Shame that "Obsessed" (Focus Features) and "Backrooms'" (A24/Atomic Monster) surprise performances early in the summer left no box office oxygen for uniquely creative, latecomer indies like "This Ends" (Neon) and BoulderLight Pictures' BUDDY (2026, THEATER). As daring and unique as its predecessors, but more comfortably inhabiting the micro-budget horror genre space, "Buddy" starts deceivingly as 4x3 AR SD recordings of a "Barney"-like TV show that, subtly at first, begins to unravel the veneer of children TV's innocence with implied personality conflicts and physical altercations. Then a point-of-no-return is reached between the cast of curious kids and the orange unicorn Buddy (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key, whose barely-outside-legal-copyright imitation of the Barney voice is a constant highlight), one that ruptures the fabric of time and space between the TV show's reality and our own.
Even though there are adults in the cast (Cristin Milioti and Topher Grace), the success of "Buddy" rests on the tiny shoulders of excellent young actors (particularly Delaney Quinn as Freddy), selling the idea that these kids have been raised in a TV environment that ill-prepares them for the "real" (2:35:1 AR) world. Things get pretty bloody and violent, but you'll be simultaneously laughing and being in awe at how "Buddy" pulls it off while setting up sequels without insulting your intelligence. Highly recommended, especially with a sold-out crowd (at 11:15pm on a Monday night! 😲) so into it they couldn't stop talking about it all the way through the return-home NYC subway ride. 😎👍
This seems like a good time to post a long-delayed review for Eli Roth's remake of ICE CREAM MAN ('26, THEATER), which I watched in early August but keep forgetting to write about (I watch too many pictures; first-world problems! 🥹😛). It's not as bad as its low ratings would suggest... until you see a movie like "Buddy" that makes you realize how by-the-numbers, reliant-on-shocks "ICM" is. The titular villain (Ari Millen) feeds ice cream to every child in Bayleen Bay, turning them into worse versions of the little monsters they already were. 😉🙃 Only Jared (Charlie Zeltzer), his teenage sister Lizzie (Sarah Abbott) and two besties remain uncorrupted, and must try to reverse the effects before the town is destroyed. To its credit, "ICM" has a plot to try and justify its unrated mayhem (bottom line: lawyers suck!), which is graphic, plentiful and a gorehound's delight. And just like "Buddy," the younger cast (including dozens of extras tearing limbs or beating old ladies with their walking canes) is better than the adults (including Roth himself as the father of Jared and Lizzie) at selling the lunacy of where the story ends up going. 'It's fine,' but just another typical Eli joint that doesn't aspire to more than surface-level shocks and twists.
Whenever a boutique sale starts, the first title bought tells you something about someone's personal taste. Barnes & Noble just started a 50% off Kino Lorber Sale, and I knew the first title (of many more in the future) I wanted to get was Rob Cohen's Sylvester Stallone mid-90's disaster genre vehicle DAYLIGHT (1996, 4K UHD). I've only seen it a few times (theater and a couple of rental/cable rewatches) and remember not liking it, but it has stayed in my head. A dozen or so survivors are trapped in the Midtown underwater tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey by an untimely chemical explosion, an action scene with a great mix of practical and miniature effects (with a little CG polish) that nothing later tops in the 'you got your ticket's worth of entertainment already' department. Disgraced former Emergency Services boss Kit Latura (Stallone), who just happens to be near the tunnel when things turn south, immediately takes control and wants to help save the survivors. Political red tape and personal beefs (damn you, Dan Hedaya! 😡) mean Latura has to go at it alone, without the ability to communicate to NYC politicians that their desire to reopen the tunnel ASAP will kill the few people still alive.
I appreciate now what I felt was a flaw in this movie's narrative: a complete lack of humor. Except for Amy Brenneman singing 'New York, New York' in her car and the very last line of the movie (a terrible one-liner! 🫣🫢), "Daylight" takes itself and its premise very seriously. It's his choice, and Rob Cohen sticks to it. Stallone commands the screen despite often making Latura a self-doubting savior who doesn't know what to do next. Shame most of the supporting cast (Viggo Mortensen, Sage Stallone, Jay O. Sanders, Karen Young... even young Danielle Harris of "Halloween 4" fame) are a whiny bunch of NYC stereotypes. In disaster movies, you look forward to seeing who dies and who makes it, but the deaths in "Daylight" are so anti-climactic (one survivor literally dies sitting down after giving up! 🤨🙄) they don't really register. The production design (shot in Italy) and chemistry between Sly and Amy Brenneman, plus some great supporting acting by Barry Newman ("Fear Is the Key") and Vanessa Bell Calloway as tunnel supervisors, help carry "Daylight" to the winning zone by the skin of its teeth. After 30 years I still don't fully embrace this movie, but now I happily own it on disc for the first time (and on a great-looking/sounding 4K remaster to boot). 🤓😇
Ridley Scott's THE DOG STARS ('26, IMAX) was such a financial disappointment upon its release that almost all its IMAX screenings were immediately turned over to "The Odyssey" and other one-off events. I caught the only IMAX screening of the day (4pm Tuesday) at AMC's Times Square theater complex, and immediately lamented that few people will ever get to see the full visual scope (especially the gorgeous views in/from the sky as the airplane soars) of cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt's lensing. Pretty pictures aside (and this being a Ridley joint, they're fine-looking images), "The Dog Stars" is kind-of a narrative mess. Unless Ridley has another director's cut trick under his sleeve, this feels like a disjointed and thematically compromised "The Last of Us" adaptation with sudden bouts of either "Mad Max"-type violence or "Walking Dead"-style, over-the-top fantasy (Grand Junction trip, when the movie goes off-rails even by Hollywood standards thanks to Allison Janney), interrupting the otherwise mundane post-apocalyptic daily existence of dog lover Jacob Elordi, lovelorn Margaret Qualley, survivalist Josh Brolin, etc.
No wonder Ridley Scott announced right before "TDS" came out that he was working on a sequel to "Alien: Covenant" with Michael Fassbender attached to return as David. After a critical/financial disaster this bad, time to retreat to the safety of franchise sequel expectations. 🧐🤔
I've heard nothing but middling reviews on this. But I'm going to go see it. And maybe it'll be reappraised as a masterpiece eventually. Or maybe not. I was hoping 1492: Conquest of Paradise would have been reappraised by now (as being a good movie, not a "masterpiece"), but the legacy of Columbus being (rightfully) shoved down a storm sewer probably means that will never happen. Oh well, I'll still happily love it and watch it every couple of years.
Also, Ridley, if you're reading this, make that Western you said you want to make! You're not getting younger. I know you have it in you. Do it!
Clint Eastwood's THE GAUNTLET (1977, BLU-RAY) has a smidgen of "Dirty Harry" DNA in the actor's portrayal of Ben Shockley, a drunk but stubborn Phoenix PD detective tasked by his boss Blakelock (William Prince) with bringing in a witness from Las Vegas to testify at an important mob trial. When said witness, prost!tute Gus Mally (Sondra Locke, "Sudden Impact"), informs Ben that the Vegas bookies are putting big money on them not reaching their destination on time, Shockley goes from dismissive to believer when multiple attempts on their lives almost succeed. Even though many bad people die/get beaten up along the way, the highlights of "The Gauntlet" are the inanimate objects (a house and a bus) pumped full of lead, and methods of transportation (train, motorcycle, helicopter) that Ben and Gus either use or are attacked from as they make their way from Vegas to Phoenix. Pulpy as eff and with recognizable supporting veterans (Pat Hingle as Shockley's only true friend, Bill McKinney, Michael Cavanaugh, etc.), "The Gauntlet" is to the "Dirty Harry" series what "The Party" is to "The Pink Panther" series: an unofficial entry worthy of comparisons to the genuine article. 👊😎
I was 11 when l first saw this on regular TV in 1984. Even.censored for TV, the helicopter chasing the bike through the desert and the bus vs. cops finale blew my effen' little mind. 😁🤓
Continuing with last week's trend, I'm still on a high from listening to commentary tracks in George A. Romero movies in which he participates. So into the player went KNIGHTRIDERS (1981, ANCHOR BAY DVD) and CREEPSHOW (1982, SHOUT/SCREAM FACTORY 4K UHD), both of which I watched for Junesploitation! '26.
"Knightriders" might be the best commentary track yet I've heard in a Romero flick, despite many participants (John Amplas, Christine Romero, etc.) leaving early to tend to prior commitments. Romero, Tom Savini and superfan Chris Stavrakis (brother of Taso Stavrakis, a Savini collaborator) are the only constants throughout. The war tales they share of how they stretched a minuscule budget ($1 million) to last the entire summer of '80 (so it would lead directly into "Creepshow's" shoot and keep many of their friends/family employed longer than a single shoot), is the stuff regional indie filmmaking dreams are made of. After the last two rewatches (last June and this one), "Knightriders" is inching closer to the top of my favorite Romero films. 😎😍
Sadly "Creepshow's" archival commentary track only brought together George Romero and Tom Savini; additional commentary tracks with other collaborators were recorded in 2018, a year after Romero passed away. At least the two men are full of anecdotes and fun facts about what they consider their first mainstream feature (even though Savini had already done "Friday the 13th"), so the commentary is lively and never dull. They seem upset that Ted Danson ignores "Creepshow" when looking back at his career, discuss how close the fifth segment with the roaches was almost not made due to budget limitations, and gleefully point out every cameo/small role by their friends/family. It's an okay commentary, but compared with other Romero commentary tracks this one borders on the subdued. 😟😞
Last but not least, rewatched SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY 3D ('26) in 4DX at Times Square's Regal Theater complex. Lots of tourists come to this and the AMC 25 across the street. Sitting next to me in the 4DX theater was a family from Montana: mom and dad, 10-year old son Bobby and 14-year old Mildred. We strike a conversation waiting for the movie to start. They wanted to see the movie when it came out in July, but they saved it for this scheduled summer vacation. During the movie we barely spoke, but I could tell that Mildred was really engaged during the romantic/friendship scenes while Bobby was super-engaged during the action scenes. Afterwards in the lobby, Bobby asks me if the theater we're in would be within the 1-mile radius of where you-know-who used her powers to hold many civilians hostage. I told him Roosevelt Island started on 59th Street and we were at 42nd St. on the other side of the island. We were safe from that force field. 😉😇
At the end of the movie, after Peter and Ned do... their thing... and the credits rolled, Mildred (who is sitting closer to me) takes her 3D glasses off and her make-up is running through her face, tears welling from both eyes (as were mine during most of "BND's" 3rd act). 'I didn't want the movie to end. I wish it would go on forever,' says Mildred, voice trembling. I lightly tap her hand and say 'Me too.' We both laughed. And this little human interaction with a teenager from Montana I'll never see again is why this rewatch of "BND" was so special to me. The vertigo-like feeling as the seats moved and shook while Spidey flew through NYC skyscraper canyons and fought super villains was also great and worth the 4DX 3D premium price. But knowing how special and well-received "BND's" emotional/human narrative is will never cease to make it special. 🥹🥲
I noticed the movie really resonated with teenage girls. There was a few close to me when I saw it, and they really were into it. To the point I had to shish a couple of them next to me because they were talking so much. They stopped, but were still reacting a lot to emotional scenes
In this time when we're more divided than ever, it's nice to know there are things that bring us together... like whether the Brit Spidey guy married to the girl from "Euphoria" will kiss and make-up on camera. 🥺😭💋
Across the 110th Street (1972): I'm starting to dig into my Blaxploitation boxsets, this is the first movie in the first box. Anthony Quinn, Yaphet Kotto, a dash of Film Noir, we're starting strong. There's even Burt Young (Paulie from Rocky) getting k!lled in the first scene.
Then I watched a bunch of the other movies in the sets, all of various quality, cool and fun, and always interesting watch. Anything with Pam Grier or Isaac Hayes was always the bests.
Coyote Vs ACME (2026): Great and funny movie, I'll take 5 more of those please. I feel they could've done more with something like Toons civil rights or something. If you've seen the movie, you'll understand what I mean, I don't want to say too much. I don't remember who first mentioned it in the podcast, but I also agree about the John Cena role. As much as I love the guy, I don't think that was the best part for him.
Wag the Dog (1997): I've been waiting for this one for a while. And, hum, it's kinda weird to watch now, feels like a documentary: s3x scandal with a minor, fake war to bury it... Am I talking about Clinton? Who knows? 😜 There's a Robert Altman feel to the movie too, which I love. Can you believe this thing is only 97 minutes?
Mayday (2026): Think Top Gun Maverick who's trying to be funny, but also serious. It's all over the place, thanks to Ryan Reynolds who can't get out of his own way. That's too bad, it's from the dudes who made Dungeons and Dragons, and made a career of writing (sometimes) funny movies. There's one funny scene, when they're hiding in the wine cellar. The rest is forgettable.
Back when it came out in the middle of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, "Wag the Dog" felt like art imitating life at WARP speed (the movie was in the production pipeline long before Clinton got caught). Now you're right, it feels like a documentary... about something it depicts that sort-of happened just as it came out. 🫤🤔
What other blaxploitation movies you watched from the Shout! Box Sets? Name names, senator! ✊️🤠
COYOTE VS. ACME (2026) It’s as good as everyone’s been saying. Just an absolute joy of a movie. Hope everyone gets a chance to see it on the big screen.
GOOD LUCK HAVE FUN DON’T DIE (2026) A real oddity, and one that goes to some dark, ugly places in its satire at times. But I was certainly invested throughout.
JUMPIN’ JACK FLASH (1986) Holy #%&@! Whoopi swears a lot in this movie.
ATTACK OF THE 50 FT. WOMAN (1993) Remember when HBO did a big-budget remake of the ‘50s camp classic? It’s more of a domestic sci-fi comedy with Daryl Hannah as the giantess and Daniel Baldwin as the put-upon husband. It’s directed by Christopher Guest, and the story-within-a-story opening hints at his future as the mockumentary guy. Kind of a weird one.
THE FINAL DESTINATION (2009) Of all the films in this franchise, this one has the most flaming tires.
And I watched THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU (2026) with the Blu-ray commentary. It’s what you’d expect. Favreau likes the practical effects, all the references to past Star Wars media, and lots of tech talk about Imax cameras and The Volume. On a positive note, I liked learning how one of the ships was a model built for the 1977 original SW but never used, so they finally got it on screen for this one.
How the West was Won (1962). It follows a few generations of a family that is gradually moving west during early America. It's just covered with a thick glaze of nostalgic Americana mythos syrup, but that's kind of the point. There are some great epic action scenes involving trains, stampeding bison, river rafts, etc. It was filmed in Cinerama, with 3 cameras, meant to be projected onto 3 adjoining screens. Which means you have a nearly 180 degree view at all times (it's actually 143 degrees I think). Which leads to some shots where people aren't exactly looking at one another, and lots of close ups (because anything further away looks more distorted). But when shooting big gorgeous western landscapes, which the movie is full of, it looks nothing short of spectacular. I loved this movie.
It has been a long time since I watched How The West Was Won. I remember the extra wide ratio making the film look weird in different scenes. The musical number with Debbie Reynolds (Raise a ruckus tonight) is what sticks with me for some reason. Definitely the kind of film that would not be made today.
Never saw this one. It feels like an 80s horror fan fiction reboot/remake of the original. Takes place almost immediately after pt 2, makes lots of references and parallels to part 1, has a few callbackish kills, and spends lots of time with mother. It lacks all the hitch tone and skill but does have a midnight movie level of fun with crazy nerd norman. Way more straight forward than i expected (i was expecting more twists with regards to the killings). All in all its kinda cheezy fun with a final shot that absolutely sticks the landing (and draws illusions of Alex DeLarge)
The podcast's running out of major horror franchises to discuss in-depth. "Psycho's" as good as any, especially if they bring JB to share his infinite knowledge of the 1960 original. 😎🥸
It was a week of diverse watches as we officially moved into another month. There is now less than an month until the horror movie madness begins.
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF TENNESSEE BUCK (1988, dir. David Keith) – A film that I likely would not have known about without FThisMovie. It has been in my Prime queue since Patrick wrote about the film last year, and I saw that it was going off (for the time being) as of September 1st. I decided to give it a shot and was entertained for 90 minutes. This definitely could only have come from the ‘80s. It sometimes seems like a parody of old-fashioned jungle adventure stories, but it can lean into the darker side of white-man-battling-savages tropes.
THE FIRST TURN-ON! (1983, dirs. Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz) – Coming from Troma, I knew this could be a tough watch. I do not have a good history trying to watch the company’s films. Since this leans into sex comedy territory, I found The First Turn-On to be mostly tolerable. It is very disorganized, part summer camp film, part sex comedy, and an obnoxious type of juvenile teen comedy. You never know what will come next. There is a particular sequence featuring the actor who played the Toxic Avenger that I found genuinely nauseating. A young Vincent D’Onofrio shows up in the summer camp scenes.
SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE (2018) – This consistently shows up in the online lists for best animated films of the 21st century that I have consulted to get ideas for watches. Seeing it available on Netflix while pet sitting this week made SPIDER-VERSE an easy choice. Marvel, or superheroes in general, is unfamiliar cinematic territory. It is just not my thing. I do not think SPIDER-VERSE changed that, but I can fully appreciate the animation of the film. The movement of the characters through the urban environment and the explosion of colors greatly impressed me. The comic book aesthetic is there but not overwhelming. All the voice actors did a great job bringing their characters to life. That the budget of the film was under $100 million makes it more impressive. Despite not being knowledgeable about Spider-Man, I dd not have many issues following the story.
LES GUERRIÈRES DE LA K-POP (2025) - The success of K-Pop Demon Hunters can be measured by the number of languages the film has been dubbed into. This includes the lyrics for the songs. With the access to Netflix this week, I decided to watch the French version. Here are the translations for some of the film's catch phrases.
Happy fans, happy honmoon! = Si les fans sont happy, le honmoon aussi!
As for the songs, the French equivalent of ‘Golden’ is ‘Briller’, which means to shine. The optimistic sentiment of the original recording is in the French version, which does have a change in the content of the chorus and the bridge. By far my favorite translation is for ‘Le Son de Nos Voix’ (The Sound of Our Voices), the version of ‘What It Sounds Like’. Somehow it manages to be even more on the nose about the themes of the film than the English lyrics.
Yet again, I could not ignore the holes in the narrative or how rushed everything feels, but K-Pop Demon Hunters has a solid package – the animation, the characters, and the soundtrack – to win over viewers. I understand both the love and the hate (the hype, overexposure, the frantic pacing) people have for the film. In any case, it will sell well for Criterion. The amount of preorders is probably already high.
Fun fact: both "Into the Spider-verse" (plus its sequels) and "K-Pop Demon Hunters" were made by the same Sony Pictures Animation studio (SP Imageworks). Different filmmakers calling the shots for each, but both made on the same computer render farms by the same CG animators. 🙃🙂
You're a brave man watching a new-to-you Troma flick. l couldn't... haven't since many Junesploitation! years ago, when we had Troma day go real bad (haven't had another Troma day since). Except for detours into classic OG and new remake on "The Toxic Avenger" (l disliked both intensely! 🤢🤮), no Troma for me! 🥵
The Mahoning Drive-In has had a Troma-thon weekend for a few years. For this year's event, there was a lot of drama with the company reps (not Lloyd Kaufman) who were there. It was bad enough that the drive-in cancelled the second night of screenings.
The Sony connection was another reason for watching Into The Spider-Verse. Spider-Verse is definitely a better film than KPDH. I wish that KPDH would have had the option of the longer run-time that Spider-Verse was allocated, but it is not a Spider-Man movie. In animation, more run-time means more money being spent. Ninety minutes was what Maggie Kang was given, and she and Chris Appelhans fit in what they could from the original story ideas. I doubt the KPDH sequel will top the first in its impact, but I think Kang and Appelhans will have a little more run-time this time if they need it.
I am enjoying that Sony style of animation and realizing that animated films is one of the few areas of modern cinema that I am generally satisfied with. Even the recent Minions movie (watched on a double bill with The Odyssey) kept me interested for most of the run-time. There is a creativity in animation that even a mediocre story cannot completely destroy.
The fact that Sony sold KPDH lock, stock, and barrel to Netflix for just above production costs shows that the company did not have faith that the film would even earn back what Sony put into it. Sony did not even try to hold on to the music rights. All Sony kept was the production rights for any further KPDH productions. There were no contracts made for any sequel, though, so I am sure Sony was able to squeeze some revenue sharing from Netflix for this one.
With the connection Criterion has with Netflix, I am not surprised Criterion is putting it out. Listening to the debates about whether KPDH "deserves" to be in the collection has been interesting. Time will tell what the place of KPDH is in film history, but it has escaped the streaming world into wider pop culture in a way that no other film I can think of has. With the amount of discs that will likely be sold, Criterion is also making a good business move.
Putting out the DVD option is smart because that is the format a lot of libraries still tend to favor. Any popular kid-friendly films will be attractive for libraries to acquire, so that should push the sales for Criterion quite a bit.
Never seen "KPDH," nothing about it (plot synopsis, look, descriptions by others, etc.) makes me want to watch it... other than Criterion releasing it on home video. Is the movie that good, or is Criterion pulling another Michael Bay and releasing a mainstream hit purely to sell more units? 🤔🤨
Money talks (and 🐂💩 walks! 😁). I'm more likely to blind-buy a "KPDH" Criterion disc than to subscribe to Netflix to watch it... although right now both are equally remote, distant possibilities. 🫠🙃
The "is it good" question, J.M., is the main part of the discourse about KPDH getting into the Criterion closet. The detractors will call the release a cash grab, while others point to the OSCAR win (some question whether that was based more on popularity than merit) and the zeitgeist moment that the film represents as making it worthy.
KPDH seems to only have gotten more polarizing with the rise of its popularity. Hype can be a good thing to get people to watch a film, but it can also make something feel overrated. When the kids embrace a film, grown-ups can start to feel uncomfortable liking it. Those are some of the issues around KPDH. If you are looking for a well-told story here, you are liable to be disappointed. The plot holes can be large, and the lore of the film is not fully explained. Its main strength is as a visual and aural experience, with the characters also being a source of connection with its fans.
Overall, I have a fun time with the film, which was the original purpose of it to begin with. All of the scrutiny KPDH has gotten beyond that seems to equally amuse and puzzle the people who made it.
I would expect that by the end of the year a library near you will have a disc of K-Pop Demon Hunters, J.M. That way you do not have to spend any money to see it.
NYC Public Library System is solid. 😉 Many branches also screen movies regularly for free, and l'd expect "KPDH" will get the group viewing treatment and be popular. I feel l have to watch it for the 1st time with an audience, or l won't 'get it,' whatever 'it' is. 🙃🙂
I waited until a theatrical screening was available to actual watch it. The kids singing the songs did not prove very distracting. The big screen experience of the film is quite different than watching it on a TV.
That screening was in April, but I had followed the KPDH hoopla and publicity tour since last fall, when I became aware of Golden. (The soundtrack could be the lasting legacy of this.) Nobody involved with the film expected the success or the demands it would put on them. Judging by how quiet everybody has become since the long publicity tour ended, they probably needed the break. For the directors, though, they have had to get working on earning the $50 million Netflix is paying them for the next KPDH projects.
'It's time.' 🤠😺
ReplyDeleteShame that "Obsessed" (Focus Features) and "Backrooms'" (A24/Atomic Monster) surprise performances early in the summer left no box office oxygen for uniquely creative, latecomer indies like "This Ends" (Neon) and BoulderLight Pictures' BUDDY (2026, THEATER). As daring and unique as its predecessors, but more comfortably inhabiting the micro-budget horror genre space, "Buddy" starts deceivingly as 4x3 AR SD recordings of a "Barney"-like TV show that, subtly at first, begins to unravel the veneer of children TV's innocence with implied personality conflicts and physical altercations. Then a point-of-no-return is reached between the cast of curious kids and the orange unicorn Buddy (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key, whose barely-outside-legal-copyright imitation of the Barney voice is a constant highlight), one that ruptures the fabric of time and space between the TV show's reality and our own.
Even though there are adults in the cast (Cristin Milioti and Topher Grace), the success of "Buddy" rests on the tiny shoulders of excellent young actors (particularly Delaney Quinn as Freddy), selling the idea that these kids have been raised in a TV environment that ill-prepares them for the "real" (2:35:1 AR) world. Things get pretty bloody and violent, but you'll be simultaneously laughing and being in awe at how "Buddy" pulls it off while setting up sequels without insulting your intelligence. Highly recommended, especially with a sold-out crowd (at 11:15pm on a Monday night! 😲) so into it they couldn't stop talking about it all the way through the return-home NYC subway ride. 😎👍
Oh, I hadn't even heard of that. Thanks for the recommendation!
DeleteIt was No. 6 at the box office last week. Hopefully word-of-mouth will keep it around a little longer. 🙂
DeleteWritten and directed by Casper Kelly of Too Many Cooks (and various other Adult Swim things) fame.
DeleteIt felt like an Adult Swim movie on "Backroom"-endorsed, "Obsessed"-enhanced steroids.✌️😄
DeleteThis seems like a good time to post a long-delayed review for Eli Roth's remake of ICE CREAM MAN ('26, THEATER), which I watched in early August but keep forgetting to write about (I watch too many pictures; first-world problems! 🥹😛). It's not as bad as its low ratings would suggest... until you see a movie like "Buddy" that makes you realize how by-the-numbers, reliant-on-shocks "ICM" is. The titular villain (Ari Millen) feeds ice cream to every child in Bayleen Bay, turning them into worse versions of the little monsters they already were. 😉🙃 Only Jared (Charlie Zeltzer), his teenage sister Lizzie (Sarah Abbott) and two besties remain uncorrupted, and must try to reverse the effects before the town is destroyed. To its credit, "ICM" has a plot to try and justify its unrated mayhem (bottom line: lawyers suck!), which is graphic, plentiful and a gorehound's delight. And just like "Buddy," the younger cast (including dozens of extras tearing limbs or beating old ladies with their walking canes) is better than the adults (including Roth himself as the father of Jared and Lizzie) at selling the lunacy of where the story ends up going. 'It's fine,' but just another typical Eli joint that doesn't aspire to more than surface-level shocks and twists.
ReplyDeleteWhenever a boutique sale starts, the first title bought tells you something about someone's personal taste. Barnes & Noble just started a 50% off Kino Lorber Sale, and I knew the first title (of many more in the future) I wanted to get was Rob Cohen's Sylvester Stallone mid-90's disaster genre vehicle DAYLIGHT (1996, 4K UHD). I've only seen it a few times (theater and a couple of rental/cable rewatches) and remember not liking it, but it has stayed in my head. A dozen or so survivors are trapped in the Midtown underwater tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey by an untimely chemical explosion, an action scene with a great mix of practical and miniature effects (with a little CG polish) that nothing later tops in the 'you got your ticket's worth of entertainment already' department. Disgraced former Emergency Services boss Kit Latura (Stallone), who just happens to be near the tunnel when things turn south, immediately takes control and wants to help save the survivors. Political red tape and personal beefs (damn you, Dan Hedaya! 😡) mean Latura has to go at it alone, without the ability to communicate to NYC politicians that their desire to reopen the tunnel ASAP will kill the few people still alive.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate now what I felt was a flaw in this movie's narrative: a complete lack of humor. Except for Amy Brenneman singing 'New York, New York' in her car and the very last line of the movie (a terrible one-liner! 🫣🫢), "Daylight" takes itself and its premise very seriously. It's his choice, and Rob Cohen sticks to it. Stallone commands the screen despite often making Latura a self-doubting savior who doesn't know what to do next. Shame most of the supporting cast (Viggo Mortensen, Sage Stallone, Jay O. Sanders, Karen Young... even young Danielle Harris of "Halloween 4" fame) are a whiny bunch of NYC stereotypes. In disaster movies, you look forward to seeing who dies and who makes it, but the deaths in "Daylight" are so anti-climactic (one survivor literally dies sitting down after giving up! 🤨🙄) they don't really register. The production design (shot in Italy) and chemistry between Sly and Amy Brenneman, plus some great supporting acting by Barry Newman ("Fear Is the Key") and Vanessa Bell Calloway as tunnel supervisors, help carry "Daylight" to the winning zone by the skin of its teeth. After 30 years I still don't fully embrace this movie, but now I happily own it on disc for the first time (and on a great-looking/sounding 4K remaster to boot). 🤓😇
Ridley Scott's THE DOG STARS ('26, IMAX) was such a financial disappointment upon its release that almost all its IMAX screenings were immediately turned over to "The Odyssey" and other one-off events. I caught the only IMAX screening of the day (4pm Tuesday) at AMC's Times Square theater complex, and immediately lamented that few people will ever get to see the full visual scope (especially the gorgeous views in/from the sky as the airplane soars) of cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt's lensing. Pretty pictures aside (and this being a Ridley joint, they're fine-looking images), "The Dog Stars" is kind-of a narrative mess. Unless Ridley has another director's cut trick under his sleeve, this feels like a disjointed and thematically compromised "The Last of Us" adaptation with sudden bouts of either "Mad Max"-type violence or "Walking Dead"-style, over-the-top fantasy (Grand Junction trip, when the movie goes off-rails even by Hollywood standards thanks to Allison Janney), interrupting the otherwise mundane post-apocalyptic daily existence of dog lover Jacob Elordi, lovelorn Margaret Qualley, survivalist Josh Brolin, etc.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder Ridley Scott announced right before "TDS" came out that he was working on a sequel to "Alien: Covenant" with Michael Fassbender attached to return as David. After a critical/financial disaster this bad, time to retreat to the safety of franchise sequel expectations. 🧐🤔
I've heard nothing but middling reviews on this. But I'm going to go see it. And maybe it'll be reappraised as a masterpiece eventually. Or maybe not. I was hoping 1492: Conquest of Paradise would have been reappraised by now (as being a good movie, not a "masterpiece"), but the legacy of Columbus being (rightfully) shoved down a storm sewer probably means that will never happen. Oh well, I'll still happily love it and watch it every couple of years.
DeleteAlso, Ridley, if you're reading this, make that Western you said you want to make! You're not getting younger. I know you have it in you. Do it!
First the cash cow ("Covenant" sequel with Fassbender), then the western. 🤠🥵
DeleteClint Eastwood's THE GAUNTLET (1977, BLU-RAY) has a smidgen of "Dirty Harry" DNA in the actor's portrayal of Ben Shockley, a drunk but stubborn Phoenix PD detective tasked by his boss Blakelock (William Prince) with bringing in a witness from Las Vegas to testify at an important mob trial. When said witness, prost!tute Gus Mally (Sondra Locke, "Sudden Impact"), informs Ben that the Vegas bookies are putting big money on them not reaching their destination on time, Shockley goes from dismissive to believer when multiple attempts on their lives almost succeed. Even though many bad people die/get beaten up along the way, the highlights of "The Gauntlet" are the inanimate objects (a house and a bus) pumped full of lead, and methods of transportation (train, motorcycle, helicopter) that Ben and Gus either use or are attacked from as they make their way from Vegas to Phoenix. Pulpy as eff and with recognizable supporting veterans (Pat Hingle as Shockley's only true friend, Bill McKinney, Michael Cavanaugh, etc.), "The Gauntlet" is to the "Dirty Harry" series what "The Party" is to "The Pink Panther" series: an unofficial entry worthy of comparisons to the genuine article. 👊😎
ReplyDeleteOOOO i remember liking this one as a kid. need to revisit.
DeleteI was 11 when l first saw this on regular TV in 1984. Even.censored for TV, the helicopter chasing the bike through the desert and the bus vs. cops finale blew my effen' little mind. 😁🤓
DeleteContinuing with last week's trend, I'm still on a high from listening to commentary tracks in George A. Romero movies in which he participates. So into the player went KNIGHTRIDERS (1981, ANCHOR BAY DVD) and CREEPSHOW (1982, SHOUT/SCREAM FACTORY 4K UHD), both of which I watched for Junesploitation! '26.
ReplyDelete"Knightriders" might be the best commentary track yet I've heard in a Romero flick, despite many participants (John Amplas, Christine Romero, etc.) leaving early to tend to prior commitments. Romero, Tom Savini and superfan Chris Stavrakis (brother of Taso Stavrakis, a Savini collaborator) are the only constants throughout. The war tales they share of how they stretched a minuscule budget ($1 million) to last the entire summer of '80 (so it would lead directly into "Creepshow's" shoot and keep many of their friends/family employed longer than a single shoot), is the stuff regional indie filmmaking dreams are made of. After the last two rewatches (last June and this one), "Knightriders" is inching closer to the top of my favorite Romero films. 😎😍
Sadly "Creepshow's" archival commentary track only brought together George Romero and Tom Savini; additional commentary tracks with other collaborators were recorded in 2018, a year after Romero passed away. At least the two men are full of anecdotes and fun facts about what they consider their first mainstream feature (even though Savini had already done "Friday the 13th"), so the commentary is lively and never dull. They seem upset that Ted Danson ignores "Creepshow" when looking back at his career, discuss how close the fifth segment with the roaches was almost not made due to budget limitations, and gleefully point out every cameo/small role by their friends/family. It's an okay commentary, but compared with other Romero commentary tracks this one borders on the subdued. 😟😞
Last but not least, rewatched SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY 3D ('26) in 4DX at Times Square's Regal Theater complex. Lots of tourists come to this and the AMC 25 across the street. Sitting next to me in the 4DX theater was a family from Montana: mom and dad, 10-year old son Bobby and 14-year old Mildred. We strike a conversation waiting for the movie to start. They wanted to see the movie when it came out in July, but they saved it for this scheduled summer vacation. During the movie we barely spoke, but I could tell that Mildred was really engaged during the romantic/friendship scenes while Bobby was super-engaged during the action scenes. Afterwards in the lobby, Bobby asks me if the theater we're in would be within the 1-mile radius of where you-know-who used her powers to hold many civilians hostage. I told him Roosevelt Island started on 59th Street and we were at 42nd St. on the other side of the island. We were safe from that force field. 😉😇
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the movie, after Peter and Ned do... their thing... and the credits rolled, Mildred (who is sitting closer to me) takes her 3D glasses off and her make-up is running through her face, tears welling from both eyes (as were mine during most of "BND's" 3rd act). 'I didn't want the movie to end. I wish it would go on forever,' says Mildred, voice trembling. I lightly tap her hand and say 'Me too.' We both laughed. And this little human interaction with a teenager from Montana I'll never see again is why this rewatch of "BND" was so special to me. The vertigo-like feeling as the seats moved and shook while Spidey flew through NYC skyscraper canyons and fought super villains was also great and worth the 4DX 3D premium price. But knowing how special and well-received "BND's" emotional/human narrative is will never cease to make it special. 🥹🥲
That's very cute, Bobby asking about the radius.
DeleteI noticed the movie really resonated with teenage girls. There was a few close to me when I saw it, and they really were into it. To the point I had to shish a couple of them next to me because they were talking so much. They stopped, but were still reacting a lot to emotional scenes
In this time when we're more divided than ever, it's nice to know there are things that bring us together... like whether the Brit Spidey guy married to the girl from "Euphoria" will kiss and make-up on camera. 🥺😭💋
DeleteAcross the 110th Street (1972): I'm starting to dig into my Blaxploitation boxsets, this is the first movie in the first box. Anthony Quinn, Yaphet Kotto, a dash of Film Noir, we're starting strong. There's even Burt Young (Paulie from Rocky) getting k!lled in the first scene.
ReplyDeleteThen I watched a bunch of the other movies in the sets, all of various quality, cool and fun, and always interesting watch. Anything with Pam Grier or Isaac Hayes was always the bests.
Coyote Vs ACME (2026): Great and funny movie, I'll take 5 more of those please. I feel they could've done more with something like Toons civil rights or something. If you've seen the movie, you'll understand what I mean, I don't want to say too much. I don't remember who first mentioned it in the podcast, but I also agree about the John Cena role. As much as I love the guy, I don't think that was the best part for him.
Wag the Dog (1997): I've been waiting for this one for a while. And, hum, it's kinda weird to watch now, feels like a documentary: s3x scandal with a minor, fake war to bury it... Am I talking about Clinton? Who knows? 😜 There's a Robert Altman feel to the movie too, which I love. Can you believe this thing is only 97 minutes?
Mayday (2026): Think Top Gun Maverick who's trying to be funny, but also serious. It's all over the place, thanks to Ryan Reynolds who can't get out of his own way. That's too bad, it's from the dudes who made Dungeons and Dragons, and made a career of writing (sometimes) funny movies. There's one funny scene, when they're hiding in the wine cellar. The rest is forgettable.
Back when it came out in the middle of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, "Wag the Dog" felt like art imitating life at WARP speed (the movie was in the production pipeline long before Clinton got caught). Now you're right, it feels like a documentary... about something it depicts that sort-of happened just as it came out. 🫤🤔
DeleteWhat other blaxploitation movies you watched from the Shout! Box Sets? Name names, senator! ✊️🤠
First box also contains Black Ceasar, Hell Up in Harlem, Coffy, Sheba Baby and Truck Turner. I'd already seen the last 3.
DeleteI should start the second box sometimes today. That one has only 1 title I already seen, Foxy Brown. I know, shocker, I saw the Pam Grier's movies 🤣
Across 110th Street was my Blaxploitation watch for Junesploitation this year. A solid film all around.
DeleteCOYOTE VS. ACME (2026)
ReplyDeleteIt’s as good as everyone’s been saying. Just an absolute joy of a movie. Hope everyone gets a chance to see it on the big screen.
GOOD LUCK HAVE FUN DON’T DIE (2026)
A real oddity, and one that goes to some dark, ugly places in its satire at times. But I was certainly invested throughout.
JUMPIN’ JACK FLASH (1986)
Holy #%&@! Whoopi swears a lot in this movie.
ATTACK OF THE 50 FT. WOMAN (1993)
Remember when HBO did a big-budget remake of the ‘50s camp classic? It’s more of a domestic sci-fi comedy with Daryl Hannah as the giantess and Daniel Baldwin as the put-upon husband. It’s directed by Christopher Guest, and the story-within-a-story opening hints at his future as the mockumentary guy. Kind of a weird one.
THE FINAL DESTINATION (2009)
Of all the films in this franchise, this one has the most flaming tires.
And I watched THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU (2026) with the Blu-ray commentary. It’s what you’d expect. Favreau likes the practical effects, all the references to past Star Wars media, and lots of tech talk about Imax cameras and The Volume. On a positive note, I liked learning how one of the ships was a model built for the 1977 original SW but never used, so they finally got it on screen for this one.
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ReplyDeleteHow the West was Won (1962). It follows a few generations of a family that is gradually moving west during early America. It's just covered with a thick glaze of nostalgic Americana mythos syrup, but that's kind of the point. There are some great epic action scenes involving trains, stampeding bison, river rafts, etc. It was filmed in Cinerama, with 3 cameras, meant to be projected onto 3 adjoining screens. Which means you have a nearly 180 degree view at all times (it's actually 143 degrees I think). Which leads to some shots where people aren't exactly looking at one another, and lots of close ups (because anything further away looks more distorted). But when shooting big gorgeous western landscapes, which the movie is full of, it looks nothing short of spectacular. I loved this movie.
ReplyDeleteIt has been a long time since I watched How The West Was Won. I remember the extra wide ratio making the film look weird in different scenes. The musical number with Debbie Reynolds (Raise a ruckus tonight) is what sticks with me for some reason. Definitely the kind of film that would not be made today.
DeleteHowdy Movie Fans!
ReplyDeletePsycho III (1986 shudder)
Never saw this one. It feels like an 80s horror fan fiction reboot/remake of the original. Takes place almost immediately after pt 2, makes lots of references and parallels to part 1, has a few callbackish kills, and spends lots of time with mother. It lacks all the hitch tone and skill but does have a midnight movie level of fun with crazy nerd norman. Way more straight forward than i expected (i was expecting more twists with regards to the killings). All in all its kinda cheezy fun with a final shot that absolutely sticks the landing (and draws illusions of Alex DeLarge)
Maybe Psycho will be the Scary Movie Month franchise this year?
DeleteThe podcast's running out of major horror franchises to discuss in-depth. "Psycho's" as good as any, especially if they bring JB to share his infinite knowledge of the 1960 original. 😎🥸
DeleteGood call Paul! Shudder has 4 of them...i honestly only thought there were 2. May have to check out 4 just for the heck of it.
DeleteThere's also the 1987 TV Movie/pilot Bates Motel (just checked YouTube and it's on there).
DeleteIt was a week of diverse watches as we officially moved into another month. There is now less than an month until the horror movie madness begins.
ReplyDeleteTHE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF TENNESSEE BUCK (1988, dir. David Keith) – A film that I likely would not have known about without FThisMovie. It has been in my Prime queue since Patrick wrote about the film last year, and I saw that it was going off (for the time being) as of September 1st. I decided to give it a shot and was entertained for 90 minutes. This definitely could only have come from the ‘80s. It sometimes seems like a parody of old-fashioned jungle adventure stories, but it can lean into the darker side of white-man-battling-savages tropes.
THE FIRST TURN-ON! (1983, dirs. Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz) – Coming from Troma, I knew this could be a tough watch. I do not have a good history trying to watch the company’s films. Since this leans into sex comedy territory, I found The First Turn-On to be mostly tolerable. It is very disorganized, part summer camp film, part sex comedy, and an obnoxious type of juvenile teen comedy. You never know what will come next. There is a particular sequence featuring the actor who played the Toxic Avenger that I found genuinely nauseating. A young Vincent D’Onofrio shows up in the summer camp scenes.
SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE (2018) – This consistently shows up in the online lists for best animated films of the 21st century that I have consulted to get ideas for watches. Seeing it available on Netflix while pet sitting this week made SPIDER-VERSE an easy choice. Marvel, or superheroes in general, is unfamiliar cinematic territory. It is just not my thing. I do not think SPIDER-VERSE changed that, but I can fully appreciate the animation of the film. The movement of the characters through the urban environment and the explosion of colors greatly impressed me. The comic book aesthetic is there but not overwhelming. All the voice actors did a great job bringing their characters to life. That the budget of the film was under $100 million makes it more impressive. Despite not being knowledgeable about Spider-Man, I dd not have many issues following the story.
LES GUERRIÈRES DE LA K-POP (2025) - The success of K-Pop Demon Hunters can be measured by the number of languages the film has been dubbed into. This includes the lyrics for the songs. With the access to Netflix this week, I decided to watch the French version. Here are the translations for some of the film's catch phrases.
Happy fans, happy honmoon! = Si les fans sont happy, le honmoon aussi!
Couch, couch, couch! = Canap’, canap’, canap’! (from canapé)
As for the songs, the French equivalent of ‘Golden’ is ‘Briller’, which means to shine. The optimistic sentiment of the original recording is in the French version, which does have a change in the content of the chorus and the bridge. By far my favorite translation is for ‘Le Son de Nos Voix’ (The Sound of Our Voices), the version of ‘What It Sounds Like’. Somehow it manages to be even more on the nose about the themes of the film than the English lyrics.
Yet again, I could not ignore the holes in the narrative or how rushed everything feels, but K-Pop Demon Hunters has a solid package – the animation, the characters, and the soundtrack – to win over viewers. I understand both the love and the hate (the hype, overexposure, the frantic pacing) people have for the film. In any case, it will sell well for Criterion. The amount of preorders is probably already high.
Fun fact: both "Into the Spider-verse" (plus its sequels) and "K-Pop Demon Hunters" were made by the same Sony Pictures Animation studio (SP Imageworks). Different filmmakers calling the shots for each, but both made on the same computer render farms by the same CG animators. 🙃🙂
DeleteYou're a brave man watching a new-to-you Troma flick. l couldn't... haven't since many Junesploitation! years ago, when we had Troma day go real bad (haven't had another Troma day since). Except for detours into classic OG and new remake on "The Toxic Avenger" (l disliked both intensely! 🤢🤮), no Troma for me! 🥵
The Mahoning Drive-In has had a Troma-thon weekend for a few years. For this year's event, there was a lot of drama with the company reps (not Lloyd Kaufman) who were there. It was bad enough that the drive-in cancelled the second night of screenings.
DeleteThe Sony connection was another reason for watching Into The Spider-Verse. Spider-Verse is definitely a better film than KPDH. I wish that KPDH would have had the option of the longer run-time that Spider-Verse was allocated, but it is not a Spider-Man movie. In animation, more run-time means more money being spent. Ninety minutes was what Maggie Kang was given, and she and Chris Appelhans fit in what they could from the original story ideas. I doubt the KPDH sequel will top the first in its impact, but I think Kang and Appelhans will have a little more run-time this time if they need it.
I am enjoying that Sony style of animation and realizing that animated films is one of the few areas of modern cinema that I am generally satisfied with. Even the recent Minions movie (watched on a double bill with The Odyssey) kept me interested for most of the run-time. There is a creativity in animation that even a mediocre story cannot completely destroy.
The fact that Sony sold KPDH lock, stock, and barrel to Netflix for just above production costs shows that the company did not have faith that the film would even earn back what Sony put into it. Sony did not even try to hold on to the music rights. All Sony kept was the production rights for any further KPDH productions. There were no contracts made for any sequel, though, so I am sure Sony was able to squeeze some revenue sharing from Netflix for this one.
DeleteAnd let's not forget KPDH is coming out on Criterion disc in a couple of months
DeleteWith the connection Criterion has with Netflix, I am not surprised Criterion is putting it out. Listening to the debates about whether KPDH "deserves" to be in the collection has been interesting. Time will tell what the place of KPDH is in film history, but it has escaped the streaming world into wider pop culture in a way that no other film I can think of has. With the amount of discs that will likely be sold, Criterion is also making a good business move.
DeletePutting out the DVD option is smart because that is the format a lot of libraries still tend to favor. Any popular kid-friendly films will be attractive for libraries to acquire, so that should push the sales for Criterion quite a bit.
Never seen "KPDH," nothing about it (plot synopsis, look, descriptions by others, etc.) makes me want to watch it... other than Criterion releasing it on home video. Is the movie that good, or is Criterion pulling another Michael Bay and releasing a mainstream hit purely to sell more units? 🤔🤨
DeleteAnd Wall-E...
DeleteI haven't read anything about the debate, but i can imagine what's being said.
I'm actually thinking of getting it just because Tony Zhou is doing an extra, amd that guy is always interesting.
Money talks (and 🐂💩 walks! 😁). I'm more likely to blind-buy a "KPDH" Criterion disc than to subscribe to Netflix to watch it... although right now both are equally remote, distant possibilities. 🫠🙃
DeleteThe "is it good" question, J.M., is the main part of the discourse about KPDH getting into the Criterion closet. The detractors will call the release a cash grab, while others point to the OSCAR win (some question whether that was based more on popularity than merit) and the zeitgeist moment that the film represents as making it worthy.
DeleteKPDH seems to only have gotten more polarizing with the rise of its popularity. Hype can be a good thing to get people to watch a film, but it can also make something feel overrated. When the kids embrace a film, grown-ups can start to feel uncomfortable liking it. Those are some of the issues around KPDH. If you are looking for a well-told story here, you are liable to be disappointed. The plot holes can be large, and the lore of the film is not fully explained. Its main strength is as a visual and aural experience, with the characters also being a source of connection with its fans.
Overall, I have a fun time with the film, which was the original purpose of it to begin with. All of the scrutiny KPDH has gotten beyond that seems to equally amuse and puzzle the people who made it.
I would expect that by the end of the year a library near you will have a disc of K-Pop Demon Hunters, J.M. That way you do not have to spend any money to see it.
DeleteNYC Public Library System is solid. 😉 Many branches also screen movies regularly for free, and l'd expect "KPDH" will get the group viewing treatment and be popular. I feel l have to watch it for the 1st time with an audience, or l won't 'get it,' whatever 'it' is. 🙃🙂
DeleteI waited until a theatrical screening was available to actual watch it. The kids singing the songs did not prove very distracting. The big screen experience of the film is quite different than watching it on a TV.
DeleteThat screening was in April, but I had followed the KPDH hoopla and publicity tour since last fall, when I became aware of Golden. (The soundtrack could be the lasting legacy of this.) Nobody involved with the film expected the success or the demands it would put on them. Judging by how quiet everybody has become since the long publicity tour ended, they probably needed the break. For the directors, though, they have had to get working on earning the $50 million Netflix is paying them for the next KPDH projects.