Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 30, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

Avatar Fire and Ash (2025)

Let me Begin by stating that I have nothing but admiration for James Cameron and his technical accomplishments with the Avatar films. From the very first film back in 2009 up through this most recent film, Cameron has been pushing the outside of the envelope reaching for greater and greater cinematic experiences to make movie going worthwhile. As far as I’m concerned an Avatar movie deserves to be on the biggest screen that you can find with the best sound system available and ideally in 3D. That’s because the Craftsman Behind These films are at the Apex of their talent.

I have to admit however that the Avatar films don’t hold my interest as far as storytelling is concerned. They are interesting enough while I’m watching them, and create enough suspense to engage me for the three hours or so, that they take up. On the other hand I have never felt the need to rewatch the films in any setting other than a theater. Unlike a film series like the Lord of the Rings, these stories do not feel essential. They are entertainments rather than universals. As a consequence I don’t find myself invested in waiting for the next movie to come out. It took more than a dozen years for the first sequel to show up, and I was fine with that. It’s only taken about 4 years for this second sequel to show, and to be honest I wasn’t even sure I was interested in seeing it. I’m glad I did because I enjoyed the spectacle, I just can’t seem to warm up to any of the characters or care much about what happens to the cultures being presented here. I’m not sure if that is a storytelling fault or simply result of the genre that is being developed, although I am strongly anticipating the third film Dune franchise.

Fire and Ash, continues the story of the navi and the metamorphized Jake Sully. I mostly don’t remember how it is that this human became a navi, and the fact that antagonist characters do the same thing is also somehow outside my frame of reference. And once again I don’t really care. The film is mostly a series of chases and battles fought in the lustly designed environments that have been created on the planet of Pandora. The jungles and oceans of that world are visually stimulating and filled with creatures and Flora that are spectacular to behold especially in 3D. Is one of my friends jokes the planet deserves to be in 3D because the characters are barely 2D.

Like the previous versions of the film series, fire and Ash feels like it comes to a stopping point, and then adds another 40 minutes. You are going to get your money’s worth no matter how unnecessary it is for the films to be as long as they are. Because of the plot line repeats itself so often in the same movie there’s not a lot of suspense about the story only about how the incidents that occur in the story are going to be resolved. From my point of view that’s not a great way to stay engaged with characters or long-term story arc,

One thing that I am grateful for in this new addition is the presence of antagonists who are not merely human exploiters but are instead, Renegade Navi who don’t really subscribe to the same Planet mysticism as the residents we’ve already met. I’m not quite sure why they can reject the authority of the planet, because they have the same ethernet port hanging off of them that our Heroes do. There is a little bit of mumbo jumbo about how this tribe was abandoned by the great mother, but we don’t really know what took place, and why the fault should have been laid in the center of the planet. They do however have some cool new designs including a headdress that probably is a form of cultural appropriation that Cameron and manages to get away with.

A smart person will never bet against James Cameron when it comes to box office success. This movie appears to be doing as well as the previous sequel and although there has been some talk of pausing the planned 4th and fifth films, can’t see that happening. I was a little surprised that the lamb community was not interested in a show on this particular film, which might have left me believing that there was going to be a serious drop off in interest. It certainly isn’t the case with the General Cinema audience, so maybe it’s just a function of the time of year.

As I’ve already said, the film is worth seeing if you are seeing it in a theater on a big screen with the purpose of enjoying a mass entertainment. If you’re looking for anything else however there are plenty of superior options. As most of you who’ve read these posts before probably know, I almost always want a movie to succeed, even those that let me down occasionally. Avatar fire and Ash is entertaining enough, but outside of the technical craft and look of the film, I think it’s flatlined.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 28, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

Little Women (2019) Revisit

A general rule of thumb is that remakes are never as good as the original film. That is certainly true of a great number of films, for instance as much as I love the 1978 and 2005 versions of King Kong, They don’t really hold a candle to the original 1933 film. Of course there is always the exception which proves the rule. “Little Women” seems to be that consistent exception. Although Katherine Hepburn may have been the perfect Jo, the two most recent versions of the film from 1994 and from 2019, film makers have found ways to make this story better and better told than the earliest editions.

In fact I’m of the opinion that the most recent version from Greta Gerwig in 2019 is the best version of Little Women. Saoirse Ronan is Practically Perfect as Jo, and Florence Pugh as Amy is just as good. This version of the film  pays particular attention to the relationship between Amy and Jo, and the characters are much more vivid and real as a result. Like real sisters, these two fight, make up, fight some more and still love each other deeply. The few moments of regret that Jo feels late in the film for rejecting Laurie,  are made all the deeper by our knowledge that Amy has replaced her affections.

Jo’s time in New York is one of the things that distinguishes this version from earlier editions. The gritty City in the middle of the 19th century is brought to life by great production design, and by the attitudes of the men around her as Jo tries to launch a career as a writer. The future love interest for Jo, is not so much a dashing foreigner as he is an honest critic and solid companion. Her initial rejection of him comes from a vanity that she herself would be mortified to discover exists. The reconcilliation that occurs is more believable because of the way that Gerwig has time shifted the story around. She is emphasizing emotional points rather than chronological points. The only criticism I have is that it is sometimes dependant on out observation of Jo’s hair, to be able to place the sequence of events in an order that works. 

This film was featured as part of the Paramount Holiday Movie Season, and although it is not strictly a Christmas film, it passes the smell test the same way that “Meet Me in St. Louis” does. There is a key Christmas segment and the family connections all seem to be reflective of the spirit of the holiday, regardless of the season. There is gift giving throughout the year, and warm memories are present in the nostalgia of the sun as well as the snow covered lands around the March house.

I suppose every generation deserves a chance to make a story their own.  Maybe years from now, another screenwriter/director will imagine a way to tell this story in a way that is meaningful to children just being born now or in the near future. The foundations have been laid by the original story, I’m just glad when the contractor knows when to make some design changes. 

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 27, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang (2005) Revisit

We lost Val Kilmer this last year, and that is certainly a tragedy. He is best remembered by most as Iceman from the Top Gun films, and he was Doc Holliday in the best performance of his career in Tombstone. It is unfortunate that his role in “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” is sometimes overlooked . Gay Perry, the private detective, is one of the great sarcastic narrators in film noir. When you add Robert Downey Jr and his sardonic delivery to the narration, you have what should qualify as a classic.

Shane Black is created two of the best Neo noir films of the century. “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” along with “The Nice Guys”, is the perfect mix of mystery, thriller, and comedy. There’s a seemingly convoluted plot that is the basis of the mystery in this film . If you get to the end of the movie and you are still confused, don’t worry about it. The real joy in the film is just watching the characters be smart asses in the face of danger and their own stupidity.

The dialogue for this movie is pinnacle Shane Black. He should probably only write for action movies, and film noir. Although his version of the Predator does undermine his action credentials a little bit. Still,l this movie gives him enough excess status that he can burn a little bit of it on some failed outings.  Downey Jr plays Harry Lockhart, a loser and small-time crook who somehow gets caught up in the film business and is being mentored on how to be a private eye by Perry Von Schrieke, Kilmer’s character. When real murders start to happen, Harry insists on trying to solve them and tries to muscle Gay Perry into helping him. The by play between the two of them consists of some of the wittiest back and forth you will see on the screen since the days of the screwball comedies of Preston Sturgis.

Well not a parody in the pure sense of the word, “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” certainly plays on the tropes of the traditional film noir. A detached detective, a femme fatale, and enough tough guy suspects to fill an arena for a fight to the death. We frequently get those fights as well. The deadpan delivery of the two stars, along with the outrageous plot points and coincidences, keep this film intriguing and lively.

One of the best illustrations of the biting and sarcastic dialogue comes when Perry in the fit of frustration asks Harry if he knows what he’ll find when he looks up the word idiot in the dictionary. Harry gives a smart-ass answer which would have been the end of it in the lesser film, but Gay Perry puts a button on the joke and dialogue rises to a new level.

Michelle Monaghan is also quite good in the film as the not quite good girl that Harry has always been in love with. She is both funny and sexy simultaneously. She is also pretty resilient in spite of her flighty character traits. As usual it’s not too hard to figure out the mystery, when a pretty substantial character actor is introduced early in the film, and then remains on the periphery during the exposition. Let’s just say that you will know who the bad guy is the minute he appears on screen. Again that isn’t really important, since the plot is mainly designed to put Harry and Perry in awkward situations and allow them to quip their way out.

It’s a little hard to believe that this film is 20 years old, and they’re only a couple of pieces of technology that give that away. Otherwise this movie remains as fresh as it was in 2005, and although I don’t think it quite qualifies as a Christmas film, it does its best to try.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 27, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

Die Hard (1988) Revisit

I don’t understand why people continue to argue whether or not this is a Christmas film. The studios, movie theaters, and audiences, all make it a staple in Revival presentations during the holiday season. Die Hard is absolutely a Christmas movie.
There is plenty of content on this site which already reviews and comments upon the film. As usual a big screen presentation is one of the things that makes the annual viewing of this so special. The Paramount Theater here in Austin clearly recognizes that this is a Christmas movie because they scheduled it as part of their holiday programming. So when you put together our favorite action film with our favorite movie theater at our favorite time of year, do you really expect any negative commentary?

Let’s just say that once again John McClane saves Christmas, gets his wife back, and makes Hans Gruber into a falling advent calendar that everyone should have on their Shelf at home. Ho ho ho, oh now I have a machine gun too.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 24, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair (2025)

 

When Kill Bill volume 1 and volume 2 came out in 2003 and 2004, we were pretty much Blown Away by the audacity Of The two movies. We knew that they were originally planned as one film but the practical circumstances dictated that they be divided into two parts. I have always felt that the cliffhanger at the end of Kill Bill volume 1 was a perfect way to keep us engaged and excited about the second film which was arriving just a few months later.

It was just last September that we saw both volume one and volume two on the big screen, hosted by Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino’s pal and frequent collaborator. He did great introductions for both films, and reminded us that it was his band that did the music for the second film. This seemed perfectly appropriate since much of the movie takes place in Texas and Mexico. We had heard that Tarantino was going to release this new version of Kill Bill, but we decided that we would probably see it again despite having just experienced it at the Paramount Theater.

Thank goodness we did come back, because Tarantino is edited the two films together seamlessly, and added a few bits and pieces here and there to make the movie feel fresh, in spite of the fact that we just seen it two months before. Someplace else can tell you about all of the changes that have been made. The extended anime sequence of Oren’s background is probably the most noticeable part of the film that has been enhanced. There may also have been a couple of shots in the House of Blue leaves fight that were not there before. Noticeably missing was the dialogue that David Carradine provided at the end of Kill Bill volume one, they provided the cliffhanger. Since the movie just continues the information about the bride’s daughter still being alive has been reserved for much later in the film then what it was previously.

Tarantino includes a couple of touches the throwback to the 1970s era that he so loves, as do I. Veteran moviegoers will know to sit through the credits to make sure they’ve seen everything that will be part of the film. Everybody else in the theater left before the final segment played out on the screen, but we were still there to see it. It’s an additional chapter done in an anime style using storyboard techniques that were probably used in the original film, for a segment that was eliminated. It was completely unnecessary but it was a lot of fun and we were certainly glad that we stayed to the very end.

Most of the rest of the story Remains the Same, and you could look at my notes from our September screening if you want to know more about what I thought of the films. It is also bittersweet that we lost Michael Madsen earlier this year, his Bud, is a key transition to the second segments of the movie. He will always be Mr. blonde in my head, but Bud is a great character that he brought to life for these films.

One of my online friends fervently hopes that the whole bloody affair is never released on home video, so it will always be a theatrical experience. I share that sentiment entirely, but I live in the real world and unfortunately this kind of screening maybe two infrequent to forgo a release to streaming or physical media. Believe me, if this version of the film does make it to physical media, I will be purchasing it.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 19, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

SISU: The Road to Revenge (2025)

If you’re anything like me , you’re a sucker for a good revenge movie. 2 years ago I fell in love with a Finnish film where the star never speaks in the movie, does outrageous things that are not physically possible, and kills Nazis for 90 minutes. In other words it was a movie that was designed for people like me, and I hope for people like you.

When I heard that there was going to be a Sisu 2, I was immediately excited. More ridiculous violence and a stoic hero that we can admire for his fortitude, creativity, and relentlessness. This time he gets to kill Commies for the most part, although there is one Nazi who is directing things. Does that make any sense? Of course not. These movies are not meant to make sense, they are meant to entertain, and the road to Revenge is quite entertaining, although it can never achieve the delightful surprise that its predecessor was.

The setup for the film is simple: Our hero , Having been displaced by Soviet takeover of Finnish territory, returns to the home where his wife and child were murdered. His goal,  To tear it down and transport it to the new territory in Finland where he is now exiled to. The Soviet High command has determined that a Finnish Commando who has become a legendary hero is a threat to their status, so they release the Nazi commandant responsible for his family’s death, to deal with him in a manner that reflects their barbaric nature .

The Nazi war criminal , freed by the communists to do their dirty work is played by actor. Stephen Lang.  This is familiar territory for Lang,  As he has played villains in countless films, including the Avatar movies and Tombstone. Our returning hero is played by the same actor from the first film whose stoic countenance continues to be admirable, and ambiguous. Some of the action requires submersion underwater, acceleration through the air, and reckless speeds on highways that have been deteriorated by War conditions. All of which provides background for our hero to defend himself against the Relentless attacks of a plethora of Russian soldiers being directed by a Nazi war criminal. Like I said it doesn’t make a lot of sense but it is a lot of fun.

Sequels inevitably involve stepping up the special effects and amping up the action. Fortunately “SISU The Road to Revenge” does not skimp on the brutality. The Battalion of men who are eliminated at some point in this movie are dispatched with guns, knives, bombs, flames and we get to see most of it. So be prepared for a brutal good time, one that is satisfying although not quite as joyful as the first film. And rest assured the dog lives.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 13, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

Hamnet (2025)

My immediate reaction to this film was to put it in the context of the award competing films for the year. It is of course a simple hyperbole to say that if “One Battle After Another” wins the Best picture award over this movie, I will burn Hollywood to the ground. This movie is so much more thoughtful, artful and well performed that it should be in it’s own category, to which the Paul Thomas Anderson movie is never given admission. I already said I did not care for that other movie in my review back in September, this film gives me another chance to diss that movie by making the unfavorable comparison.

Enough though of the movie I did not care for, let me sing the praises of this movie which I admire immensely. “Hamnet” tells us a two love stories and does so through a tragedy. Much like a Shakespearean work, the touching personal story of love is filtered through an event of tragic proportions. The screenplay divides the progress of the story into distinct acts, but they are not labeled that way in the film. Director Chloé Zhao, uses a simple black screen to transition from one segment to another, a technique that may seem alien to hyperkinetic films of this era, but one that keeps the focus on the characters and the story and not on the visual style of the director. There are plenty of other opportunities for Zhao to leave an impression elsewhere.

The first third of the film slowly introduces us to the two characters that form the center of the story. Paul Mescal plays William Shakespeare, who will one day be recognized as one of the most influential geniuses in history. The other is Agnes Hathaway, historically referred to as Anne and pronounced in the film as Annis. In a performance that defies the concept of  mere acting, Jesse Buckley inhabits this fierce woman, a healer from a woodsman background, who oozes supernatural maternal abilities and a romantic essence that far exceeds mere physical beauty.  I have been a fan of this actress since I saw her in “Wild Rose”, and although I have not cared much for some of the subsequent films she has appeared in, my qualms were never about her work. Here, she elevates the brilliant screenplay with a earthy personality and a strength of character that will live in you memory for a long time. That’s right, the spouse of the greatest playwright in history, is the character you will care the most about. That is not to diminish the performance of Mescal, who is also excellent, but to recognize that the character and the actress in this film are the core of the story. 

The love story between these two characters takes up the opening segments of the film. The second love story is the adoration that they have for their children and the love that the children have for them and one another. In spite of Will’s need to be in London for his profession, he maintains a strong relationship with the family he has left at home. That regular separation however becomes a keystone moment i the story when personal tragedy strikes. Will and Agnes are estranged by the bitterness that follows and the recrimination she bestows on him for his inability to be with them always. It is the hurtful expression of that failing that motivates the most well known and prolific plays, the tragedy of “Hamlet”. 

As usual, I don’t want to give too much away, but the two main characters have different coping mechanisms when facing death. Agnes has a naturalistic view of the afterlife that is not based in religion per say but in the folklore that she subscribes to.  There is a beautiful scene where the family commemorates the passing of her beloved hawk, a pet she has cared for over many years. That approach fails her when faced with an even larger loss. It is Shakespeare who finds a way for the two of them to remember their cherished loved one, in a way that keeps the promise that Agnes made to him. 

The story plays out slowly, with character details taking up more time than plot incidents. This is a film that is the antithesis of  action films these days, but also comedies and dramas. We have to understand the people in the story for the events to have their full weight. The methodical buildup of family relations, the measured pace of the life they lead, and the lingering moments of beauty in the film are not things that you will encounter very often in contemporary movies. Much to the detriment of the movie going experience. 

For more about this film, watch for this weeks episode of the LAMBcast.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 5, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

Zootopia 2 (2025)

I barely remembered the original “Zootopia” film from 2016. That is nine years ago, a long time for a sequel, and for a group of kids, forever. Imagine you saw this when you were eight, and loved it. Now imagine you are seventeen and a new edition is coming out. Do you think kids in their late teens are going to relate to the movie the same way they did nearly a decade earlier? I doubt it. So how is this going to work? It’s simple, Make the film completely independent of what happened in the first movie, and that’s what Disney has done. 

The original film had pretentions of social relevance, using animals as allegories for human prejudice. If there were a Disney film that you could point to with a social justice agenda, “Zootopia” would be it.  In “Zootopia 2” however, almost all of that intersectional thought has been put into one minor basket, and the film is now replete with animal puns, takeoffs on memes and references to other movies, almost all of which provoke a chuckle without an inkling of Social Justice. This is a buddy cop movie with fur.

The original characters of Judy the rabbit and Nick the fox, are back, and now they are partners in the police department of Zootopia. They are treated as rookies and the accomplishments they made in the first film are memory holed by the other cops so that the new partners can be belittled, and shunted to the side on important police actions. Judy of course is never going to be side lined and Nick is never going to be perturbed by anything. They are the usual mis match of Type A and Gen Z. A new plot crops up and of course, the duo are destined to get involved. It feels surprisingly like a Lethal Weapon film, only without the bloody violence. A ton of secondary characters weave in and out of the story, providing comic relief and plot points along the way. The fact that the new Mayor is the opposite of  a mare, is a joke that will probably be missed, but with Patrick Warburton supplying the voice of the equine executive, who cares? he almost steals every scene he is in with his mane. 

The convoluted plot is really just an excuse to run our heroes through a series of fun chases through the different parts of Zootopia, so that we can get in jokes about as many species as possible. The aversion to reptiles is as close as the movie comes to making any social comment, and the snake images are fun when we get to the climate control McGuffin that powers the plot. Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman are holding onto the original character voices and doing as much as a voice actor can to bring life to the animated critters. 

The movie is good looking, and the music is fun, but if does feel long for a film directed at kids. There is actually more stuff that the adults will appreciate. My very young grand niece and nephew were a little antsy halfway through the film, but their Mom and Dad seemed to be engaged. It is a solid film, but I don’t expect to remember it any better tahn the first film, regardless of how much money it makes.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

November 21, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

The Running Man (2025)

The sense of relief I will have when this review gets posted is hard to explain. I have been as many as seven films behind in my goal to post on all my theatrical experiences. In addition to the number of films, there is the time delay from when I saw the movie to when a post finally went up, three weeks has been the longest I have ever fallen behind but now I am past that. This movie I saw two nights ago, and it will complete my most recent backlog of posts.

“The Running Man” was originally adapted for Arnold Schwarzenegger back in the 1980s. It was a pretty cheesy film, even for the times, but on a recent revisit, I thought it was much better than I remembered. The costumed killers that pursue Ben Richards were laughable, but they were fun. The themes of media manipulation and totalitarian control were however very nicely presented, and at least in the former, very prescient. This new version trods the same path, but with less wit and more complications than the original version had. It is however, still a lot of fun.

I have been a fan of Edgar Wright as a director for a while, the “Cornetto Trilogy” is a go to whenever I want to be entertained. I was disappointed when he walked away from “Ant-Man”, but I can still see the influence that he had on that film. I am a little surprised to say that the new version of the “Running Man” while certainly quite good, does not feel particularly like a Wright film. There are some particularly good stunt sequences in the film, but I did not find them as manically amusing as the chases in “Baby Driver” or the combat in “Scott Pilgrim”. They felt for the most part as if they could have been created by any of the talented action directors that churn out so many other films. My sense of heightened enjoyment was muted as a result.

Of the advantages that Wright’s film has over it’s predecessor, I would say the acting and the effects are the things that make this movie something you should see. I think Glen Powell is a solid actor, but his part here is too straight for the humor I was hoping for. Colman Domingo however leans into his role as the Network Host who can hype up an audience, bend the truth to stir emotions, and take what he is given and turn it into ratings. It was clear he was enjoying the part. The same can also be said for the most part for Josh Brolin, who as the network head with all the power, is venal, manipulative and gleeful while being so. Powell is not a weak link, his role is just not as strong during the chase sequences as it was in the first act of the film. 

The scale of the chase is vastly broader in this version of the story, and that helps quite a bit in making the film feel fresh. The special effects and video surveillance elements of the story are even stronger. While it does go over the top in the plane sequence in the third act, it was easy to believe a lot of the process of the chase in the main part of the film. The vehicles, weapons and media all project a near future that is believable.  The A.I. part of the story is to me, the most frightening element of the themes. Someone else can manipulate your persona with some technological wizardry. Unfortunately, that sort of technology is mostly available now and it is easily accessible. I see posts on Facebook that look like they could be Network Promos from this film. Reality is the victim in both the fiction of this story and in the contemporary world.

Because it lacks the outlandish characters of the 1980s film, this movie does not stand out from a bunch of other sci fi action films that have proliferated in the past couple of years. They are fine, but lack enough uniqueness to make them essential. This film is solid but you will find lots of films in the same milieu without even looking hard. 

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

November 21, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

Predator Badlands (2025)

I have been behind on my posts for a variety of reasons, and the major one is that I have often been wrapped up in the LAMBcast Podcast that I host. I record and edit the podcast but I also try to produce an illustrated version for YouTube. It takes a lot of time to do that, so in an effort to catch up on my promise to cover everything I see in a theater, I am simply going to share the Illustrated Podcast for “Predator Badlands” here.  The short version for those unwilling to listen or watch is that I liked the film quite well.