So I am a Tom Hanks fan and he is my favorite actor. One movie of his that I finally was able to get off my watchlist was Here from 2024.

I thought this movie was good. I liked how everything was set in one room and you had the different stories take place in air. I also thought you had some good performances from Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. I think Paul Bettany is probably the standout though.

There were two issues I had with the movie though. The first was maybe done on purpose, but I wish the movie was in chronological order. I feel like it would’ve been a more cohesive story. The second thing is there were multiple other families showcase in this movie that I feel like didn’t have anything to do with the story and they fell out of place. I feel like this could’ve been maybe a 75 minute movie they’re just focused on the main family

Rating-3.5/5

One of those "classics" I've put off forever. Lord, it's long, but Lawrence was a genuine badass and the performances (Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness) are excellent. Not sure I'd watch it again, but it was definitely worth one viewing.

So I initially was not gonna watch the 2026 horror movie obsession because it did not seem like something I would be into. After hearing so much praise for it, I decided to check it out because it became free on Peacock. This was quite a movie.

I think the performances were really good, especially Indie Navarrette. It definitely did make me uneasy and it was terrifying. I’ve come to realize that this is not my type of horror movie. I would take a slasher or a psychological horror movie like the thing over this movie. I will say, though that it did it job and that’s all I was asking.

Rating-4/5

Yeah, I know.

I just wish I could one day have Truman's courage.

It wasn't as good as I hoped. Luciane Buchanan had the best performance in the movie. Everyone else was just...meh. Characters were shallow and not that likeable. It had cheap jump scares. The comic relief wasn't that funny. I wanted more horror. I rate it 5/10.

Monster apologize for lengthy highatus but lets just say me pick terruble time to book Strait of Hormuz cruise. However, me back and ready to watch de hottest movie of 2026!

Unfortunately, on way to see Backrooms, Monster wander thru wrong doorway, end up in screening of Supergirl, and not able to find way out. So me review dat movie instead.

Movie begin wit introduktion to Supergirl, Kara, who be complete opposite of cuzin Superman. While he believe in truth, justice, and proper hygiene, she be a drunk filthier den Oscar de Grouch after St. Patrick’s Day.

We den introduced to spunky sidekick, Ruthye. She on revenge qwest against villainous brigand and bargain basement Road Warrior Krem who killed her family after dey served him blueberry pie...wit a hunting knife. Me guess they were all out of spoons. Anyway, sword-wielding kid walk into a bar…Stop Monster if you heard dis one before…Sword-wielding kid walk into a bar looking for information about Krem. Instead, someone try to steal her beloved dad sword. So Supergirl steal it back for her.

Ruthye follow Supergirl back to her space-Winnebago where Supergirl pees wit de bathroom door open. What next for DCU? Wonder Woman takes a dump? Despite Ruthye sob story, Supergirl not willing to help UNTIL….Krem (aka Half-ass Cosplay Pinhead) COINCIDENTALLY show up, steal space-Winnebago, and poison super-mutt Krypto wit slow-acting poison. Turn out to save Krypto, Supergirl have to track down antidote! And who have antidote? Why Krem of course. How lucky lucky for Ruthye. And for screenwriter who not have to go thru all de trouble of coming up wit clever plotting!

After stage-weight action sekewence wit tech pirates and a space bus dat look suspiciously like Starbug from Red Dwarf, dey go to space cantina where Supergirl gets into a fight wit alien patrons while, for some reazon, stage performer keeps singing Irving Berlin’s “Cheek to Cheek” even tho dis planet likely a billion light years from Earth. Surprisingly, dis only de second most annoying musikal-fight sekwence in dis film.

Enter Jason Momoa as cigar-chomping, motorcycle-riding Rocky Horror Pictures Show Aquaman who ALSO looking for Krem. He not interested in teaming up wit Supergirl and/or Ruthye - but Monster have a feeling de fates, and contrived script, will find a way to bring dem together in de end!

After girl-talk-slumber-party scene, we get backstory to destruktion of Krypton, a planet full of people so brilliant dey could barely cobble together two eskape spaceships between dem. Kara (aka Supergirl) sent to Earth where she meet Superman who remind Cookie Monster of Christopher Reeve...de time he show up for like tree seconds riding a bicycle in dat Bobby Brown muzik video.

Then Ruthye end up captured by Krem’s boys but fortunately she able to eskape by beating guy three times her size and weight. She free Sons of Anarky Aquaman who also, coincidentally, imprisoned wit her. Dey eskape. And immediately run into brigands!

But just when it look like Temu Klingon Krem going to kill Ruthye…SUPERGIRL COME TO DE RESKUE! However, she poisoned wit Kryptonite and getting weaker...

But just went it look like brigand going to kill her….HOT TOPIC AQUAMAN COME TO DE RESKUE! Cue movie’s most annoying musikal-fight sekewence.

But just when it look like GWAR roadie Krem going to kill Ruthye again…SUPERGIRL COME TO DE RESKUE!

And just when it look like another brigand going to kill Ruthye…SUPERGIRL COME TO DE RESKUE!

And just when it look like another brigand going to attack Supergirl…SOME RANDOM WOMAN COME TO DE RESKUE!

How many more times dis happen? Monster not remember. At dis point, even de Count give up counting.

Skyrim bandit chief Krem captured. Ruthye want revenge for her family, but Supergirl talk her out of it - so SHE can have satisfaction of killing Krem herself. Yes, Supergirl kill unarmed prisoner becuz she a bad-ass and complete opposite of Superman who never kill anyone (except all dose collateral civilians in Man of Steel).

Supergirl get antidote and save Krypto. De End.

And just in time. Monster leaving for Black Sea scuba excursion tomorrow!

VERDIKT: Drab cinematography as bleak as Kara’s soul. Action skewences as empty as de theater seats. Villain as bland as Grover’s One-Ingredient Risotto. Overall, Supergirl feel like not so much a love letter to Mad Max and Guardians of de Galaxy as a curt email.

RATING: 2.5/5 chocolate chippee cookies.

So I liked the 1985 movie Fletch more than I thought I would. At the beginning, I did not think Chevy Chase fit with the movie, but as it went along, he definitely worked and had a great performance. I also thoroughly enjoyed the story.

I really have I didn’t laugh during the movie. Other than that, I didn’t know what I was getting into, but I was thoroughly impressed with the movie.

Rating-4/5

I just watched this film and, oh boy was it a hard watch. Nothing made sense from the very beginning until the end. Although it had a few good fight scenes.

Ms. Maclean, "Gosh"is not a fucking cuss! Jokes aside I thought this was fine. It started off really strong though. Infact, I would say everything about the movie is great except for the finale. The idea of finally getting into the mutants' and wrecking their shit with a bunch a pyro is awesome. But like 80 percent of it was just the actors running and that same damn stock footage of a tank shooting. It was also really predictable that Ms. Blake was going to be saved from the the crystal implant. To the point where I wish it was her that tired to grab David up instead of Rinaldi. Also basically the whole movie overlaying David's face was just a time killer, I just know it. But you know? I could forgive all and say this is the best movie ever if the whole movie wasn't all just David's dream! I wish they committed to the whole thing being real cause now it's like I just spent the last hour 20 watching a kid sleeping like a creep. Mid.

Evil Dead Burn: 👍

As a casual moviegoer who’s been watching all kinds of films for 40+ years, I can honestly say I really enjoyed this one. Even my husband liked it, which is sometimes a tougher review to earn than a five-star rating.
I’m not going to recap the plot as you can find that elsewhere, and I’m assuming most people here already know what they’re getting into with an Evil Dead movie. Instead, here’s why I enjoyed it:

**The acting was solid.** The cast did a very convincing job of making you root for the sweet demise of the bad guys and pray that the innocent made it out alive.

**The gore delivers.** I’m not usually a huge gore fan, but this is *Evil Dead*, so I knew what I was signing up for. Wanna see someone on fire? What happens when a gun is taken to a head? Or see sharp objects inflict *various* types of carnage? This movie delivers.

**It still honors the franchise.** Maybe not to the extent some hardcore fans would prefer, but the familiar elements are there. The Book of the Dead, the iconic weaponry, and enough callbacks to remind you that this is still very much an *Evil Dead* film.

Overall, I felt it was worth spending my hard-earned money on a ticket (especially after offsetting the cost by bringing our own snacks & drinks. Movie theaters can fuck all the way off with their $8 soda).
If you’d rather wait, I believe it’ll eventually land on HBO Max, so that’s always an option.

But if you’re an *Evil Dead* fan looking for a fun, bloody night at the movies, I think it’s worth checking out.

Premise: A wannabe gangster tries to move in on a Shanghai slum, only to find out that it's populated by kung fu masters. This attracts the attention of the gang he wanted to join, sparking a feud that escalates into absolute chaos.

Review: This movie is an absolute blast. Stephen Chow plays the main character as equal parts comedic goofball, tragic figure, and genuine badass depending on the scene. The slapstick is hilarious and has strong Looney Tunes vibes, while seamlessly blending with straightforward action when needed. The side characters are all memorable, especially the Landlady and the Beast, and while I haven't seen many kung fu movies this one is a clear love letter to the genre.

So for a while now, friends of mine have been talking positively about the 1984 movie streets of fire. I finally got around to seeing it and I think it is a good movie. There were things that I liked and things that I did didn’t

I think there are some very good performances in here. My top two are Amy Madigan and Willem Dafoe. I also like the group that you meet during the movie in the Sorels. Other than that, I liked some of the action and I liked the songs, especially the first song

I thought the story was good. My big negative though are the rest of the performances. I wasn’t as impressed with Diane Lane Rick Moranis and especially the lead played by Michael Pare

Rating-3.5/5

Guys, I just watched Oddysseus last night.

I enjoyed the movie, but I kinda feel like the depth is not there. It feels like watching the soap opera but with better camera and sound.

Ofc the story should be predictable because yes, we already knew the story. But I kinda expecting that Oddysseus have more challenges to return home, not just because he is "amnesia" in some way. Also, kinda feel the Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, and Zendaya's characters in this movie are not really developedly well.

The story is on too surface level and wasting too many potentials, imo. But maybe I missed things? any thought?

Christopher Nolan directing this feels just right. He clearly knew how to take such a famous story, an epic poem as it was called then, and make it feel new. Someone's probably going to try and edit it like a silent film because that kind of scale is a lost art in the 21st Century. Gives the opening title card "A Time of Apparent Magic..." another meaning. Matt Damon gave such an incredible performance. Everyone did, to be honest. I hope when it comes to 4K UHD there are loads of special features. It's easily the top of my list of Best Films of 2026.

I'm a Muslim, and I've honestly never seen a movie like Nefarious. It genuinely shook me. Whether you agree with every part of it or not, it made me think about how real the battle between good and evil is.

It reminded me that Christians, Muslims, and anyone who believes in God, heaven and hell, angels and demons, and the God of Abraham (Ibrahim) have more in common than we sometimes realize. We may disagree on many things, but we all recognize that evil exists.

This movie was a wake-up call to be more aware and to stand against evil and Satan's plots.

So I just finished watching the third live action Transformers movie, which was Transformers: dark of the Moon from 2011. I thought this was a pretty good entry.

Now right off the bat, the isn’t all that good. That even includes the screaming by Shia LaBeouf. Also the replacement for Megan Fox, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, is not a good actress. Other than that, it just seems like a lot of people in the movie, even some bigger names, felt like they didn’t wanna be there.

Aside from that, I thought the story was unique at times, but it was the score and the action that really got me pumped throughout. I also thought that Dylan was something different.

Overall, I thought this was the third best in the franchise and I think the franchise should have ended after this and then picked back up with the bumblebee movie.

Rating-3.5/5

So to start off with, I’m not the biggest fan of the movie airplane because I’m not a fan of the stacking of jokes on top of each other. It’s not a bad movie but it’s just not my style of comedy.

That being said, I decided to give hot shots from 1991 a chance. From what I heard it’s the same style of comedy, but I wasn’t sure if I would like it or not. I would say this is an above average movie.

On the one hand, it does have the same issue with the jokes because in my opinion, they don’t let them breathe. On the other, though, I did find it entertaining, and there were sometimes that I did chuckle.

Now the story is good, but how good does the story need to be in this type of movie? Also, the performances are solid. One issue that I did have with the jokes is that there were sometimes where it was one joke that just went on a little too long.

I will see that I will take a movie like hot shots over any freidberg and seltzer movie

Rating-3/5

So I really enjoyed the first live action sonic the hedgehog movie so for an upcoming movie tournament bracket episode, I decided to check out sonic the hedgehog two, which came out in 2022

This is another movie I really liked. I thought it had so much going for it. I think the characters, especially with learning more about their back stories and the new additions really worked in this movie. I also liked the music and the action. Finally, I thought it was a good story, especially with all the new additions.

Rating-4.5/5

I tend to watch movies that people say are bad or that critics give low scores because I don’t trust reviews. I’ve actually found a lot of hidden gems that way, so I don’t think that’ll ever change.

But holy shit… this movie is absolute garbage.

The first hour is nothing but blue balls. You don’t see a monster or anything interesting until you’re a full hour into the movie. And when the monster finally shows up, it’s mostly in slow motion. The CGI honestly isn’t even that bad, but the monster somehow moves at Mach Jesus one second, then slower than my grandma the moment it gets close to someone. They repeat this over 30 times throughout the movie.

Then, after the monster appears for only 2–3 minutes, you have to wait almost another hour before you see it again. I genuinely have no idea where the budget for this movie went. This was unbelievably bad. I honestly wish I could bleach my eyes. I wanted to leave so badly, but I stayed hoping the movie would somehow redeem itself.

Every time you expect the monster to die it just keeps getting up and they repeat this for 15 times I counted it just got exhausting to be honest.

It has a few action scenes, but the plot goes absolutely nowhere. I genuinely want my money back because I’m so disappointed. I was really excited to see this movie, and it ended up being one of the biggest letdowns I’ve watched in a long time.

I honestly feel like the director took the budget, spent it all, and pocketed the rest. This guy should never be allowed to direct another movie again. I’d rather watch Joker: Folie à Deux for 24 hours straight on repeat than sit through this garbage again.

So I finally got around to seeing the 2008 movie burn after reading. It had a stacked cast, including Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and John Malkovich. I knew nothing about the movie going in, but people recommended it to me.

I hated this watch. The entire time I was bored. This movie was not entertaining at all, and it was a struggle to get through this movie. It has a stacked cast, but I can’t tell if it was the acting, the writing, or both but nothing worked in this movie for me. It’s not a total zero because of the cast.

Rating-0.5/5

I think Nolan goes on to redeem himself and again prove why he’s one of the best directors/producers (writers - slightly debatable but not much) in the industry right now. The cinematography and the OST were on point; the only missing link was 10/10 dialogue writing which felt a little more than loose at times. But can we be honest and accept that this movie was far better than collective expectations all of us had.

This review was originally written in German and was translated into English.

Shelter (2026)

A Weary Hero, an Awake Protégé

While Jason Statham occasionally ventures into more lucrative mainstream cinema, he also regularly supplies his action fans with grittier fare.

In the new thriller Shelter, former Royal Marines soldier Michael Mason (Jason Statham) lives a secluded life with his dog on an island in the Outer Hebrides, off the coast of Scotland. Once a week, a former comrade and the comrade's niece, Jessie (Bodhi Rae Breathnach), bring him supplies—mainly booze—by boat. Jessie tries in vain to connect with the stoic recluse. When the supply boat capsizes during a storm, Michael rescues Jessie; he is forced to take the injured teenager in and nurse her back to health.

As a tender bond forms between the two, Michael’s past catches up with him, and he must protect not only himself but also Jessie. Directed by Ric Roman Waugh (Angel Has Fallen, Greenland), the action thriller stands out for its exceptionally quiet visuals and sparse dialogue. At times, however, the film fails to infuse this inherently pleasant silence with life and emotion. Young actress Bodhi Rae Breathnach impresses with a remarkable presence and a well-balanced mix of courage and vulnerability, avoiding the now almost obligatory cliché of the know-it-all teenager who consistently ignores every sensible decision.

Despite a cool, metallic aesthetic, the action sequences lack punch and fall short of expectations—particularly due to a lack of visceral violence. Instead of frenetic brawls and bone-crunching intensity, Shelter delivers solid but surprisingly tame, standard fare that leaves little lasting impression. After the somewhat crazy and occasionally over-the-top The Beekeeper and A Working Man, Shelter ultimately delivers solid, well-shot, down-to-earth action fare featuring a likable cast (including Golden Globe winner Bill Nighy). By the end, Jason Statham’s character chooses care over selfishness and cynicism, thereby finding his way back to life. In doing so, Shelter conveys a surprisingly comforting message for an action movie: a guardian angel doesn’t have to be a radiant, luminous figure. Knowing that one is there—even if unseen—can often be worth far more.

7/10

This week marks what would have been Harry Dean Stanton's 100th birthday. I was so used to him stealing the scene in supporting roles. He's fantastic in lots of David Lynch work though I first knew him as Brett in Ridley Scott's Alien and his brief appearance as a Quaker in Seven Psychopaths. Here, he's the lead and my God, what an understated, devastating film. I count myself a fan of Wim Wenders. Wings of Desire is one of my favourite films of all time. So I was going in with high standards and boy, were they met. Some people really don't like it but I genuinely can't imagine giving this film any less than 5 stars.

Christopher Nolan has a lot on his mind, huh?

I labelled Paul Thomas Anderson as a master of ‘Trojan horsing’ the personal into a masterfully crafted epic when he dropped One Battle After Another on us. Leave it to Nolan to not only one-up his fellow cinematic auteur by turning The Odyssey into the grandest home movie of all time, with one of our most fundamental pieces of literature as the basis, but also wrap it up with everything about the crumbling of modern society that stresses him out and packs it all in a literal Trojan horse.

For all of Hollywood’s unashamed IP milking, The Odyssey has somehow escaped that treatment. For good reason, how in the ancient Greek world do you even begin to adapt a story about a man’s journey back home where gods and monsters roam wild? Given how Nolan’s last movie, Oppenheimer, was about his anxieties filtered through the harnessing of god-like power via the atomic bomb, he is perhaps the only one who could’ve taken The Odyssey and invested it with so much personal meaning and a thematic richness that serves as a logical continuation of a near-unmatched career.

Within the first scenes of Travis Scott’s bard character weaving a tale of Odysseus (Matt Damon), an expectation is set. Whereas Oppenheimer (and Memento) alternate between coloured subjective POVs and black-and-white objective views, Nolan’s take on Homer’s epic is all in rich colour. The Odyssey is a fairytale, told differently depending on who you ask. Is Athena (Zendaya) an actual goddess? Did Circe really magic Odysseus’ men into pigs? Was there actually a Cyclops? Maybe. Maybe not. It’s all about the journey, which is why the use of modern English instead of ancient Greek works. The source material may be centuries old, but Nolan’s screenplay is modern in its sensibility and dialogue, which goes a long way in erasing any difficulty locking in with the Homer of it all. Besides, no one knows what the ancient Greeks actually sounded like.

Given how the source material uses flashbacks and non-linear storytelling, Nolan must’ve been rubbing his hands with glee, as that’s his cinematic calling card. He depicts Odysseus as an amnesiac struggling to remember his life as a seasoned adventurer. In retelling his memories to Calypso (Charlize Theron), Odysseus’ story is trickled out piece by piece through flashback, and his journey becomes part travelogue and part remembering the moral lines he abides by.

It’s interesting how Damon portrays Odysseus as an introspective and incredibly capable leader who earns his men’s respect through thinking rather than brawn or trickery. I’m not saying that Nolan views himself as a low-key yet commanding figure on the same level, but the projection of the responsibility he feels as perhaps the last remaining director who can command $250 million budgets to make whatever he wants that’s unshackled to IP is evident. Like how Odysseus is responsible for his men, kingdom, and family, Nolan devotes his full, undivided attention to every movie he makes because he has to make the most of the resources he’s been given.

He certainly doesn’t miss a beat on that front because The Odyssey is the culmination of everything Nolan has learned so far about epic filmmaking. Like how home movies attempt to capture everything within the frame, almost out of fear of missing something important, The Odyssey maximises its ‘IMAX cameras only’ approach by making every shot as grandiose as possible. From sweeping shots of the Trojan horse half-buried in sand while remnants of the Trojan War burn in the background to the painstaking recreation of a slowly crumbling Ithaca, Hoyte van Hoytema’s cinematography implores your eyes to soak up everything with a sense of awe on par with Lawrence of Arabia.

That aforementioned fear becomes increasingly evident as more pieces of Odysseus’ past fall into place. This is a man who is not only burdened with the responsibility of his men, his kingdom, and his family, but also the guilt resulting from the consequences of his actions. Odysseus and J. Robert Oppenheimer are basically the same Nolan-surrogate protagonists in their increasingly cynical view of the world, the former often invoking ‘Zeus’ Law’ of ancient Greek hospitality that’s eroding, and the latter realising how the world has hit a moral point of no return when the bombs he helped make were used on people. What role do gods ultimately play when these men can seemingly defy them through sheer force of will and intelligence?

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

Thanks!