Train Dreams (2025)

Chronicles the life of one Robert Grainier, an ordinary man without much sense of direction or purpose, who searches for meaning in the absurdity and tragedy that follows him during the early twentieth century. Life is simple but hard, and similarly, I found this film meditative but dull, which is probably an accurate depiction of what life was like back then. The cinematography is beautiful and brings to mind the works of Terrence Malick, as we're treated to long stretches of quiet contemplation. It seems to be about how the world changes and leaves us behind, which is as profound as it is devastating.

3 boots nailed to a tree out of 5

The Running Man (2025)

A totalitarian, dystopian game show seemed oddly prescient back in 1982 when King's novel was first published. In 2025, it's depressingly accurate. 

This new adaptation by Edgar Wright attempts to be more faithful to the source material about an everyman who competes on a reality show for a large cash prize by surviving for 30 days in a city full of hunters. This is an extraordinarily stupid movie full of bad decisions that somehow succeeds in making the 1987 film seem more competent by comparison. It's quite a feat.

1½ lucky socks out of 5

Ricky Stanicky (2024)

The Farrelly Brothers tackle R-rated comedy after 13 years and it's a welcome return to form. Three childhood friends invent an alibi called "Ricky Stanicky," who they use as a lifelong excuse to get out of trouble and family obligations. When they are finally caught in the lie 20 years later, they hire a struggling adult entertainer (who sings dirty song parodies) in order to inhabit the role. John Cena always kills it when he goes straight for the comedy and leaves his ego at the door, and William H. Macy always remains a highlight for me. The three friends were mostly forgettable though, and I didn't really care what happened to them, even though that was the very crux of the movie. Ricky Stanicky was too damn likeable and all they kept doing was trying to get rid of him the entire time. Let's face it, we could all use a Ricky Stanicky in our lives.

At the end of the day though, all I'm going to remember are those dirty song parodies. Seriously, that shit made me laugh so hard because I thought I was the only one who turned every lyric into something perverted. "Weird Al Wankovic" was right there the whole time.

3 air-dickers out of 5

BLOOD FATHER [2016]

Director  Jean-François Richet's violent Mel Gibson thriller, Blood Father, plays like a Liam Neeson thriller, if Neeson weren't afraid to roll around in the dust 'n dirt.
Gibson plays a man, in search of some heavy redemption, who's forced to go back to his dastardly ways when his estranged teenage daughter shows up on his doorstep with some nasty sort of fellas hot on her trail.
Right from the get-go you know where this sort of film is heading but it's the clever little nuances that sets it apart from others of it's kind, like father & daughter just as foul-mouthed and dangerous as the other.  There's some pretty silly eye-rolling moments, plotholes galore and awkward dialogue but that's where Mel Gibson's real life unpredictable ferocity gives it that extra amount of savage B-movie tension.

3 topsy-turvy trailers out of 5

FARGO [1996]

The Coen Brothers cleverly collect elements of everything they're known for and make, what I think is, their best film to date with Fargo.
A nervous weasel of a car salesman has his wife kidnapped in order to collect the ransom but things spiral out of control as each piece hopelessly falls into the wrong place.
Fargo is as familiar as it is foreign with it's oddball dialect, spurts of gruesome violence and beautifully photographed shots of next to nothing.  It explores human interest with a keen sense of comfort and disgust but never once repels the viewer with it's brightly lit noirish tale of lies, deceit, murder and absurdly dizzying politeness.  It's the furthest thing from a hip film but that's what makes it what it is.
If anything, it's the nerdier cousin of No Country For Old Men.

5 son-of-a-Gundersons out of 5

Evolver (1995)

Nothing dates a movie quite like the real-world technology featured in it, especially when the story revolves around such things. Thankfully, Evolver also has some sci-fi tech to play around with. The titular robot is a kind of game device that learns from its environment and from studying its opponent. The more Evolver is defeated, the deadlier it becomes. Furthermore, it really hates to lose, which is bad news for tech-savvy high-schooler Kyle.
It's not a terrible film, but will only really appeal to fans of the 'man-made machines on a murderous rampage' genre, such as I.
Things I learned from viewing: a) Cheating works; b) Don't let your prize killer-robot watch news broadcasts on TV.

2 let's plays out of 5

ROOM [2015]

Frank director Lenny Abrahamson delivers a whirlwind of emotions in Room, an adaptation of Irish-Canadian Emma Donoghue's critically acclaimed novel.
It tells the compelling story of a young woman (brilliantly played by Brie Larson) who's raised her five year old son in hostile captivity, forcing her to teach him everything she knows and hide the outside world from him to prevent any sort of trouble from their abusive captor.
It's essentially about the willful bond between a mother and her son, their different co-dependencies & independencies, as well as a series of short but necessarily powerful moments with other family members.  How they adjust to the world around them is difficult viewing that aims straight for the gut, with some huge emotional moments and others are so subtle and small you might not take note until much later.    In the end, I wanted to give my mom a big exhausted hug and thank her for everything she's sacrificed for my well-being, no matter how hard it all got.

5 rotten teeth out of 5

CAKE [2014]

Jennifer Aniston delivers the best performance of her career to date in director Daniel Barnz's somber drama, Cake.
It's a dismal story about a wretched bitch of a woman in chronic pain who develops an unhealthy obsession with a distant acquaintance who's recently killed herself.  Covered in facial scars and greasy hair, Aniston is superb in the lead role, as she never overplays it, allows her eyes to do most of the storytelling, while never once resorting to "this is my big tear-jerking Oscar moment" hokum.  Unfortunately, while Aniston does her best to avoid sad drama schmaltz, the script manages to twist itself into that and you probably won't realize it until it's too late.  The direction is a little unsure of itself and the plotline begins to dogpaddle as it realizes it doesn't know if it can carry it's own weight.

3 wind chimes out of 5

RUDDERLESS [2014]

Actor William H. Macy makes his directorial debut with Rudderless, a musical drama that does a mighty fine job at finding a way to your heart to both warm and break it.
Billy Crudup plays a broken man who rediscovers his love for playing music after tragically losing his musician son.  The movie starts off really strong but loses it's way a bit in it's formulaic third act.  Fortunately the acting, music and heart are all strong enough to not let it lose it's steam.  Macy seems to enjoy using a lot trick cuts and bizarre panning which are a bit distracting at times but they always seem to help tell the story so I suppose they can be excused.  With a few minor quips I couldn't help but be completely enamoured by the film and thoroughly enjoyed it's warmth, sadness and humor right up to the very end.

4 open mic nights out of 5

TRUST ME [2013]

Actor Clark Gregg writes & directs this black comedy/drama Trust Me which follows a down-in-the-dumps talent agent who's new client brings more trouble than she might actually be worth.  

Like a lesser version of Robert Altman's The Player, Gregg's film seems to fancy itself a noirish satirical view of the Hollywood biz.  Only it never pulls strong enough punches (which occasionally seem to be aimed in the wrong direction) and only comes off as mildly amusing at best.  Fortunately the acting is all top-notch and the dialogue is fresh enough to never becoming too boring, even when the film seems to teeter off towards the side into some questionable out-of-place weirdness.  

2½ butterflies out of 5

PSYCHO [1998]

Director Gus Van Sant collects together an impressive cast for the near shot-for-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock's suspense classic Psycho.
Being a huge fan of the original film I wanted to hate this film more than I did (and I did for many years) but rewatching it, I found there's a few elements I admire but can't really back up the idea of the whole project.  Van Sant updates a few minor bits to make the story feel a little more modern but the shots, pacing and dialogue all still feel completely outdated feeling like an awkward dream you've had before.  It really is as pointless as you might think but interesting in the sort of way like listening to a faithful yet lesser cover version of your favorite song for nearly 2 hours.

2 newly renovated motels out of 5

A SINGLE SHOT [2013]

Director David M. Rosenthal really lays down the dreary atmosphere in the slow-burn backwoods suspense film A Single Shot.
Sam Rockwell is exceptionally excellent as a poverty-stricken hunter that stumbles upon a small fortune of cash after he accidentally kills a girl mistaking her for a deer.  It's beautifully shot with it's muted colors and haunting landscapes, which is all complimented with composer Atli Örvarsson's chilling Penderecki-esque score.   Quite a bit of the dialogue is difficult to understand, due to the character's mumbling and many will find it too slow to fully appreciate but it rewards with Rockwell's performance.

3½ dead girls wrapped in plastic out of 5

INLAND EMPIRE [2006]

Clocking in at 3 hours long, I occasionally got the feeling director David Lynch was having a laugh at the thought of viewers sitting through the senseless collection of awkward scenarios in Inland Empire.
While it does contain the typical Lynchian ingredients like a woman in trouble, cool music, low bassy droning to keep you on edge, characters wandering aimlessly around hallways looking scared, red curtains and asshole officers of the law, you can't help but feel it's Lynch parodying himself unintentionally.  It's essentially the dictionary definition of an "artsy fartsy" film with bizarre dialogue delivery, extended close-ups and subtitles.  Still, Laura Dern pulls of a great, if not confusing performance and there are many interesting scenes even if they don't make sense.
...oh...and bunnies.  There's bunnies.

2½ screwdrivers out of 5

THE SESSIONS [2012]

Director Ben Ewin's The Sessions tells the story of Mark O'Brien's struggle to lose his virginity as he's paralyzed from the neck down due to polio.

The always fantastic John Hawkes takes the role of O'Brien and soars with it, while being restricted to only performing using only his face.  Helen Hunt brings a comfortable warmth to her performance with a gentle touch that I'm sure many would find difficult to portray the way she does.  Even the though the film brings some great soft-hearted laughs and tears, it's still pretty light on depth and dramatic arcs.  It's purely a performance driven film that is thoughtful and life re-assuring but doesn't pack the punch it could have.

3 cats on the iron lung out of 5

JURASSIC PARK III [2001]

Joe Johnston snags the director's seat for the 3rd instalment of the Jurassic Park series, the first not to be based on a Michael Crichton novel.  

What should have been a welcome return to the series, has Sam Neill reprising his role from the first film, only to feel pointless and empty.  The uninspired action is non-stop, saving absolutely no time for any sort of character development whatsoever or interesting story arcs.  Watching this crapfest makes you realize how much graceful thought and time Spielberg put into his filmmaking and action pieces.  

It's essentially like a bad made for TV movie with a Hollywood blockbuster budget.

1 egg in the satchel out of 5