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Jurassic World Rebirth

Know what? Is this a movie that will wow you? No. Is it great? No. Is it memorable? Not really. Props that for most of the movie, while I can't say no one is an idiot, at the very least none of the characters act like they have a death wish and they usually behave like living is something they want to keep doing with some acts of daring bravery mixed in.

But it's okay. This is the definition of a movie that knew the assignment; have dinosaurs eat people.

Solid 5/10, I'll bump it up to a 6/10 for just being a movie that accepts what it is and doesn't pretend to pretensions of being anything else. In five years you'll be channel flipping bored out of your mind, see this movie on FX, shrug, and let it play. It'll do.

Sinners

Finally caught it on Max.

Fantastic movie. 10/10. Great period piece. Great vampire movie. It's like a modernized Dusk till Dawn and it's a good one! Solid movie I encourage it.

I've decided to stop watching bad movies and stick to better films.

Tonight I picked out the Academy Award Best Picture Winning, The Shape of Water to watch.

But first, I decided to watch a film from a few years ago that I thought had classic appeal.

In a world where senators bankroll their own campaigns with literal blood money and casually rewrite history to suit the polling data, it's refreshing to see a film that understands the true horror of unchecked campaign finance. This isn’t just a story about political corruption—it’s about the grotesque loopholes that let rich men buy time the same way they buy votes: recklessly and without conscience.

Immigration? That’s in there too. Not in speeches, but in subtext—the kind that quietly asks what happens when American power structures bend the rules of time itself, but still treat outsiders like expendable afterthoughts. The rich don’t just cross borders—they erase them. Meanwhile, honest cops get chewed up trying to hold a collapsing timeline together with a badge and a conscience.

Ron Silver is pitch-perfect as a greasy senator so corrupt he needs a temporal itinerary just to keep his lies straight. He smirks through legislation like it’s foreplay, and weaponizes time travel the way most politicians weaponize fear. He’s not acting—he’s warning us.

Mia Sara, playing the DC cop’s wife, does more with quiet grief and flickers of hope than most political thrillers manage with ten monologues. She’s the emotional gravity anchoring a plot that could otherwise spiral into nonsense.

And yes—there is a subplot involving Jean-Claude Van Damme and time travel. But that's just the hook. What this film really delivers is a brutal little parable about how money, power, and politics corrupt absolutely—especially when they can rewrite the past to guarantee their future.

The movie? Timecop. Of course.

Finished watching "The Siege of Jadotville"

Once you get past the utter weirdness that is Mark Strong with hair, it was a really good flick. Based on a true story, I definitely appreciated how the Irish comandant, and the FFL mercenary leader were played by dudes who actually have a passing resemblance to the person they're portraying.

Action sequences were, IMO, pretty well shot, the dialog and pacing was pretty good. All in all, a pretty good "original" offering by Netflix.

I Know What You Did Last Summer

So with the modern sequel/reboot baring down on us, felt it was time to give this series a whirl.

The first one is….dated. Not a patch on Scream or The Faculty (my preferred movies of the genre and era), it’s pretty middling. The story itself is pretty damned good, but the execution is off. Whilst it does a reasonable job building atmosphere, our main cast’s acting never delivers the goods, allowing the tension to fizzle out.

Incidental music is very similar to Hellraiser though. Doesn’t make the film any better, but I just wanted to point it out all the same.

Also, slightly odd to not simply see Sarah Michelle Gellar kick the snot out the bad guy.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer

And it’s somehow worse. It should perhaps be more accurately named I Don’t Care What You Did Ever.

I don’t think I could ever get over Mark Strong with hair.

Anyways…


Superman 2025

The one your dad heard was Super Woke.

We went for the Krypto and, dammit, this film delivered. My wife says it’s the best superhero movie ever and wants to see it again. For the good doggie.

The human parts were good, too, if you’re interested in that.

Oh yes, I'm sure it's "super woke" to people who are so incredibly afraid of the term that they use it a billion times a day and consider bees woke.

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:
Finished watching "The Siege of Jadotville"

Once you get past the utter weirdness that is Mark Strong with hair, it was a really good flick. Based on a true story, I definitely appreciated how the Irish comandant, and the FFL mercenary leader were played by dudes who actually have a passing resemblance to the person they're portraying.

Action sequences were, IMO, pretty well shot, the dialog and pacing was pretty good. All in all, a pretty good "original" offering by Netflix.

Given how much that all round defence is taught globally, there will be an odd but consistent audience for that film forever

I did think it was great. Can't remember, did it include the nugget that the Irish reckoned they could use Gaelic for encrypted comms, not realising their were plenty of other Irish around happy to translate for cash of the other factions?

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:

Superman 2025

The one your dad heard was Super Woke.

We went for the Krypto and, dammit, this film delivered. My wife says it’s the best superhero movie ever and wants to see it again. For the good doggie.

The human parts were good, too, if you’re interested in that.

I'll second this. Saw this Friday and found myself itching to see it again all weekend.

Battle for Endor

I do not know who in their right mind would go after Ewoks. Did they not see what they did to an entire legion of the Empires best troops! Then, you try to fight them in a forest! Death wish!

Honestly, if you embrace it for what it is, it is not half bad. A straight to TV kid friendly Star Wars adventure with Wilford Brimley and starring a bunch of merch and puppets with a cute kid too. Fine.

I have never seen the Rise of Skywalker and decided that it must end with the Republic/Resistance calling in an entire regiment of Ewok Commandoes to save the day. Makes sense considering the body count these little guys wrack up!

 Easy E wrote:
Battle for Endor

I do not know who in their right mind would go after Ewoks. Did they not see what they did to an entire legion of the Empires best troops! Then, you try to fight them in a forest! Death wish!

Honestly, if you embrace it for what it is, it is not half bad. A straight to TV kid friendly Star Wars adventure with Wilford Brimley and starring a bunch of merch and puppets with a cute kid too. Fine.

I have never seen the Rise of Skywalker and decided that it must end with the Republic/Resistance calling in an entire regiment of Ewok Commandoes to save the day. Makes sense considering the body count these little guys wrack up!

You haven't seen Rise of Skwalker yet?



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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – The Apex of Galactic Cinema

Five stars? No. Ten stars. A new rating system had to be invented just to properly honor Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker—a film so daring, so visionary, so unconcerned with coherence or restraint, that it singlehandedly redefines what it means to be "Star Wars."

Let’s get this out of the way: George Lucas may have created the galaxy, but J.J. Abrams gave it purpose. Rise of Skywalker is the cinematic equivalent of dumping your entire toy box onto the floor, smashing the action figures together, and screaming, “ALL OF THIS IS CANON NOW!” And you know what? It works. Somehow\... Palpatine returned, and so did my faith in the Force.

Plot? Who Needs Plot?

Detractors might say the plot is “rushed” or “nonsensical” or “resembles the fever dream of a fan forum moderator after chugging twelve Red Bulls.” But that’s the point. Real Star Wars fans know the franchise was never about plot. It’s about vibes. And Rise of Skywalker is pure, uncut Star Wars vibes—pumped straight into your bloodstream with a midi-chlorian IV drip.

Forget logic. This film has a Sith GPS dagger that leads to a hidden planet... but only if you stand in the right spot on a long-dead Death Star wreckage, which somehow hasn’t corroded or moved. That’s not bad writing. That’s mythic destiny.

The Acting: An Emotional Tour de Force

Daisy Ridley’s Rey is no longer just a character. She is a concept. She feels things. She does flips. She has powers we’ve never seen before and never will again, and that’s okay because she's now\... wait for it... a Palpatine! Yes, the most emotionally resonant twist since we found out Luke kissed his sister.

Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren (excuse me, Ben Solo) spends the movie going from sad-boy goth to redeemed sad-boy ghost. His redemption arc is so powerful, he barely needs dialogue. He just vibes silently in a sweater and dies beautifully after a smooch.

Oscar Isaac? Deserved three Oscars for this. One for acting, one for charisma, and one for carrying the weight of delivering lines like “somehow, Palpatine returned” with a straight face.

The Legacy: Burn It All Down

Where The Last Jedi dared to challenge tradition, Rise of Skywalker wisely said, “Nah, we’re good” and speed-ran a soft reboot within its own trilogy. You like Snoke? Here’s a whole vat of Snokes. You like mysteries? Here’s all the answers, now shut up and watch the lightsabers.

Rose Tico? Brave icon of the previous film? Benched harder than a backup goalie. Because true equality means cutting everyone equally, especially if they had emotional depth.

And the Jedi voices at the end? The spiritual GPS hotline of Force-Ghost Cameos™? That was the moment I knew this film was Star Wars. Not a film. Not a story. A theme park ride through my childhood, with Rey as the ride operator shouting, “Be with me!” to every dead Jedi ever.

The Verdict

The Rise of Skywalker is not just the best Star Wars film. It is the only Star Wars film. Everything else—Empire, Mandalorian, Knights of the Old Republic—is just misguided fan fiction compared to this majestic spectacle of narrative chaos and plot contrivances.

It’s what you get when you make a movie by committee, for everyone, with no one in charge—and it’s perfect.

Future filmmakers: take note. This is your blueprint. More resurrected villains. More retcons. More hyperspace skipping. More kiss-of-death redemption arcs. More space horses on Star Destroyers. No notes.

Star Wars was never about making sense. It was about making magic.

And The Rise of Skywalker is a straight-up, weaponized fever dream of magic.