REVIEWSetc.

I have been on vacation for almost the entirety of time from August 13th through September 2nd. And because of that and the various trips I made (South Carolina and Toronto), I watched precious little in the realm of movies. I just haven't had the time or ability. I was either having fun with friends or at Fan Expo Canada as Press and working my time away there. On a year where I have been averaging over one movie watched per day, going over half a month without seeing many r

"I think I'm getting a divorce. What tipped me off was that I'm living in an apartment on my own." After coming off the heels of remaking A Star is Born for a modern audience and trying his hand at making a biopic on Leonard Bernstein's life with Maestro, Bradley Cooper brought us his third film with Is This Thing On? last year. It premiered as the closing film of the 63rd New York Film Festival, where it got rave reviews. Being a fan of Cooper's first two films and having an

In a luxurious villa in Catalonia, four wealthy American siblings live with their blind father, largely isolated from the outside world. Their already complicated family dynamic begins to unravel when Jack (Jamie Bell), the eldest son, announces that he plans to move out and live with his girlfriend, Martha (Elle Fanning). As Martha becomes more involved with the family, tensions between the siblings begin to rise, while Ed (Callum Turner) becomes increasingly fixated on the

No jokey or rambly preamble from me today; just a quick reminder to make sure to get your regularly scheduled health screenings. This might be particularly rich coming from me, as I avoid going to the doctor like it is the plague, but a few years ago I had a strange chest pain issue come up, and I was quick to schedule a stress test to make sure everything was on the up-and-up within me (it was!). But also: I'm 45 now, and I have been putting off getting a physical because I

I am firmly in the time of year where it's getting easier and easier to find movies on streaming that came out in the current calendar year and will add to my new release count when I watch them. It's the best. For the first few months, January though May or so, it's difficult to find many new releases on streaming, but after that, it becomes something of a bonanza! And I love it. I always get through April, look at the number of new release films I have watched on the year,

I need to tell you about the rain. In The Last House, a Netflix thriller that cost considerably more money than it had any right to, the rain is sentient. The rain seals your doors shut. The rain makes your windows unbreakable. The rain, and I cannot stress this enough, knows how to lock your garage door. This is a film in which hostile precipitation has developed a working understanding of residential architecture and has chosen to use that knowledge against us. I watched al

Shark movies! I want to make this abundantly clear: I'm not a shark movie guy. I mean, I like Jaws as much as the next person, but I don't understand the cinematic world's fascination with these beasts of the sea. I don't get why "Shark Week" is a thing that people celebrate and program TV watching around. I just... it's all beyond me. There are so many lethal animals on there planet, and I am not sure why we as a society have latched onto sharks and decided they should be th

Much has been made of the lack of true modern A-list stars in Hollywood. Tom Cruise seems to be the last real one (though I'm sure some of his contemporaries like Brad Pitt and Matt Damon might disagree with that assessment), but he is not a young man (and neither are the other two I mentioned). Can Hollywood survive an era where there are no real stars to drive crowds to the cineplex? It's an interesting determination. What besides supernova actors gets people to the movies?

Weight loss culture is a big thing these days. I feel like that's a permanent truism, really. When has weight loss NOT been one of the pre-eminent things on Americans' minds? It's a constant top New Year's Resolution every single winter, and celebrity culture has made thin "in" for ages now. But in the back half of the 2020's, it only seems to be rising in prominence. It's easier to achieve than ever, what with appetite suppressant injectables flooding the market and being in

We are back for the final instalment of the Heartstopper series. Based on the graphic novel series by Alice Oseman, Heartstopper has been loved around the world for celebrating the LGBTQ+ community. With three seasons, Netflix decided to close out one of its beloved series with a two-hour film rather than giving it a fourth and final season. In Heartstopper Forever, we are reunited with Charlie (Joe Locke), Nick (Kit Connor), and all of their friends for one last adventure. A

Another week, another new horror release has hit my favorite streaming service, Shudder. To be absolutely honest, Shudder has not been knocking it out of the park so far in 2026. So far of note, we have had Honey Bunch and Forbidden Fruits as outings that I quite enjoyed, and that was just about it. Well, I guess sMothered wasn't bad, either. But it's July as I write this, and they release, as I said, a new movie every week. Most of which I have watched! And most of which hav

As of this writing, it's July 1st. Coming into today, I had seen 56 movies released in 2026. Not quite the pace I was on last year, but not a bad one by any stretch. With most of the days of the year in the backend, I'm likely easily going to crush 100 new releases in the calendar year. And that's got me excited. So how has 2026 been so far on the cinematic front? Pretty good! After having just one 4.5 out of 5 movie and no 5 out of 5 offerings in 2025, I've already got one p

The highly acclaimed FX series The Bear returned to fans' screens on Thursday night, heightening anticipation for its final season. In the series' tradition, all eight episodes were dropped for binge-watching. Straying from the series organic flow of travelling to new food scenes across Chicago and the globe, season 5 boldly chooses to take on its own rendition of a chamber piece. Rather than travelling outside of the restaurant, the majority of the season takes place either

I like to imagine I'm really confusing the hell out of the little gremlin personally in charge of my Tubi algorithm. In recent months, Tubi has become one of my favorite streaming services. Its movie selection is almost unparalleled, and it has a wide array of both big name flicks and independent outings exclusive to the streamer. While most other services are clogging up with series and shows--I don't have the time commitment those require!--Tubi remains mostly dedicated to

Office Romance is about, as you may have guessed, an office romance. Jackie Cruz (Jennifer Lopez) is the President and CEO of an airline, dealing with a lawsuit. Daniel Blanchflower (Brett Goldstein) is her new lawyer. Everyone can see where this is going. Jennifer Lopez has such a natural screen presence that I always enjoy regardless of the quality of the movie. Mediocre movies that involve her are still worth watching to some extent. That was no different here as she plays

Nothing makes me feel more pretentious and pseudo-artsy-fartsy than a thought I had earlier today: I have really eclectic taste in movies. Now, do I think most everyone has an eclectic taste in film, whether they realize it to not? Yes, I really do. So I don't think I'm too darned special in this regard. But still... it's good to know that I can get my cinematic jollies from many different kinds of flicks. It's no secret whatsoever that even now, when so many other folks are

I've written so many times about Shudder. No other streaming service brings me as much joy while, at the same time, also inflicting upon me so much suffering. Shudder Roulette is real; I never have any idea what I am going to get from that service. I was quite pleased earlier this year with Honey Bunch, sure. But it's been rough sledding since then. Just one disappointment after another for me. Nothing else has even hit close to my top ten of the year, even at this point. Hon

Damien Sachs (Sacha Baron Cohen) is an ultra-successful ad executive with the Atlas agency and he has an insatiable thirst for more. More power, more sex, more money, he wants it all. And in doing so, he ticks every wealthy male stereotype box we all love to hate. Adding fuel to this fire is the fact that he's been tapped by current CEO, Fred Powell (Charles Dance), to be his successor. Except there's a catch. In order to save face and show that Atlas is inclusive and diverse

Betrayal, espionage, and a whole lot of cigarette smoking, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War picks up where the Prime Series left off. Our titular leading man, Jack Ryan (John Krasinski), is back, but rather than the abrasive CIA agent we know and love him to be, this time he is a civilian. At the end of season 4, Jack had testified before the Senate, exposing high levels of government corruption. Leaving him to be a regular man. That is, until Ghost War ropes Jack back into

There is a moment early in Marty, Life Is Short where Martin Short's alter ego, the oafish celebrity interviewer Jiminy Glick, scoffs at the very idea of a documentary being made about Martin Short. "They're making a documentary on literally everyone," Glick grumbles — and he's not entirely wrong. The celebrity documentary has become its own genre at this point, with Netflix leading the charge on what feels like a new one every few weeks. Short is self-aware enough to lampoon