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Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus Movie Review
I’ve been a Charles Bronson fan since I was in the 3rd grade.
I grew up watching his movies and am still a fan to this day.
I’ve even made my girlfriend Mariah a fan of Bronson.
However, as much of a fan as I am, there was one movie in particular I had never seen until many years after it aired on television.
Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus was a TV movie released in 1991, actually when I became a fan, but I just missed it.
Hey better late than never.
This is quite the departure for what Bronson had become known for at this point.
He started off playing all kinds of different roles, but later on, he became known for playing killers, cops, and basically all tough guy roles. And he did them well.
This movie brought him back, I think, to being a more well rounded character actor.
He plays Frank Church, a newspaper reporter who has covered so many big stories in his career. However, his editor/friend played by Ed Asner, gives him the assignment of a lifetime: writing a piece in reply to a little girl named Virginia asking the newspaper if there is indeed a Santa Claus.
Bronson’s character is also self destructive, having lost his wife recently, so he is struggling. However, he does find inspiration and is able to respond to Virginia with this great, touching piece declaring that there is indeed a Santa Claus.
This is a very heartwarming and inspiring movie.
Also starring Richard Thomas as Virginia’s Dad, this is a great Christmas movie and just a great movie for the whole family to see.
Yes quite a departure from what Charles Bronson had become known for, but if you only know of his tough guy roles, this movie I feel will pleasantly surprise and show you that he really could act.
Although he does have one moment in the movie where he punches someone, his character here has much more depth and it was refreshing to see, even though I love his tough guy roles tremendously.
Also, I miss him very much.
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Red One Movie Review
The day after I saw the great movie Wicked (review here), I went back to my local theater to see the movie Red One.
I’ve been looking forward to this one for some time and I was not disappointed.
Dwayne Johnson (The Rock in WWE) plays Callum Drift, the body guard and friend of Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons), and is one day away from retiring.
However, Santa is kidnapped and Callum has to find him.
A great cast includes Chris Evans (Jack O’ Malley, who ends up helping Callum and he’s awesome in this movie), Lucy Liu (Zoe, who is a top government agent working alongside Callum), Kiernan Shipka (Gryla, the main villain who is a shape shifting witch plotting to imprison every person on the naughty list in a snow globe), Kristofer Hivju (Krampus, Santa’s brother), and Bonnie Hunt (Mrs. Claus).
This is already a favorite of mine and I want to see this movie many more times over the course of my life.
It is a fun action movie (which I’m all about) and it’s also a fun Christmas movie for everyone to see.
Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans make a great team in this very fun, action packed, Christmas thrill ride.
Red One is a great movie. Period.
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Wicked (2024) Movie Review
My girlfriend Mariah went to see the movie Wicked and loved it. She really wanted me to go see it so I did.
I was not sure I would like it, but as it turned out, I loved it.
This movie mainly focuses on the characters Elphaba Thropp (played by Cynthia Erivo), later known as the Wicked Witch of the West, and Galinda Upland (played by Ariana Grande-Butera), later known as Glinda The Good. It focuses on their relationship, which is not good at first, but they both later become friends.
If you are a fan of The Wizard Of Oz or a fan of this story, then I think you will enjoy it.
Along with Erivo and Grande, Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh plays Madame Morrible, Jeff Goldblum plays The Wizard of Oz. That’s just some of the great cast.
And the songs are phenomenal too and it’s a beautiful looking movie.
This movie is also part 1 of a 2 part story. I know some people may not like this aspect of it, but I’m ok with it. It’s more to look forward to.
Like I said, if you are a fan of The Wizard Of Oz or of musicals, I cannot imagine you not enjoying this movie.
I’m not an expert on this story and I loved it.
Go see it!!
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The Substance Movie Review
My girlfriend Mariah and I watched the movie called The Substance this past weekend.
We became aware of this movie some time ago and thought it looked really good.
Well, we were right.
If you have not seen this yet and want to, avoid reading the rest of this because I will be giving spoilers. Otherwise, please read on.
Demi Moore, in may I say one of her best roles, plays an Academy Award winning actress who is now hosting an exercise show. However, she finds out indirectly from her boss (played by Dennis Quaid in a very over the top performance) that she is being fired for being too old.
After this, she gets in a car accident (she suffers no injuries) and while she is at the hospital, a nurse gives her a USB drive that features an ad about a way to be young again.
Intrigued, she goes to this very shady, isolated looking place to get the stuff needed to make the procedure happen.
And let’s just say it initially works. What happens is that another form of her (played by Margaret Qualley) comes out of Demi and for 7 days, this part of herself will exist and Demi will basically not exist. But after 7 days, she has to “not exist” and Demi will exist for 7 days.
This goes on for awhile and as I said initially, it works. However, both get greedy let’s say with their time and how they handle things, and in the end, it does not work out for either part.
I think this movie is excellent.
Again, Demi gives one of her best performances.
Dennis Quaid is soooooo over the top.
Margaret Qualley is great.
The cinematography, sets, music, everything is phenomenal.
This movie I consider science fiction, but also an extreme story of how people will do anything to remain young.
Seek out The Substance.
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My Thoughts on the Terrifier Franchise
As I’ve said in earlier posts, I’m late to the Horror genre.
I’ve been a fan of some Horror movies over the years (Halloween franchise and some of the Horror movies from the 30s, 40s, and 50s), but overall, was never a big fan until the last few years.
I’m still catching up and have a long way to go, but this year, I finally decided to watch the Terrifier movies.
The main character, Art The Clown, started off in an anthology movie called All Hallow’s Eve, and was so popular that a movie with him as the main star was made.
Terrifier is a very low budget Horror movie in which a killer clown (David Howard Thornton) wreaks havoc in very bizarre and gruesome ways.
Terrifier 2 involves Art getting even more gruesome and also has a “final girl” as they are called in Horror movies named Sienna (played by Lauren LaVera) who has to fight against Art.
Terrifier 3 has Sienna being released from a mental hospital and spending Christmas time with family members (her mother was killed in the second movie and her father has been dead for some time), and ultimately having to fight Art again, who of course is more gruesome and evil than ever.
These movies are DEFINITELY NOT for everyone.
I usually would hate movies like these because I am not a fan of extreme blood and gore, but for these movies, this works.
The Terrifier movies have become extremely popular (as I type this, Terrifier 3 has been number one at the box office for a few weeks) and Art The Clown has become a modern day Horror movie icon.
I look forward to seeing the next one because I’m sure there will be another and more after that.
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Beetlejuice Beetlejuice 2024 A.D. Movie Review
Let me preface this by saying I have loved the movie Beetlejuice since it was almost new, when it was released in 1988.
And I have read rumors for years about a possible sequel, but it never quite happened.
But now it FINALLY has.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice 2024 A.D. was released on September 6 of 2024, and I think it was worth the wait.
Director Tim Burton returns with title star Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara reprising their roles in this new tale.
I’m going to give spoilers here, so don’t read on unless you have already seen it or don’t care: Winona Ryder’s character, Lydia Deetz, at this point is a rich TV show host talking about ghosts and the paranormal/supernatural.
Her Dad from the first movie passes away so her, along with O’Hara’s character Delia, and Winona’s daughter in the movie Astrid (played by Jenna Ortega) go to the funeral at the old house from the first movie.
Beetlejuice, who has obsessed over Lydia since the first movie, ultimately gets her attention when Lydia’s daughter is taken into the otherworld and wants Beetlejuice to help her.
Also, Beetlejuice is now in fear of his soul being sucked away by a literal soul sucker named Delores (played by Monica Bellucci), who was also Beetlejuice’s wife from many years ago.
I’m spoiling everything here, but let’s just say that all you loved about the first movie is pretty much here.
Michael Keaton is still awesome as Beetlejuice, causing crazy things to happen. But Keaton is always awesome in every part he plays, in my opinion.
Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara are very good in reprising their characters, and the rest of the cast are solid and all do a great job.
Most especially Willem Dafoe, who plays a fun actor/cop.
No, this movie is not 36 years old and so it hasn’t had decades to be adored. So please take that out of the equation, and just have fun with it.
I think it is a lot of fun and I laughed and smiled a lot watching it.
Go see it.
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Alien: Romulus Movie Review
Alien: Romulus was released to theaters August 16 of 2024.
Counting Prometheus and the two Alien Vs. Predator movies, this is the 9th movie of the Alien franchise.
Let me preface by saying that I love Alien and Aliens, which are the first two movies.
Alien 3 I think is OK.
Alien: Resurrection is weird.
I like Alien Vs. Predator and I hate Alien Vs. Predator Requiem.
I like Prometheus, but I was more hyped about it before I saw it.
Alien Covenant is good, but not great.
Now to Alien: Romulus.
This movie is more in line with the first movie, in terms of story and look, but yet is still not a carbon copy.
I think it is good, however, there is one character in it that annoys me. I say that because I can barely understand what he’s saying because he has a very thick accent and speaks fast. No offence to the actor, but that just annoyed me.
Also, with help of technology, the likeness of one of the actors from the first Alien movie is in this, but yet, is a different character. I think that was cool and well done, but it also took me out of the movie some too some because I was confused as to whether he was the same character or different. But it was well done.
Aside from all of that, it is a very well made science fiction/horror/thriller.
It is set 20 years after the first Alien movie, and 37 years before the second movie Aliens.
The story consists of a group of people that want to leave their planet that has no sun to a planet that does have one.
However, they ultimately land on a ship that has at least 36 Aliens on it, and if you know about any of these movies, you more or less know what happens next.
I don’t think this ranks up with the first two, but that is unfair to say.
It is well made, the cast is good (other than me not being able to understand one of the actors), and the effects look more practical and real than just all computer generated imagery, which I greatly appreciate.
I’ve read that this movie is making big money at the box office already, and I think that is a great thing.
If you are a fan of this franchise, especially the first movie, I recommend checking it out.
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Happy 40th Anniversary to The Terminator Movie
The year 2024 marks 40 years since the release of the movie The Terminator.
There have since been 5 more Terminator movies, as well as one TV series, an anime show on Netflix coming soon as of this writing, and I’m sure more to come after that.
I love it all and I’ll watch all of the future ones, but again, it all started with the first movie in 1984.
For a one night only screening somewhat near where I live, The Terminator showed at a movie theater on Tuesday of August 13th.
Now, I’ve owned this movie for decades, on both VHS and DVD, but I could not resist going to see this movie on the big screen.
It was a great experience. I truly felt like I was in that world.
For those of you who may not know, The Terminator is a about a cyborg (Arnold Schwarzenegger) traveling back through time to kill a woman (Linda Hamilton) before she can give birth to her son, who in the future will help humanity conquer the machines who have mostly destroyed the world.
Another man (Michael Biehn) travels back through time to protect her.
I must say with full disclosure: I first watched this movie after I had seen Terminator 2: Judgement Day several times. So T1 was a shocker to me.
Also, I was still pretty young then too, and T1 actually scared me. In some respects, it still does, even though I’m quite a bit older now and think the movie is great, and actually better than T2 and the others, which I also love too.
I think that since this movie was a lower budget project, everyone had to really be even more creative with what they did, and ultimately did a lot with little.
Whereas the later movies had bigger budgets and they show it all on the screen.
And I love all of them too, but T1 really says and shows it all.
It has future war sequences. It shows how Terminators work. It really takes you into that scary world and gives you the whole scenario.
And it’s such a gritty movie too and it works brilliantly that way.
Michael Biehn (Kyle Reese) arguably plays his best character ever in this movie.
Arnold Schwarzenegger does not have a lot of dialogue, or quite frankly many scenes, but wow does he make his presence felt. Arnold is one of my biggest heroes and I’ve been lucky to briefly meet him and be around him a few times. And I can say he is a very driven, but positive person.
But in T1, he really is scary. He is brilliant in this part.
Linda Hamilton really plays her part, Sarah Connor, very well. And if you watch T1 and T2 back to back, wow do you really see her acting range, and in Terminator Dark Fate, too, which I think is highly underrated.
The supporting cast in T1 is quite good, especially the police characters (played by Lance Henriksen and Paul Winfield). I could have used more of them in the movie. They bring just a tinge of humor to what is mostly a very bleak, scary story.
Even the score, made by the amazing Brad Fiedel, is quite haunting and scary, but brilliant and perfect for this movie.
The effects may look dated to some people in 2024, but to me, they work brilliantly. Stan Winston and his team and Gene Warren Jr. and his team really brought their A+++ game, as did everyone, to this movie.
This is Director/Co-Writer James Cameron’s arguably finest work, in my opinion.
He’s gone on to do bigger movies, but for me, none of them have the impact this one does, and I’m a fan of his work.
He and Producer/Co-Writer Gale Ann Hurd (who I have a ton of respect for and consider to be a pioneer in the movie and TV industry), along with everyone else who made this movie, really made magic here.
And to me it is a very powerful movie that has a story that I feel is more topical and current than it was then.
The story is very straight forward, but also has a lot of layers to it.
And even though this movie still scares me (I’ve had several dreams over the decades of a Terminator coming after me or of me just being in that world because of this movie.), I find it to be a great thrill ride that does not let go.
I love the whole franchise, but to me, T1 is the best.
It was great seeing it on the big screen for one night only.
And the special edition DVD I have of it is phenomenal. It includes a few awesome documentaries and Easter eggs.
If you’ve never seen The Terminator, give it a watch. And watch the others too.
One of my favorite movie franchises.
Thank you to everyone who made T1.
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Deadpool & Wolverine Movie Review
This movie has been a LONG time coming.
I’ve been wanting Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) and Hugh Jackman (Wolverine/Logan) to a movie like this together for a LONG time.
I know they did it in the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie that everyone but me hates, but this is more like it.
I still want them to do a buddy cop movie together too, but I digress.
This movie, Deadpool & Wolverine, is a lot of fun.
Very violent and very vulgar, which is the way you want it to be.
Very funny too, although for me, as much as I enjoyed this, the first Deadpool is the best for me, in terms of the humor.
But it is awesome to see these two play these parts together the way it should be done.
It’s great seeing Hugh back as Logan/Wolverine, and in the suit this time. Spoiler: he even puts on the mask too.
Both Hugh and Ryan interact very well together.
Lots of great action, tons of funny/silly dialogue, and lots of cool cameos too (Spoiler: Wesley Snipes returns as Blade!!!!! That’s just one of others.)
Fun movie.
Go see it.
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Maxxxine Movie Review
One of my best friends Jamie McClintic and I went to see the movie Maxxxine on July 7.
It was released on July 3 and it is the third movie of director/producer/writer/editor Ti West’s X film series.
Mia Goth is the star, reprising her role of the previous movies (X and Pearl) of Maxine Minx, a porn star, with a mysterious past, trying to get into the movie business.
She auditions for a part and gets it, however, she finds herself caught in the middle of a series of murders that may or may not be linked to the infamous “Night Stalker” murders of the 1980s.
Also starring Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, and Lily Collins, this is a very good thriller. A bit gory at times, but effective.
It also has a lot of cool music in it. Including a Judas Priest song recorded in the 80s but not released until 2001 called Prisoner Of Your Eyes!! As a big Priest fan, I find that very cool!
Check it out.
Jamie and I really enjoyed it.
