seems to be played more for laughs than telling a dramatic and serious story, and the cameos, such as they are, seem a little wasted, and Ezra Miller can come across as severely unlikeable but having waited a few months since the film’s…
Author: TD Rideout
The Pope’s Exorcist (2023) – Julius Avery
For something that claims to be based on the actual documented cases of the Chief Exorcist of the Vatican, Father Gabriele Amorth, one would expect something smarter, scarier, and perhaps not as trope-ridden as what viewers are given with The Pope’s Exorcist. The film gives us Russell Crowe as Amorth, not quite chewing scenery, but…
Hill Street Blues (1986) – Jagga the Hunk, and Look Homeward, Ninja
Robin (Lisa Sutton) is due in a few weeks, and Belker (Bruce Weitz) is working undercover at a food truck in an effort to bust some loansharks working a construction site. Oh! And Lucy (Betty Thomas) gets a new partner in Kathryn McBride (Lindsay Crouse). Jagga the Hunk was written by David Milch, Walon Green,…
Atomic Blonde (2017) – David Leitch
Charlize Theron is here to kick ass in Atomic Blonde and she does, and does it well. Based on the graphic novel The Coldest City, Atomic Blonde is a spy-thriller that features some solid stunt and fight work, the majority of which Theron, much like Keanu Reeves for John Wick did as much of as…
Batman (1967) – Ice Spy, and The Duo Defy
It’s the final two-part story of the series, and the last episode of the second season as Mr. Freeze (this time played by Eli Wallach!) returns to Gotham City intent on building an ice weapon that will help him take over and control the world! This two-parter was written by Charles Hoffman and the first…
Family Ties (1984) – Lady Sings the Blues, Baby Boy Doe, and The Graduate
While Alex (Micheal J. Fox) and Steven (Micheal Gross) attempt to teach Mallory (Justine Bateman) how to drive, a prospect that scares and terrifies them, Elyse (Meredith Baxter) revisits her past by pulling out her guitar and playing some folk classics. Lady Sings the Blues was written by Alan Uger and Micheal J. Weithorn. This…
Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Children of Hamlin (1988) – Carmen Carter
Space, the final frontier… So here I am three novels into the original novels released by Pocket Book (Simon & Schuster) and to date, this one feels like the best one I’ve read. Although I think when I read this when it first came out, it probably didn’t catch my interest as much as it…
Batman (1967) – Pop Goes the Joker, and Flop Goes the Joker
The Joker (Cesar Romero) returns in the penultimate two-part story of season two of Batman. Written by Stanford Sherman, the first episode, Pop Goes the Joker, first aired on 22 March, 1967. After the Joker breaks into the Gotham City Art Museum and makes his mark on a number of paintings, he becomes a bit…
Renfield (2023) – Chris McKay
Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, and Awkwafina star in Chris McKay’s bloody, hilarious, and over-the-top love letter to the supporting character of the original Dracula story, Renfield, including some wonderful homages to the original 1931 film. It’s modern-day America and Renfield (Hoult) has relocated Dracula (Cage) yet again to hide him from those who would hunt…
The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot (2018) – Robin D. Krzykowski
With a title like The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot, you think you know what you’re getting. You think this is going to be schlocky b-movie fare, but what the film actually does is take the extreme ideas of assassinating Hitler, and killing Bigfoot and juxtapose them with a character study of…
The Mind Reels 