The Reel World

"I miss the desert. I miss the sea. I miss waking up every morning wondering what wonderful adventure the new day will bring to us."

Who said Nazis aren't a lot of fun? Hogan's Heroes turned them into comic foils. When it comes to Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, it seems there's no one we like seeing him beat more than Nazis. Think about it. Raiders Of The Lost Ark: Nazis: Great movie. Temple Of Doom: No Nazis: Not so much a great film. Last Crusade: Nazis: Again great film. Crystal Skull: No Nazis: Total disaster. Can you see a pattern beginning to develop here? Somebody finally took notice and Indiana Jones is back in Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny (terrible title, by the way), and he's back to fighting Nazis. What could go wrong?

“Miles, being Spider-Man is a sacrifice. You have a choice between saving one person and saving every world.”

So, I’m not sure how I feel about this whole breaking films into two-parters phenomenon that seems to be sweeping Hollywood. Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning is expecting to do it, while the Fast and Furious franchise has essentially made a three-part finale with the first installment out now. Now we have Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse joining the party. Personally, I blame the Harry Potter and Twilight franchises for this; they opened the door for this type of scheme. Pardon my saltiness; it could have something to do with the fact that I wasn’t aware that I was only going to be watching part one of two-parter prior to showing up at the theater. Had I known, I would have mentally prepared myself.

"You can't live in that world unless you become a human yourself." 

That's what Disney thinks, anyway. In 1989 Walt Disney Studios was suffering a bit. The box office had been loaded with several disappointments, and it seemed that the storied studio might have to give up its crown for the dominant provider of family entertainment. It was the release of The Little Mermaid as a animated feature film that brought families back to the movies in droves. But it wasn't only that particular film that would save things for Disney. The Little Mermaid set the template for what would become one of the best decades in Disney animation history. With animated features like The Lion King and Beauty And The Beast, it was like a new golden age of hand-drawn animation. It was an unprecedented run, to be sure. Now we're in a new millennium, and Disney has once again suffered some box office miscues, and in the middle of that is this trend to create live-action

“Never accept death when suffering is owed.”

So I think it safe to say that when it comes to the Fast and Furious franchise, it is no longer about cars or street racing anymore. In the beginning it felt like we were getting a window into a secret underground world that spanned multiple continents. However, I would say that is no longer the case. Dom and his family have gone legit. Not only have they gone legit, but they now unofficially work for the government in some capacity. No, it is no longer about the cars and street racing anymore. In fact, I would go as far as to say that we aren’t tuning in to see them use their skills on the behalf of the government either. There is one thing that keeps us coming back for more. We want to see what over-the-top, outrageous, death-defying, impossible stuff they are going to do next. At least that is what got me in the seat. In the last couple years, we’ve watched Dom and his family do things that may be theoretically possible, but that we know to be ridiculous. I mean, we watched them go to space in a Pontiac Fiero just a movie ago. Needless to say, this franchise has pushed the boundaries of what we know to be possible, and they’ve done it in a fashion that keeps us coming back for more.

It’s a little hard to believe that it has been nearly a decade since the first Guardians of the Galaxy made its debut on the big screen. I fell in love with the motley crew of heroes after that first screening, and they have been my favorite thing to come out of the MCU after all these years. Now with the third film releasing and with James Gunn bidding his farewell to the MCU and heading over to the DC universe to helm their cinematic universe, that means it is sadly time to see the Guardians, at least how we’ve come to know them, set out on their final adventure. It has been a bumpy road to get to this point; after all, there was the point where James Gunn had been fired from the project and he dipped his toes into the DC universe by writing and directing The Suicide Squad (2021), a film that just didn’t deliver at the box office but I felt was a heck of a lot of fun. Then it seemed the powers that be saw the error of their ways, also fearing that the cast would not return to the film if James Gunn was not brought back on as director, and the announcement was made that Gunn would be brought back and that production would begin on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. So after six years since the previous Guardians of the Galaxy film was released, was it worth the wait?

" Some call me the Dark One. Others, the Lord of Death. To most, I am... Dracula!"

After nearly 90 years, the Universal horror cycle stands as one of the most enduring collection of horror movies today. Their influence on modern horror is unmistakable. There have been literally thousands of incarnations of Dracula, The Wolf Man, and Frankenstein's monster, but the first image that comes to your mind will always be the nightmare creations of those Universal films. Studio head Carl Laemmle, Jr. was trying to break away from his father's control and create a studio culture of his own. The results would start in 1931 when an unknown Hungarian actor named Bela Lugosi jumped from the stage to the screen in Dracula, directed by Tod Browning. Laemmle's niece, Carla Laemmle, is the girl in the coach headed for Borgo Pass as the film opens to the musical strains from Swan Lake.

You don’t have to be a sports name to know the name Michael Jordan, and there is a good chance you’ve even heard of the Air Jordan even if you are not a sneakerhead. What is a little surprising is that someone out there believed that the story about how a shoe could change the sports industry and go on to make the Nike company a multi-billion dollar industry could be a movie that people would actually want to go see. Well, that person was screenwriter Alex Convery, who wrote a screenplay that would make it onto the Hollywood Black List (For those that don’t know, The Black List is a list that comes out every year that ranks the top 10 unproduced screenplays.  It’s an elite list to be on, and typically these eventually get turned into films that gain critical acclaim). As it would turn out, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon would get a shot at the script, and after a polish it would become the new film Ben Affleck would direct since the last film he helmed, Live By Night back in 2016.

"You think I know every human being with a mustache wearing an identical outfit with a hat with the letter of his first name on it? Because I don't!" 

That's the big caveat for this review of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. You might be asking yourself a simple question. If I don't know anything about the Nintendo or Super Mario Bros. games and world, will I be able to enjoy this film? The answer is that you will still be able to enjoy it, but you'll walk away feeling like you've been left out of the joke. That's how I felt after the press screening for the film. I got to hear many of my fellow critics talking with great excitement about all of these wonderful Easter eggs and subtle homage moments, and I didn't get a single one. Check that. I did get one of them, and I'll explain that next.

I don’t believe any of us could have predicted that global phenomenon that the John Wick franchise would become. I mean, on its surface, it’s a movie about man avenging his dog. However, each film has peeled back a layer of the fictional underworld created in the film, drawing us deeper and deeper into this well-crafted universe. In the first film, we were teased about this world’s existence. In the second, we learned about the rules that govern it. In the third, we learned the consequences if you break this world’s rules. And in this likely final installment of the franchise, we see what happens when this world declares war on you. Keanu Reeves reprises this character for the fourth time, doing exactly what he’s done for each installment; literally putting his body on the line to deliver an action-packed and epic performance. Joining him are the Wick universe veterans, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, and most notably the recently departed Mr.Lance Reddick. Rounding out the cast are the Wick universe newcomers, many of whom are action stars in their own right, such as Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, and Bill Skarsgard.

I know that we all know that the DC universe is going through a bit of a revamp right now. I’m sure we’ve all seen it, with the cancellation of the Batgirl movie and the getting our hopes up over the prospect of Henry Cavill’s return to the fold, only to be crushed when it was announced that the studio was going in a different direction. We all have our feelings about it. That said, if there was a franchise that I would recommend keeping around, it would be the Shazam films. I know, I know, I’m surprised by this revelation too, but the thing is, this franchise of them all was the one that took me by the most surprise. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it. Prior to the release of the first film, the character of Shazam (a.k.a. Captain Marvel) had been nothing more than a background character that I’d observed in the animated films and shows. I even questioned the wisdom of introducing a character like this when DC was behind the curve in comparison to Marvel. I thought they should focus on building up the main Justice League heroes so they could get back in the race.