TRASH IN MY EYE Reviews: Fantasy

Showing posts with label Fantasy. Show all posts

Saturday, October 25, 2025

Review: "KPOP DEMON HUNTERS" - They Will, They Will Rock You!

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 38 of 2025 (No. 2044) by Leroy Douresseaux

KPop Demon Hunters (2025)

Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)

Rating: MPA – PG for action/violence, scary images, thematic elements, some suggestive material and brief language

DIRECTORS: Chris Appelhans and Maggie Kang

WRITERS: Danya Jimenez & Hannah McMechan and Chris Appelhans and Maggie Kanga; from a story by Maggie Kang

PRODUCER: Michelle L.M. Wong

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Gary H. Lee

EDITOR: Nathan Schauf

COMPOSER: Marcelo Zarvas

ANIMATION/MUSICAL/FANTASY

Starring: (voices) Adren Cho, May Hong, Ji-young Yoo, Ahn Hyo-seop, Yunjin Kim, Ken Jeong, Daniel Dae Kim,Liza Koshy, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, Andrew Choi, and Lee Byung-hun

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

KPop Demon Hunters is one of the best and most unusual animated musical films I have ever seen

Sterling characters, jukebox rocking music, and stellar animation make it a winner

KPop Demon Hunters will not only entertain its target audience – young viewers, but it will also capture that imaginations of older folk (like me) as well

KPop Demon Hunters is a 2025 American animated musical fantasy film from directors Chris Appelhans and Maggie Kang and produced by Sony Pictures Animation. The film is a “Netflix Original” and began streaming on the service June 20, 2025. It also received two-day limited theatrical release on August 23rd and 24th. KPop Demon Hunters focuses on the members of a world-renowned K-Pop girl group, who are also secret demon hunters, as they confront the rising popularity of a new boy band whose members are also demons.

KPop Demon Hunters is set in a world, where long ago, demons preyed on humans and fed the souls of humans to their ruler, Gwi-Ma (Lee Byung-hun). Eventually, three women became demon hunters and sealed the demons away with a magical barrier called the "Honmoon." The legacy of these women warriors continued across the generations. With each new generation, three new women arose and used their singing voices to maintain the Honmoon. The goal was and is to eventually strengthen the Honmoon into the “Golden Honmoon.” which is the final seal that would banish demons from the human world permanently. Also, when demons masquerade as humans, they can be identified by marks known as “demonic patterns.”

In the present day, the new generation of demon-hunting young women are the members of the K-pop girl group, “Huntrix” (stylized as “Huntr/x”). Huntrix is comprised of three young singers. Rumi (Arden Cho with Ejae providing Rumi's singing voice) is the lead singer, and her hunter's weapon is a “saingeom” sword. Mira (May Hong with Audrey Nuna providing Mira's singing voice) is the dancer and rapper, and her hunter's weapon is a “gokdo” polearm. Zoey (Ji-young Yoo with Rei Ami providing Zoey's singing voice) is the singer-songwriter, and her hunter's weapons are “shinkal” throwing knives.

One of the members of Huntrix has a dark secret. Rumi has a secret demon heritage, and she has demonic patterns that are slowing spreading over her body. Rumi's foster mother, Celine (Yunjin Kim), has told her that turning the Honmoon gold (the Golden Honmoon) would cause the erasure of her demonic patterns.

However, trouble arrives in the form of a new rivals in the world k-pop for Huntrix. In the demon world, Gwi-Ma has grown enraged at the failure of his minions to defeat Huntrix. He creates his own K-pop boy band, the “Saja Boys,” featuring four demons and a lead singer who is a former human named Jinu (Ahn Hyo-seop with Andrew Choi providing Jinu's sing voice). The Saja Boys begin to steal Huntrix's fans, but it is Jinu's affect on Rumi that could turn the fate of the world over to Gwi-Ma. And the “International Idol Awards” is where the final showdown will occur and where Rumi, Mira, and Zoey's fates will be decided.

Korean popular music or “K-pop” emerged in the 1990s in Korea and was heavenly influenced by American music, especially R&B, dance music, rock music, and, of course, rap and hip-hop. [In the 1980s, many white people insisted that rap was a fad, and now, hip-hop and rap, specifically, are omnipresent and influence music and culture all over the world.] I like K-pop, but I am really not a fan... yet. However, after watching the deliriously entertaining KPop Demon Hunters, I could become something of a fan.

The film's characters are an utter delight, and I found myself mesmerized by Huntrix's trio and by Juni. Juni's Saja Boys mates are also quite fetching – in their human forms. If fiction needs interesting characters, then, KPop Demon Hunters has that in an embarrassment of riches, thanks to sparkling voice performances and sterling singing voices.

Sony Pictures Animation basically always turns out high-quality computer-animated films. KPop Demon Hunters may be Sony's best animated film outside of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and its sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023). In terms of character movement, backgrounds and environments, colors, and special effects, KPop Demon Hunters rivals the films of DreamWorks Animation, which is also known for vibrant and their visually rich worlds and for their expressive and emotional characters.

KPop Demon Hunters is a winner. I love it. Its unexpected and breakout success apparently made it Netflix's most-watched title ever. I highly recommend that you feel the music.

9 of 10

A+

Saturday, October 25, 2025

------------------

Wednesday, July 30, 2025

Review: "THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS" Focuses on Family

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 32 of 2025 (No. 2038) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

Running time: 115 minutes (1 hour, 55 minutes)

Rating: MPA – PG-13 for action/violence and some language

DIRECTOR: Matt Shakman

WRITERS: Josh Friedman, Eric Person, and Jeff Kaplan & Ian Springer; from a story by Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan & Ian Springer, and Kat Wood (based on the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)

PRODUCER: Kevin Feige

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jess Hall (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: Nona Khodai and Tim Roche

COMPOSER: Michael Giacchino

SUPERHERO/SCI-FI/ACTION and FANTASY/DRAMA

Starring: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Ralph Ineson, Julia Garner, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss, and Matthew Wood (voice)

SUMMARY OF REVIEW:

-- I found the lead characters, “The Fantastic Four” to be a bit too mild-mannered, and things do seem to come too easily for them. However, this quartet is quite lovable and adorable, and when he comes along, the baby starts to steal the show.

-- “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” has two great villains in Galactus and the Silver Surfer, with the Surfer dominating most scenes in which she appears. In fact, the action scenes are hyper-intense and breathtaking. I was riveted to the screen while watching them.

-- Overall, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is by far the best “Fantastic Four” movie to date, and I put it ahead of the recent “Superman” and “Thunderbolts*”

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a 2025 American superhero movie and science fiction film from director Matt Shakman and Marvel Studios. The film is based on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, which was created by artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee and first appeared in the comic book, The Fantastic Four #1 (cover dated: November 1961). It is also the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the second reboot of the Fantastic Four film franchise. In First Steps, the Fantastic Four is forced to balance their family life and their superhero life as never before when a god-like space being and his enigmatic herald arrive and mark Earth for destruction.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps opens on Earth-828 in the year 1960. It introduces “The Fantastic Four,” a quartet of astronauts turned superheroes. First is the highly intelligent scientist, Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), who as “Mr. Fantastic” can stretch any part of his body to great lengths. Next is Reed's wife, Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), the founder of the “Future Foundation,” a global demilitarization and world peace organization. As the “Invisible Woman” Sue can generate force fields and turn invisible. Then, there is the brilliant pilot, former astronaut, and Reed's best friend, Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), a.k.a. “The Thing,” whose skin has been transformed into a layer of orange rock, which grants him super-human strength and durability. Finally, there is Sue's younger brother, Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), who as the “Human Torch,” can engulf his body in flames, control fire, and fly.

The world honors The Fantastic Four for what they have given humanity, so when Reed and Sue reveal that they are expecting a child, the world celebrates and prepares for the new arrival, while also wondering if the child will also have super-powers. However, the celebrating is short-lived. A metallic-skinned, seemingly-female alien arrives from space, riding a surfboard. This “Silver Surfer” (Julia Garner) is the herald of Galactus (Ralph Ineson), a planet-devouring cosmic being, and he is coming to devour Earth. Now, the members of The Fantastic Four face their toughest test ever, and the price they must pay to save the Earth may be too high for even them to pay.

I actually enjoyed Tim Story's two Fantastic Four films the aughts, Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007). Director Josh Trank's 2015 reboot of the franchise, Fantastic Four, had a lot of good ideas, but alleged studio interference turned the film into a wreck. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is not at all a wreck. Its intense action sequences had me gripping the armrests of my seat at the local movie theater. The villains are great. Galactus is awesome and even scarier than the gargantuan “Celestials” of Marvel Studios' 2021 epic, Eternals; he seemed unbeatable. Julia Garner's Silver Surfer is 10 times the herald the one in Rise of the Silver Surfer is. This Silver Surfer, whose original name was “Shalla Bal,” is like a velociraptor on a surfboard. She chases our heroes with the unrelenting hellish fury of the “Headless Horseman” that chases Ichabod Crane in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” segment of Disney's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949).

On the other hand, the heroes of The Fantastic Four: First Steps come across as too mild-mannered. They are so accomplished that everything seems to come too easy for them. Even when they are angry with one another, that anger lacks passion. In fact, I'd call the cast and characters dispassionate. It is as if the film's director, Matt Shakman, who does an excellent job overall, wants his leads to be inoffensive. I like the casting of the leads, but they need to breath a little more fire.

In the end, I like that Disney and Marvel Studios finally take the opportunity to honor the late Jack Kirby (1917-1994), the comic book writer-artist who created the Fantastic Four with the late Stan Lee (1922-2018). There are several nods to Kirby, and this is long overdue. That makes me love First Steps even more. It is almost a great film, and its special effects and inventive and imaginative retro-futuristic elements endlessly fascinate me. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is hugely entertaining, and these are the right first steps to bring the Fantastic Four into the cinematic prominence they deserve.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, July 30, 2025

---------------------------

Friday, July 11, 2025

Review: James Gunn's "SUPERMAN" Starts a New Era

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 31 of 2025 (No. 2037) by Leroy Douresseaux

Superman (2025)

Running time: 129 minutes (2 hours, 9 minutes)

Rating: MPA – PG for violence, action and language

DIRECTOR: James Gunn

WRITER: James Gunn (based characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster)

PRODUCERS: James Gunn and Peter Safran

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Henry Braham (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: Craig Alpert and William Hoy

COMPOSERS: David Fleming and John Murphy

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/ACTION

Starring: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Maria Gabriela de Faria, Sara Sampaio, Wendell Pierce, Beck Bennett, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Neva Howell, Bradley Cooper, Angela Sarafyan, and Sean Gunn

SUMMARY OF REVIEW:

-- I am not crazy about the plot and narrative of the James Gunn's new Superman film, but I really like its cast and its interpretation of the characters, especially David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman.

-- I heartily recommend that fans of Superman movies get in on the ground floor of this new beginning

Superman is a 2025 American superhero, fantasy, and action film from writer-director James Gunn. It is the first film in the new DC Comics cinematic universe known as the “DC Universe.” The character, Superman, first appeared in the comic book, Action Comics #1 (on-sale date of April 18, 1938), and was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, who also created other characters and situations related to Superman. In Superman, the embodiment of truth, justice, and the human way must reconcile his desire to help humanity with a shocking revelation about his alien heritage.

Superman opens threes years after the metahuman, Superman (David Corenswet), revealed himself to the people of Metropolis. His alter-ego, Clark Kent (David Corenswet), works as a reporter for “The Daily Planet,” where he has a relationship with fellow reporter, Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan). Lois knows that Clark is Superman. She knows that he is Kal-El, a baby sent from the planet, Krypton, by rocket ship to Earth. Lois also knows that Clark was raised in Smallville, Kansas by his adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell), a fact he has kept secrets from others.

Superman recently stopped the country of Boravia, an ally of the United States, from invading its neighboring country, Jarhanpur. As the film begins, Superman has just received a beat-down from Boravia's own metahuman, the Hammer of Boravia. Things are not as they seem, however, as brilliant billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) has launched a secret plot to destroy Superman, whom he sees not as a superhero, but as an existential alien threat to mankind. With the help of his lackeys, Ultraman and The Engineer (Maria Gabriela de Faria), Luthor believes that he has the science and technology – the brain power – to beat Superman.

But Superman is not the only metahuman who is a superhero. He occasionally gets help from the “Justice Gang”: Michael Holt/Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Guy Gardner/Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), and Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced). And Clark Kent will need all the friends he can get; a complete version of the broken message his Kryptonian parents, Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara Lor-Van (Angela Sarafyan), sent with him has come to light. Now, some of the people of the world are starting to feel differently about Superman just when they need him the most.

Superman is a good film, but not a great film. Overall, I like it, but I found myself rather cool to it as I watched it in a local theater last night. I must admit that I felt the same way about the previous two attempts to reboot the Superman film franchise, director Bryan Singer's Superman Returns (2006) and director Zack Snyder's Man of Steel (2013). Like Superman (2025), the plot and narratives of these earlier films are over-stuffed with subplots, settings, and characters that make the overall plot and narrative struggle to come together. The over-stuffings are like roadblocks that force the central plot and narrative to veer off their most obvious and productive path. I don't think the new Superman is as awkward in these areas as the aforementioned Superman reboots, but I do believe that the new film spends its first half bouncing around ideas, subplots, themes, relationships and conflicts. To me, it is obvious that Superman 2025 borrows the big action set pieces of Man of Steel and also follows Superman Return's veneration of director Richard Donner and star Christopher Reeve's respective work on the Superman film franchise (1978-87).

There are things about the new Superman film that I really like. I think the actors and the way they play the characters, for the most part, are nearly perfect. The best thing about David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman is that he is the first actor that I have accepted as a true heir to the late Christopher Reeve (1952-2004), who is the gold standard when it comes to a cinematic Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman. In a way, Superman 2025 offers its audience a vision of Superman as the quintessential nice guy the way Christopher Reeve and Superman: The Movie (1978) did.

Also, Rachel Brosnahan is a true heir to my favorite cinematic Lois Lane, the late Margot Kidder (1948-2018), Christopher Reeve's co-star. I also got a kick out of Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific. I liked him in his early roles in such films as Twilight (2008) and X-Men: First Class (2011), and I'd like to see him play Mister Terrific as a lead in either film or television. I like Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, but the character is played way too over-the-top, but I think Hoult as Luther will be a huge benefit to future DC Universe films.

I obviously don't like James Gunn's Superman as much as I enjoyed his work on Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, which ended with the fantastic Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). Still, the new Superman is both a fresh start and a start in the right direction.

6 of 10

★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, July 11, 2025

SUPERMAN is available for order on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K at Amazon.

-----------------------

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like these, BOOKS PAGE, GRAPHIC NOVELS, or MANGA PAGE and BUY something(s).

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Review: "SUPERMAN III" is Good, Bad and Ugly

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 30 of 2025 (No. 2036) by Leroy Douresseaux

Superman III (1983)

Running time: 125 minutes (2 hours, 5 minutes)

MPAA – PG

DIRECTOR: Richard Lester

WRITERS: David Newman and Leslie Newman (based characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics)

PRODUCER: Pierre Spengler

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Paynter (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: John Victor Smith

COMPOSER: Ken Thorne

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/COMEDY

Starring: Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Annette O'Toole, Robert Vaughn, Annie Ross, Pamela Stephenson, Gavan O'Herlihy, Paul Kaethler, and Margot Kidder

Superman III is a 1983 American superhero film and comic-fantasy from director Richard Lester. The film is the third in the “Superman” film series, which began with 1978's Superman (also known as Superman: The Movie). The character, Superman, first appeared in the comic book, Action Comics #1 (on-sale date of April 18, 1938) and was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, who also created other characters and situations related to Superman. In Superman III, Superman becomes the target of a greedy entrepreneur and a computer genius when they realize that he will obstruct their plans for wealth and world domination.

Superman III opens at an unemployment office in Metropolis. August “Gus” Gorman (Richard Pryor) has discovered that his employment checks have run out, but by chance he discovers information about a school where he can learn to be a computer programmer. Soon, Gus is working for the conglomerate, Webscoe Industries, where he uses his amazing computer skills to secretly embezzle over $85,000 from the company payroll.

However, Gus' activities do draw the attention of Webscoe's boss, Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn), and his sister and partner, Vera Webster (Annie Ross). Ross is obsessed with the idea of using technology in order to gain financial domination over the world. With the help of Annie and his tawdry mistress, Lorelei Ambrosia (Pamela Stephenson), Ross blackmails Gus into using his fantastic computer skills to begin a series of evil tech schemes.

Meanwhile, over at “The Daily Planet,” Metropolis' top newspaper, Clark Kent/Superman (Christopher Reeve) is preparing to return to his hometown of Smallville for his high school reunion, the Class of 1965. He wants to use the reunion as the subject of a feature article, so he takes Daily Planet photographer, Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure), with him. At the reunion, Clark reconnects with his childhood friend, Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole), much to the chagrin of Clark's former high school bully, Brad Wilson (Gavan O'Herlihy).

While Clark enjoys his time with Lana and also bonds with her young son, Ricky (Paul Kaethler), Ross and Gus have launched their diabolical plans. Even the Daily Planet's star reporter, Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), ends up being a victim of their moves. When Ross discovers that Superman be an obstruction to his schemes, he forces Gus to find a way to destroy Superman, and those methods of destruction may come very close defeating the Man of Steel.

Superman III was not nearly the box office success that its predecessors, Superman: The Movie and Superman II (1980) were. Some fans and critics blamed the film's shortcomings on having Richard Pryor as a cast member. Some people may remember that Paramount Pictures was considering adding Eddie Murphy as a star of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Many of the science fiction and comic book fans that I knew at the time insisted that because Richard Pryor “ruined” Superman III, a science fiction film could not have a “Black comedian” in it or it would be similarly ruined. They predicted doom and gloom for the fourth Star Trek feature film, but Murphy eventually passed on it to star in The Golden Child (1986). These early fans that I met were racist and stupid, and, at the time, I thought their opinions about “Blacks” in genre films were racist and stupid. I am glad that my association with them was short-lived.

Anyway, Pryor, one of the most influential American stand-up comedians of all-time, was known for his raunchy, adult-oriented act during the 1970s. Into the 1980s, however, he became a more cuddly figure, appearing in a number of mainstream and even family-friendly films. Although I was surprised that Pryor was cast in Superman III, I thought he was one of the few good things about the film when I first saw it in a theater back in 1983. I still think that.

Superman III is mediocre because the screenplay by David Newman and Leslie Newman, or at least what made it to screen, is awkward and sometimes illogical. Superman III's director, Richard Lester, was a very capable director during his active career; I am still a fan of his 1973 film, The Three Musketeers. Lester is controversial a figure in the annals of Superman cinema because of the production of Superman II, which I don't feel like getting into right this moment. Speaking strictly of Superman III, Lester and the Newmans did get one thing right.

When Superman III focuses on the jovial and genial nature of the film's characters, it is quite lovable. Clark, Lois, Lana, Ricky, Gus, Jimmy, the Daily Planet editor Perry White (Jackie Cooper), and even the film's ostensible villains: Brad, Ross, Vera, and Lorelei all come across as endearing. I enjoyed getting to know them as eccentric characters and character types. When the focus moves to Superman III's conflict/plot, the film turns simply ridiculous.

Almost a day after watching the entirety of Superman III for the first time in 32 years, I'm still thinking about it. And yes, I like Richard Pryor in this film as much as I like Christopher Reeve, the star of four Superman films from 1978 to 1987, returning to play his signature role. I don't mind the comic nature of Superman III, especially as some modern superhero movies are too damn dark. However, it has too many ideas, and too many of them are handled in the most nonsensical manner. Still, I can't help but kind of like Superman III because it is full of nice people.

5 of 10

B-

★★½ out of 4 stars

There is a Blu-ray collection of five Superman films, including SUPERMAN III, and it is available at Amazon.

---------------------------

Saturday, May 17, 2025

Review: "THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY SUGAR" Offers a Full Cup of Wes Anderson Sugar

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 22 of 2025 (No. 2028) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Wonderful Live of Henry Sugar (2023) – Live-Action Short Film

Running time: 40 minutes

MPA – PG for smoking

DIRECTOR: Wes Anderson

WRITER: Wes Anderson (based on the short story by Roald Dahl)

PRODUCERS: Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, and Steven Rales

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Yeoman (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: Andrew Weisblum and Barney Pilling

Academy Award winner

SHORT FILM – FANTASY and COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, and Richard Ayoade

Roald Dahl's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is a 2023 American live-action, fantasy and comedy-drama short film from director Wes Anderson. It is based on the 1977 short story, “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” by Roald Dahl. [For this review, I will refer to the film as The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.] After a film festival debut and a limited theatrical release, the film began streaming on Netflix as a “Netflix Original” on September 27, 2023. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar the movie focuses mainly on the story of Henry Sugar whose life changes when he reads a story about a clairvoyant guru.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar opens in the writing hut of author Roald Dahl (Ralph Fiennes), who tells the tale of Henry Sugar (Benedict Cumberbatch). “Henry Sugar” is the pseudonym of a 41-year-old white man, a bachelor who inherited a fortune from his late father. Henry has never worked a day in his life and wanders the world aimlessly living the life of a useless rich man. While visiting the estate of his friend, “Sir William W,” Henry comes across a blue notebook containing the writings of Z Z Chatterjee (Dev Patel), the head surgeon at Lords and Ladies Hospital in Calcutta.

Chatterjee tells the story of his encounter with Imdad Kahn (Ben Kingsley), who is part of a traveling circus. Imdad is billed as “the man who sees without his eyes,” but before Imdad became this “clairvoyant guru,” he had an encountered with someone special. And the story of what happened to Imdad after this encounter will change Henry Sugar's life.

In anticipation of director Wes Anderson's new film, The Phoenician Scheme (2025), I decided to catch up on Anderson's films that I have not yet seen and re-watch some I'd previously seen. I'm also working on a “10 Best” list of Anderson's films.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is the second time Anderson has adapted a work by author Roald Dahl. The other was 2009's primarily stop-motion animated film, Fantastic Mr. Fox, which was based on Dahl's 1970 children's book, Fantastic Mr. Fox. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is also one of four live-action short films directed by Anderson and based on Dahl's work. Netflix released the four of them as the anthology film, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More, in March 2024.

Like Anderson's brilliant 2021 film, The French Dispatch, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is an exercise in Anderson's distinctive style of storytelling, featuring his particular visual aesthetic. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar looks like a mixture of a stage play performed on a series of shifting sets that are similar to dioramas, jewel boxes, and cabinets of curiosities. I think that The French Dispatch, thus far, is the ultimate expression of Anderson's style only because The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is only thirty-seven percent as long as The French Dispatch in terms of runtime.

With a main cast that is comprised of Ralph Fiennes, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, and Richard Ayoade, there are bound to be good performances. However, these are also the kinds of actors that both fit in and rise above being mere figurines in Anderson's panoramas or in any other “auteur's” work for that matter.

As for the film, Anderson offers a charming parable of spiritual growth that has a fairy tale, once-upon-a-time quality. I am sure that fans of Wes Anderson's films (like myself) will consider The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar special. People not familiar with the last 20 years of Anderson's filmmaking may not care for this... cup of sugar.

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Saturday, May 17, 2025

NOTES:

2024 Academy Awards, USA: 1 win: “Best Live Action Short Film” (Wes Anderson and Steven Rales)

----------------------

Friday, May 9, 2025

Review: Marvel's "THUNDERBOLTS*" Wants to Be "The New Avengers" So Badly

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 21 of 2025 (No. 2027) by Leroy Douresseaux

Thunderbolts* (2025)

Running time: 126 minutes (2 hours, 6 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for strong violence, language, thematic elements, and some suggestive and drug references

DIRECTOR: Jake Schreier

WRITERS: Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo (based upon the Marvel Comics)

PRODUCER: Kevin Feige

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Andrew Droz Palermo (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: Angela M. Catanzaro and Harry Yoon

COMPOSER: Son Lux (Ryan Lott, Rafiq Bhatia, Ian Chang)

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/ACTION and DRAMA

Starring: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lewis Pullman, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, Geraldine Viswanathan, Olga Kurylenko, and Wendell Pierce

SUMMARY OF REVIEW:

--Thunderbolts* is very entertaining. It fights a lot and talks a lot.

--The film's main character is really Yelena Belova. It would have been a better film with Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier as the lead, but Florence Pugh is quite good as Yelena

--Entertainment value aside, Thunderbolts* is Marvel Studios' least interesting team movie

Thunderbolts* is a 2025 American superhero fantasy film and action movie directed by Jake Schreier and produced by Marvel Studios. It is the 36th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film features Marvel Comics' “Thunderbolts,” an antihero and super-villain superhero team created by writer Kurt Busiek and artist Mark Bagley that first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #449 (cover dated: January 1997). Thunderbolts* the movie focuses on an unconventional team of antiheroes that takes on a conniving CIA official and a dangerous super-being while confronting their own dark pasts.

Thunderbolts* opens in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. There, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) destroys an O.X.E. Group laboratory on behalf of CIA director, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Valentina is facing a Congressional committee that wants to impeach her in order to have her removed as CIA director, so she is having to conceal all her illicit programs. One of those programs in need of concealment is the O.X.E. Group's “Sentry” project, which involves experimentation on humans in order to develop a superhuman.

Valentina dispatches Yelena to a remote O.X.E. facility on a mission to destroy sensitive materials. After entering the facility, however, Yelena discovers that she is not alone. John Walker/U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) are also there, under the pretense of a mission. The real reason all of them are in the facility is so that Valentina can have them and any incriminating evidence against her be destroyed simultaneously. Another of this mission's surprises is the sudden appearance of a mysterious man named “Bob” (Lewis Pullman).

Now, Yelena and this bunch of reprobates embark on mission to punish Valentina, and they are joined by Yelena's father, Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). They gather in New York City for a showdown, but there are wildcards. Who is “Sentry?” And what is “Void?”

Thunderbolts* is like a sequel, of sorts, to the 2021 Marvel Studios film, Black Widow. It also references such previous Marvel Studios films as Marvel's The Avengers (2012) and the recent Captain America: Brave New World (2025), and also the Disney+ television series, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” (2021), to name a few.

At the center of Thunderbolts* is Yelena Belova, and the good thing is that the actress playing the character, Florence Pugh, is quite good. Pugh gives Yelena gravitas, and I find myself believing almost everything about the character. That said I would have preferred Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes a.k.a. “The Winter Soldier” as the “magnetic center” of Thunderbolts*, but I guess the character has already had plenty of time to showcase himself in previous Marvel Studios productions.

Beyond those two characters, I found myself bored with Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Valentina, although I am a long time fan of Louis-Dreyfus because of her role in the former NBC sitcom, “Seinfeld.” I like actor David Harbour as “Red Guardian,” but the character is a bit overwrought, while Hannah John-Kamen is overly wasted as “Ghost.” Geraldine Viswanathan is very nice in the supporting role of Mel, Valentina's assistant. Lewis Pullman, who seems very skilled at creating a new personality for each acting role he takes on, is very, very good as “Bob.” Marvel Studios would do well not to waste the potential of what Pullman can bring to the MCU.

All that said, Thunderbolts* is my least favorite MCU team movie. Don't get me wrong. It is a very entertaining film because director Jake Schreier makes the most of an offbeat screenplay and of the work of the film editors, cinematographers, and other collaborators. The result is that they deliver a movie that is surprisingly humorous and is often laugh-out-loud funny.

I don't buy all the depression and battling-personal-demons melodrama of the film's story. It is often overdone, contrived, and tedious enough to drag down the moments when that does feel genuine. There is enough enjoyment in Thunderbolts* to make me give it a relatively high rating. If this movie were made by most other film studios, however, I would give it a lower rating.

[Thunderbolts* has an extra scene in the middle of the credits and one at the end of the credits.]

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Friday, May 9, 2025

THUNDERBOLTS* is currently available in various DVD and Blu-ray format at Amazon.

------------------------------

-------------------------------

Friday, April 11, 2025

Review: "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" is a Good Thing

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 15 of 2025 (No. 2021) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024) – anime

Running time: 134 minutes (2 hours, 14 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for strong violence

DIRECTOR: Kenji Kamiyama

WRITERS: Jeffrey Addiss & Will Matthews and Phoebe Gittins & Arty Papageorgiou; from a story by Jeffrey Addis & Will Matthews and Philippa Boyens (based on characters created by J.R.R. Tolkien)

PRODUCERS: Philippa Boyens, Joseph Chou and Jason DeMarco

EDITOR: Tsuyoshi Sadamatsu

COMPOSER: Stephen Gallagher

ANIMATION: Sola Entertainment

ANIME/FANTASY/WAR

Starring: (voices) Gaia Wise, Brian Cox, Luca Pasqualino, Lorraine Ashbourne, Shaun Dooley, Benjamin Wainwright, Yazdan Qafouri, Laurence Ubong Williams, Michael Wildman, Janine Duvitski, Bilal Hasna, and Miranda Otto

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is a 2024 anime fantasy film from director Kenji Kamiyama. The film is based on characters created by J. R. R. Tolkien and is thus connected to his two most famous works of high fantasy, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-55). The film is a production of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Animation, Domain Entertainment, and Sola Entertainment, which provides the animation. The War of the Rohirrim tells the story of a king's daughter who fights to defend her father's kingdom from a traitor to their people and his rebel army.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is narrated by Eowyn (Miranda Otto). She tells a tale set in the human kingdom of Rohan around 200 years before the Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, finds the “One Ring” (as depicted in the 2012 film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey). At that time, Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox) is the King of Rohan. He has two sons, Haleth (Benjamin Wainwright) and Hame (Yazdan Oafouri), and one daughter, Hera (Gaia Wise).

Freca (Shaun Dooley), a “Dunlending” lord, arrives at Edoras, the seat of Helm's court, for a “witan” (council). Freca wants his son, Wulf (Luca Pasqualino), to marry Hera, which he claims will unite his family with Helm's, but what Freca really wants is to use the marriage to usurp Rohan's throne. Although she and Wulf are friends from childhood, Hera spurns Wulf's offer of marriage. That leads to a deadly confrontation between Helm and Freca.

Four years later, Wulf leads an army of hill-tribe rebels against Rohan. Helm is forced to lead his people to the ancient stronghold of “Hornburg,” and there, waits for allies to come to the aid of Rohan. With the former shieldmaiden, Olwyn (Lorraine Ashbourne), and the bard, Lief (Bilal Hasna), at her side, Hera struggles to hold her people together. Her only hope is her cousin, Lord Frealaf Hildeson (Laurence Ubong Williams), who is himself hold up in the fortress at Dunharrow. Can Hera and her people make a daring last stand in Hornburg, and will help come in time to save them?

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is well connected to the two Tolkien film trilogies, The Lord of the Rings (2001-03) and to The Hobbit (2012-14). The War of the Rohirrim is narrated by Eowyn, who appears in two films in The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy, The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). Miranda Otto, who played Eowyn in those films, also performs the voice for the character here. The War of the Rohirrim also has multiple other references to these two film trilogies, but how good is this animated film on its own?

The War of the Rohirrim reminds me of the Japanese anime film series that began with Berserk: The Golden Age Arc 1 – The Egg of the King (2012). Although I like The War of the Rohirrim, I don't like it as much as I liked the Berserk films that I saw. I find this LOTR film lacks magic and the supernatural; in fact, it is well past the halfway point in the story before this films drops some dark magic and sorcery. The film is too much like a war movie, but considering the high stakes involved in this war, the film also lacks the spectacle of the live-action LOTR movies, which were essential war movies – fantasy war movies – but still war movies.

Although some reviewers and critics did not like the quality of The War of the Rohirrim's animation, I do admire it, and I also like the animation's vivid colors and the character designs. The characters and narrative drama are good, not great. While the story strikes familiar notes in terms of plot and setting, I found myself very emotionally involved in a lot of this movie's narrative; it tugged at my heart in spite of its imperfections.

The War of the Rohirrim seems more like Earth “Middle Ages” than Tolkien's “Middle-earth,” but I consider myself lucky to have an anime Tolkien film. It has been almost four and half decades since audiences had animated feature films based on the work of the English writer J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973). It is not great, but it is great that we have The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Friday, April 11, 2025

-----------------

------------------

Comics Review: "SWORD & THIMBLE #1" Draws First Blood

SWORD & THIMBLE #1

FANTASY ENVISIONING & CREATIONS, LLC

PLOT: Carmen Raye and Austin Darby

SCRIPT: Carmen Raye

ART: Austin Darby

COLORS: Austin Darby

LETTERS: Austin Darby

COVER: Austin Darby

24pp, Color, $9.99 U.S.

Sword & Thimble created by Carmen Raye and Austin Darby

Sword & Thimble is a new high fantasy comic book series from writer Carmen Raye and artist Austin Darby. Raye co-plots and scripts the series and Darby co-plots, draws, colors, and letters the series. Published via Darby's Fantasy Envisioning & Creations, LLC, Sword & Thimble is set on a continent and island metropolis known as “Sabise Shahar.” A first issue of the series is currently available.

Sword & Thimble #1 opens in Gravel Valley where Maira Rodan, a disgraced knight, arrives at a tavern. There, she meets her friend, a thief named “Thimble.” A run-in with a thug named Clod Ilbert provides entertainment for the two friends, but this confrontation is not the end of things. The troubles are just beginning.

THE LOWDOWN: I met Austin Darby at his booth at the recent Louisiana Comic Con 2025 (March 8-9) in Lafayette, Louisiana. That is where I bought a copy of Sword & Thimble #1.

Sword & Thimble #1 is clearly the work of people just beginning their creative journey into the medium of comic books. However, any opening night jitters or even awkwardness in the storytelling is easily overcome by a sense of confidence on the part of the creators. The world of Sword & Thimble is well put together, as well as believable, and the leads are characters that I like and that I want to follow on the high road to adventure.

Darby's art looks like the work of someone still feeling his way around the graphical confines and graphic possibilities of comics. However, Darby understands what the depiction of power and of strength and what dynamic storytelling can do for his storytelling. Like his visually striking cover art, Darby's interior art welcomes readers to a world of mystery and to the threat of danger, his way of capturing readers' imaginations from the beginning.

I must admit that I am surprised. I find myself engaged with what Sword & Thimble #1 presents more than I thought I would. Hopefully, Carmen Raye and Austin Darby can produce this series on a regular basis because I believe the more they give, the more readers will take.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of high fantasy comic books will want to give Sword & Thimble a try.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

https://www.fantasyenvisioning.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@thedudedraws7968/videos

https://x.com/thedudedraws901

https://www.facebook.com/TheDudeDraws

https://www.instagram.com/thedudedraws901/

------------------------

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Review: "HELLBOY: THE CROOKED MAN" Raises All Kinds of Hell, Boy

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 12 of 2025 (No. 2018) by Leroy Douresseaux

Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024)

Running time: 99 minutes (1 hour, 39 minutes)

MPA – R for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, and language

DIRECTOR: Brian Taylor

WRITERS: Brian Taylor, Christopher Golden, and Mike Mignola (based upon the Dark Horse comic book series created by Mike Mignola)

PRODUCERS: Jeffrey Greenstein, Sam Schulte, Robert Van Norden, Yariv Lerner, Mike Richardson, Les Weldon, and Jonathan Yunger

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ivan Vatsov (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Ryan Denmark

COMPOSER: Sven Faulconer

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/HORROR

Starring: Jack Kesy, Jefferson White, Adeline Rudolph, Leah McNamara, Joseph Marcell, Martin Bassindale, Hannah Margetson, Bogdan Haralambov, Carola Columbo, Anton Trendafilov, Michael Flemming, and Suzanne Bertish

Hellboy: The Crooked Man is a 2024 superhero, horror, and dark fantasy film from director Brian Taylor. The film is based on the Hellboy character and comic books created by Mike Mignola and published by Dark Horse Comics. The film is also the second reboot of the Hellboy film franchise. In Hellboy: The Crooked Man, Hellboy and a first-time field agent unexpectedly find themselves in a mountain community dominated by witchcraft and ruled over by a local demon.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man opens in 1959. We meet Hellboy (Jack Kesy) and Special Agent Bobbie Jo Song (Adeline Rudolph), both of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD). The two are transporting a supernatural toxic spider by train when something goes awry, and they suddenly find themselves stranded in the Appalachian Mountains. They wander until they come to a backwoods community that is filled with superstition and with the belief in witches.

They meet a former local, Tom Ferrell (Jefferson White), himself a witch, who has home to atone for his sins and to settle a hateful debt he owes. Witches and witchcraft, however, are not the only things that haunt this isolated mountain community. The devil is about in the form of Mister Onselm (Martin Bassindale), also known as “The Crooked Man.” He has come to collect a debt, and Hellboy, Song and Ferrell are the resistance. Soon, the mountain church of the blind Reverend Watts (Joseph Marcell) will be the scene of an epic battle of good versus evil.

I am not a big fan of Guillermo del Toro's 2004 film, Hellboy, the first film in the series. It has great production values, and it is a gorgeous movie filled with fantastical visual elements. On the other hand, the story is executed in a clunky and awkward fashion, and the characters are not particularly interesting. However, del Toro's follow-up to that film, the Oscar-nominated Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), is one of my all-time favorite films, and I consider it to be one of the best-ever films adapted from a comic book. Director Neil Marshall's 2019 film, Hellboy, was supposed to reboot the Hellboy film franchise. It was a box office bomb, with its worldwide box office failing to recoup even the film's production costs, but Hellboy 2019 is far superior to Hellboy 2004. It is closer to Hellboy II, in terms of quality, and almost seems like a reworking of the plot of the 2008 film.

All that said, Hellboy: The Crooked Man is another try at rebooting or restarting the series. I remember reading press and promotion for The Crooked Man stating that it was the closest of the four films in terms of being faithful to the comic book. I get that being faithful to the comic book is important to comic book people, especially the comic book creators and fans, but in the larger world of the film business, that is irrelevant. What the people behind Hellboy: The Crooked Man should have been doing is telling the world that The Crooked Man is one helluva movie...

...Because it is. Hellboy: The Crooked Man is a mutha f**kin' good movie. I enjoyed the hell outta it, so much so that I might owe The Crooked Man of the film a debt. I am not trying to say that it is perfect, because it is not. Hellboy: The Crooked Man starts off slow, dry, awkward, and forced, and its first act seems like a collection of contrivances.

Then, the movie loses it mind and goes bonkers, and Hellboy: The Crooked Man flips the script so fast that I didn't know what hit me. The Crooked Man's director, Brian Taylor, is known for his work with fellow writer-director Mark Neveldine, and the duo specializes in directing nutty and bonkers film like Crank (2006) and the 2011 comic book movie, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. The duo also wrote the kooky horror-Western film hybrid, Jonah Hex (2010).

Going solo on The Crooked Man, Taylor busts out a film that takes the gruesome dead of the 1982 film, Creepshow, and mixes them with hoary hell hounds of director Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead (1981). The result is the most horrifying film in the Hellboy franchise, a film with enough bone-rattling folk horror to convince many viewers that it is a legit horror flick.

I find that David Harbour, who played Hellboy in the 2019 film, didn't stray far in his performance from what Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy star, Ron Perlman, did with the character. The Crooked Man's Hellboy actor, Jack Kesy, is more like Jeff Bridges' “Jeffrey 'The Dude' Lebowski” (from The Big Lebowski) than he is like the dark-fantasy action hero of the previous Hellboy films. It is not that Kesy is better or worse, for the matter; it is just that he takes a different path to bringing the character to life.

There are other good performances in this film. Jefferson White makes a mark as Tom Ferrell, but there are times when both White and his character, Ferrell, seem to get lost in the hell-raising of this film. Adeline Rudolph, however, does not get lost as Bobbie Jo Song, and Rudolph's robust performance makes Song not so much a supporting character as she is a co-lead. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Joseph Marcell as Reverend Watts because he is a scene-stealer in the role. I was shocked to learn that Marcell played “Geoffrey Butler,” the butler on the former NBC sitcom, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-96).

Hellboy: The Crooked Man lacks the superhero fantasy, blockbuster bombast of its predecessors, but it is a truly unique superhero movie convincingly cos-playing a scary movie. I don't want to give away too many of its chilling, goose flesh-raising frights. The film did receive mixed reviews, but here, I won't send a mixed message. Hellboy: The Crooked Man is a damn good movie, and I would be damned if I said otherwise.

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

--------------------

Review: First "HELLBOY" Film Still Dances with the Devil

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 45 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Hellboy (2004)

Running time: 122 minutes (2 hours, 2 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for sci-fi action violence and frightening images

DIRECTOR: Guillermo del Toro

WRITERS: Guillermo del Toro; from screen story by Peter Briggs & Guillermo del Toro (based upon the comic book by Mike Mignola)

PRODUCERS: Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin, and Mike Richardson

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Guillermo Navarro

EDITOR: Peter Amundson

COMPOSER: Marco Beltrami

HORROR/ACTION/ADVENTURE and SCI/FANTASY

Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor, Karel Roden, Rupert Evans, John Hurt, Corey Johnson, Doug Jones, Brian Caspe, James Babson, Biddy Hodson, Jim Howick, Kevin Trainor, and (voice) David Hyde Pierce

Hellboy is a 2004 American superhero and horror-fantasy film from director Guillermo del Toro. The film is based upon the Hellboy comic book franchise and character created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. Hellboy the movie focuses on a demon who becomes a defender against the forces of darkness after being conjured by the Nazis as an infant.

Mike Mignola’s titular character of his wonderful Hellboy comic books comes to life in director Guillermo del Toro’s colorful and well-dressed B-movie, Hellboy. This horror/action flick is dry, slow, and even the action is deadpan, although there are a few funny and genuinely scary moments. Now, I can describe a plethora of movies as having “a few good moments,” but this movie does have quite a few.

The film begins late in World War II. A young scientist, Trevor “Broom” Bruttenholm (Kevin Trainor) and a squad of Allied soldiers come upon a group of Nazi kooks. The kooks include the Russian mystic, Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden), in the midst of a ritual to summon a group of big bow wow evil gods. The Allies stop the evil that is coming “from the other side,” but something does slip through – a little demon kid they name Hellboy.

Sixty years later, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is now an adult, having been raised by Trevor Bruttenholm (John Hurt). Hellboy is the main man/strongman for "The Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense," which is a group fighting the good fight against all manner of bogeymen and boogens. Our entry into this dark world of supernatural special operations is an FBI newbie, John Myers (Rupert Evans). Myers comes just in time, as Rasputin and his gang of uglies are back to finish what they started six decades earlier.

Hellboy is a pleasant diversion, and it certainly is pretty to look at, featuring colorful art direction, set decoration, and makeup. Hellboy looks a lot like Guillermo del Toro’s last film, Blade II, but whereas the latter had a dark atmosphere and a convincing, unbroken line of suspense, Hellboy is flat and too long to be as flat as it is. Perlman is, at times, almost D.O.A. as the title character, and then, quite lively at other times. I don’t think Perlman's interpretation of Hellboy really fits the comic book original version of the character. The four color Hellboy is more humble and earthy, whereas Perlman’s creation often comes across as a cocky, uncouth roughneck.

Hellboy has excellent production values. It is a great looking film, from its set and environments to its costumes and hair and make-up that transform actors into a menagerie of inventive and imaginative characters. Still,I don't think audiences have to see Hellboy in a theater; they can save it for a rental.

5 of 10

B-

★★½ out of 4 stars

EDITED: Saturday, March 1, 2025

-------------------

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Review: "VENOM: THE LAST DANCE" Has a Death Wish

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 10 of 2025 (No. 2016) by Leroy Douresseaux

Venom: The Last Dance (2024)

Running time: 110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, bloody images and strong language

DIRECTOR: Kelly Marcel

WRITERS: Kelly Marcel; from a story by Kelly Marcel and Tom Hardy (based on the Marvel Comics)

PRODUCERS: Avi Arad, Amy Pascal, Matt Tolmach, Tom Hardy, Kelly Marcel, and Hutch Parker

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Fabian Wagner (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Mark Sanger

COMPOSER: Dan Deacon

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/ACTION

Starring: Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, Clark Backo, Alanna Ubach, Hala Finley, Dash McCloud, Cristo Fernandez, Jared Abrahamson, Jack Brady, Reid Scott, and Andy Serkis

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

Venom: The Last Dance is the least of the three films in this series in terms of quality.

The entire point of the movie seems to be to end the series as soon as possible, so it is strictly for fans of this series

------

Venom: The Last Dance is a 2024 superhero fantasy-action film directed by Kelly Marcel. The film is based on the Marvel Comics super-villain/anti-hero characters, Eddie Brock/Venom. Several comic book writers, artists, and editors contributed in the development of this duo, and artist Todd McFarlane and writer David Michelinie are the creators of Venom. This is also the third entry in the Venom film series. In Venom: The Last Dance, Eddie Brock and Venom are on the run from both an alien monster and a mysterious military officer, and they may be forced to break up their symbiotic partnership.

Venom: The Last Dance opens on Klyntar, the home world of the symbiotes. Knull (Andy Serkis), the creator of the symbiotes, seeks a way to escape the prison made for him by his rebellious creations. To that end, he has discovered a key – some thing called a “Codex” – that will free him. What and where is the codex?

Well, it is on Earth, and the Codex exists because of the relationship between the symbiote, Venom, and his human host, the former investigative reporter, Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy). They have just returned to Earth after their short stay in the multiverse (as seen in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home) and has landed in the Mexico of their own Earth. While there, Eddie and Venom learn that Eddie is being blamed for the death of Detective Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham).

Mulligan is not dead. He was infected by a symbiote (as seen in 2021's Venom: Let There Be Carnage). He has been imprisoned in an underground facility at “Area 55” (which is beneath “Area 51”), and is being held in captivity by the “Imperium Program.” There, Mulligan and his symbiote are under the watchful gazes of Imperium scientist, Dr. Teddy Paine (Juno Temple), and the Imperium's military commander, General Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor).

Eddie and Venom are headed for New York City in a bid to clear Eddie's name, unaware that General Strickland is hunting them. The duo, however, is soon made aware of an even more dangerous hunter. Knull has sent a creature known as a “Xenophage” to capture the Codex within Eddie and Venom. Now, a year into their symbiotic relationship, Eddie Brock and Venom may have to make a most devastating and heart-wrenching decision in order to save the Earth and at least one of their lives.

Venom: The Last Dance is the fifth film in “Sony's Spider-Man Universe” line of films. It follows Venom (2018), Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), Morbius (2022), and Madame Web (2024). The Last Dance arrived in movie theaters a little more than a month before the series' sixth film, Kraven the Hunter (2024). This film series stars characters and properties commonly associated with Marvel Comics' character, Spider-Man. Sadly, media reports indicate that Kraven the Hunter will be the last entry in Sony's Spider-Man Universe.

Anyway, just before the halfway mark in Venom: The Last Dance, the Venom symbiote enters a horse, and “venomizes” it, creating a “Venom horse.” The sequence featuring Venom as a horse, which becomes a wild ride across the desert with Eddie on its back, is probably the liveliest moment in this movie. Venom does not venomize any more animals the rest of the way, but strangely, the beginning of the film's end-credits is a montage of venomized animals, everything from insects and birds to mammals and amphibians. A Venom movie featuring the Venom symbiote venomizing countless different insects and animals?! – now, that would be a Venom movie I'd love and a lot of people would watch. Sadly, that is what we get in Venom: The Last Dance.

Yes, there are some genuine character moments – such as Eddie/Venom's relationship with the Moon family – but even that is overwhelmed by Venom: The Last Dance's need to end. Yes, this isn't so much a movie as it is an execution or suicide pact. Venom is a trilogy and Venom: The Last Dance must be the end of it: that's what this movie feels like – a race to the end.

I found myself unable to really enjoy this movie. I really didn't connect with the film's best action scenes, and there were a few really good ones. Also, I feel like the Knull subplot was woefully underutilized. There are some good moments here, and by the end of the film, I thought the good things had been downplayed in favor of this movie's fatalistic mood. Ultimately, I think Venom: The Last Dance is only for fans of the series who will want to see it through to the end.

5 of 10

C+

★★½ out of 4 stars out of 4 stars

[This film has one mid-credits scene and one scene that occurs at the end of the credits.]

---------------------

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Review: "AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM" is Water-Logged Entertainment

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 7 of 2025 (No. 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)

Running time: 124 minutes (2 hours, 4 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for sci-fi violence and some language

DIRECTOR: James Wan

WRITERS: David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick; from a story by James Wan and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick & Jason Momoa and Thomas Pa'a Sibbett (based on the character created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger and appearing in DC Comics)

PRODUCERS: James Wan, Rob Cowan, and Peter Safran

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Don Burgess

EDITOR: Kirk M. Morri

COMPOSER: Rupert Gregson-Williams

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/SCI-FI and ACTION/ADVENTURE

Starring: Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Amber Heard, Dolph Lundgren, Temuera Morrison, Randall Park, Jani Zhao, Indya Moore, and Nicole Kidman with the voices of Martin Short, John Rhys-Davies, and Pilou Asbaek

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is a 2023 superhero, action-adventure and science fiction-fantasy film from director James Wan. It is a direct sequel to the 2018 film, Aquaman, and it is also the 15th and final installment of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The film is based on the DC Comics character, Aquaman, that was created by artist Paul Norris and editor Mort Weisinger and first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 (cover dated: November 1941). In Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Black Manta forges a deal with a mysterious evil from Atlantis' past, forcing Aquaman to forge an alliance with his imprisoned brother in order to save Atlantis.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom opens four years after Aquaman/Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) became King of Atlantis and married Mera (Amber Heard). They are now parents to a son, Arthur Jr. Aquaman splits his life between land and sea, strengthening his bond with his father, Thomas Curry (Temuera Morrison), and getting wise advice about being a father from him. However, splitting time between his life on land and his life as the ruler of Atlantis has led to clashes with the High Council of the Seven Kingdoms.

Meanwhile, David Kane/Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen) continues to seek revenge against Aquaman for the death of his father (as seen in Aquaman). With the help of marine biologist, Stephen Shin (Randall Park), Kane finds a mysterious artifact, “the Black Trident.” As soon Kane touches the trident, it possesses him and connects his mind to the mysterious Kordax, the undead king of the lost undersea kingdom of Necrus. Soon, Kane, at Kordax's command, is poisoning the surface world with an element known as “Orichalcum.”

Aquaman's mother, Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), the former queen of Atlantis, implores him to seek the help of his imprisoned brother, Orm Marius (Patrick Wilson), the deposed King of Atlantis in order to stop Kane. But can Aquaman trust Orm, who tried to kill him and whom he removed from the throne of Atlantis?

While watching the original film, Aquaman, I could not help but notice that many of its story points and plot elements were glaringly similar to those found in Marvel Studios' Black Panther, which debuted earlier in the same year, 2018, that Aquaman hit theaters. I also find Black Panther elements in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, but none as pronounced as in the first film. I also believe that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is strongly influenced by the Star Wars “prequel” films, especially Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

That said, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is like the first film – a grand, old-fashioned, action-adventure fantasy film. The sequel is quite entertaining, but not as solidly entertaining as the first film.

The plot, narrative, and character drama in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom seem forced when they are not being over-the-top, and are lacking in genuine emotion and feeling when they not being forced and over-the-top. Director James Wan and his co-writers emphasize sound and fury. It is as if they believe that the more CGI, action scenes, explosions, subplots, and weird-looking things they throw on the screen the less likely that the audience will realize how ungainly this film is. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom isn't cinematic art; it's merely corporate entertainment product, and unlike the first time, Warner Bros. Pictures didn't as lucky with the sequel.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom treads water just not to be mediocre. I will admit that its production values and special visual effects all look quite good. Visually, the film is sumptuous even if the drama is rickety. And as I write this, I am just remembering that I like the film score, although I am sure that I have heard parts of it in another film.

Also, I admire that Jason Momoa throws himself into this film, doing his best to make it seem like the most fun he and the audience could ever have in a superhero movie. Unfortunately, it was the Aquaman movie before Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom that was really fun.

B-

5 of 10

★★½ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

------------------------

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Review: John Carpenter's "VAMPIRES" is Still Fun (Happy B'day, John Carpenter)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 36 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

John Carpenter’s Vampires (1998)

Running time: 108 minutes (1 hour, 48 minutes)

MPAA – R for strong violence, and gore, language, and sexuality

DIRECTOR: John Carpenter

WRITER: Don Jakoby (based upon the novel by John Steakley)

PRODUCER: Sandy King

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Gary B. Kibbe (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Edward A. Warschilka

COMPOSER: John Carpenter

HORROR/FANTASY and ACTION/THRILLER

Starring: James Woods, Daniel Baldwin, Sheryl Lee, Thomas Ian Griffith, Maximilian Schell, and Tim Guinee

Vampires (also known as John Carpenter's Vampires) is a 1998 American action, neo-Western, and vampire horror film from director John Carpenter. It was adapted from the 1990 horror novel, Vampire$, by author John Steakley. Vampires the movie focuses on an caustic vampire slayer who must track down the vampire master that ambushed and destroyed his team of slayers before the creature can find a relic that will allow it to walk in sunlight.

John Carpenter's Vampires introduces Jack Crow (James Woods), a vampire hunter for the Catholic Church. He leads his "Team Crow," a band of roughnecks and mercenary types who hunt and kill vampires. They destroy a nest of goons (vampires) in rural New Mexico, but Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith), a 600-year old master vampire, ambushes and massacres Team Crow during their victory celebration at a small motel.

Only Crow and his assistant, Montoya (Daniel Baldwin), survive, but Crow ignores the Vatican’s demands that he reform his team. Crow, Montoya, and Father Adam Guiteau (Tim Guinee), a young priest, with tagalong Katrina (Sheryl Lee), a survivor of Valek’s attack, pursue the master vampire through the high deserts that ends in a confrontation to stop Valek from becoming unbeatable.

John Carpenter’s Vampires is a fun action horror flick that rises above being straight-to-video material in large measure because of James Woods hilarious and over-the-top performance as Jack Crow. Crow curses like a pack of sailors, and won’t even spare holy men his vulgar tirades. He beats priests and asks them inappropriate questions about their anatomies and lusts. Woods’ performance is the one thing that entertains even detractors of Vampires.

The film is gory and action-packed, but a little light on genuine scares. It has the charming qualities that make Carpenter’s film fun and unique – pulp storytelling, weird science, and the strange blend of real myth, lore, and culture spun from his fertile imagination. While the characters here, other than Crow, don’t match up to some of Carpenter’s memorable creations from his earlier films, they’re adequate. Vampires is a fun spin on the American pop culture version of vampires, and worth a viewing.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

March 19, 2005

EDITED: Sunday, January 5, 2025

--------------------