The Ritual (Blu-ray) (2025)
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on September 24th, 2025
“The following is based on true events. The events depicted were transcribed by Father Joseph Steiger. The story represents the most thoroughly documented case of demonic possession in American history.”
Of course, the exorcism that we’re all talking about is the same event that The Exorcist was based upon. I don’t know what possesses filmmakers to keep chasing that lightning in a bottle, but I doubt it will ever be done. And I think that is something I like about The Ritual, directed by David Midell and starring Al Pacino and Dan Stevens. It’s not trying to be The Exorcist. Instead they are trying to do something more faithful to the original story, and I think that is one of several elements which led me to appreciate this film more than I have much of any horror out in the last handful of years.
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The Life of Chuck (Blu-ray)
Posted in No Huddle by Brent Lorentson on September 24th, 2025
“I am large; I contain multitudes.”
If The Life of Chuck doesn’t take home an armful of awards this year, it will be a criminal shame. I first read the Stephen King novella when it was released in his collection If It Bleeds (2020), It was a story that you can tell King wrote during the COVID-19 panic. I remember liking the story, but it wasn’t one of my favorites in the collection. What stood out the most was the unique way he wrote the story about the end of the world. It didn’t really surprise me that the story was being adapted into a film considering just how many Stephen King stories are brought to the big screen and streaming every year. It was the fact that Mike Flanagan signed on to write and direct that got me excited about this project. For those who may not know, Mike Flanagan has been making a name for himself in the horror genre. The Haunting on Hill House, Midnight Mass, Hush, Doctor Sleep, The Fall of the House of Usher and Gerald’s Game are all hits in his filmography
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The Thursday Murder Club (2025)
Posted in The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on September 24th, 2025
Following the success of Only Murders in the Building, it was only a matter of time before we got more shows and films coming in to piggyback off the success. I’ll admit when I first saw an ad for The Thursday Murder Club on Netflix, I really didn’t think much of it, but I was glad to see the ensemble of actors continuing to get work as they age gracefully into their twilight years. With a film with a cast like Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie, Jonathan Pryce and several more familiar faces I found myself compelled to give this film a chance. Oh, and how can I forget, though this came as a surprise to me as I watched the closing credits, to discover the film was directed by Chris Columbus? The man is a legend to me just for directing Adventures in Babysitting, a childhood favorite of mine, but he also directed Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, Stepmom (in my opinion an underrated classic), oh, and the first two Harry Potter films
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M3GAN 2.0 (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 23rd, 2025
“Everybody deserves a second chance.”
In some parts of the country there’s a saying. If you don’t like the weather, wait a few minutes. It’ll change. That’s exactly how I felt by the time my two hours watching M3GAN 2.0 was through. It was entertaining, to be sure, but I felt like I had been through about five movies before it was finally over. It’s hard to imagine that is has been three years since we first met the robot/children’s toy gone berserk, but it really has. It was my hope that everyone was just waiting until they had a great new idea before they trotted the killer doll out again. Most of the characters and actors who survived their first encounter with M3GAN returned for the sequel, with at least one of them being somewhat of a surprise appearance, and just like that first movie, you really have to be careful who you trust here, because killer dolls aren’t the only things that are dangerous here.
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The Jolly Monkey (2025)
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on September 22nd, 2025
“You’re going to regret that.”
Did you know that those windup monkeys that clash the cymbals are called jolly monkeys? I did not .. .that was until I came across a low-budget slasher film called The Jolly Monkey. It’s the feature film debut of writer/director Ryan Ebert. The film was obviously put together fast to capitalize on Stephen King and Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey, which hit theatres early this year. It doesn’t really share anything other than having a monkey in the title. Put together fast, it was. They shot this film in six days with a budget somewhere just under a hundred grand. I found the film also takes a little bit from last year’s Imaginary by Jeff Ladlow. You really have many of the same story beats but with much less money than either of the other two films. That’s going to be a problem. Let me tell you about it.
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Him (2025)
Posted in The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on September 21st, 2025
“Now we’re playing some football.”
Let’s just start with the high marks: Marlon does his thing, which I fully expected that he would. Right when you think that we have already seen the best that he has to offer, he finds a new gear, and let it be known that he will not be typecast as just a comedian or as a writer or as producer. He is, in fact, him. Pun intended. Tyriq Withers shows some promise as a leading man, and like his character is clearly hungry to make a name for himself, with this project being his second box office horror appearance this year (the other being I Know What You Did Last Summer). Also, you can see Jordan’s Peele’s influence on the film, as there are a handful of similarities to his previous projects. However, Him, while entertaining, does not achieve the same impact as those aforementioned projects. There was plenty of intrigue, but the train somewhat comes off the track, particularly in regard to the film’s conclusion.
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Spenser: For Hire: The Complete Series
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2025
“The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests. The son of man hath nowhere to lay his head.” I couldn’t remember if it was from Luke or John, but it looked like I’d just joined a very exclusive club. It was Matthew, and reading the rest of the chapter before I fell asleep helped me get over the feeling I had when I watched almost everything I own go up in smoke. I tried to drown the rest of my thoughts in beer; that never really works. And the alcohol in my blood didn’t make an August night in Boston any cooler. Actually I was being urban-renewed out of my office. I had to move uptown. Of course, uptown for me is still downtown for most people. My new place was at 357 Mass Avenue over a cheap cigar store and a florist specializing in day-old flowers at an office that used to belong to Madam Martino, a psychic.”
If that psychic had still been in business, I wonder if she could have predicted the life of television icon Robert Urich.
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The Conjuring Last Rights (2025)
Posted in The Reel World by Dakota Nivens on September 21st, 2025
Watching a production as high-caliber as The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025) naturally comes with a lot of hype, with its Hollywood budget and immense popularity. It is refreshing to see a Hollywood horror film treated with real seriousness, the kind that draws both genre diehards and casual viewers, and my theater was packed as evidence of that. Within its shared universe there are nine, debatably ten, entries you can binge, including Annabelle (2014-2019) and The Nun (2018-2023) with their sequels. The debated tenth, The Curse of La Llorona (2019), is only loosely connected through Father Perez from the Annabelle films. As the title suggests, The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025) positions itself as the capstone to this first phase, and it is wrapped with a cathartic finality. I think one of the main reasons for its success is the fact that these movies are based on real events and experiences from the perspective of the Warrens.
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NCIS: Season 22
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on September 18th, 2025
“I’m telling you, it’s empty nest syndrome. First Jess leaves for California. Then Torres volunteers to go deep under cover. And now McGee is applying for the Deputy Director position. Poor Parker. The man is alone.”
Mark Harmon as Gibbs was the soul of the NCIS franchise. When he finally called it quits after nearly 20 years, I have to admit I wasn’t sure how much longer the show could go on. I mean, there has to be a reason for this kind of longevity. All of the spin-offs have now come and gone. NCIS: Hawaii has now ended. NCIS: New Orleans shuttered its doors three years ago now after a mere seven years. The longest-running of the spin-offs was L.A., but even they have gone now after only 10 years.
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The Long Walk (2025)
Posted in The Reel World by Gino Sassani on September 14th, 2025
“It takes a heavy sack to sign up for this contest. I’m not gonna go through the whole rule book, but it boils down to this. If you fall below the speed of three miles per hour, you get your ticket. Walk until there’s only one of you left.”
Stephen King has been America’s most renowned writer for about 50 years. That’s a long time to stay on top. He does it by giving audiences something they want but are not always willing to admit that they want. Of course, he’s the master of horror, but he doesn’t always write specifically about horror. The reason King is able to scare us so well is because he understands the human condition. He has an innate ability to touch our emotions. The truth is that the best of his film adaptations have tended to be the films less related to horror. The Shawshank Redemption remains the best Stephen King film ever made.
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Jurassic World Rebirth (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 11th, 2025
“I can guarantee your safety … more or less.”
Some things cannot 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.
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Locked (2025)
Posted in No Huddle by Jeremy Butler on August 29th, 2025
“I read somewhere, thou shalt not steal. I think it was in the Bible, “Thou shalt not steal.” That’s not complicated, is it? But, if you do have a problem with that, you can always take it up with God, or Karl Marx, or the Kardashians, or anyone.”
Unfortunately, even Anthony Hopkins wasn’t enough to elevate this film beyond just an OK watching experience. A remake of a remake, Locked stars Hopkins as well as Bill Skarsgard, who I am convinced struggles with picking good movies to become attached to. Not saying that this is a shining example of those difficulties, but I doubt it will do anything to further his reputation in the industry. The film is a remake of the Argentine film 4×4 (2019), which was previously remade in Brazil as A Jaula (2022). Despite not being in the same room for the bulk of the film, I will say that the two played off one another quite well, which I attributed to both actors having significant stage presence. That aside, the film drew too many parallels to another psychological thriller franchise starring an enigmatic actor whose character had penchant for entrapping individuals who needed to learn a lesson.
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NCIS: Origins: Season 1
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on August 29th, 2025
“My dad used to say, wherever you go, there you are. I guess he was right. No matter how hard you try, or in my case, how far you go, you can’t leave it all behind. There is no such thing as a clean slate. They’re always there. They’re always with you, the stories you’ve told. Hell, even worse, the ones you never could. This is a story I never tell.”
Mark Harmon as Gibbs was the soul of the NCIS franchise. When he finally called it quits after nearly 20 years, I have to admit I wasn’t sure how much longer the show could go on. I mean, there has to be a reason for this kind of longevity. All of the spin-offs have now come and gone. NCIS: Hawaii has now ended. NCIS: New Orleans shuttered its doors years ago after a mere seven years. The longest-running of the spin-offs was L.A., but even they have gone now after only 10 years. I say only 10 years. For most shows a 10-year run is rarefied air.
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Friendship (Blu-ray) (2025)
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on August 28th, 2025
“I can see the future. It’s full of pals helping pals, and being a boss. I’m on the edge of life, and the view is gorgeous.”
Andrew DeYoung has actually been around for quite a little while. He’s been directing television episodes a short features since around 2008. And so into every working director a feature film must eventually fall. For Andrew DeYoung it turns out to be the self-written feature film for A24, Friendship. He took a pretty safe route, choosing to work with an actor who has shown a pretty similar shade of dark comedy as Tim Robinson, who plays the lead and very tragic figure. If you’ve seen episodes of The Office, there’s a lot of that kind of humor here. Of course it goes off the rails quite beyond anything you might have seen from the show or Tim Robinson.
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Ultraman Decker: The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on August 25th, 2025
Ultraman is a huge part of Japanese culture and pretty much has been since the original live-action show in 1966. Perhaps Godzilla started the ball rolling, but Ultraman brought us these monsters on a regular basis. In Japan, Ultraman is like our Superman. He’s an iconic hero and a huge part of the pop culture. Since the 60’s he has appeared in many forms, most of them animated. But it is this 1966 series that made a ton of us kids fall in love with him and an entire genre. Yes, there were many from the era: Space Giants featured a giant fighting robot who fought monsters and sometimes converted into a spaceship (yes, before transformers were ever thought of); Johnny Socko had his giant robot; and the list goes on. But it was Ultraman who started it. Eiji Tsuburaya, who created the original Godzilla, formed a new company outside of Toho Pictures. Ultraman was pretty much the first thing out of the new shop.
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1923: A Yellowstone Origin Story – Season Two (Blu-ray)
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on August 22nd, 2025
“We have sold the last of our herd, keeping only four bulls and 100 heifers. The seeds with which you must rebuild the ranch that trickery and laws drafted by loan sharks have stripped from us. The road to Bozeman is snowed over now, passable only on horseback. Our movement is restricted to the lodge and the pastures around the barn until spring. We dare not kill a beef, so the men hunt. Gone are the great feasts of summer. It is stews and stale bread and bland fuel of substance. Like the bear, we hibernate, impatiently awaiting spring.”
It is the second and likely final season for the Yellowstone prequel 1923. I have heard whispers that there will be more, and we might see Harrison Ford and Helen Miren again in a series likely to take place a little later, hence a new name, and focused more on Brandon Sklenar’s character Spencer who will, no doubt, be raising the grandfather of Kevin Costner’s patriarch character in Yellowstone.
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Bring Her Back (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 22nd, 2025
It would seem that ever since Hereditary came out in 2018, it kind of paved the way for the new sub-genre of horror, “grief-horror”, basically horror films that delve into the emotional horror of losing loved ones and the reckless attempts people may make to reach out to them in the afterlife. This isn’t subject matter most horror fans enjoy; for me I find an odd sense of comfort with these films. When Talk to Me came out, that film especially struck a nerve with me, and I absolutely loved that film from the first-time Australian filmmakers and brothers Danny and Michael Philippou. Talk To Me managed to bring something new to the supernatural genre, and the grief the main character was going through was very relatable for me, so of course I was going to be a little excited about what this duo would do next (at least before they tackled their sequel to Talk To Me). As it would turn out, I wouldn’t have to wait long for their next film, and Bring Her Back tackles the horror of grief in a manner that has stuck with me.
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Crown of Shadows (2025)
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on August 21st, 2025
“Queen Ginnarra rules the Kingdom of Aberon with an iron fist. To her devout followers, she is the prophet of the abyss, a master of unfathomable power, commanding forces that lie beyond the grasp of mortal understanding. They believe that through evil deeds, they may win her unearthly blessings. She led a rebellion against us and murdered my father. I fled to the deadlands in exile. But there is a truth that chills the blood within my veins. Queen Ginnarra is not only ruler of our kingdom, she is my sister.”
Crown Of Shadows sells itself as Game Of Thrones Meets 300. There is a reason even small budget filmmakers want to do something akin to Game Of Thrones. It’s been immensely popular and has made a mint for HBO and the author of the books, George RR Martin. But there is also a reason why budget filmmakers should stay away from such material.
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Weapons (2025)
Posted in The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on August 14th, 2025
Some people may think I’m crazy, but as a lifelong horror fan, I feel right now we are in the Golden Age of horror cinema. When you look at the box office this year and last, horror has simply been a dominate force, and I’m loving it. What’s even better is that it is new material that is raking in the money rather than seeing tired retreads of IPs that have been exhausted over and over again. Sinners, though it wasn’t my cup of tea, dominated the box office, and even though I’m not the film’s biggest fan, I still like seeing horror rake in the money. I’m loving that we’re getting all kinds of horror lately, where an indie slasher like Terrifier is going to be featured at Halloween Horror Nights, and we’re getting all sorts of experimental horror. For instance, later this year we’ll get Goodboy, a paranormal story told through the perspective of a dog. (Sure, it sounds silly, but I’m all for it.) This brings me to Barbarian. For me this has been my favorite horror film in the past five years, and that’s saying a lot, because there has been A LOT of good horror lately. From the moment I heard about Zach Cregger’s next film, Weapons, it immediately shot to the top of my list of most anticipated films.
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Predator Killer of Killers (2025)
Posted in The Reel World by Dakota Nivens on August 14th, 2025
I originally watched Predator: Killer of Killers (2025) as suggested by my boyfriend, which was released on Hulu in June. To be candid, I stopped following the Predator franchise after its cultural peak with the iconic crossover Aliens versus Predator (2004) and its respective sequel in 2007. Once franchises start to feel more like money grabs, like with the Jurassic World franchise (2015-2025), the magic becomes evanescent, and the cinematic experience is severely diminished for me. That said, this movie is so creatively gory, with such a stellar story, you can’t help but be impressed! This film acts as a standalone animated anthology, which serves as the eighth installment for the franchise, released after Prey (2022) and preceding Badlands (Nov 2025). Both the style of animation and the creative use of vantage points distinguished this production from the rest in the franchise and amazingly keeps you invested in the story, despite it initially seeming disconnected.
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Freakier Friday (2025)
Posted in The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on August 9th, 2025
The simplest way I can think to sum up this movie is as such: If you saw the first film (Freaky Friday), then you have essentially already seen the second film already, Freakier Friday. This is due to there being very little difference between the two films beyond the passage of time. Yes, Lindsay Lohan now finds herself in the adult role, but the film’s themes are very much the same. In the interest of fairness, I will admit that there is very little room for deviation given the film’s premise. This is a “walk a mile in another person’s shoes” type movie, and the film delivers on that, so when push comes to shove, the film delivered on what it was supposed to. However, I feel like this kind of movie was the reason that Disney created Disney+ for. As nice as it was to see Lohan return to the silver screen, this film marks Lindsay Lohan’s first theatrically released leading role in 18 years. However, it just felt like the film would have been better suited on the streaming service. I will give this legacy sequel credit for its continuity, as it found a way to bring back nearly every character from the first film, which was something that I did not expect.
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The Naked Gun (2025)
Posted in The Reel World by Dakota Nivens on August 2nd, 2025
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.
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Happy Gilmore 2 (2025)
Posted in The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on August 1st, 2025
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.
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The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
Posted in The Reel World by Gino Sassani on July 26th, 2025
“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.
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Until Dawn (2025)
Posted in The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on July 26th, 2025
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.
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