May 19Better to Remain Silent — Fool’s ParadiseIn this month’s edition of TFINYW, I was excited to declare Fool’s Paradise as the “Redemption Reel,” as it appeared to potentially be the only shred of quality in a weekend filled to the brim with the artistic and cinematic equivalent of rancid feces. And I was right about the…10 min read10 min read
May 11Rocket’s Man — Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3Throughout the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there have been two subseries that have been my absolute favorites, namely Black Panther and Guardians of the Galaxy. The two are vastly different in terms of tone, story, and character, but at their absolute core, they kept the same high points…12 min read12 min read
May 10Gold Slaughter — SisuAnyone who knows me knows that I absolutely abhor violence in real life. I got goaded into a lot of fights as a kid, losing basically all of them, because it was nearly always me on my own being ganged up on by three or four others, if not more…8 min read8 min read
May 2Shut the Front Door! — SuzumeBefore I get started, I’d like to thank all of you for bearing with me over the last few weeks. My mother’s death hit me harder than I expected it to, and the final arrangements were much more difficult to handle than I had anticipated. Still, spending time with my…11 min read11 min read
Apr 13The Ultimate Bonus Level — The Super Mario Bros. MovieA programming note before I get started. The blog is going on a little bit of a hiatus for reasons that will become apparent very quickly. I’ll be stepping aside for a couple of weeks, during which time I have no plans to see any new movies or post any…10 min read10 min read
Apr 8Charisma Check — Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among ThievesWhen I first saw the trailer for the latest adaptation of the Dungeons & Dragons game, my immediate reaction was one of terror. Not because anything in the teaser looked particularly scary, mind you, but because I still remember the god-awful 2000 film starring Jeremy Irons, and everything I saw…6 min read6 min read
Mar 27The Denouement — John Wick: Chapter 4“You are now in the presence of the muthafuckin’ KING!” proclaims Laurence Fishburne as the Bowery King in the opening moments of John Wick: Chapter 4. Presumably he’s referring to himself, given his self-appointed title as leader of a network of homeless assassins and informants, but given that he prefaces…7 min read7 min read
Mar 20Family Feuds — Shazam! Fury of the GodsI really liked the first Shazam! movie from a few years ago. It was delightfully low stakes, Zachary Levi was tremendous as the titular original Captain Marvel, and honestly it was nice to see one of these superhero movies set in Philadelphia and largely not succumbing to cheap jokes and…7 min read7 min read
Mar 12Hacking It — Operation Fortune: Ruse de GuerreMost of the time, when a film is pulled from a studio’s release schedule, it’s because the movie either isn’t finished and won’t be on time, or it’s incredibly bad, necessitating a new date in order to let it quietly die alongside much stronger competition at the box office. Sometimes…8 min read8 min read
Mar 5Out of the Shadows — Creed IIIMore than anything else in Creed III, this latest entry in the Rocky film series (notably the first where Sylvester Stallone doesn’t appear, serving only in a Producer role) emphasizes the idea of casting aside the shadows of the past. Whether it’s through personal healing, confrontation, or taking the reins…8 min read8 min read
