TRASH IN MY EYE Reviews: Movie review

Showing posts with label Movie review. Show all posts

Friday, October 16, 2026

Review: 1985 "RED SONJA" is Charming and Fun

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 11 of 2026 (No. 2059) by Leroy Douresseaux

Red Sonja (1985)

Running time: 89 minutes (1 hour, 29 minutes)

Rating: MPAA – PG-13

DIRECTOR: Richard Fleischer

WRITERS: Clive Exton and George MacDonald Fraser (based on the character created by Robert E. Howard)

PRODUCER: Christian Ferry

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Giuseppe Rotunno

EDITOR: Frank J. Urioste

COMPOSER: Ennio Morricone

FANTASY/ACTION

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brigitte Nielson, Sandahl Bergman, Paul Smith, Ernie Reyes, Jr., Ronald Lacey, Janet Argen, and Tad Horino

Red Sonja is a 1985 American action-fantasy, sword-and-sorcery film from director Richard Fleischer. The movie focuses on a fearless warrior who sets out to avenge the murder of her family and to rid the kingdom of the evil queen who had them killed.

Red Sonja is female high fantasy and sword and sorcery comic book character that first appeared in Marvel Comics' Conan the Barbarian #23 (cover dated: February 1973) and was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith. They loosely based Red Sonja on “Red Sonya of Rogatino,” a character who appeared in a short story written by Robert E. Howard (1906-36), the creator of pulp character, Conan the Barbarian.

Red Sonja the movie introduces a young, red-haired woman named Sonja (Brigitte Nielson) She watches as the soldiers serving Queen Gedren (Sandahl Berman) murder her parents and her brother. Seeking revenge, Sonja trains under the warriors of the sword-master called “The Grand Master” (Tad Horino), although she has come to distrust nearly all men. Sonja sets off to avenge herself against Gedren and to end the Queen's tyrannical rule over the kingdom.

Assisting Sonja – whether she likes it or not – are the swordsman, Kalidor (Arnold Schwarzenegger); the boy prince of Hablock, Tarn (Ernie Reyes, Jr.); and his servant-bodyguard, Falkon (Paul Smith). Together the four must enter Berkuban, the “Land of Perpetual Night,” and stop Gedren from using the mysterious relic, “the Talisman,” to destroy the world.

I've been putting off seeing Red Sonja for decades, but because I want to see director M. J. Basseet's Red Sonja (2025), I thought it was time to finally see the 1985 film. Red Sonja was directed by Richard Fleischer (1916-2006), who also directed the second of the Conan the Destroyer (1984), the sequel to Conan the Barbarian (1982).

Red Sonja is a charming, even quaint sword-and-sorcery and film. Brigette Nielson is not a strong or particularly talented actress, and her performance gets no favors from this film's stilted dialogue. Still, Nielson is quite a trooper here and gives her all in her performance. I was definitely sold on the notion not only that she was Red Sonja, but also that Red Sonja was a real person.

Back when this film was initially released to theaters, a few of my friends saw it and hoped that Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in this film, Kalidor, would be revealed to be Conan. Apparently, contractual obligations and rights issues meant that Schwarzenegger ended up as “Kalidor,” essentially a Conan substitute-character. I really like Kalidor because Schwarzenegger plays the character in a somewhat lighthearted manner and also because in the 1980s, we got peak physique Schwarzenegger.

I was surprised that Red Sonja has attractive production values. The costumes by designer Danilo Donati and the work of the “Costume and Wardrobe Department” deliver costumes that were certainly worthy of some kind of contemporary awards recognition. I love them. Ennio Morricone's score for Red Sonja, while not among his best work, blends the sweep of forceful action with a surprising sense of romantic adventure that tells a story as much as it delivers cues.

Red Sonja is not a great film, and it did not need to be then or now. It is a true B-movie delight. Red Sonja is what it is, and that is a delightful cult film for those who want it to be that.

6 of 10

★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, October 16, 2026

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Thursday, October 15, 2026

Review: Todd Solondz's "HAPPINESS" Remains Objectionable, Thankfully (Happy B'day, Todd Solondz)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 7 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Happiness (1998)

Running time: 136 minutes (2 hours, 16 minutes)

Rating: MPAA – NC-17 (rating surrendered and film released “unrated”)

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Todd Solondz

PRODUCERS: Ted Hope and Christine Vachon

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Maryse Alberti

EDITOR: Alan Oxman

COMPOSER: Robbie Kondor

DRAMA/COMEDY

Starring: Dylan Baker, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jane Adams, Lara Flynn Boyle, Cynthia Stevenson, Rufus Read, Louise Lasser, Ben Gazarra, Camryn Manheim, Molly Shannon, Jon Lovitz, Justin Elvin, Jared Harris, and Dan Moran

Happiness is a 1998 drama and black comedy film from writer-director Todd Solondz. Happiness follows the lives a several individuals who live unique lives and who also engage in acts that society as a whole find disturbing and criminal in their desperate searches for human connection.

In Happiness, three sisters are the center point or nexus of a large group of unhappy people. Joy Jordan (Jane Adams) is the least successful of the three Jordan sisters. Andy Kornbluth (Jon Lovitz), a would-be suitor, kills himself after Joy dumps him, and she spends the rest of the film looking for a compatible mate.

Her sister, Trish (Cynthia Stevenson), seemingly has it all – a husband with a great job, a big home in a posh suburban neighborhood, and three children. However, Trish won’t have sexual relations with her husband, Bill Maplewood (Dylan Baker). Bill is a pederast who preys on prepubescent boys, and their 11-year old son, Billy (Rufus Read), is obsessed with ejaculating for the first time.

Helen Jordan (Lara Flynn Boyle) is a successful writer who is desperate to make contact with a sexual partner who can really satisfy her, as none of her numerous male companions have to this point. Allen (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a computer data analyst and engages in chronic masturbation. He makes prank phone calls to women and masturbates while he gets them to talk about their underwear, and he is infatuated with Helen – often calling her and hanging up. After 40 years of marriage, the Jordan sisters’ parents, Mona (Louise Lasser) and Lenny Jordan (Ben Gazarra) are divorcing because Lenny wants to live as a hermit in Florida.

Todd Solondz’s Happiness takes the lives of several, ordinary middle class characters and shows how warped and abnormal their lives really are. The film is so relentlessly matter-of-fact that it almost makes those characters seem normal, but the truth is that abnormality is their norm, and that if you get to look behind the façade, you will find that it is indeed a façade. Some of the characters struggle to be normal (Allen and Joy Jordan), while others are hopelessly stuck in aberrant or deviant behavior (Bill and Trish Maplewood).

Happiness is frank in its depiction of sexual dysfunction, dissatisfaction, deviancy, and desire. No matter the sexual disorder, the characters are stuck with it. They are trapped, feeding a need, and never really seriously looking for help. One wonders if they really don’t want more healthy sex lives or if they’re feeding the beast of sick and unusual behavior because it’s old habit.

It’s hard to tell, and the film just throws sexual failure and abnormality in your face. There are shots of ejaculate hitting a wall and later a railing, and in one case the ejaculate belongs to Billy Maplewood, a child, who is masturbating while watching a sunbather. So what’s the point of all this? I think Solondz is simply saying that such abnormality or dysfunction exists, whether we deny it, hide it, or overreact to it. He provides no solutions; in a way Happiness is a hybrid family drama and quasi-documentary about the still waters of American sexuality – whether it is a boy on the verge of sexual discovery or an old man who can no longer feeling anything, physically or spiritually, when he has sex. If the film has a major weakness, it’s that the characters are too married to their dilemmas; only the character of Billy Maplewood comes across as three-dimensional.

The ensemble cast gives great performances, but two stand out from the rest. Dylan Baker gives a riveting performance that is both scary and rich. He manages a balance of fantasy and verisimilitude that is a work of performance art in creating a sick man who is despicable in his attempts to have sex with young boys. Philip Seymour Hoffman, as he does so often, personifies the outsider scratching and clawing to get in with the straight crowd. His Allen is pitiful and pathetic, but he possesses kindness and understanding that only shines through in rare moments of beauty, no matter how ugly the situation is.

Lara Flynn Boyle gives a surprisingly marvelous turn as the pretentious, self-absorbed, and unsatisfied Helen. These performances and Todd Solondz’s boldness in tackling this subject matter the way he does make Happiness a winner and a must-see for moviegoers with guts who will not turn away from subject matter that repulses them.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, January 12, 2006

RE-EDITED: Saturday, October 10, 2026

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Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Review: "DEAD SPACE: DOWNFALL" is Insane-in-the-Membrane Entertainment

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 10 of 2026 (No. 2058) by Leroy Douresseaux

Dead Space: Downfall (2008) – Video

Running time: 74 minutes (1 hour, 14 minutes)

Rating: MPAA – not rated

DIRECTOR: Chuck Patton with Curt Geda and Vinton Heuck

WRITERS: Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray (based on the story and characters from the video game, Dead Space)

PRODUCERS: Chuck Beaver, Joe Goyette, Cate Latchford, Glen A. Schofield, and Robert Weaver

EDITOR: John Hoyos

COMPOSER: Seth Podowitz

ANIMATION STUDIOS: Film Roman, JM Animation, Digital eMation, Inc., and Hanho Heung Up Co., Ltd

ANIME/HORROR/SCI-FI/ACTION

Starring: (voices) Nika Futterman, Keith Szarabajka, Jim Cummings, Kevin Michael Richardson, Kelly Hu, Bruce Boxleitner, Phil Morris, and Grey DeLisle

Dead Space: Downfall is a 2008 American straight-to-video, horror, science fiction, and action animated film from director Chuck Patton. The film is a co-production between Starz Media, Film Roman, and Electronic Arts. The film is based on Electronic Arts' 2008 survival horror video game, Dead Space. Dead Space: Downfall the movie was first released direct-to-DVD in October 2008. Downfall focuses on a spaceship security chief who must fight a horde of animated and mutated corpses.

Dead Space: Downfall is set in the year 2508 and begins on the planet “Aegis VII.” It is the site of an illegal mining operation funded by Earth's “Church of Unitology.” During a scouting mission, a team of geologists discovers a strange monolith-like structure that is dubbed “the Artifact.”

Sometime later, a spaceship, “the USG Ishimura,” arrives in orbit over the planet. The Ishimura's Captain Mathius (Jim Cummings) orders that the Artifact be brought aboard. Alissa Vincent (Nika Futterman), the security chief of the Ishimura, believes that bringing the Artifact aboard is a mistake, especially as the Aegis VII colony seems to be undergoing a catastrophic breakdown. Vincent's misgivings prove to be correct. Now, she leads her six-person security team through the bowels of the Ishimura in a bid to stop a growing infestation of reanimated and mutated corpses. This outbreak may have begun on Aegis VII and worse, been instigated by the Artifact.

I don't play video games, and, prior to just seeing Dead Space: Downfall, the only thing I knew about the Dead Space game was its name. However, I am a fan of comic book writer-artist-publisher, Jimmy Palmiotti (Paper Films), and I am a fan of the work he does with his writing partner, Justin Gray. Palmiotti occasionally reminds his social media followers that he and Gray wrote the screenplay for a movie tie-in to Dead Space, the animated film that is Dead Space: Downfall.

After having watched Downfall, I highly recommend it because it is both a hugely entertaining science fiction-action film and a genuine, true-blood horror film. I understand that Dead Space the game has specific media inspirations, some of them unfamiliar to me. However, I would favorably compare it to director Ridley Scott's Alien (1979), director John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), and director James Cameron's Aliens (1986).

Palmiotti and Gray offer a tight screenplay that grabs the background and back story of the first Dead Space games and creates a tight action-thriller that does not hold back on its darkest elements. Downfall's director, Chuck Patton, leads a team of filmmakers and animators that take the script and brings its gleeful insanity to life. There is gore galore, manically-depicted evisceration, dismemberment, and disembowelment.

With that said, Dead Space: Downfall is genuinely a very good and very entertaining movie. It is no-holds-barred scary, and there is an intense sense of hopeless that offers just a teeny bit of hope in order to keep the audience invested. This certainly is an enjoyable film worth the investment. I kept watching because I couldn't stop, no matter how much dread I felt, and there is dread aplenty.

The animation is top-notch, although some of the CGI elements occasionally turn transparent, and I could see the background through them. The voice actors, lead by strong performances from Nika Futterman and Kevin Michael Richardson, make their characters come across as authentic and authentically nuts.

I can nitpick a few things, mainly because this animated film needed a longer running time in order to give its storytelling ambitions time to expand. Regardless, Dead Space: Downfall is a shocker. As far as American anime films go, and especially as far as straight-to-video films go, Dead Space: Downfall is exceptional in its execution and in its unrestrained madness.

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

NOTES:

"DEADSPACE: DOWNFALL" is available at Amazon on Bluray, DVD, and on PrimeVideo, where it is free if you have a Prime Video membership. You can stream it for free on the FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) services, Tubi, Plex, and TheCW. Regarding "Plex," when I used my smart TV and searched for "Downfall" on the "Plex" app, the movie didn't show up in the search results, but it is available at the Plex website.

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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 to join Amazon Prime, or to shop at my BOOKS PAGE, GRAPHIC NOVELS, or MANGA PAGE and BUY something(s).

Saturday, September 5, 2026

Review: Pixar's "HOPPERS" Surprises and Amazes

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 9 of 2026 (No. 2057) by Leroy Douresseaux

Hoppers (2026)

Running time: 104 minutes (1 hour, 44 minutes)

Rating: MPA – PG for action/peril, some scary images and mild language

DIRECTOR: Daniel Chong

WRITERS: Jesse Andrews and Daniel Chong; from a story by Jesse Andrews

PRODUCER: Nicole Paradis Grindle

CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Jeremy Lasky and Ian Megibben

EDITOR: Axel Geddes

COMPOSER: Mark Mothersbaugh

SONG: “Save the Day” sung by SZA and written by SZA, Ben Lovett, and Rob Bisel

ANIMATION/FANTASY/FAMILY and ADVENTURE/COMEDY

SUMMARY OF REVIEW:

Disney/Pixar's Hoppers has some of the best chase sequences and action scenes that I've ever seen in a Pixar film. They're better than what audiences find in a lot of live-action films

The characters are an utter delight. I think most viewers of Hoppers will see themselves in Mabel Tanaka, and the animal characters memorable in the way many Disney/Pixar animated characters tend to be

The science fiction elements in Hoppers are as charming as the magical elements found in the best fantasy films. This movie is made to delight adults and children of many ages because it is one of Disney/Pixar's best

Starring: (voices) Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy, Dave Franco, Eduardo Franco, Aparna Nancherla, Tom Law, Sam Richardson, Melissa Villasenor, Isiah Whitlock, Jr., Steve Purcell, Ego Nwodim, Nichole Sakura, Meryl Streep, Karen Huie, Lila Liu, Carlos Alazraqui, Grey DeLisle, Jorden Wyrick, and Secunda Wood

Hoppers is a 2026 American animated science fiction, action, and comedy film from director Daniel Chong. It was produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film follows an animal-loving college student who transfers her mind into a robotic beaver in a bid to save a beaver habitat from destruction, actions that only lead to disaster.

Hoppers is set in and around the city of Beaverton. The story introduces Mabel Tanaka (Piper Curda), a 19-year-old college student and an intense animal-lover. When she was a child, Mabel and Grandmother Tanaka (Karen Huie) found solace in a glade in a nearby forest. After her grandmother passes, Mabel takes it upon herself to care for the glade.

However, Beaverton's Mayor Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm) has announced his new “Beaverton Beltway,” a highway system that will encircle the city in order to better connect it. Mayor Jerry's plan includes routing the beltway through Mabel's glade mainly because he says that the animals have abandoned it.

While trying to lure the animals back to the glade, Mabel discovers that her biology professor, Dr. Sam Fairfax (Kathy Najimy), and her colleagues, Nisha (Aparna Nancherla) and Conner (Sam Richardson), have developed the “Hoppers” program. It is a new technology that allows them to transfer their minds into robotic animals. Mabel transfers her mind into a robotic beaver that will allow her to communicate with the beavers that once inhabited the glade. Mabel then discovers a world of animals beyond her imagination, but her activities will lead to one disaster after another.

I won't waste my time or yours, dear readers, preaching about the quality of the animation in a Pixar film. I'd rather wait until there is a day I can complain when I find a Pixar film that visually looks inferior. However, I will do something I have done in almost all of my reviews of Pixar films, praise this movie a lot. Not only does Hoppers have that magical Pixar charm and heartwarming storytelling, but it also has a really strong message. I know some people claim films should not have messages, and they are right. If a studio is making fast food-like entertainment, if the studio is making yet another movie featuring characters running away from CGI-generated weather phenomena, then, yeah, there probably is no message that it could deliver in an interesting fashion.

However, Hoppers isn't mere entertainment product, so it does have a message. Mabel wants to save the glade so badly that she her advocacy becomes interference and turns as disastrous and practically as destructive as Mayor Jerry's plans. Mabel is certainly one of those Pixar characters that is both lovable and has universal appeal, but she is more than just a heartwarming character. With here as the lead, Hoppers manages to have a message and also be a wonderful tale of friendship and redemption filled with Pixar's usual eye-popping action set pieces. The scenes with Diane (Vanessa Bayer), the great white shark, are... well, I think they the stuff of cinematic magic.

Hoppers represents peak Pixar storytelling, and I wish that I'd seen this grand, inventively-visual cinematic gem on a theater's big screen. Hoppers makes me want to invent adjectives to describe and to praise it, but I can simply highly recommend it.

9 of 10

A+

Saturday, September 5, 2026

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Sunday, June 21, 2026

Review: "CRIME 101" is an L.A. Crime Film Delight

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 8 of 2026 (No. 2056) by Leroy Douresseaux

Crime 101 (2026)

Running time: 140 minutes (2 hours, 20 minutes)

Rating: MPA – R for language throughout, some violence and sexual material/nudity

DIRECTOR: Bart Layton

WRITER: Bart Layton (based on the novella by Don Winslow)

PRODUCERS: Bart Layton, Tim Bevan, Dimitri Doganis, Eric Fellner, Benjamin Grayson, Chris Hemsworth, Shane Salerno, and Derrin Schlesinger

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Erik Alexander Wison (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: Julian Hart and Jacob Secher Schulsinger

COMPOSER: Blanck Mass

ACTION/THRILLER

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tate Donovan, and Corey Hawkins, with Nick Nolte and Halle Berry

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

Crime 101 is one of the most beautifully photographed films that I have seen in the last several years. Los Angeles looks a jewel

Writer-director Bart Layton gets the best from his four leads: Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, and Halle Berry. This quartet make their character's desires and problems seem genuine

Crime 101 is a true modern Neo-Noir film and a very special L.A. crime story

Crime 101 is a 2026 crime thriller and drama film from writer-director Bart Layton. The film is based based on “Crime 101,” one of six interconnected novellas from Broken, a 2020 book from author Don Winslow. Crime 101 the film focuses on an elusive thief whose last big score connects him to an insurance broker, a relentless detective, and a violent young biker

Crime 101 opens in Los Angeles, the home and base of operations of four people about to be violently brought together. Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth) is an elusive and disciplined jewel thief, carefully planning robberies to avoid violence and leaving DNA evidence behind him. However, Mike finally runs into a complication during a jewelry heist that almost costs him his life. Sensing that Mike might be finished because of this close call, his fence, “Money” (Nick Nolte), enlists a violent young biker, Ormond (Barry Keoghan), to replace him.

Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo) has been tracking a series of unsolved robberies and links Mike's diamond theft to these unsolved cases. Although few in the LAPD accept Lou's theory that a lone suspect is responsible for these crimes, Lou sticks to his theories and becomes obsessed with catching Mike.

Meanwhile, high-end insurance broker, Sharon Coombs (Halle Berry), discovers that her boss has found a new star broker, a woman who is way younger than Sharon's age of 53-years-old. Mike is using a hacker to get information on Sharon in the hopes of finding his next big hit, a multi-million dollar heist that will be his final score before retiring. Mike, Ormond, Lou, and Sharon will come together in an explosive confrontation that will not have a happy ending for everyone.

When I find a movie that I think would work better as a television series – such as 2009's Brooklyns Finest, I usually end up not being crazy about that film. I think writer-director Bart Layton's Crime 101 would make an excellent TV series, but I am also crazy about Layton's film. It is a true Los Angeles crime story that takes the good, the bad, and the mundane of the L.A. and transform it into a riveting, entertaining, and beautiful film. Yes, I would be repulsed and scared if I saw the crimes depicted in this film played out in real life. This is cinema, however, and Crime 101 is so gloriously thrilling that it is the kind of cinema that draws me into its world.

[I suspect the film's source material, Don Winslow's “Crime 101” novella, is probably quite a good read. However, I've never read any of Winslow's work.]

Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, and Halle Berry have all played famous Marvel Comics characters in several films, and that is one of many reasons I love all three. Seeing Hemsworth and Berry on screen together is heavenly; damn, they'd make a pretty baby. Then, getting Ruffalo paired with Berry or Hemsworth in various scenes is enough to make love Crime 101 even if it were trash. Thankfully, it isn't treasure instead of trash.

Add in Barry Keoghan giving another one of his wacky-ass turns, and Crime 101 has a star quartet that turn Crime 101 into Neo-Noir, character-drama gem. These four performers give their characters' highs and lows dramatic heft. At first, I didn't think I'd buy into these characters, but as this narrative came together, the star cast, which includes two Oscar nominees (Ruffalo and Keoghan) and one Oscar winner (Berry), made me believe in them and their motivations.

I'd hate to ruin this film for those who have not seen it, but I thoroughly enjoyed Crime 101. The experience of watching it was a series of thrills and chills, as I always expected something to suddenly snuff out the lives of character to whom I'd grown attached. Plus, watching the film editor, director of photography, make-up and hair crew, costume department, and composer deliver super work really made me appreciate what film industry professionals can do. So I heartily recommend Bart Layton's L.A. diamond, Crime 101.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Sunday, June 21, 2026

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Friday, April 3, 2026

Review: "MADEA'S DESTINATION WEDDING" is the Best Netflix "Madea"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 7 of 2026 (No. 2055) by Leroy Douresseaux

Tyler Perry's Madea's Destination Wedding (2025)

Running time: 102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)

Rating: MPA – PG-13 for strong language, crude/sexual material, drug material, and some violence

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry

PRODUCERS: Tyler Perry, Angi Bones, and Yolanda T. Cochran

CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Justyn Moro (D.o.P.) and Michael Wilson (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Larry Sexton

COMPOSER: Jongnic Tontemps

COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: Tyler Perry, Cassi Davis, David Mann, Tamela J. Mann, Taja V. Simpson, Diamond White, Jermaine Harris, Xavier Smalls,Walnette Carrington, and Brandon Sutton

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SUMMARY OF REVIEW:

Madea's Destination Wedding is a true return to form for the “Madea” film series. Everything that Madea films do well, this film does exceptionally well

The film's beautiful locations make this movie the best-looking “Madea” movie to date. Between the comedy and pretty locations, I felt like I wanted to be there

Madea's Destination Wedding is a long-deserved gift to Madea fans, but it can also work as a good introduction to this series for newcomers

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Madea's Destination Wedding is a 2025 American comedy-drama film from writer-director Tyler Perry. It is the 14th film in the “Madea” film series. The film is also a Netflix original and began streaming on service July 11, 2025. In Madea's Destination Wedding, Madea travels to the Bahamas for her granddaughter's wedding, but tensions, strangeness, and suspicions abound.

Madea's Destination Wedding finds U.S. Attorney Brian Simmons (Tyler Perry) having dinner with his daughter, Tiffany (Diamond White); son, “BJ” (Jermaine Harris); and their mother, Brian's ex-wife, Debrah (Taja V. Simpson). Tiffany and Debrah surprise Brian with the introduction of Tiffany's boyfriend, Zavier (Xavier Smalls)... and with the news that Tiffany and Zavier are getting married. The surprises don't stop; the nuptials will happen as a “destination wedding” in the Bahamas.

Now, Brian is forced to lead a caravan of relatives to the Bahamas. That includes his aunt, Mabel “Madea” Simmons (Tyler Perry); his father and Madea's older brother, Uncle Joe Simmons (Tyler Perry); Madea's daughter, Cora Simmons (Tamela J. Mann); Cora's supposed father, Mr. Brown (David Mann); Madea's cousin, Aunt Bam (Tamela J. Mann), and BJ. They arrive to find that the Bahamas are beautiful and the hotel is luxurious and opulent.

However, there is more to Tiffany and Zavier's wedding than what appears on the surface, and the results may lead to disaster, heartache, and a canceled wedding. Meanwhile, Madea and company are enjoying the idea of “put it on the room” too much.

Madea's Destination Wedding is the best Madea movie since 2019's A Madea Family Funeral (which was originally supposed to be the final film in the series). It is certainly much better than 2022's Netflix original Madea film, A Madea Homecoming. Madea's Destination Wedding picks up story elements from Boo! A Madea Halloween (2016) and Boo 2! A Madea Halloween (2017), which largely dealt with the melodrama surrounding Brian Simmons' daughter, Tiffany, who is engaged to be married in this new film.

I thoroughly enjoyed Madea's Destination Wedding. I felt so good after watching it that I didn't want it to end. It reminds me of the run of Madea films beginning in the 20-10s with Madeas Big Happy Family (2011), which all offered a delightful mix of Christian moralism, family reconciliation and forgiveness, redemption, and lots of yucks from Madea and company. If Tyler Perry can't make future Madea movies like Madea's Destination Wedding, then, he should retire the series.

I had forgotten to watch Madea's Destination Wedding when it first arrived last year, but I recently watched it in preparation for the new “Uncle Joe” film, Joe's College Road Trip (2026). I am happy that I got around to watching this. Madea's Destination Wedding is true to the spirit of the best Madea films, with smatterings of Christian spirituality, faith, forgiveness, redemption, and a great deal of broad comedy and slapstick. And Madea's Destination Wedding does it well enough to make me feel good about watching it.

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

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Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Review: "GHOST IN THE SHELL" is Still a Stunning Feat

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 147 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kokaku kidotai (1995) – anime

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan

Ghost in the Shell (1996) – U.S. English dub release

Running time: 83 minutes (1 hour, 23 minutes)

MPAA – R

DIRECTOR: Mamoru Oshii

WRITER: Kazunori Ito, based upon the graphic novel by Masamune Shirow

PRODUCERS: Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, Ken Iyadomi, Ken Matsumoto, and Yoshimasa Mizuo

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Hisao Shirai (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Shuichi Kakesu

COMPOSER: Kenji Kawai

ANIME/SCI-FI/ACTION

Starring: (English dub voices) Mimi Wood, Richard Epcar, Christopher Joyce, William Frederick, Ben Isaacson, Abe Lasser, and Hank Smith

Kokaku kidotai is a 1995 sci-fi, cyberpunk, and action-thriller anime film from director Mamoru Oshii. It is best known by its English title, Ghost in the Shell. This animated film is based on the manga, Ghost in the Shell, from creator, Masamune Shirow. Ghost in the Shell the film follows a cyborg policewoman and her partner as they hunt a mysterious and powerful hacker called “the Puppet Master.”

Some aficionados consider the film, Ghost in the Shell, to be the second greatest anime (Japanese animation) film of all time behind the venerable Akira. However, at the time of its release, Ghost in the Shell so stunned audiences with its futuristic look and dazzling blend of traditional and computer animation that some people considered it to be the future of anime and also the top achievement in the history of anime.

Ghost in the Shell opens in the year 2029. A female cyborg cop, Major Motoko (Mimi Woods), and her partner, Batou (Richard Epcar), hunt a mysterious and powerful computer hacker called “The Puppet Master” (Abe Lasser). In the year 2029, society is information driven, and humans are connected on a mass basis to an omnipresent interactive information network.

Sophisticated criminals are hacking into the network, so the government forms “Section 9,” which is led by powerfully advanced cyborgs like Motoko, who hunt the hackers. But in order to discover the secrets of the Puppet Master, Motoko will have to unravel the secrets of “Project 2501.”

Ghost in the Shell's story can get a little confusing at times. The writer of the manga upon which this movie is based put a lot of thought and research into his project. The “ghost” of the title is a soul or psyche, and the “shell” of the title is the body of the cyborg. I would suggest, dear readers, that you pay close attention and follow the dense social, political, and philosophical ideas of the film. In fact, this Ghost in the Shell anime was one of the smarter, science fiction movies of its time, granted that it does occasionally get ahead of itself and spews too many ideas.

As good as the story and script are, the grand achievement of this film is its animation. Anime filmmakers have been ahead of everyone else in animating the human figure in a dramatic context. No one really approaches the grace and the artistry of movement in the animated humans in Disney film, but Japanese animators have done excellent work in creating animated figures that move with fantastic bursts of energy during action sequences that depict sword duels, gunfights, martial arts and hand to hand combat, and wielding great arcs of eldritch and magical energy.

The quality of Ghost in the Shell’s car chases and gunfights rival those found in big, budget live action films, which makes this film feel bracing and invigorating. The beauty of both the hand rendered animation and computer animation totally captures the power of action and movement. Ghost in the Shell is explosive eye candy; imagine the artistry of Disney matched with the intensity of a James Cameron action flick.

Fans of anime and of science fiction love this film, but it is something special, So it should be enjoyed by people who love film and spectacular cinematic achievement.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

EDITED: Wednesday, April 1, 2026

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Sunday, March 22, 2026

Review: Netflix's "WAR MACHINE" is an Action Movie Thrill Machine

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 6 of 2026 (No. 2054) by Leroy Douresseaux

War Machine (2026)

Running time: 106 minutes (1 hour, 56 minutes)

Rating: MPAA – R for strong violence, grisly images, and language

DIRECTOR: Patrick Hughes

WRITERS: Patrick Hughes and James Beaufort; from a story by Patrick Hughes

PRODUCERS: Patrick Hughes, Rich Cook, Todd Lieberman, Greg McLean, and Alexander Young

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Aaron Morton (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Andy Canny

COMPOSER: Dmitri Golovko

SCI-FI/ACTION/THRILLER

Starring: Alan Ritchson, Stephan James, Blake Richardson, Jai Courtney, Alex King, Keiynan Lonsdale, Jack Patten, James Beaufort, Joshua Diaz, Esai Morales, and Dennis Quaid

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

War Machine is a pulp sci-fi all gussied up as an intense military thriller slash melodrama, and it works quite well

War Machine is an awesome action movie spectacle and virtually every minute of it is entertaining in some way

Alan Ritchson makes the most of this film, which is really an Alan Ritchson vehicle, and Ritchson gives it his all, meaning he would be lucky to have other vehicles as absolutely entertaining as War Machine is

War Machine is a 2026 science fiction film and action thriller from director Patrick Hughes. A co-production of the United States and Australia, the film was released in Australia before it began streaming on Netflix on March 6, 2026. War Machine follows an unnamed Army staff sergeant who becomes an Army Rangers recruit just in time to battle a mysterious and deadly machine.

War Machine opens in Kandahar, Afghanistan sometime during the prolonged conflict known as the “War in Afghanistan” (2001-21). An unnamed Staff Sergeant (Alan Ritchson) has just arrived t help his brother's broken down convoy. Then, tragedy strikes, leaving the unnamed Staff Sergeant wounded and broken. He is awarded the Silver Star for his actions, but leaves Afghanistan broken and feeling that he failed.

Two years later, the Sergeant attends the "Ranger Assessment and Selection Program" (RASP) in the hopes of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger with the 75th Ranger Regiment. He is given the candidate number “81,” but refuses the request of two officers, Sergeant Major Sheridan (Dennis Quaid) and First Sergeant Torres (Esai Morales), that he take on the role of team leader with the new recruits. Eventually, the final RASP exercise requires 81 and the remaining recruits to enter a nearby forest for a simulated mission.

During the mission, 81 and his team find a mysterious object that they mistake for their target. After they try to destroy the object, it transforms into a giant walking machine, and the killing and destruction begin. Now, 81 will have to be what he no longer wants to be, and that is both a leader and a savior of his his servicemen and servicewomen.

War Machine is one of those pure, old-fashioned science fiction film that is not afraid to be a rollicking, good-time alien-invasion movie. War Machine give me (and also you, dear readers) what I want; it pits a brave human hero battling his inner demons while simultaneously battling an alien baddie for his life. War Machine is Predator (1987) meets Transformers (2007), except that the Transformers here are homicidal, relentless killing machines. The result is a movie that is an absolutely thrilling and entertaining film, which I enjoyed from start to finish.

War Machine's director, Patrick Hughes, has experience delivering muscular action movies, as seen in his work directing The Expendables 3 (2014). Hughes shines up this pulpy sci-fi scenario and delivers an action film that seems as if it could have a timeless appeal (which I can also say about the preposterous Adam Driver sci-fi monster movie, 2023's 65).

I heartily recommend War Machine because I really enjoyed it. Alan Ritchson shows that he certainly has the acting chops to carry a movie as the lead. Ritchson just does his thang because he is both an actor and an entertainer. He shows that in War Machine.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, March 22, 2026

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Saturday, March 7, 2026

Review: "WEREWOLVES" is a Crazy Good Monster Movie

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 5 of 2026 (No. 2053) by Leroy Douresseaux

Werewolves (2024)

Running time: 93 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)

Rating: MPA – R for violence, some gore, and language

DIRECTOR: Steven C. Miller

WRITER: Matthew Kennedy

PRODUCERS: Jim Cardwell, Craig Chapman, Sevier Crespo, James Michael Cummings, Steven C. Miller, Myles Nestel, and Luillo Ruiz

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Brandon Cox

EDITOR: Greg MacLennan

COMPOSERS: James Burkholder and The Newton Brothers

SCI-FI/HORROR/ACTION

Starring: Frank Grillo, Katrina Law, Ilfenesh Hadera, Kamdynn Gary, James Michael Cummings, Lou Diamond Phillips, Lydia Styslinger, Daniel Fernandez, Yessenia Medina, Omalik J. Rosado, Travis Johnny Ware, and James Kyson

Werewolves is a 2024 American science fiction, horror, and action film from director Steven C. Miller. Werewolves is set on the day a lunar event that changed the world the previous year is about to happen again, while a small group of scientists attempts an experiment to save humanity.

Werewolves opens as the world prepares for the return of a devastating incident. One year earlier there was a “supermoon” event, but it was unlike any other known supermoon event. Over one billion humans that were exposed to the light from the supermoon were transformed into werewolves after the moonlight triggered a rapid DNA mutation in them.

A year later, Dr. James Aranda (Lou Diamond Phillips) and his Aranda Corp. believe that they have created a cure for the mutation in the form of chemical spray called “Moonscreen.” The spray creates a barrier (of sorts) between moonlight and human DNA. At Aranda's side is Dr. Wesley “Wes” Marshall (Frank Grillo), Aranda's lead molecular biologist and the head of the “Global Rapid Response” team.

As the day winds down, the world prepares for the return of the supermoon, Wes helps his late brother's widow, Lucy Marshall (Ilfenesh Hadera), and daughter, Emma (Kamdynn Gary), fortify their home. Will the home hold? And is “Moonscreen” the salvation that Dr. Aranda hopes? The answer may be behind the howling that will begin as soon as the moon rises.

Artist and illustrator, Carter Allen, my collaborator on the graphic novel, The Wrath of Karapace, likes to say that all movies cannot be hits, which is certainly true. However, director Steven C. Miller's hair-raising, 2024 film, Werewolves, deserved better than it got at the box office.

Werewolves is a true science fiction and horror action movie. It has more in common with sci-fi monster movies like Alien: Romulus (2024) and Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025) than it does with most werewolf movies. Miller delivers werewolf action with the same kind of cap-popping audacity and flesh-rending madness as Underworld (2003) and its howling progeny.

With its persistent score, virtuoso editing, and sterling werewolf costumes, make-up, and effects, Werewolves delivers monster madness with the confidence of a major studio big budget event pic while also proudly waving its indie creature feature flag. And I say that as someone who is hella persnickety about werewolf visual effects. Also, I like how this film's script gives the werewolves character and personality. They're shrewd and conniving and move with intelligent purpose like Jurassic Park (1993) and its sequels. It is refreshing that Miller and his collaborators realized that seeing the whole werewolf is cool, but that they could also thrill the audience by focusing on various body parts. They make especially good use of the snout, creating an effect that reminded me of the keen close-ups of the raptors in the original Jurassic Park trilogy.

Werewolves' cast, led by Frank Grillo, Katrina Law, and Ilfenesh Hadera, are all-professional all the time. The cast made me believe that time was indeed running out, that Hell is hot, and that werewolves have brought their hearty appetites to this party.

I have previously stated that 2006's Skinwalkers and 2014's Wolves would have been better off as television series. I think we would be better off with at least a sequel to Werewolves. When it comes to werewolf films, I recommend it without reservation.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Saturday, March 7, 2026

Dear readers, you can stream "WEREWOLVES" on Hulu via the Disney+ app. You can also stream it on Amazon Prime Video via rental or purchase.

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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).

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Sunday, March 1, 2026

Review: "SCREAM 7" Will Make You Laugh... and Scream

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 4 of 2026 (No. 2052) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scream 7 (2026)

Running time: 114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)

Rating: MPA – R for strong bloody violence, gore, and language

DIRECTOR: Kevin Williamson

WRITERS: Kevin Williamson and Guy Busick; from a story by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick (based on characters created by Kevin Williamson)

PRODUCERS: Paul Neinstein, William Sherak, and James Vanderbilt

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ramsey Nickell (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Jim Page

COMPOSER: Marco Beltrami

HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Isabel May, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Anna Camp, Joel McHale, Mckenna Grace, Michelle Randolph, Jimmy Tatro, Asa Germann, Celeste O'Connor, Sam Rechner, Ethan Embry, Mark Consuelos, Jeremy Connor, Matthew Lillard, and Roger L. Jackson (voice)

SUMMARY OF REVIEW:

“Scream 7” is pure entertainment,a truly scary movie that is also a genuinely funny in all its mayhem and gore.

Neve Campbell makes a welcome return as Sidney Prescott, and dominates the film in a way that recalls that old “Scream” feeling.

I highly recommend “Scream 7” to fans of the franchise and also to people who just want to enjoy a good movie.

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Scream 7 is a 2023 slasher horror film from director Kevin Williamson. It is the seventh film in the Scream film series and is a sequel to Scream VI. In Scream 7, Sidney Prescott is living in a new town, but she cannot escape her past as a new Ghostface killer has emerged to target her teenage daughter.

Scream 7 finds original Woodsboro victim, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), living in Pine Grove, Indiana with her husband, Police Chief Mark Evans (Joel McHale), and their two daughters. Now known as Sidney Prescott-Evans, she has her own small business, tea and coffeehouse, “The Little Latte.”

Despite her new life, Sidney is still vigilante, always expecting “the Ghostface Killer” to invade her life again. Then, it happens; Sidney gets a call from Ghostface, and he is requesting a video call. And right before Sidney's eyes is a ghost from the past, and this time, he declares that he is targeting Sidney's older daughter, teenager Tatum (Isabel May). Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and her new assistants, siblings Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding), come to rescue. Before they can stop this new Ghostface, however, Sidney and company must discover how many Ghostface killers there are and who they are.

Personally, I believe that the previous film, Scream VI (2023), is the best Scream film since the original trilogy of films, and is closest to the original Scream (1996) in terms of entertainment value. So I am surprised by how much I really enjoyed the new film, Scream 7, and I'll say the same for it as I did for the sixth. Director Kevin Williamson, the who created Scream over three decades ago with his original screenplay for the first film, finally got his shot at directing a Scream film. Scream 7 is so good that it makes me think that Williamson should have directed a film in this series long ago.

I saw this film with a predominately Black audience, and we all enjoyed talking to the screen the entire time (Girl, don't put the gun down!) simply because Scream 7 is so freaking entertaining. It is as if Williamson deliberately has his characters do nonsensical things while in the throws of panic and terror in order to give the audience a reason to yell at them. I can't say for certain that Williamson did that, but, if he did, it is like an ultimate meta experience.

Neve Campbell makes a killer return as the ultimate survivor. Isabel May is good as her daughter, Tatum, but she can't help but be in the fearsome shadow Sidney/Neve casts. Courteney Cox, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Mason Gooding provide excellent support and comic relief in a film that is, at times, as shockingly gory and gruesome as Final Destination (2000) and its progeny.

I don't want to spoil Scream 7 by talking about all the scenes that held me, thrilled me, kissed me, and killed me. Instead I will tell you, dear readers, that like Scream VI, Scream 7 is easily one of the series' best entries.

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, March 1, 2026

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Thursday, February 26, 2026

Review: "SCREAM VI" Thrills at Will

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 3 of 2026 (No. 2051) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scream VI (2023)

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

Rating: MPA – R for strong bloody violence and language throughout, and brief drug use

DIRECTORS: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

WRITER: James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick (based on characters created by Kevin Williamson)

PRODUCERS: Paul Neinstein, William Sherak, and James Vanderbilt

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Brett Jutkiewicz (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Jay Prychidny

COMPOSERS: Sven Faulconer and Brian Tyler

HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring: Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Courteney Cox, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Hayden Panettiere, Dermot Mulroney, Jack Champion, Josh Segarra, Liana Liberato, Devyn Nekoda, Tony Revolori, Samara Weaving, Henry Czerny, Andre Anthony, Skeet Ulrich, Max Laferriere, and Roger L. Jackson (voice)

Scream VI is a 2023 slasher horror film from directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. It is the sixth film in the Scream film series and is a direct sequel to Scream (2022). In Scream VI, the survivors of the most recent Woodsboro murders move to New York City for a fresh start only to find that a new Ghostface killer is stalking them.

Scream VI opens one year after the latest Woodsboro murders that were orchestrated by Richie Kirsch and Amber Freeman (as seen in the 2022 film). The survivors of the murders: sisters – Samantha “Sam” Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) – and their friends, siblings Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding), have moved to New York City for a fresh start.

Tara, Mindy, and Chad attend Blackmore University and have new roommates and friends: Quinn Bailey (Liana Liberato), Anika Kayoko (Devyn Nekoda), and Ethan Landry (Jack Champion). Sam attends therapy with Dr. Christopher Stone (Henry Czerny), who views her with a skeptical eye. Sam has also become the target of public ire because of an online conspiracy theory that says that she – not Richie and Amber – is the real killer behind the last Woodsboro murders. It doesn't help that many know that Sam is the biological daughter of one of the original Woodsboro killers, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich).

But “the Ghostface killer” (Max Laferriere and the voice of Roger L. Jackson) has returned, more brutal and vicious than ever. And he intends to pick up where the last Ghostface killer left off.

One then I didn't mention in my synopsis is that that two other franchise characters play a big role in Scream VI. They are Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), who has been with the franchise since the original Scream 1996), and Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), a survivor of the Woodsboro murders depicted in Scream 4 (2011).

Personally, I find Scream VI to be the best Scream film since the original trilogy of films. It feels like this film's writers (James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick) and directors (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett) had a freer hand to be wild and crazy, relentless and merciless, and imaginative and inventive in a way I don't think they did in Scream (2022). From the opening twist killings to the last act, Scream VI is edgy and adventurous. Only the best and most daring film franchises dig into the dysfunction of franchise characters, and Scream VI does that. The result is a slasher film that is as much a family drama and thriller as it is a scary movie, and it is excellent as all three.

I don't want to spoil Scream VI by talking about all the scenes that held me, thrilled me, kissed me, and killed me. Instead I will tell you, dear readers, that I highly recommend Scream VI, which easily one of the series' best entries.

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Thursday, February 26, 2026

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Friday, February 13, 2026

Review: "FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VI: JASON LIVES" Makes for a Happy Friday the 13th

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 2 of 2026 (No. 2050) by Leroy Douresseaux

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)

Running time: 86 minutes (1 hour, 26 minutes)

Rating: MPAA – R

DIRECTOR: Tom McLoughlin

WRITER: Tom McLoughlin (based on characters created by Victor Miller)

PRODUCER: Don Behrns

CINEMATOGRAPHER: John Kranhouse (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Bruce Green

COMPOSER: Harry Manfredini

HORROR

Starring: Thom Matthews, Jennifer Cooke, David Kagen, Renee Jones, Kerry Noonan, Tom Fridley, Vincent Guastaferro, Tony Goldwyn, Nancy McLoughlin, Darcy DeMoss, Ron Palillo, and C.J. Graham

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives is a 1986 slasher horror film from writer-director Tom McLoughlin. It is a sequel to the 1985 film, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, and is the sixth movie in the Friday the 13th movie franchise. In Jason Lives, a former victim decides to cremate the corpse of Jason Voorhees only to inadvertently bring him back to life instead.

Following the events of the last film, Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives focuses on Tommy Jarvis (Thom Matthews). As a 12-year-old, Tommy killed Jason Voorhees (as seen in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter). With his friend, Allen Hawes (Ron Palillo), adult Tommy travels to Forest Green County and arrives at Eternal Peace Cemetery where Jason is buried.

Tommy plans to cremate Jason's remains, in order to free himself of the misery that Jason brought into his life. Through a series of unfortunate events, however, Tommy inadvertently brings Jason back to life as a kind of revenant or undead monster with super-human powers.

Tommy flees to Forest Green County Sheriff's Office, where he attempts to warn Sheriff Michael Garris (David Kagen) that Jason is alive. However, the mean-spirited Garris is aware that Tommy is institutionalized and presumes that Tommy is hallucinating that Jason has returned from the grave.

Meanwhile, Camp Crystal Lake (a.k.a. “Camp Blood”) has been remade as “Camp Forest Green,” a camp for middle-school age children – boys and girls. The new camp's teen counselors don't know that Jason is already murdering his way towards them, but Tommy does. Only the Sheriff's daughter, Megan Garris (Jennifer Cooke), believes Tommy's warnings about Jason's return. She is willing to help him stop Jason from turning Camp Forest Green into “Camp Blood,” again, but will that be enough?

In the wake of the box office failure of Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, Jason Voorhees returns as the series' villain in Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. It may be my favorite film in the series, if not my favorite.

There are so many scenes and set pieces that I find likable, exciting, or even endearing. I won't spoil the film for those of you, dear readers, who have never seen it by mentioning these moments. However, I will say that I think the idea of making Camp Crystal Lake, with its history of brutal murders in and around the area, a camp for middle-school children, is both charming and crazy. Also, the scene of the first of the camp counselors to be Jason's victims is one of my favorite Friday the 13th moments.

I really like actors, Thom Matthews and Jennifer Cooke, as the heroic duo of Tommy and Megan. At the time, Matthews had recently been one of the main characters in 1985's cult, rock 'n' roll horror movie, Return of the Living Dead. Also, I always enjoy seeing now former actress, Renee Jones (as Sissy Baker), in film or television.

Let's give credit where credit is due. Writer-director Tom McLoughlin delivers one of this series' most unique offerings with its humor and self-referential elements. I consider Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives to be a must-see in the Friday the 13th film series.

6 of 10

★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, February 12, 2026

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Saturday, February 7, 2026

Review: "A HAUNTING IN VENICE" Shuffles Towards Its Happy Ending

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 of 2026 (No. 2049) by Leroy Douresseaux

A Haunting in Venice (2023)

Running time: 103 minutes

Rating: MPA – PG-13 for some strong violence, disturbing images and thematic elements

DIRECTOR: Kenneth Branagh

WRITER: Michael Green (based on the novel by Agatha Christie)

PRODUCERS: Kenneth Branagh, Judy Hofflund, Simon Kinberg, and Ridley Scott

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Haris Zambarloukos (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Lucy Donaldson

COMPOSER: Hildur Gudnadottir

MYSTERY

Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Kyle Allen, Camille Cotton, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, Kelly Reilly, Rowan Robinson, Ricardo Scamarcio, and Michelle Yeoh

A Haunting in Venice is a 2023 mystery film directed by Kenneth Branagh. It is based on the 1969 novel, Hallowe'en Party, written by Agatha Christie (1890-1976). Set in post-World War II Venice, A Haunting in Venice finds Hercule Poirot retired and living in exile until he attends a séance where one of the guests is murdered.

A Haunting in Venice opens in Venice, Italy in 1947. There, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) lives in retirement and in exile, having lost his faith in nearly everything. He employs an ex-Venetian police officer, Vitale Portfoglio (Ricardo Scamarcio), as a bodyguard to keep perspective clients away. On Halloween, novelist Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), a friend of Poirot's, convinces him to attend a séance at the Palazzo Lacrime dei Giovani, the home of retired opera singer, Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly).

The palazzo was once an orphanage, reputed to be haunted. In fact, the building is known for “the children's vendetta,” because the ghosts of the orphanage's murdered children haunt the place and sometimes kill people who visit the palazzo.

Rowena Drake's daughter, Alicia (Rowena Robinson), apparently committed suicide at the palazzo after her fiancé, chef Maxime Gerard (Kyle Allen), broke off their engagement... or was she a victim of “the children's vendetta.” Rowena has hired controversial medium, Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh), to help her commune with Alicia. Ariadne is attending the séance because she wants to expose Reynolds as a fraud – with Poirot's help – and make it the subject of a new book.

However, the séance turns out to be more shocking than anyone expected, and one of the guests ends up murdered. Now, the retired Poirot must once again uncover a killer, but he finds himself with a house full of suspects. And some of them border on the supernatural.

A Haunting in Venice is the third film adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel directed by and starring Oscar-winner, Kenneth Branagh (Belfast, 2021). It follows Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and Death on the Nile (2022). I had been planning on seeing this film for some time, but I kept forgetting. It was not until the release of Wake Up Dead Man (2025), director Rian Johnson's third film in his Poirot-like “Benoit Blanc” mystery film series, that I remembered I'd missed A Haunting in Venice.

A Haunting in Venice is a darker spin on Branagh's interpretation of Hercule Poirot, and this new spin also wants to be spookier, which ends up being a mistake for this film. In Michael Green's screenplay for A Haunting in Venice, the ghostly, supernatural, horror-like elements seem tacked-on more than they feel like natural elements. In turn, the whodunit narrative of this film becomes like a car stuck in the mud. Before I even reached the half way mark of this films' runtime, I was already struggling to stay involved in the mystery. I must also must admit that there were times when I was utterly bored with A Haunting in Venice.

However, the film's last act offers a reward for those patient enough to stick around, and that is a happy ending that returns a sense of normalcy to the world of Poirot. Also, I liked the cast because they did their best, even when the screenplay and their characters came across as anemic. I loved Tina Fey as Ariadne Oliver, as she proved once again to be a lovable movie star who makes the characters she plays seem endearing even when they don't deserve it.

I like A Haunting in Venice because I feel like I need to like it. Kenneth Branagh's Hercule Poirot intrigues me, and I can never get enough of him. Still, I can only honestly recommend A Haunting in Venice to dedicated fans of this film series.

6 out of 10

★★★ out of 4 stars

Saturday, February 7, 2026

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Saturday, January 31, 2026

Review: WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (Remembering Catherine O'Hara)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 106 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Waiting for Guffman (1996)

Running time: 84 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)

Rating: MPAA – R for brief strong language

DIRECTOR: Christopher Guest

WRITERS: Eugene Levy and Christopher Guest

PRODUCER: Karen Murphy

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Roberto Schaefer

EDITOR: Andy Blumenthal

COMPOSERS: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer

COMEDY

Starring: Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Fred Willard, Bob Balaban, Parker Posey, Matt Keeslar, Lewis Arquette, Larry Miller, Michael Hitchcock, Paul Dooley, Brian Doyle-Murray, Linda Kash, and David Cross

The Canadian and American comedian, actress, and screenwriter, Catherine O'Hara, died Friday, January 30, 2026 at the age of 71. During her prolific 50-year career in film and television, O'Hara appeared in four mock-documentary films (known by the term, “mockumentaries”) directed by Christopher Guest. I have seen three of them: Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), and A Mighty Wind (2003). I wrote reviews for A Mighty Wind and Waiting for Guffman, but only the former is posted on my Negromancer blog. In memory of O'Hara, I am finally posting Waiting for Guffman.

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Waiting for Guffman is a 1996 American mockumentary comedy film from director Christopher Guest. The film's title is a reference to Samuel Beckett's play, Waiting for Godot (1952). The film focuses on an aspiring director and his marginally talented amateur cast who go overboard with their small-town musical production because a prominent Broadway figure will attend the opening night performance.

Waiting for Guffman is seen through the eyes of a documentary filmmaker (who never speaks nor is seen on camera). He records the activities in and around the town of Blaine, Missouri, the “Stool Capitol of the United States” (as in “foot stool”), as the citizens prepare for the town’s 150th birthday celebration.

The town council decides that the best way to celebrate is to top off the day of festivities with an original amateur stage production, entitled “Red, White and Blaine.” The council chooses a transplanted New Yorker, Corky St. Clair (Christopher Guest), to stage the production, but Corky has delusions of making “Red, White and Blaine” a grand production. The cast of his production includes some of the town’s wannabe performers, a collection of eccentrics with more desire than skill, and their lack of theatrical ability is obvious to everyone but them. However, the stakes for the production are raised even higher when a Broadway theatre critic, Mort Guffman, accepts Corky’s invitation to see the opening night of the show.

Waiting for Guffman was the first of Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries. A “mockocumentary” is a term used to describe mock or spoof documentaries. The most famous example of such a film is This is… Spinal Tap, of which Guest was a star and co-writer. Other examples include Bob Roberts, CB4, and Fear of a Black Hat. Whereas documentaries study or take not of real people, real events, and real life, mockumentaries take a look at fiction peoples, places, and things. Since Waiting for Guffman, Guest has directed two other well-received mockumentaries, Best in Show (2000) and A Mighty Wind (2003), and he has another, For Your Consideration, due Fall 2006 (as of this writing).

Waiting for Guffman is mildly entertaining, and is meant to spoof local theatre and the desire of small town folks to be in the spotlight. However, other than for a spot here and there, the characters aren’t nearly as interesting as real people. In fact, a real documentary about local and small town theaters would be much more interesting. Guest reportedly filmed over 60 hours of film from which he cut into an 84 minute movie, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find that some of the funniest (if not funniest) scenes and material were left out of the movie for the sake of time and the narrative. Almost all the dialogue is adlibbed, so what the film basically has topnotch sketch comedy actors misusing their talent to create comedy on the spur of the moment. I was surprised how unfunny or only slightly funny I found some of my favorite comic actors to be in this flick. I generally enjoy the work of actors and comedians: Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, and Catherine O’Hara, but, here, they come across as too flat to me.

What makes Guffman worth watching is Christopher Guest himself. He’s mesmerizing and hilarious in his portrayal of Corky St. Clair’s artistic pretensions and self-importance. Guest is deliciously sly in his droll delivery, and he makes us believe that Corky certainly takes himself seriously – all the time. As comedies go, it would be hard to forget Corky, and even if I did, I’d be instantly delighted once I’d encounter him again. Waiting for Guffman is certainly worth watching, especially for those who want something different in their comedies. It has moments of inspired brilliance, and the theatrical production, “Red, White and Blaine,” is a must-see.

6 of 10

★★★ out of 4 stars

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Re-edited: Saturday, January 31, 2026

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