Greetings programs! We’re back with another episode of the Awesome Friday Podcast!
Awesome Friday Movie Podcast Episode 3: ‘Beans’ & ‘Jungle Cruise’
Review: ‘The Last Mercenary’ misses the mark
Action movies aren’t a genre that has ever let the age of their stars get in the way of a good time. If you do things right, you can have aged men play all kinds of characters. The Last Mercenary seems intent on pushing that idea to the limit by casting a 60-year-old Jean-Claude Van Damme as a mysterious spy returned from the cold to rescue his wayward son.
It also seems intent on being as over the top silly as it can be, with Van Damme’s character –dubbed “The Mist” because it’s there, but you can’t touch it– being a master of disguise, a master of proverbs, and hyper-competent at basically everything while also making all the most ridiculous choices.
Does it work though? Well… no, not really.
Continue reading “Review: ‘The Last Mercenary’ misses the mark”Review: ‘Jungle Cruise’ is fun!
Given the state of the world, it might be a more interesting fact that Disney hasn’t made more films based on the rides at their theme parks. I know that’s a weird thing to think about, but the future is weird. Disney is a vast, money-making empire and can monetize its properties like no other vast, money-making empire, and many of the rides in its parks are iconic.
Now, I know what you might be thinking, that it’s maybe a little cynical to make a movie based on a theme park ride, but to that, I say two things. First: tell it to the Pirates of the Caribbean, and second you can make a good movie out of anything. Here to prove that second point is Jungle Cruise, a good movie based on a theme park ride.
Continue reading “Review: ‘Jungle Cruise’ is fun!”Awesome Friday Movie Podcast Episode 2: ‘Blood Red Sky’ & ‘Settlers’
Greetings programs! We’re back for the second week in a row with a new episode. Rejoice!
Continue reading “Awesome Friday Movie Podcast Episode 2: ‘Blood Red Sky’ & ‘Settlers’”Patron Exclusive Podcast Episode: Full Audio of Interview w/ Wyatt Rockefeller
Greetings friends! For all Patreon supporters at the Lieutenant level and above, the full audio of my interview with director Wyatt Rockefeller is now available.
I hope that you enjoy listening to it. If you’d like more of this kind of content, please feel free to tell your friends to subscribe. I really enjoy film blogging, but it also isn’t free. There are costs –both money and time– associated with doing it. That’s just the world we live in. The more support I have, the more I’ll be able to bring you.
Either way, thank you for reading, listening, and supporting. I love you all.
If you’re not a patron, you can read the interview here.
–Matthew
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Interview: Wyatt Rockefeller on his film ‘Settlers.’
Settlers, the new Sci-Fi western set on Mars, is available on-demand starting today. I had the chance to speak with director Wyatt Rockefeller about his inspirations for the film, the themes it portrays, and the best movie robot of the year.
Continue reading “Interview: Wyatt Rockefeller on his film ‘Settlers.’”Review: ‘The Last Letter from Your Lover’ is a lovely, if predictable, romance story
Picture this: in the present, a young journalist discovers a series of love letters. They were written between a married woman and her paramour in the 1960s, and they tell of a passionate but star crossed affair. Naturally, the journalist searches for more of the letters and, eventually, finds love of her own.
This is the plot of The Last Letter From Your Lover. It isn’t entirely original, but it is a pretty good version of this kind of story.
Continue reading “Review: ‘The Last Letter from Your Lover’ is a lovely, if predictable, romance story”Review: ‘Blood Red Sky’ isn’t quite the film it could be, but is still fun
An ill woman and her son are on a plane to New York. Awaiting them, a doctor with an array of ultramodern medical technology will give them the best chance to cure her ailment. Her plane is then, of course, hijacked. All of this is a slow build to a reveal that you can see coming from a mile off her ailment isn’t an ailment; she’s a vampire trying desperately to suppress the monster within, and the hijackers are about to find out that they aren’t in the movie they thought they were in.
Continue reading “Review: ‘Blood Red Sky’ isn’t quite the film it could be, but is still fun”Review: ‘Settlers’ compelling performances and stunning production design keep it interesting
A western, on Mars. That’s the pitch with Settlers, the debut feature from Wyatt Rockefeller, a film that tells the story of a family farmstead in the middle of nowhere on Mars. True to its pitch, the story is difficult and bleak, but it doesn’t quite live up to its potential, while it does feature excellent performances all around.
Continue reading “Review: ‘Settlers’ compelling performances and stunning production design keep it interesting”North Bend 2021 Review: ‘Luchadoras’ looks at women fighting back
Women have it harder in this world than men do. Some might dispute this (and they’d be wrong), but it is a fact. While it remains true anywhere you go, one of the worst places is Ciudad Juarez, in Northern Mexico. In this city, there is an ongoing trend of women being murdered and exploited. Luchadoras follows three women in the city who have discovered a means to empowerment within their lives, Lucha Libre.
It’s an interesting juxtaposition in the first place, but it only gets more powerful as the movie goes on.
Continue reading “North Bend 2021 Review: ‘Luchadoras’ looks at women fighting back”The Films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Ranked, Simon’s Edition
Matt loves a list way more than I do, not through any sense of my own hatred of them, but more than I find it hard to find the time or energy to rate art against itself. But Matt’s ranking of the Marvel movies was too interesting to resist texting him my own (very different list), which he then encouraged me to put up as a companion post. So here it is!
Please remember that A) lists aren’t facts, art is subjective and B) my value starts and stops at “is it creative/fun?” these days, so feel free to disagree. We’re both right.
Anyway, here’s my list of Marvels.
Continue reading “The Films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Ranked, Simon’s Edition”Awesome Friday Movie Podcast Episode 1: ‘Black Widow’ & ‘Loki’
Yup, you read the headline right. We’re podcasting again, and we have a new episode for you!
Continue reading “Awesome Friday Movie Podcast Episode 1: ‘Black Widow’ & ‘Loki’”North Bend 2021 Quick Reviews: ‘Cryptozoo’ and ‘Swan Song’
North Bend Film Festival continues with two esoteric and singular films, Dash Shaw’s Cryptozoo, an a dreamy animated commentary on capitalism and Swan Song, a personal journey of restoration and reclamation featuring stunning performance from Udo Kier.
Continue reading “North Bend 2021 Quick Reviews: ‘Cryptozoo’ and ‘Swan Song’”North Bend 2021 Review: ‘Tailgate’ makes road rage terrifying
We’ve all been there. We’ve cut someone off, we’ve made unsafe turns, and we’ve tailgated. It’s rude, and we shouldn’t do it, and when we’re called out we probably shouldn’t be defensive about it.
Tailgate (Bumperkleef in the original dutch) follows an impatient father as he does exactly what the title suggests, and angers the wrong person in doing so. The result is, obviously, a deadly game of cat and mouse that will reveal the true character of those involved.
Continue reading “North Bend 2021 Review: ‘Tailgate’ makes road rage terrifying”North Bend 2021 Review: ‘Ayar’ is a fascinating experiment
Ayar is another entry into the ongoing oeuvre of COVID-19. Taking place mid-pandemic, it follows a young mother trying to reconnect with her daughter. A simple enough premise, but rather than take the straight path to get there, director Floyd Russ new film opts for something more experimental and experiential, to fascinating results.
Continue reading “North Bend 2021 Review: ‘Ayar’ is a fascinating experiment”
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