The Naked Gun (2025) is a beautifully absurd film that had me and everyone in the theater laughing in tears. It is both a continuation and reboot to the original franchise that introduces a new generation of characters, which still honors the classic formula of deadpan delivery, absurd plotlines, and visual gags that gave the original its significance. It was like a breath of fresh air in a lackluster era of Hollywood which felt seriously rich in soul. I can’t even joke; my face was hurting from laughing and smiling throughout the entire movie! Initially, I was apprehensive about the movie because it starred faces I’ve honestly grown tired of seeing in Hollywood, notably Neeson and Huston. It is a star-studded cast with Liam Neeson as Lt. Frank Drebin, Jr. and Pamela Anderson as Beth Davenport. Additionally, Seth MacFarlane is part of the production with Fuzzy Door Productions in partnership with Paramount Pictures. Even though I didn’t care for Neeson having the main role, his acting wasn’t washed up at all and was far better seeing him in a comedy—same with Huston. The production was ripe with cameos with Busta Rhymes as a bank robber, “Weird Al” Yankovic as himself, Cody Rhodes as a bartender, even ring announcer Bruce Buffer, and so many more. To me, this is what genuinely gave this movie its soul, with its cultural relevancy and space for diverse interests.

Even as a gay man, I have to say that Pamela Anderson was absolutely gorgeous and so sexy in this film! I say that because that is exactly how she set out to present herself as the femme fatale in this movie, and she nailed it! Even though her talks with the media around aging gracefully are viral, it felt she authentically elevated the Hollywood beauty standard that she so virtuously chooses to be buoyed by. She completely sold the dumb blonde trope, and the movie wouldn’t have had its charm without her!

I have to admit it is hard to believe that Happy Gilmore came out nearly 30 yeas ago. It’s a hard pill to swallow, because I remember seeing it in the theater with my friends, and, well, that pretty much reminds me that I’m getting old. I’ve been a fan of Adam Sandler since his time on SNL, and it’s been interesting seeing how his career has grown. For me, I’ve remained a loyal fan not because I feel his films are great; honestly, he’s had quite a few duds along the way, but it’s because he seems to be one of the few guys in Hollywood who hasn’t changed with fame. You never hear about scandals. He just seems like a down-to-earth guy who really isn’t so different from his fans. When it comes to Happy Gilmore 2, this film has been something fans have been wanting for a while, though many of us just really didn’t think it was going to happen. After 30 years, was it worth the wait? Well, I’ll say this much: this film was certainly made for the fans.

Ever since Happy (Adam Sandler) won that gold jacket, he went on to have a successful career on the pro circuit. He ended up marrying Virginia (Julie Bowen), and they had five kids together. Everything seemed to be going great; that is, until an unfortunate accident occurred and Virginia was killedd and this sent Happy spiraling and becoming an alcoholic and giving up the sport. Oh, and grandma’s house that he fought so hard for in the first film -- he ends up losing that as well. It’s fair to say things are a bit darker for Happy this time around as we see him as a single dad struggling, and the one thing that seems to get him motivated is getting money together to send his daughter to a dance academy in France. As for Happy’s rival in the first film, Shooter McGavin, (Christopher McDonald), he’s been locked away in a mental institution since his breakdown after losing to Happy all those years ago. Another familiar face that returns is Hal (Ben Stiller); he’s no longer at the nursing home, but is in charge of Happy’s AA group. Honestly, this aspect was one of the weaker parts of the film, but Stiller still makes it work.

"I'm not giving up. We will face this together. We will fight it together... as a family."

In November of 1961 I wasn't quite five months old when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the first team of superheroes. Long before a Justice League or Avengers team was created, The Fantastic Four delivered a family of superheroes, and while it would be a few years before I would read my first issue, they created an impression along with Spider-Man, that has given me the love of comics and this kind of entertainment for the remainder of my life. The team first found themselves on film via a cheap Roger Corman film that was never released but found itself on the sci-fi convention circuit for decades. It was bad. Fox only made it so that they could keep the film rights a little longer, and they eventually made a  couple of films, the first of which I consider underrated. We won't talk about the more recent film that became an historic bomb and cost its director a Star Wars film. Now Disney owns Fox, and it's time to bring The Fantastic Four and The X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Fantastic Four: First Steps kicks off the first film in Phase 6 of that MCU. I found the trailers a bit disturbing but went into the film with an open mind. This was, of course, the First Family of comics, and I very much want them to thrive.

When it comes to video game adaptations, I learned a long time ago to not get my hopes up. Sure, there have been a few films that manage to do the source material justice, but for the most part the films tend to just fail in spectacular fashion. Until Dawn is honestly a game I never expected to see turn into a film or TV show, mostly because the game play is basically like a “choose your own adventure” style, and it just didn’t seem like something that could work. The approach the film takes  is something different and takes the story into a Groundhog Day direction, only every time the characters re-spawn  it becomes a different sub-genre of horror film. While I feel this is a terrible videogame adaptation, this actually turned out to be a fun premise for a film. So how does the film stand on its own? Well, a lot better than I had anticipated.

A group of friends have decided to tag along with Clover (Ella Rubin). She is on a trip to find out what happened to her missing sister. Along for the ride is her ex, Max (Michael Cimino) who still pines for her, her best friend, Nina (Odessa A’zion), and her boyfriend/ psychology major, Abe (Belmont Cameli). And then there is the oddball, fifth-wheel, Megan (Ji-young Yoo) who believes she has psychic abilities. The group has some decent chemistry, which helps this film a lot, because for the most part the film doesn’t waste time jumping into the creepy horror element. When the group stops off at a gas station, Clover encounters the gas station attendant (played by Peter Stormare) who drops some hints about people who have gone missing nearby. The gang follows up on this lead, and they find themselves at a unique little house that has a strange hourglass that mysteriously turns itself over and a guestbook that has Clover’s missing sister’s name scrawled inside.

I have to admit that when I heard about Heads of State being a buddy action film with John Cena as the President of the United States and Idris Elba as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, I was totally on board. Then when I saw that this was heading directly to Amazon Prime, my excitement fizzled. When you have an action film with those two on the marquee, it just seems like the perfect summer film, and with the director of Nobody and Hardcore Henry at the helm, it just adds to the expectation of pure dumb popcorn bliss. Only Amazon Studios can find a way to mess this up. Still, I tried to go into this with an open mind, but the end result is an action comedy that underwhelmed in such spectacular fashion that I’m somewhat impressed at how mediocre this film turned out despite all its opportunities to impress.

Will Derringer (Cena) was a Hollywood action star before becoming president, and he uses his Hollywood image as a big-screen action star to bolster his image with the public. Then there is Sam Clarke (Elba), who actually has military training. Though he never saw combat, he kind of sees Derringer as an actor just playing the part of the president, and the two are constantly butting heads. It’s when they are together on Air Force One and they plane is attacked that they really have to begin to work together as they narrowly escape their plane crashing and they parachute alone into Eastern Europe. Thankfully this pair has onscreen chemistry together, or this film would have been in worse trouble, but the problem I saw early on is that this film just couldn’t decide on the right balance of action and comedy. Having a PG-13 rating really neutered the film, because it very clearly wants to be in the same league as Lethal Weapon, but it just doesn’t have the laughs, the violence, or the grit to make a difference.

"I can guarantee your safety... more or less." 

Some things can not be beat, and they sure as heck can't be repeated. An old vintage cola commercial used to tell us, "Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby". And Jurassic World Rebirth is going to do anything it can for 134 minutes to try and tell you that isn't true, but we know better, don't we? Anyone who has seen the original Jurassic Park has their favorite moments, but one scene has always stood out for me and so many other film fans I've spoken to. When the camera pans to that peaceful swamp pasture and you see tons of dinosaurs walking about without a care in the world. If you didn't know how to react there, Sam Neill as Dr. Grant showed you how. His expression matched ours, and it was a wonderful cinematic moment of magic and wonder. You can never repeat that, ever again. No matter how many Jurassic franchise movies or any other dinosaur movies might attempt to bring you that single moment, they never will. And that's OK. There are moments in Jurassic World Rebirth where it is quite obvious that director Gareth Edwards attempts to repeat that moment. He telegraphs it, particularly in a scene where we get a wide shot of dinosaurs and we hear that old John Williams theme, and Edwards is pulling hard on our heartstrings. Sorry, Gareth. It didn't happen for anyone there. It's not your fault. You did everything right. But, you see Steven Spielberg already took us there, and we will never have it again, but truly, man, thanks so much for trying. You did deliver the best of the Jurassic World films and the best franchise film since the original. You're just going to have to settle for that.

“Memento Mori, it means you must die.”

This movie has been a long time coming and is quite possibly the most anticipated movie of the summer. Fans (myself included) have been waiting almost twenty years for this addition to the franchise to materialize. Since the Rage virus was introduced to the audience back in 2002 with 28 Days Later, we, the audience, have been captivated by Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s gritty zombie tale that filled a much-needed hole left behind by George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead franchise. To their credit, the duo did follow up 28 Days Later with the aptly-titled 28 Weeks Later, which if I’m honest, was my favorite of the franchise, to include this latest installment. That isn’t to diminish this addition; I’m just very fond of the Weeks’ film because it was the movie that really made me pay attention to Jeremy Renner. True to its predecessors, 28 Years Later features a brand-new cast of characters to include Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Jack O’Connell, Ralph Fiennes, and Alfie Williams in his first leading role.