Brandon Hoelle

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This movie has a great message: the only good masculinity is femininity. The husband created all the problems in this family by being weak, not having a spine, and not standing up for his family. He doesn’t protect them. So what’s the answer? Well, his wife summons her inner girl boss, of course. She crushes a 300-lb McAvoy and saves her family while her husband hides in a cupboard. Genius writing! It does away with all the nasty subtext the original movie stirred in people. This is the kind of film made for modern Americans - finally! We’ve never had a movie where the woman wins in the end against a toxic male force, so it’s about damned time Hollywood had the girl-balls to make a realistic movie about the struggles of strong, empowered women! Slay, Queen! Maybe the sequel can do away with the pesky husband and have two lesbian women fighting against all the men in the world, like some kind of supernatural male-dominated zombie apocalypse. Now THATS an idea!

Fantastic film. I love the cinematography the most, but the characters are top notch as well. The general matter of factness of some of the situations reminds me of Tarantino, while the honest portrayal of masculinity is refreshing to see. This is a movie without agenda; it simply wants to tell a compelling story in a way that’s true to the setting and time period it takes place in. I remember when movies used to feel this immersive. It’s sad that this is an outlier of a film. We need this kind of immersive storytelling now more than ever. I was just surprised to learn it came out in 2015! Somehow I slept on this one and didn’t even hear about it until nearly a decade later. It’s just as good in 2024 as ever. See this movie if you are tired of “the message” and political and social agendas. For that reason alone it’s worth seeing. But keep watching for the beautiful shots, compelling, interesting, and often hilarious characters. You won’t be disappointed.

The animation is horrible. I honestly don’t know why it’s being praised. It’s confusing and hurts my eyes. There are countless shots so zoomed in and close up that it’s impossible to tell what is being depicted. And it doesn’t help that everything is extremely exaggerated, so even an arm (for instance) could be animated to more closely resemble a spaceship - which is bad enough - but then they chose to only show a 6-square-inch portion of it in a shot, blown up to fit the entire screen. I don’t get it. A show like this needs clarity in its animation, not exaggeration. Blue Eyed Samurai and Attack on Titan are both perfect examples of fantastic stories that use animation grounded in realism to offset the absurdity in their stories - and it works! So why do we have absurd characters in absurd situations making absurd choices using absurd animation? I’ll finish it just to say I did, but I’m not enjoying this for even a moment. The clarity of action required to make gory violence interesting to watch is missing, and without that what’s the point? It’s not like people are watching this show for its poetic character development.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

Update: After a rewatch and some deliberation I’ve decided I’m not at all convinced this script was ever meant to be a Mission Impossible movie. It feels like an MCU movie with a Mission Impossible skin. I’m willing to bet they took an existing script and tweaked it to fit this universe and these characters - but I don’t think it works. It just doesn’t feel right. Original post: Already this movie is aging like spoiled milk. Tackling grand themes of world domination and global superiority between nations is a bit hard for any movie to pull off, but I just don’t see our impossible mission force doing this kind of thing. Maybe I’m just tired of seeing the fate of the world at stake - again. I think the first movie is the gold standard, and this one has strayed so far from the intimate, spy thriller espionage story of one man going rogue than is possible. It’s just a little too much. And AI? Really? Why? Choosing a foe so timely as AI just dates your movie. It WILL eventually be outdated to the point of absurdity. Any movie using “slightly advanced” technology gets to that point. But AI? Everything they’re talking about in this film could be disproven, outdone, or proven unrealistic by the time the sequel comes out. It already feels stale. One last thing; the desert battle in Yemen should’ve been really cool, and I wanted to love it, but I could tell the emphasis was on how the actors looked, not how the characters behaved. Ethan twirling around while lifting the AK is okay, I guess, if he’s actually accomplishing something, but I swear he aimed at each bounty hunter before they even appeared on screen. The timing was off and it all felt under-practiced and amateurish, which only made the twirling and flashy twirls and motions seem that much more pointless. This movie just feels like it was rushed out. The writing needs work. The choreography needs work. The camera angles need work. It’s like they went with the first everything that came to mind and moved on. The first draft. The first shot. The first take. I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s how the movie FEELS. And it’s such a shame. The passion seems gone.

A worthy successor to the Matt Reeves films, this movie has all the elements fans of the series will appreciate while still telling a truly original story. The set pieces are stunning and breathtaking at times, while the story manages to inject a sense of awe and wonder into this tragic world. I was initially very skeptical of this new movie, but I’m happy to say this was worth my time. I can’t wait for the next installment. Whether you’re a fan of the series or not, this is the summer blockbuster we’ve been missing. Don’t let any negative reviews get you down. People were harsh on the Matt Reeves movies at first too, and now they’re largely considered near-perfect works of art. This movie is a worthy addition to that legacy. You will not regret it. (It’s better than anything the MCU or Disney has made this decade, so why not give this one a chance?)

On season 4 (spoiler free) First off, the editing is terrible and it ruins the pacing. How many small scenes can they make from one? That seems to be their goal here. The laboratory scene in episode 4 was ruined by this NCIS style of editing. This is supposed to be prestige television, so why does it feel like something from CBS? That entire lab scene should’ve been ONE SCENE, maybe two. But instead it’s cut into five or six different scenes and it completely destroys the tension. They do the same for fight scenes; cutting away in the middle of a fight just to give us more info about something unrelated. This can work, but they don’t use it effectively. I’d much rather have half the show take place in one location with no cuts and have the tension ratchet up to 100, than have multiple cuts taking us back and forth across the environment with minimal to no tension. GoT, for all its faults, could do this well. So why can The Boys? Why can’t they break the shackles of their primetime cable tv roots and become something better? And Frenchie. What happened to my boy Frenchie? What have you done to him? Where’s the quirky, clever, techie with a heart of gold from season 1? Who’s this depressed man-child who can’t focus on the job and pines over a love interest we’ve never seen before? No one cares about Colin. Their relationship is entirely unearned and cheap. You’re ruining Frenchie by stooping to this level. Finally, this show used to be all about satirizing the real world - from all sides. But now they seem to focus only on making fun of the conservative right. Where’s the satire about the toxic left? Lord knows they’ve got plenty of ammunition from the real world to work with. Why is their humor becoming so directed and pointed? The best part of the humor with The Boys was that it didn’t take a side; it was above all that. But I don’t think the same could be said about the show today. They clearly have a side and aren’t afraid to show us. These aspects haven’t ruined the show for me - yet - but this season is sapping most of the goodwill they’ve built up over time for me. If they don’t course correct soon I’m afraid The Boys will be over before their story concludes. The best episode of the season was the very last episode - but for everything it does right it’s worst offense is that it highlights just how rudderless this season has been up to this point. I never knew what they were working towards, what the overarching plot was, and just because they showed us at the very end what it was building towards doesn’t mean they were justified in taking that route. There was no direction for this season, no goals or missions they were trying to accomplish. Just an end result the writers had to get to. Unfortunately I think this show needs to go back to being directed solely by one person - sorry I don’t recall his name, but the guy who directed the last episode. The show needs some authorship to get back on its feet. It’s time they stopped treating this like NCIS or Law and Order.

I read some reviews here before watching and they were all raving about how good this movie is. But all movies have their diehard fans, especially high-concept movies like this. Still, I figured it was worth a shot. They aren’t kidding, this movie is amazing. It’s a phenomenal piece of world-building that gives you a LOT to contemplate while your eyes take in the visual mastery of the set pieces. This movie was crafted with care and skill and it shows in every scene. The story is what most people focus on, but I’m far more interested in the cinematography and technical aspects - and this movie doesn’t disappoint. It’s very well made. And yes, the story is compelling, but I haven’t finished the film so I won’t comment further, just to say it’s such a tight story written by people who understand the world we live in today. It very quickly reminded me of those genealogy sites where you submit your DNA and get a detailed family tree - but that’s only half of it. The other half - where these companies REALLY make their money - is selling your DNA to research facilities and police agencies. And just like real life the company in the film isn’t just buying years from the young - it’s what they DO with those years that becomes the real focal point. And like all the best stories there is no clear answer; this isn’t black and white. There is nuance woven into the fabric of the story. Watch it with a friend or loved one and you’ll have plenty to talk (or argue) about for days. Give it a chance. Movies like this are impactful and aren’t made often. Enjoy it while it’s here.

Efficient storytelling, superb cinematography, and out of this world physical acting make Upgrade one of the best new movies I’ve seen this year! I am VERY picky with movies, but it’s been a long time since I remember having this much fun watching a film! Not since Blue Eyed Samurai have I seen anything so visually innovative and entertaining. The story was simple, but it kept me guessing until the very end. I can’t believe this film hasn’t gotten more praise for its stunning camerawork and acting. It’s a must-see for everyone. Seriously. Stop reading and go watch this thing! Now!