A Better Tomorrow (1986) – John Woo

A Better Tomorrow was a hole in my John Woo and Hong Kong cinema that I wanted to fill, People have raved about it for years, that it helped define a generation of HKers and became a cult classic among North American film lovers. It features melodrama and lots of gunplay. It also has a…

Baywatch (2017) – Seth Gordon

I’ll be honest, I quite enjoyed the big screen adaptation of the cult favorite Baywatch. One could argue it’s not as entertaining as the 21 Jumpstreet films, but it ended up being damned fun, and pokes fun at the entire series, while honoring it at the same time. And it’s got a beautiful-looking cast to…

Phantom of the Opera (1943) – Arthur Lubin

It’s the first color Universal Monster movie! Phantom of the Opera is presented in gorgeous technicolor, this is the only one of the original Universal Monster movies that won the Oscars it was nominated for, Best Cinematography (Color) and Best Art Direction (Color). While one could argue that the Universal Monster series started with the…

Magnum P.I. (2019) – Black is the Widow, and A Kiss Before Dying

Magnum (Jay Hernandez) is on the hunt for a murderer who may be using a dating app to find targets. Black is the Widow was written by Neil Tolkin and first aired on 4 March, 2019. Karen McDowell (Gia Mantegna) hires Magnum to investigate the death of her father, who was killed during a carjacking….

Magnum P.I. (2018) – The Ties That Bind, and Bad Day to Be a Hero

Thomas (Jay Hernandez) takes a case involving a kidnapped girl, she’s been returned, but she’s not the same person anymore, and her parents want the person who took her captured. At the same time, we learn a little more about what happened when Magnum and his friends were held by the Taliban when they were…

Magnum P.I. – The Complete Series

After five seasons, the reimagined Magnum P.I. series has come to an end. Like I said a number of times, it wasn’t the original, it was its own thing, but tried to include nods, and tried to honor the 1980s original, but it was fun. Jay Hernandez made a great Thomas Magnum, and while some…

Polite Society (2023) – Nida Manzoor

Polite Society is an enjoyable action comedy with strong female characters involved in a wonderfully melodramatic tale. The story follows a young Pakistani woman, Ria (Priya Kansara) who dreams of being a stuntwoman, and who idolizes her older sister, Lena (Ritu Arya), who is experiencing a tough time after leaving art school because she she…