Shows of 2025

I has brushed this off as a YAS (Yet Another Superhero) movie, but then all the reviews came in and the "anti-woke" (aka facists) backlash. Now I was interested.

The aesthetics were the first thing that hit me. The trainer before was for the Fantastic Four movie, which leaned heavily into a 1950’s retro-future idealism. Superman continued this trend with his robots and costumes looking like creations from a 1950s comic book.

It’s a common trope that horror movies highlight the anxieties of their eras. The alien invader movies of the 1950 were about communist invasions. Dystopias like Soylent Green and Logan’s Run were reactions to a growing distrust in our own institutions. 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow spoke to environmental anxieties. The aesthetics of pop art show the opposite, the hopes of an era. The 1990’s and early 2000’s were filled with hypercolored, fast-paced techno-fettism. The look was sexy, cyber, and multi-ethnic. The next phase was a backlash against the artificial. It popped up everywhere from video games like BioShock to shows like Loki. Bars became speakeasies, everything was lit by Edison lightbulbs, food became artisanal, and beer crafted. Everything had to look authentic and intentional.

This 1950s comic book retro-future revels in space age designs, curved cathode ray TVs, and robots out of a cereal box. Instead of being a rejection of authenticity, it seems to be an escape to optimism. In the 1950s, our better days were still ahead. We had faith in science and our institutions.  As Superman would have said, the Earth was full of good people who believed in truth, justice, and the American way.

Gunn’s Superman leans heavily into this motif. The titles and score call back to the 1978 Christopher Reeve version. Instead of the giant special effects, dark colors, space ships, battle armor, and modernized outfits of the other intermediate versions, we are treated to bright colors, more humans on screen than CGI, and a plot that doesn’t involve 32 intertwined story arcs and a side hustle about Lois Lane self-actualizing. In otherwords, it was good!

I love this Superman for reclaiming the Midwest. Clark’s parents call him Clark with a “w,” the way we say it where I am from. “Claw’ark.” Midwesterners have an uncanny ability to add syllables to words. Lois asks him all the tough, nuanced questions. Is what you did political savvy? Will it be popular? Did you clear it with the authorities? Clark goes back to the basic ethics of 1950’s Midwest America — if he didn’t help, people would die. ‘Nuff said. It is a rejection of the constant excuses made by modern society. It is a rejection of realpolitik that allows for us to ask to do a risk analysis before doing what is right.

I am flummoxed by the charge of being “anti-woke.” This is the quintessential Superman. The bad guy has always been the wealthiest man on Earth, with his bought-and-paid-for bureaucrats. He was always adopted by Midwesterners who raised him with Midwest values. He was always standing up for the little guy and against bullies. The only change is a revision in how we see his true parents, which, honestly, was amazing.

I really enjoyed it. The acting, script, visuals: everything was tremendous. I loved how Gunn reclaimed a kinder and more human Superman; and a truer and kinder vision for America. If you think that is woke, then you probably didn’t grow up saying “Claw’ark Key’ent.”

One of the lesser niors of the decade, but still effective. It avoids all the normal elements of a femme fetal, a hard boiled detective, heists, etc. Instead it experiements with cagey characters where the dishonesty borders on surreal. No one seems able to give a straight answer and none of the straight answers are to be trusted. There is no twist. You know who the murderer is pretty early on. The real mystery is watching how people react. The culprit is a dishonest narcissist which nobody likes, but he is a bully and everyone is afraid. So when things start to go south, you watch as people clam up and let bad things happen in hopes that they can slink out of the picture. It is a good study of the nature of people. It is also interesting how it covers the seldom talked about issues of solder's after the war. Normally they are all heros returned home. Crossfire presents a more realistic view of thousands of troops hastily returned, no place to settle down, no immediate jobs available, and all of a sudden live-or-die is replaced with sit-and-wait. The speech delivered by the detective is just as relevant today as it was then. People who learn to hate are like loaded guns just walking around society.

Why?!? I mean, fresh off of Goonies in a Toupee, aka National Treasure; Disney decides to trot our Nicholas Cage for another silly adventure. Is it 2010 nostolgia, yes. In all the worst ways and worst movie tropes of the decade put into a nutrabullet in turned into a mushy slurry.

I worked at the House of Mouse when this came out, and the execs were really excited. It was going to be an in-house Star Wars. It was going to capture the boy and teen market. It was going to kick off a franchise.

I finally checked it out on Disney+ and I can see why they bought Marvel. Like John Carter's jumps, it never quite takes off. The movie fails to connect. No one is really likable. They form attachements with each other that don't make much sense. The world building is both obtuse and shallow. I am not a Star Wars fan, but Luke is a relatable human being who anchors and crazy space opera. This one just drifts.

This pops up in my feeds as some must see cult animation on par with Heavy Metal or Fantastic Planet. It's not. I appriciate that it all had to be hand animated, but it looks cheap. You can see some of the interesting character design and rotoscoping like movements; but the animation is budget. The character design is pretty basic. Don't confuse an obtuse, but basic plot, with profound. The best part was some of the architecture, but nothing felt cohesive. It is a also-ran foot note of experimental animation of the time.

Like all of Bourne's productions, it was gorgeous. The sets and costumes all added to the scenes. Each dancer was a complete story in themself.

However, the story was dreary. It was a ballet of people making bad decisions, self-destructive psychology in toeshoes. In that sense, it wasn't a joyful even exciting romp. It was watching a night fall into seedy sadness.

No movie will ever capture the feeling of seeing it on stage. The amazing staging, costumes, and orchestration were a powerful backdrop for a fantastic cast. It was heart breaking to see a story of refugees and a community destroyed by politcs of hate being reflected 120 years after the pogroms to a world that looks shockingly similar.

Lucille Ball is a quick witted dame with a New York edge, hunting for a serial killer in between war Britain. The stars are big, but the movie feels like a small play. It never rises to the thrills or suspense of other noirs, nor the comedy of Lucy. It sits in a pleasent in-between with witty lines, Lucy's knowing looks, and a cast of obvious characters. It is novel to see Lucille Ball play for drama, but otherwise it is one of many small productions from that time.

Shakespeare in the Square kicked off the London summer with pinics, bubbles, songs, and another play by the timeless bard. This year's Taming of the Shew delighted with their casual settings and engaing performances. SitS interleaves modern songs and dress to lighten the dense language and imagery of the words. The performers play to the crowds and bring along everyone from children giggling at the silliness of adults to classic afficianados. It is one of the gems of London to catch one of their shows. A new location each performance, hosted by private squares that would normally be offlimits and out of view.

Choices were made. Did they make sense? No. Were the gorgeous and fun to watch? Yes!

Instead of giving us another John Wick movie, the franchise went for a fresh story set in the same world. John Wick suffered from each movie having to one up the previous to the point of preposterousness. This side quest allowed for just as ridiculously over the top action, without having to watch Keanu fight his wave up a staircase of assasines, twice! But we did have a flamethrower battle, icepick ninjas, and death by skates that would have left Tanya Harding jealous.

This movie has long been staple of the LA midnight movie scene, but difficult to get copies of it to watch until an official version was made available for download and streamiling. So I was excited to check out what for so long was just an insane poster. Well, it was worth the wait. Fair warning, to say that the film is offensive is a massive understatement. It starts out with blackface and just goes downhill from there. It is full of student film / art house / Warhol Factory vibes. It is intenionally low production and vulgar, yet full of sophistication. It is hard to tell where it is simply offensive and where it is a self-referential joke mocking the audience's reactions. There is no plot that I can describe. The acting and dialogue is intentionally terrible. There are boobs all over the place for no intelligable reason. But there is also painstacking animation and set design. There are throw awar segments that represent hours if not months of painstakcing manual labor. All of this was done with volinteers and imagination and no special effects of CGI. You can see the early visual language and music of what would become familiar in future Elfman works. Is it genius? Yes. Is it good? No.

Rosalind Russell's fast talking dame pops out every now and again, but she showcases a more fragile and timid version of herself. It. has great supporting actors and solid noir direction. The plot lakes punch, but the cat and mouse game of suspense kept me engaged. In the end, you wonder what really got to her? Was it her guilt? Or her need for her audience to know who well she had acted?

I'll admit it, between the poster and the cast list, I was suckered into watching this premium-eque Disney Direct to DVD knock-off.

This movie has every cliche deployed in a cloyingly terrible melange of banality. Nothing is good; from costumes, to plot, to the child actors, to Charlize Theron's fright wig. There is a love story, a make over reveal, multiple montages, an ugly duckling, a fish out of water, school bullies, and even a battle at the school dance. Oh, and don't forget a ending that would make the orginal Neverending Story seem edgy. Yuck!

Boon Joon Ho delivers another darkly comic satire that hits too close to home and seems just a little to bit topical. A pretty blatent, and not innacruate, apparsial of celebrity worship and late stage capitalism; where the ultimate goal is to forever make things cheaper and faster. We finally made earth and even humans disposable. Yet, instead of a paradise of cheap goods, we see a world of universal suffering and acceptance of their fate. In gray suits, people eat gray food, and fly though space in a grey box, so they can start anew on a barren ice world. Like Snowpiercer, this dystopia has a class system that is revealed through out the movie.

Ho's genius to show a complete unrealistic world and populate it with real world idosyncrancies that make the unrealness seem mundanly familiar; from the bored office workers to the loading of the feeding tray for the "human printer."

I was distracted by the aliens, which seems more like something from a Disney cartoon than a dystopian reality. But that is my one small complaint.

Another four person play at the King's Head. All the actors were strong. The staging while minimal effectivly transported you to various economically.

The plot and story moved at an uneven pace, moving tectonically slowly at times only jerk forwards like an earthquake. The effect might have been intentionally, but kept the audience unbalanced. You are lulled into quite scenes to have the world jerk.

The plot wrapped up in a rather rushed an unsatisfactory ending, that felt more like an exhale after not realizing you had been holding your breath for so long. But finding room to breath was kind of the feeling of the show.

Nothing could come between Jack and Rose, except this French Canadian's drunk history style first hand account of what really happened. 6 people stomp around, sing, dance, change costumes; all to the deleriously derranged narration of one Celine Dion. That is until an iceberg in the guise of Tina Turner ruins it all.

From book, to musical, to screen; another blockbuster franchise makes the leap. It was nice that they cast actual signers in the key roles, not so much with Michelle Yoeh and Jeff Blum who speak-talk their way through the songs. It is a visual feast with customers and practical and special effects to dazzle but not so overdone as to look cheesey or distract from the movie. Think how technicolor was used in the original Wizard of Oz. Like the musical that is the source, the movie has uneven pacing and jumps between dragging and lurching. Cynthia is fantastic. Ariana's high pitch comes at the cost of being able to understand her some of the times.

How is something so slow, so tense? This movie is pure Oscar bait with plot, names, and cinematography. The camera lingers on moments both grand a small to draw the viewer into the dochotomy between the holy and spiritual world populated by small and very flawed men. Isabella Rosalini is the only women with a speaking role, while many other women are on screen; highlighting the narrowness of the Vatican's world.

Nothing says success like repackaging a well-known property. Elton John and Vanessa Williams deliver music and bops. The cast all have voices that can belt you into the stratosphere. Andy clearly is cribbing her whole performance from Anne Hathaway. The musical makes her boyfriend more sympathetic and her much less so. But other than a few small tweaks, you are watching a scene -by -scene, line -by -line retelling. Obviously, this is fan service to the hot polo. I would have loved to see a version where Andy doesn't even talk. What if it was all the other characters reacting to her, each showing their impressions. As the musical goes on, their versions of Andy should get more extreme to follow her metamorphosis.