Superman/Batman Apocalypse 2/5: despite all the words in the title, this is a super girl movie. I'm not opposed to having a supergirl movie but it's goofy to get Darkseid involved in the story but make the stakes basically a magical brainwashing. That's like getting in a property dispute with Thanos

Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl 3.5/5: I got to see this with a live orchestra playing the score. The first one really holds up, and the theme is so good that having a live version is cool. I don't think this is a must see performance but it's worth $45

7 Days in Hell 4/5: Basically an ESPN mockumentary. I love getting a mix of real athletes and sports presenters with the actors because sports people can be surprisingly funny in context. It's a great pregame while everyone gets ready

Roofman 4.5/5: This is a local story so I was pretty excited for it. Channing Tatum is funny and charming while Kirsten Dunst really pulls off a tired southern mom who is just trying as hard as she can. It leans in a little on the whole "reality is stranger than fiction" thing by tying together a few things that didn't actually happen but nothing that substantially changes the plot. Bonus half star for actually filming on location for a lot of it

Avatar: the Way of Water 3.5/5: There is just so much to talk about with these movies. James Cameron loves the ocean more than I will ever love anything in my life, and you go through a whole journey with him. From "yeah the ocean is cool" to "Jesus Jim, you are corny as hell" to "Alright, I guess I'll go sign up for snorkeling lessons". Truly, nothing else looks like this movie, he put so much money and work into building a truly alien world and it's breathtaking at times, especially in imax

Although, I'm knocking half a point off for the variable framerate. I noticed it a lot during the movie and had to go online to confirm my suspicions but apparently the movie alternates between 48 and 24 FPS in action scenes and dialog scenes. Except it kinda does what the LotR extended cuts do and mixes those styles within a scene. So you can have a shot in 48 fps, cut to someone shouting in 24 fps for half a second and then back to 48. If that sounds jarring that's because it is

Boyz n the hood (1991). I knew very little about it beforehand and it turned out way better than I anticipated. Tough one but worth watching.

I watched Relay. I really enjoyed it

Also watched Caught Steeling which was entertaining and decent enough but not really a great movie although I enjoy a lot of movies that aren't great movies

And, fantastic four. I liked it, some parts more than others. the action was really exciting and i thought they used their powers/intellect well against the more powerful Galactus

The Lost Bus and then Rebuilding Paradise.

I don't know how to describe it. It was amazing seeing all the footage but in a devastating and sad way.

It was a scattered week, but I actually saw a current movie! I've mostly stopped doing that because I'd rather wait for stuff to stream.

• One Battle After Another (2025): recommended. Illuminati-esque and military battle revolutionaries and immigrant activists. Despite being a salacious cash-grab, the story is more interesting and realistic than most -- especially compared to super heroes. Everyone is an over the top caricature but that works for what is essentially an action movie.
• Megalopolis (2024): recommended with caveats. Must-see for visual beauty. The good part of this mess is Coppola showing us what it feels like to be a director. The bad part is that by making Our Hero an architect designing a Utopia for the ungrateful masses, it rings of Fountainhead and gives credit to the falsehood that rich geniuses know better than the people under their rule.
  Digression

  At least the film points out that rich and connected charismatic leaders who DO associate with the common man should be eyed with suspicion, but one could interpret that to mean 'trust the rich unless they appeal to the poors', which is an even worse message than 'trust the rich'. It would have felt less cringey if instead of all the Roman Empire, the stakes were a Hospital or the studio of a marble sculptor where one dictator had to order others about, but he was irrelevant to most people until his shining creation was made -- with questions about his methods and supporters getting a chance to say, 'He struggled to afford supplies and cast out those who called him a fool. Yes, he worked his supporters like dogs, but all he asked was that he have the chance to complete his work without interference from the outside."
  
• Save the Children (1973): So much good source material of concert footage but they clipped the songs, which diluted the quality. Still good, and there's nice oration by Rev. Jesse Jackson in there.
• Once Were Brothers (2019) - Doc about the Band and getting booed for being Dylan's electric band (rather than acoustic), made their own way, found heroin, then played with Dylan again in addition to playing as themselves.
• Happy as Lazzaro (2018): recommended. Naïve and honest Lazzaro makes the people around him better, but he can't cure the world.
• Nocturna (2007) - fanciful imagery and charming characters make for a light little film despite a vacuous plot with both kind and questionable messages.
• Skin Game (1971): James Garner scams slave owners by repeatedly selling Louis Gossett Jr. then helping him escape. It's better than I expected.
• The Murderers Are Among Us (1946) Die Mörder sind unter uns -- Germany! This was the first film made & exhibited in West Germany after WWII. Director Staudte, who stayed through the war, said the film is about his shame of being used for/by Hitler. This initiated the sub-genre 'trümmerfilme' (rubble films).
  Digression
  

  It starts with bold text: Berlin 1945 DER STADT HAT KAPITULIERT... (ellipsis included) translated, this is 'The city has capitulated...', but seeing it spelled out and then immediately followed by the camera showing a grave amid rubble, reminds one of the nearness of 'kapit-' to ''kaputt" (broken/destroyed) -- and if one has ever heard the Ton Steine Scherben song of the same name, one may imagine the refrain overlaying the film, Macht kaputt, was euch kaputt macht (destroy that which destroys you). Surely Rossellini knew this film before he made Germany, Year Zero, and there's much to compare between them; the choice of endings, in particular, because they each take something of a cop-out as was need for the times. TOTAL SPOILER FOLLOWS: Because the Allies wanted to tamp down any vigilantism and impose rule of law, the ending here doesn't give us the satisfaction of a justifiable homicide and the repercussions of such. Instead, there's an implied future that resolves in more proper justice maybe being done in the future. Rossellini used a different cop out.
  
• Berlin Express (1948): not first film, but first Hollywood film of post-war Germany (the 2nd was Wilder's Foreign Affair). Frankfort and Berlin are ruined backdrops to quite a thriller with lots of Pro-UN type politics.
• One Last Fling (1949) : missable romance
• Tarzan the Ape Man (1932): Animals WERE harmed in the making of this film. This is worth watching for a view into a past time, but there's lots of imperialist whiteness to complain about. Filmed in California with some footage from the 1931 movie Trader Horn. The not-pygmy-dwarves are white people in black face.
• Tarzan and His Mate (1934): Similar, but this has a lovely scene of swimming where Tarzan and Jane slip beautifully through the deeps.
• Tarzan Escapes (1936): More of the same, but the first two were pre-code (technically in place for the 2nd, but not adhered to for that pic) and by '36 they couldn't show so much sexy skin so they had to have more plot.

Perfect Days, 2023

Really love this. It lures you in and casts a spell with its mindful observation of a few days in one man's life. Feels timeless, the film seems to do little but so much is said. Director and star use the lightest touches to invoke something deep. The scenes with his sister are just beautiful in how they show us so much with so little. It's just an exquisite film.

One Battle After Another, 2025

So good - how it's told, the soundtrack, acting, just everything. Yes it's characters are somewhat cartoonish and it covers a lot of ground without much depth but it's a great ride so for me its forgiveable. Can't wait to see it again on streaming.

I did two oldies both are two of my favorites:

Tremors:

Ever see a movie where everything just works. Where every single aspect just comes together to make for such an entertaining viewing? Tremors is one of those.

I got to see the Bacon Brothers in concert once and Kevin Bacon actually wrote a theme song for this movie and pitched it to the producers. It was called Under Paradise. They rejected his proposal, but it is a good song.

We Were Soldiers.

Back when it was unknown how fucked up Mel Gibson is and when his career was peaking. He had a stretch where he had one hit after another. This is a based on a true story of the first major battle the US had in the Vietnam war.

Based is the key phrase as it is pretty much Hollywood fiction but it is a fun war flick. Back from when I could actually enjoy those.

Wheelman(2017), and then Baby Driver(2017). Back to back.

Driven 3000km this week and felt like some driving movies. Both are passable getaway flicks.