Author: msobczak1138

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The Amateur

The Amateur

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The Nerd Identity.  The Geek Ultimatum.  Although it may sound like I’m being snide, both of those fake titles describe The Amateur perfectly.  The movie isn’t about an extremely capable one man wrecking crew out for revenge, like the characters played by Matt Damon, Jason Statham, Denzel Washington, for example.  Instead we have Rami Malek, who nobody would ever describe as being physically threatening.  He has the body of a man who’s probably never set foot in a gym, and if he ever did it was to reboot the WI-FI router.

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Drop

Drop

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For a movie that recalls suspense thrillers of yesteryear, it’s fitting that Drop begins with an eye-catching opening title credit sequence.  In it, a series of items slowly rotate against a black background, with the breakable ones shattering.  This sequence, a pun on the movie’s title, also hints at what’s in store for us.  (There’s a reason for the inclusion of a spinning chess piece and dice.)  It’s a nice touch, but unfortunately what follows never tops it.

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Thunderbolts

Thunderbolts*

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In one form or another, the MCU films released after the conclusion of the Infinity Saga have been trying to answer the same question:  who will be in the next incarnation of The Avengers?  The six years haven’t provided us with any definitive answers outside of Anthony Mackie’s version of Captain America, who appears to be in because of his brand.  There simply can’t be an Avengers squad without some version of Captain America on it.  Every other superhero we’ve seen so far appears to be in play for a spot on the roster, which is strange considering how well-planned Marvel’s films seem to be.

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Sinners

Sinners

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So this is what’s been on writer-director Ryan Coogler’s mind while he’s been making films based on existing IP.  Although he left his imprint upon Creed and the Black Panther movies, they weren’t entirely his creation.  For example, you could tell which parts of his Marvel movies came from his mind and which were mandated in order to fit into the larger MCU.  Sinners, Coogler’s first original film since Fruitvale Station twelve years ago, reflects the freedom he likely felt at no longer needing to tell a story using other people’s characters and storylines.  His  latest is a rare intimate blockbuster, one that is brazenly adult-oriented, filled with big ideas and told with indelible images that demand our attention.  It’s a full-throated cinematic experience that swings for the fences and connects more often than not.

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The Electric State

The Electric State (Netflix)

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The Electric State falls under historical fiction, a category of works where the past is reimagined due to a key event having a different outcome.  This results in an alternate timeline where things are both familiar and different at the same time.  In The Watchmen, America became an authoritarian state after Richard Nixon refused to leave office and won a third term as president.  The Man in the High Castle reimagined a post-WWII America where the Germans and the Japanese won and invaded the east and west coasts.  For The Electric State, problems ensue when the automatons originally developed by Walt Disney for his theme parks evolve into autonomous service workers and start taking people’s jobs.  We all knew that the “It’s a Small World” ride was evil, but this is ridiculous.

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Bridget Jone: Mad About the Boy

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

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It was back in 2001 that Renée Zellweger first appeared in Bridget Jones’ Diary.  Thankfully, both return in fine form Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, the fourth entry in what has become a franchise.  Both Zellweger and her character are still reliable sources of laughs as they ever were.  Hugh Grant’s Daniel Cleaver is still a relentless Lothario, but is slowed by heart issues.  Alas, Colin Firth’s Mark Darcy has passed on prior to this sequel, and appears only as an apparition that Bridget can see.  Although the movie is funny, Mark’s death gives this entry a melancholy tone, where the passage of time and the loss of a loved one grounds things more than a typical romantic comedy.

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A Working Man

A Working Man

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Jason Statham: Monster Hunter.  That’s what stuck in my mind as I watched Statham do his punch-kick-shoot-stab thing in A Working Man, an entertaining movie that often feels generic and routine.  Although there are no literal monsters in this movie, the movie’s gothic touches and freakish villains imply what could have been, if the filmmakers had the nerve to take the story in the direction they apparently wanted to go.  Seeing Statham hunting and killing evil Russians is fine, but swap out those ordinary targets to vampires and werewolves and we’d be talking next-level badassery.

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The Order

The Order

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There’s nothing more dangerous than a man of principle.  That man will sacrifice everything to advance his cause, his friends, family, his health and even his own life.  His unshakeable belief in his own righteous cause justifies every decision, no matter the cost or who pays it.  The Order tells the story of two such men, one an FBI agent, the other the leader of a white separatist faction.  Despite their distinct differences in age, background and life experience, the movie reveals that they’re actually sides of the same coin.  Before the movie arrives at that conclusion, it establishes that these men are destined to collide in violent fashion.

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The Day the Earth Blew Up

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

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The Day the Earth Blew Up is funny, visually inventive and, unlike Warner Brothers Discovery, honors the legacy of the Looney Tunes cartoons.  The movie is a testament to what hand-drawn animation can achieve when in the right hands.  Although 2025 is only three months old, this movie is already the front-runner for comedy of the year.  Highly Recommended. Continue reading The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

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Black Bag

Black Bag

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If you’re a fan of spy thrillers, much of Black Bag will sound familiar.  The plot involves two MI6 agents, their scheming colleagues and a computer virus that, when unleashed by Russian bad guys, will change the balance of power in the world by causing the death of thousands of innocent civilians.  This could be the basis of another impossible mission for Ethan Hunt, the next James Bond adventure or even a streaming series.  (There are many good ones to choose from these days.)  What’s different about Black Bag is that the heroic agents are happily married and have been for thirty-five years.  Yes, the fate of the free world is in the hands of a monogamous couple, as well as a fellow agent who hasn’t forgotten her Christian school upbringing.  If you believe that old fashioned values don’t matter in today’s world, director Steven Soderbergh and writer David Koepp beg to differ.

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