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  • What I Watched This Week: 5/9-15

    This week happened to be a bit of a slower week, with less releases than normal. Due to this, I did not get to see as many films as I usually get to. Due to this, I will include the new releases I watched in the top half this week, and then go into some older releases I viewed this past week. Here is what I thought of everything I watched this week.

    Remarkably Bright Creatures

    Remarkably Bright Creatures is a new Netflix original film from Olivia Newman, the director of Where the Crawdads Sing, and is starring Sally Field and Lewis Pullman. The film follows Tova, an elderly widow who works as a janitor at the local aquarium in her small town. While working at the aquarium, she forms a bond with a young worker there that leads to unexpected connections and discoveries.

    As a person who loves heartfelt movies such as The Holdovers, Good Will Hunting, and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, I knew I was going to be a fan of this movie. It is very schmaltzy, very predictable, and it doesn’t do anything too unique, but it is so heartfelt and genuine that I had a great time watching the film. The performances are also wonderful. Sally Field does a great job with Tova, playing the sad woman who is lost with her own life and unsure what to do next, and I loved the scenes with Lewis Pullman. Now, for anyone who hates schmaltzy, overemotional type movies, and tends to roll their eyes at movies like this, I would probably give it a pass. But for anyone, like me, who enjoys this type of story, put it on and enjoy.

    Rating: 7/10

    The Sheep Detectives

    From Kyle Balda, the director of Minions: The Rise of Gru, comes a movie about a shepherd who is murdered. After his sheep discover his body, they come together to solve his murder, using what they have learned from the murder mystery books he read to them every night.

    First off, this movie is not at all what I was expecting. If you would have told me the director of Minions would have made a movie about sheep that was a poignant and smart film about death, our own mortality, and how our memories affect how we live on through others, and that all those traits were in a movie about a bunch of sheep solving a murder, I would have laughed in your face, but that is exactly what we got. The way this movie deals with death and loss is done in such a mature and smart way, and it frankly reminded me of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, one of my favorite movies of all time. I was floored by the film. Now, the parts that the film fell a little short was some of the objective kids movie traits. There are some really bad jokes written in the film that you could tell were only there to get kids to pay attention to the film. The other part was the murder mystery itself. It was okay, but when compared with some of the recent detective films like the Knives Out films, it comes up a little short in that aspect. However, this film is still far better than it had any right to be, and is one of my biggest surprises of the year.

    Rating: 7/10

    From The Vault

    Now, those are the only films I was able to see, as I had already seen Mortal Kombat 2, and this coming week carries many more releases. So, since I don’t want the blog to be too short, on weeks like this, with fewer releases for me to see, I will discuss some older releases and films. However, it won’t just be some random film I find on streaming. I have a certain addiction, and that addiction is collecting movies. I buy releases from studios like Arrow, Criterion, Kino, and Vinegar Syndrome, but what happens for a lot of them is that they just go straight to my shelf and I do not get around to watching many of them for months, sometimes years. So, on every week it is a slow week in the theaters, like this past week, I will spend time going through my collection and watching some of the releases I never got around to. Here is everything I watched from my physical media collection.

    Dragons Forever

    Dragons Forever is a 1988 martial arts film, directed by Sammo Hung Kam-Bo and starring Jackie Chan, that tells the story of a hot shot lawyer working for a corrupt chemical plant that is polluting the waters of a local river. Chan gets hired to deal with the plant’s opposition, but things get complicated when he falls in love with a beautiful woman who wants to stop the plant.

    This film came out on a 4K release from 88 Films, and I got it for my birthday last year, but I hadn’t watched it until this past week. I haven’t watched many Hong Kong Jackie Chan films from early in his career, because for many of them, it is hard to find them in their original language. Countless 70s and 80s Hong Kong martial arts film came to America and were dubbed in a racist way and cut to shreds. That is why I have collected many martial arts films from that time period on physical, including the Jackie Chan Criterion sets, the Shaw Brothers box sets from Arrow, and more. I was glad to finally give this one a watch, and while I didn’t like it as much as many of the Jackie Chan movies I have seen, I still liked it. As in every Jackie Chan film, the action and choreography in this is incredible. Jackie was truly the master of the comedy fighting, and it works so well in this film. I could watch him and Sammo fight for hours. However, there are big chunks of this film that haven’t aged the best. There is a pretty homophobic moment with the judge in the movie, who calls a man being with another man “strange”, and there are moments with men slapping women, which is probably common for the time period but also makess it feel old in a way many of Jackie’s films don’t. This films also doesn’t have some of the amazing highs films like Police Story have. Still, it’s an action film with Jackie Chan. Even the weakest one’s are still very entertaining and a good time.

    Rating: 7/10

    Topsy-Turvy

    Topsy-Turvy is a 1999 film from director Mike Leigh and focuses on the creation of The Mikado, a hit opera from Gilbert and Sullivan in 1884.

    Topsy-Turvy was one of the very first Criterions I ever bought, back in the fall of 2019 in a used media store. I knew nothing about Mike Leigh and the plot of the film, and I only picked it up as I thought the cover art was interesting. Once I bought it, I almost picked it up and watched it several times, but something always made me put it back. One of the main reasons was the length. The film is almost three hours long, and it is about the creation of an opera that I have never even heard of. However, this week on one faithful night, I was looking through my collection for something to watch, and the film just called out to me. I was ready to finally watch this film, and I have to say that I am so very glad that I did. Now, the first hour and twenty minutes were a challenge. The film is always brilliant, and always good, but the film is so entrenched in its time period that sometimes I feel lost or bored. The film challenges you to stick with it, but if you do, you are treated to an incredible film. The stage performances were done so well. It made me feel like I was there in the 1800s, watching it happen on stage. All that buildup and time spent is to get you firmly in the time period, so that when you see the performances and production all come together at the end, it feels like you are fully there. An absolutely incredible film.

    Rating: 9/10

    Out of the Dark

    Out of the Dark is a 1995 Chinese comedy about a security guard at a haunted residential building who gets the help of an exorcist to help with a ghost, but the exorcist turns out to be an escapee from a local mental hospital.

    This film is one of four films from the Shout Factory Stephen Chow box set. I absolutely love Stephen Chow, and while I have seen every movie he had directed, many of his acting films are hard to find. So, when this box set was announced last year, I preordered it and got it. Of all the films in the box set, this is the one that sounded funniest to me, and while this film is lower tier Stephen Chow, it’s still pretty damn funny. I absolutely loved all the training bits in the movie and watching Stephen Chow train all the security guards on how to have no fear. The part with the dynamite was so funny, and it made me laugh so hard that I almost fell off of the couch I was laying on. Now, while the dynamite bit was hilarious, I would say other than that sequence that there weren’t that many scenes I laughed at. Much of the humor was a mixed bag, and some of it especially didn’t age well. There was a scene in the early part of the movie with two security guards joking about how they were going to rape one of the women in the complex that had big boobs. The scene wasn’t funny at all, and it only creeped me out. Thankfully, none of the other jokes in the movie were that bad, but it definitely aged more than many of the films Chow directed himself, which I would say are all better than this one. Still, it is a movie starring Stephen Chow, who is one of the most underrated comedic geniuses of the past 50 years in film.

    Rating: 7/10

  • What I Watched This Week: 5/2-5/8

    After a deeply mixed bag last week, I wasn’t sure what this week was going to give me. However, I am happy to say that this week was much better. Even though there were a couple of duds, I found the films this week to be much better, and it continues to showcase what a great year this has been with me going to the theater multiple days through the week to fit in all the releases I can. Here’s what I thought of everything I watched this week.

    Forbidden Fruits

    Forbidden Fruits is a campy horror comedy centered around a group of women who are all part of a cult of witches in a clothing store in a mall. However, with the arrival of a new girl, the dynamics of the women start to change.

    When this film originally came out back in March, the theater showing it in my city only had it out for a week before it was pulled from theaters. Due to the release window being so short and with me being so busy, I was unable to fit it in, so I decided to rent it on Amazon Prime this past week. Man am I glad I did. Forbidden Fruits was delightful. I loved the camp humor and colors shown in the movie. It reminded me of a horror film version of the comedy Bottoms from a few years ago, which is a movie I absolutely loved. I liked all the silly fruit names of all the characters, the weird emoji talking scenes, and I thought Lili Reinhart gave a fantastic performance as the leader of the cult. All in all it was a great time and a lot of fun. However, the ending is a little wonky. The tone of the movie tends to flip flop, and it can’t decide whether or not it wants to be a fun campy ride or a brutal mean horror movie, and sometimes it works, but at other points, it makes the movie feel a little janky. Overall though, it was a good time, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Bottoms or Jennifer’s Body.

    Rating: 8/10

    The Bluff

    The Bluff stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas as Ercell, a former pirate who stole a bunch of gold and has now moved onto a tiny island and has decided to hide out and start a family. However, all that changes when Captain Conner, played by Karl Urban, her former pirate captain, comes to take back the gold Ercell stole from him.

    I immediately knew I was in trouble when I saw that this film was produced by the Russo Brothers. Outside of the MCU, almost everything they have touched has been bad. Most notably The Grey Man, which is an action film so generic that they somehow make Ryan Gosling boring, which is quite a feat considering how Gosling is one of the most charismatic and easy to watch movie stars on the planet. That being said, I did my best to keep an open mind as they only produced this film, and there have been a few films that have managed to be good in spite of The Russos, including Everything Everywhere All At Once and Extraction 2. After watching this film though, I found my first instinct to be correct. This film is just simply boring. The leads have no chemistry together, the action is dumb and generic, the choreography and fight scenes are done better in most direct to video action films, and the camerawork relied too heavily on quick cuts for the action, which is one of my biggest pet peeves. This film was a struggle to get through at many points. However, I did enjoy Karl Urban. When the film was just him getting to be a pirate, it could be quite fun. There just wasn’t nearly enough of it.

    Rating: 3/10

    Hokum

    Hokum is the new horror film from director Damian McCarthy, who directed Caveat and Oddity. It tells the story of Ohm Bauman, played by Adam Scott, a douchey author who travels to a remote inn to spread his parents ashes. While staying at the inn, Bauman hears stories of a witch haunting the honeymoon suite, which give him disturbing visions, along with a shocking disappearance, that make him confront his past.

    While I have not seen Caveat, I did watch McCarthy’s 2024 film Oddity. I liked it. I thought it was a little rough around the edges, but pretty good overall. Hokum took everything I liked from Oddity and used it as a jumping off point. I believe this is McCarthy’s best film. I love so many of the shots in the film, from the opening shot of the ring of sand transitioning to the water residue left over from Bauman’s glass of whiskey, to the weird shot of the witch in the basement of the hotel. I thought the film was wonderfully written as well. Adam Scott has always been great at playing an asshole, and he does a wonderful job of it in this film. Bauman’s character is written incredibly well as a dickish author, and because of how he acts over the first 30 to 40 minutes of the film, you’re kind of excited to watch him get fucked with over the course of the film. Seeing this and Exit 8 come out the same year, with other films such as Obsession, Passenger, Backrooms, Resident Evil, and Leviticus yet to come out, it seems like 2026 is going to be a great year for horror.

    Rating: 8/10

    One Spoon of Chocolate

    Written and directed by RZA, and from producer Quentin Tarantino, this film tells the story of Unique, a former purple heart recipient army member, gets out of prison and moves to Ohio to rebuild his life with his cousin Ramsee. However, when Unique and Ramsee are targeted by a gang of racists in the town, Unique is left with no other choice but to use his skills against them.

    This film should have been a lot of fun. It should’ve been in the vein of other classic revenge films, such as Oldboy or Death Wish, but there was a big problem. There is not nearly enough revenge in this revenge movie. For about 70 to 80 minutes of the 112 minute runtime, I have to watch these racist assholes beat up the main character and some of his family and friends, kill multiple people and steal their organs and more, while hearing them say the most vile, ignorant, hateful, and horrible things and slurs over the course of the movie, and after watching all of that, I only get about 15 minutes of Unique beating them up? That’s it? It is so, so unsatisfying! The movie either needed to be slimmed down, with some of the hateful words and actions cut, or the revenge needed to be longer and more brutal. And to top it off, you’re telling me some random racist white dude could go toe to toe against a guy with army training and a purple heart? Give me a break. I love RZA, but this was a total miss.

    Rating: 3/10

    The Devil Wears Prada 2

    The Devil Wears Prada 2 picks up around 20 years after the first one, with Runway struggling after Miranda Priestly unknowingly threw her support behind a fashion brand that uses sweatshops. Hoping to bounce back, Andy Sacks is brought in to run the features department.

    As a big fan of the first movie, I was tentatively excited for this film, and in terms of legacy sequels, there is not much more I could have asked for. It is not a perfect film by any means, but it is also a lot different than I expected it to be and does a lot more than I expected. With legacy sequels, I go in knowing that there is going to be a lot of nostalgia baiting, as if the movie is saying “hey remember this? Wasn’t it great?”, and while there is some of that, there is not as much as I thought there would be, and the callbacks that are in the film are mostly subtle. I was also impressed with the tone of the film. The first one is hopeful and fun, while this one is definitely pessimistic. I thought it was really smart and interesting to see how the journalism industry is dying in the film, and seeing things like how the magazine has moved fully to digital, and seeing how the characters in the movie have changed. I especially loved seeing Meryl Streep’s character in that way. In the first film, she is scary and intimidating and holds all the power. However, in this one, since the magazine isn’t doing as well, she doesn’t have the free reign she once had, and it was interesting seeing her have to bend for other people and sometimes she even has to kiss ass. I also really enjoyed the humor of the film with her, especially in the board meetings with words she can’t say anymore. The film was much better and much smarter than I expected it to be. However, there were a couple things I really didn’t enjoy. For one, the romance between Andy Sachs and Peter. It was cute, but so unnecessary. Every time the romance with them popped up, I was ready for it to cut away from that. There is so much going on in the film and the romance only distracts from the better parts of the film. Overall, however, a solid legacy sequel.

    Rating: 6/10

    Mortal Kombat 2

    Mortal Kombat 2 is a continuation of the 2021 film based on the action video games of the same name. The film focuses on the fighters once again in a no holds barred fighting tournament to the death.

    While I found the first Mortal Kombat film to be at least passable, I found this to be absolutely dreadful. The action is terrible, the acting is horrible across the board, and the writing is even worse. The writing and directing were so bad that it seemed like it was genuinely Karl Urban’s first time in front of a camera. It was actually kind of impressive watching a guy that normally is effortlessly charming or interesting look like he has never once acted before. I was actually curious why the writing was so bad, until I discovered that the writer behind this movie also wrote the 2015 Fantastic Four movie, as well as the live action Death Note film, two of the worst written movies of the 2010’s. Even though it is stupid, I could still forgive the film if it was fun. I don’t mind turning my brain off at a movie and having a good time, but this wasn’t that. Even with my brain turned off, this movie was hard to watch. The fight scenes are incredibly clunky while being too heavily reliant on cuts. The lighting is absolutely awful as well. There were many points in the film where a death happened and I couldn’t tell how because of how dark the movie was shot. The only time over the course of the entire movie I had fun was the fight between Baraka and Johnny Cage. It was silly and funny, two things the movie desperately needed more of.

    Rating: 3/10

  • What I Watched This Week: 4/25-5/1

    This week, like every other week so far this year, has continued to give me more and more great films. However, this week was a little weaker than many weeks of the year have been, with two of the worst films of the year having graced theaters, along with some good but mostly weaker films. Still, it wasn’t a complete failure, and I am still convinced that this is one of the best years in film I have seen in a long time. Here is everything I watched this week.

    Roommates

    Roommates is the new film from director Chandler Levack. It tells the story of Devon, a high school graduate who is about to go off to college and is worried about not having any friends. That all changes when she meets Celeste, a cool, confident, free spirited girl that quickly becomes Devon’s best friend. However, after they become roommates, a blossoming friendship slowly turns into a complete and utter trainwreck.

    Levack managed to release this film on the same day as one of my favorite films of the year: Mile End Kicks. While I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as Mile End Kicks, I still had a great time. Chloe East gives a mean girl performance of the ages. It reminded me a lot of Regina George, and there were multiple times over the course of the film that I felt infuriated and frustrated with Celeste. I also really enjoyed Sadie Sandler’s performance as Devon. Devon is so kind and funny and relatable. Sandler gives her a very down to earth and charming vibe, and she does a great job carrying the movie around her. The script was also much funnier than I expected it to be. The film is a Happy Madison product, which is Adam Sandler’s production company, and the studio makes a lot of inconsistent films. I wasn’t sure where this would land on the Sandler spectrum, but I thought the movie was very funny. However, there are quite a bit of moments with deeply cringey humor, which is a lot of the gross out type stuff you see in some of Sandler’s other work like “Happy Gilmore” or “Little Nicky”, and when those jokes pop up, the movie didn’t work for me. That being said, I still enjoyed it far more than I thought I would, and I’m excited to see where both Sadie Sandler and Chloe East go from here.

    Rating: 7/10

    Apex

    Apex is a new Netflix thriller starring Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton. It tells the story of Sasha, a grieving woman going on an expedition in the Australian wilderness who catches the attention of a serial killer. Sasha has to use her climbing skills and brain to try and survive.

    What a piece of shit. This movie should be far better than it is. I love both Taron Egerton and Charlize Theron, but they are given nothing to work with in the script. Nothing in the movie makes sense. Egerton has a chance to kill Theron about 75,000 times over the course of the movie, and he never does. Why? I don’t know and neither does the movie. There is never a good explanation given. Her leg gets trapped in a bear trap at one point, and he takes her leg out of it and puts her in handcuffs. Huh? Why? Why on earth would a serial killer who has done this kind of thing countless times ever do something like that? Oh right. He wouldn’t. There are so many choices made like that over the course of the film, and every time I saw one of them I just got more and more frustrated with the film. There are films that take a similar plot and make them far more interesting. Take the 2017 film Revenge. Revenge is a similar plot. A woman gets left for dead in the middle of the desert, and when the three men who left her discover that she is alive, they hunt her down to try and finish the job. Now, Revenge is a very good film, and the reason for that is the writing is far superior. The way Jen survives in Revenge makes sense. She uses the weaknesses of the men against them. She hides. She sneaks around. She plays it smart. Sasha in Apex does not do any of these things. If the film wanted Sasha to survive, they needed to write her as a smarter character. As is, this is one of the worst films of the year.

    Rating: 1/5

    Over Your Dead Body

    Over Your Dead Body is a remake of the 2021 film The Trip, which centers around a couple where both the husband and wife plan on killing the other, but their plan goes awry when home invaders break into their house.

    While this film wasn’t as good as the original, I still had a great time! The action is well choreographed and fun, the script is solid, and both Jason Segel and Samara Weaving do a fantastic job. I am much more of a movie watcher than a TV show watcher, and since Segel spends most of his time doing shows, it has been a while since I had seen him in a project. I forgot how funny he is. His delivery and timing is perfect. Samara Weaving does a great job as well. After having to watch her deal with such an awful script in Ready or Not 2 earlier in the year, it made me happy seeing her actually given something good to work with. She has great chemistry with Segel, and she did a great job with the comedy bits, being just as funny as Segel in several moments, which is very impressive. Now, the film started to fall apart a little bit for me once Timothy Olyphant and Juliette Lewis come into the film. Their performances felt a little too over the top, and I felt like the prisoners plotline was unnecessary. I understand that it was part of the original film, but I think the film felt a little overstuffed with that additional plot point. It was too much and took time away from the best parts of the film, which was watching Weaving and Segel try to kill each other.

    Rating: 6/10

    Ricky

    Ricky stars Stephan James as the titular character and focuses on his struggles of dealing with life after getting out of prison after a 15 year sentence.

    What a heartbreaking film. The film doesn’t do anything new, or say anything that hasn’t been said in countless other films about prison, but it still broke my heart and kept me glued and engrossed for every moment because of James’ performance as Ricky. At points it doesn’t even feel like he’s acting. He embodies the character and makes him feel so real, and my heart broke watching him try to do good time and time again over the course of the film, and yet he seems to only make things worse the more he tries. Sheryl Lee Ralph also gives a great performance as the parole officer for Ricky. You can tell that she is a hardass, but she does it because she cares and is doing everything she can to keep Ricky from going back to jail. I was also a big fan of how Rashad Frett directed the film. I loved the opening scene with all of Ricky’s family around him with their hands on him, like they were trying to lift him up, and I loved the grainy and simple filter over the film. It reminded me of how Coogler shot Fruitvale Station. Now, I do have to knock the film down a little as it does not do anything new. There have been many, many films that have told a story deeply similar to this film, and have told it in a more interesting and unique way. Still, James’ performance carries and shines through, and makes it completely worth watching.

    Rating: 8/10

    Mother Mary

    Mother Mary comes from acclaimed director David Lowery and stars Anne Hathaway as a pop star who goes to her former designer to request a new dress for her upcoming tour.

    Personally, I found this film to be completely exhausting. The characters do not speak like human beings. They speak exclusively in metaphors for two hours, and it feels like every line is said only if it feels like it should be “important”. It is exhausting and tiring trying to keep up with it and understand what the characters are trying to say, especially with how boring the film is. In addition to the characters speaking nonsensical, they also speak in an almost whispered tone for almost the entirety of the film, which caused me to almost drift off to sleep at least five times over the course of the film. I found it to be insufferable. The one and only saving grace that this film had was the visuals. There were many moments where the visuals were absolutely gorgeous, stunning, freaky, and interesting. I only wish the script had the same aspects.

    Rating: 3/10

    Animal Farm

    Animal Farm is the newest adaptation of the classic George Orwell novel from director Andy Serkis. It tells the story of a group of farm animals kicking the human farmers off the farm and taking control, but things start to go awry when there’s confict within the group of animals.

    This may quite possibly be the worst film I have watched in my entire life. The film takes an incredible book, takes out everything that made it special, dumbs it down, adds in fart jokes and product placements, and turns out what might possibly be the worst adaptation of a book I have ever seen. The animation is horrible, the voice acting is terrible, the script is terrible. There is nothing good about this film, and I wish that I had never gone to see such a monstrosity.

    Rating: 0/10

  • Grading Every Packers Pick in the 2026 Draft

    The NFL draft has officially wrapped up. While the Packers did not have a first round draft pick due to the Micah Parsons trade, they were still able to draft some players in a bunch of weak spots. Here is my grade for each draft pick that the Packers made.

    CB Brandon Cisse: A

    It was no secret that the Packers secondary struggled last season. Valentine and Hobbs both struggled throughout the season, and it was one of the biigest weaknesses Packer fans called out week after week. Cisse should come right in and fix that need as he is an uber athletic prospect that will bring a lot of energy to a unit that desperately needs it. My one concern is that Cisse played on an underperforming defense in South Carolina this past season, but since the Packers have such a strong pass rush on defense, Cisse won’t need to be perfect to still make an impact.

    DT Chris McClellan: C–

    One of the main things scouts have said about McClellan is that he will need development. That is not the type of prospect the Packers have had much luck with. In addition, the Packers drafted a position that they didn’t need much depth at. The defensive line was already very good last year, and there are several other spots that the Packers need more help at. I would have preferred them to either go offensive line, corner, or wide receiver here. Still, after losing a few key defensive players in free agency, McClellan could come in handy.

    DE Dani Dennis-Sutton: D

    Once again, the Packers drafted for the defensive line, one of the strongest parts of the team last year, instead of addressing many of the key needs of the team. After losing many of the receivers to trades or free agency, the Packers only have three wide receivers on the team. They have very little depth, and as mentioned before, the offensive line and secondary both struggled last season. I believe an offensive lineman, a cornerback, a safety, or a wide receiver would have been much better to draft here, especially since Dennis-Sutton underperformed last season.

    C Jager Burton: A

    In the 5th round, the Packers finally went with an offensive lineman. Burton started every game while in college, which shows that he is durable and reliable, and he ranked as the top center through the combine. Offensive line has been one of the biggest struggles for the Packers, especially with injuries, so even if Burton doesn’t start right away, the depth he brings is incredibly valuable.

    CB Domani Jackson: A

    The secondary struggles for the Packers were adressed again with Jackson, a senior from Alabama. Alabama has done a great job developing defensive prospects through the years, so having a guy like Jackson will be very good for the depth of the team. Hopefully both Jackson and Cisse can make the Packers secondary at least servicable next season.

    K Trey Smack: A+++

    Since kicker Mason Crosby retired from the Packers, the team has struggled to move on and find a replacement. That came to ahead in the wild card game in the playoffs, when kicker Brandon McManus missed two field goals and an extra point, a total of seven points that could have helped the Packers win the game. Smack was 97/98 on extra points, 13/18 on field goals from 40-49 yards away, and 10/13 on field goals from over 50 yards in his three years at Florida. Having a kicker like Smack will bring a lot more stability to the special teams of the Packers next season.

  • What I Watched This Week: 4/18-25

    This week, I have continued on my journey to watch as many new releases as I possibly can, and in doing so, I continue to be deeply impressed with the slate of releases studios have churned out this year. Here is everything I watched this week.

    Normal

    Normal is an action comedy that tells the story of Ulysses, played by Bob Odenkirk, an interim sheriff in the town of Normal, Minnesota, who discovers a strange plot happening in the small town when he drives out to stop a bank robbery.

    Normal is the newest film from Ben Wheatley. Knowing that Wheatley was the director of the film going into it, I was unsure what to think of the film going into it. Wheatley has always been a deeply hit or miss director for me. I had fun with The Meg 2 even though it was deeply stupid, and I thought Sightseers was a fun and entertaining film. However, at the same time, I hated Wheatley’s remake of Rebecca, and while I liked parts of Free Fire, it mostly drove me crazy, and I found High Rise to be way too far up its own ass. So, keeping that in mind, I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about Normal, but I had a great time. The film clearly borrowed a lot from Hot Fuzz, another comedy I enjoy, and I loved the dynamic of the small town. Odenkirk is delightful in the film as well. He pulls off the melancholic feelings of his character incredibly well, and I really enjoyed seeing him do some more action after the Nobody films. The action itself is also wonderful. Incredibly fun and gory deaths with good camerawork and cinematography, and some of the deaths were so funny I burst out laughing in the theater. Now, the film does slow down near the end, and after the delightful twist, I was not a big fan on how they decided to end it. However, there is enough for me in the first 60 minutes that it did not bother me too much. It was still a good time.

    Rating: 8/10

    Mile End Kicks

    Mile End Kicks is a coming of age film centered around Grace Pine, played by Barbie Ferreira, an up and coming music critic that moves to Montreal to write a book on Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill, but things take a turn when she falls in love with a singer in a local indie band and decides to become their publicist.

    Going into the film, I didn’t know that much about it, but within the first five minutes, I knew I was going to like the movie. Mile End Kicks gave me the same feeling that Almost Famous did, and it was clear that the director, Chandler Levack, was a big fan of that film. You can see Almost Famous in every ounce of this film, from the running away from home to cover a band, to the way music makes the main character feel, and even to aspects of the romance. Being that it is one of my favorite films of all time, of course I deeply enjoyed Mile End Kicks. I loved Grace’s character. The anxiety she got at the parties, feeling like she could never be cool enough, and feeling like whatever she said was never heard was all very relatable to me, and while her character made bad choices sometimes, she was never unlikable, and I was rooting for her the whole way. Now, while I loved Grace, the best part of the film is Archie, played brilliantly by Devon Bostwick, which is maybe my favorite performance of the year,. Archie just had this cool, chill peace to him. He’s a character I would love to be best friend’s with in real life. He is always there to calm Grace, keep her level headed, and always tries to help her as best as she can. My favorite scene of the film was at the party Grace goes to on her first night in Montreal. She is overwhelmed and freaking out, and Archie just comes over, sits down, chills with her, and completely puts her at ease. I also loved the camerawork and directing of the film. There are some beautiful shots in the film. I love that at certain points in the party, there is a spotlight on Grace, or when Grace sees Chevy perform on stage for the first time, the colors on screen brighten. Little touches like that were great, and really added to the film. While there was a lot I loved in the film, I did think it wore its inspirations on its sleeve a bit too much. The film was very good, but if you keep reminding me how similar you are to Almost Famous, I am going to wish I was watching Almost Famous at points. I also hated the parts with Jay Baruchel. While I understand why the director would want to include scenes like that, it felt so unnecessary. The film already had plenty of content, and those scenes added nothing to the film. All in all, however, I had a lovely time.

    Rating: 8/10

    Faces of Death

    Faces of Death is a remake of the 1970’s cult horror classic starring Dacre Montgomery and directed by Daniel Goldhaber. The film tells the story of Margot, a content moderator on a social media site, who discovers some videos on the site of a man killing people, and thinks the deaths are really happening.

    Faces of Death was a deeply mixed bag for me. Let’s start with the good. Dacre Montgomery and Barbie Ferreira both do a wonderful job in the film. I loved the OCD tendencies Montgomery gave to the character. It gave the killer a little more complexity than he would have otherwise had in the performance. Ferreira does a great job of showing the spiral of the main character, and showing the trauma she has had slowly bubbling up to the surface and causing her to breakdown over the course of the film. I also absolutely loved the allegory and symbolism of our society’s numb feelings to violence, and seeing people watch and like and share the videos of people getting murdered. The film had a lot to say about that, and I think a lot of it worked well. However, there were a ton of plot holes near the end of the film. First, when Margot is escaping from the killer’s lair, she takes forever looking at every little picture and post on the drive. Why would she spend all that time looking at it? After the first couple photos, it is perfectly clear what is on the drive. Why would she not immediately take it and run? Why does it take until the other girl gets shot until she starts to run away? She is in the house of a serial killer. It did not make any sense. There were a lot of other similar choices made that I do not wish to spoil, but left me feeling equally frustrated.

    Rating: 6/10

    Lee Cronin’s The Mummy

    The Mummy tells the story of a couple that lost their daughter ten years ago when they were stationed in Cairo. The daughter has finally been found, but she is not the same as she once was.

    Lee Cronin’s The Mummy was titled the way it was as it is the only way anyone would remember who directed this piece of shit. God this movie was awful. It is generic and boring from start to finish. There are no interesting choices made, no interesting scares, and the performances are so monotonous. When Jack Reynor discovers that his daughter, after ten years, is still alive, he doesn’t even react! He doesn’t cry or smile or cheer or anything. He just stares into space without a single reaction. Absolutely terrible acting all around. And the worst part about this film? It is over two hours long. It felt like it was over three. It was absolutely excruciating watching it, and so far, it is the worst film I have seen this year. A complete and utter trainwreck.

    Rating: 1/5

    Fuze

    Fuze is an action thriller starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson centered on an old WW2 bomb found in the middle of a construction site in London. While the army tries to disable the bomb, a group of men attempt a heist on a bank vault inside the bomb site.

    Up until about three days before this film came out, I had never heard of it. I had no idea it was happening. I only discovered the film when my local theater put up a poster of it. I didn’t know what the plot was. From the look of the poster, I just assumed that it would be a Jason Statham type of action movie: schlocky and stupid, but kind of fun to turn your brain off and watch for 90 minutes. However, that is not what I got. This was much better than that. Starting off, I knew immediately I was wrong when I saw that the film was directed by David Mackenzie. Mackenzie has directed a number of films I enjoy, including Perfect Sense, Outlaw King, and Hell or High Water, all of which are high quality films. Halfway through the film, I did not understand why the movie got mixed reviews. The parts with the bomb had me on the edge of my seat. It was incredibly tense and stressful, and I loved watching it switch from the bomb team to the heist team. The camerawork is frenetic, and keeps the pace up. I thought the movie was great. However, once the heist was done, I realized why the film got mixed reviews. The film started with the start of the heist, and since there was still 30 minutes left in the film once the heist ended, the movie went off the rails. Mackenzie threw way too much at the screen. There were too many twists, with no enough substance, and a lot of choices that just didn’t make sense. In addition, with keeping the movie going, the film lost the frenetic pace that it had going for it, making the film feel like it was really dragging towards the end. Still, there’s enough that I liked in the first two-thirds that I would recommend it.

    Rating: 6/10

    Nirvana The Band The Show The Movie

    Nirvana The Band The Show The Movie is a film, based on the web series, and starring Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol about a comedy duo who accidentally goes back in time to the year 2008 after a failed plot to book a gig at the concert venue The Rivoli.

    Going into this film, I had not seen the web series and I didn’t have much context for the movie, but I heard great things about it. While I don’t think I loved it as much as most people, I still deeply enjoyed it. Let’s start with the stuff I loved. The movie looks fantastic. There are some parts of the film that I genuinely am unsure how they pulled it off. When they first made it to 2008, and I saw the bus play the infamous Black Eyed Peas song, I was deeply impressed. I haven’t seen a movie quite like this ever before. However, the comedy was very hit or miss for me. Parts like the Black Eyed Peas song was very funny to me, but there were other moments that felt like the movie thought were funnier than they actually were. The movie also has a certain weird tone that took me a while to truly process and get into. I think if I checked out the web series and saw it again having more of a sense of what to expect, I think I would have liked it more.

    Rating: 8/10

  • What I Watched This Week: 4/11-17

    The year in movies continues to show that it has been one of the best of the decade so far. I cannot remember the last year where there has been something in the theater that I have wanted to watch every single weekend, but that has definitely been the case this year. Here is what I caught this week.

    You, Me & Tuscany

    You, Me & Tuscany is a romantic comedy that tells the story of Anna, a woman who travels to Italy and crashes at a man’s villa. When his family finds her, she pretends to be the man’s fiancé and gets entangled with them and a new man she starts to catch feelings for.

    You, Me & Tuscany is a pretty basic and by the numbers romcom. It hits all the same beats that you’ve seen a million times, and it doesn’t really do anything new, but it manages to stay charming because of the two leads. Anna should be incredibly unlikable. She works as a house sitter, where she takes over other people’s lives. She goes to Italy and starts living in the villa of a man she met once, lies and manipulates everyone around her, and does whatever she can to get what she wants. Sounds like an incredibly unlikable character right? Well, she would be, if she wasn’t played by Halle Bailey. Bailey makes the character incredibly cute and silly and charming. Because of her, you instantly want to see things work out for her. And her chemistry with Regé-Jean Page is wonderful. The two of them click, are charming and funny, and the movie works well with the two of them centered around the screen. While the film is incredibly basic, the two leads make it a deeply entertaining romcom that is worth a watch

    Rating: 6/10

    Thrash

    Thrash is a horror film about a coastal town that gets decimated by a hurricane that brings with it a bunch of hungry sharks.

    Tommy Wirkola, the director of Thrash, has directed quite a few films that I liked. The Trip, Violent Night, and What Happened to Monday are all fun and entertaining films. Because of this, I went into Thrash with a little hope that, even if the film isn’t great, that maybe it could be fun. Instead, this film wasn’t fun. It was pretty terrible from beginning to end. The acting sucks, the characters are horribly written, the CGI on the sharks is bad, and even though the film is only 84 minutes, it felt like it was a three hour film. I have seen a lot of disaster films like this, and I have seen many do it better. And with how poorly written the characters were, I did not care what happened to any of them. With all the flaws, however, there were a couple things that were okay. The birth scene was interesting and funny and well done, and there were a couple good laughs. I enjoyed watching the deadbeat foster dad get chewed up by sharks. Overall, however, I would definitely give this one a pass.

    Rating: 3/10

    Pizza Movie

    Pizza Movie is a comedy starring Gaten Matarazzo and Sean Giambrone. It tells the story of two college roommates that decide to take a drug that causes crazy hallucinations unless they eat pizza. The two struggle to find and eat a pizza to stop the crazy high.

    Pizza Movie is much funnier than I expected it to be. It is in the same vein as some of the stoner comedies of the ’90s and 2000s, like Dude Where’s My Car? and Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, and while it isn’t as funny as those films, it is still a good time. The phases of the drugs are really fun to watch, like the scene where their heads explode whenever they curse, or the body swap phase. My personal favorite is the very last phase, which I won’t spoil as it is wonderfully meta and one of my favorite parts of the whole film. The film can be cringey and overuse jokes, specifically with Gaten Matarazzo’s character and the football team, but overall it was a solid time.

    Rating: 6/10

    Outcome

    Outcome is the newest release from director Jonah Hill and starring Keanu Reeves. Reeves plays actor Reef Hawk, who is a generally loved actor that gets blackmailed with a video that could possibly get him cancelled. Reef works with his team to come up with a plan to go on an apology tour to all the people he screwed over through the years, and to avoid getting cancelled.

    So far this year, I am not sure if I have seen a more insufferable film. I love Keanu, but he is atrocious in this. He was not the right choice to play a character like this. His character seemed uninterested in what was going on throughout the film, because Reeves is bad at expressing emotion. It is the same reason he works so well in films like John Wick and Much Ado About Nothing. In films where he needs to be super serious or broody, Reeves pulls it off flawlessly. However, a role like this needed a lot more depth, and Reeves failed at that. Seeing as the film hangs on his central performance, things fell apart around him throughout the entire runtime. In addition to Keanu, Jonah Hill personally gives one of the worst performances I have seen so far this decade. He is obnoxiously unfunny, and the only thing he did was made me hate the film even more every time his character appeared on screen. The only thing I liked about this film is a scene with Martin Scorsese. It is an absolutely beautiful scene, and Scorsese gives a genuinely great and melancholy performance in the film. The scene is so good that it sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the runtime.

    Rating: 1/5

    Exit 8

    Exit 8, based off the indie game of the same name, follows a man who finds himself trapped in a loop while trying to leave a subway train station. To exit, the man must find various anomalies and solve the puzzles to escape.

    As someone who had never heard of and never played the video game, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this film. I knew it was a horror movie, and I only heard decent things about the movie. I went into this mostly blind, and wasn’t sure whether I’d love it or hate it, and I’m glad I did. When going into a movie like this, I didn’t expect the shots and visuals to be so unique and interesting. Director Genki Kawamura brings a lot of interesting perspectives to the film. I loved how the first fifteen minutes of the film are done entirely from POV, and how it makes the audience feel like they are getting trapped in the loop along with the main character. The film wasn’t that scary, especially for a horror movie, but what the film did great was creating this feeling of unease and uncomfortability over the runtime. I loved watching the anomalies over the course of the film as well. The subtle ones are fantastic, such as the one where the eyes of the characters on the posters followed the main character around, or the more big and epic ones like the flood. Now, while I did deeply enjoy the movie, I felt like the end went on too long. It felt like the director could’ve left with more of an ambiguous answer, and instead it gave everything away and spelled out the ending. Still, it was a quality film that was well worth the watch.

    Rating: 4/5

    The Wrecking Crew

    The Wrecking Crew is a new Amazon Prime action movie starring Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa. It tells the story of two half-brothers that haven’t spoken to each other in years who reunite at their father’s funeral. When one of the brother’s suspects that their father was murdered, the brothers have to put their differences aside and work together to solve the murder.

    There’s not much to say about this film. There are hundreds of action films like this that come out year after year. However, I still kind of liked this one. Sure, it doesn’t do anything revolutionary, and yes, I knew exactly what was going to happen over the course of the film. I knew who the villain was going to be the first time I saw him on screen, and I knew Momoa and Bautista would start off hating each other but would eventually solve their differences and realize they were brothers and save the day. I knew all of that, but I still had fun, and fun goes a long way. Bautista and Momoa are great together. They have tons of chemistry, the jokes generally work, and the action kicks ass. Lots of good camerawork and choreography, especially with the hallway fight scene during the ending climax. So yes, while it is incredibly generic, the main leads bring enough entertainment to it to make it a fun watch.

    Rating: 6/10

    Mercy

    Mercy is a 2026 January release starring Chris Pratt as a cop who is put on a trial with an artificial intelligence judge to find out if he killed his wife. Pratt has 90 minutes to prove to the AI judge that he is innocent, and if he does not prove it, he will be killed.

    Overall, while Mercy is bad, it is not as bad as I expected it to be. Sure, there are some horrendous writing choices, such as Pratt’s character “going with his gut” instead of just trusting the facts causing the AI judge to literally glitch out, which caused me to burst out laughing, but there are definitely worse films that have come out so far. The main thing that keeps the film from being completely bottom of the barrel is the style. The film takes the style of Searching, and while it uses it far worse than Searching does, it still uses it in an effective way that kept me engaged and entertained. However, while the style is nice, the movie is completely stupid. The plot twist can be seen coming from a mile away, the acting is horrible, and the pro AI message the film holds rubbed me the wrong way on numerous occasions.

    Rating: 2/5

    War Machine

    War Machine is a Netflix sci-fi action film starring Alan Ritchson, who plays an Army Ranger that gets trapped in a ridge by a mysterious robot.

    This film has the same problems The Wrecking Crew has. It is deeply generic and incredibly predictable. However, there is one big difference. The Wrecking Crew is fun. This is not. War Machine is incredibly boring. There’s no humor like in Wrecking Crew, and it feels like the dialogue out of each character’s mouth is just for exposition. No characters ever just talk to each other. Every word feels like it is just to explain something that happened before or to hint at something in the future, like when the crew are talking about the medal Ritchson’s character received from the army. It gets pretty annoying. At the same time, the film feels like it is just a worse version of Predator. It’s the same story, and I would have much rather been watching Predator. The only thing I liked, and the only reason I stuck around was for Alan Ritchson. Even though he is given nothing to work with in the script, he still does his best to make the movie work. The movie still doesn’t work, but he at least makes it watchable. However, I wish he was given something much better to work with.

    Rating: 1.5/5

  • What I Watched This Week- 4/3-10

    The movie year has been off to a hot start. It is only April, and yet there have already been many films from notable directors, including Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Sam Raimi, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gore Verbinski, and Joe Carnahan. In addition, there have already been many movies with more up and coming directors and big stars, with How to Make a Killing starring Glen Powell, The Rip starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, Shelter starring Jason Statham, The Moment starring Charli XCX, Crime 101 starring Chris Hemsworth, and many more. 2026 is shaping up to be an absolutely fantastic year for movies, and as a fantastic year for movies, I am doing my best to watch as much as I possibly can. Here is what I caught this past week.

    They Will Kill You

    They Will Kill You is an action horror film. It centers on Asia Reaves, a woman who gets out of prison and takes a job as a maid at a strange hotel like place, but pretty quickly things take a turn for the worse, and Reaves has to fight her way out. Starting off, this movie had the unfortunate release time of coming out right after Ready or Not 2. I am a little worried that this film will not do nearly as well as that film, because I must say that I found They Will Kill You to be much stronger than Ready or Not 2. Both films have a lot of similarities, with both focused on a central woman character fighting her way out of a place from satanic worshippers, and both have a central sister relationship, but I thought that They Will Kill You did each aspect much better than Ready or Not 2. The action is better. The writing is better. The performances are better. And the movie is also shot surprisingly well. There is a shot where Zazie Beetz is climbing up an elevator shaft, and it looks like something that came out of a Wes Anderson film. Now, that all being said, it is not perfect. The movie takes a minute to get going, and some of the acting in the first 20 minutes can be pretty cringey, but once the first action sequence happens, the movie picks up and becomes a lot of fun.

    Rating: 7/10

    Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere

    Inside the Manosphere has renowned documentarian Louis Theroux investigating the misogynistic world of the Manosphere, an online community of male content creators who put out videos and social media posts about the relationships between men and women. Theroux is one of my favorite documentarians. I loved his documentaries on Jimmy Saville and the Westborough Baptist Church and Scientology, and while this is a pretty good documentary, I believe it is a weaker documentary compared to his other works. Throughout the documentary, we see Theroux interviewing many various content creators, but many of the questions Theroux asks seem surprisingly surface level. He asks about their relationships and the women in the lives of these misogynists, but it seems many times that Theroux misses the biggest problem with these content creators: the fact that there are some boys as young as 10 that watch this content. That is an age where kids are easily succeptible, and seeing content like that could poison the minds of these kids, and give them a very toxic and bad impression of women,which is scary and unhealthy. Theroux brings it up at the very end, but it seems like much of it is left untouched. That being said, the documentary is still deeply entertaining. The interviews Theroux does with these creators are interesting to watch, and he is still very good at killing some of his interviewees with silence, and watching some of these toxic men squirm with just a few seconds of silence was very satisfying. All in all, a pretty mixed bag, but still successful at the end of the day.

    Rating: 6/10

    The Drama

    The Drama is a new dramedy from acclaimed indie director Kristoffer Borgli and starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya. The film focuses on the buildup to a wedding between Emma and Charlie, when a secret is revealed that threatens to burn it all down. Leading up to the release of this film, I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. I didn’t like the last film I saw from Borgli, Dream Scenario, a movie with a great premise that didn’t know how to stick the landing. I thought Dream Scenario was interesting but mostly grating to watch. The Drama, however, worked for me. Borgli is definitely improving as a filmmaker, as some of the shots in this film are absoloutely fantastic. Lots of interesting and dream-like imagery, with lots of striking colors. There was a particular shot with Zendaya switched with her younger self for the wedding photos that worked especially well for me. Outside of the shots, Borgli’s writing has also improved a lot. In Dream Scenario, Borgli had a great premise: a random person suddenly becomes the most famous person on earth after he appears in everyone’s dreams. It is a great concept, but outside of that initial concept, Borgli did not do much with it, and it seemed like he had no idea where to take the story after the initial idea. Here, however, Borgli had a clear vision. Watching Charlie spiral through the film after the reveal, which I would not dare to spoil, was incredibly well written. Both Charlie and Emma feel so real, and the film balances being deeply uncomfortable and shockingly funny. The Drama is one of the best films of the year so far.

    Rating: 8/10

    Mike and Nick and Nick and Alice

    Mike and Nick and Nick and Alice is a sci-fi action comedy starring Vince Vaughn and James Marsden. The film tells the story of Mike and Nick, two mobsters that must work together to make sure that Mike isn’t killed by the mob.

    I wanted to love this movie. It is a fun premise, with Vince Vaughn giving a fun duel performance, but I found the script to be an absolute mess. There are moments, such as the Gilmore Girls sequence, where the movie is funny and entertaining, but there are other moments where the film is just sloppy. For example, there’s a scene where Vince Vaughn wants James Marsden to use chloroform on someone , but he doesn’t know what chloroform is and calls it the “wet rag thing”. That is really stupid, and it makes no sense as anyone who has watched a movie ever knows what chloroform is. There are other moments as well, especiallly the ones with Jimmy Tatro, where the film thinks it is funnier than it actually is. Still, it is an entertaining film. The action sequences are great, especially the house raid at the end, but overall I think the film needed another rewrite.

    Rating: 5/10

    Eat Pray Bark

    Eat Pray Bark is a German comedy film that tells the story of a group of dog owners that travel to the mountains of Germany to work with a professional dog trainer so that they can learn to take better care of their animals.

    Honestly, I found this film to be absolutely insufferable. The comedy was the lowest common denominator type of jokes, and in addition to that, every character was a horrible person. It is fine for characters to be written in that way, as I enjoy shows like It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia, but in this instance, it did not feel like the characters were meant to be seen in that way. In the beginning, sure they were made insufferable on purpose, but by the end, the movie tries really hard to make you feel like these people had changed and were ready to be good dog owners, but I never got that feeling. The characters were insufferable through and through. The only thing I liked about the movie were the dogs. The dogs were very cute, but I think I would have much preferred to just watch a YouTube compilation of cute puppy videos.

    Rating: 1/10

  • The Magic of Project Hail Mary

    Leading up to the release of Project Hail Mary, I was generally pretty excited for it. Ryan Gosling has been one of the more consistent and successful movie stars of the past decade, with films like Drive, Blade Runner 2049, La La Land, and many more. In addition, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have been incredibly successful directors and producers, releasing both Spiderverse movies, the Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I have enjoyed almost every single movie Lord and Miller have produced. And then the trailers began to come out for Project Hail Mary, and I was even more excited. The visuals looked great, and I saw that the film also starred Sandra Huller, who gave one of my favorite performances of the decade in the 2023 film Anatomy of a Fall. I was all in on this film, and I could not wait for it to come out. However, that started to change when the reviews began to come out.

    One of the main sites I use for movies is Letterboxd. I scroll through reviews and news daily on the site, and I consistently post my own reviews on the site. I generally trust it, and when a movie gets a high rating on the sight, I make it a personal mission of mine to seek it out. That being said, when I see a movie with an incredibly high rating, I tend to get extremely high expectations for the film, and when I saw that Project Hail Mary was one of the top 100 highest rated movies of all time on Letterboxd, I started to get a little worried. I did not think that I would dislike the film, but I was worried about my standards and expectations being so astronomically high that nothing could have lived up to it. So, I tried to keep a level head, tried not to focus too much on the reviews, and then I watched the movie. It is as good as the reviews say.

    Walking out of the theater, I was absolutely in awe. I was happy, inspired, and full of hope. The movie absolutely delivered on every aspect. Gosling was perfect. He nailed the delivery of Grace, the comedy, while bringing the humility of a man far over his head that is still doing his best and choosing to do the right thing. The visuals were stunning. I read that Lord and Miller used a lot of practical effects for the film, and it is evident that they did. The film is incredibly vibrant, and the puppetry work done with Rocky was astounding. Drew Goddard also did an incredible job with the script. I have not read the book, so I am unaware what he left out of the book or what he added, but either way it felt like he did a great job of fleshing out the characters in the film. Gosling’s Ryland Grace felt so human. He was so confused and lost, but wanted to do the right thng. I was also equally impressed with the character of Rocky. With an alien like that, it would be easy for that type of character to be incredibly annoying. It has happened in several different films, such as Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars. However, Rocky was written in such a way that he never gets annoying. He is the heart of the film, with a lot of incredibly funny, heartfelt, and some surprisingly poignant lines.

    All in all, Project Hail Mary was a joy from beginning to end, with a great central performance from Ryan Gosling and incredible visuals.

    Rating: 9/10

  • Grading Every Packers Free Agency Move

    Now that free agency has come to an end, it appears that the Packers have made most of the moves that they will make before the Draft in April. In terms of the other teams around the NFL, the Packers had a relatively quiet free agency, without signing any big names. However, the Packers did sign some solid pieces, but they also let some big contributers walk as well. Here is how I would grade every move the Packers made in free agency.

    Losing Romeo Doubs to the Patriots- C–

    The Packers receiving core was already weak last year. Players like Christian Watson and Jayden Reed dealt with many injuries throughout the season and missed multiple games. One of the only receivers on the Packers to stay healthy was Romeo Doubs, who in addition led the team in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Losing a good contributer in a weak area of the team was a bad choice for the Packers. The only reason it gets a C- is that Doubs was not a superstar receiver, and the Packers signed receiver depth in free agency. Also, with less targets on the team, it will give Matthew Golden a chance to break out in his sophomore season.

    Losing Quay Walker to the Raiders- F

    Quay Walker was, outside of Micah Parsons, arguably the most impactful defensive player on the Packers last season. Walker was first on the Packers in total tackles, and second on the Packers in solo tackles and tackles for loss. The Packers defense was one of the better units in football last year, and Walker was a big part of it. He is a player the Packers should’ve put more of an effort into resigning. Losing him, the Packers lose a key contributer and depth, and while they made an effort to sign some additional defensive players for depth, none of the players were as impactful for their teams as Walker was for the Packers.

    Losing Malik Willis to the Dolphins- C

    Malik Willis showed out in the games Jordan Love was out. Last season, through two games, Malik Willis put up 409 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions with a completion percentage of 83.75% and a passer rating of 138.7, along with 104 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. In addition to that great two game stretch, Malik Willis filled in when Jordan Love was injured in the 2024-2025 season, leading the Packers to two wins while passing for 338 yards, two total touchdowns, and zero interceptions with a completion percentage of 72.65% and a passer rating of 115.35, along with 96 rushing yards. Willis was a great backup for the Packers, and after Love went down at points the last two seasons, Willis stepped up and gave the Packers some competent quarterback play. If Love goes down next year, the Packers will miss Willis. However, it is a C, because Willis was a backup quarterback, and to keep him on the team, it would have cost a lot of money, and had too big of an impact on the cap for a player who may not even see the field through a full season.

    Releasing Elgton Jenkins- F

    Jenkins may have been the best offensive lineman on the Packers last season, and he has been the best for the past two to three years. The two time pro bowler, though coming off a major injury, has been very effective through his seven seasons with the Packers. With no first round picks, it is a big mistake to let the biggest asset on the offensive line go. An even bigger mistake is, instead of retaining Jenkins, the Packers resigned offensive lineman Sean Rhyan, who was one of the biggest blemishes on the line last season, struggling in several games with penalty problems and getting beat by various defensive lineman. It was a big mistake to keep him over Jenkins, and I believe the Packers offensive line will suffer greatly because of it.

    Losing Kingsley Enagbare to the Jets- B

    Enagbare was a solid contributer to the Packers defense last season. He ranked third on the defense in quarterback hits and fourth in tackles for loss. However, in many of the otherr categories, such as tackles and assisted tackles, Enagbare ranked far lower on the Packers defense. He is a limited type of defender, who does one aspect fairly well, but there are several holes in his game. While the Packers have struggled to get to the quarterback and to generate pressure in the past, the Packers now have a plethora of players who have had trremendous success getting to the quarterback, including Micah Parsons, Devonte Wyatt, and Lukas Van Ness. While Enagbare is an effective player, the Packers made the right move not bringing him back.

    Trading Rashan Gary to the Cowboys- B+

    The Packers traded edge rusher Rashan Gary away to the Dallas Cowboys for a fourth round pick. While a fourth rounder doesn’t seem like much value to get from a former first round pick, I believe the Packers made a great move in moving off of Gary. Last season, when the Packers made the move to trade for Micah Parsons, one of the narratives was how Parsons was going to bring extra offensive lineman to block him, giving Rashan Gary more space and giving him more opportunites to get to the quarterback. However, Gary’s numbers did not improve. They decreased. Gary’s combined tackles, solo tackles, assisted tackles, and tackles for loss were down from what they were a season ago. In addition, Gary had a big contract, which would have cost $19.5 million. Trading Gary away means the Packers get away from a declining defensive player, without having to pay off the contract.

    Releasing Nate Hobbs- B

    Last offseason, one of the biggest signings the Packers made was bringing in Nate Hobbs. He was expected to come in and change the secondary of the Packers overnight, and instead, Hobbs was one of the biggest disappointments on the team last year. Hobbs regressed from being a top end cornerback to being deeply mediocre. His interceptions, pass deflections, combined tackles, solo tackles, total tackles, and approximate value all went down from the 2024 season to the 2025 season. In addition, Hobbs was signed to a giant contract that saw him get $48 million over two years, $19.4 million of which was guaranteed. The Packers needed to cut Hobbs, and it was a good decision to do so. The only reason it is not higher is because, due to the guaranteed money, the Packers will have millions of dollars in dead cap now.

    Trading for Zaire Franklin- A

    Last year, Zaire Franklin had a down year. His tackle and sack numbers were both down from 2024. However, that meant the Packers got him for cheap. The Packers gave up no picks, and only gave up Colby Wooden, a player who had worse stats than Franklin did last year in a down year. When Franklin is at his best, he is an all pro and pro bowl level player, which he was in 2024. And even in a down year, Franklin’s stats were still good. In fact, Franklin would have been second on the Packers in total, assisted, and solo tackles, third in tackles for loss, and fifth in sacks. Even in a down year, Franklin would have been one of the biggest contributers on the Packers defense last season. So, if Franklin comes in with similar production, he will make a big impact. However, if Franklin plays as well as he did in 2024, he could be one of the best players on the Packers defense next year.

    Signing Benjamin St. Juste- C

    Over the course of his four year career, St. Juste hasn’t given any signs that he would be a high end corner. He has been deeply mediocre throughout his career, not even cracking 50 total tackles last year, and only one interception, half of the total interceptions of his career. The one part St. Juste has done well is pass deflections, which he had 7 of last year. However, that would have been third on the Packers last season, who was already scrutinized heavily. However, the contract the Packers gave St. Juste is very low, with only $10 million over two years, with only $3 million guaranteed. If he does not play well, the Packers can cut him with little dead cap.

    Signing Skyy Moore- B+

    Through the past several seasons, the Packers have ranked close to the bottom of the league in terms of its special teams play. Moore is a return specialist that should be able to help right away. Last season, Moore ranked 8th in the NFL in kickoff return yards and 10th in punt return yards. Having a return man like Moore will be great for the Packers special teams, and also great for the offense, as Moore will help get Jordan Love better starting field position on each of his returns. In addition, Moore is a speedy receiver, and a great offensive mind like Lafleur will probably have a lot of ways to use him in the offense next season, similar to how the Seahawks used Rashid Shaheed last season.

    Losing Emmanuel Wilson to the Seahawks-D

    Wilson was one of the best reserve backs in football last year. In games when Josh Jacobs was not effective, Wilson stepped up and helped lead the Packers in rushing. One of the biggest examples of this is last November against the Vikings, where he put up 107 yards and two touchdowns. Losing a running back like Wilson made no sense, and there was no reason to let a player of his caliber walk, especially when he only signed for $1.5 million to the Seahawks. It was a cheap contract that the Packers could have easily afforded, and losing such an effective player will be a big blow for the run game next season.

    All in all, the Packers free agency has been incredibly rough. They lost far more players than they signed, and they let a lot of key players go. The depth, especially on the offensive line and defense, has thinned, and the Packers will definitely have to make up for that through the draft next month.

  • Possible Trades for the Packers

    With free agency jusy days away, that also means the trade market is in full swing. There are many free agents the Packers could go after, but there are also a lot of players the Packers could go after with a trade. After all, last year, the biggest impact on the team was not a free agency signing, but a trade for Micah Parsons. Here are five trades the Packers could make that would have an immediate impact on the team.

    Brian Thomas Jr., WR Jacksonville Jaguars

    Thomas Jr. started out his NFL career red hot, with 1,282 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns his rookie year, including people talking about him as a potential top receiver in the league. However, even though the Jaguars exceeded expectations this past year and won many more games, Thomas Jr.’s production declined drastically, with him only having 707 receiving yards and 2 receiving touchdowns, which is why the Jaguars may look to move off of him. With the Packers struggles with their receiver core, Thomas Jr. wouldl be a great guy to trade for. Coming off a rough season, the Packers could get him without having to trade many of their assests, and he is still on his rookie contract, which would only have a cap hit of $4.9 million. My one concern with Thomas Jr. is that the Packers receiving core has struggled a lot with dropped passes, and Thomas Jr. tied for second in the NFL this past season with ten dropped passes. However, with how small his contract is, and with him coming off a down year, I believe it is a risk that makes sense for the Packers, and would help rejuvenate their offense that went through several rough moments last season.

    Maxx Crosby, Edge, Las Vegas Raiders

    Crosby has officially requested a trade from the Raiders, and he is one of the best defensive players in the NFL. Pairing Micah Parsons along with Crosby would be a dream come true for any Packers fan, but it also may not be realistic. Crosby has $30 million guaranteed left on his contract, and it is worth $29 million a year for the next four years. If the Packers brought in Crosby, so much of the cap space would be eaten up by just three players: Jordan Love, Micah Parsons, and Maxx Crosby. In addition, the Raiders would probably want multiple first round picks, which the Packers already gave up two for Micah Parsons. However, a defense with Micah Parsons and Maxx Crosby would instantly be one of the best defensive units in the NFL. Parsons and Crosby are both seen as two of the best past rushers in the NFL, and having them both rushing the quarterback would make any team nervous.

    Renardo Green, CB San Francisco 49ers

    The Packers secondary went through some tough moments last year, and are in desperate need of a spark. Grreen would be a great spark to add. A 2024 second round pick, Green has shown a lot of upside with double digit pass breakups in both seasons he has played in the NFL. He had a big impact last year, contributing to a top defense even with many defensive starters on the team injured. The Packers could use more depth at corner, and having a guy like Green would be a big help. In addition, Green’s contract is only worth $3.04 million, with none of it guaranteed, giving the Packers little risk taking him on with tremendous upside.

    Rashid Shaheed, WR Seattle Seahawks

    In addition to the offense and the defense, one of the areas of the Packers that went through some rough patches was the special teams. The special teams unit for the Packers has been one of the five worst units in the NFL the past three years. One of the main reasons for that is because the Packers like to use backup players for their special teams unit, when instead, they should bring in players that are specialized in special teams. Last year, Rashid Shaheed ranked sixth in the NFL in punt return yards, and averaged 14.7 yards per return, which is fifth best in the NFL. Shaheed would instantly improve the special teams unit, and help the offense for the Packers get a much better starting field position each drive. Shaheed is also a player that just won the Super Bowl, and it is always good to bring in players that know what it takes to win the big game.

    Emmanuel Forbes, CB Los Angeles Rams

    As I said for Green, the Packers have struggled at cornerback. Notably in the playoff game against the Chicago Bears, starting cornerback Carrington Valentine gave up multiple 20 yard passes, and the unit as a whole struggled at important moments. They gave up 250 yards to Caleb Williams, 300 yards and 4 touchdowns to Bo Nix, and 256 yards and 2 touchdowns to Jared Goff. Forbes would instantly be the cornerback one of the Green Bay Packers. He had a tremendous season for the Rams this past year. While Forbes did not have many interceptions, only tied for 23rd in the NFL in 2025, his pass breakup numbers were tremendous. He had 18 pass breakups, which was tied for 2nd most in the NFL in 2025. Having a cornerback like that for the Packers would make the pass rush even more dominant than it already is, and with Forbes starting, Nate Hobbs could be moved back to slot corner where he is far more efficient and productive.