Of Dogs and Men, on ChaiFlicks

Sixteen-year-old Dar does the worst kind of doom scrolling. She constantly streams the atrocity videos posted by Hamas mass-murderers, searching for evidence regarding her abducted mother’s fate. She is powerless to help her mother, but tries her best to find the family’s missing pet dog Shula in Dani Rosenberg’s Of Dogs and Men, which premieres tomorrow on ChaiFlicks.

Rosenberg’s film has been described as a dramatic-documentary hybrid. However it is labeled, it is viscerally realistic. Rosenberg filmed scenes on and around the Nir Oz kibbutz, so the destruction viewers see was indeed wrought by the terror attacks. Nevertheless, Rosenberg established a firm rule against using homes where real murders or abductions were perpetrated. He also cast several actual survivors in roles that very much reflect their own harrowing experiences. The premise was “scripted,” but much of dialogue was improvised. Some conversations even mention names that might sound familiar to viewers, especially if they watched Montana Tucker’s The Children of October 7.

Tragically, we will never see Dar’s mother, but we hear her disembodied voice, as the young teen reads passages from the abducted woman’s journal, which she recovered from the rubble of her home. Like many Israeli parents, her mother sacrificed herself to protect Dar. Not surprisingly Dar now wrestles with guilt, desperation, and potential grief as a result.

Throughout Of Dogs and Men, Rosenberg refuses to engage in propaganda. Instead, he wrestles with Israel’s soul-searing national tragedy, while also offering compassion for Gazans as well, whether they reciprocate it or not. In fact, in a sort of “best case” fantasy, Dar imagines a Gazan boy adopting Shula, who was last seen chasing the terrorists who kidnapped her mother.

Ironically, young Ori Avinoam is the only professional in the cast, but she is so convincing as traumatized Dar, it is both profoundly impressive and deeply troubling. Clearly, she can place herself in Dar’s position, which is a heavy burden for a teen her age.

Nora Lifshitz, a real-life pet rescuer who would not look out of place in New York’s Alphabet City, also dramatically contradicts the convenient stereotypes of Israelis. She is a hipster with razor-sharp attitude and a giant heart.

The Last First: Winter K2, in The Epoch Times

THE LAST FIRST: WINTER K2 captures the majesty and deadliness of the Himalayan peak, while addressing issues of accountability. Armchaiir mountaineers should watch it instead of ill-advisedly trying to summit K2 for themselves. EPOCH TIMES review up here.

April X: Original Cyberpunk SF

First, April had a troublemaking twin brother. Then she had several zonked-out, unstable clones. She didn’t ask for any of them. Unfortunately, her brother Baxter failed her, but maybe he can save her best clone in Michel K. Parandi’s April X, which opens today in theaters.

Baxter and his hackery pal Ronny did some business with Klein the gangster, but it turned out badly for them. (It turned out even more poorly for the patient that bought their defective synthetic heart.) That put Baxter in Klein’s debt. April hoped to do a deal with the shadowy Tetris, to help buy his way out, but instead, she disappears.

Years pass, as Baxter drinks and sub-optimally works as a driver for Klein. Then he sees April. Initially, he is angry, assuming she abandoned him, but then he realizes it isn’t her, at least not entirely.

April was an ideal candidate for cloning, because she had the unique ability to record her dreams with crystal clarity. Those dreams constitute massive downloads of data that made April who she was. Unfortunately, the more Tetris downloads, the more unpredictable his April clones get. Consequently, he keeps their memories light, so they compliantly serve in his “clubs.” However, April X was already exhibiting unstable and rebellious behavior, even before she meets Baxter.

April X works surprisingly well as an original cyberpunk concept. Parandi and screenwriter Jack Coulton do some nice world-building using Post-Soviet Romania (where production took place) and Russia as a starting point. Yet, in one scene, the AI-looking cityscape appears to incorporate an architectural behemoth inspired by the empty hulking Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea.

Regardless, there are indeed a lot of cool speculative elements, but the gangster business is rather standard issue. Still, Baxter’s relationship with Klein is a bit more complicated and nuanced than viewers might expect.

Infirmary, on Shudder

In the horror genre, ever since Poe published “The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether,” just about every shrink working in an asylum loses their minds, like it is a predictable occupational hazard. Apparently, something like that happened at Wilshire Infirmary. It has been closed for years, but it still employees a skeleton staff, primarily consisting of security guards—or at least it did, until the events of this film. Luckless Edward Yoon’s first night will be a rough one in Nicholas Pineda’s found footage horror film, Infirmary, which premieres today on Shudder.

Ms. Ambrosia Downey hired Yoon believing he was a veteran, but his reluctance to fill out her VA paperwork immediately causes viewers to suspect a case of stolen valor. If so, better Yoon work in Wilshire, rather than a real hero. For one thing, his supervisor will be Lester Wooley, a bitter ex-cop, who has some rather mean-spirited hazing up his sleeve. There will also be junkie intruders hoping to find drugs, or possibly something more sinister.

True to found footage conventions, viewers entirely watch the drama unfold either through the extensive security cameras or the security guards’ bodycams. For a long-abandoned institution, their surveillance gear is first-rate. Of course, that is super-helpful for cobbling together a found footage movie.

Frustratingly, the full first half of the movie moves along slow as molasses, because it is dominated by Wooley blowhard bullying, with only the occasional hint of something more evil afoot. Yet, when Pineda starts teasing the Wilshire’s sinister backstory, the film starts to intrigue. Frankly, even though Infirmary clocks in just shy of 90 minutes, it feels like the opening episode of a much bigger story.

One Day in People’s Poland, on OVID.tv

September 27, 1962 was a day like any other in Communist Poland. It was typically oppressive and typically well documented. Listening to excerpts of secret police reports selected by Polish documentarian Maciej Drygas might make viewers wonder if everyone in Poland was under constant surveillance during the Communist era. For all practical purposes, everyone had to assume they were. While it does not seem like a hugely significant day from our historical vantage point, it was pretty awful for many average Polish citizens, as primary sources attest in Drygas’s short documentary, One Day in People’s Poland, which premieres today on OVID.tv.

Every word in this film was in some way recorded in 1962. It starts with an early morning police report regarding anti-Communist graffiti defacing the wall of the Chinese embassy. It was a rather punky but amusing act of defiance. The mystery offenders also did a thorough job of it, because the authorities literally had to chisel sections out of the stone wall.

More ominously, there are multiple reports from the Security Service, regarding their surveillance targets. One poor woman went to three different stores in hopes of finding salt for sale. She never got her salt before the Party arrested her.

Considering this day was chosen for its averageness, Drygas’s film should dispel several misconceptions. First, it demonstrates widespread discontent with Communism, well before the Solidarity movement rose to prominence. There are several cases of anti-Communist graffiti, also including a few choice words left on the wall of a train station bathroom.

It also proves just how desperately poor the country was under Marxist economics. The lack of basic necessities was even a national security concern for one military inspector, who reported “25% of soldiers have no shoes whatsoever.” We can only imagine what happened to a truth-teller like him.

Violated Letters, on OVID.tv

Handwritten letters still feel like a much more personal statement than e-mails or texts. Therefore, the interception and censorship of a private letter feels like a much more personal intrusion than snooping on e-mails. The Polish Communist regime did so, by the tens of millions. In fact, internal Communist Party reports boasted of the volume of their internal surveillance and argued for increasingly draconian punitive applications. Viewers can hear (and read subtitles of) those reports along with dramatic examples of the censored correspondence in Marciej Drygas’s short-ish documentary, Violated Letters, which premieres today on OVID.tv.

Every word in Violated Letters could be considered a historical document. Essentially, it shares stylistic and compositional similarities with Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam, The Ordinary Thing, and other previous documentaries, in which off-screen voices read letters accompanied by archival video from the period under consideration. There is not a strict narrative as such, but the selected texts illustrate the sweep of Twentieth Century Polish history.

Drygas starts with poor Polish peasants complaining about the brutality of the occupying Soviet Red Army, and ends with the censorship office’s 1989 instructions regarding how to hide or dispose of evidence of their crimes. Sometimes, Drygas incorporates eye-witness accounts of traumatic historical events, like a Polish soldier mobilized for the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. Yet, there are small-scale disasters, like the woman unable to obtain a passport to visit her sick mother abroad, who asks a friend to send her a bereavement notice as a ruse.

By far, the most heartbreaking correspondence must be the letter sent by a young boy to the figurehead president, begging for clemency for his father, Karol Chmielowski, who had been sentenced to death. More than any other letter, young Chmilowski’s illuminates the regime’s petty cruelty.

Beware Boiuna: The Next Big Snake

Kaijumentalism is a weird manifestation of Hollywood environmentalism. It tells viewers to consider the big monster eating people a representation of nature’s grandeur, which must be preserved. Okay, but nobody can start buying carbon offsets from the stomach of a big snake. Frankly, it looks a lot safer to consume without regard for sustainability than to travel to the Amazon. You could ask the opinion of Alli’s colleagues, but you will find many of them in a mythical snake’s stomach or regurgitated in the rainforest. The snake will be well-fed in Mike P. Nelson’s Beware Boiuna, which opens this Friday in theaters.

Alli joined Dr. Miguel to do good. Her fellow med student Callum needed to tick the socially conscious community service box. Miguel operates a traveling clinic aboard a river boat that looks about as seaworthy as the African Queen. It is Lena’s job to hold the bucket of bolts together. She accepted the gig, because she is looking for her brother working in a deep off-the-books Amazonian lumber mill. Based on the prologue, his prognosis is not favorable.

There is a giant snake out there, whom the local indigenous people call Boiuna. Lena knows all about her, because she came from these parts—and would have never returned if not for her brother. Unfortunately, the more pressing problem for Alli and Lena is entirely human in nature. Brennan Malloy, a first world exploiter (just what he does is never fully explained, but he claims he is surveying for potential new highways, which would be useful infrastructure) has a bone to pick with them. They accidentally killed his creepy brother Shawn in self-defense. The women were reluctant to call the police, because Alli had been caught in the act, trying to cast the Good Ship Exploitation adrift, in an act of “rain forest defense.” Instead, they just dumped the body in the river and hoped for the best. Geez, where’s the Boiuna when they need her?

Needless to say, Nelson and co-screenwriters Tony Giglio and Alan McElroy’s attempts at consciousness raising are all pretty dumb. Fortunately, Nelson is much more dexterous handling the giant snake. The way Boiuna coils and slithers is really quite impressive. Nelson also shrewdly teases glimpses and partial views before revealing its full kaiju-esque glory.

The Scout, in The Epoch Times

THE SCOUT forthrightly depicts the decidedly unglamorous working conditions of location scouts, but its dramatic arc is almost entirely flat. EPOCH TIMES review up here.

Coyote vs. Acme, on VOD

Poor Wile E. Coyote. During an average cartoon appearance, he takes more punishment than Tom from Tom and Jerry. Yet, he keeps on plugging along. However, he might finally get some payback of his own, against the company that sold him all those faulty rockets and the other dangerously negligent consumer items he purchased for his schemes over the years. On the other hand, there is a decent chance Coyote or his underachieving lawyer might just sabotage the case in David Green’s animated hybrid Coyote vs. Acme, which releases today on VOD.

Inspired by Ian Frazier’s satirical New Yorker piece of the same title, Coyote vs. Acme directly compares to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, both for their successful blending of animation and live action as well as the ways they conceived of the social interaction between humans and cartoons. In Coyote’s world, cartoons suffer random injuries all the time, but bottom-feeding human ambulance chasers like Kevin Avery (named in honor of Tex Avery) usually just settle them for chump change.

That was Avery’s intention with Coyote’s case. However, the sheer volume of his claims was so mammoth, it added up to much more than the lazy personal injury attorney realized. Suddenly, he finds himself arguing a blockbuster case, representing a client who doesn’t speak (but he has a limited number of signs he can hold up).

Frankly, the actual case against Acme and the rivalry between Avery and Acme chief counsel Buddy Crane are the least interesting aspects of the adapted screenplay, credited to DC studio boss James Gunn, Jeremy Slater, and Samy Burch. Instead, it is all the sly little hat-tips and Easter eggs that celebrate the Looney Tunes franchise that make Coyote vs. Acme such a charmer.

Seeing the longtime Peter Lorre caricature appear as a good guy, an Acme R&D scientist and potential whistle-blower, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances, is a wonderful tribute to the actor. Likewise, bits of business involving portable holes, Coyote’s Rube Goldberg-esque traps, and inventive cameos for all the major Looney Tunes characters, keep the good vibes coming.

To give credit where it is due, Avery could very well represent the best performance of Will Forte’s career. He manages to create the illusion of genuine rapport with Coyote, who was present on-set as a puppet created and controlled by David Barclay—and then later animated in post. Their sad sack friendship is warmly endearing.

Miller Night Football, on HBO

It had been 17 years since Howard Cosell anchored Monday Night Football and 15 years since O.J. Simpson provided color commentary. Those were certainly notable shoes to fill. Arguably, nobody really had, because Monday Night Football had lost some of its luster over the intervening years. To breathe life into Monday Night Football, ABC tried a radical experiment: hiring a comedian. Somehow, they chose Dennis Miller. His tenure was short but memorable. Those involved look back on Miller’s two seasons, mostly fondly, in Jeff Cameron’s short documentary, Miller Night Football, which premieres tomorrow on HBO.

In the year 2000, the broadcast networks were losing viewers to cable. Consequently, Monday Night Football faced considerably more competition, as sports in prime time became relatively common place. ABC hatched a plan to lure viewers back with a less sporty, more entertaining commentator, to supplement Al Michaels, the veteran play-by-play announcer and Dan Fouts, a retried Hall of Fame quarterback. Radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh aggressively pursued the gig, but it is clear ABC would never accept his politics. Proving the point, former coordinating producer David Israel casually smears Limbaugh as “a racist,” after admitting he nailed his audition.

Arguably, that is a highly relevant and telling detail, because Miller’s own commentary turned in a starboard direction following the terrorist attacks of September 11. In fact, 9/11 directly impacted Monday Night Football, postponing one game. When football resumed, the mood of the country remained much more subdued, making it trickier for Miller to fulfill his comedic role on the broadcast.

It is a shame the Miller years didn’t last longer, because he landed some hilarious riffs.  Eventually, ABC replaced Miller and Fouts with John Madden, which made sense to a lot of fans at the time. However, if they had kept Miller for a few more years, they would have had a wealth a material to repackage (like “Miller on the Giants,” “Miller on the Broncos,” “Miller on the Refs,” etc.).

Funny Money: The Dane Cook Story

The list of celebrities caught breaking the law would require more pages than a vintage phone book. You less frequently hear about celebrities who were the victim of crimes, probably because they often prefer to take their losses and avoid the bad publicity. Dane Cook couldn’t afford to do that, because his embezzling former manager nearly cleaned him out entirely. Why did Cook trust him? Because Darryl McCauley was his half-brother. Consequently, McCauley’s betrayal was even more painful, as Cook admits in Brett Harvey’s very personal true crime documentary Funny Money: The Dane Cook Story, which premieres on VOD.

Cook starts the film jokingly advising viewers to always sign their own checks—but he is not entirely joking. You often hear rumors about athletes defrauded by their managers, but in Cook’s case, it is easy to understand why he trusted McCauley. Although technically half-brothers, their mother essentially raised them like full-blooded brothers. McCauley was also a former correctional officer, but Cook decided to hire him to handle his business affairs after his half-brother survived a particularly brutal prison attack.

If you are wondering how much money Cook had for McCauley to embezzle, Harvey rewinds to chronicle early Cook’s life and career. For some, Cook came out of nowhere, suddenly hosting SNL and starring in movies. However, he was one of the first stand-ups to successfully build and mobilize an online following. (He was using myspace at the time.)

Harvey’s coverage of the embezzlement is rock solid and airtight. He incorporates interviews with several law enforcement investigators from various government agencies. For the sake of closure and the truth, Cook offered to waive the court-ordered restitution for McCauley and his ex-wife, Erika (Montessi) McCauley, if they agreed to sit for interviews. She accepted the offer, but he did not. Frankly, Montessi-McCauley should be embarrassed by her appearances, but it could be healthy for her, because if she watches the film, it will rudely shake her out of her denial.

Never After Dark, in Cinema Daily US

NEVER AFTER DARK combines creepy old school filmmaking techniques with the elegant simplicity of Japanese artforms, making it the scariest film of the year. CINEMA DAILY US review up here.

One Last Shot, Starring Scott Adkins

You can tell someone is an unserious person if they use the term “forever war” mere hours into a military action. That said, Navy SEAL Jake Harris is starting to feel like he is stuck on a forever mission. First his SEAL Team was ordered to escort a terrorist financier back to America, but the black site holding him in Poland was ambushed, in One Shot. Then the same cabal tried to take Harris out in the DC airport to prevent his debrief in One More Shot. After all that fighting, Harris must join yet another operation to take out the mastermind behind the imminent terror attack in James Nunn’s One Last Shot, which just released on VOD and DVD.

Between the first two movies, Harris has already taken a heck of a beating, but he is still ticking—just barely. Nevertheless, Admiral Mulholland orders Harris to tag along with another SEAL Team. Their orders are to rescue the hostages taken by Elliot Carter (only one “t” in Elliot, otherwise viewers might confuse him with the classical composer, right?) and his team of mercs. However, first and foremost, Mulholland demands Harris terminate Carter, because he is a former SEAL. The politically savvy admiral understands the scandal will look better if the Teams handle their own dirty laundry.

However, the hostage crisis should be a more pressing concern. Carter deliberately orchestrated the dirty bomb scare in One More Shot to gather the Joint Chiefs together in one spot, where he could capture them. Using their biometrics, he intends to deactivate the American missile defense system. However, he is missing their civilian counterbalance, national intelligence director Elena Torres, who has thus far eluded Carter’s men.

One Last Shot maintains the continuous tracking shot gimmick of the first two films, but the seams are more conspicuous this time around. The action also falls short of the spectacular heights of the second film. Honestly, One More Shot is pound-for-pound one of the best action movies of the 2020s. One Last Shot just cannot match its adrenaline-charged energy and take-no-prisoners fight choreography (few films could).

It is also deeply disappointing that screenwriter Jamie Russell casts American veterans as the real villains. Frankly, his screenplay betrays the spirit of the first two films, in which Harris pointedly tells the audience people always ask him how many people he has killed when they learn he is a SEAL, but they never ask how many people he saved. Honestly, the film is also an insult to American servicemen and vets.

Mouse: Con a Crook

Weirdly, Denny and Tessa might truly be made for each other. That is not necessarily a good thing. He is a smalltime thief and she is a catfishing con artist. Together, they are pen pals, who each completely misrepresent themselves. However, the fake personas they create ironically motivate them to commit the most serious crimes of their careers in director-screenwriter-lead actor Kenny Riches’ Mouse, which opens today in New York.

Up until this point, Denny’s biggest jobs have been bike thefts. Even those entail more risk and more follow-up than he is generally comfortable with. Often, he rifles through unlocked cars. That is how he snags Charles Chandler’s wallet. Consequently, Charles Chandler will be the name he uses when he signs up with a pen pal service advertised in the classified section.

Of course, he must regularly search Chandler’s mail box for his letters from Tessa. Naturally, he then tries to pass off Chandler tony house, car, and lifestyle as his own. Inadvertently, that makes him look like an ideal mark to Tessa and her boyfriend, Maury, who runs the pen pal scam. Unfortunately, they will need more than the typical “rent payments” they usually start out asking for. Maury has some serious gambling debts, so they head to Salt Lake City, for an IRL meeting with “Chandler.”

Mouse is not a great title, but it is an interesting film. In a way, it is like an incredibly dark and cynical modern O. Henry story. There is also a bit of the Flim-Flam Man, but in this case, Tessa and Maury con honest but desperately lonely men all the time. It is set, for obvious reasons, during the early-internet, flip phone era, when newspaper classified ads still existed. Nevertheless, the concept of a snail mail pen pal still seems almost outdated, but maybe that is part of the allure.

Regardless, Riches and Sarah Coffey both deliver fascinating performances as Denny and Tessa that really tip them both as talent to watch. These are probably the most flawed characters you will spend willingly entire an entire film with. Viewers will experience decidedly mixed feelings towards them both, in the best way possible.

Family, Starring Ruth Wilson

If you thought your mother could be scary when she was angry, wait until you see Johanna’s mom, Naomi, in full rage. She goes way beyond “because I said so” and all those other parental fall-backs. However, it might not really Naomi. Johanna suspects an evil spirit could be possessing her. It might sometimes possess her dying father too in director-screenwriter Benjamin Finkel’s grim but intense Family, which releases this Friday in theaters and on VOD.

For several years, Naomi’s father Harry has been slowly but steadily losing his battle with an unspecified terminal illness. During that time, his health crisis has defined their family’s existence. They have recently moved back to her mother’s former home to be closer to better doctors. It also means Johanna finally meets her grandfather, Rabbi Samuel, who had a falling out with her mother, which he now deeply regrets.

In sort of an exercise in magical thinking, Johanna latched on to the idea that her birdhouse can house good spirits that will protect her father. Naomi continually discourages what she considers delusional fantasies. Nonetheless, Johanna performs her ritual call to good spirits the night they move in. Unfortunately, she soon suspects an evil spirit answered her summons instead.

Soon, booth her parents go through spells of terrifying out-of-character behavior. Concurrently, Harry’s condition quickly deteriorates. Consequently, Johanna both fears that he could die soon and that he, or more likely her mother, might kill her while under the spirit’s influence.

Obviously, Finkel uses Johanna’s malevolent spirit as a metaphor for the anxiety of long-term catastrophic family illness. Indeed, it was directly inspired by his own childhood experiences. The allegorical aspect is always inescapable. Yet, it is important to stress Finkel still takes care of his horror genre business. There are some very creepy, nerve-jangling scenes.

As it happens, many of them involve Ruth Wilson. Frankly, she probably outdoes her bravura portrayal of Alice Morgan, the chilling sociopath in Luther. Seriously, she has moments that compare favorably to Linda Blair in the original Exorcist.

Forgotten Island

Nakali is sort of like a Neverland or Narnia, but it is inhabited by creatures from traditional Filipino mythology. You don’t just click your heels to go there. The portal has to find you. It finds Raissa Molina and her aggressively under-achieving best friend Josephine “Jo” Cleopatra Yuson just in the nick of time. This will be their last night together before Molina leaves for Caltech and Yuson stays in the Philippines to get fired from more fast-food jobs. However, returning will be tricky after Yuson accidently loses the magic sand dollar in Joel Crawford & Januel Mercado’s DreamWorks Animation feature, Forgotten Island, which releases Friday in theaters.

Molina and Yuson became best friends at a young age, because they both felt like underdog outsiders and shared an interest in Yuson’s grandmother’s tales of mythical creatures. Lola Fatima claimed she once visited Nakali after finding the magic sand dollar, so the two girls always promised to visit together if it ever choses either of them.

However, after graduation, it is clear the two girls are going in opposite directions, but Yuson just refuses to see it. Molina has the grades and the resources to attend the elite American university, whereas Yuson has no ambition and no real future. Feeling sorry for herself, Yuson guilts Molina into sneaking out for one last hang at the beach, but it is super-awkward until the sand dollar appears, whisking them off to Nakali. The next thing they know, they wake up the next morning, with no memory of the previous night’s partying. They are also missing the magic sand dollar, alarming Molina, who has a flight to catch.

Raww, a werewolf boy, assures them they met last night and partied like it was 1999. He is a basically a nice kid, despite his periodic transformations and embarrassing canine behavior, so he tries his best to help. However, Batiba, the Memory Batibat (or demon), could restore their blackout memories, but the cost would be high: their memories of their friendship. Adding further urgency, the dreaded Mananaggal is hunting for Molina, because she stole the creature’s wings. Initially, she is rather freaked out by her new appendages, but they will come in handy.

Technically, Forgotten Island never depicts underaged drinking, but the whole Hangover vibe is conspicuously pronounced. Regardless, the film never creeps us out with discussions of the girls’ sexuality. Refreshingly, they just let Yuson and Molina be kids.

The extensive Filipino folklore also helps distinguish the film, in a good way. Many creatures will either be new to viewers (even though they often share archetypal similarities with other monsters from world mythology), or presumably gratifying to finally see in a big-budget animated movie. Amusingly, the film also lovingly embraces the 1990s setting, particularly the greatest hits soundtrack. Of course, they probably had to set the film pre-2000, because nobody would believe Millennial kids would be resourceful enough to survive the dangers of Nakali.

The History of Concrete, in The Epoch Times

John Wilson's free-wheeling, tongue-in-cheek THE HISTORY OF CONCRETE is almost more performance art than documentary. His idiosyncratic style is an acquired taste, but it is also the film's reason for being. Those who haven't acquired it can probably wait for streaming. EPOCH TIIMES review up here.

The Legend of the White Dragon

For a generation of fans, martial arts were always cooler with helmets and jump suits. They were raised on the Power Rangers, so it makes sense that one of the most popular Rangers would pursue a more mature Rangers-like project for more grown-up fans. Tragically, Jason David Frank (a.k.a. Tommy Oliver, the original Green Ranger) died prematurely, under heartbreaking circumstances, during filming of his passion project. Four years later, a sort of coherent film has been assembled. The final results definitely reflect some of the Power Rangers’ aesthetics, but the weird vibe will probably throw much of the target audience when Aaron & Sean Schoenke’s The Legend of the White Dragon, which releases today on VOD.

Everyone thought Erik Reed, not so secretly known to be the White Dragon, was a good guy until what became known as the “Dark Day.” First, his nemesis, Ashtagor, kicked his butt. Then he somehow convinced the media all the carnage and destruction were Reed’s fault, including the 1,263 lives lost. Honestly, that never makes much sense, since survivors presumably witnessed the two-sided battle. Whatever, asking such questions regarding this film is a fool’s errand. Regardless, Reed subsequently went into hiding to protect his family.

Unfortunately, too many people want payback from Reed, including Virtuo City Mayor Trevon Sterns and tech billionaire Jai Katua. They will find him eventually, so his old comrades, Iris Maine and Conor Frost, want to reach him first. However, Katua will sacrifice his body to extract his revenge. While Reed’s power derives from a crystal, Katua’s come from his mad scientist super-soldier experiments. They transform him into Dragon Prime, but at great personal risk.

It is hard to describe the strangeness of the film’s tone and mysticism. Perhaps some of that is a function of the sudden emergency re-writes, but a lot of the New Age mumbo jumbo feels baked in from the start. Regardless, it should be noted the budget reaped a lot of Kickstarter money from everyday fans, so the Schoenkes (son and father) probably felt duty-bound to complete the film as best they could.

In fact, viewers can see flashes of electric screen charisma from Frank, even though his performance as a whole is somewhat uneven, because it is literally, sadly, unfinished. Of course, it is jolly fun to watch Mark Dacascos in his significant yet too brief portrayal of Xang, the monk guarding the last surviving recharging well for Dragon crystals. David Ramsey (formerly John Diggle in Arrow) nicely plays against his Arrowverse-type as the scummy Mayor.

Havana Split Vol. 1, Graphic Novel

At this point, it seems pretty clear Edmund Burke was right to caution restraint when it comes to Revolutions. Aside from the Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, every revolution since the American Revolution has brought even greater suffering and oppression than the people endured under the prior regime. Look at the Iranian, French, and Cuban Revolutions. Yet, activists and college kids still think it is cool to be a revolutionary. Cuba is a perfect case in point, but this graphic novel ignores all the future censorship, imprisonment, and torture. Instead, Brremaud largely tells a cynical gangster story in Havana Split, Volume 1, illustrated by Vic Macioci, which goes on-sale tomorrow.

Apparently, the CIA kicked John Botia to the curb, because he was too violent. Nevertheless, he is one of the good guys. Since then, he has worked for Arnaldo Valdes’s sleazy detective agency, reluctantly partnering with slimy Jose Cojones, who makes it even sleazier. Valdes’s daughter Lily Turner left them because of their seediness, but she returns after her mother’s death, having tired of her step-father, for undisclosed reasons.

It turns out to be a heck of time to visit—and not just because of the ruthless Communist guerillas in the jungle. Using a gambling debt as a pretext, gangster Don Alfonso kidnaps Valdes, demanding Botia and Cojones abduct his rival’s lover, in exchange. Ordinarily, “The Ambassador” is nobody to trifle with, but his irrational love for the starlet Concepcion has become a clear liability, which Don Alfonso intends to exploit.

The gangster versus gangster skullduggery is reasonably amusing, but Brremaud constantly undermines the good will with kneejerk anti-Americanism. It is particular insulting to the memories of the 141 fallen CIA officers, who are commemorated with a star on the Agency’s Memorial Wall. Basically, this graphic novel accuses the agency of mass murder, just to appeal to some readers’ biases. That’s pretty irresponsible (especially since there is not a single word of implied criticism of Castro and the horrors to come).

It is a shame, because Macioci’s art nicely evokes the hip, sophisticated vibe of 1950s Havana. Rather ironically, they also include the great Cecilia Cruz in a scene, because Castro loved her music, but she despised the dictator and mourned the pain he inflicted on her nation.

The Transformers: The Movie, in Cinema Daily US

THE  TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE is a nostalgic blast to watch on the big-screen with fans. Fathom Events' 40th anniversary presentation adds a brief but classy tribute to Peter Cullen and thee brand new, slightly odd short film epilogue, OPTIMUS PRIME: AWAKENING. The original 1986 film still holds up nicely. CINEMA DAILY US review up here.

Watch Instead: Green Lantern, the Animated Series

There are not that many significant identifiably Jewish superheroes. Marvel has Marc Spector, a.k.a. Moon Knight, and Ben Grimm, better known as The Thing in the Fantastic Four. DC has Hal Jordan, one of the Green Lanterns. One might argue Jordan is the single most prominent Jewish superhero, since Grimm gets equal billing with his teammates. That is why it is so suspiciously alarming to watch HBO’s Lanterns constantly tear down Jordan, turning him into a morally-compromised and corrupt anti-hero, who has violated his oath—and apparently dies in the future, based on brief flashforwards teasing his death.

No other ethnic minority superheroes would get this kind of treatment from Hollywood. Yet, Lanterns has steadily undermined Hal Jordan, turning him into a borderline sociopath. Granted, they have not called out Jordan’s Jewish heritage, but according to the language currently used in the comic industry, this clearly constitutes “erasure.” At best, you could call it Jewish-washing. At worst, it is a deliberate effort to destroy a figure of Jewish heroism.

Admittedly, some casual fans might not know Jordan is indeed Jewish. This aspect of his character was first revealed in January 2016 with the publication of Justice League: Darkseid War: Green Lantern #1¸written by Tom King. However, the Lanterns writers should surely be aware, since the series was created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King. Frankly, longtime Lantern Corps fans are annoyed in general by the show’s shabby treatment of Jordan. It feels especially unhelpful coming at a time of exploding antisemitism.

There is a far superior streaming alternative that portrays Jordan in the kind of heroic light fans would hope for. It happens to be animated, but that should inspire confidence in viewers, because DC animated films have often outshined their live-action counterparts. Green Lantern: The Animated Series was originally created by Bruce Timm, Giancarlo Volpe, and Jim Krieg in 2011 (before the aforementioned comic), to tie-in to publicity for the ill-fated Ryan Renyolds movie—immediately proving the point regarding DC’s animation and live action disparity.

The twenty-six episodes tell a largely continuous story that feels more like epic science fiction than a conventional superhero drama. Apparently, the Guardians of Oa had appointed Green Lanterns (like Jordan) for the furthest sectors of the universe, but given the extreme distances, they have only just surmised many of them have been assassinated. Unfortunately, they would rather dither than act, so Jordan “borrows” their experimental Interceptor space craft to investigate what he fears might be some sort of invasion.

Much to his regret, his gruff fellow Lantern, Kilowog, accidentally joins him on the mission. They soon find the Guardians’ evil rivals, the Red Lanterns, have targeted Green Lanterns, as part of their mysterious long-term plans. As Jordan and Kilowog learn to work together as a team, they successfully recruit Razer, who was manipulated into committing genocidal crimes by the Red Lanterns, by exploiting the grief and rage provoked by his wife’s death.

Unfortunately, Razer still struggles with anger management issues, which makes him somewhat unreliable as a teammate. However, the ship’s. AI system, Aya, offers Razer friendship and understanding. In fact, they both develop deeper feelings for each other, which leads to shocking complications later on. By the way, it is worth noting the animated Green Lantern series pre-dates Spike Jonze’s Her by two years.

Knife, in The Epoch Times

KNIFE provides an unusually personal portrait of the understandably private Salman Rushdie, documenting his difficult recovery from the 2022 assassination attempt. Yet, the powerful film also delivers an urgent message regarding extremists, who believe they have a right to exercise veto power over our rights of self-expression. EPOCH TIMES review up here.

You Had to Be There

The 1970s were weird. There were drugs and disco, but also a weird flowering of hippie Chrisian revivalism. Passion plays were translated into “youth culture”-friendly Broadway musicals. Jesus Christ Superstar remains the most successful, but the more hippyish Godspell was also a sensation at the time. It was such a hit, the producers quickly launched regional stagings in major cities, including Toronto, where it became an unlikely incubator for a generation of Canadian comedy stars. The famous cast looks back on their first big gig in Nick Davis’s documentary, You Had to Be There [with the excessively long subtitle: “How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community that Changed the World (in a Canadian Kind of Way”)], which opens today in theaters.

The show is based on the Gospel of Matthew and concludes with the Passion. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t sound like obvious comedy fodder. However, cast of characters mostly consists of modest followers, who are clownlike in appearance. The structure of the show leaves considerable room for improvisation, which suited the talents of many future Second City troupe members, notably including Martin Short, Eugene “Schitt’s Creek” Levy, Andrea Martin, and Dave “Strange Brew” Thomas. Jayne Eastwood (the Big Fat Greek Wedding movies) was also cast, while Victor Garber (Alias) starred as Jesus. Plus, the music director was Paul Schaefer.

Together, they made the show work, while also earning many laughs. It became a local sensation, attracting the attention of the producers and composer Stephen Schwartz, who cast Garber in the movie. Ironically, Levy was eventually elevated from the supporting cast, to replace his replacement.

The basic story of the Toronto production might sound vaguely familiar to 80s kids who remember watching Schaefer on the Letterman show back when it was still funny. It has become the stuff of show biz lore. Of course, there is no video record, because taping Broadway shows is illegal. Nevertheless, Short secretly brought a tape recorder to capture a few numbers, for which Davis will surely be eternally grateful.

Slow Horses Season Six, in Th Epoch Times

SLOW HORSES season six mainains the razor-sharp writing of previous story-arcs. It is still the mst mordantly funny spy series currently streaming. EPOCH TIMES review up here.

Cregger’s Resident Evil (2026)

This franchise is the main reason the Hollywood knows anything about survival horror games. It was such a bestselling phenomenon among gamers, the Capcom software company hired George A. Romero to direct a commercial. They should have hired him for the films too, but they didn’t. Nevertheless, the Paul W.S. Anderson movies were solidly successful. Frankly, they look even better compared to the 2021 reboot and the 2022 streaming series, which is probably the most despised show Netflix ever produced. Fortunately, the rights managers finally found a filmmaker who gets the franchise. Although it avoids directly incorporating any of the video game story arcs (unlike previous films), the aesthetics and energy of director-co-screenwriter Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil (2026) will appeal to fans when it opens tomorrow in theaters.

Poor Bryan is a total loser working as a medical courier. Usually, he transports organs, but savvy viewers might suspect there is something else in the cooler he agrees to deliver to Raccoon City Hospital. The job pays double, but he really just accepted it to avoid talking to his girlfriend about her surprise pregnancy.

He really should have stayed home. The weather is terrible, so he accidently hits a woman, but bizarrely, she pops back up and runs off into the woods. He is a schmuck, but he is a decent schmuck, so he follows her—through the looking glass.

Cregger’s pre-credits prologue is essentially a first act in itself. It is also a masterclass in building tension. His panning camera perfectly mimics a gamer’s field of vision, but this extended sequence is still massively eerie and unsettling to non-gaming viewers as well. Franchise fans will also appreciate the way the farmhouse he soon stumbles into gives off vibes reminiscent of the creepy mansion in the original game.

To an extent, the film loses some of its mojo when Bryan finally arrives in the urban environment of Raccoon City, but not before Paul Walter Hauser brings some much-needed comic relief as Carl, an Umbrella Corp. scientist, who inspires little confidence.

Frankly, the monsters in Cregger’s Resident Evil (2026) are better described as mutations than zombies. However, there is surely enough horde rampages to satisfy zombie fans. They will also appreciate how luckless Bryan closely tracks his dwindling supply of ammunition. The stakes are truly life-or-death, because he is so ill-prepared and constitutionally ill-equipped to handle such an apocalyptic crisis.

Run Hide Fight: Infidels, on Daily Wire+

The innocent janitors who were held hostage by Palestinianist extremists at Columbia could have used the help of Devlin Reed and his roommate. Admittedly, they benefit from some helpful guidance from former Navy SEAL Captain Clay Saunders. They also team up with a resourceful campus security guard, but the Islamic terrorists have them far outnumbered. The local Palestinianist activists helped pave the way for them, but boy, are they surprised by their patrons’ lack of wokeness in director-screenwriter Kyle Rankin’s Run Hide Fight: Infidels (a thematic but unrelated sequel to Run Hide Fight), which premieres today on Daily Wire+.

Reed is not concerned with politics or the state of the world. He lost interest after his father died under Saunders’ command, while apprehending a terrorist in Somalia. However, everyone else on Laughton University’s campus seems to be mega-political. The loudest are the Palestinianists, who have occupied the quad, forcing the annual carnival to set up in the parking lot instead. There are dissenters, like his roommate, P.J., who uses the GI Bill to pay his tuition, but never saw combat during his service.

Reed’s crush and potential girlfriend, Lizzy Dupree, might be another exception. Her friends sound woke, but she asks Reed to attend Saunders’ upcoming speaker appearance with her. Naturally, that is exactly when Ibrahim Asad Melod decides to strike. He has a personal grudge against Saunders. However, his plans are bigger than mere revenge. Initially, he launches a Mumbai-style terrorist attack, but he hopes to force his captives to convert and use them as fodder for his envisioned caliphate.

Communications are jammed, explosive drones are flying, and snipers are ensconced in the bell-tower. As a further setback, a gunshot sidelines Saunders. However, the good guys have some things going for them. He might be a blowhard, but at least P.J. had weapons training. As a scholarship track athlete, Reed is fleet of foot. Like many security guards, Terrence Kirk lacks an athletic physique, but his key card allows access to every building on campus.

So, yes, Infidels generally follows a Die Hard-on-a college-campus playbook, but it adds a layer of reality, in the form of Islamist terrorists, for extra added novelty. The two-hour-plus running time should have been somewhat condensed, but the action scenes are realistically executed. The stakes are high and the characters are far from invulnerable.

The cancel chorus will never forgive Jonathan Majors, but his credible and commanding turn as Capt. Saunders could be the start of a comeback for him. JC Kilcoyne and Tyler Aser have appealing chemistry as Reed and Dupree, while David Lucas helps lighten the mood as the wisecracking Kirk. In fact, all the performances are professional grade—and then some.

Return to Sleepy Hollow, Graphic Novel

In his own way, Washington Irving profoundly influenced comic book history. He is generally credited with popularizing “Gotham” as an informal monicker for New York City. (Of course, it became a city unto itself, in Detective Comics.) His most famous tale also inspired Walt Disney and Tim Burton, but neither has yet produced a sequel. However, IDW has, continuing the story of Burton’s characters. Fifteen years after he dispatched the Hessian back to the way-down-below, Ichabod Crane is summoned again in Casey Gilly’s Return to Sleepy Hollow, illustrated by Savanna Mayer, which releases today.

Initially, Crane left town with Katrina Van Tassel and his orphaned ward, Masbath. However, she apparently returned to Sleepy Hollow, to assume family’s leadership position and atone for their sins. She dutifully serves the community as their undertaking and a pioneering, but unofficial, pathologist. Unfortunately, she has had way too much work lately. That is why she wrote to Crane (a criminologist rather than Irving’s schoolteacher) requesting his help.

Except, she didn’t. It was one of the restless spirits possessing her medium daughter, Lotte. The Van Tassels know there is Headless Horseman-level supernatural danger afoot. However, Crane has been in denial, having convinced himself the occult events of the movie were really just a collective delusion. Once again, he must learn the truth the hard way.

The highest praise you can give a licensed property like Return to Sleepy Hollow is that fans of the film will enjoy the comic sequel almost as much. That is largely true in this case. Gilly’s story hews closely to the tone of the original and treats the surviving characters with the respect they deserve. Honestly, this is a perfect example of why licensed comics and novels are often far superior to studio-produced sequels and reboots. They give the fans what they want.

Admittedly, the characters do not resemble the original cast, but that is probably a function of rights and permissions. Johnny Depp has excellent lawyers—just ask Amber Heard. While Mayer’s Crane is closer to Depp than her Van Tassel is to Christina Ricci, what really matters is the way Gilly’s narrative feels like a logical extension of Andrew Kevin Walker’s screenplay.

The Weight, Starring the Hawke and the Crowe

People had to be hard to survive the Great Depression. Samuel Murphy is an engineer, but he is sufficiently tough. He can even endure the prison chain gang he was unjustly sentenced to. However, he cannot bear to lose his daughter Penny, who will become fodder for the foster system. Therefore, when the Warden offers him a special assignment in exchange for his freedom, he accepts, despite his wariness. Not surprisingly, that too-good-to-be-true deal turns out to be exceptionally dangerous in Padraic McKinley’s The Weight, which opens this Friday in theaters.

Not surprisingly, the Depression makes single fatherhood even worse for Murphy. Yet, he remaiins a decent, church-going man. Rather gallingly, his landlord evicts the Murphys while they were attending Sunday services. A subsequent altercation lands Murphy in jail, but he accepts a spot on Warden Clancy’s work detail, because each day busting rocks decreases his sentence more. Unfortunately, the state will soon demand Penny from the Church relief organization currently sheltering her, if Murphy cannot claim her.

Impressed with by Murphy’s problem-solving skills, Clancy offers him a “deal.” Technically, this offer was made possible by FDR. Following the imminent nationalization of gold, the local mine will shutter. Naturally, the criminalization of private gold ownership will cause the value to skyrocket. The mine is supposed to turn over its fruits to the government, but Taggert, the general manager, intends to smuggle a good portion out.

Taggert also happens to be one of Clancy’s cronies. They hatch a plan for Murphy to carry $100,000 in gold bars across the forest to a predetermined rendezvous point, with the help of three fellow prisoners, schlepping under the watchful eye of Taggert’s enforcers. Upon delivery, Clancy promises to sign Murphy’s release papers, which is within his powers “as the law in these parts.” Ironically, Anna, a native mine worker, tags along to escape the abuse she suffers from her partner, but she soon finds herself in an “out of the frying pan” situation.

Of course, Taggert and his goons are not trustworthy. The forest and limited infrastructure are also fraught with peril, including a suspended bridge that cannot support the weight of a man carrying a rucksack full of gold. This is a tense and cleverly executed scene that partially inspired the title and earned the film comparisons to Wages of Fear. However, it is a relatively short sequence, so some viewers might feel the undeniably cinematic bridge is somewhat over-hyped.

Nevertheless, fans of B. Traven will embrace the film’s gritty naturalism. McKinley and the battery of screenwriters clearly understand the era, including the honest, rugged Christian faith held by folks like Murphy. The complicated intergroup dynamics of Murphy’s chosen convicts, particularly the hot-and-cold comradery of the Communist-seduced Singh and on-again-off-again racist Rankin also ring true to the characters’ times and circumstances.

Hope, in Cinema Daily US

The Korean creature feature HOPE boasts wildly deranged action sequences and gleefully over-the-top gross-out humor, which more than makes up for the derivative science fiction premise. CINEMA DAILY US review up here.

Angel in the Rubble, on Lifetime

It didn’t end on the 11^th. Everyone who was in New York City during the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center will remember the heart-wrenching sight of the missing posters distributed by family members desperately looking for their missing loved ones. In most cases, those pictured were already tragically dead. Genelle Guzman was one of the few happy exceptions. She was also the last. It was an incredible rescue—one that she believes had divine help. Her perhaps miraculous rescue unfolds in Manu Boyer’s Angel in the Rubble: The Genelle Guzman Story, based on her memoir, which premieres tonight on Lifetime—marking the 25^th anniversary of her rescue.

Of course, Guzman had had a regrettable fight with her frustrated partner, Roger McMillan the night before. That will be one of the things Guzman regrets as she lies trapped in the rubble. However, her guilt regarding her daughter, currently living with her father, torments her even more.

Guzman and her friends at the Port Authority almost left when the first hijacked plane hit their tower. Unfortunately, they delayed when they heard rescuers were coming up to get them. However, when they saw the other Tower collapse, they belatedly started climbing down the stairs, passing NYFD firemen heading up.

Soon, the North Tower collapsed, leaving Guzman trapped under the debris. Yet, she was not alone. She could hear an NYPD officer similarly trapped, who tragically succumbed to his injuries. Then an apparent “rescuer” named Paul reaches her, promising to stay with her, holding her hand until a search team arrives.

Sure, there is some melodrama involving Guzman’s unfinished personal business. However, the early scenes depicting the moments directly following the first impact are surprisingly eerie. The sequences amid the rubble are also just as credible as those in Sergio, but they take a much more uplifting turn. Some of the recreations of the World Trade Center are not very convincing, particularly the stairwells (for those who have seen many 9/11 documentaries), but most viewers probably won’t notice.