When we meet Lord Doyle (Colin Farrell) in the opening scene of BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER, he's waking from a hell of a night in a suite at the Wynn Macau. Did he win a fortune or lose one? Only the amount of alcohol consumed and the disarray of the upscale room are certain. The TV blares, stacks of room service trays cover every table and it looks like Lord Doyle has been in the room awhile. Farrell dazzles in the opening sequence, carving out a mysterious character who's living life on the edge. We soon learn that he's nearing the ends of his funds. The hotel manager grabs him even though Lord Doyle is doing his damndest to escape the luxurious property. He's told that he has three days to settle his hotel bill, a stunning $300k+ dollars, or the police will be called. The only money that we know he has left is one rolled up stash. Will he turn that into wins? Will he rise triumphant? This isn't a stereotypical film about an underdog beating the odds. It's an intelligent, mysterious and mystical take on addiction, luck, questions about the ability to change your true nature and a man on the absolute brink. Farrell (The Penguin, Minority Report) is truly up to the task and beyond. Behind the camera, Director Edward Berger follows up his massive hit "Conclave" with this spiritual character study that took so many unexpected turns, I stopped trying to predict where it was going. That's a great attribute, as I was absorbed into this world and Lord Doyle's impossible path. Macau looks like another planet, stunningly photographed by James Friend, who also shot Berger's 2022 breakout film "All Quiet on the Western Front". It feels like Las Vegas in the future, captured in all its luxury and decadence. As Lord Doyle runs toward either redemption or complete collapse, he meets Dao Ming (Fala Chen) a floor manager of one of the seedier casinos in town. He loses hand after hand, thousands of dollars escaping his clutches. He can't even pay for his bar tab, something they would have been happy to pick up if he was winning. Lord Doyle and Dao Ming spend the majority of the film circling each other, but across many different arcs. Need, seduction, opportunity, redemption seem to be hanging in the air around these two from the moment they meet on screen. Hot on his trail, Insurance Investigator Blithe (Tilda Swinton) knows far more about Lord Doyle than we do. Swinton and Farrell have a blast bouncing off each other in a cat & mouse game that seems bound to only end in one way. But the film is far more complicated and tricky than that. Lives and characters intertwine. Fortune makes strange dance partners. It often seems that Lord Doyle is just as likely to die from a massive heart attack or a jump out of a high window as he is to get arrested. I'm not going to reveal anything in the film's clever puzzle of a last hour, other than it had me glued to the screen with zero clue of what would happen next. I loved where it went. Farrell is at the absolute peak of his game here, creating a very complex, scared, ballsy man whose back is up against every surrounding wall. It's a great performance that's far more complex in retrospect than it feels in the moment. He's extraordinary. I loved Alan K. Chang as Kai, the doorman who only wants Lord Doyle to succeed, Jason Tobin as Mr. Huang the hotel manager nearly a half million down to Lord Doyle's excesses and Alex Jennings (The Queen) as Adrian, a fellow traveler and confidant of Lord Doyle's who has demons of his own. Is there a key to unlock Lord Doyle's redemption? It's a pleasure to find out in this clever, deliberate and fascinating crime thriller/drama/character study that wraps you in the sweat, beauty and seduction of Macau and never lets go. THE BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER flips an A.

One of the best Stephen King adaptions I've ever seen, THE LONG WALK is relentlessly dark, cruel and a prime example of a literary adaption that honors and expands the original work. Devotees of the novel may be upset at the changes from the text, KIng's first, but they serve the film well. Taking dystopian to its lowest lows, we are introduced to a smaller scale version of "The Hunger Games", long before that novel was ever published. King wrote THE LONG WALK way back in 1966-1967 in college and it was finally published back in 1979 under his pen name of Richard Bachman. You can feel the influence of the sixties era mistrust of government post-Vietnam throughout. The book was adapted by the terrific JT Mollner, who wrote and directed the twisted & inventive sleeper thriller, "Strange Darling". It was one of my favorites of 2023 and he brings the same tilted perspective to King's story. The USA is in dire straits, the national economy has plunged and the masses are discontented. Once a year, the military stages The Long Walk, in which one young man from each state competes in a winner take all, marathon walk to the death. The rules are simple. Once you start, you never stop. If you fall below 3.0 miles per hour, you get a warning, if you don't pick up the pace, you get a second warning. After a third warning, you are shot in the head. If you leave the road for any reason, you are killed without warning. Military vehicles lumber along in front and on back, with the motivational quote spewing leader, The Major (Mark Hamill) yelling, taunting and encouraging the boys along the way. The dark tone of the film rarely wavers, it's as merciless as the machine guns waiting on the other side of that stopwatch. But just as King's book did when I first read it many years ago, it pulls you into the tale. What would you do? How far could you go? The cast of young men is excellent. Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza, Saturday Night) is heartfelt as local boy Raymond Garrity. His reasons for entering are tortured and revealed layer by layer by Mollner's script. David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus) is exceptional as Peter McVries, whose upbeat attitude and spirit inspires Raymond. The bond the two form over the relentless miles feels real. Jonsson stands out in the cast and was just announced as The New Black Panther in the Marvel films. Based on this and his performance in Alien Romulus, he's a hell of a great choice. Garrett Wareing is also very stong as Stebbins, who becomes more important to the contest as it wears on, with Stebbins fighting an illness that drags him down. Wareing was just cast as the young Ed Warren in next year's prequel, "The Conjuring: First Communion", taking the role over from Patrick Wilson. Charlie Plummer (Moonfall) leaves a hell of an impression as Gary Barkovitch, the villain of the walk who seems determined to fell his fellow contestants via barbs and torments. No one writes a despicable a-hole like Stephen King and the character leaps off the pages here. Ben Wang fairs less well here than he did in his debut in "Karate Kid" Legends". He seems too nice to be the foul mouthed Hank Olson, but definitely scores in the more dramatic moments in the film's final half hour. Joshua Odjick (It: Welcome to Derry) has real screen presence as Collie Parker, creating a walk participant you'll cheer hard for from start to finish. Lastly, Roman Griffin Davis (Greenland 2: Migration) breaks your heart as Curly, the race's youngest participant. His fate takes the stakes in the film to a level of reality that never leaves the screen after Curly exits. Director Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay) is a great fit for the material and takes what could have been a repetitive tale in lesser hands to some very deep, dark places. The sense of brotherhood that develops during the very long walk is tangible. The cast has said that shooting the film in real settings, sometimes walking up to 15 miles a day, brought a tangible reality to their bonding. We see that on screen. This is not a film that you enjoy. It's bleak, filled with graphic executions and brutally realistic depictions of the conditions of the marathon and how the boys break down, both mentally and physically. The despair and terror faced within is absolutely Stephen King horror of the highest degree. It's also beautifully structured, packed with realistic, profane dialogue that feels accurate for what's happening and well shot. I haven't heard F bombs dropped with this frequency since "Goodfellas". Over the years, everyone from George Romero (Night of the Living Dead) to Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) were attached to create the film, but it feels like it landed in the right, caring hands with Lawrence & Mollner. THE LONG WALK gets a disturbing, powerful and relentless A, but approach the material knowing that you won't watch The Walk, you'll survive it.

I love a good shark movie. I'll usually swim out of my way to enjoy even a mildly enjoyable shark thriller. THE DEVIL'S MOUTH is absolute chum that bores, stinks and generates unintentional laughs in its ineptitude. So, where do I dive into this one? After opening with some beautiful shots of Thailand that made me really want to visit these beaches, we meet a group of early 20-somethings who are so self centered, obnoxious and dull that I couldn't wait to see who was going to get chomped on first. The lone exception is Sara, played by Kathryn Newton (Ready of Not 2, Big Little Lies) who I hope got a big paycheck for appearing in this dreck. By portraying character traits like humility, caution and basic self awareness, Newton's Sara emerges as the one person in the entire film you cheer for...for awhile anyway. Oh, there is the group's tour guide Wat (Tayme Thapthimthong) who almost immediately sees this bunch of airhead idiots for what they were and wishes he'd stayed home and enjoyed the beach. I cheered for him too, knowing no matter what they paid him, it wasn't enough. Max (Lana Condor) is Sara's best friend. She's the one in the group that always wants to push the limits. Why do the stunning diving caves that the tour guide with years of experience suggests, when you can do the red flagged/diamond run/super dangerous path that the tour guide tells you a dozen times not to? Condor is saddled with an obnoxious character who starts the film off by basically betraying her friend, not only with life choices, but then forgets that Sara is swimming in the water after five minutes and tells the boat captain to head out, stranding Sara in a school of jellyfish. At least Max gives you someone to root against. The rest of the young people are more abs than brains and one of the dudes keeps talking about missing his Mommy. WTF? Soon, surprising only the addle-brained in the viewing audience, the group discovers that a recent giant storm has introduced not only salt water into the caves, but some giant sharks into the network of caves. I watched this thing and the CGI was so bad and the photography so dark that I honestly can't tell you if there were multiple sharks or just one really big one. I THINK its supposed to be just one giant bull shark. As in "Jaws:The Revenge" the shark is so poorly rendered that it seems to be HUGE one moment and able to fit through very tight spaces the next. It's lazy, stupid filmmaking from the moment they enter the caves. Let's check the B-movie making boxes shall we? Will Sara, the only one with common sense and a sense of fear, RISE ABOVE? Will Max eventually have to face the consequences of her lame-brained choices? Will one hero emerge who seemed the least likely to survive? Compound the absurd predictability with some really stupid, stupid choices by these characters on the water-logged path and you get some serious groans along the way. At one point, Sara is trying to get the shark's attention, so she goes all Jeff Goldblum in "Jurassic Park" and starts waving a red flare shouting, "Over here!" Insert groan here. Bad movies can be a lot of fun, especially if they have a sense of humor. OOPS, no humor detected. I cheered for the shark to eat them all as quickly as possible, begging for a feeding frenzy to put this poorly shot, way too dark, slop CGI, half-assed effort to an end. Alas, the idiocy goes on for almost two hours. THE DEVILS MOUTH has no bite and gets an F.

For me, Christopher Nolan films are events, something to be anticipated and savored on the big screen. He's given me some of the biggest IMAX thrills of all time with "Inception", "The Dark Knight Rises", "Oppenheimer"and "Dunkirk". His smaller scale 2006 "The Prestige" is an all-time favorite film. THE ODYSSEY never gets within a mile of those best Nolan films for me. I admire the sheer scale and grandeur of the filmmaking, absolutely. There's real presence and tangible thrills in seeing a full size Trojan Horse or the City of Troy crumbling on the big screen, sans CGI. But I only had one emotional connection to any of these characters. Without the ability to invest in this massive list of people being portrayed, I found myself waiting for the next big action sequence to arrive so I could stop looking at my watch. Important to note that I am a huge fan of long films if they keep me engaged. David Lean's "Bridge of the River Kwai" and "Lawrence of Arabia" have massive running times longer than Nolan's latest, but they feel dramatically shorter. Nolan's "Oppenheimer" kept me held in its grasp for its entire running time. So why does THE ODYSSEY feel empty, despite all of its incredibly detailed and carefully crafted pieces? The film feels more like David Lean's 1970 film "Ryan's Daughter", a big budget simple love story blown up into a "Doctor Zhivago" scale production that was all spectacle, no heart. The one character that I connected with was Odysseus, beautifully played by Matt Damon as a very flawed hero whose journey seems mostly to be to find himself. Nolan, as usual, cleverly plays with timelines, popping back and forth within the story as we hear the songs and tales of Odysseus, his conquering of Troy and his long journey home. But its been over a decade and he has not returned to his homeland. His wife, Queen Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son, Prince Telemachus (Tom Holland) still hope and pray for his return, but their lands are unsettled and their castle is filled with endless suitors, a literal rowdy gang of them. The standout among them and the other actor besides Damon to carry the film away on his back, is Robert Pattinson as Antinous. He's conniving, he's sniveling, he's political and only has eyes for the throne. Pattinson is terrific. Rounding out my standout three cast members in the sprawling ensemble is John Leguizamo as Eumaeus, the aging advisor to Odysseus who keeps a close eye on the Queen & Prince. Leguizamo has never been better and he's a sure bet as Best Supporting Actor when Oscar season roles around. The rest of the cast never quite lands for me, some are very good, like Lupita Nyong'o as Helen and her twin sister, Samantha Morton as Circe, who's bed and breakfast you definitely do NOT want to visit as a day trip and Charlize Theron as Calypso, who keeps Odysseus in her beautiful clutches for many years on his way home. Zendaya is fine in a role that only delivers powerful meaning in the film's finale. Others in the cast are an ill fit. I'm a huge Jon Bernthal fan, but he seems to have wondered in from another film as Menelaus. His attitude, his dialogue and delivery feel out of tone for the rest of the film. Elliot Page is badly miscast, looking like a tiny tot on the battlefield next to the surrounding warrior class. The road to that finale is powerful, interesting and monotonous, in nearly equal measure. Several sequences stand out. Odysseus and his men land on an island and venture into a cave that turns out to be inhabited by a giant Cyclops. The entire scene is taut, scary and flat out wild. A combination of puppetry and effects create one hell of a monster, who really is just a shepherd watching his flock. The escape from that cave is a jaw dropper. Several scenes of Odysseus and his crew trying to escape the wrath of Poseidon at sea are stunningly shot by longtime Nolan partner Hoyte van Hoytema (Nope, Dunkirk, Ad Astra). The combination of full size stunt work and brilliant camera work put you right into the action, especially on the IMAX screen. This was famously the first film shot entirely with IMAX cameras. It's visually brilliant, but as a good friend pointed out to me: "If you shoot an entire film with IMAX cameras, why does the color palette have to be so dull and gray?" Great point. The vistas are high, wide and brilliantly focused, but very washed out. Still, kudos for the level of immersion in these scenes on the IMAX screen. Composer Ludwig Goransson's score is as split personality as the film's pace. Sometimes it is immersive, authentic and draws you in, but occasionally it blends into a cacophony of noise, special effects and lost dialogue that pounds your ears within an inch of submission. It uses only authentic Greek instruments. Nolan is one of our greatest filmmakers, but once again, I cannot decipher some of his sound design, with dialogue completely lost within a wall of noise that makes it indecipherable. Ever since I couldn't understand 90% of what Tom Hardy said on screen as Bane in "Dark Knight", I'm convinced Nolan has decided to add mystery to his films by burying large pieces of dialogue. The fact that I love most of his films anyway speaks to the level of his craft. There are moments within the film that delivered true spectacle of the highest order. The Trojan Horse sequence, the attack on Troy, the final showdown come to mind. The forest set battle against the giant armored Laestrygonian warriors is a taut thrill. But there is no emotional connection formed to these characters, its a spectacular history lesson with no personal weight. It's a massive hit, so audiences definitely all agree that it is an event film that demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible. That I agree with. But did the entire, carefully constructed vessel have to be this soulless at its center? It reminds me of the 1963 Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton vehicle, "Cleopatra", one of the biggest film spectacles ever shot. Jaw dropping in its sheer scale, there wasn't a lot of heart and soul to be found beyond its incredible veneer. That film nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox. No such worries this time out, Nolan's opus has already grossed over $720 million on its sure path to $1 billion+ at the box office. As spectacle, its a grand success. As a story that resonates in your heart, reaching beyond the visuals, the Trojan Horse has shown up empty on the beachhead. THE ODYSSEY gets a B-.

Proving that the superhero genre isn't dead, it's just been starving for a great film, SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY soars across the screen with huge action, big laughs and massive heart. The Dolby Cinema, sold out preview audience I saw it with went bonkers, as did I. It's fantastic to see theaters this packed with people again, it was a mad house. From its opening frames, the film delivers a web covered, treasure chest of great surprises, fun asides and some MAJOR plot points that will guide the Marvel universe going forward, none of which I will mention here. Those opening frames of the Marvel logo always feature printed lines from the screenplay, and those highlighted here detail when Peter Parker told Doctor Strange to fix the universe at the end of "No Way Home" even though the result would be wiping the memories of everyone who ever knew Peter. Tom Holland is back and sensational as Peter/Spidey, swinging relentlessly around New York City to stop any crime in progress. It's been four years and Peter has settled into a 24/7 work week as Spider-Man. His only confidant seems to be Detective DeWolff (Liza Colon-Zayas from "The Bear") who's getting worried that her young superhero may have no life outside of fighting crime. An early action set piece follows Spider-Man as he and Frank Castle/The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) both chase a stolen tank barreling down the streets of Manhattan toward the Main Complex of the Government Agency of Damage Contol. The agency seems to be half S.H.I.E.L.D. and half PR, cleaning up any kind of mess that our intergalactic foes or heroes may make. The chemistry between Bernthal's Punisher and Holland's Spiderman shouldn't work, but it does, beautifully. Bernthal is perfectly cast here, unlike his last role in Nolan's "The Odyssey" where it felt like he had stumbled in from a modern gangster film. The two actors have a fantastic sense of comic timing and a lethal presence when it comes to the thrills. When the tank is finally stopped after a fantastic, propulsive chase sequence, the person inside is an everyday woman, the villain inside of her jumping from one person to the next to escape Spider-Man. It's a clever trick that pays off again and again in the film. To say too much more would ruin the surprises and that's not going to happen here. Growing lonely, Peter begins to quietly observe his lost love MJ (Zendaya) and best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon). Peter is clearly starving for any kind of meaningful relationship. Holland is excellent in the role, bouncing from lonely and wounded to heroic with ease. Peter's also dealing with a sudden change in the balance between his human and spider DNA. As his spider senses grow in intensity and every tiny noise becomes a pounding cannon, NYC is a poor choice to try and live your life. He reaches out to an old friend who doesn't remember him, Dr. Bruce Banner. Mark Ruffalo is back as Banner and his giant green alter-ego, delivering flawlessly with his minor screen time. Sadie Sink is terrific as a mysterious young woman who becomes vital the the plot and the Marvel-verse. Florence Pugh (Midsommar, Dune Part 2) makes a hilarious return as the New Avengers Black Widow, Yelena Belova. Her office is unexpected fun and her regard for Peter's problems as small potatoes are perfectly delivered. Tramell Tillman (Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning) is a great add as Damage Control's Bill Metzger, in charge of an agency with a lot of reach and more than a few security issues. Michael Mando (Better Call Saul) is very good as Scorpion, a villain who seems to really enjoy his face offs with Spider-Man. The red clad, flying ninja squad knows as The Hand is a fantastic add, blending "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" mysticism and some thrilling combat scenes into the mix. Director Destin Daniel Cretton, whose "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" is an underappreciated Marvel entry, returns to the Directors chair and juggles multiple story lines beautifully. There are some genuinely moving moments that turn sinister and major events that will shake your certainty of where the story is going. I loved every surprise, twist and turn.Cretton's deft hand moves you from suspense to comedy to tragedy and loss without ever pulling you out of the film. This is, for me, the best Spider-Man film to date and that's saying something. Sam Raimi's 2004 film, Spider-Man 2 has been my favorite Marvel film of all time for over two decades. Special effects are superb throughout and the scenes of Peter spinning his way across New York City are the best I've ever seen, the effects are stunning. They've come a LONG way from those CGI spideys that never looked quite right in the first films. Michael Giacchino's score is huge, symphonic and perfect, blending flawlessly with the sound design team, who take the action scenes to the limits of Dolby Cinema. I literally felt this movie from start to finish. Tom Holland turns in his best performance in the role, creating a young superhero determined to do the right thing. He's a joy to watch in the role, delivering a multi-dimensional character that we care for, making the finale even more powerful. Compare Holland's Spider-Man in this film to the Milly Alcock's performance in DC's downer bomb, Supergirl. In that film, she doesn't want to be good, whines about everything and is the person at the party you hope you don't get stuck standing next to, a complete downer. Holland exudes charm, caring and hope. Alcock is filled with self centered angst and a Debbie Downer mantra. Gee, I wonder why one film bombed and Peter Parker's latest will gross more at the box office in 36 hours (literally) than Supergirl did in its entire theatrical run. This is everything you have been waiting for in a Marvel movie and an absolute blast of pure summer movie fun. You know, in Nolan's "The Odyssey" I must have looked at my watch 20 times. At one point, I thought it stopped running, time was creaking by so slowly. Spidey? I didn't have time to look at my watch. I was too pulled into the story, the action, the laughs and the unexpected heart of the film. SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY gets a rousing, standing ovation of an A+. I can't wait to see it again next week in 4D-X with my 12 year old grandson. Marvel fans: stay through all the credits for one post credits scene at the very end of the film after the logos have rolled.

A fascinating experiment that succeeds beyond my wildest expectations, MOTOR CITY is, on its surface, a high octane, dialogue-free Grindhouse action flick set in a very tangible 1977. It feels like a gritty 70's Charles Bronson film, blended with the pure style of Nicholas Winding Refn's hypnotic 2011 film, "Drive", but it has a pulse that's all its own. Alan Ritchson (Reacher) stars as Vietnam Vet John Miller, working a blue collar factory job in a Detroit that feels straight out of "Robocop" in its grim, poor desolation. Ritchson's jaw dropping muscular bulk hides a wounded vet who's trying to find his way. He smiles for the first time when he leaves his probation officer's office and finds he's been released from probation for a drug charge. He's barely home to his girlfriend Sophia (a perfectly case Shailene Woodley) a waitress at a local diner, when he takes a knee to propose. Almost in the moment, police raid their home and Miller is dragged away on a false drug charge. The drugs were planted by dirty cop named Savick (a great Pablo Schreiber) who's in the pocket of local gangster Reynolds (Ben Foster). Reynolds just happens to be Sophia's ex-boyfriend. Foster (Hell or High Water) is fantastic as Reynolds, a 70's clad drug dealer who looks like Tony Montana but takes madness and jealousy to a whole different level. He seems to own Detroit in all its sprawling squalor, living in a mansion in the hills while the city scrapes by day to day on junk strewn streets. Lt. Savick is a brutal enforcer who seems to control the entire police force down a crooked path. Schreiber (Den of Thieves, First Man) owns the screen any time he's on it and is the rare actor that can go toe-to-toe with Ritchson in a fight and be believable. Their finale hand to hand square off in an elevator is gold, a gory, brutal, incredibly well shot fight to the death. But what a ride to that finale. Miller sits in jail, taunted by photos he's received that the gangster has reunited with Sophia and they've enjoyed a globe hopping honeymoon. Two of his fellow vets from his platoon, Youngblood (Lionel Boyce) and Singh (Amar Chadha-Patel) begin to plot a prison breakout for their wrongly imprisoned friend, igniting a hell of an escape scene that ignites the final half hour of the film. Boyce and Chadha-Patel are both fantastic, creating characters you love without a word of dialogue spoken. If I needed to escape captivity and go on a blood soaked trail of revenge against the folks that wronged me, these ARE the two dudes I'd want at my side. There is one good cop on the police force, Detective Kent, played by Ben McKenzie (Gotham). Will that be enough? There are about six total spoken lines of dialogue in the entire film, but the creators don't hold back on the sound. Every twisted metal crash, bone crunching punch and squealing tire comes through loud and clear. The earliest silent films had an in-theater organist or piano player punching up the scenes. Here, we have a fantastic jukebox of tunes layering mood and atmosphere over the action. "Lovely Day" by Bill Withers, "Putting Out Fire" (The Theme from Cat People) by David Bowie, "Nights in White Satin" by The Moody Blues. "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac, "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer and "Year of the Cat" by Al Stewart have never sounded better, killer choices all. The balance of the film features Steve Jablonsky's best score. He's created music for some massive action blockbusters (Transformers, Skyscraper), but this is something wholly different, pulling you into this violent, unforgiving tale. It's moody, atmospheric and flawless. Chad St. John's screenplay is a gritty original, packed with rich characters that these actors embody to the hilt. The fact that he creates the momentum of the story without dialogue far exceeds it being a gimmick, he forces you to watch faces, backgrounds and visual cues. Director Potsy Ponciroli is a newcomer to me, but after this film, I am going to hurry to see his 2021 Western, "Old Henry". You often hear voices bitching that we never see anything different at the cineplex. Well here it is folks and its fantastic. His style is unique, blending gritty 70's style shots with slow motion action that pops and close quarter violence that pulls you into the thrills. MOTOR CITY feels different from anything else that I'm going to see on a big screen this year. That alone gets it points, but the sheer balls of its storytelling, visual experience and force earn it an A+. I'm still thinking about it four days later.

Packed with laughs, well cast actors having a blast and enough Pickleball to pack five courts, THE DINK made me laugh a lot. Jake Johnson was so hilarious on "New Girl" that I felt bad for him when his big co-starring role with Tom Cruise was part of "The Mummy", one of the worst films of the past decade. It wasn't his fault that thing bombed, but it's great to see him back in fine form, generating big laughs here. He stars as Tennis Pro Dusty "The Hammer" Boyd. As a supremely cocky teen, Hammer was on a rocket to the top, until he was derailed by the villainous Andy Roddick. Dusty cruises around in his 30 year old compact sedan, spewing stories of his glory days to anyone that will listen. His best audience is his loyal sidekick PJ (Aaron Chen) whose level of idolizing The Hammer borders on the obsessive. Chen is hilarious, delivering every defense of his mate with complete fever. Dustin and PJ work at the upscale Mountain Crest Tennis Club owned by Dustin's father Chuck. Ed Harris (The Rock, The Abyss) drops some serious comedic timing as a Dad horrified by his slacker offspring. His hate for the everyday sport of Pickleball infecting his country club drives some big, big laughs. Chloe Fineman (SNL) is LOL funny as Dustin's ex Marisa. Their banter seems to come from another universe. Johnson nails every facial reaction and response to these people with the same effortless ease that he did for many season on New Girl. We buy everything that's going on, no matter how goofy, because he's our trusted center of the film. He made us laugh A LOT. Patton Oswalt is Skip, the dorky leader of the Pickleball pack that's taking over the revered halls of wealth. Chris Parnell delivers as the best tennis player at the club, except for Dusty, who can play at a pro level, until he feels pressure, then things seem to go hilariously wrong. Ben Stiller steals every scene he's in as a perverted Doctor who delivers the most awkward bedside manner possible for anyone in his examination room. Fortune Feimster is very funny as a Pickleball player determined to out grunt any tennis player at the club on every stroke. Rounding out the veteran cast is Mary Steenburgen (Time After Time, Step Brothers) as Candace, the first pickleball player that Dustin meets and bans from the club, before his Dad reminds him he has zero power. What happens next is predictable but winning. I knew what the finale was going to be an hour before it unfolded, but I was having so much fun, who cares!? Writer Sean Clements and Director Josh Greenbaum fill the whole thing with so much well executed physical comedy, easy laughs and prime set ups that it flies by on its way to a very funny conclusion. Johnson also manages to give Dusty just enough of a human edge that the relationships with those around him pack a little unexpected weight. The dialogue and comedy volleys between Johnson and veteran Steenburgen are a thing of beauty. After seeing her verbal battles with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, you KNOW she's up to it, even if the whole "Graduate" angle doesn't quite work. There are some seriously funny cameos as well, including one by a very big tennis star who's appetite is even bigger than his ego. If you like Happy Gilmore you're going to love THE DINK. It gets a perfectly enjoyable, lightweight B. The ladies Pickleball group alone is worth the price of admission..."Bitch!" LOL

OBSESSION is a massive hit and a grisly, clever debut by Curry Barker. He keeps you on the edge of your seat from the minute that damn One Wish Willow stick is snapped until the absolute mad finale. However, the entire movie was nearly derailed for me by our young male lead character, Bear. This isn't to cast any ill will toward actor Michael Johnston, who plays him. Johnston is excellent. But Bear is so soft, so emotionally immobile with a spine made of feathers, that he's nearly impossible to cheer for until things get really out of hand around him. Is this the new model for a modern male protagonist? Barf. If he had any balls, the movie would be over in 5 minutes and he'd have a date. I wanted to scream " come on Man!!!" at the screen ten times in the first 20 minutes. What a........ But I digress. The film opens with Bear practicing how to tell his co-worker Nikki how he feels about her. His best friend Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) has him share his feelings and then tells Bear how horrific he sounds speaking them. It's a hilarious start. Bear and Ian work at a music store with Nikki and Sarah (Megan Lawless), that's owned by Sarah's dad, Carter (Andy Richter). The four banter at work and out in clubs, where Bear is committed to finally telling Nikki how he feels. Big screen newcomer and Tucson native Inde Navarrette is a revelation as Nikki. She serves up a no-holds-barred, WILD performance that elevates the film around her. Barker has written her one hell of a role, and she runs with it, HARD. When Bear fails once again to have the courage (or common sense, balls, chutzpa or backbone) to ask Nikki out (how will this generation ever procreate?) he goes to a new-agey shop and finds a boxed novelty item that promises to grant ONE wish to any user. He wishes that Nikki would "love him more than anyone else in the entire world". OOPS. Barker takes this clever hook and spins it into an ever escalating roller coaster of madness. Attraction becomes Love, Love becomes Obsession and Obsession begets madness in some very, very horrifically entertaining ways. Barker surprised me again and again. The screenplay he's written serves up true originality, while paying stunning homage to everything from Ari Aster's "Hereditary" to Hitchcock's "Vertigo". He also edited the film. This kid is a triple threat to watch. Barker uses a lot of long takes that create a true sense of unease. Where did Nikki go? She as just in bed a minute ago.... Pieces of the story are slowly locked into place as real emotions and the true dynamics between these characters peel back. At one point, Bear says "this is everything I've ever wished for", but Barker has Bear deliver the line in a sequence perfectly timed to the audience's growing concern on how any of this can possibly end. Johnston is terrific as Bear, taking a very unsympathetic character to unexpected (and yet consistent) places in the final act. His responses to the madness feel authentic in every moment, no matter how off the rails his crush goes. Barker uses darkness and his sound mix to great effect, proving that jump scares can be created through sound alone. Navarette's voice as Nikki is the scariest thing in the movie. Her ability to bounce back and forth from a loving coo to a death scream that chills your blood is startling. I loved the scenes in which Nikki seems to be just out of the light, her eyes giving off some sort of creepy glow that I couldn't ever grasp. It works incredibly well. Rock Burwell provides a score that's as diverse as Nikki's voice, creepy as hell and occasionally romantic with an undertone of danger around every dark corner. Shot for about $750,000 and just surpassing $300 million at the box office, the film delivers bold new talent to Hollywood, with Barker, Navarette and Johnston about to rocket into the stratosphere. Barker just signed a massive next picture deal with Universal. I can't wait to see what he does next. I'm hoping he proves to be another Jordan Peele, serving up bold, fresh takes on genres with plenty of messaging buried within each journey. He's off to one HELL of a start here. OBSESSION gets a B+. WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe it will be 50 years this December since we first met Rocky Balboa & Sylvester Stallone? An all-time sports movie classic with a behind-the-scenes rags to riches story of its own, 1976's original ROCKY still packs a punch. Sylvester Stallone had appeared in small roles in Woody Allen's "Bananas" and "The Lords of Flatbush". His script for Rocky was his passion project and he was eventually offered $350K for the screenplay, a record at the time. In a Rocky-like move, Stallone refused the money unless he could star in the film himself, even though he had $100 in the bank. When producers Robert Chartoff & Irwin Winkler (The Right Stuff, Raging Bull) took a leap on him, Stallone began an incredible career in Hollywood that continues five decades later. Stallone stars as Rocky Balboa, a not-so-bright, talented boxer with more passion & heart than brains. The first hour+ of the film is really a character study of this Philadelphia man scratching out a quiet life. His best friend Paulie (Burt Young) is a hard drinking, abusive loud mouth. Paulie's sister Adrian (Talia Shire) barely speaks, hiding underneath multiple sweaters and out-sized glasses as she tries to disappear within the pet shop where she works. Rocky visits her daily, hoping to talk her into a date. Stallone's story takes its time, slowly unwrapping Rocky's life layer by layer. Carl Weathers first film role was heavyweight champion Apollo Creed. Every bit of Apollo is the opposite of Balboa. It's the balance of Creed's brash bravado vs. Rocky's impoverished modesty that quietly sets up a terrific final act. When Rocky suddenly gets a shot for the title against Creed in a massive televised event, the film ramps up into one of the best sports movies ever made. Burgess Meredith is fantastic as Mickey, Rocky's aging trainer. Over the years, I just remembered Mickey's signature one-liners, but I had forgotten how good Meredith was in the role. The other star of the film is Bill Conti's music. BIG, brassy and in-your-face, it shouldn't work. If you'd told me that a chorus singing "Running hard now! It's so hard now! Gonna Fly Now!" was going to be the perfect backdrop for Rocky's training and ascent of those famous Philadelphia steps, I'd have laughed out loud. It's still goosebumps generating after fifty years. Credit to Stallone and Director John G. Avildsen (Save The Tiger, The Karate Kid) for bringing in a real fight trainer to fully choreograph and stage the fight scenes. They are realistic, brutal and SO DAMN EXCITING! Much of the film was shot without permits and long set ups, including much of Rocky's run through the meat market, streets and dockside. The entire movie was shot in 28 days. I've seen this movie a dozen times and I was still on the edge of my seat and ready to leap out of it throughout the entire fight. Great cast, strong storytelling and Stallone at his best. Winner of Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editing and nominated for a total of 10 Academy Awards, ROCKY cost less than a million to make and grossed $117 million in the US alone. It was followed three years later by ROCKY II. Most of the sequels carve out their own special place in my memory, reflecting the years they were released to big box office and very happy crowds. After all these years, ROCKY still goes the distance in style and gets an A.

Yesterday, on our 30th Wedding Anniversary, my wife and I re-watched ONLY YOU, a 1994 Romantic Comedy filled with great memories for us. We had seen it while we were dating and we chose one of Rachel Portman's orchestral tracks to be played at our wedding. It's a stunning score. Revisiting the film again, it still holds up beautifully, with a very young Robert Downey Jr. and Marisa Tomei generating big laughs while stealing hearts. The film opens with teenager Faith (Tammy Minoff) playing with a Ouija board with her brother Larry. The board spells out the name of her one true love in life.. D-A-M-O-N B-R-A-D-L-E-Y. Later that week, a fortune teller at a carnival reads her crystal ball and tells Faith that her one true love in life is...Damon Bradley. The film then moves forward to Faith (Marisa Tomei) now a school teacher who's engaged to a podiatrist named Dwayne (John Benjamin Hickey from "Flags of Our Fathers"). Screenwriter Diane Drake (What Women Want) deftly blends comedy and heart as we see Faith still believing in romance, while married to not-very-romantic guy that fits the "marrying kind" menu in every other way. Faith's best friend Kate (the always terrific Bonnie Hunt) sees her friend struggling, but sees Dwayne as a catch compared to her own husband, Faith's brother Larry, played by Fisher Stevens. Larry runs a roofing company and is a blue collar guy with very traditional expectations. As Faith and Dwayne's marriage nears and she sits in her wedding dress pondering the road ahead, Faith takes a call from someone overseas calling to apologize to Dwayne for not being there. His name is Damon Bradley. Faith hilariously runs off to the airport to find the man of her dreams in Venice. How can she not? Director Norman Jewison (In the Heat of the Night, Moonstruck) weaves the laughs and the romance seamlessly, elevated by Tomei's incredibly appealing performance as Faith. She's impossible not to love & cheer for throughout. Kate and Faith end up in Rome in an unpredictable, stunningly shot adventure that delivers the unexpected to both of them. As you know from the trailer and the posters, she meets a handsome, funny stranger (Downey) who falls head over heels in love with her. His name is Damon Bradley. Isn't it? It's fascinating to watch a 29 year old Robert Downey Jr here. This was his biggest film paycheck at the time, $2 million for the role. He is still the young, quick witted RDJ here, without the swagger that would become his trademark later in life. He and Tomei have real chemistry. Billy Zane (Titanic) is hilarious as an air headed hunk who plays into the adventure and Joaquim de Almedia (Clear and Present Danger) is perfectly cast as Giovanni, a wealthy Rome local infatuated with showing Kate the Rome he knows so well. Deftly blending romantic tributes to the Rome set classic "Roman Holiday", with RDJ offering up a flawless Gregory Peck impression and nearly slapstick comedy moments with the jaw dropping countrysides of Rome, Venice and Positano, the film is beautifully shot by Sven Nykvist, one of the greatest cinematographers of all time. With "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and "Cries and Whispers" on his resume, who's going to argue? And that Rachel Portman score. If moments of this movie don't move you with their sheer romance, you might be dead inside. ONLY YOU was the perfect film to revisit on our 30th Anniversary, serving up a funny, heartwarming romance that gets an A. Written in the stars... indeed.

Why all the hate for the funny, fast paced and campy new take on MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE? Self-aware and packed with big laughs, it's an instant all-time guilty pleasure that I am shocked bombed with audiences. I went in prepared to roll my eyes and be bored to death after reading all the critics lambasting it as overlong and dull. It's neither! At two hours and 20 minutes, it's not short, but I was having way too much fun to ever be bored. I certainly knew of the He-Man toys back in the day and absolutely did roll my eyes at the Dolph Lundgren/Frank Langella, CANNON films b-movie back in 1987. But the two leads had some moments and did what they could with the very limited resources that 80's schlockmeister producers Golan & Globus gave them. This time out, MGM/Amazon has dropped $170 million on the production and it looks fantastic from start to finish. With all due respect to Mr. Lundgren, Nicholas Galitzine IS He-Man. He's jacked and packed with as many great comedic line deliveries as he is muscles. Serving as our narrator for the film's opening history lesson on growing up as a young Prince on Eternos, in Castle Greyskull where his Father, KIng Randor (James Purefoy from "Rome") rules with a gentle hand, Prince Adam doesn't show any early signs of being a capable warrior. When Skeletor descends on Eternos, bringing a thousand evil creatures with him, The King and Queen ask their Sorceress (Morena Baccarin) to whisk Adam away to Earth through a wormhole holding the Sword of Power. We meet him 15 years later, now in his mid 20's. Galitzine is hilarious, stuck working in an HR department with a bunch of tattletales. He spends most of his days online, looking for any trace of his Sword, which he dropped as he fell to Earth. The comedy is constant, adding the same type of self-aware humor that The Avengers films did, but in much bigger doses. When Adam finally finds that sword, he triggers events that tee up the second half of the film for a non-stop series of battles, square-offs and a few tender moments mixed in with the laughs. I can't say enough about Galitzine. He's got serious comedic chops and delivers everything you want in the He-Man fight scenes. It's too bad this thing bombed so bad, I'd love to see more of these actors in these roles. Camila Mendes is excellent as Teela, Adam's childhood friend who's grown up to be a warrior. Her father is Duncan, the former leader of the King's Guard, played by Idris Elba. Jared Leto has a blast as Skeletor, mixing an upper crust accent with constant frustration about how stupid many of his minons are. Leto's great. Between this and the box office death of "Tron: Ares", Leto seems to have a bit of a black cloud over him, but I really enjoyed him in both films, naysayers be damned. I love how Adam calls all the former heroes on Eternos by the names he knew them by as a kid. Fisto and RamMan are not too happy about that and double entendres abound for constant laughs. Again, I don't get the hate for this movie. It's a visual action feast, roaring with huge musical references (Daniel Pemberton's score is terrific) and easter eggs from the 80's. Just when you think you know where it's going, it doubles down on the humor and nails the punch line. I loved the scene where our heroes all stand in a circle with their hands on their hips, the top half of their bodies pitched back at a crazy angle as they all belly laugh. It's the perfect, clever allusion to the animated series that all of us of a certain age have stuck in our brains. The film also gives off some serious vibes of Mike Hodges 1980 camp flick, "Flash Gordon", but this film pulls the camp off with much more style. When 'Princes of the Universe" by Queen started roaring through the speakers and Brian May's guitar riffs took off in Dolby Cinema, I was in heaven. It's an 80's "Highlander" reference that you'll hear echoed elsewhere in the movie. There's one great gym set cameo that I won't reveal, but it left me smiling, as did the final battle between He-Man and Skeletor. Their fight took me back to the brutal punches of the Rocky movies. It's a hell of a match! Oozing with the same kind of huge scale action, wit and sarcasm as the original "Guardians of the Galaxy" film, I was shocked how much I enjoyed this one. Everyone I know that has actually seen this movie has loved it. How can you not? It's the perfect summer action blockbuster that no one went to see. Here's hoping it finds a second life on streaming and beyond so we can see this cast again in these roles. They're one hell of an ensemble that delivers a nostalgic throwback to the fun 80's action flicks that always fired up the summer movie seasons of decades past. It really took me back. Don't ignore this one, see it on the biggest screen you can find. MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE gets my most surprising A so far in 2026.

Grossing four times its $100 million budget, 2001's THE MUMMY RETURNS was that rare blockbuster sequel that outperformed the original hit. It's easy to see why. Everyone we loved in the first adventure is back for more and everything feels bigger in scope and execution. Other than the fact that it's about 15 minutes too long, THIS is how you deliver a follow up! Brendan Fraser is in fine form as adventurer Rick O'Connell, still chasing Egyptian artifacts with his wife Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) and their young son Alex (Freddie Boath). It's been ten years since the first film, even though the films released two years apart. The filmmakers wanted Alex to be older, as he serves as a key part of the adventure. When the mummified body of Imhotep (the terrific returning Arnold Vosloo) is sent to a London museum, it's only a matter of time before he becomes reanimated and sets his sights on raising his Army of the Dead. The size and scale of the action sequences is excellent, including some opening flashbacks to Ancient Egypt that were very early examples of CGI that still hold up pretty well today! A double decker bus chase through London with Imhotep's undead Army of Anubis, nasty canine-humanoid creatures who can run and jump with the best of them, is relentless fun. Oded Fehr returns and nearly steals the movie as Ardeth Bay, the dashing and fierce leader of the Medjai, an ancient tribe of warriors dedicated to protecting the world from the resurrected High Priest Imhotep. Fehr is flawless casting, giving off killer screen presence and the same dangerous, dashing feel that Sean Connery conveyed in John Milius's "The Wind and the Lion". He trained for months on horseback, and it shows. The hilarious John Hannah (Four Weddings and A Funeral) is back as Evelyn's bumbling brother Jonathan, whose lust for treasure manages to still get the family in plenty of predicaments. The stunning Patricia Velasquez also returns as Anck-Su-Namun, Imhotep's forbidden love from thousands of years ago, still working to reunite their souls. Writer/Director Stephen Sommers clearly loves these characters and actors and spins an entirely new adventure around them that's pure summer movie fun. Fraser is so likeable that you are along for the ride, no matter what crazy plot twist occurs. Ancient curses are unleashed one after another, including Dwayne Johnson (still The Rock in 2001) as The Scorpion King. He's the only dodgy CGI in the film, but I remember his sequence slaying us all 25 years ago, before the digital creations spoiled us with photo realistic versions of anything you can imagine. Alan Silvestri's score picks up right where Jerry Goldsmith's music for the original film left off. Goldsmith famously called the original movie "absolute shit" at a symphonic concert he performed it at, not knowing that Sommers was in the audience. He wasn't called back for the sequel. Adrian Biddle (Aliens, V for Vendetta) shoots the entire film with a sweeping camera that rarely stops sharing widescreen vistas of incredible places and wild creatures. I loved how everyone committed to up the ante from the hugely successful original film two years before. This is fast-paced, spectacular fun of the highest order. Weisz and Velasquez trained for five months for their big fight scene. There are no doubles used! The final battle in the desert features over 96,000 warriors! It looks like something out of a David Lean film. Grossing $68 million at the box office its opening weekend in 2001, it was, at the time, the second biggest opening of all time and would remain the highest grossing "Mummy" film of the series. I'm betting the new sequel in development for release in 2027/2028 will top that easily! THE MUMMY RETURNS gets an A, still just as enjoyable as it was 25 summers ago!