The Stop Button

Deadpool 2 (2018) The Super Duper Cut D: David Leitch. S: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Karan Soni. Middling, meandering sequel has foulmouthed invincible mutant hero who never shuts up Reynolds becoming frenemies with time-traveling cyborg Brolin (the TERMINATOR riffs are the movie’s greatest success) while trying to stop teenage mutant Dennison from becoming a bad guy in the future. The movie hinges on Dennison’s deadpan; too bad they cast someone who can’t deadpan. Big eh.

Godzilla Minus One (2023) D: Takashi Yamazaki. S: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, Kuranosuke Sasaki. Compelling concept GODZILLA, set immediately after World War II, before the country was able to rearm. It’s up to the war veterans, just finding some normalcy, to band together with industry. Lots of good, knowing nods to the franchise, great special effects, wonderful supporting cast, and abjectly boring lead Kamiki’s abjectly boring cowardice plot arc. Not fun–thrilling.

Southern Comfort (1981) D: Walter Hill. S: Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Fred Ward, Franklyn Seales, T.K. Carter, Lewis Smith, Les Lannom. Apparently, director and co-writer Hill doesn’t see the very obvious Vietnam connection in his own movie, which explains why it goes to pot for the finish. Louisiana National Guardsmen versus Cajuns. Set in 1973. With a bunch of recent Vietnam vets. Sure, Jan. Some real good acting, photography, and even directing. The third act is just bunk.

Shirley (2024) D: John Ridley. S: Regina King, Lance Reddick, Terrence Howard, Lucas Hedges, Michael Cherrie, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Christina Jackson. Jittery tale of Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 presidential campaign. While King’s compelling as Chisholm (despite director Ridley’s shallow, noncommittal script, and a sometimes unsteady Bajan accent), the film fails as a history lesson, a political drama, and a character study. Ridley flirts with all three and shrugs instead. Particularly nice support from Reddick, Cherrie, Jackson, and Hedges. Just too slight.

The Lords of Flatbush (1974) D: Martin Davidson, Stephen Verona. S: Perry King, Sylvester Stallone, Henry Winkler, Paul Mace, Susan Blakely, Maria Smith, Renee Paris. Flashback picture about fifties Brooklyn teenagers King, Stallone, Winkler, and Mace’s “gang.” They mostly drink egg creams, bicker, and harass girls. King’s trying to get WASP Blakely to put out. Meanwhile, Stallone’s maybe readier to marry girlfriend Smith than he thought. Winkler and Mace barely figure in. Lousy soundtrack. Stallone’s not bad. So cheap it stops rather than ends.

Coco (2017) D: Lee Unkrich. S: Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor, Ana Ofelia Murguía, Edward James Olmos. Outstanding Pixar effort about a Mexican boy who idolizes a famous (long dead) mariachi from the same town. Except the boy’s family forbids music because of some mariachi who once wronged them. Is it all connected? Maybe, but the boy’s one heck of an adventure to find out. Beautiful production design, animation, direction. Particularly great voice work from Bratt.

Executive Suite (1954) D: Robert Wise. S: William Holden, June Allyson, Barbara Stanwyck, Fredric March, Walter Pidgeon, Paul Douglas, Louis Calhern. Bland pseudo-soap opera about a furniture manufacturer’s succession plan and the company men gaming for the throne. Then there’s nothing soapy except the structure. No time for subplots, just men and their honored women. Good performances from Pidgeon, March, and especially Calderon. Holden’s fine as the golden boy; Wise just doesn’t have a way to tell his story.

Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann (1982) D: William Dear. S: Fred Ward, Peter Coyote, L.Q. Jones, Richard Masur, Belinda Bauer, Ed Lauter, Chris Mulkey. Weird, low budget time travel adventure (no pun intended) with dirt bike champion Ward happening into a time portal back to the Old West. He has run-ins with outlaws (led by a lackluster Coyote), romances Creole gunslinger Bauer (who can’t do the accent so doesn’t get lines), and does cool dirt bike stunts. Tedious but not without its charms.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) D: Guy Ritchie. S: Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding, Alex Pettyfer, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Babs Olusanmokun. Bloody, funny WWII “true story” picture about Churchill’s bad boy squad, who do the job the regular chaps can’t. Cavill, Ritchson, Pettyfer, Fiennes Tiffin, and Golding mostly sail towards their set pieces, with land-based González and Olusanmokun getting the most story. Uniformly solid performances (save Rory Kinnear’s Churchill); Til Schweiger and Danny Sapani stand out in smaller parts.

Deadstream (2022) D: Vanessa Winter. S: Joseph Winter, Melanie Stone. Inventive micro budget horror comedy about disgraced YouTuber Winter going to a haunted house for a night. Things don’t go well, sometimes to great comic effect. Winter’s most of the show—the makeup’s elaborate but still cheap so they rush through effects shots—and he’s up to the task, charisma-wise. Stumbles through the (admittedly difficult) finish.

Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985) D: Guy Hamilton. S: Fred Ward, Joel Grey, Wilford Brimley, J.A. Preston, George Coe, Kate Mulgrew, Charles Cioffi. Insipid action outing about cop Ward becoming an assassin for a secret government organization run by Brimley. Grey’s in yellowface, playing Ward’s mentor, an eighty-year old Korean man who routinely mocks white people. Mulgrew’s the female Army officer who discovers all the boys are corrupt murderers. Some okay action; terrible music by Craig Safan. Ward tries. Preston’s great as his supervisor. Based on Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy’s long-running DESTROYER book series. Followed by a TV pilot, THE PROPHECY, which didn’t go anywhere (and starred new people, but still a white guy as the Korean guy). From Dick Clark’s production company!

A Midnight Clear (1992) D: Keith Gordon. S: Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon, Arye Gross, Ethan Hawke, Gary Sinise, Frank Whaley, Larry Joshua. Devastating WWII picture about a much-too-young sergeant (Hawke) commanding much-too-young soldiers on a poorly thought-out mission. Things get peculiar when the nearby German soldiers don’t attack. Beautifully scripted and directed by Gordon, based on William Wharton’s novel. Hawke’s a fine lead, with notably excellent turns from Berg and Sinise. Great Mark Isham score too.

Withnail & I (1987) D: Bruce Robinson. S: Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths, Ralph Brown, Michael Elphick, Daragh O’Malley, Eddie Tagoe. Initially outstanding study of friendship between two drunkard wannabe actors (Grant and McGann). It derails when their holiday away from mundane debauchery turns into an extended gay panic arc with McGann avoiding randy Griffiths. It never really recovers but almost does thanks to Brown’s phenomenal drug dealer. Gorgeous production (set in 1969), great music; it comes up short.