On one hand, just 91 days til Halloween! On the other hand, days of heat advisories don't have me looking forward to August.
Series
Dexter: Original Sin (Paramount+)
Like most prequels, my initial thought was "Do we really need this?" The
surprise answer is yes! I enjoyed this a lot more than the New Blood season.
Whoever did the casting here needs an award. Not only was everyone great but
those playing characters from the original series absolutely nailed their
future selves. Thrilled to find out there will be another season.
Gatchaman Progress
Episodes watched this month: 6 Currently up to: 52
Movies
Summer movie watching usually means one thing: sharks!
The Last Breath (2024, Shudder/Hulu)
The premise of a group of college kids diving a WWII wreck sounded
interesting, you need some reason to get the victims in the shark's
environment. From there, it's mostly an average "slasher" where they get
picked off one by one. It's "real life" so there's nothing crazy with the
shark but towards the end it does something I thought was silly which felt
more B-movie than they wanted this to be. This was Julian Sands final film
role and he was the one standout thing in the movie.
Rating: 4/10
Obviously, if you're a fan of Jaws, this is a no-brainer. Even if you're just
a casual fan, I highly recommend it to see what went into creating this iconic
movie. There's some good behind the scenes video and they talk to some of the
lesser known actors.
Monster Island (Shudder, 2024)
It's a little bit Enemy Mine (presuming someone out there remembers that one) meets Creature from the Black Lagoon. Despite their characters not speaking the same language, the two leads do a good job at being forced buddies that I want to see how they might get out of their situation. The movie teases the monster reveal and I love it when we get to see it fully. The majority of monster effects seem to be practical and that just helps sell how dangerous it is. I didn't like the way it ended but that didn't keep me from enjoying the ride.
Rating: 7/10
Sinners (2025, HBO Max)
I don't know that I would have seen this if not for the horror elements but I
can say it's a damn fine piece of cinema without them. I got so drawn into the
world and invested in the characters that I really just wanted to follow their
story. "That" scene in the juke joint was pure magic. Even if you're not that
into horror, I say give it a shot because it's just that good of a movie.
Rating: 9/10
Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Death & Porridge (2024, Amazon
Prime)
I can only hope the people involved had more fun making it than I did watching
it. I haven't really seen a lot of the recent "horror with public domain
character" movies but I feel like this belongs with the worst of them. The
thing that really removed any chance of liking the movie for me was the fact
that I had to turn on CC. Not because they have accents but because the
sound/dialog is done so poorly that I got tired of having to adjust the
volume, especially with Goldi who sounds like they used her actual audio while
she was wearing the mask. ADR is a thing, guys.
Rating: 2/10
I know next to nothing about Minecraft except that it's a popular game where
you can build stuff. And I think I kind of love this movie? I can't say what
it is but it just hit the right vibe for me and I was all in. It's a fantasy
adventure in a computer world. Jack Black has to deliver a lot of insane
dialog but he's the perfect person to do it. Mamoa's washed-up 1980s video
game champ is a hoot and I had no idea Emma Myers (Wednesday's Enid)
was in it so that was a nice surprise.
Rating: 7/10
Superman (2025)
If I have one "complaint" about this, it's that the main character is
continually losing the spotlight whenever Krypto or the Justice Gang
(especially Mr Terrific) are around. The dark, brooding thing has its place
and I feel like Superman isn't where it belongs so this was a nice breath of
fresh air to kick off a new direction for DC movies. This really felt like a
comic to me where it's sometimes silly, sometimes wildly out there, and knows
how to have a good time. Hoult's Luthor is great at being a menace even though
he's physically outclassed.
Rating: 8/10
K-Pop Demon Hunters (2025, Netflix)
Look, if I see a bunch of social media posts raving about a movie, I'm going
to check it out. I'll admit, I'm not much into K-Pop so the songs didn't
really do much for me. Only one, Takedown, stuck with me. I'm presuming the
songs were performed by real K-Pop stars but I wouldn't know one if I saw one.
On the other hand, I am into demon hunters and there's plenty of demon
slaying. I really liked seeing the culturally different monster designs. I
also enjoyed the girls different personalities and how they play off each
other. I wouldn't say no to a sequel or something set in the same universe. This is really begging for an ongoing series.
Rating: 7/10
This Month
New: 8 Rewatch: 0
Year to Date
New: 50 Rewatch: 5
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