Insomnia has been kicking my ass, but I'm not letting that stop me... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Punch-kun! I ran across the tragic story of the macaque snow monkey "Punch-kun" because I still follow Japanese news. Punch was abandoned my his mother and took comfort in an IKEA stuffed orangutan named "Djungelskog." There were numerous photos of the poor little guy doing his best to find acceptance and love from a plushie...

But then, after days on his own, he finally got a hug from one of his troop...

So that's nice. Especially after the shit-show of a week we've had.

   
• Whither Pixar? When Onward was released in 2020, it was a turning point for me when it came to Pixar. With one exception, I didn't like any of these films. And I never really understood why. I never bothered to search my feelings to understand what it was about Pixar that was turning me off. Then this morning I saw this...

And there it is. The reason there's one exception to Pixar from 2020 onward? It's because I've been to the coastal Italian towns which inspired the film Luca. I have a personal connection to the movie because I can draw on an experience that I've had. It's also why I can like a movie like Elio, but not fall in love with it.

   
• Dave Smash! I've been a big Morningstar Farms fan since becoming vegetarian decades ago. I veered away to Boca Burger for my burgers because they had superior taste and mouthfeel, but after Kraft bought them out and fucked up the recipe, I went back to Morningstar Grillers. They aren't great, and you have to know how to cook them so the texture isn't awful, but at least I'm not gagging them down. And then... Beyond Meat released Beyond Stack Burgers...

Now, I should say that Beyond does make an actual smash burger product, but they're not sold near me and aren't meant to be frozen (though you can), which means you have to eat them the day you open the package. The "stack" version always come frozen and are meant to stay frozen until used. Which means I don't have to eat them all after opening the package. But anyway... I found that I can get the Beyond Stack Burgers locally (well, 25-minutes away locally, but still). I absolutely love these burgers. A little high in sodium (260mg per patty), but not atrocious. They also cook weird, with a strange foamy residue in the pan, but the results are tasty enough when you smash them that I just don't care. As a bonus, Beyond has packaging that actually works... unlike shitty Morningstar Farms packaging which I hate, hate, hate.

   
• Thor Tells Jokes! I really want to see this standup as a special... where is Netflix when you really need them?

Hearing this makes me want to watch Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King again. It's a highly personal work which happens to be very, very funny. And touching.

   
• The Dow! The Dow! This is an absolute banger...

I couldn't even watch the hearing because Bondi is a gaping fucking asshole. Instead of using her position to serve the American people and seek justice, she's conspiring to protect child predators. She's such a massive pile of lying fucking shit that any time she speaks I see red, so I don't put myself in a position to watch. Thanks to this video, I can see the highlights in a way that doesn't make me want to hide under my bed and start screaming.

   
• SANDIWARA! Given my love of all things Michelle Yeoh, I was thrilled when a friend shared this with me...

The comments having people saying this should be a Malaysian tourism video. I cannnot disagree. This definitely makes me want to visit Penang (I've only ever been to Kuala Lumpur in the country).

   
• Finalizada! Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família... AKA the Sagrada Familia basilica, is finally nearing completion. After 144 years...

Fascinating. I've visited Sagrada Familia three times over a 20 year span. It never seemed like it was any closer to being completed. Now that we're so close, it feels like it might be time to visit Barcelona again. Not that I need an excuse... it's one of my favorite cities on earth.

   
• Sci-Fi Entertainment! This list isn't perfect, but dang if it doesn't make me want to re-watch every one of these films...

Even though I've already seen all of them more than once. Some of them many times.

   
And now back to needing more sleep.

On New Year's Day I did something a little crazy. I ordered all the movies I own by their release date, then started watching them in order from oldest to newest.

It's quite an enjoyable way to be entertained. I started with the oldest movie in my collection, The Thin Man (1934), then moved on through The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), The Glenn Miller Story (1954), North by Northwest (1959), and a slew of James Bond movies (plus 2001: A Space Odyssey). From there the 70's came along, which included a slew of classics (like Star Wars, Grease, Foul Play, Death on the Nile, Superman: The Movie, Alien, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Airplane)...

...and then the 80's hit with The Empire Strikes Back and then Xanadu (1980)...

I am not a fan of musicals. But I loved A) Olivia Newton John, B) Electric Light Orchestra, and C) Greek mythology... so I saw it in the theater with friends when I was in high school. While not a great movie, it was an entertaining spectacle with phenomenal music.

And beautiful Olivia Newton John in that amazing dress she wore, of course.

Every night since I saw the film 46 years ago, I've said a little prayer to Zeus that these dresses come back into fashion. Because, damn...

No joke. The muses wouldn't be sexier if they were naked. Yeah, the wardrobe is very 80's... but I think that's why I'm so into it. It's retro-chic-sexy in a way that we never quite got back to. Even animated...

And of course I fell down a rabbit hole...

The movie actually plays better in 2026 than it did when it was released somehow.

Sucked in again!

I haven't had access to Hallmark Channel since May 2024, but wanted a mindless watch on my flight home. So I ended up buying a movie called The Royal We for a bargain $8 on the iTunes Store. I picked it because I really like Mallory Jansen.

Turns out it's everything you could want in a Hallmark flick. It was so good that it instantly became one of my favorite Hallmark flicks. Sure it's the tired old "I'M SECRETLY A PRINCESS" movies, but that's not really the focus, which was a refreshing change. They also bypassed the "I'm so goofy and inept" idiocy that plagues secret royal movies. Nice.

SO... if you've been missing my Hallmark reviews and you're looking for a great Hallmark watch, here's your film.

You're welcome!

For the life of me, I cannot wrap my head around the Bad Bunny hate that's ongoing.

I've been a fan of his music since I first heard Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana (YHLQMDLG), which was the album of 2020 during the pandemic. But I've been a fan of Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio since his appearance in Bullet Train where he was fantastic. They wrote his character a good backstory and gave him an awesome fight scene.

He appeared on Carpool Karaaoke which was fun. Just look at James Cordon having a blast here...

And he hosted SNL twice where he was charming and funny from beginning to end...

His Jeopardy sketch was so good...

But I think my favorite sketch of his was this one...

Or maybe this one...

But when it comes to the Superb Owl halftime show... what more could you fucking want? He's from Puerto Rico, which makes him all-American. He's a multi-platinum artist whose music is popular around the world. He's a phenomenally talented performer, in any language. And he has good videos for his songs...

I thought his halftime set was amazing. He put on a fantastic show. And it was nice to have something different. On top of all that, if anybody would take two minutes to Google it, he told a story which is special to him.

But he sings in Spanish, so everybody unloads, like this xenophobic racist piece of shit...

And, as usual, it's Jon Stewart who had the perfect perspective on it all...

The United States of America is a MELTING POT. We are a mix of cultures and faiths and backgrounds and beliefs and languages which make us stronger together. Bad Bunny's show was an opportunity to let loose and have fun with a guy giving it his all to entertain us. You didn't need to understand the lyrics, everybody could just enjoy the vibe. Join in and celebrate what was handed to us. But oh no. If it's not somebody singing about beer, pickup trucks, and shooting guns, it's "UnAmerican."

How fucking sad.

Could somebody refresh my memory... was there this kind of faux-outrage when the Macarena by Los Del Río was topping the music charts? This has to be the stupidest manufactured outrage I've ever seen. There's serious shit going on, but let's all be distracted by the music at a fucking football game. Okay.

Jesus.

Fortunately the voice of reason came from fucking Elmo, of all people... errr... Muppets...

Amen to that, little monster.

Congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks! You may be thinking that Bullet Sunday will be canceled because of the Superb Owl (I am not calling it by its real name because you can be sued for that), but you would be wrong... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Loot! This is not a Superb Owl commercial. It's a fake commercial from the television show Loot. And yet, it really should be a real commercial, because...

Can Maya Rudolph do any wrong? A completely serious question here.

   
• Doggy! If there's anything that will get me to go to the theater to see Supergirl, it's Baby Krypto...

I'm sure the rest of the movie is nice too.

   
• Daddy! I sure hope that Instagram is fucking working again and the right video is here, because damn!

Nothing beats a good joke before having to go back to work in the morning!

   
• Unreality. Watch this and be unshocked that this is how the world works...

Nobody and nothing matters more than corporate profits.

   
• Unreality: Part Two! Lest you think that the USA government is alone for being one of the most horrifically corrupt pile of shit on the face of the earth, here's a video for you. I swear, governments just don't seem like the ever operate in the best interest of the people they are supposed to be serving...

And now is where you fall down a Boy Boy rabbit hole like I did, because they have some phenomenal videos about things that will make you think. Assuming you have an open mind to do so.

   
• Together! I like it when content creators put some creativity in their stuff. This is pretty funny...

There's so many shitty content "creators" who just play other people's content and react to it. They don't even try. Yet they probably get gabillions more followers than people who put the effort in.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Trump wanted Dulles Airport, Penn Station named after him — in exchange for releasing federal funds. CAN YOU FOR EVEN FOR ONE SECOND IMAGINE WHAT THE REACTION WOULD HAVE BEEN IF OBAMA HAD TRIED SOMETHING LIKE THIS? CAN YOU? I MEAN, SERIOUSLY... CAN YOU JUST FUCKING IMAGINE???

   
And there you go. If you'll excuse me, I'm back to not watching the Superb Owl.

This is my third attempt at writing this post. I just can't seem to find the words. I keep using too many of them.

There are just ten actors that become an obsession for me. Betty White, Michael Clarke Duncan, Eloise Mumford, Alan Rickman, Angela Bassett, Sigourney Weaver, Samuel L. Jackson, Ryan Gosling, Charlize Theron... and Catherine O'Hara.

She's such a brilliant character actor. Everything she's ever done has been interesting. Just look at her IMDB page.

I loved her from her SCTV days. Then she just kept popping up. And every time she was as brilliant as I had come to expect. She could do anything.

But it was Moira on Schitt's Creek which sealed the deal for me...

I was extremely saddened to hear of her passing.

I'm absolutely gutted. I was really holding out for a Schitt's Creek movie or special or something. So many incredible roles by such a phenomenal talent.

You will be missed. Your works will live on.

There have been few people in the world of Star Wars which have been more divisive than Kathleen Kennedy, and today it was announced that she is stepping down as the head of LucasFilm. An event which has been a long time coming, because most of the stuff she oversaw didn't really give us anything truly worthy of the franchise.

Most but not all, which we'll get to in a minute.

I'm really hoping that new boss Dave Filoni finds ways of making Star Wars exciting and fresh again.

But anyway... Kennedy took over from George Lucas after his terrible prequel trilogy, and and I thought I'd take a look at all the projects that she was overseeing. Except The Madalorian and Grogu and Star Wars: Starfighter, because they haven't come out yet.

THE PHENOMENAL

• Andor Season 01 - If there's anything that Kathleen Kennedy did to make her work at Lucasfilm notable, it was greenlighting one of the best television shows of all time. I don't know how much involvement she actually had (other than giving Tony Gilroy the space he needed to churn out this masterpiece in two parts), but I'm going to give her credit for standing behind the show (and renewing it). This is the best Star Wars to come out of Star Wars since The Empire Strikes Back.
• Andor Season 02 - Ditto.

THE GOOD

• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - This is the film which caught me by surprise. The fact that it works so well given the mess that was going on behind the scenes is some kind of miracle. Plus it gave us Andor.
• The Mandalorian Season 01 - I don't know if it was just that it came along at the right time or what, but everything about Mando is entertaining. Whether it's introducing one of the most meme-worthy, cutest, and all-around cool Grogu (aka "Baby Yoda"), or introducing lore to Star Wars which is actually worthy of remembering, this series gave me hope that the franchise was back.
• The Mandalorian Season 02 - The second season rarely lives up to the first. But this one does. And then we get Bo-Katan and a full-on Jedi Luke Skywalker as the cherry on top of the season.
• Ahsoka Season 01 - It may be because I grew to love the character so much that I was able to overlook some of the problems, but I was quite happy with how the series panned out. If you were a fan of the animated stuff (as I am), this was a no-brainer to watch, and the cast was perfect.
• Skeleton Crew Season 01 - Color me shocked. A Star Wars series built around CHILDREN that's actually GOOD?!? Yes. Yes indeed. I wish that it could have been a bit more imaginative in the settings (seemed very earth-like to me), but it had a cool shades-of-gray mentality about it that made me love it even more.

THE MEH

• Solo: A Star Wars Story - I don't think this movie was quite the disaster that many people made it out to be. Though it should have been. Phil Lord and Chris Miller departed, Ron Howard stepped in, and it still ended up being mostly coherent! Yes, things would have likely been stronger if either team had been given the entire project, but I enjoyed it enough to overlook the flaws. Especially since we got Daniel Glover as Lando, which is brilliant, brilliant casting.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 01 - I love Ewan McGregor's take on Obi-Wan. Unfortunately, he's been given nothing but terrible material and has had to make the best of it. When his mini-series arrived, I was so frickin' optimistic. And it turned out that the guy was having to elevate shallow material again! Even with the problems and nonsense, I still liked this show enough to keep watching. And I guess that's something.
• The Acolyte Season 01 - Despite having some killer fight scenes (seriously, some of the best in Star Wars lore), this show really fell short in the story department. And yet... I still enjoyed some of it. I liked that it was a darker take on the Jedi Order. I liked that the heroes and villains were shades of gray instead of black-and-white. The cast was great and everything was entertaining... until you get to the whole "Force Witches" angle, which was so badly done that it sabotaged everything. A lot of people review-bombed the show because it was female-forward. But this was a non-issue to me, and I thought there were far more critical things to be critical about. I am very sad that the show didn't do well enough to give Manny Jacinto's Qimir another series.
• The Mandalorian Season 03 - It's not that the third season was bad, it's just that it was a big drop from what I was expecting after the awesome first two seasons.

THE BAD

• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - Here it is. The last movie with the original Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones that there will ever be. Gotta make it a great story and an even greater film. Right? RIGHT? Nope. While marginally better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and possessing some good moments, this it still a bad film.
• The Book of Boba Fett Season 01 - Turns out there wasn't enough Boba Fett in his own show. Or maybe there was, it's just that his storyline was so boring, uninspired, and didn't give us anything interesting, so it just seemed that way. This should have just been another season of The Mandalorian. Maybe Season 2.5 or something. That way, they could have just focused on what they were good at and had Boba Fett guest-appear in an interesting way. Certainly more interesting than anything we got here.
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens - This probably deserves to be a "meh" rated movie, but I watched it again recently and it's just not that good. Though there are some really good moments. And I liked the actors who were cast as Rey, Finn, Poe, and Kylo... all of whom manage to build compelling characters. Where things fall apart is the story timing. How are Rey, who's not been trained as a Jedi, and Finn, who's not a Jedi, even remotely able to put up a fight against Kylo Ren? Senseless.
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi - As a massive Rian Johnson fan, I was thrilled when he got a Star Wars movie handed to him. But it turns out even a genius can't pick up the broken pieces of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and get greatness out of it. And he made some seriously bad choices here that kinda sabotaged his film. Primary among them would be "Space Leia," which was laughably stupid (and don't get me started on the entire Canto Bight crap). There were bright spots though. "The Holdo Maneuver" made zero sense logistically, but was a visual treat. More eye-candy like that and I probably wouldn't have minded the sub-par story so much? I dunno.

THE GUT-WRENCHINGLY AWFUL

• Willow Season 01 - I couldn't get past the first episode. No, I wasn't a huge Willow fan to begin with, but this was so badly conceived and implemented that I don't understand what Kennedy was thinking when she greenlit it. Who was it for? The script needed serious work, and allowing it to proceed without another couple of passes is a failing.
• Galaxy's Edge Disney Park Land - Out of all the bad decisions that can be left at Kathleen Kennedy's doorstep, this is the one that blows my mind. Disneyland and Walt Disney World are going to build huge new lands. Imagineers wanted them to be a celebration of the Star Wars that everybody loved. Apparently Kennedy shot that idea down and insisted that they be built around the sequel trilogy instead. No Darth Vader. No Luke Skywalker. No Princess Leia. No R2D2 & C3PO. Instead we get Rey, Kylo Ren, and who-the-fuck-ever. AND THEN... yesterday it was announces that Disney was bringing the original trilogy characters to Galaxy's Edge as they should have done in the first place. And it's about fucking time. I can only guess this was supposed to be announced after Kennedy's stepping-down was announced and somebody goofed. It's crazy that she thought ditching the characters that made Star Wars be Star Wars in favor of the new characters that she oversaw was a winning strategy. Yeah, the time-frames converge, but who cares? It's not like EVERY. OTHER. LAND. at the parks isn't merging different times and even worlds. So dumb. There's no excuse for this nonsense.
• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - I honestly don't understand how this nonsense soup was put into production. It's just so dang stupid. It has absolutely nothing to say, doesn't progress Star Wars at all, wastes a golden opportunity for a proper send-off of the original trilogy, and is head-scratchingly awful with story beats that make absolutely no sense. Wayfinders? Really? There's not a lick of internal logic here. Ideas are half-baked. Dialogue is plain bad. As executive producer, was Kennedy asleep at the wheel... or did she just not care?

THE MISSING IN ACTION

• Rogue Squadron - After the hot fucking mess that came out of Patty Jenkins shitting the bed utterly in the awful, awful, Wonder Woman sequel, I can't say I'm upset that this movie was canceled. But it is fucking embarrassing that Kathleen Kennedy championed it to begin with only to have it disappear.
• Untitled Kevin Feige Film - When he was riding high on the incredible success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was kind of a no-brainer to let Feige helm a Star Wars project. Then the movies started tanking, the shows weren't memorable, and his movie had apparently vanished.
• Untitled Rian Johnson Trilogy - Did I love what Rian Johnson did with Star Wars: The Last Jedi? No. But did this deter my enthusiasm for him getting a new trilogy of Star Wars films? It did not. I would have loved to have seen what Johnson would have done if getting to start from scratch instead of inheriting something to work off of. Oh well.
• Untitled David Benioff and D.B. Weiss's Trilogy - Thank God this was canceled. These dumbasses fucked up an un-fuck-upable series with the final two seasons of Game of Thrones in order to rush it to a conclusion so they could do Star Wars. It should have been apparent to everybody... especially Kathleen Kennedy... that Benioff & Weiss were only good at adapting existing material and should have never been given an entire trilogy which would rely on them creating their own ideas. Again, I refer you to the final two seasons of Game of Thrones. Kennedy side-stepped an absolute landmine here, and had this trilogy of movies went forward, I'm almost certain that it would have resulted in her getting fired.
• Star Wars: Duel of the Fates - The original movie ending to the sequel trilogy, this Trevorrow script (which was leaked online) had problems and wasn't perfect... but it was better than the wet fart of an ending we got out of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and my guess is that Kathleen Kennedy is the bad decision that's responsible. Much like her shepherding of the entire sequel trilogy.

I may be in desperate need of sleep, but don't you fear about your weekly smattering of bullets... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Seek Shelter! This squirrel got lucky during a storm...

Adorable. But animals usually are.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Young Wisconsin man dies from asthma attack after price of inhaler skyrocketed nearly $500. BEST HEALTH CARE IN THE WORLD, PEOPLE!

   
• Fuzzy & Buttered! Am I the only one who freaks out over how sage is fuzzy before you cook it? Delicious delicious sage...

Can't beat it on butternut squash with browned butter poured over the top! Except now my home is going to smell like buttered popcorn for the next two days.

   
• Eight! Eight Dollar Foot Long! Subway is advertising their new "Sub Club" where you buy three foot-longs and get the fourth for free. So I go to the app to find out how much they’ve increased the prices to cover this promotion. A Veggie Delight is $10.69 now. With a free fourth sub, the price ends up being $8.00. This is for a veggie sandwich with extra cheese (because their cheese is whisper thin now, and they stopped putting double cheese on veggie subs years ago). A bun, cheese, and veggies is $8.00... but not now... eventually. — Remember $5.00 foot-longs, which you could get with pricey meat options if you wanted? I wonder how much those subs cost now? This kind of "deal" is such bullshit. I’d rather eat at a place that just gives me a fair price at the start rather than holding my money hostage until I buy enough to get a fourth sub. Yeah, I know a lot of places do this to encourage repeat visits, but $10.69? My burger meal card has initial lower prices which earns you a free meal after ten. That seems a smarter deal because you don’t face sticker shock every time you eat there. $10.69... for a cheese sandwich? Really?

   
• Techflation! This bullshit is getting out of hand...

And here it is in action...

I'd like to know how asshole corporations are justifying this. Assuming they feel the need to. It's all monopolies and collusion from here on out. We've got a government that doesn't give a fuck. On the contrary, the government is being paid to look the other way.

   
• Apple Macintosh Hot Take: It’s hard to justify Tahoe icons. And indeed it is very hard, because it's fucking sloppy. But that's Apple now... fucking sloppy.

   
• Cinematically Real! This is the video that nails it. This is why the Avatar movies work when others abusing technology in film fail...

These movies are pure cinematic spectacle. I cannot wait to see Fire & Ash.

   
And now back to your regularly-scheduled Sunday...

And here we go... my annual wrap-up of my favorite films of the year! Or, to be more accurate, my favorite films that I actually saw. Which has again been hampered severely by my unwillingness to go to the theater. The experience is absolute shit in a day-and-age where people are inconsiderate assholes, and I am just not doing it. Oh well. Still love movies though. Even though a lot of the ones I liked didn't prove profitable.

THE EIGHTEEN NINETEEN BEST

#1 Superman (DC Comics/Warner Bros.)
As I have made abundantly clear over the years, I fucking loathed the Zack Snyder DC Comics films. Dark, dour, joyless, soulless, meandering crap that treated all super-heroes like gods, even when the characters aren't gods. Which made everything boring as hell. Then along comes Jakes Gunn, who made Superman interesting, fun, and hopeful. In a way we haven't seen since the two Richard Donner films. And it's glorious. As is that weren't enough, we're given Krypto the Superdog, and he steals the movie. Also stealing the film? Mr. Terrific, which was a wonderful surprise in every measure. If this is what we're getting out of the Gunn DC Universe, count me in. While not perfect, it's right up there with the Donner Superman flicks, Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, and the first Patty Jenkins Wonder Woman film (not the absolute pile of shit that was the second one). Can't ask for much more than that.

#2 (tie) Thunderbolts* (Marvel Studios)
While I liked this movie very much, the ending wasn't what I would have hoped. Though, to be honest, when you're dealing with a god-like entity and your entire team can only "shoot and punch," there are precious few other ways it could have ended. That aside, this is one of the better Marvel flicks in years. The cast is all great. The dialogue is snappy, funny, and always moving the story forward. And there's an overriding message to it all that's a strong foundation to build upon. Unfortunately movie audiences didn't agree, and it's probable that the film will only break even after all is said and done.

#2 (tie) Fantastic Four: First Steps (Marvel Studios)
The original Marvel Comics super-group is also one of the more unique. At their core, they're a family of explorers, and those stories which support this concept are the best. Unfortunately, the previous Fantastic Four movies were shit. The people making them were writing super-hero stories for just anybody, not a family. Then Marvel got the rights to the team back, they had a retro-futuristic story that was exactly what should have happened from the start, and came up with a brilliant way of making it fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole all while respecting the source material in a way that works.

#3 Sinners (Warner Bros.)
There's something satisfying about a horror genre film which manages to be highly successful despite being built around a very serious message. That doesn't happen very often. Impeccably crafted by Ryan Coogler, the movie tackles racism in the Jim Crow South head-on in a way that's not at all subtle. The fact that it's a story so beautifully told and gorgeously shot is just the icing on the cake.

#4 Ballerina (Lionsgate)
"Was... was that a flamethrower tango?" Heaven only knows I love a good action-flick, and this was top-tier. In addition to being a part of the John Wick Universe, it stars Ana de Armas, whom I love to pieces. Alas, it was not the box office smash it deserved to be, so we're unlikely to get a sequel. I don't understand it at all. The guest-starring cast was epic, including Keanu Reeves, Ajelica Houston, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, and Gabriel Byrne. As if that wasn't enough, it was every bit as intense, thrilling, entertaining, and well-made as anything else in the John Wick franchise (some of those action sequences and kills were stunning). And yet... maybe with streaming and video sales a sequel might still happen? I sure hope so.

#5 Mickey 17 (Warner Bros.)
That Bong Joon Ho is a remarkable filmmaker is not up for debate. But when I saw the trailer for this film, I had to wonder if he had lost his mind. This was the follow-up to Parasite? But then I saw the movie and it had a quirky brilliance reminiscent of Snowpiercer that was far better than you'd think it would be. I was happy to see that Robert Pattinson manages to craft another unique character which is sometimes offbeat to distraction but never fails to serve the film.

#6 Playdate (Amazon)
As you have no doubt noticed from previous year picks, I'm a sucker for a good action comedy, but honestly didn't think this was going to be worth my time. I watched it only because Alan Ritchson was in it, and had zero expectations. Only to find one of the funnier flicks of the year lovingly wrapped in a full-on action movie that succeeds on all fronts. Kevin James, an actor I just haven't seen in things because his projects don't interest me, was flawless in his role as hapless bystander turned hilarious participant in the madness. I loved it from start to finish and it will likely turn into one of those comfort movies I put on as background noise while I'm working or cleaning the house, but ultimately end up watching because I just can't help myself.

#7 Nobody 2 (Universal)
The first Nobody was a total surprise. Yes, I love Bob Odenkirk. Yes, I love the movies that David Leitch produces. Putting them together should have immediately caught my attention. But it didn't until the film got to home streaming. But the second time around? Oh yeah. I bought it the minute it was available digitally. And was not disappointed. Filled with the humor, wit, charm, and explosive action you'd expect... with an endgame you deserve... I sure as heck hope that this is a stepping stone to Nobody 3.

#8 The Ballad of Wallis Island (Peacock)
Always a great thing to manage to be pleasantly surprised by a movie. And this one surprised me quite a lot. If I had to sum it up in one word, that would probably be "charming," though it's so much more than that. Originally a short film that got turned into a full film, it doesn't feel like a short film that got stuffed with enough fluff to reach feature-length. Wonderfully scripted and beautifully shot... sentimental and sweet... but never cloying or tedious, I'd recommend this movie to anybody looking for a nice distraction from the horrors of everyday life.

#9 The Phoenician Scheme (Focus)
You either get Wes Anderson or you don't. I'm not going to sit here and pretend that everybody will love this movie. But I did. First of all, this is the first role where Michael Cera wasn't playing Michael Cera, which was refreshing. Second of all, the cast is absolutely stacked... starring Benicio del Toro to Mia Theapleton... and there's guest appearances by Tom Hanks, Richard Ayoade, Riz Ahmen, Jeffrey Wright, Willem Dafoe, Bryan Cranston, F. Murray Abraham, Benedict Cumberbatch, Scarlett Johansson, and a guest appearance by Bill Murray that is so sublimely perfect that I still can't get it out of my head. Wes Anderson movies are not going to rake in a billion dollars, so I can only guess that he can always attract talent like this because they just love working with the guy. And they know they'll get to be in an awesome flick like this.

#10 A Working Man (Amazon)
While not the fantastic Jason Statham flick that The Beekeeper was last year, it was still another action flick worth watching. And I was very glad to have it given that The Beekeeper 2 hasn't been released yet. While Statham movies don't always have a twist like Wrath of Man did, preferring to be a straight A-to-B shot of straight-up action like this one, I'm just not looking for that every time. Sometimes I like to turn my brain off and go from A-to-B. But there IS a twist here... this movie was written by David Ayer and Sylvester Stallone?!? Didn't see that coming!

#11 Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (Paramount)
The final film in Tom Cruise's "Ethan Hunt Octology" is pretty amazing in some ways... and a head-scratching mess in others. Nearly three hours in length, the first third is non-stop exposition which has some fun flashback moments to show how the past of the franchise relates to current events, but it's mostly a boring slog. We would have been far better off had they just cut to the chase and not try to link every last thing together before the movie actually starts (though I loved Donloe being a bit part in the first film being a major player in the last!). But once it actually does start? It's pretty great, featuring amazing action at the endgame with a hallmark stunt that's Tom Cruise at his death-defying best. The Entity from the previous film is gaining control of the world's nuclear arsenal, which spells doom for all humanity unless Hunt & Co. can figure out a way of stopping it. And the fun is in the ride, not really the conclusion. A good film that could have been great, Final Reckoning isn't the worst way for the Cruise era to go out... until the inevitable reboot.

#12 Black Bag (Focus)
Few directors I like are as hit or miss for me as Steven Soderbergh. Here he's not only hit, he's done it in a way so stylish and engaging that it has me wondering what pushed him to get there (I thought Presence was good, not great, so this was a surprise). Few writers I like are as hit or miss as David Koepp. Sure he did a brilliant job of adapting Jurassic Park, but he can also stink up the screen with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull too. Here he's not only hit with a sexy, svelte, stylish, engaging script, but came up with such a great hook that it has me wondering what pushed him to get there. What should have been a retread of Mr. & Mrs. Smith ends up being something so much more when it stars Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender, elevating a spy caper to something worth your valuable time. A part of me wishes that this was a 6-episode TV series so it could have had a little more room to breath and given us more of a good thing.

#13 Wake Up Dead Man (Netflix)
Rian Johnson knows how to craft a good mystery movie, and this one was so good that I immediately had to run back and watch Knives Out and Glass Onion because I was left wanting more. As always with a mystery flick that doesn't cheat the viewer, I gotta immediately go back and watch it again so I can see all the clues that I missed. This time it wasn't quite as easy to see, but it was all there to be discovered.

#14 Weapons (New Line)
There is nothing that makes me happier than when people I like find success. Zach Cregger is one of those people whose acting roles always made me a fan... but this? This?!? Brilliant horror with compelling characters which drive it to deserved success. And a frickin' mind-blowing character turn by Amy Madigan that's almost worth the price of admission alone.

#15 KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)
Proving for the hundredth time that Sony Pictures has no fucking idea what they are doing (which is apparent to anybody who saw Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven), they took this brilliant animated movie and... gave it to Netflix?!? If you love K-pop music like I do, this is great. If you like tunes with meaningful lyrics like I do, this is great. If you love good animation like I do, this is great. If you just like a good movie, this is great. It's great.

#16 Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Netflix)
Look, it's a wallace & Gromit movie. What else do you need to know? Wildly funny, brilliantly animated, wonderfully charming.

#17 Zootopia 2 (Disney)
I saw this on a Disney cruise ship in the middle of the ocean. It was surprising for feeling so fresh just as the first one was surprising for feeling so unexpected. I would not mind at all getting a third film in the franchise so long as they keep finding new ways to keep this amazing world and fascinating characters interesting.

#18 One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Yes, yes, I know that this is the #1 movie on a lot of lists for 2025. And it is a very, very good film. But it's just not my cup of tea. I can watch it and appreciate the talent that went into making it. I can even see how some consider it a masterpiece of cinema. And it is. But when your top three films are all super-hero movies, and you found more entertainment from a cartoon with talking animals, then "masterpiece" only goes so far in what you want to watch for entertainment. Oh well. I liked it enough to have it hit my list, so maybe I'm not totally a lost cause?

NOT IN MY TOP EIGHTEEN, BUT FEELS LIKE IT SHOULD BE

• Captain America: Brave New World (Marvel Studios)
  Apparently they changed the movie more than once as they were shooting, and the result is a big ol' mess. They tried to come up with another Captain America: Winter Soldier by pumping in some political espionage, but did a terrible job of it. The narrative is anything but smooth from beat to beat and the overall story was boring. As if that wasn't enough, the air battle at the one hour mark was truly awful. I did love that Joaquin Torres played a part as the new Falcon (I was surprised he was in the previous TV series The Falcon & The Winter Soldier), but everything else was pretty bad. Sam's dialogue was mostly groan-inducing instead of clever (and even Anthony Mackie couldn't save it). Harrison Ford was given horrible material. Sabra was jammed into the show for no reason. The villain was good, but used badly. And Isaiah Bradley, a character with so much to offer, was inexplicably used as a pawn for a silly plot point. And then there's Red Hulk, which was a great idea, but implemented in a stupid way and defeated in an even stupider one after a disjointed battle at The White House that had Sam's vibranium wings charging up, then mysteriously discharging from one action beat to the next. Where did that energy go and why did he never direct it at Red Hulk until the very end? This entire movie was such a nonsensical wasted opportunity and I honestly don't understand it. I was still entertained enough that I was happy to see it (and it sets up Wolverine nicely with the adamantium angle), but holy shit did Sam (and the fans) deserve better than this.

HONORABLE MENTION

• Frankenstein (Netflix)
  As a massive Guillermo del Toro fan, I was looking forward to this. What I wasn't looking forward to was yet another Frankenstein's Monster movie. And yet... del Toro found a take that managed to elevate it to a level I should have anticipated, but didn't for some reason. Don't make the mistake of skipping it because you're not into monster movies. This is a film with something to say.
• Novocaine (Paramount)
  Finding an interesting concept for a movie is rarely Job #1. Here it is. Finding a way to turn that interesting concept into a decent flick is rarely Job #2. Here it is. The result is not without its missteps, but is wholly entertaining.
• Final Destination: Bloodlines
  For a Final Destination movie to work, the writers have to be very clever about how Death comes for the characters. The more convoluted and interesting the series of events, the more interesting their death, and the more entertaining the movie will be. This time around the writers were very clever indeed, trying to find new ways to breathe life into the franchise. Sure, the logic doesn't always track from film to film and they violate their own rules as to how you can "cheat death," but ultimately that's not what's most important. This is my favorite out of the entire franchise, and having Tony Todd's character fully explained from the previous films is just icing on the cake.
• Elio (Disney)
  Adorable. Well-animated. Stylistically fun and engaging. I don't know why this film failed so badly at the box office, because it has all the pieces which make you think it should have been a big success.
• The Life List (Netflix)
  When it comes to rom-coms, there's really not much new territory left to tread. It's all been done before. What makes it work is how they re-tell the same old story. And this is how The Life List manages to rise above. It's yet another "woman has to try to change her life for the better to honor her dying relative" tale, but one that's done quite well.
• F1: The Movie (Apple)
  This is not a great movie, but it is a visual stunner with racing scenes that are worth the price of admission. I'm not an F1 fan, but if you are... this is a total no-brainer for you to watch. Otherwise? It could be seen as tedious if you can't jump in.
• Eternity (Apple)
  Okay, you got me. These afterlife movies never seem to fare well with me, but this time you got me. A woman having to choose between her first and second husband in the afterlife is just enough of a twist on an old theme as to catch my interest, and Elizabeth Olsen knows how to play it to perfect comedic effect.

DIDN'T SEE, MIGHT HAVE MADE MY LIST

• Splitsville
  This is a flick that was completely off my radar... until I had two very different friends say I should give it a look because it's a funny dive into relationships which I might like.
• Avatar: Fire and Ash
  Apparently this is the best of the Avatar movies so far. I liked the first two, though found them to be spectacle more than story, which is why I'm intrigued by the idea of a film that's both. Maybe that's this one.
• Sentimental Value
  Have Stellan Skarsgård in your cast, and you've automatically got me as an audience. Alas, the subject matter of family drama didn't feel like something I was ready to dive into, so I never paid the money for the digital streaming. I will absolutely be looking at it when it hits whatever streaming platform gets it, and have heard good things.
• 28 Years Later
  I loved the idea of a new installment to the franchise, but was pissed at the idea of a trilogy when the single installments which preceded this one were so wonderfully done. But I guess you couldn't go from 28 Years Later to 28 Decades Later very easily, so maybe that's all they had?
• Lavender Men
  The concept of a movie that's intentionally all over the place tonally while trying to put a lens on queer history as a jumping off point for modern lives is just compelling enough to make me want to see it.
• Predator: Badlands
  When the trailer hit, it didn't seem like it was an actual Predator movie... it felt more like somebody using Predator to shove through an original story so it could get made. I'm told this is not quite true, and the film is actually quite good. So sign me up. Eventually. When I have time.
• Bugonia
  While not a fan of Yorgos Lanthimos by any stretch of the imagination, there's no denying that he's a compelling filmmaker. After he destroyed Poor Things (in my humble opinion, as a fan of the book), I wasn't planning on watching Bugonia until I started hearing about it in favorable terms from critics I like. So... maybe?

DISAPPOINTING

• Fountain of Youth (Apple)
  Guy Ritchie is one of my favorite writer/directors. This dumpster fire is what happens when he doesn't write what he directs. And, unfortunately, the stacked cast does nothing to save it. I honestly don't understand how this was made, because everybody involved should have questioned the script.
• Love Hurts (Universal)
  As a big fan of the Ke Huy Quan renaissance we're getting, this was just awful. Lazy, sloppy, and cringe in all the worst ways.
• Lilo & Stitch (Disney)
  With very few exceptions, these Disney live-action remakes are just not worth it. I always end up disappointed because 1) They are not necessary and end up inferior to the source material, and 2) They make senseless changes which sabotage what makes the original story so good.
• The Old Guard 2 (Netflix)
  To say I was rabidly looking forward to this sequel to the brilliant original adaptation was an understatement. I loved The Old Guard and couldn't believe we were finally getting more. Then we get this disaster. Needlessly confusing and inexplicably nonsensical, all they had to do was continue what they had been already started. Instead we got this? Why? The action wasn't even elevated, which makes this a miss in every department.
• The Naked Gun (Paramount)
  I wanted to like the remake, but the entire viewing I was just disappointed that it wasn't the original. So much of it was just... dumb-funny. It didn't hold any genuine laughs for me.

WORST

• Section 31 (Paramount)
  Gut-wrenchingly awful. You have legend Michelle Yeoh doing her best to tear up the scenery at her evil best, but nothing could save this bland story which wouldn't even be notable if not for being tied to Star Trek.
• The Electric State (Amazon)
  A misguided and overall boring, sad, and terrible adaptation. Utterly bizarre that The Russo Brothers, who gave us so many exciting movies, would create this kind of mess.
• Now You See Me: Now You Don't (Lionsgate)
  The first two movies were shit where special effects and camera tricks were supposed to fool us into thinking that these "magicians" could actually do impossible magic tricks, all while being mired in stories with laughably huge plot holes and general stupidity. This was more of the same, and I sincerely hope they're finally done with this crap. Go track down the excellent TV series, Deception instead.
• War of the Worlds (Universal)
  I tuned in specifically to see if the movie is as bad as it was said to be by critics. It's worse. What an unbelievable turd. Zero internal logic. Zero reason to be made. And you can't really blame anybody involved, because swapping out the cast for even the best actors on the planet would in no way save it.

DIDN'T SEE, MOST CERTAINLY SHIT

• Tron Ares (Disney)
  A special effects treat on top of a story by people who don't seem to know what makes Tron be Tron. I do like me some great visual effects though, so I will likely tune in when Disney+ starts streaming it.
• Jurassic World: Rebirth (Universal)
  When are they going to have the good sense to just let this franchise die? MUTANT DINOSAURS?!? That's just a monster movie. It has zero to do with dinosaurs come back to life, which means this is not a Jurassic Park movie, and just continues a downward spiral of something that was once great becoming shit.

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat. Pleased do put a penny in the old man's hat. And an entry in his web browser... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Joining! I am utterly ensnared by PLUR1BUS. It's slow... but deliberate... you just know that Vince Gilligan is building things up for a payoff, because otherwise there wouldn't be a point to the show? But what form that takes for the first season when we have more seasons to go? No idea...

There's one episode left until the long wait for Season 02.

   
• Full Disclosure! I can't remember the last time I was even remotely excited for a Steven Spielberg film. I am a bit excited for this...

The film looks suitably disturbing, which is about the only way the subject like this could be interesting.

   
• Ignorance! “I don’t even know how to pronounce it, so it must be bad... and I’m too big of a dumbshit to do a Google search before cluttering social media with my ignorant bullshit, so here you go...”

We are so fucked. All the vanquished diseases are coming back, and these idiots are intent on keeping it that way.

   
• Blunder Woman! The first Wonder Woman movie was a revelation. It's one of my favorite super-hero films ever made, and definitely one of the best DC movies they've ever made. The scene where she steps out of the trench brought tears to my eyes, because it was that moment Diana is Wonder Woman. In a way we haven't seen since Lynda Carter's flawless take on the character decades ago. But the sequel, Wonder Woman 1984, was a steaming pile of crap. I was mortified by it. There was no single area where it didn't fail. I couldn't believe that Patty Jenkins would release this. And this video explains why...

I am still furious that the franchise was destroyed by this one film. I can only hope and pray that James Gunn will be sure we get a Wonder Woman film that's deserving of the character's legacy.

   
• B- B- B- Buck! I was sad to learn that Gil Gerard died this past week. Though, to be honest, I don't remember much about his work. The only show I can even think of him appearing is Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, which I only watched because Erin Gray's "Col. Wilma Deering" and Pamela Hensley's "Princess Ardala"...

The writing on the show was pretty bad, something I was able to recognize despite the fact that I was watching it at 13 years old. Though to be fair, the writers were likely under massive constraints to reign in the budget. But I do remember that Gerard dug into the corny, campy scripts with gusto, which meant that it was at least entertaining. And for that he'll be remembered.

   
• We're All Paying for AI! There it is.

I have found shockingly little use for AI, which is surprising, because I thought it would be changing everything for me. And maybe one day it will. But right now it's just so... bad.

   
• UnShock! Shocking. — I lie. This may be the least shocking story I've read in recent days...

Turns out there didn't need to ever be some kind of "deep state" conspiracy. It's all being done right out in the open.

   
And now I'm decorating the Christmas tree! Just kidding. My cats would murder it.