The Reel World

It is hard to believe it has been nearly a decade since Mel Gibson last directed a film. Hacksaw Ridge remains one of my favorite war films made in the 21^st century, and I thought for sure it signaled the return for Gibson, since he’s been in Hollywood jail since 2006. He’s managed to get some work in some bad direct-to-streaming films, though I feel the last great film we’ve gotten to see him on screen was 2018’s Dragged Across Concrete, which didn’t exactly set the box office ablaze. I’m bummed by this, because really he’s one of the few surviving icons from the 80s and 90s that I believe still has some talent and could give cinema a few more great films, that is if Hollywood could just give him that chance. He’s been attached for years to doing another Lethal Weapon, but I have a hard time believing that will happen, and then he’s been working on his sequel to The Passion of Christ, which in theory could give his career the boost he needs to go on to some bigger and better projects, bur unfortunately I’m just not too optimistic about that.

“You should be so proud of her.”

Shelby Oaks is something special when you look at it objectively; it’s a film that was crowd funded by the YouTuber Chris Stuckmann, who wanted to take a shot at making a movie of his very own. The original goal was to raise $600,000, but by the time his Kickstarter was closed, he was able to raise over 1.4 million to make his film. Before he’d even begun filming, this is already an impressive achievement considering how many established filmmakers struggle to get funds together to make their own films. For Shelby Oaks, over 14,000 people contributed to funding the dream for this directorial debut, so again, in my book Chris Stuckmann already won for being able to pull this off. Now the film has a producing credit from Mike Flanagam attached as an executive producer and Neon in charge of the films distribution … so needless to say, there is a great deal of hype around this film.

“Because they need someone to be wicked -- so you can be good.”

I’d say this is one of those times when dividing the project into two parts did more harm than good. No one can discount the impact of the first film, where Cynthia Ervio and Ariana Grande gave us phenomenal and complimentary duets, as well as excellent acting performances. Also, no one can discount the impact of the musical that has dominated the theater for more than twenty years. However, I’d say the good thing about the theater version is that you get all of that at once. In the case of this film and its predecessor, the films are divided into acts, and in my humble opinion, Act 1 is the stronger of the acts, which is also the case with the two films. Wicked set a very high bar by empowering Ervio’s character to stand up for injustice and against Jeff Goldblum as the fraudulent Wizard of Oz. Also, there is certainly a difference in songs. Specifically, in Wicked For Good, there isn’t a song to match the dominance of Defying Gravity.

“Stop filming me!”

Interestingly enough, this 2025 remake/adaptation is a more faithful reproduction of its source material than the 1987 version. The 1987 adaptation, while popular, took liberties when it came to the main character’s backstory and motivations, such as him being a wrongfully accused and convicted policeman getting his shot at freedom by participating in a TV game show where convicts called Runners must battle killers for their freedom. In the 2025 remake, Ben Richards, now played by Glen Powell, is a blacklisted blue-collar worker living in dystopian anarchistic police state with his wife and infant Cathy. Unable to afford medicine for Cathy's influenza, Ben attends tryouts for the network's game shows, where his anger, misanthropy, and physical fitness see him selected for "The Running Man", their most popular and dangerous show. That backstory is much more in line with the 1982 Stephen King novel. Rounding out the cast are Josh Brolin, William H Macy, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, and Colman Domingo. Arnold Schwarzeneggar even makes a surprise appearance. It’s quick, though. Blink and you could miss it.

“The Yautja are prey to none, friend to none, predator to all.”

This has certainly been a resurgent year for the Predator and Alien franchises. In the case of the Predator franchise, Badlands builds on the momentum and resurgence established by prequel film Prey. In the case of this iteration, we are treated with a film from the perspective of a Yautja warrior as he embarks on the rite of passage needed to be inducted into the Yautja clan. This was the unique perspective needed to take the franchise to new heights. For the first five films, we have watched the Yautja be the antagonists, and now we get to see what drives them as they come to the forefront for the first time. I expected that there would be a great deal of action, which was the lure that got me to the theater. What I didn’t expect was the healthy amount of humor that was also infused into the story.

It’s hard to believe it has been nearly a decade since we last had a film directed by Kathryn Bigelow. I’ve been a fan of hers from her early years when she was doing films like Near Dark, Point Break, and Strange Days. I’ve always felt she’s never been given the credit she deserves, but when she finally got recognition for films like The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, it just felt long overdue. Now that she has A House Full of Dynamite releasing on Netflix, I’ll be honest; I immediately expected this to be one of my top films of the year, and considering when it was being released, it seemed like a sure frontrunner as an awards contender. Sadly this film might be my first major disappointment of the year, and what’s frustrating is that it still might have one of the most riveting opening acts of the year. So where did it go so wrong? The film takes us on a journey in a “what if” scenario where the US has a nuclear weapon fired at it from an unknown origin

Ever since I first heard about Good Boy earlier this year as it was making the rounds at film festivals, it instantly became one of my most anticipated films of the year. I was sold just on the idea of this being a supernatural film told through a dog’s perspective. Sure, it sounds like a gimmick, but I really liked the sound of this gimmick. I’ve always been a sucker for the paranormal, and I was always intrigued by the idea that animals could see things that we could not. So after months of waiting, I finally got the opportunity to watch Good Boy. Did it live up to my expectations, or did it turn out to be a dud? The film follows Indy, a Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever. He is extremely loyal to his owner, Todd (Shane Jensen), who we see from the opening scene is extremely ill

“The things you do for the ones you love.” In this case, this saying has a bit of double meaning, one for the movie and one for me personally. For the movie, it is about how far a parent will go to protect their child from an ugly truth. And for me, it’s about how far I will go to ensure that my wife is happy and entertained. Regretting You, the second film adaptation of a Colleen Hoover novel after It Ends with Us (2024) and the third adaptation overall, after the television series Confess (2017). In the case of this film, the audience gets two love stories for the price of one. One is centered around young love between a very talented pair in McKenna Grace and Mason Thames, and the other about second chances, between Dave Franco and Allison Williams. In my opinion, the young-love story is the more vibrant and uplifting story arc, hence why it received far more focus than the second-chance one. Scott Eastwood and Willa Fitzgerald also help round out the cast, but their roles are limited to the opening portions of the film, particularly because it is their actions rather than their presence that help drive the story as a whole.

It’s been a long time since a movie gave me goosebumps. The last real time I can remember it happened is when I first watched Nightmare on Elm Street, which is pretty ironic, as there are some pretty clear parallels between that film and Black Phone 2. Taking place at a summer camp, the film clearly also draws inspiration from the Jason Voorhies franchise as well. However, despite these parallels. Black Phone 2 is still a very entertaining and engaging horror sequel. The film stars Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, and Jeremy Davies reprising their roles, while Demián Bichir joined the cast. Interestingly, Miguel Mora also returns. However, while he played Robin Arellano in the first movie, in the second movie he plays Ernesto, his brother. I was initially skeptical about this sequel because of the demise of Hawke’s character in the first film. I found myself asking, “How are you going to have a sequel when the villain was killed in the first film?” However, it appears that Joe Hill, the author of the short story that the first film was based on, had the answer