Rewatch. An unhinged Cage performance and solid Ghost Rider effects and action can’t save this from atrocious direction, a god awful script, and annoying editing. N&T just can’t direct anything of substance in this pseudo reboot/sequel. 2/5
Chris Barreras
@gingerdome81.bsky.social
•Husband •Cat Dad •Gym Goer •Liberal AF •He/Him •JRPG enthusiast •Action/Martial Arts Films •That Ginger Star Wars Guy •Co-Host of the Imperial Scum Podcast
Rewatch. Maybe it’s because I suffer from sometimes damn near debilitating mental health issues that Thunderbolts hits me so hard. It’s funny, it’s bleak and it’s emotional with a whopper of an ending that avoids the usual MCU stuff to give something meaningful and genuine 4.5/5
Rewatch. God tier until the climax. Best acting of the franchise so far. Jackmans on another level here. Great setup, great story. It’s a gorgeous film too and Mangold directs the fuck outta the action. Giant misstep on Silver Samurai and Viper keep it from masterpiece 4.5/5
Rewatch. Vaughns inventive “reboot.” Some great casting like Fassbender, McAvoy and Bacon. Great action that’s well shot. Smart script. Held slightly back by wasted characters and some dodgy cg. One of the best X Flicks. 4.5/5
Rewatch. For everything it does right, the origin, special effects on GR himself, the look of GR and his Bike, it fucks up with a tonally muddled script, goofy humor and atrocious acting especially from Bentley as Blackheart. Cage tries but this should’ve been darker and R still fun though 3/5
Rewatch. Everything I said the first time was spot on. Truly one of, if not my favorite film of the year. Just pure joy on screen for me.
Chris Barreras@gingerdome81.bsky.social · 2mo agoA love letter to my childhood. Directed with reverence and adoration, joined by a cast that understood the goofy and earnest source material. Lively, colorful, action packed, adventurous and hysterical. I loved it from minute 1. One of my favorites of the year. 5/5
Rewatch. Yikes. After a killer opening credits it just flounders and falls its entire run time. Jackman does his best but tonally it’s all over the place and makes stupid choices. Decent action is marred by egregious green screen and atrocious cg. Just a huge waste. 2/5
Rewatch. The good. McKellen yet again. Grammar as Beast is pitch perfect. Action is solid. The bad? Everything is else. Phoenix saga is wrecked. Cure storyline is wasted. Jackman looks bored. Stewart is wasted. Such a letdown after X2. 2.5/5
Rewatch. Minor pacing issues aside this still holds up remarkably well. Script is still timely as all hell. Jackman just continues to excel. McKellen is on another level. The opening is still fantastic and Alan Cumming is phenomenal and genuine. 4/5
Rewatch. Obviously very dated but the streamlined story is helped by decent action and some pitch fucking perfect casting. Jackman, Stewart and McKellen more than make up for dodgy dated cg, lame costumes and some bad dialogue. 3.5/5
Fixed a lot of my issues with the previous entry but added new ones like egregious green screen, and somehow the fights feeling weightless. It looks like MK, sounds like MK but man I was almost bored? Cast is fine. Gore is fun. About it. Maybe let this iteration get fatalitied. 3/5
FTW. The most Un Predator, Predator film in the best way. Great action, gorgeous looking, incredible creature design and an honestly heartfelt story about found family. Not as good as Prey or Killer of Killers but Dan T is still 3 for 3. 4.5/5
Wow. Worth the hype. Made me so insanely uncomfortable and creeped out. Inde is a revelation, mannerisms, facial expressions, everything. Perfect. Not sure I’ll ever watch it again as it made my fucking skin crawl. 4/5
Doomsday trailer. Yeah I’m gonna see it but man I’m just not as hyped as I probably should be. Dune 3 gets my money in December way before Avengers which is crazy for me to say being such a comic nerd.
Rewatch. Verbinski pulled off the inconceivable. Perfect cast. Great action. Solid slightly dated Cg, practical sets. Absolute classic. Rush and Depp are having a blast. And somehow it gets topped by the next two. 5/5
FTW. The Statham watch continues with a movie that has absolutely zero right to be as fun as it is. Takes everything I didn’t like in the first, throws it out and just got ludicrous over the top fun. Statham and Wu Jing need to do more comedy together. 3.5/5
Rewatch. Not even Urban, a solid FPS sequence and a solid final fight (why is there a fist fight in Doom?) can save this from being an Aliens ripoff with a terribly miscast Rock. Totally misunderstands the games from minute 1. 2/5
Also massive shoutout to Finishing Move. They had the near impossible task of following up Mick Fucking Gordon and they pulled together 2 absolutely metal as fuck scores that are in constant rotation for me, especially at the gym.
Chris Barreras@gingerdome81.bsky.social · 4w agoID delivers yet again. Revelations was legit awesome and now can’t wait to dive fully into the extensive Endgame. Rip and Tear.
ID delivers yet again. Revelations was legit awesome and now can’t wait to dive fully into the extensive Endgame. Rip and Tear.
Chris Barreras@gingerdome81.bsky.social · 4w agoThe layoffs at Xbox were already just devastating but playing 2 plus hours of Doom The Dark Ages Revelations and it hurts even more that ID got gutted after dropping GotY worthy stuff as fucking dlc.
The layoffs at Xbox were already just devastating but playing 2 plus hours of Doom The Dark Ages Revelations and it hurts even more that ID got gutted after dropping GotY worthy stuff as fucking dlc.
Man of War. A film so fucking good, I wrote about it. Hats off to William Kaufman and walking chiseled from granite absolute beast LaMonica Garrett. One of the best of the year. God Tier tactical action. 5/5 Read my review. boxd.it/f5oyAF
Look I’m a simple man, you put fun characters, awesome insanely creative and violent action in your anime I’m sold. Also having Vaundy do the title theme is fantastic. Yes I started Sakamoto Days.
Taro Sakamoto Gives a Thumbs Up
ALT: Taro Sakamoto Gives a Thumbs Up
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FTW. God damn what a movie. First half being this honestly super sweet love story, second have Mappa just mic dropping on action in animation. Start to its heartbreaking finish. Just stellar. 5/5
Haven’t done one of these in awhile. When I was enlisted in the Army I was severely underweight due to mental health and physical issues (photo on left) In the decade plus since I’ve put on over 65 lbs of muscle and an addicted gym rat. I also grew a beard.
One thing I’m not seeing praised nearly enough is the frankly film stealing, star making turn from Chen Lijun as Ayuya. She’s a revelation. Brilliant the action but also nails the dramatic beats with a vulnerability and honest to god rage. Just phenomenal from her first scene.
Chris Barreras@gingerdome81.bsky.social · last mo.Well fuck me that was incredible. The master himself, Yuen Woo-ping directs a visually stunning, masterfully choreographed Wuxia epic. Take Iron Monkey, Eye for an Eye 2 and Fury Road into a relentless masterclass. One of the best of the year. 5/5