Yay, back on the weekly! 😀 Here's a mix of stuff watched this week and non-horror movies watched throughout October. 😎
Taika Waititi's KLARA AND THE SUN (2026, AMC DOLBY CINEMA), based on a Young Adult novel about a "malfunctioning" robot companion in a box (Jenna Ortega in peak star mode) bringing together a dysfunctional family (teenager Mia Tharia and her technophobic mother Amy Adams) in the not-too-distant-future, might just be his cinematic masterpiece... and the man wrote, directed and starred in freaking "Jojo Rabbit!" Using a "Blade Runner"-esque retro future aesthetic and a great supporting cast (Natasha Lyonne, Steve Buscemi, etc.) with just the right amounts of quirk, whimsy and earned sadness, "Klara" will tug at your heart one moment (the spectre of death looms at every turn) and make you laugh out loud the next (a literal scarecrow). A huge box office bomb upon release, this one now belongs to the cult fans who are bound to find it on home video for decades to come. I love this movie! 🥰👍
Short and sweet, Takashi Yamazaki's GODZILLA MINUS ZERO (JAPAN, '26, IMAX) is not as good as "Godzilla Minus One" (more emphasis on the monsters than on the human drama that distinguished its predecessor), but it's still miles better and far superior to any of Warner's MonsterVerse entries. Same main cast (Minami Hamabe, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, etc.), same setting (Japan in the five years after World War II ended), same dour tone (enhanced by an earned 'R' rating revolving around Hiroshima burn victims' flashbacks and Godzilla wrecking an American city) and melodramatic narrative ("Train to Busan," anyone?) dealing with civilian/scientific heroes trying to pit a newly-formed creature (eventually named 'Ghidorah') against a barely-seen Godzilla. Seriously, this one rivals Gareth Edwards' 2014 reboot in keeping the big G's screentime to a minimum... in a 135 min. movie! Special effects are as good or better than "One," so an IMAX ticket is almost mandatory. YMMV. 🧐
Alejandro Iñárritu's DIGGER ('26, 70mm VISTAVISION) is, to paraphrase a common FTM term, neither AIDS nor as bad as its poor box office reception and critical drubbing would have you believe. Maybe now that a 'Blue Wave' has swept our politics this would have been better received, but a month ago the country wasn't in the mood for Tom Cruise (not bad, but shouldn't have been the main focus of the story) playing a buffoon one-percenter trillionaire with influence over the administration of U.S. President Compson (John Goodman imitating you-know-who) trying to manipulate a natural disaster of his own making to his political/PR advantage. Even taking into account the narrative twist (worth seeing "Digger" for if you don't know about it) and some great supporting cast work (Riz Ahmed, Jesse Plemons, Sandra Hüller, etc.), this arthouse fare didn't need the financial pressures of a blockbuster budget to get its points across. Good luck getting the new Skydance regime that owns Warner Bros. now to take wild artistic swings like this in the future, though, which pads "Digger's" reputation a bit. Worth seeing, IMO. 🤠🤑
R.I.P. PATRICK STEWART (1940-2026) AND WALTER KOENING (1936-2026) - STAR TREK: GENERATIONS (1994, DVD)
Kudos to Mac McEntire for choosing the only movie featuring these legendary "Trek" actors (in separate scenes from one another) as a fitting Jury Room 4.0 Discord watch-along tribute to their careers. That said, this first theatrical movie with the cast from the just-concluded "Star Trek: The Next Generation" TV show is clearly the imperfect work of TV people (director David Carson, writers Ronald D. Moore & Brannon Bragga, etc.) learning on the job how to translate serialized TV characters/material to the big screen. Did we really need a prominent 'B' plot about Data (Brent Spiner) learning about humor and humanity due to a malfunctioning chip? It's such a thin excuse to get Data to swear and pump his fists in a 'PG' movie. 🤨🙄 The main story feels like convoluted summer saults to try and get the "Star Trek" captains (Stewart's Picard and William Shatner's Kirk) together on-screen, which feels like an early vote of no confidence from the studio suits on the "TNG" cast's appeal... not to mention a waste of Malcolm McDowell's Soran, an above-average Trek villain saddled with a poor script. 'It's fine,' but "Generations" feels like unrealized potential that at least shows Patrick Stewart can be good in anything.
As a TNG kid, Generations is my favorite Trek film. First Contact may be a slighter better movie overall, but I really dislike the weird and regressive flirtation stuff between Data and the Borg Queen.
Did we really need a prominent 'B' plot about Data (Brent Spiner) learning about humor and humanity due to a malfunctioning chip? – As a Trek ker, I say yes! It pays off a plot thread from "Brothers" and "Descent"; it may not work great for a general audience, but to me, that's another reason to love the movie – it's for us.
Also, I unapologetically love that Kirk and Picard meet over breakfast egg-cooking in a rural cabin. That, to me, is just the right bit of tangible whimsy for Trek. (Fighting killer drones by playing Beastie Boys at them, not so much.)
I hear you. Never been a fan of TV "Trek" (seen all the "Trek" movies, though), and have only seen the bad "TNG" episodes ("Sub Rosa," "Shades of Gray," "Genesis," etc.) for LOL's. To me "Generations" feels like it's trying to be worthy of big screen reputation, but comes across as an above-budget "TNG" two-parter. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Picard and Kirk bonding over breakfast eggs and horses is fine, but as Shatner's last hurrah in the official "Trek" canon? 🥵😞
FORGOTTEN ISLAND 3D ('26, THEATER) tries its damndest to be the most dripping-with-Dreamworks-attitude animated movie (two words: teenage werewolf) with dual female protagonists this side of "Magagascar" and "Ice Age," but with healthy sprinkles of anime influences and that "Shrek"/"Wild Robot" pathos to also tug at your heart. Hawaiian besties Jo (H.E.R.) and Raizza (Liza Soberano) star as lifelong besties about to be separated by adult obligations, only for what they thought was the imaginary world of Nakali Island to suck them into its realm of magic, fantasy and goofiness. Visually dazzling (so much neon!) and aurally pleasant (choice needle drops galore), not to mention paying homage to THAT scene in McTiernan's "Predator," "Forgotten Island" proudly wears its anime influences on its sleeve and takes its time setting up a potential conflict (trading your lifetime of memories for a chance to escape back to reality) worthy of the wildly creative worlds built around it. Great little animated flick that, sadly, underperformed at the box office. 😕😔
It's fitting that a stuntman (Mark Vanselow) directs THE MONGOOSE ('26, THEATER), an action thriller that finds Liam Neeson driving a Mustang Shelby Super Snake GT350 from the Kentucky and Texas cops chasing after it. Flashbacks fill us in that Liam and his buddies (Marcus Thomas and Ving Rhames) are Afghanistan war veterans who suffered the trauma of capture by Taliban rebels who killed one of their own, and that Neeson's 'Fang' is being wrongly accused of murdering the new husband of his supporting ex-wife (Marisa Tomei). About a third into the movie Michael Chiklis shows up as a hard-ass Texas major, and the tone shifts closer to a modernized "Smokey and the Bandit" than the thriller it was shaping up to be. 'It's fine' but man, the 'Liam Neeson formula pics' well's been really dry for the past couple of years. 🥸
Speaking of the military, David Ayer's HEART OF THE BEAST ('26, AMC DOLBY CINEMA) has its emotions and filmmaking intent in the right place by showcasing the 'man versus nature' plight of a heart attack-stricken veteran (Brad Pitt) and his combat dog Odin surviving the Alaskan wilderness after their plane crash lands in a lake. Except for an old man (J.K. Simmons) and a young woman (Anna Lambe) bookending the start/end, James Belmont and his dog are the only ones we follow for the many miles they must walk on foot to get back to civilization. Some of the SFX and CG wolves are dodgy (typical of an Ayer pic), but the practical portions of the shoot and the Odin stunt dogs (real or CG) are convincing. If you can buy Brad Pitt walking around after suffering what was portrayed as a crippling stroke, "HOTB" is a sweet and inoffensive flick whose only sin is that everything in it (even the ending, which still got to me 😢) has been done before.
FATHERLAND (POLAND, '26, THEATER), which won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival for Paweł Pawlikowski ("Ida," "Cold War"), cements the man's knack for Kubrickian eye for detail (sculptures/buildings framed beautifully in B&W 1:37:1 academy aspect ratio) while repressed emotions drive its lead characters through introspective journeys of self-discovery. Loosely based on real people/events in 1949, renowned German writer Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) returns to his homeland to receive awards/recognition from both the American and Russia-controlled portions of the country. With his translator/driver daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller, who we just saw in "Digger") mourning the sudden passing of his brother Klaus (August Diehl for one extended opening scene), which Thomas ignores and doesn't acknowledge until the very end, father/daughter drive through a ravaged-by-war Germany that has already become a puppet state to competing world superpowers in which they're expected to play a part. At 82 minutes "Fatherland" is the right length to not outstay its welcome if you allow yourself to be taken by Pawlikowski's meditative, gripping road trip of contrasts between humans who barely show emotion and monuments/buildings that carry the weight of historical significance. Recommended. 🤓🧐
Last but not least, THE STUNT DRIVER (CANADA, '26, THEATER) is an okay-ish dramatized biopic of daredevil stunt driver Ken Carter (Canada's equivalent to Evel Knievel) as he tries to stage a dangerous stunt using a rocket car to jump a river between the USA and Canada in the late 1970's. More of a period piece (love the scene between Carter's people and ABC Sports executives trying to talk Ken into getting Evel Knievel involved just to use the latter's star recognition) about the pursuit of fame and fortune, Jay Baruchel is fine as the lead (think Danny McBride with the crazy dialed down and under control). The entire cast of mostly Canadian working actors is fine, but it isn't until the end when they show real footage that you realize how good they and the production design were in capturing this particular time/era ('ERA'). Worth keeping an eye for on the streaming services this is sure to end up in the near future. 😇
Yay, back on the weekly! 😀 Here's a mix of stuff watched this week and non-horror movies watched throughout October. 😎
ReplyDeleteTaika Waititi's KLARA AND THE SUN (2026, AMC DOLBY CINEMA), based on a Young Adult novel about a "malfunctioning" robot companion in a box (Jenna Ortega in peak star mode) bringing together a dysfunctional family (teenager Mia Tharia and her technophobic mother Amy Adams) in the not-too-distant-future, might just be his cinematic masterpiece... and the man wrote, directed and starred in freaking "Jojo Rabbit!" Using a "Blade Runner"-esque retro future aesthetic and a great supporting cast (Natasha Lyonne, Steve Buscemi, etc.) with just the right amounts of quirk, whimsy and earned sadness, "Klara" will tug at your heart one moment (the spectre of death looms at every turn) and make you laugh out loud the next (a literal scarecrow). A huge box office bomb upon release, this one now belongs to the cult fans who are bound to find it on home video for decades to come. I love this movie! 🥰👍
Correction: a Kazuo Ishiguro sci-fi novel, not a YA novel (though it deals with lots of YA characters/tropes within the narrative).
DeleteShort and sweet, Takashi Yamazaki's GODZILLA MINUS ZERO (JAPAN, '26, IMAX) is not as good as "Godzilla Minus One" (more emphasis on the monsters than on the human drama that distinguished its predecessor), but it's still miles better and far superior to any of Warner's MonsterVerse entries. Same main cast (Minami Hamabe, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, etc.), same setting (Japan in the five years after World War II ended), same dour tone (enhanced by an earned 'R' rating revolving around Hiroshima burn victims' flashbacks and Godzilla wrecking an American city) and melodramatic narrative ("Train to Busan," anyone?) dealing with civilian/scientific heroes trying to pit a newly-formed creature (eventually named 'Ghidorah') against a barely-seen Godzilla. Seriously, this one rivals Gareth Edwards' 2014 reboot in keeping the big G's screentime to a minimum... in a 135 min. movie! Special effects are as good or better than "One," so an IMAX ticket is almost mandatory. YMMV. 🧐
ReplyDeleteAlejandro Iñárritu's DIGGER ('26, 70mm VISTAVISION) is, to paraphrase a common FTM term, neither AIDS nor as bad as its poor box office reception and critical drubbing would have you believe. Maybe now that a 'Blue Wave' has swept our politics this would have been better received, but a month ago the country wasn't in the mood for Tom Cruise (not bad, but shouldn't have been the main focus of the story) playing a buffoon one-percenter trillionaire with influence over the administration of U.S. President Compson (John Goodman imitating you-know-who) trying to manipulate a natural disaster of his own making to his political/PR advantage. Even taking into account the narrative twist (worth seeing "Digger" for if you don't know about it) and some great supporting cast work (Riz Ahmed, Jesse Plemons, Sandra Hüller, etc.), this arthouse fare didn't need the financial pressures of a blockbuster budget to get its points across. Good luck getting the new Skydance regime that owns Warner Bros. now to take wild artistic swings like this in the future, though, which pads "Digger's" reputation a bit. Worth seeing, IMO. 🤠🤑
ReplyDeleteR.I.P. PATRICK STEWART (1940-2026) AND WALTER KOENING (1936-2026) - STAR TREK: GENERATIONS (1994, DVD)
ReplyDeleteKudos to Mac McEntire for choosing the only movie featuring these legendary "Trek" actors (in separate scenes from one another) as a fitting Jury Room 4.0 Discord watch-along tribute to their careers. That said, this first theatrical movie with the cast from the just-concluded "Star Trek: The Next Generation" TV show is clearly the imperfect work of TV people (director David Carson, writers Ronald D. Moore & Brannon Bragga, etc.) learning on the job how to translate serialized TV characters/material to the big screen. Did we really need a prominent 'B' plot about Data (Brent Spiner) learning about humor and humanity due to a malfunctioning chip? It's such a thin excuse to get Data to swear and pump his fists in a 'PG' movie. 🤨🙄 The main story feels like convoluted summer saults to try and get the "Star Trek" captains (Stewart's Picard and William Shatner's Kirk) together on-screen, which feels like an early vote of no confidence from the studio suits on the "TNG" cast's appeal... not to mention a waste of Malcolm McDowell's Soran, an above-average Trek villain saddled with a poor script. 'It's fine,' but "Generations" feels like unrealized potential that at least shows Patrick Stewart can be good in anything.
As a TNG kid, Generations is my favorite Trek film. First Contact may be a slighter better movie overall, but I really dislike the weird and regressive flirtation stuff between Data and the Borg Queen.
DeleteDid we really need a prominent 'B' plot about Data (Brent Spiner) learning about humor and humanity due to a malfunctioning chip? – As a Trek ker, I say yes! It pays off a plot thread from "Brothers" and "Descent"; it may not work great for a general audience, but to me, that's another reason to love the movie – it's for us.
Also, I unapologetically love that Kirk and Picard meet over breakfast egg-cooking in a rural cabin. That, to me, is just the right bit of tangible whimsy for Trek. (Fighting killer drones by playing Beastie Boys at them, not so much.)
I hear you. Never been a fan of TV "Trek" (seen all the "Trek" movies, though), and have only seen the bad "TNG" episodes ("Sub Rosa," "Shades of Gray," "Genesis," etc.) for LOL's. To me "Generations" feels like it's trying to be worthy of big screen reputation, but comes across as an above-budget "TNG" two-parter. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Picard and Kirk bonding over breakfast eggs and horses is fine, but as Shatner's last hurrah in the official "Trek" canon? 🥵😞
DeleteFORGOTTEN ISLAND 3D ('26, THEATER) tries its damndest to be the most dripping-with-Dreamworks-attitude animated movie (two words: teenage werewolf) with dual female protagonists this side of "Magagascar" and "Ice Age," but with healthy sprinkles of anime influences and that "Shrek"/"Wild Robot" pathos to also tug at your heart. Hawaiian besties Jo (H.E.R.) and Raizza (Liza Soberano) star as lifelong besties about to be separated by adult obligations, only for what they thought was the imaginary world of Nakali Island to suck them into its realm of magic, fantasy and goofiness. Visually dazzling (so much neon!) and aurally pleasant (choice needle drops galore), not to mention paying homage to THAT scene in McTiernan's "Predator," "Forgotten Island" proudly wears its anime influences on its sleeve and takes its time setting up a potential conflict (trading your lifetime of memories for a chance to escape back to reality) worthy of the wildly creative worlds built around it. Great little animated flick that, sadly, underperformed at the box office. 😕😔
ReplyDeleteIt's fitting that a stuntman (Mark Vanselow) directs THE MONGOOSE ('26, THEATER), an action thriller that finds Liam Neeson driving a Mustang Shelby Super Snake GT350 from the Kentucky and Texas cops chasing after it. Flashbacks fill us in that Liam and his buddies (Marcus Thomas and Ving Rhames) are Afghanistan war veterans who suffered the trauma of capture by Taliban rebels who killed one of their own, and that Neeson's 'Fang' is being wrongly accused of murdering the new husband of his supporting ex-wife (Marisa Tomei). About a third into the movie Michael Chiklis shows up as a hard-ass Texas major, and the tone shifts closer to a modernized "Smokey and the Bandit" than the thriller it was shaping up to be. 'It's fine' but man, the 'Liam Neeson formula pics' well's been really dry for the past couple of years. 🥸
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the military, David Ayer's HEART OF THE BEAST ('26, AMC DOLBY CINEMA) has its emotions and filmmaking intent in the right place by showcasing the 'man versus nature' plight of a heart attack-stricken veteran (Brad Pitt) and his combat dog Odin surviving the Alaskan wilderness after their plane crash lands in a lake. Except for an old man (J.K. Simmons) and a young woman (Anna Lambe) bookending the start/end, James Belmont and his dog are the only ones we follow for the many miles they must walk on foot to get back to civilization. Some of the SFX and CG wolves are dodgy (typical of an Ayer pic), but the practical portions of the shoot and the Odin stunt dogs (real or CG) are convincing. If you can buy Brad Pitt walking around after suffering what was portrayed as a crippling stroke, "HOTB" is a sweet and inoffensive flick whose only sin is that everything in it (even the ending, which still got to me 😢) has been done before.
ReplyDeleteFATHERLAND (POLAND, '26, THEATER), which won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival for Paweł Pawlikowski ("Ida," "Cold War"), cements the man's knack for Kubrickian eye for detail (sculptures/buildings framed beautifully in B&W 1:37:1 academy aspect ratio) while repressed emotions drive its lead characters through introspective journeys of self-discovery. Loosely based on real people/events in 1949, renowned German writer Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) returns to his homeland to receive awards/recognition from both the American and Russia-controlled portions of the country. With his translator/driver daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller, who we just saw in "Digger") mourning the sudden passing of his brother Klaus (August Diehl for one extended opening scene), which Thomas ignores and doesn't acknowledge until the very end, father/daughter drive through a ravaged-by-war Germany that has already become a puppet state to competing world superpowers in which they're expected to play a part. At 82 minutes "Fatherland" is the right length to not outstay its welcome if you allow yourself to be taken by Pawlikowski's meditative, gripping road trip of contrasts between humans who barely show emotion and monuments/buildings that carry the weight of historical significance. Recommended. 🤓🧐
ReplyDeleteLast but not least, THE STUNT DRIVER (CANADA, '26, THEATER) is an okay-ish dramatized biopic of daredevil stunt driver Ken Carter (Canada's equivalent to Evel Knievel) as he tries to stage a dangerous stunt using a rocket car to jump a river between the USA and Canada in the late 1970's. More of a period piece (love the scene between Carter's people and ABC Sports executives trying to talk Ken into getting Evel Knievel involved just to use the latter's star recognition) about the pursuit of fame and fortune, Jay Baruchel is fine as the lead (think Danny McBride with the crazy dialed down and under control). The entire cast of mostly Canadian working actors is fine, but it isn't until the end when they show real footage that you realize how good they and the production design were in capturing this particular time/era ('ERA'). Worth keeping an eye for on the streaming services this is sure to end up in the near future. 😇
ReplyDeleteMy friend worked on that movie. He said he laughed is a$$ off when they did the Ben Foster scene
Delete