First Viewing Viewing Date: June 4th Via: Stan. Plot: A conservative judge is appointed by the President to spearhead America's escalating war against drugs, only to discover that his teenage daughter is a crack addict. Two DEA agents protect an informant. A jailed drug baron's wife attempts to carry on the family business. Rating: 7.9/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: June 4th Via: Cinema Plot: Demonologist Ed and Lorraine Warren investigate a murder that may be linked to a demonic possession. Rating: 7.6/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: June 2nd Via: iTunes Store Plot: Christy Brown, born with cerebral palsy, learns to paint and write with his only controllable limb - his left foot. Rating: 7.7/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: June 2nd Via: iTunes Store Plot: Photographer Robert Kincaid wanders into the life of housewife Francesca Johnson for four days in the 1960s, beginning a special bond that they both remember for the rest of their lives. Rating: 8.8/10
Heavenly God, what an insanely masculine, testosterone-packed motion picture this truly is. In fact, for the first time in history, I've retroactively gone back to change an annual manly movies list to incorporate this in the top spot; otherwise, I'd look like an ignorant fool. (Guns Akimbo was booted to make room, just for the record.) Shot on 16mm film, and produced to feel like a true grindhouse movie from the '70s or '80s (think Assault on Precinct 13), this is an old-fashioned masculine movie in every sense of the word: it's so violent that it feels illegal, there's drinking and smoking, and the movie centres on a bunch of old-school badasses. Indeed, this is something of an all-star cast: Stephen Lang, Martin Kove, Fred Williamson, William Sadler, David Patrick Kelly, and even fucking George Wendt who looks right at home sitting at a bar. These blokes talk like real men and sink piss non-stop, and what is manlier than men banding together to protect a female? As one of them explains, they were duty-bound to help. And for crying out loud, the men want to end the violent slaughter and get out of that situation to get to a titty bar. Even after some of their friends have died. I mean, I would sure want my friends to continue to a titty bar if I was struck down. Oh, and VFW contains surely the most over-the-top, spectacular main villain death since the 1980s. It must also be commended that VFW actually has a diverse cast, but such selections never feel forced or political. And when Lizard, the young lady, kills one of the drug addicts who are after them, it doesn't feel head-slappingly "woke"; it feels earned. VFW doesn't sideline the old dogs, but the young blood characters aren't useless. It's not perfect - some of the cinematography is way too shaky and dark, and I have issues with Kove's character, especially the events which lead to his demise - but the quibbles are minor. It's been a long time since I've seen a movie of this ilk that was executed so damn well. Gentlemen, this is a badass manly movie for the ages; an instant classic.
First Viewing Viewing Date: June 1st Via: iTunes Store Plot: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, finds out that his uncle Claudius killed his father to obtain the throne, and plans revenge. Rating: 6.3/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: June 1st Via: Criterion Channel Plot: A young couple, living in a campus apartment complex, are repeatedly harassed by an eccentric plumber, who subjects them to a series of bizarre mind games while making unnecessary repairs to their bathroom. Rating: 6.4/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: June 1st Via: Disney+ Plot: A mid-20s newspaper reporter enrolls in a local high school as part of research for a story. Rating: 6.2/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: June 1st Via: iTunes Store Plot: In the not-too-distant future when DNA determines a person's level of success, a genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a perfect genetic specimen in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel. Rating: 7.7/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: June 1st Via: iTunes Store Plot: Violinist Sydney Wells was accidentally blinded by her sister when she was five years old. She submits to a cornea transplantation, and while recovering from the operation, she realizes that she is seeing a window into the realm of the deceased. Rating: 5.2/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: May 31st Via: Amazon Prime Plot: A group of old war veterans put their lives on the line to defend a young woman taking shelter in their local VFW post, who's running from a deranged drug dealer and his relentless army of drug addled punks. Rating: 7.7/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: May 31st Via: Blu-ray Plot: Follows the key people at an investment bank, over a crucial 24-hour period, during the early stages of the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Rating: 7.8/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: May 31st Via: Netflix Plot: A filmmaker forges an unusual friendship with an octopus living in a South African kelp forest, learning as the animal shares the mysteries of her world. Rating: 8.9/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: May 31st Via: Blu-ray Plot: A yakuza of Chinese descent and a Japanese cop each wage their own war against the Japanese mafia. But they are destined to meet. Their encounter will change the world. Rating: 6.6/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: May 31st Via: Blu-ray Plot: An account of underground resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Rating: 8.3/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: May 30th Via: Netflix Plot: A man struggles with memories of his past, which include a wife he cannot remember and a nightmarish world no one else ever seems to wake up from. Rating: 8.0/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: May 30th Via: Blu-ray Plot: A deeply religious Christian is drafted in World War I, and serves in the infantry where he proves to be an expert marksman on the battlefield. Rating: 8.3/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: May 29th Via: Blu-ray Plot: The story of Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder. Over a decade after his conviction, a group of Canadians fight to prove Carterโs innocence. Rating: 8.9/10