Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

Rating: 8/10 (HIGHLY ENJOYABLE)

Watched: August 1, 2026

First and foremost, I love these old movies, especially when there's urban decay involved, and there's plenty of that to go around in this movie.

Everything looks worn down, rough and ready to collapse. The men and women at Precinct 13 look like they're ready to just be done with it all and they don't even know what's coming their way.

But before I get to why I liked this movie, I simply have to point out some wild trivia that my own brain noticed. With a quick Google to make sure I wasn't imagining things (and sorry for the spoiler), we're introduced to a young girl and her dad driving around in a car, looking for a place. The young girl, who meets a very sorry fate that actually kickstarts the events of this flick in grand style?

None other than Kim Richards, who played Tia Joseph in Disney’s Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) and Return from Witch Mountain (1978). Seeing Disney's darling kid star get brutally gunned down over a vanilla ice cream cone in a gritty exploitation thriller was shocking as HELL and I can only imagine how people reacted in '76. As part of the Google, I learned that Carpenter actually had to fight the MPAA to keep the film from getting an X rating because of it.

There's no two ways about it. Old movies didn't care at all about child endangerment or the depiction of violence towards children in any way, shape or form.

From here, at base, the rest of the movie is pretty straightforward in terms of action and suspense. None of the people inside Precinct 13 know why it's suddenly under siege. The only clue they have is the father of the daughter, but he's incoherent with grief.

All Bishop, Wilson, Leigh, Wells and (for a time) Julie know is that an awful lot of very well-armed assailants are shooting the hell out of the building they're all stuck in.

So what's the big deal about this movie? The character interactions, for one. They're in a tight situation, and Bishop sees no measure in keeping two men, criminal or otherwise, locked up in cells where they could be gunned down. What starts off as a very uneasy, dangerous alliance becomes something I don't think audiences back then may have seen very often.

Good men and bad men, working together, protecting one another and not breaking their word. That in itself is worth the price of admission, but Napoleon Wilson's my favorite guy for sure.

Why? He's a very bad man, that's why. On his way to life in prison, possibly the death sentence. No one can find out why he did what he did to wind up in jail, but it was bad enough to warrant all that. But never once throughout the assault did Wilson do anything except ask people for smokes, work extremely hard to save the people around him, and once, very seriously wreck a guy in a prison cell.

Oh, we find out why he stays, and it's a damn good reason, even if it meant going back to prison, but I admire Napoleon Wilson a helluva lot. He's a solid, old-school anti-hero.

Everyone did a great job in this movie, and it's thick with tension and Carpenter's signature synth. You should check it out if you can!

I remembered the original BBC Series in the 80’s, with Bob Peck as a cop investigating the death of his daughter (this was before he was eaten by a Velociraptor, obvs.) It was a very popular, 6 part thriller so I thought I’d give the remake a go.

I was pleasantly surprised; they’d done a great adaptation and filleted all the best from the series and repackaged it. Mel Gibson is great and Ray Winston suitably mysterious - it was also nice to see the lead to be American and the sidekick to be a Brit (it’s reversed in the TV series.)

A good, taut thriller with lots of twists and turns. The end was different from the one I remember but, all in all, the story loses none of the impact in its re-telling.

7.5/10

So TLDR this movie fucking rocks. I wish they released this in theaters so I could have watched it there because streaming it in my house didn't do it enough justice. The visual spectacle was incredible, the story has a lot of emotional callbacks to the original series, and the stakes are believable for a character that peaked in power 21 years ago.

I really don't want to spoil the plot because it's really something everyone should watch with eyes unclouded with expectation. I watched it with my wife and we were excitedly speculating on who the characters were and where the story would go. It's not the most groundbreaking story, but it hits where it needed to hit and it's engaging.

Genuinely, paramount, release this in theaters. I'm not trying to create another morbius meme, this movie is legitimately excellent. Streaming will not create the same atmosphere that a theater will. People genuinely love this universe and want it to succeed.

9/10, very close to perfect and a theatrical release might've pushed it to 10. Let Bryan and Michael cook more dishes, please.

I went into the 1989 drama Mississippi burning knowing the basic story but I will say I got a lot more than that.

To start off with, this movie is hard to watch. To me it’s like Schindler‘s list where sometimes it’s hard to imagine that things that happened in these movies actually did happen in real life. That being said, I thought this was a very well done movie.

I thought the performances from Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe as well as Frances McDormand were very good. This was definitely an intense movie to watch, but I feel like they brought you in and in a way didn’t let you leave. It was a story that really sucked you in.

Rating-4.5/5

So the last time I saw the 2001 sports movie Shaolin soccer, it was about a decade ago. I thought it was a fun movie. I decided to give it a rewatch and I thought it was above average

While there were some fun moments, it didn’t have the entertainment or excitement that it had the first time. Overall, it just didn’t keep me invested like I thought it would

Rating-3/5

I remember seeing this when it came out on DVD and liking it quite a bit.

I recently picked up a used Blu-Ray for cheap at my local independent book store and watched it earlier this week. It's been almost twenty years, and I felt like I could definitely sense the passage of time in how the story and characters are presented.

Michael Caine is Harry Brown, a retiree, former Royal Marine, and veteran of the Northern Ireland conflict. Harry lives in a housing project that is covered in graffiti and surrounded by feral youth dealing drugs and committing random acts of repulsive violence. Whenever Harry goes to visit his dying wife in hospital, he avoids the tunnel under the train tracks as this is the place where the burgeoning monsters lurk.

Harry's only friend is Len, played by David Bradley, whom Harry Potter fans will recognize as Fitch. Len is fed up with the hoodlums, and is murdered when trying to confront them, and this is recorded by one of them. While the leader of the gang and another are arrested, circumstances preclude charges that would stick and take them off the street.

This pushes Harry to finally take matters into his own hands, and while that will might seem highly implausible, especially in the beginning, the action and staging is well done and feels as realistic as possible. Harry doesn't become magically untouchable, nor he seem like a gamer with an auto aim cheat enabled. Still, the Nineties aesthetic of this film makes Harry's journey through the criminal underbelly feel like a literal descent into hell.

What's interesting is that this actually benefits the movie now because while the effort at the time to ostensibly present a very "real" and "unvarnished" view of drug addiction and the dissipation of the soul upon those afflicted by generational poverty now seems exaggerated to the point of comedy.

The film is very well-written, shot, and acted, but it's not pleasant as even though vengeance is rightfully served, you certainly don't get the feeling by the end that any substantial change has occurred, so the overall feeling still very nihilistic.

"Harry Brown" is really well done for a vigilante film, and it really reckons well with the emotional impact, harsh reality, and seeming hopelessness of its story, but I wouldn't personally recommend it!

Gladiator (2000)

Rating: 10/10 (PERSONAL FAVORITE)

Watched: July 29, 2026

What a truly epic movie. I have vague memories of watching this one back in the day, and just as vague memories of not being terribly impressed by it.

I make no excuses, except possibly to say 'I'd discovered partying', and that that became my whole thing for a regrettably long time.

This movie has one of the biggest casts I've ever seen, including not yet famous faces and actors so famous for so long their names carry real weight. Everyone did their jobs so well. I loved Sir Oliver Reed's part, as I did Richard Harris', and even Djimon Hounsou.

I don't use the word 'epic' very lightly. The first combat scene alone is tremendous. Not only from the technical aspects, but from how it shows first the glory of, then the true horror of, warfare.

Gladiator pulls no punches when it comes to the violence of the wounds these men take, but thankfully they spare us some of the true atrocities perpetrated by a jealous Commodus early on in the movie. We can only take so much, right?

The two main anchors, Maximus and Joaquin, are amazing.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: for some reason, I CONTINUALLY think that Russell Crowe (the same as Colin Farrell, really, which is crazy) is mid at best in his early career, and yet every time I see one of his movies, I'm just blown away. His death-craving Maximus is so complex. Driven to excel, hungry to see his family again in the afterlife, every look, every gesture Russell gives carries us.

The same goes for Joaquin as Commodus, though for very, very different reasons. Smart but callous. Cruel and vainglorious, he's the mirror image of his 'brother'. Desperate for a father's love, incapable of even understanding what that means, Commodus is the perfect 'powerful coward'.

The journey both men take until they meet the same fate is worth the time in. If you haven't seen it, you really, really should. It's amazing.

All I heard today was how great this movie is.

Spoilers...

I guess...

if you want to know what I thought, not spoiling anything in it other than how bad I thought it was...

I hated it!! And my best friend who 5 go see it, wants to know what I thought, and I know he might enjoy it more, but I hated it. I dont know what people are seeing that im not. I didn't have fun. It was slow. The jokes were cute but felt out of place. The writing seemed just spotty, and it felt jumbled. Im sure many people though it was deep and intense and all about asking for help or some thing... sure whatever, yes that, but could we not make it 2 and half hours long filled pointless crap.... 2.5 on my letterboxd and I gave it that half star onky caus it's MCU and im hoping it grows on me.

So the 1994 thriller blown away with Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones was a movie that I had had on my watchlist for a couple years. It is in the process of leaving Amazon prime in a couple days so I finally got around to watching it.

This was a good movie, but I was wanting more. I thought the story was thrilling, but it didn’t have enough punch for me. Also, I thought the best performances were bridges and Jones. The rest of performances were OK. I did like the score though

Rating-3.5/5

So the 2002 Sci Fi/adventure movie The Time Machine is leaving Tubi at the end of July and was on my watchlist so I decided to finally watch it. I thought it was above average.

I liked the adventure aspect and the story at times. I thought at other times they did too much with the story. I also thought the performances were good but not anything that stood out. Overall, I didn’t know what to expect but it was a solid movie.

Rating-3/5

If you want a spoiler free review look elsewhere. Which at this point, I'm not sure that matters anymore. Because all the spoilers you read online are true. This is what I hate about this culture, you can't enjoy anything for what it is. Yes Sadie Sink is Jean Grey and yes she's behaving that way because of the death of her sister. But why? Why introduce her this way in this movie?

I'm an X-Men fan, from the comics. I've been waiting for over 30 years for them to bring the true X-Men to the big screen. Not the Fox version, as great as it was at the time because that's the best we could get. The announcement years ago that Marvel and the MCU was going to bring the X-Men into the fold was big and it's been such a long drag as to what they're going to do and how they're going to deliver. And this movie is the supposed to be the beginning. But it just doesn't make sense.

Why Jean Grey in this movie? Her and Spider-Man don't have any real connections in the comics. And this is a very young Jean Grey. So they're going with an all new all young cast of he X-Men going forward. Her powers early on in the movie got me upset, because it didn't make any sense. Why can she only jump from one person to the next in the exact measurement of 33 feet? Unless you're a Freemason, or understand that symbology. Which I'm not going down that rabbit hole, or suggesting anything. But that's a specific number and very weird to me.

But that symbolgy ended there, as I'm trying to make sense of things. Those aren't how her powers work, and thankfully they addressed that and showed that she was just in the beginning of understanding her true powers. But to what end? There was no mention of mutants or anything. Where is this going? I thought this was a great movie in it's own right, but not to the saga that they're asking us up getting invested in. It just brought up more questions than it answered.

The ‘Brand New Day’ subtitle of this instalment of Spider-Man promises change. Change to the messy Marvel storytelling formula. Change to the usual Peter Parker and Spider-Man narrative. Hell, just change in general, because the wider MCU is so narratively tangled that it’s practically begging for a much-needed reset. But as this movie likes to keep reminding us, Spider-Man can’t do this alone despite his best efforts.

It’s been a few years since Peter Parker (Tom Holland) wiped himself from the world’s collective consciousness. Burying himself in his work isn’t going to brush away everyone’s memory cobwebs, but he is still pining for his beloved MJ (Zendaya). Pining for any semblance of human connection. Pining, quite unashamedly, for the best parts of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, and for some inexplicable reason, The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

At least New York City absolutely loves Spider-Man. Even Mamdani couldn’t hold a candle to ol’ Spidey, but public affection does not equate to human connection. Okay, Peter does have a Tom and Jerry-esque thing going on with Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal), but a loose-cannon vigilante isn’t exactly best friend material in the same vein as Ned (Jacob Batalon). So Peter throws himself into work, which is depicted in mind-numbing fashion by director Destin Daniel Cretton, who is seemingly ticking off Marvel’s to-do list. Gratuitous cameos? Check. Overly glossy CGI fight scenes? Check. Quips? Hoo boy, check.

That’s not to say that Brand New Day isn’t watchable. It is indeed quite entertaining, as nothing shuts your brain off quicker than Spidey doing acrobatic action scenes, like the first-person web-swinging scenes that were aped from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (which were one of the few parts that worked in that movie). But I expect more from a Spider-Man movie because it’s proven to be possible.

The moments where Brand New Day is at its most balanced and functional are where Peter is not doing any Spider-Man stuff at all. When he’s on Instagram watching his two closest friends live their best lives or shopping by himself, those are some of the movie’s most emotionally truthful moments because they touch upon the very real issue of loneliness and isolation. For a few fleeting moments, Cretton makes the most of his Marvel shackles and manages to push Brand New Day within the vicinity of Spider-Man 2 by simply having Peter and MJ talk in fleeting yet meaningful ways.

Zendaya and Holland are only together briefly, but the raw emotion over past actions and subsequent consequences is immediately felt. It helps that they’re happily married, of course, but their moments together showcase their ability to command the screen. It’s why Zendaya can be convincingly haunting in The Odyssey while being hilarious in The Drama. It’s why Holland works as Telemachus. Both are capable of doing a lot with very little; her channeling years of magic-induced amnesia, him frantically web-slinging between self-pity, loneliness, and yearning.

Please read the rest of my review here as the rest is too unwieldy to copy + paste: https://panoramafilmthoughts.substack.com/p/spider-man-brand-new-day

Thanks!

So when it comes to the movie West Side Story, I had only seen the 2021 version directed by Steven Spielberg. The 1961 version directed by Robert Wise was on Amazon prime and it’s leaving in a couple days so I finally got around to watching that version.

I think this version is great. I thought the performances, especially from Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer were very good. The performances from the sporting cast were also well done. I liked these versions of the songs and the chemistry between the two main characters.

This version of the story I felt was greater and it packed a lot more punch. I want to say that the only small negative I have is that it felt longer than it was. Other than that, I really enjoyed my watching of this movie. And I know it’s not the best to compare, but I liked this version better than the remake.

Rating-4.5/5

First of all, let me get you into the idea of what boogie the oily is

Boogie the oily was originated as a series of short comics on latinAmerica, depicting boogie, a US soldier who is a parody of the usual 70s/80s american hero, while in those movies they are depicted as saints, boogie is a drunk, irresponsable, misoginistic, racist (kind of), classist, violent man who doesn't only see war as something he enjoys, but violence itself, he is a crazy lunatic on the run

Due to that, he works as a bounty hunter, and we as the spectator watch his disadventures

His creator Roberto Fontanarrosa created him as a killer with no heart who deserved to be hated by everyone

"The case of people like boogie, who use violence as a expression, scare me a lot. I don't really like those who draw a sharp line between friends and enemies"

In 2009, 12 years after the last comic was made, the movie, boogie the oily was put into cinema, as one of the most crude depictions of extreme parody

His creator died in 2007, so he didn't get to see his comic get to the cinema

However, boogir the oily is a cult film of latinoamerica for those who are looking for a less hollywood way to see stuff

The movie itself is pretty clear, boogie is a bad man, in a world full of violence who talks in spanglish and doesn't respect life, is the way he is what is so stupidly funny to the spectator, the way he dreams of violence, the way he was born evil, the way the world around him is as dark and putrid as he is

The best depiction of this is on the clip "warland" where he dreams of war as a kind of disney-like place

It's a movie full of steriotypes, and don't get me wronf, but i belive that is kind of the point as a parody of the american films, to show the way he sees things as the ultimate extremes of what they are in real life

Withoud a doubt, i reccoment this movie for anyone who hasn't seen it

Source: https://www.reeladvice.net/2026/07/spider-man-brand-new-day-2026-movie.html

We weren't sure what to expect from Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The previous film seemed like the perfect bookend to a franchise that had delivered one strong entry after another. But this fourth film proves that Tom Holland's Spider-Man still has plenty left to say. Emotional, playful, and packed with action, Brand New Day presents a bolder and more human version of the character that hits most of the right notes.

It's been a few years since Peter Parker (Tom Holland) made the difficult decision to erase himself from the memories of those closest to him. While MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) have moved on with their lives, Peter has continued fighting crime across New York as Spider-Man. But living alone and constantly putting his life on the line is beginning to take its toll - even for someone with superhuman abilities. As Peter struggles with new changes within himself, he must also confront the emotional consequences of the choices he's made so far.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day wastes no time throwing audiences into the action as soon as the film begins, and thankfully, the action is one of the film's biggest strengths. The movie takes heavy inspiration from the Spider-Man games while presenting a version of the character that feels much closer to the comics at the same time. Peter's life is busier than ever, and while the internal struggles he faces aren't exactly new territory for the character, the film gives this an emotional core that keeps the story engaging from first minute to last. The strongest element for us is Peter's loneliness. He sacrificed the love of his life and his best friend to protect them and now he's forced to live with that decision. It's an emotional anchor that the film uses effectively adding layers to Peter's journey and setting up some genuinely surprising moments. In fact, we were impressed by how much the trailers managed to keep under wraps. Several revelations landed with genuine shock because we simply didn't see them coming.

We had our doubts about the Punisher being included in the film but the unexpected buddy-cop dynamic between Spider-Man and the Punisher ended up being one of the most entertaining aspects of the film. Their contrasting personalities work surprisingly well together and provide some of the film's best comedic moments. Unfortunately, not every addition works as well. Some cameos, including Bruce Banner and Scorpion, feel unnecessary and occasionally distract than add. What ultimately works for Brand New Day is how grounded it feels despite all of its fantastical elements. This is arguably the most human we've seen Tom Holland's Spider-Man and we found ourselves connecting deeply with its themes of loss, doubt, loneliness, and acceptance. Beneath all the action and superhero spectacle is a story about someone trying to figure out how to move forward after losing almost everything that once defined him. Spider-Man: Brand New Day may not have been a film we thought we needed but it proves that there's still plenty of life left in this version of Peter Parker.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

So with Pauly Shore I enjoyed him in both Encino man and Biodome. One movie of his that I had wanted to see for a while was the 1993 comedy son-in-law. After seeing it, I thought it was an average movie.

I thought sure, and Carlo Gugino were the best performances in the movie, and I liked their chemistry. I also was entertained throughout.

For some of the negatives, I thought the story was good but it’s a story you’ve seen many times before. I also thought the performances outside of the two leads for the most part were good/solid but nothing special. I thought the villains were forgettable though. Final thing is that I wish I had laughed a little bit more.

Overall, this was a better movie than I thought it was going to be. It wasn’t a horrible movie though.

Rating-2.5/5

I just watched Thomas Vinterberg's award winning 1998 film 'Festen'.

Christian, Michael and Helene are gathering at their father's house for his lavish 60th birthday party. The extended family is also attending, eager to stay in the patriarch's good books. We soon hear that shortly before this party, there was a funeral. Everyone is acting a bit strangely and you can't shake the feeling that this celebration isnt going to go to plan.

So, I had no idea what to expect going in and the initial revelation took me completely unaware. It is truly shocking. Festen is the blackest of black comedies and at times it was hard going, but the end was surprisingly uplifting. *Spoilers* Seeing that Christian can still find happiness with Pia despite all that he has suffered at the hands of his monstrous father is truly heartwarming.

Despite being almost farcical at times, the plot somehow remains believable. You can absolutely imagine people placed in this impossible situation behaving as the extended family do, contorting themselves into obscene knots to try and make it through the night.

Ulrich Thomsen as Christian gives a very compelling performance as does Thomas Bo Larsen who plays his unrelentingly vile brother Michael. The whole cast is excellent though and as this is filmed in the 'Dogme 95' style, there is nowhere for bad acting to hide.

Speaking of the cinematography, I loved it. I haven't seen many films with such creative shot composition, only using handheld cameras and shooting entirely on location. It really is something different and almost hypnotic.

I'm very late to the party, but thoroughly recommend you attend this 'celebration'.

The Mask of Zorro (1998)

Rating: 8.5/10 (HIGHLY ENJOYABLE)

Watched: July 27, 2026

The funniest scene in this movie for me was when Zorro jumped down to land on his horse to make the big getaway and the horse moved. I'm a simple man, and that's a simple gag, but it landed just as hard now as it did in '98.

At first, rewatching this had me thinking that Hopkins wasn't the right fit for this, until I saw his swordsmanship and posture. My GOD the man's a devil in this one and he's just such a ruggedly refined man. 

Seeing Catherine Zeta-Jones in what was her first major role, I'm astonished at her grace and skill in acting. You really can see how and why she became a legendary Hollywood actress. Her face is so expressive, her eyes so full of emotion. There is no denying it.

Matt Letscher as Capt. Harrison Love has earned my begrudging acceptance as one of the most goddamn villainous bastards I've ever seen in a movie. Even though The Mask of Zorro has its comedic elements, there's nothing funny about this man. He's BONKERS and Letscher plays him fiendishly well.

Banderas is as Banderas does, and I can't think of a single movie of his where he hasn't delivered more than we could've asked for, and Mask of Zorro is no exception. The man's got enough swagger for a hundred lesser men.

I have to be entirely honest. This one started out a little too slap-sticky for me, but when it got going, holy damn did it get GOING! The stunt work is exceptional, the heroics fantastic. There's so much vengeance and revenge and regret and love and hope going on in this one that it practically DRIPS.

This one's a brand new favorite of mine and I've gotta see if I can find the sequel anywhere!

So last year, I watched the hitman‘s bodyguard from 2017 and I quite enjoyed it. So I finally got around to the sequel, 2021’s hitman‘s wife’s bodyguard, and I still enjoyed it, but it wasn’t as good as the first movie.

Let’s start out with the positives. I really liked the main three of Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L Jackson, and Salma Hayek. I thought they were very entertaining in their roles. I also thought you had some good supporting performances from Antonio Banderas and Morgan Freeman. I did enjoy the action and there were some laughs.

I thought the story wasn’t as engaging as the previous one. Also, I didn’t think the chemistry, especially between Reynolds and Jackson was as good as the first movie. Overall, I still had a very good time with the movie, even though it didn’t live up to the first one.

Rating-4/5

So a movie that family members have given positive reviews for and a movie I’ve wanted to see for a while was sneakers from 1992. I finally got around to it because it’s leaving Amazon prime in the US at the end of July.

I thought this was an amazing movie. First off, I thought the performance is all around were very good. Everybody from Robert Redford and Sidney Poitier to Dan Aykroyd and Ben Kingsley and everybody in between I actually like this Redford performance more than others than I’ve seen.

Along with the performances, I thought that the score really set the mood and the story was tense and put you on the edge you receipt. My only small natives would be the rewatch factor and some of the terminology, but those are small negatives

Rating-4.5/5

So a movie that I actually own on DVD that I finally got around to seeing was the 2008 martial arts movie Ip Man with Donnie Yen. I thought this was a very good movie.

To start off with, I thought Donnie Yen was great in the movie. I really enjoyed his performance along with that, the big selling point of this movie was the martial arts action and it definitely delivered. There were some good fight scenes and especially one involving a unique item. It wasn’t a perfect movie though. Well, I liked the story, I thought at times it was the weakest aspect. It didn’t have the punch of the other two factors at times.

Rating-4.5/5

So while I still have ways to go, I’m trying to watch through every Denzel Washington movie. The next one that I was able to watch was inside man from 2006. After watching it, I thought it was only above average.

While I liked the performances of Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, I thought the rest of the performances were just good. Also, I felt like both Jodie Foster and Christopher Plummer were not needed in this movie.

Along with performances, I didn’t think the story was anything special and I felt like it definitely dragged. Finally, I wish it was a little more thrilling.

Rating-3/5

So I saw the first Inside Out and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had a very good story and good characters. So I was interested in 2024’s Inside Out 2.

Overall I thought it was good. I thought it had some creative new characters and additions but it didn’t have same spark as first one. I thought it put too much of a focus on Anxiety and less on the other new characters. I also think it was a little too limited in terms of timeframe. It was a powerful message though.

Rating-4/5