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August 1, 2026

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Evil Dead Burn (2026)

For almost 40 years I’ve been a fan of the Evil Dead series. The Original Trilogy featuring Bruce Campbell is the most entertaining horror mixed with comedy films that I have seen and that includes “Shaun of the Dead” . I was also a big fan of the reboot in 2012 that took the Grim story of demon possession to a straightforward horror film without the presence of our heroic character Ash.

This film and its predecessor however go a long way toward making me question whether or not I should be seeing any future Evil Dead films. In addition to lacking very much humor, “Evil Dead Rise” and this film, “Evil Dead Burn” lack characters that you care much about and the films  go over the top in ways that suggest that there isn’t any good storytelling available to the filmmakers.

The technical aspects of this film are solid. The makeup effects and the various and sundry deaths and injuries are rendered in all too believable detail. So the incompetence of this movie has nothing to do with the technical abilities of the filmmakers but with their storytelling skills. This movie wants you to try and remember that there is a narrative structure but it mostly ignores that so that we just get from point to point to wallow in the most graphic and unpleasant visual images you’ll probably see on the screen this year.  It’s bad enough to have a body whose face gets smashed in, but then to have another character forced to shove their face into the smashed in face of the Dead character, well it’s just unnecessary. This movie is full of the unnecessary gross flourishes that the filmmaker seems to believe  would make a horror film fun. They are wrong, this was not fun, it did not horrify me so much as gross me out. You could probably accomplish the same effect by filming somebody taking a dump, looking up through a glass table that they’re pooping on. 

The premise of the film is that somebody in a family vaguely connected to the original Professor who discovered the Book of the Dead has uncovered a weapon that can in fact destroy the deadites. So the Monstrous dead are attempting to find the weapon and destroy it so they can continue to take over the rest of the world and turn it into the hellscape that the deadites want. 

This time instead of an apartment building or a cabin in the woods we have a decrepit old mansion that the living are occupying as the dead try to take over. Frankly the biggest problem that I have with this film is that I forgot so much of what happened. I’ve been guilty of posting the last few entries about a movie days or even weeks after seeing that film. What happened here in this movie did not benefit from that pause but rather clarified for me how dull and boring the story really was. 

I didn’t hate this movie, but I didn’t love it either and from the point of view of the Evil Dead series, that seems to be a pretty important failure. Sam Rami and Bruce Campbell were both executive producers on this movie. , but they seem to have had very little creative input and somebody should have told the writers and the director that action needs to move a little quicker to have more zip to it

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July 31, 2026

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The Death of Robin Hood (2026)

I’m going to be completely honest with you. The first 40 minutes of this movie are some of the most brutal and violent moments I’ve seen on a movie screen this year. And that says a lot because this movie year has been filled with a lot of violent films. The violence in this film is not framed as like you might find in the low rent Tarantino knock off. It is endemic to the times and the character that we are seeing presented on the screen, it is not stylized or elegant, it is graceless and unpleasant to watch.

Robin Hood is a character that I have followed since I first saw the Errol Flynn movie back in the 1970s. There are several versions of the legend that have come about in the meantime and almost all of them have been faithful to the idea that Robin Hood is largely a heroic figure who sometimes acts in ways that are unconventional and maybe even not very praiseworthy. None of those other films however have come out and tried to reinvent Robin Hood as an amoral murderer who’s happy to Slit your throat over a few tuppence.

Hugh Jackman is a producer on this film and I’m sure he had a big part in getting it made and choosing to play the lead, I’m just not exactly sure why he would choose to do so. I sound pretty down on the film and in large part that’s accurate. In the long run there is some merit to the take that is being presented here. The era in which Robin Hood was supposed to have lived probably was a brutal one, principles are not always followed closely and people would make up their own rules as it was convenient for them. There’s an attempt to make this a Redemptive Arc but it doesn’t really go very far and I found the resolution less than satisfying. 

If you’re looking for a movie with a grim vision of the world, and a hero that you want to sympathize with but can’t then this is the movie for you. It’s competently put together, and very well made by a director that I have admired in the past, but I would warn you away from this, if you have any doubts about these kinds of reimagining, because this one was completely unnecessary and largely unpleasant.

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July 19, 2026

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Singin’ in the Rain-Revisit (Paramount Summer Classic Film Series)

This is the last full film I saw at the Paramount Theater before it closed.  For the next 11 months it’s going to undergo renovation and hopefully be restored to even greater Beauty. It’s hard to imagine a more fitting closure then seeing the greatest musical of all time one more time on the big screen.

I love singing in the rain, I can’t understand people who don’t like musicals, and I’m especially suspicious of anybody who doesn’t love this musical. This film has everything, is in hysterical comedy, with terrific dancing and singing numbers, set in the Golden Age of Hollywood, dealing with some of the real problems that came with the Advent of sound, and it stars the great Gene Kelly.

There are so many iconic numbers in this film, that I’m not sure I could get to the mall and it doesn’t paragraphs. So I’ll just remind everybody the gene Kelly’s dancing in the rain, will probably the most visually iconic, is certainly not the only memorable musical sequence in the film. Donald O’Connor steals the movie for 5 minutes with his routine make him laugh. Debbie Reynolds, takes the lead on good morning, and  Cyd Charice doesn’t sing she just dances like an angel Moving On A Cloud along with her partner Gene Kelly. 

Of course the biggest thief in the film is Jean Hagen, who plays the movie star with a voice to die for, I’m sorry I meant to voice to die from. Silent screen Stars sometimes didn’t make the transition to the talkies for a reason. Instead of making this a tragedy however, Gene Kelly and co-director Stanley donen turn this into a farce. And what a lovely time we all get to have as a result. 

Good luck and for a short time farewell to the Paramount Theater, You Are My Lucky Star.

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July 19, 2026

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Raiders of the Lost Ark-Revisit (Paramount Summer Classic Film Series)

As Indy himself said, it’s not the years it’s the miles. Although 45 years does seem like a long time and that’s how long it’s been since the first Indiana Jones Adventure stormed onto our screens and blew away the movie houses and their audiences.

We’re not going to go into depth on this particular post, there are plenty of other entries on the blog then look at the particulars of the film. I’m just happy to see it once again on the big screen and in particular at the Paramount Theater during the summer classic film series. The Paramount Theater is about to close for a year for renovation and remodeling so I have one final week to enjoy the beautiful old theater and then a whole 11 months to wait to get to enjoy the restoration.

I’m not sure there’s a better way to go out than with the screening of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. The theater was packed this evening, and I was flying solo, Amanda haven’t gone to a conference.  Believe me at the first crack of the whip I was set to enjoy the evening, I wish I had my old Indiana Jones fedora, it either shrink or my head got too big and I lost it long ago. I did have on the right shirt for the evening though and I got a couple of comments about that.

Don’t let any may tell you that there’s a plot hole that makes Indiana Jones completely irrelevant to the outcome of the film. First of all that short-sighted, the point of the film is to enjoy the adventure, and without Indiana Jones there would be no Adventure. As for solving the puzzle, there are actually two or three spots where Indiana Jones presence is necessary for the plot to proceed. Those nitpickers who are trying to tell you otherwise should just mind their own business.

Seeing Raiders on the big screen immediately invites me to revisit the rest of the films in the series. Although the world is full of people who hate the fourth movie, I’m not one of them. It may be the least of the Indiana Jones films but it’s still a heck of a good time. Indiana Jones and the dial of Destiny, the fifth film in the franchise, and the only one not directed by Steven Spielberg, is also quite good, but let’s face it the first and the third are the best in the series. So maybe for Father’s Day I’ll catch up with Last Crusade, but until then I’m just going to enjoy the memory of Indiana Jones swinging out to the biplane, punching Nazis in the face, and falling in love with Marion all over again.

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June 12, 2026

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Pressure (2026)

What started out as a boutique experience at the movies for us turned into one of the most compelling films of the year. We saw this film while we were in New York City for a wedding, and it was a last-minute choice on our part because it was playing at an AMC theater and we have the A-list pass so it just seemed like a fun idea to go to a movie in the Big Apple. This is a relatively small film about one of the biggest events of the last century: the invasion of Europe by Allied Forces to defeat the Nazis. The plot revolves around one of the smallest details imaginable but one that is crucial to the events that take place.  This is a movie about a weather forecast.

Brendan Fraser returns to the screen as General Dwight Eisenhower, the supreme commander of Allied Forces in World War II. He and the Brain Trust of the allies are planning the invasion of Normandy for time and secrecy. I thought Frasier’s performance was very effective and probably close to the way Eisenhower must have felt at the time. Although I’m reasonably well first in the history of the war I was not particularly aware of the drive run failure that Eisenhower took responsibility for when Friendly Fire killed a number of Allied troops. The uncertainty of War is thus introduced as a key element of the story here. The general is looking to replace his own doubts with confidence in data that he doesn’t really understand. The inability to trust your own decision making and look for other information that’s going to help you to choose is what makes this movie compelling. 

Andrew Scott plays Captain James Stagg, a meteorologist for the British army who is trusted implicitly by Churchill but whose brittle demeanor and prickly personality alienates him from his Allied meteorologist and the chain of command that ends with Eisenhower.  Everybody who has read about World War II will have some understanding about the timing of the invasion. Operation Overlord had to be delayed because of a storm, it turns out however that the storm was not really well predicted and that the English meteorologist who had a better understanding of the North Atlantic weather patterns was the one Authority the military should be relying on. It’s always interesting to me when an historical event that people know the outcome of can be presented with some suspense in spite of the fact that we know how things ended up.

The title pressure refers not only to the weather pattern but to the choices that were faced by General Eisenhower and by Captain stag. Ike is looking for certainty where none is possible, but the meteorologist working for the Americans wants to provide that certainty. The British captain, on the other hand, recognizes that such certainty is not possible when it comes to the weather of the North Atlantic. That does not however mean there is no confidence in his predictions. His perceived arrogance combined with his prickly manner, make it difficult for others to trust him in spite of his wisdom.

This is a modestly budgeted film that features a lot of talking and rooms filled with data sheets and War plans. The setting is the headquarters of the American expeditionary Force, a beautiful estate that seems like the perfect setting for observing the weather. There are a few battle sequences that concern The Invasion much of that however gravel footage. There are a few second unit set pieces to illustrate how the weather affected the invasion, but this remains for the most part a suspense film based on the conflicts between men who are all under a high degree of stress.

I have a weakness for films that move me emotionally. That’s really why I go to the movies, to feel something. Sure there are times when those emotions are manipulated and if it is done in a heavy-handed way it could create a little bit of resistance to the film. That is not what is happening in this movie. The true nature of the cause is enough to inspire us. The drama between the two men at the heart of the story is compelling enough to keep us glued to the screen. The performances seem honest enough to make our emotional reactions feel sincere. More than 80 years after the events depicted in the film I can still feel a sense of pride in the men and women who made such a significant difference in the world. Thank goodness they could sustain themselves through the pressure.

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June 12, 2026

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The Mandolorian and Grogu (2026)

A Star Wars movie used to bring out huge crowds enthusiastic acolytes in an energy level that would be hard to match. Those days are long gone primarily because the movie going experience is changed so much in the last 50 years. Next year we will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original Star Wars, which had the cultural impact of the nuclear bomb on Hollywood and the youth culture. This new Star Wars film The Mandalorian and Grogu, it certainly not going to have that kind of impact. This is an adaptation of an IP created for the Disney Channel after it acquired the Star Wars property.

The Mandalorian has been a successful streaming series for Disney Plus, and in many ways it recreates some of the emotional touchstones of the original franchise. There are characters that we get a chance to know and care about although frankly the emotional depth of those characters is less than it should be. The benefit however is that we are a little more invested in what happens and are not just there for the spectacle, although frankly the spectacle is pretty spectacular.

Mandalorian and Grogu is a standalone feature enjoyed by anyone with a passing familiarity to the Star Wars universe. You do not have to be particularly invested in the three seasons of the show before you see this film. If you’ve seen any of the other Star Wars movies then you are relatively well prepared for what comes here. Like the original film which has subsequently been dubbed A New Hope, the Mandalorian and Grogu is a straightforward Western plot setting outer space. We know who the good guys are we can identify the bad guys, and there are a lot of other characters who show up that we can enjoy regardless of which side they end up on. 

There is a three act structure in the film; they really seem to focus on three story arcs that probably would have been episodes of the TV series. The cold open, extends the sequence long enough to have probably covered three episodes before we move on to the main villains of the season. The second act introduces key characters that are going to be in play for the rest of the film, and we get some good set pieces that take advantage of new technologies. In a call back to the original Star Wars there is a gladiator style contest that looks like it is a real world version of the game that R2D2 and Chewbacca play on the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars. Only in this instance do we have life-sized creatures facing off against each other and our heroes. And later turns into a chase with these creatures in the film Noir environment but the movie seems to be emulating. If you took Bob Hoskins out of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and dropped him into Blade Runner you would have the second act of this film, as the Mandalorian is in Pursuit of a gangster who is also part of a revived Galactic Empire movement. 

When that section of the film ends we get reconnected to the true big bads of the film, the evil twins who were brother and sister to Jabba the Hutt. A lot like Han Solo the Mandalorian ends up disfavored by the huts and captured to be tortured and killed. It is up to Grogu to manufacture I’ll rescue and that takes up the last third of the film. There’s nothing wrong with the three story arcs, but it does make it feel as if this is a condensed version of a 9 or 10 hour series of episodes.

There are plenty of other callbacks in the film both to the original Star Wars franchise into cross-pollinating Disney Plus Star Wars series. People who are fans of those series will probably be excited to see some of the characters that show up but folks who haven’t seen all of those other shows will not be too confused by what’s taking place. It’s safe to see this film without having completed all of your homework. I was not on the episode of the Lambcast where we covered this movie. But my fellow Lambs expressed the same sorts of feelings I had about the movie! It is generally delightful, a little derivative, and maybe not as well structured as it could be, but you don’t care because you’re having a good time watching a Star Wars movie, and it’s fun.