‘Together’ We Can Take Our ‘First Steps’ (And Many More Steps to Come)

August 6, 2025

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

July at the Picture House (CREDIT: Germain McMicking/NEON; Marvel Entertainment/Screenshot)

Together

Starring: Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Damon Herriman

Director: Michael Shanks

Running Time: 102 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: July 30, 2025 (Theaters)

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Starring: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, Ralph Ineson, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss, Paul Walter Hauser, Natasha Lyonne

Director: Matt Shakman

Running Time: 114 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: July 25, 2025 (Theaters)

More

‘Eddington’ Says: “Remember This? Oh, You Do? Well, How About THIS?”

July 22, 2025

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

What would you do, if this Eddington-ed to you? (CREDIT: A24)

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O’Connell, Michael Ward, Amélie Hoeferle, Clifton Collins Jr., William Belleau, Matt Gomez Hidaka, Cameron Mann

Director: Ari Aster

Running Time: 149 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: July 18, 2025 (Theaters)

My cycle of reaction to Eddington was pretty similar to my response to Don’t Look Up (2021). With the latter, I found myself going, “Yes, I know climate change is a looming disaster,” but then by the end, it got a little loopier, and I was like, “Oh, what’s this now?” As for Ari Aster’s latest, it pummeled me into an internal monologue of “Yes, I remember that 2020 was a volatile time, and yes, I know that young people fighting against injustice can be insufferable.” But then it takes a turn about halfway through, and I was like, “Oh, this is what you were building up to?” And then when it zooms into its unpredictable conclusion, I was like, “Okay, when did we get off this exit?” Maybe it could have sped up to driving off that cliff a little sooner, although perhaps Aster also wanted us to feel that like that frog in the boiling water first for a little bit.

Grade: 3 2020s out of 5 Conspiracy Theories

2-For-1 Review: ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ and ‘Materialists’ Both Make My Heart Go Thump-a-Thump

June 12, 2025

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

CREDIT: Atsushi Nishijima/A24; Universal Pictures

How to Train Your Dragon

Starring: Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler, Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Ruth Codd, Peter Serafinowicz

Director: Dean DeBlois

Running Time: 125 Minutes

Rating: PG for Dragons Taking Humans Higher Than They Should Go

Release Date: June 13, 2025 (Theaters)

Materialists

Starring: Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, Marin Ireland, Zoë Winters, Dasha Nekrosova, Louisa Jacobson

Director: Celine Song

Running Time: 117 Minutes

Rating: R, mostly for Discussions of a Date Gone Very Wrong

Release Date: June 13, 2025 (Theaters)

Picture this: it’s the weekend of June 13-15, 2025, and you want to see a new release at your local multiplex. How are you supposed to ever decide?! Especially if they’re total opposites? That isn’t quite the situation we have here, although the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon and the Celine Song-penned-and-helmed rom-com Materialists are certainly aiming for separate lanes. So if you’re a thorough cinephile like me who tries to see absolutely everything, where should you focus first? Or should you try to pull a Barbenheimer and make a double feature out of it? Let’s suss out the situation.

More

‘Gladiator II’ Review: Come for the Son of Maximus, Stay for the Animals and the Denzel

November 19, 2024

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The Gladiator and the Scene-Stealer (CREDIT: Paramount Pictures)

Starring: Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Connie Nielsen, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi

Director: Ridley Scott

Running Time: 148 Minutes

Rating: R for Warriors and Beasts Ripping Each Other Apart

Release Date: November 22, 2024 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Maybe one day there will be a time when all men will be free in Rome, but today is not that day. Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal) is just trying to live a relatively carefree life with his wife, but then the Roman army shows up. He makes a valiant attempt to defend his city, but instead he’s captured and forced into slavery. Perhaps that was always going to be his inescapable fate all along, considering that he’s the son of Maximus Decimus Meridius, the titular gladiator from the first Gladiator. He ends up in the hands of Macrinus (Denzel Washington) and becomes Rome’s new favorite plaything after displaying his prodigious combat skills. There might also be a reconciliation with his mother (Connie Nielsen) along the way, or perhaps he will just make a series of cynical philosophical declarations in between his stints in the arena.

What Made an Impression?: They Are Not Animals… But What If They Were?: There are a lot of characters to keep track of in Gladiator II. Maybe if you think about Ancient Rome all the time and/or you re-watch the first Gladiator every single day, it might be easy for you to keep up. But for someone like myself whose interest in this setting is much more casual, I can’t pretend that I was able to keep track of all the details. But what did leave an indelible impression were the beasts: specifically the pack of baboons let loose upon the gladiators. They are surely CGI creations, but I felt them as viscerally as any practical effect. And I guess I wasn’t terribly familiar with what exactly baboons look like, or at least not feral ones, because these particular baboons struck me as rather canine in nature. Did the Island of Dr. Moreau wander into Rome for a minute? If so, it was a welcome addition.
Chewing the Colosseum: I just spent the last paragraph making it sound like I didn’t care for any of the human actors, but there are actually a few exceptions. As co-emperor brothers Geta and Caracalla, Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger provide the requisite depravity. But the major highlight is unsurprisingly the indefatigable Denzel Washington. It shouldn’t come as any surprise at this point in his career that he’s able to deliver a scene-stealing performance. And I’m not surprised. But what he’s doing here is no less impressive for how expected it is. Every line reading and every simple gesture is oozing finely calibrated personality. He’s the MC guiding us through this barbarism, making it clear how anyone and everyone could ever be seduced by a world that only speaks in violence.

Gladiator II is Recommended If You Like: Laughing at all the violence because that’s the only way to feel

Grade: 3 out of 5 Sandals

‘The Wild Robot’ Asks if a Machine Can Access Its Parental Instinct for a Goose

September 25, 2024

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Does she have the programming to be a mother? Let’s find out! (CREDIT: DreamWorks)

Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames

Director: Chris Sanders

Running Time: 102 Minutes

Rating: PG for Fiery Action and Mild Animal Mortality

Release Date: September 27, 2024 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: A service robot washes ashore on an island dense with all sorts of animal residents. But this metal creature is supposed to serve humans! But not to worry, as ROZZUM Unit 7134, aka Roz (Lupita Nyong’o) can learn new languages with no trouble at all, so soon enough she’s able to communicate with all the local wildlife in their native tongues. That certainly comes in handy, because in her tireless efforts to offer assistance, she accidentally destroys a goose nest, save for one egg. And when it hatches, the little gosling (voiced by Boone Storme as a baby and Kit Connor when he grows up) imprints on Roz as if she’s his mother. She calls him Brightbill, and she must then prepare him for the upcoming winter migration, which may just require some emotional bonding that isn’t exactly in her programming, though a sojourn in the wilderness might just change that.

What Made an Impression?: What is Love?: Early in The Wild Robot, Roz matter-of-factly admits, “I do not have the programming to be a mother.” Plenty of human mothers have said some variation on this statement, but their kids turned out okay. And maybe non-human animal mothers have also said this in their own animal languages. An opossum voiced by Catherine O’Hara with a bunch of babies hanging onto her fur certainly admits as much to Roz. But are emotions and genuine affection only the domain of the living? Certainly not on the big screen, as Roz is just the latest in a long line of fictional synthetic creatures to transcend their programming in the name of love. But really, she is just following her prime directive of dedicated service to its most logical and satisfying conclusion.
Keeping It Foxy: I kind of want to leave this review rather succinct and just end on that note of love. But I also feel compelled to at least mention the #2 critter on the call sheet, as Roz strikes up an unlikely friendship with an otherwise defiantly independent fox named Fink. His mischievous vibe is similar to that of a certain blue hedgehog, which is why I spent the whole movie thinking that he was voiced by Ben Schwartz, when in actuality he was voiced by Mr. Mandalorian himself, Pedro Pascal. So good job embodying the impish spirit of Mr. Schwartz, Pedro! Whether on purpose or by total coincidence, it was absolutely the right choice.

The Wild Robot is Recommended If You Like: A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Babe, Homeward Bound

Grade: 4 out of 5 Universal Dynamics

It’s a Gay Old Time with the ‘Drive-Away Dolls’!

February 21, 2024

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

What’s in the box?! (CREDIT: Wilson Webb/Working Title/Focus Features)

Starring: Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Colman Domingo, Beanie Feldstein, Bill Camp, Joey Slotnick, C.J. Wilson, Pedro Pascal, Matt Damon, Miley Cyrus

Director: Ethan Coen

Running Time: 84 Minutes

Rating: R for Unabashed Sexuality and Sucker Punch-Style Violence

Release Date: February 23, 2024 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: It’s 1999, and good friends Jamie (Margaret Qualley) and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) decide to take an impromptu road trip from Philadelphia to Tallahassee, Florida. Jamie is slipping out of yet another messy relationship, while Marian is too buttoned-up to have ever made a move on anybody. They’re both gay, but they’ve never considered each other as serious prospects. But perhaps that could change over the course of the next few days, as vacationing and stress both tend to make people closer. And this is certainly going to be a stressful ride, as a couple of criminal goons (Joey Slotnick, C.J. Wilson) are hot on their tails when the car rental joint mistakenly loans them a vehicle with a very valuable piece of luggage in its trunk.

What Made an Impression?: Those Old Reliable Yuks: After making some of the most beloved movies of the past few decades, brotherly filmmaking duo Joel and Ethan Coen have taken a creative break from each other. If their first solo directorial efforts are any indication, then it was Joel who specialized in the dark and probing drama, and Ethan who drifted towards their unique brand of wacky yet droll comedy. With Drive-Away Dolls, Ethan has teamed up with his wife Tricia Cooke for screenwriting duties, and the result very much sits on a continuum of Raising Arizona, Fargo, and The Big Lebowski, with a series of Jenga-like misunderstandings leading to comically violent escalation.
Out and Loud: Speaking of continuums, Jamie and Marian are part of the Coen-esque tradition of protagonists who don’t quite realize what type of movie they’re in before it’s too late to do anything about it. That’s mainly because they’re too busy being their unapologetically gay selves. Marian is certainly a lot more reserved than Jamie, but that doesn’t mean she’s ashamed in any way about her sexual orientation. Interestingly enough, though, they never really encounter any homophobia. That’s partly because they spend most of their time in defiantly gay spaces, but also because the straight people they stumble across just couldn’t be bothered to be bigoted. (Will & Grace did premiere in 1998, after all, so maybe those folks have been watching it.)
Secrets But No Shame: I don’t want to give away the truth about the package, partly because it would be rude to be a spoiler, but also because I want my review to be as family-friendly as possible. Let’s just say then that it involves a politician and a very personal form of pleasure. And when you have public ambitions bumping up against private escapades like that, it often leads to over-the-top shenanigans. That’s certainly the case in Drive-Away Dolls, much to our demented delight.

Drive-Away Dolls is Recommended If You Like: The comedy half of the Coens

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Makeout Sessions

Jeff’s Wacky SNL Review: Pedro Pascal/Coldplay

February 5, 2023

jmunney Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television , , , , , , Leave a comment

Brr! This episode was very Chile. (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

I’ve seen Pedro Pascal on my TV more than once. And now I’m seeing him again! That exclamation point is because as of February 4, 2023, he’s an SNL host. And nobody can ever take that away from him!

Coldplay’s the musical guest, but that’s nothing new.

This is the first episode of February, so to celebrate, I’m going to review each sketch according to the format “I ❤️ (something).”

More

‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’ is Kinda Heavy, Man

April 21, 2022

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent (CREDIT: Karen Ballard/Lionsgate)

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Tiffany Haddish, Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz, Alessandra Mastronardi, Lily Sheen, Jacob Scipio, Neil Patrick Harris

Director: Tom Gormican

Running Time: 107 Minutes

Rating: R for Mainly Salty Language and a Few Shootouts

Release Date: April 22, 2022 (Theaters)

How self-aware is too self-aware? That’s a question inherent to the life of any movie star, but it’s especially salient in the case of Nicolas Cage. He’s equally beloved, mocked, or lovingly mocked for his over-the-top performances in the likes of Ghost Rider, Face/Off, The Wicker Man, and countless others. Word eventually got around to him that he was more meme than man in some corners, but instead of winking at repudiating this reputation, he’s mostly continued to follow his own particular muse in the form of his self-professed “Nouveau Shamanic” acting style. But now he’s forced to confront his career as thoroughly as possible as he plays a lightly fictionalized version of himself in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. I’m one of the biggest Nic Cage fans in the world, so my feeling coming into this flick was that it would either be my new favorite movie ever, or it would be a little too on the nose. The truth is somewhere in the middle, as Cage is of course up for whatever, but there are some Uncanny Valley-esque vibes.

The setup is basically National Treasure meets Bowfinger: in the midst of an existential crisis that has him contemplating retirement, Cage is surreptitiously hired by the CIA to aid in some geopolitical subterfuge. It all goes down in the sun-dappled vistas of Mallorca, where he’s fulfilling a million-dollar gig to attend the birthday party of Javi (Pedro Pascal), a budding screenwriter who’s also the suspected head of a cartel and supposed mastermind behind a recent kidnapping. But mostly, he’s an audience surrogate, with the obsessive collection of Nic Cage memorabilia to prove it. If you’re thinking that somebody who loves Nicolas Cage this much couldn’t possibly be that bad, then you should know that one of this movie’s core messages is to trust your instincts.

And what do my instincts tell me as I’m writing this review? Mostly, they say that I was kind of weirded out by how similar this Nic Cage is to the real thing without being exactly the same. Offscreen, he has a few ex-wives and two sons, while the Massively Talent-ed version has at least one ex (Sharon Horgan) that’s still a part of his daily life and a daughter named Addy (Lily Sheen). I don’t know what his relationships with his sons are like, but I hope that he’s not forcing them to watch The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to the point that they need to hash it out in therapy. This is all to say, Unbearable Weight gets the broad-stroke details of Cage’s unique story correct, but it renders his mystique a bit too quotidian. It’s respectful, but not transcendent. It pulls off the requisite action-adventure thrills just fine, but if you really want to know what makes this man tick, just check out any of his interviews.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is Recommended If You Like: Nonstop introspection, Geeking out about German expressionism and Paddington, Emotional straight male bonding

Grade: 3 out of 5 Nouveau Shamans

‘Wonder Woman 1984’: Surprising, Confusing, Unexpected

December 28, 2020

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Wonder Woman 1984 (CREDIT: Warner Bros. Pictures/YouTube Screenshot)

Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen

Director: Patty Jenkins

Running Time: 151 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: December 25, 2020 (Theaters/HBO Max)

Wonder Woman 1984 was … not exactly what I was expecting. It’s a “Monkey’s Paw”/be careful what you wish for-type story. In fact, at one point Diana Prince literally says “Monkey’s Paw.” Multiple times, if I’m remembering correctly. You see, there’s this stone that grants wishes to whomever’s touching it. Which sounds like a pretty sweet deal, right? But alas of course, something important is taken from the wish-grantee in turn. Not exactly mold-breaking in terms of the history of storytelling, but quite unusual in the realm of big-budget superhero cinema. At the very least, I gotta give Patty Jenkins and company credit for very much not taking the road most travelled.

I wish I could say I was thrilled by the execution, though! Instead, I was trying to figure out what the whole deal with the execution was throughout most of the movie. And this is a long movie! Spending more than two hours trying to figure out a movie’s whole deal is not my preferred way of watching a movie. I could envision some structural changes to the script/editing that would make character motivations a bit more clear and resonant. I’m pretty sure I got what Diana’s situation was, and K-Wiig as Barbara Minerva and Mr. Pedro Pascal started with intriguing setups, but at the end, I found myself thinking, in multiple ways, “Wait, how’s that again?” Also, this movie took place in the 80s, but there were very few, if any, scenes of people doing coke or voting for Ronald Reagan.

Grade: More Lassos of Truth, Less Confusion

This Is a Movie Review: Kingsman: The Golden Circle

September 29, 2017

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

CREDIT: Giles Keyte/Twentieth Century Fox

The Golden Circle is just as exciting as the first Kingsman, and it features a hell of a villainous turn from Julianne Moore. Its attitude is a bit arch, and it often pretends that it isn’t, but that isn’t a huge deal when the action is assembled impressively and the humor does let loose often enough. But ultimately while these flicks are fun, I find it hard to embrace them fully. There is just something weirdly insidious about their politics (or something like politics). It may not even be intentional, but intentional or not, it does unnerve me. I could have forgiven all that if Channing had danced more. Why didn’t Channing dance more?

I give Kingsman: The Golden Circle 2 Cannibal Burgers out of 3 Butterfly Effects.

Older Entries