When trying to imagine a visual metaphor that defines the essence of the state of Florida, the image of an alligator rising to the surface of a lake carrying a gun on its back just about nails it. I wish I had thought of it. That scene actually happens in an early episode of Netflix’s… Read More The Goddamn State Is Shaped Like a Gun! | Florida Man (2023) Netflix Limited Series
Revisited a much-loved pop landmark from the heart of the Baby Boomer era with a pointedly more diverse cast and a stronger focus on the female point-of-view, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies feels like it was explicitly (if not expressly) designed to inflame our current culture wars and drive the anti-“woke” crowd absolutely insane… Read More It’s Gonna Be Different This Year | Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (2023) Paramount+ Series Premiere
The qualities that caused Dragonslayer to fail at the box office in 1981 are very likely the same reasons the film has endured for so long as a cult item with many passionate fans. Released at a time when what passed for movies in the fantasy-adventure genre were typically jokey and juvenile in nature (see… Read More We Shall Live and the Beast Shall Die | Dragonslayer (1981) 4K Ultra HD
As a young film student in 1993, I walked out of the theater ecstatic about Tony Scott’s True Romance. I went back to see it a couple more times, but couldn’t convince any of my friends to go with me. From the title, they all assumed it must be a sappy rom-com that would hold… Read More If I’m With You, Then I’m With You | True Romance (1993) 4K Ultra HD
Released in the highly-competitive 1999 fall movie season against dozens of good-to-great films from other major artists, Steven Soderbergh’s modest crime thriller The Limey slipped through the cracks and drew little attention. Although kindly received by critics, it made no money and, even a couple decades later, remains one of the director’s least-seen works. Yet… Read More You Tell ‘im I’m Coming | The Limey (1999) 4K Ultra HD
Culture often seems to move in thirty-year cycles. Growing up back in the 1980s, it felt like nostalgia for the 1950s was everywhere, as my parents’ generation hit middle age and started pining for their own youths. Now here we are another three decades hence, only to find the United States in a renewed Cold… Read More Don’t Think, Just Do | Top Gun: Maverick (2022) 4K Ultra HD
The biggest blockbuster hit of 1986 and one of the most (if not the most) iconic films from that decade, Top Gun has remained enduringly popular over time – enough so that a sequel released 36 years later once again blew the roof off the theatrical box office. Is it actually a good movie, though?… Read More Take My Breath Away | Top Gun (1986) 4K Ultra HD
Confession time: As someone who has reviewed movies on home video for more than two decades, I simply cannot stand to watch most DVD or Blu-ray bonus features. The days when I might get excited for a director’s audio commentary or a lengthy making-of documentary about the film I just watched feel like a distant… Read More Remember When DVD and Blu-ray “Special Features” Actually Used to Be Special?
The latest in the never-ending cycle of Star Wars content being churned out on Disney+, the animated Clone Wars spin-off series The Bad Batch has returned for a second season. Released in mid-2021, the first season was decidedly underwhelming, to be honest. Whether this one will show any growth or improvement remains to be seen,… Read More More Clonin’ Around | Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 2 Premiere (2023) on Disney+
In the Green episode of Netflix’s limited series Kaleidoscope, the lead character bemoans how people have a tendency to get stuck in ruts and find “new ways to do the same old shit.” While perhaps overly harsh, the show itself could be considered an exercise in exactly that. A very novel and innovative viewing method… Read More A Heist of a Different Color | Kaleidoscope (2023) Netflix Limited Series
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