Rambling Film

The Platt family (Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor as Denise and Greg, along with their two children Audrey and Brian played by Maisy Stella and Christian Convery) bands together to navigate their new surroundings after a cosmic event transports their suburban neighborhood to someplace unknown. Maybe it's because Jurassic Park came out when I was a kid and remains one of my favorite movies to this day, but I found it impossible not to think about it during The End of Oak Street. Director David Robert Mitchell makes so many choices that just *feel* like a homage to Spielberg. Honestly, I liked this better than any Jurassic Park sequel we've seen since.  The Platt family is ordinary. No one is a s genius or is highly skilled in fighting, so they really do feel like what the average family would probably be going through in something like this ever happened. Denise and Greg's marriage is already on the rocks before Oak Street is thrown back in time, and I thought it was prett...

San Diego Comic Con used to be THE big nerdy event to look forward to in the summer and it's kind of crazy how much bigger D23 seems now. I mean it's obvious why, when a single company owns so many franchises, but still. I remember when I used to refresh my computer constantly to catch Hall H updates. Anyways I randomly woke up in the middle of the night last night and instead of falling back asleep I watched all the new D23 teasers instead and thought it would be fun to rank them based on my excitement (or lack there of) Not My Monkeys - Not My Circus I would be remiss not to mention that I don't follow EVERY franchise that D23 talked about, so I'm excluding a few things from my official ranking. Percy Jackson and the Olympians - I don't watch this show and I never read the books so I can't put it in my Hype Train, but it seems to be doing pretty well?  Kingdom Hearts - I know so many people that played and loved these games, but I never got into them myself. ...

Okay fine, there are definitely people who have their complaints about HBO's House of the Dragon and the changes they've made from the source material, George R R Martin's Fire & Blood . But there is one thing I can't help but think when I read the mountain of criticism the show seems to be getting after each episode on Twitter.... Y'all remember that Fire & Blood wasn't very good, right? The book is quite literally a recounting of Targaryen bullshit. It's in-universe second hand and third handle knowledge of past events. And, sure, some of it was interesting, but it's also told by people who were not there. And thus, it gives the House of the Dragon showrunners a lot of wiggle room in how they choose to adapt it. I'd argue most of what they are doing is working. There are only a few instances where I thought something didn't. Overall, I've found watching House of the Dragon far more enjoyable than when I read Fire & Blood, an...

  Official synopsis:  Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) lands a job for artist Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde) as her sexual muse. Director Gregg Araki has made his name as being a very "out there" filmmaker and I love him for it. He's spent the last decade mostly directing TV episodes, but he's finally back with another feature film and I couldn't be more here for it.  If you're thinking "wow, this absolutely sounds like something Philip Seymour-Hoffmans kid would make" you would be right. Cooper brings a charm to Elliot, which is much needed because there is a lot to get frustrated with him with. I think the film does a mostly good job of calling out Elliot's shitty behaviors, but Cooper makes you want want to keep watching him. A lessor actor could've made this role insufferable. Olivia Wilde feels so perfectly cast here. I honestly can't imagine anyone else playing Erika.  Obviously with a title like I Want Your Sex you know the film is going to be...

Official Synopsis:  A forgotten Peter Parker (Tom Holland) lives alone as a full-time Spider-Man until mounting pressure triggers a dangerous change and a powerful new enemy (Sadie Sink) emerges. Anyone vaguely familiar with me knows that I love a good Spider-man movie so of course I contributed to that record breaking box office number over the weekend. (Holy shit, we're topping Avengers Endgame already?!) And it did not disappoint! I had a great time watching this, but I also had a bit of an epiphany awards when it comes to the larger MCU.... I need to stop watching Daredevil . Depending on how familiar you are with what  Daredevil  is doing on Disney Plus   will directly effect your experience AFTER watching this film because they are meant to exist in the same universe. And I say "after" because Brand New Day is fun and fast paced throughout, so while some something may through you off guard immediately, it's when you sit and think about it that you realize how...

  Official synopsis: Joe (Seth Rogan) and Angela's (Olivia Wilde) marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbors (Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton) for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places. I was a bit skeptical of this film when I first started hearing about it. Olivia Wilde doing Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? Is this going to be a Book Smart scenario where so many beats are just another version of Superbad ? I had low expectations, which slowly grew and grew as I read more positive reviews after its premiere at Sundance. While you tell Virginia Woolf very much inspired the film visually, the rest of it easily stands on its own. I feel pretty confident in saying this is the best Olivia Wilde has been both in front of and behind the camera. The way this apartment is shot is so visually appealing. It feels so grand, even though we spend the majority of the film in this one setting.  Wilde has always had strong comedic timing...

                                           Official Synopsis: After the Trojan War, Odysseus (Matt Damon) faces a dangerous voyage back to Ithaca, meeting creatures like the Cyclops, Sirens, and Calypso (Charlize Theron) along the way. I'm not going to pretend that I remember exact details of reading the Odyssey, or the Iliad for that matter. It's been so long since I've read those stories that there was just no way I was going to be a book purist about anything in this film. I do know if someone was going to reignite my interest in these stories, it would be Christopher Nolan and this insanely large cast. Did Homer write the first popcorn flick? I think he might have. Everything about this adventure is so exciting on the big screen. From the epic battle scenes, to the SFX work on the creatures, to the amazing score by Ludwig Gorranson, This film was just fun...

The Emmy Nominations are upon us and while the Comedy and Drama categories have all the usual suspects, the Limited Series line up is what truly shocked me.  OUTSTANDING DRAMA The Diplomat The Gilded Age A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Paradise The Pitt Pluribus Slow Horses Your Friends & Neighbors I'm so happy to see A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms here. That was the drama series I was rooting for the most. Of these, I haven't seen any of The Diplomat, The Gilded Age or Your Friends & Neighbors. I'm sure The Pitt has this on lock. I wasn't as high on Pluribus as others were.  LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age Chase Infiniti, The Testaments Keri Russell, The Diplomat Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus Zendaya, Euphoria I'm happy to see Chase Infiniti for The Testaments. I wish there was room for Lucy Halliday too. Zendaya getting nominated for all 3 seasons of Euphoria is a great stat for her. She deserves better than that 3rd season gave her.  LEAD ACTO...

  Official Synopsis:  Two teenage boys, Naim (Joe Brid) and Ryan (Stacy Clausen) must escape a violent entity that takes the form of the person they desire most - each other. Joe Bird is certainly making a name for himself as an up-and-coming Aussie talent to watch. After his excellent turn in another horror flick, Talk To Me , he's back again as the lead here. Leviticus will no doubt draw a lot of comparisons to It Follows. It's about an entity that "follows" its victims after all, but this time instead of being framed like an STD, it's explicitly passed along in a nonconsensual religious ceremony? Possession? I'm not even sure what to call it. It's specifically used to target LGBTQIA youth. This is what sets this film apart. It also effectively builds tension because at times you're never sure if Naim and Ryan are interacting with each other, or the entity.  I might be projecting my own feelings into this a bit, but as much as I enjoyed Leviticus ...

  What I knew going in: Nothing Pride month may have "officially" ended but Pride is all day every day around here. Last month, Letterboxd and various other outlets were asking folks what their favorite film with "queer joy" was, and this one came up quite often. I realized that I had heard the title, but didn't know anything about that. Lucky for me, I was able to correct that wrong on a recent flight.  To Wong Fu may have a ridiculous title but it's one of the most charming movies I've ever seen. Three queens (played by Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes and John Liguizamo) are on a cross country road trip when their car breaks down near a small town. Turns out, they are just what this town needs to broaden their horizons.  "Drag queens saving the day" should be a genre in itself. Everything about this movie was delightful. I expected it to feel very dated to someone just discovering this for the first time in 2026, but I was surprised just how m...

Emmy voters are in deep at the moment so of course I've been trying to follow along. Here are some quick thoughts on a few shows I've recently caught up with.  D.T.F St. Louis - Yes, that's DTF as in "Down to fuck." The most baffling thing to me after watching this is that both Jason Bateman and David Harbour are campaigning as "Supporting" when they are both very clearly leads in this. It's category fraud at its finest. That aside, it's a fine show. It's a murder mystery told through multiple point of views and you'll definitely question the whodunnit aspect throughout it's run time. Harbour is great in it, but he doesn't top Gadd in Half Man for me personally.  Widow's Bay - I had never even heard of this until the folks at Next Best Picture mentioned it on their podcast. I was sold at "Steven King meets Parks and Rec" and that's a perfect way to describe it. Matthew Rhys is blowing my mind in this. He's so...

Official Synopsis: If you found out we weren't alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? I have to say, even after my lukewarm response to The Fabelmans , I was pretty excited for the new Spielberg joint. But I did spiral a bit afterwards. Is Steven Spielberg a dated filmmaker? There were so many moments during Disclosure Day where I thought to myself "Oh, that reminds me of films in the 80's/90's" or "That shot reminds me of things I watched as a kid" at what point are you intentionally nostalgic, or just using dated cuts and edits? It might be a silly question but that's the biggest question I've been asking myself since watching it.  For what it's worth, I did really enjoy Disclosure Day , even if I'm leaning towards "dated." The central mystery was good. Josh O'Connor and Emily Blunt are both excellent actors and it makes their characters easy to follow. Especially Blunt's, as she ge...

Official synopsis: After breaking the mysterious "One Wish Willow" to win his crush's (Inde Navarrette) heart, Baron (Michael Johnston) finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price. I'll admit, when I first saw the trailer for this film, I wrote it off as "horror Ruby Sparks " but when the reviews came out, it piqued my interest and here am I today being humbled.  If you saw my last review for Backrooms , know that Obsession completely rinsed out the bad taste in my mouth from that film. Not only is Obsession effectively scary, it has an actual ending! Imagine that. This film likes to play with shadows and unnatural movements and that's when it's at its most unsettling. It's been a while since I've been genuinely creeped out in a horror film, but there were parts of this film that I was definitely thinking about later when I'd wake up at night. It relies on that more...

Official synopsis: After a therapist's (Renate Reinsve) patient (Chiwetel Ejiofor) disappears into a dimension beyond reality, she must venture into the unknown to save him. I was not familiar with director Kane Parsons' long going Backroom series on the web. And I made the decision not to research it at all before going into this. I really wanted to see if this film worked without knowledge of the existing lore.  The thing is, I was really with Backrooms for the first 2/3 of the film. The production design is outstanding. The 90's setting worked very well and you wouldn't really think of bright yellow office spaces as being unsettling, but it is. It teases you properly with what the reveal could be, but when it comes time to end the thing, it seems Parsons and crew either didn't have those answers, or they cared more about baiting a sequel because this has easily one of the most unsatisfying endings I've seen in a long time. And the more I sit with it, the mor...

  What I knew going in: That famous quote It occurred to me recently that there's a handful of Julia Robert's 90's films that I haven't actually seen, but I feel like I have based on how popular they are in the pop culture zeitgeist. Notting Hill is one of those. Aside from the famous "I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her" quote, what do I actually know about this movie? Not much. Not even the year it was made, because if you had asked me, I would've guessed somewhere between 1990-1994, and not 1999 when this actually came out. I'm not sure how I missed this. I really did just watch Step Mom on repeat I guess. This was cute. Juila Roberts and Hugh Grant are charming. Sure, this film left me with plenty of questions, like how does William survive on a Travel Book Store, what exactly DOES Anna see in him, and how has Spike managed to stay alive all this time? But it doesn't need to be serious enough to answer thos...

Basically all of the shows I've been watching ended over the past couple of weeks, I have plenty of finales to talk about. Diet spoilers ahead. I'm trying to keep them as light as possible.  Daredevil: Born Again - Whether it's on Netflix or Disney Plus, one thing Daredevil has never been able to escape is being dragged into some melodrama. I'm not going to say the entire season was a disaster, because there are absolutely things that worked, and it's not the show's fault that Andor tackled similar subject matter so much better last year. I'm left with the following questions. 1. Why are we still focusing on Heather? It makes sense she's traumatized after nearly dying last season, but now she's Matt's enemy. Do we really need to focus another one of King Pin's underlings? Her choking scene with Buck was very cringy. 2. Where is Frank Castle? I normally try not to ask myself "where is X character" in a super hero universe because w...

Official Synopsis:  Once a lone bounty hunter, Mandalorian Din Djarin (Pedro Pescal) and his apprentice Grogu embark on an exciting new Star Wars adventure. As a Star Wars fan, I feel like I'm put in a bit of a precarious position when it comes to this film. Did this NEED to be a movie, instead of a few more episodes of the existing TV show? Probably not. Did Ludwig Gorannson's score absolutely slap in an IMAX theater sound system? Abso-fucking-lutely.  I just can't bring myself to hating on a movie I had such a good time watching in a theater. Realistically, this could've been three episodes of the already successful TV show. It followed the same format of Mando and Grogu's adventures. Rotta The Hut (Jeremy Allen White) was a fun inclusion as the Huts are always interesting to behold. And Star Wars Rebels fans got thrown a bone with Zeb (Steve Blum) The thing is, if you're going to make the extra effort to make this a movie, they could've added a bit more c...

  Official Synopsis:  Two sisters Racine and Anaia (Kara Young and Mallori Johnson) embark on an epic quest for revenge; confronting a charged family history that will push them to extraordinary lengths. Is God Is sold me immediately on the trailer alone. At the time, I had no idea this was writer/director Alesha Harris' debut work. And even after watching it, it's hard to believe this was someone's first time behind the camera. Harris has such a clear vision for what she wants here. A southern gothic revenge story that feels like you're watching poetry in motion. There times when the twins are talking to each other with looks only, and the accompanying subtitle comes up on screen. I thought she used that very effectively (and at times hilariously) There's a decent amount of dark humor in this story, which is much needed considering it follows two women looking for one of the worst on-screen fathers I've ever seen in my life. You know all along Racine and Anai...

No new theater watches for me this week so here's what I'm watching on the small screen.  Half Man (Episode 3) We have a 3 year time jump from episode 2. Niall is finishing college, and Rueben is going to trial for his attack on Alby. I felt we learned so much more about Rueben in this episode. We already knew he didn't like his father, but the reasons for why it runs so deep really came out in this episode. Ep 3 was frustrating to watch. It's hard watching Niall contemplate lying, it's hard to watch his mom try to manipulate him into doing so, and of course it's hard to see Alby again post his assault. Bless Richard Gadd's brilliant mind though, this is the best show I'm watching on TV right now. I'm glad we'll start seeing more of Gadd and Bell next week. Nothing against the younger lads, they've been great, but I really want more of adult Niall and Rueben. The Testaments (Commitment) After last week focused heavily on Lydia's back st...

Official Synopsis:  Two unlikely allies (Betty Clark and Jessica Zitter) work to bring curiosity, connection, and compassion to a broken healthcare system, one patient at a time. I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to Chaplains in hospitals. I didn't even realize they are mostly non-denominational and serve everyone. I just assumed, since the U.S puts such a heavy focus on Christianity that they would be too. I'm sure some are. But Betty Clark prays and shows compassion to everyone. While I came in skeptical, she easily swayed me. Jessica Zitter, the titular doctor and director of this doc is initially dismissive of Betty. When Betty calls her out on a microaggression in the work place, Zitter at first gets angry, then realizes she was wrong and apologies. And that's one of the main points of this documentary. Acknowledging your biases, and trying to move through them. We see plenty examples of this through their interactions with patients. A black woman with sickle cell ...

Official synopsis:  Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) reunites with Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) as they navigate their careers amid the decline of traditional magazine publishing. When this was initially announced as a sequel, I had zero interest in seeing it. With so many legacy TV shows and movies doing reboots lately, it's just not something I'm ever moved to see, no matter how much I loved the original product. But, like I'm sure the studio would have it, the marketing began to sway me, and suddenly I was accepting of a sequel to a film so iconic. Get my clown make up ready, because I loved this. I went into it with expectations on the lower side and I came out enjoying it almost as much as I did the original. (No Adrien Grener really helps) The fan service to the original was integrated well and kept brief. The story ended up being a lot more intriguing than I gave it credit for. Choosing to focus on the decline of journalism in print was a good choice. I think there'...