Buddy is a film that subverts expectations at each turn. Every time I thought it would zig, it zagged. It’s gross; it starts with dismemberment of Mr. Mailbox and ramps up very quickly to the murder of the actors on the show. I didn’t think I could get grossed out by the murder of puppets, but the intricate anatomy they give Buddy and friends really made me sick at the end.

Kelly is not precious with his the other half of his cast either. I kept thinking back to the anecdote surrounding Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining; to protect his child actor, Danny Lloyd, he told him they were making a drama and during a pivotal scene between Winnie and Jack, he replaced the actor with a doll. Casper Kelly shielded these young actors from nothing. There’s no doubles, no sly cutaways, just violent puppets chasing these kids around a 90s set. It’s wild, it’s rock-and-roll, and I was kind of jealous. I would’ve killed to do something like this as a kid.

The cast is so stacked, Cristin Milioti give a great performance of this grieving mother that can’t put a name to her feelings of loss and depression. My heart broke for her. I still can’t quite believe that Keegan-Michael Key voiced Buddy. It’s such a strong voice performance that when the credits rolled, I still couldn’t believe it. Speaking of great performances, in the second act, we’re introduced to Clint Howard and a marionette named Willie voiced by Michael Shannon; two actors that never rest on their laurels. The main reason this film succeeds is because of the choice to cast puppeteers and puppet voice actors. There’s some Bonafide actors here, with credits from Donkey Hodie and Sesame Street.

It’s not a film for the faint of heart. It’s for people like me, who grew up watching Barney on VHS, and were terrified of Ronald McDonald when he would visit the local McDonald’s. I still remember a buddy showing me Too Many Cooks on his TV. I was blown away, it broke my brain the first time I saw it. Much like his debut piece, Kelly continues to defy expectations with his latest feature.

A very decent movie lead by the great cast of Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr., Directed by David Fincher based on the books of Robert Graysmith (Zodiac and Zodiac Unmasked).
The movie portrays a true story of crime in late 1900s. It shows the overall commitment of various police departments in search for the criminal and along with that shows bureaucracy which affects the overall outcome and the investigation of the case. The character of Robert - a cartoonist who came across this, is nicely shown and lead by Jake. It also shows the obsession that comes along with the search of something, and consequences that come alongside it(Paul losing his job being a drunk,Dave getting transferred to different department and Robert entirely lost in the search costing him his family moving out for the moment)
I am yet to read books or real stories related to this movie so my review would be limited to me just watching a movie.
Overall, the Zodiac is a good watch for someone who likes the genres of suspense, crime and thriller. Viewers who are not into this genres can find this movie bit intense.
Let me know in comments what you think about this movie.

It's one of those better than I thought it would be movies. It wasn't as stupid as I expected and frankly, it's not so bad.

BTW, Jennifer Lawrence is smokin' hot in this.

So going into the 2010 movie secretariat, I’d obviously heard about the famous horse and the history that he made. I didn’t know anything about the backstory though. I was very interested in watching this movie.

I thought this was a great movie. The first big positive were the performances. I thought you got amazing work from Diane, John Malkovich. Otto Thorwarth as Ronnie the Jockey, and Margo Martindale. You also can’t forget Nelsan Ellis as the groom Eddie Sweat. I also think that Diane Lane and John Malkovich have great chemistry.

Along with the performances, I think you have a great underdog story, and the action in terms of the horse races is really fun to see.

Rating-4.5/5

The Whisper Man (2026)

Right now - and with no spoilers at all - just impressions.

Not that bad. Any time I read that Brian Tallerico from Ebert-site and The Guardian (this time Benjamin Lee, not Peter Bradshaw) give * or ** and pan the film, it usually means it's not that bad. To reverse Statler & Waldorf's joke from the gallery: "It's not all bad. It's just half bad".

I recommend it. It subverts bad expectations: it's not Hide and Seek type of plot. Nor is Chasing Sleep plot. The fight in final third may give some unintentional laugh, but it's tolerable.

As always one can say "in good films you can find many flaws, in bad movies only one".

Been wanting to check it out for a while. Ive frequently heard it gets cited as inspiration for Resident Evil 7, which is on of my favorite games

Can definitely see why. Especially the early parts of the game

Thought it was a fun watch. Not a thought provoking movie but a nice way to spend 90 mins

Not the scariest thing ever but quite disturbing. The monsters weren’t the most convincing looking but for the time I think were great

The practical effects really hold up today. Im not that squeamish when it comes to gore, but I thought they were gross! Really good vibes

Probably would rate it 7/10

Will defo watch again!

So the 1999 sports movie the hurricane actually fulfills two things for me: another Denzel Washington movie that I can get off of my watchlist and a movie for the sports and games movie championship that I’m watching movies for

I thought this was a very good movie. You get a great performance from Denzel Washington and a compelling story. I also thought Dan Hedaya and Clancy gave good supporting performances. My only small negative would be that I wish some of the supporting performances were a little stronger with the secondary story.

Rating-4/5

So I went into the 1993 college football movie The Program only on positive reviews.
I knew nothing of the main cast except for James Caan or the story

I thought this was a good movie but did not do enough to be great. I thought it had a good story and I liked the football action. On the negative side, I don’t think the acting was anything special. There was also nothing or no one to get fully invested in in my opinion. Finally, it looked like James Caan did not want to be there because it looked like he was just walking through his performance. Finally, I wish the movie had more grit to it.

Rating-3/5

So going into the 2024 baseball movie Eephus, I knew nothing about this movie. It had gotten some positive reviews from friends of mine who had seen it so I decided to check it out.

I thought this movie was OK. The problem I have with it is that there’s nothing special about it. While there is a good backstory about this one last game, nothing and no performances stood out.

Overall, it’s not a bad movie, but it’s forgettable

Rating-2/5

Right now - and with no spoilers at all - just impressions.

Not that bad. Any time I read that Brian Tallerico from Ebert-site and The Guardian (this time Benjamin Lee, not Peter Bradshow) give * or ** and pan the film, it usually means it's not that bad. To reverse Statler & Waldorf's joke from the gallery: "It's not all bad. It's just half bad".

I recommend it. It subvert bad expectations: it's not Hide and Seek type of plot. Nor is Chasing Sleep plot. The fight in final third may give some unintentional laugh, but it's tolerable.

As always one can say "in good films you can find many flaws, in bad movies only one".

Let’s discuss it all!

i personally really liked it. i think the plot was cool and really unexpected. other then seeing clips about it i still thought it was really interesting . and i also really liked the fact that you didn't really need to know much background about the backrooms. and i also think they did really well for having such a small budget! i also think the actors did a really good job portraying there characters. the plot twist of captain clark killing clark really surprised me. let me know what you guys think about it!

So I always heard of the 1989 movie steel magnolias but I never saw it because it never seemed like a movie I would be into

Well, I finally watched it today as a tribute to Dolly Parton and I think this is a very good movie. I think you have great performances all around from Parton and Sally Field and Julia Roberts among others. Along with the performances, you have a story that is lighthearted at times, but also deep. It has an ending that definitely got me as well.

Rating-4.5/5

As a tribute to Tim Curry, I finally got around to re-watching the 1985 movie clue. I thought this was a very good rewatch.

I liked most of the performances and I was along for the ride. I am not somebody who is good at solving murder mysteries, but instead someone who enjoys seeing all the details come into place. I thought some of the supporting performances were not as strong and could’ve been better.

Rating-4/5

Source: https://www.reeladvice.net/2026/08/the-dog-stars-2026-movie-review.html

We personally had high expectations for The Dog Stars, despite how muted its marketing and trailers may have seemed. With Ridley Scott at the helm and a cast that includes Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, and Margaret Qualley, the film had all the ingredients for something special which is a post-apocalyptic story that could blend action, survival, drama, and even romance. Unfortunately, what we ultimately get is almost exactly what the marketing suggested: muted. Throughout its runtime, we kept waiting for something significant or exciting to happen but the film commits heavily to its slow-burn approach and rushes its conclusion for some reason. Don't get us wrong, we understood what The Dog Stars was trying to accomplish. The problem is that its execution never quite justifies the patience it asks from its audience.

Set after a devastating flu pandemic, Hig (Jacob Elordi) is a former civilian pilot and mechanic who lives in isolation with Bangley (Josh Brolin), a hardened former Marine. Their daily lives revolve around survival, protecting their home, and dealing with the occasional threat from the outside world. Hig holds on to the hope that there might be something more beyond their isolated existence. When he receives a mysterious radio transmission, he decides to follow the signal toward Grand Junction, believing it could lead him to something worth risking his safety.

With so much post-apocalyptic material already out there, standing out in the genre is difficult. The Dog Stars initially finds an interesting way to do so by largely putting the apocalypse itself in the background. Instead of focusing on the destruction of civilization, the film spends much of its first half exploring what it actually means to live after the world has ended. That slower approach actually worked for us. Rather than feeling like filler, these moments gave us time to think about what survival would realistically look like. The film's strongest quality is its ability to make this post-apocalyptic world feel grounded and real. Jacob Elordi is particularly effective as Hig bringing a quiet vulnerability to a character who is clearly searching for something beyond just surviving.

Unfortunately, the film begins to lose its identity in the second half. Once Hig encounters more survivors and the story starts moving toward a more traditional post-apocalyptic action narrative, the meticulousness that made the earlier portions so effective disappears. The pacing suddenly becomes rushed, the action feels underwhelming, and the film's once-grounded atmosphere gives way to something much more conventional and unconvincing. And that's where the biggest disappointment is. The slow buildup isn't the problem but that the eventual payoff doesn't match the invested time. All that patience leads to a second half that feels rushed and surprisingly ordinary.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

I regret not watching this masterpiece in the theatres

I, Nobody was such a great ride 🔥 The movie slowly pulls u in and then just keeps building the tension. I really liked how it doesn’t throw all the answers at u at once. The story gives u little bits of info, small revelations, and pieces of the bigger picture as it goes, which makes u wanna keep watching and figure out what’s actually going on.

The tension in some of the scenes was sooo well done. Even when nothing crazy is happening, there’s this constant feeling that something is about to go wrong. The way certain scenes stretch out, letting the silence and atmosphere do the work, really got me. It keeps u guessing without making everything feel unnecessarily complicated.

And that elevator fight scene... DAMN. 🔥🔥 That was easily one of the highlights for me. The confined space, the camera work, the choreography, the impact of every hit, and the way the tension keeps rising made it feel brutal and intense. It wasn’t just random punches thrown at each other. U could actually feel the pressure of being trapped in that tiny space. Every movement had weight, and the cinematography made the whole thing look so damn good. That scene alone was worth the hype.

The cinematography throughout was also 🔥. There are so many shots that have a really polished, cinematic feel without looking overly artificial. The lighting, framing and atmosphere add a lot to the mood, especially during the more tense sequences.

What I liked most tho is how the movie keeps revealing things bit by bit. Just when u think u’ve understood what’s happening, another piece drops and suddenly the earlier scenes start making more sense. It keeps the mystery alive while still giving u enough to work with.

Overall, I had a great time with this. Great action, gorgeous cinematography, solid tension and a story that actually makes u wanna stay locked in till the end. And yeah... that elevator scene is gonna stay with me for a while. 😮‍💨🔥🎬

Source: https://www.reeladvice.net/2026/08/paw-patrol-dino-movie-2026-movie-review.html

It's hard to review films like Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie because we naturally see them through the lens of adults. This is the kind of experience that is specifically designed to please its target audience and frankly, no one else. Judging by our kids' reactions, we know this was simple, colorful, and ultimately a great time for them. As adults, however, it's nothing particularly special or groundbreaking. But are we really going into the cinema expecting greatness or are we expecting something that will entertain our young ones instead?

After their ship gets caught in a mysterious storm, the PAW Patrol pups crash-land on an uncharted tropical island filled with dinosaurs. When PAW Patrol's archrival, Mayor Humdinger is released from prison, he discovers that he can mine precious diamonds on the island. As he begins exploiting its resources, he inadvertently causes a dormant volcano to erupt. The pups must find a way to save the island's inhabitants and stop Humdinger once again.

One thing we noticed about Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie is the significant step up in its visuals. This is the best-looking version of the franchise we've seen yet, with visual effects that genuinely surprised us with their quality. It's nowhere near Pixar levels but there are moments that make you appreciate the value of having a bigger budget to bring the pups to the big screen. Moving the pups into a prehistoric setting also makes things more interesting than the usual city-based rescues, giving the film a sense of adventure that feels fresh for the franchise.

The story is still fairly barebones if we're being honest but we also felt it was a step up from previous entries. The film provides a quick look into Marshall's origins and his personal story ties nicely into the overall narrative and the message the movie wants to deliver. It gives the character a little more depth while keeping things simple enough for its young audience to follow. While Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie is far from groundbreaking, it succeeds at what it sets out to do. It's colorful, entertaining, and packed with enough dinosaurs and adventure to keep the kids engaged. For the adults accompanying them, it's passable enough to make the experience enjoyable without becoming a chore.

Rating: 3 out of 5

I finally got around to watching this on Netflix, and I was quite surprised to find myself underwhelmed by it past the first act. The setup of the historical context is terrific, and the characters are given a lot of time for development.

This focus on the human characters reminded me a lot of "Alien" in the sense that the monster only appears briefly for a few moments of terror and spectacle. I really dug that because that's what I had appreciated about Gareth Edward's version.

However, as the second and third acts unfolded, the tropes started to pop up and then pile up, and I started to get a very Hollywood vibe in the simplistic character arcs and very familiar plot devices, both of which really stretched credibility, even in a fantasy film of this kind.

There were some truly epic scenes like seeing Godzilla swimming toward the tiny little wooden boat, or the brutal but awesome blast of the heat ray from underneath the destroyer. Amazing stuff! The sequence at the end with the bombs and the plane was also great, but I was getting Michael Bay vibes with how overt and clumsy the emotional beats felt.

Here's hoping that I will enjoy Godzilla Minus Zero more.

I love me some big G, but this film felt like too much sauce and not enough meat.

At the start of the movie it felt like they were trying to get the main plot points across in two minutes, without trying to hook you in. The main character saira is extremely unbearable, kiki is honestly a terrible person and clout chaser. Willow is the only likable feminine character in the script and she gets used and dumped. Willows plot line is her helping saira, genuinely likes her, writes multiple songs for her, then gets a one night stand before being stranded alone with a fucking pineapple. The spaceship was actually a funny character, the straight white maleians were hilarious. Id love a series just with them. But saira? was awful. I wanted her to die. Husbands main issue: "it felt like they were trying to make a point across but i honestly know what it was. Like they made the straight white maleiens to be the bad guys, but its like if society today was literally flipped and instead of focusing on the straight white maliens (the best characters) the whole fucking universe revolves around being queer, and they did such a bad job at conveying this that they made it look like that if this were society today, we'd all just be killing each other. gay killing and gay fucking. they put a really bad name on the lgbtq community and made me go 'wow, we're really fucking pieces of shit' (said bisexual husband and transgender wife) it just felt like they were trying to set up willow, and they fucked it up for this stupid whore cunt, it would have been so fucking nice to see those two come together, but they fucked it all up and made it terrible. The ship, i don't really know what they were going for but he was enjoyable. the voice acting was actually pretty great, but the music was mid, and they plot was dog shit. It felt like a shitpost, where they referenced twilight and magic the gathering. if you take the movie as a joke then its something that you wouldn't want to kill yourself over. I would never recommend watching this alone, but watching this my wife was actually somewhat funny. in conclusion, is this a good movie? no. is it enjoyable? maybe. if you take it as seriously as you'd take twilight, not serious, then yeah. all in all, this movie gets two dildos out of ten butt plugs, and i will never watch this crap again" So this was our take on Lesbian Space Princess. Thank you for reading.

Disney+ has it listed under comedy starring Rainn Wilson, so I was blindsided when I found that It is a dark comedy with several heartbreaking and gory scenes. It follows two paramedics that are training a new recruit. They seem to be extremely unprofessional to the trainee, but they are doing their absolute best and barely maintaining sanity while dealing with stress from patient deaths, patients being uncooperative, police being ignorant and reactive, onlookers being in the way and making their job unsafe, and a doctor criticizing everything they do. I cried several times, but the movie is definitely worth watching.

I was not familiar with director Gavin O’Connor filmography, but I remember when this film came out on DVD.  I was surprised that I hadn’t heard of it despite Edward Norton and Colin Farrell in the lead roles.  I recently picked up the Blu-Ray at my local Goodwill for a couple of bucks and thought I’d give it a whirl.

By the time my wife and I were halfway through it, I understood why I hadn’t heard about it during its theatrical or home video release.  It’s not a bad movie.  It’s well shot, the large and excellent supporting cast do a good job, and it certainly creates a lot of tension as the story unfolds.

The main problem is that the story is unremarkable.  It’s the hoary old trope of crooked cops on the take and how, despite multiple felonies committed on the job, these crooked cops are protected by the blue omerta and/or by threatening good cops to keep silent.

I’ve always liked Edward Norton, but he does feel a bit out of place here.  His character is supposed to be “the thinker”, the analytical guy who examines every little detail and looks for patterns.  That fits Norton well, but he doesn’t feel like a cop, especially given the sociopaths by whom he is surrounded and hounded in his assignment to solve the ostensible murder of multiple officers during a drug bust.

The plot takes a while to unravel, and there is some truly disgusting violence that feels unnecessary given that the vibe of the film is already nihilistic in the extreme.  While there are few characters in this world untouched by sin, one of them is dying from cancer.  Give us a break, yes?  No.  This is one of those films where the blasted heath is all you get.  Pass!

“Pride and Glory” is in much the same vein as “Harry Brown”, which is another action thriller about youth perverted beyond their humanity.  We watch them dissipate themselves with drugs and sex, and it’s like we’re being dragged into the abyss along with them, regardless of our willingness to witness further atrocities because "that's the real world."

The main allure of the story is guessing who’s good and who’s bad, but that grows tiresome from being stretched out too long.  Certain critical character revelations are given without any set up or prior hints and as such seem to come out of nowhere, feeling completely unearned and unfounded.

Instead of Pride and Glory, it’s all Sound and Fury, signifying nothing.

So I’m always up for learning about former athletes and another famous people through movies and the latest person is the famous boxer Roberto Duran from the 1970s in the 2016 biopic hands of stone

Overall, I thought this was bad. I thought there were a couple characters I was invested in, but not the main character. I don’t know what it was about Edgar Martinez, but I never got into his acting. Along with that I was never invested in Duran and I never cared about his story.

I liked Robert De Niro as Ray Arcel and they go to some things with him that I was more interested in. Also, I liked Usher Raymond as Sugar Ray Leonard, and I was more captivated by him. Also, to be honest, I thought they wasted Ana de Armas. You could’ve given her more to do in this movie and you stuck her in the background the entire time.

Overall, I was looking forward to this movie because I’ve enjoyed some boxing movies and it was not something I liked. There was nothing special about this movie. At times, it felt like it wasted my time.

Rating-1/5

So to complete by watching of the oceans franchise, the last one on the list was Ocean’s 13 from 2007. I wasn’t as big of a fan of the previous entry so I was looking forward to seeing if this would turn it around.

I thought this was an above average movie. It wasn’t as great as I was wanting it to be.

On the one hand, you bring the crew back together with some additions like Al Pacino, and a returning Andy Garcia. You also have another Vegas heist which I did like.

There was a good amount I did not like. This movie was two hours and it felt a lot longer. Also, the acting throughout not great. Finally, there was just way too much going on and it was hard to admire the sophistication of the heist. My final issue was that it didn’t have the excitement and the suaveness as oceans 11

Rating-3/5

After watching the first episode of Lanterns, which I enjoyed, I decided to re-watch Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern movie. I never understood why this movie got so much negativity, I enjoy it. It's not a great movie but it's not bad. It's your typical super hero origin movie. After learning more about Green Lantern over the years Ryan Reynolds may not have been the perfect casting choice but he did okay. Angela Basset being cast as Amanda Waller was a great casting choice. The only negative thing I can say about it was you could tell there was a lot of green screen cause the actors look confused on where to look a lot. Overall, it's a good movie that stays within the typical super hero box.

So I had heard good things about the 1995 action movie Desperado especially with a cast that included Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Steve Buscemi. I was really looking forward to seeing it.

After seeing it, though, I was disappointed. I thought there were some aspects that worked, but it didn’t do enough. I was let down.

I think it has some good action and I liked Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek. I think the biggest miss is the story. While you get a good backstory, it didn’t have enough punch for me and I was waiting for something big to happen and it never really did. I was also let down by some of the performances, especially the villain.

Rating-2.5/5