Flash Frames

A Creeper and Jason Momoa in A Minecraft Movie Yes, I know that this is a later than I hoped it’d be, but don’t get it twisted: I feel obligated to write about A Minecraft Movie , mainly because of my experience watching it. You’ve seen the videos of audiences (that mainly consist of children and teenagers) losing their minds over “CHICKEN JOCKEY,” and I’m here to say… that didn’t happen at my screening. It was insanely packed, but there really weren't any rowdy reactions. As someone who respects good theater etiquette, I’m glad to see that it isn’t dead. Either way, there’s no denying that Minecraft , the game, and A Minecraft Movie are now cultural beasts. The game has been around since 2009, and its popularity really hasn’t dwindled since then. It’s the highest-selling video game ever, and I was saying that even before we’d see the record-breaking box office performance it’s currently in the middle of, this thing was going to make so much money no matter what the reviews were. ...

Rachel Zegler in Snow White Okay, I know I’m stepping into a bit of a landmine here. Before I start off, I gotta get something off of my chest about all this controversy surrounding Snow White , the latest movie that Disney’s decided to remake out of their own catalog of animated movies. I haven’t really been all that harsh to any of the ones I’ve seen. At their best, they’re jolly good shows. Not too much to think about, but maybe it’s because I grew up in a family that was essentially tied to Disney. The Beauty and the Beast remake is probably my personal favorite, even though the original animated movie never really stood out to me as a kid. I’m partial to the Jungle Book remake too, honestly. At their worst, they’re lifeless husks of movies that everyone knows. Somehow, the worst part about the Lion King remake isn’t its tragic waste of Donald Glover: it’s just… The Lion King . Not bad in spirit, but you’re literally watching the exact same movie. I like it when movies shake up ...

Milla Jovovich and Dave Bautista in In the Lost Lands It’s not obvious to see why I ended up going to see this in an empty theater, but I might as well start off with saying that I love going to the movie theater. A bad movie wouldn’t ruin my experience in the theater when it’s all said and done, but having an empty theater is one of the best feelings in the world. That being said, I was fully expecting to have an entire auditorium to myself with In the Lost Lands , the latest movie from Paul W.S. Anderson. If you don’t know that name, he’s mainly the director of the original run of Resident Evil movies with Milla Jovovich, who happens to be his wife. He’s also directed the original Mortal Kombat movie from the 1990s and the sci-fi gem Event Horizon . However, Event Horizon is really the only good movie he’s made out of what I’ve seen. His other movies I’ve seen, mainly the Resident Evil movies, are something I’ve dubbed “nu-metal.” It’s not unlike the subgenre of music where bands...

Still from The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim It’s interesting to see how fast this movie came and went. Yeah, an animated fantasy movie aimed at adults isn’t exactly a wide audience in America, but just look at the title of this post. A new Lord of the Rings movie, the first ever since the Hobbit movies, hit theaters last December. Granted, I didn’t see it until now, maybe that proves just how well this ended up going. I’ve never been too into Lord of the Rings and all that, but I’ve enjoyed what I remember of those movies. I guess this is a reminder that I have to watch those again at some point. Either way, this isn’t just an animated movie: it’s anime, honest-to-god anime. When The War of the Rohirrim was first announced, I thought it would be anime-inspired, like elements of the Spider-Verse movies. I really didn’t think it’d just be anime, but once I saw that Kenji Kamiyama, the director of this, created the Ghost in the Shell series, Stand Alone Complex , that’...

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in Wicked Alright, here we are. We’re basically at the finish line, but I’ve now seen every single nominee for Best Picture at the Oscars this year (I’m ranking all 10 of them tomorrow before the ceremony starts). The last of them, as you can see, is Wicked . The beloved musical took a very long time to hit the silver screen, with an official announcement of a movie coming all the way back in 2012. Admittedly, I wanted to watch this much sooner, but I was in the middle of my final semester in college. Them’s the breaks, but I got it at home and was able to get through the just-under three hour runtime at my own leisure. At this point, I’d usually go into what Wicked is, but come on, I don’t think I really have to. It’s Wicked . That being said, I should mention that this is the first part of a two-parter, with the second act, titled For Good, set to release this Thanksgiving. I mention that because I think this was a game-changing decision that really b...

Still from Flow I bet a lot of people that were watching the Golden Globes didn’t expect Inside Out 2 or The Wild Robot , the expected winner of not just the Globe for Best Animated Feature but the Oscar too, to lose out on that award. However, it did to this movie, Flow . An independent movie from Latvia, which is also a nominee in this year’s Best International Feature category at the Oscars, beating out not only a strong Pixar movie but the Dreamworks underdog is a big deal. Flow not only has the quality to back it up, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if it took home that animated feature Oscar. It’s also a very simple premise: a cat that’s been run out of its home by a massive flood finds shelter with different animals and has to adapt and survive in this new world. I didn’t really know what to expect, but the ties to more fantastical elements would be something to at least watch out for. It doesn’t exactly tie into the plot, but I can’t lie and say that I was expecting it. The a...

Still from Creature Commandos There always is some standard with James Gunn now. Maybe it’s because of the quality, mainly because he’s made the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, but even his DC work in The Suicide Squad (and its Peacemaker spin-off series) has shown that there’s a big audience for his work. I’m certainly in that audience, and I’m personally very excited for his Superman movie. However, it’s well known now that he’s the current co-head of DC Studios, with Peter Safran. Creature Commandos , an animated series that’s wrapped up its first season on Max this week, is the soft launch of the DCU, the new established canon. The reset button has been hit. That being said, there’s some things carrying over. Gunn’s previous DC entries are canon, with events from both The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker being implied to have happened here. That being said, I’m still stuck on why this is the beginning of this new canon. Was there something important here that we have to know? The...

J.K. Simmons and Dwayne Johnson in Red One Cutting right to the chase on this one, especially since it’s after Christmas: Red One is garish. I can’t even say it’s the worst thing in the world, mainly because it’s at least got some ambition to it. Santa Claus is reimagined as a bodybuilding, cookie-eating machine and is played by J.K. Simmons. There’s also little hints to other mythological beings that are probably being set up to show up in a hypothetical sequel, but who knows if that’s going to happen. St. Nick is protected by MORA (Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority), which is basically the S.H.I.E.L.D. equivalent to this world, alongside his personal security team led by The Rock (I can’t remember his character’s name, but I’m not bothered to look it up, so like his contracts for every movie, The Rock wins). Santa’s kidnapped, so The Rock has to team up with hacker Chris Evans (also can’t remember his name) to save Christmas from being annihilated by a Christmas witch...

Lily Rose-Depp in Nosferatu Mentioning how excited I ended up being for Nosferatu in my review of Tarot might have put a curse onto me. Robert Eggers’s career has felt like it’s built up to this. The writer and director of The Witch , The Lighthouse , and The Northman have all been massive hits with me. The Lighthouse is arguably one of my favorite horror movies ever, and The Northman proved that he could tell stories on a massive scale, on top of delivering on some damn good Viking action bits. Even The Witch , a movie that’s grown off of me over the years, deserves credit for launching the career of Anya Taylor-Joy, who’s slowly becoming one of my favorite actors. A Eggers-helmed remake of Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror , F.W. Murnau’s silent masterpiece, has been in the works since before The Witch was even released. To me, it feels like a match made in heaven. Eggers’ washed out, bleak look to his movies feels like perfect material for a vampire flick. As much as I was hyped...

I have to be clear about something here: I don’t think Mad Max is my cup of tea. Leading up to the latest installment, I decided to not only re-watch Mad Max: Fury Road but also watch the Mel Gibson-starring trilogy of movies for the first time. Outside of The Road Warrior , which I thought was good fun, the original and Beyond Thunderdome were just plain bad in my eyes. I also understand that Fury Road feels completely different when compared to the original three movies, but I just adore the overall energy of Fury Road that the entries before it, understandably, lack. That’s not to say that I wasn’t excited for Furiosa , an origin story/prequel to Fury Road . However, in both good ways and bad ways, it wasn’t what I was expecting. As the world fell and Australia became The Wasteland, a young girl is snatched from the Green Place and falls into the hands of a Biker Horde led by Dementus, a warlord. He goes to war with The Immortan Joe, another warlord of The Wasteland. While the ...

I’m not exactly the biggest Ryan Reynolds defender here, but he’s certainly not worn out his welcome with me. Sure, it’s a big thing on the internet to clown on him for being annoying, but I think that break for the last year of any major roles helped me out. What’s funny about that is that it never felt like a break. His last leading role was Spirited back in 2022, which I think was a fun enough movie for a straight-to-streaming holiday musical thing. Ever since then, all the movies he’s been in have been cameos like Bullet Train or Ghosted , which is all on top of his Mint Mobile commercials and his venture into football club Wrexham A.F.C. with Rob McElhenney (and its accompanying show). So, it’s never felt like a break in that regard. However, on the flip side, I’m actually curious to see what John Krasinski could have up his sleeve as a director outside of A Quiet Place . I think he’s done a pretty good job with those movies and it feels like Krasinski wants to show off some ver...