Gladiator II (2024)

Events 16 years after Gladiator (2000). An entertaining film where the lead is the least interesting character. Not that Paul Mescal is bad- he’s not; he’s actually quite good. However, this movie belongs to all the other side characters, especially Denzel Washington as Macrinus. If you watched the first film, this one treads thru some of the same paths, but it’s saved by well-executed action scenes. The true fire of the film comes from 86-year-old director Ridley Scott who is in full film language mode here.

Paddington In Peru (2024)

It's funny how a 3D animated bear has a better sequel and a stronger franchise than anything the "Rock" has committed to film. The title pretty much says it all. I thought it was going to be bad, but this is just almost up there with part one, and it surprisingly now makes it a solid, family-friendly (with tons of other movie references) franchise. Poignant and very funny (though also very corny) at times. They should quit while they're ahead, as another sequel or reboot might ruin the foundation they've currently built.

Red One (2024)

This was not good. There was very little chemistry between Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, although Chris Evans fares a bit better. Both men are put into situations where they must save a kidnapped Santa. They had a great Santa in J.K. Simmons, but both he and Lucy Liu are wasted in their roles. The reason for Santa’s kidnapping is somewhat compelling, but the murky special effects take over, and after a while, the entire movie becomes bland. The voice acting and some of the practical effects are solid, and this could have been a very interesting project. If done correctly, it could have been something to return to, but it all fizzles out in the end.

Hocus Pocus (1993)

I didn't like this movie. The three main actresses- the Sanderson sisters played by Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker- are talented, but the plot feels like it tries to do everything and nothing at the same time. They have to sing, dance, and act, even though the story is simple and doesn’t really need them to do much more than make faces. The rest of the cast, except for Doug Jones (as Billy Butcherson), seems to be going through the motions, and Jones barely speaks! This movie feels like an overly elaborate Goosebumps episode. Since many people have seen it, I won’t go into the plot. The film isn’t funny when it should be, it isn’t scary when it needs to be, and the drama feels out of place, taking away from the urgency of the story. The pacing is terrible, but for a Disney film, it does try to push some boundaries. I don’t understand why this movie is so popular now, especially since it didn't do well when it first came out. There’s a reason for that. The special effects range from decent to poor, and while one song is okay, the rest is lacking. They should have either gone for a darker tone with some humor or made it a full comedy with darker themes.

Late Night With The Devil (2023)

Despite the controversy over AI, I admire the attempt to revitalize the often disappointing "found footage" genre. David Dastmalchian really shines in this film. The story is set on Halloween in 1977. Jack Delroy, a talk show host whose ratings are slipping behind Johnny Carson, has a teen guest and her handler (a Parapsychologist) on his show, "Night Owls with Jack Delroy." The teen claims to be possessed by the devil. Desperate for ratings, Jack pushes the interview to its limits, leading to unexpected consequences. He has also secretly made a deal with a cult that may be connected to what happens during the live show. There’s more humor than I expected, and while it’s not very scary, it offers a refreshing change from some other horror films released this year. This low- to mid-budget film by the Cairnes brothers really tries to do something just a little different with familiar themes.

Friday The 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

This is like watching "Friday the 13th" done by Showtime in the early '90s when they were trying to compete with HBO. Sure, there are hallmarks of something edgy, but if it isn't done with any care, it won't work. Now Crystal Lake becomes a body of water that connects to the ocean, leading to the Atlantic and down to New York. The story takes place during the Lakeview high school senior trip, even though everyone looks like they’re 30, on a boat headed from Crystal Lake to New York. The way Jason is revived is silly, and the first kills are not interesting. In fact, most of the kills are flat and are mostly boring. Additionally, I never noticed before that they added audio stingers whenever Jason would kill someone. Why did they do that? Anyway, I was actually happy when Jason killed some of these characters, which doesn’t quite feel right. In a good horror movie, one should laugh in nervousness and shock at the mayhem and horror, glad it's not happening to them, but ultimately feel bad that lives were lost in the story. Here, I just didn’t care about any of these characters. The only thing that somewhat elevates this is when they arrive in New York City, allowing us to see parts of Times Square from the late 1980s. Jason kicking a boombox is one of the most hilarious things I've seen on film, and it still makes me laugh to this day. This is a really terrible way to end a franchise, nosediving into the abyss. Even Harry Manfredini's score cannot save it. That’s Paramount’s final "Friday the 13th," which are all now part of horror movie franchise history.

Friday The 13th Part 7: The New Blood (1988)

Tina, feeling guilty for being partially responsible for her father’s death and possessing telekinetic powers, awakens Jason from his watery grave. Think "The Rage" over the original "Carrie." It starts with a hokey voiceover describing the terror of Jason and a mini origin story for Tina, then shifts into Jason murdering anyone nearby. This is Kane Hodder’s first of three portrayals of Jason, and while I prefer CJ Graham a little more, Hodder embodies Jason with some memorable kills, often pushing or pulling objects into or through his victims. He even delivers some entertaining turn-down service with a sleeping bag and attacks a swimmer in the water like Jaws, which I found amusing. Terry Kiser appears in a role that I believe was more substantial in a more dramatic cut of the film, but his fate mirrors that of his character in "Weekend at Bernie's." Outside of some of the kill effects, everything here looks and feels a bit cheap. Harry Manfredini and Fred Mollin created the score, but I wasn’t impressed. The electronic elements feel intrusive and clash with Manfredini’s established style. They even use the “Ki-Ki-Ki… Ma-Ma-Ma” a bunch of times in places that seemed off or overdone, which is ridiculous. I would have preferred a "Scanners" versus Jason scenario, which could have been intense and ultimately chaotic. If the original series had ended here, it would have been fine. Unfortunately, they went on to make "FTT8: Jason Takes Canada," with some exterior shots at Times Square.

Friday The 13th Part 6: Jason Lives (1986)

This may not be many people’s favorite, but I’ve always enjoyed this entry in the series. It’s not a masterpiece, but without the weight of lore hanging too heavily over it, this installment has a "do whatever we want (also without nudity)" approach to direction and storytelling, making it dark, adult and kind of fun. The premise is simple: Tommy Jarvis messes up, and Jason is revived by bolts of lightning. Jason, on his way back to Crystal Lake, kills everyone in sight... again. Nothing new here- a straightforward story where Jason is back, killing everyone, and Tommy Jarvis is always one step behind, trying to stop the entity that has ruined his life. There are some laugh-out-loud moments due to the uniformly bad (but in a good way) acting, and much of it doesn’t make sense. Tommy gets some closure, but this is really the beginning of Jason’s rise as a horror icon. C.J. Graham does a great job as a "don’t-give-any-fucks" Jason! Director Tom McLoughlin might have wanted to try a few different things, but he was likely told to solidify Jason as the villain and bring him back to Camp Crystal Lake. The cut and edit of this film may reflect some passive-aggressive exasperation that turned inward toward the production itself. For transparency, I purposely avoid trailers, articles, and wiki pages before watching and reviewing films, so my take remains authentic. Afterward, I look at sources like Wikipedia to see what’s happened since the film wrapped, who’s still around, who succeeded or struggled in their careers. As a bonus, Alice Cooper performs three songs in this film, including the end credit song, "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)."

Friday The 13th Part 5: A New Beginning (1985)

The kills are more intense and sadistic in this installment, but they also feel somewhat wasteful. The movie itself is meh. It begins with an older, teenage Tommy Jarvis, who awakens from persistent nightmares about the return of Jason Voorhees while being sent to the Pinehurst Halfway House. The timeframe appears to be around 1989 or 1990. Once again, not a single film in the original series addresses the fact that these events seem to take place 5-9 years ahead of their release dates. This film fully embraces nudity and the '80s drugs cocaine and marijuana which, along with the violence, makes it surprising that it wasn’t heavily censored. While none of this is offensive to me, we were still feeling the effects of knee-jerk reactions from parent and religious groups at the time, so I could easily see this type of project being targeted. There’s a 1950s aesthetic (with the cars, leather jackets, and lighting) that was popular in mid-'80s film and TV (think Streets of Fire). While this style doesn’t detract, it doesn’t add much to the story either. The victims are mostly annoying, especially the local mother-son duo, Ethel and Junior, who live next door to the halfway house. I was actually relieved when Tommy beats up Junior, but Tommy himself is not very likable here, though he does get a bit more to do in his last official entry. The halfway house director Matt, counselor Pam, and Reggie serve as the heroic "good guys," but they aren’t given much to do other than die, get cornered, and fight the murderous villain. Bodies pile up around town and at the halfway house, with either Jason or Tommy as the prime suspect. The effects are fine (but not better than Savini's work) and on my first watch back in 1985, I thought I knew who the killer was, but I missed some very obvious clues. Rewatching it now, I wonder how I didn’t see it! FTT5 is not the "trash" some people make it out to be. Thankfully, FTT6: Jason Lives is a better film and uses elements from classic Universal monster films to turn Jason into a proper villain.

Friday The 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter (1984)

This is supposed to be the final chapter of the Jason Voorhees series. The movie starts with a recap of parts 1 to 3, which honestly feels a bit jumbled at this point. Jason’s mom, Pamela, now dies in 1979, not when the first movie was released 1980, making parts 2 and 3 set around 1984. The timeline is already messy, and this movie actually picks up right where the actions of the third movie ended, instead of the next day. There's a side plot where a man named Rob Dier, whose sister was killed in an earlier movie, is out for revenge on Jason. This could’ve been a stronger story if it was the main focus since it would have added more drama, especially if the outcome had stayed the same. Meanwhile, a group of friends head to Crystal Lake for a getaway and, predictably, end up as Jason’s latest victims. We also meet young Tommy Jarvis, his mother, and sister, who team up with Rob to try to help the teenagers across the road survive. FTT4 is directed by Joseph Zito (Missing in Action), whose style is more workmanlike; he doesn’t linger on any aspect of the film, instead moving quickly through the story and delivering nudity and action-oriented kills. Jason loves windows as a death mechanism in this installment and I do not mean the computer operating system. The real stars are Tom Savini’s special effects for Jason and Jimmy's hilarious "Dead Fuck" dance (played by Crispin Glover). And while this was meant to be the last movie… they actually made a fifth, called "A New Beginning."

Friday The 13th Part 3 (1982)

As I mentioned earlier, things pick up in FTT3D. The movie starts the day after the events of FTT2 (still set in 1985!) and begins with a quick recap of that ending before diving into a new storyline. Actress Amy Steel, who played Ginny Field, didn’t return, which led to a shift in the original story. Initially, Ginny was supposed to face the trauma of Jason's attack and set out to stop him once and for all, wrapping up the series as a trilogy. Instead, FTT3D follows the same general pattern as the first two films, but it takes its time before "Jason" finally shows up to attack and take down most of the cast. Director Steve Miner, returning from FTT2, seems more comfortable blending drama, gore, and a touch of camp in this one. The 3D effects are decent; after a few “coming at you” moments, the 3D effect just becomes part of the film’s atmosphere, which actually works pretty well. This is also the movie where Jason first appears wearing his iconic hockey mask—about an hour in. I wonder if the film has ever been converted to modern digital 3D. I’ve only seen it with the old-school red-and-blue paper glasses during its original run and at home. I was 10 years old when I saw it, paired with The Smurfs and the Magic Flute (1976)! I can’t remember if it was at the Lowes Paradise, RKO, Valentine or the Prospect theater, but it was definitely one I watched in the Bronx.