Briefly (1 June 2026)

Movies

The Awakening (2011) D: Nick Murphy. S: Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Shaun Dooley. Classy enough melodrama about post-Great War ghost hunter Hall going to investigate a boys’ school with a possible killer poltergeist on the roster. She meets various possible (human) suspects, such as fetching vet teacher West and creeper draft-dodger Mawle. The film’s on a budget and impressive with the constraints; sadly, the script’s finish leaves the actors flailing.

Burnt Offerings (1976) D: Dan Curtis. S: Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Burgess Meredith, Bette Davis, Dub Taylor. Badly directed, badly written, and atrociously photographed horror picture about how a creepy house affects summer tenants: mom Black, dad Reed, fun aunt Davis, and tween Montgomery. Davis brings almost all the life to it, and she’s not around a lot. The rest of the performances disappoint to varying degrees, though the script and direction disable them. Boring, too.

The Changeling (1980) D: Peter Medak. S: George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas, Jean Marsh, Eric Christmas. Greiving Scott moves into a spooky old mansion where there seems to be a ghost similarly aged to his recently passed daughter. But then how does rich guy Douglas figure in? They tie it together surprisingly well, thanks to an eager Scott and strong direction from Medak. Excellent cinematography. The third act has some significant problems, but often impressive.

Flaming Gold (1932) D: Ralph Ince. S: William Boyd, Pat O’Brien, Mae Clarke, Stanley Blystone, Richard Alexander. Pal Boyd and O’Brien have their own oil well, which the big boys sabotage. Boyd has to go to New York City for help, where he meets working girl Clarke and falls for her. Except then O’Brien finds out her backstory; light drama ensues. Lots of oil drilling footage, along with surprisingly thoughtful character work. Great performance from Clarke.

The Haunting (1963) D: Robert Wise. S: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn, Lois Maxwell. Beautifully done haunted house picture about timid, put upon Harris branching out on her own only for it to be at professor Johnson’s ghost investigation team. The film determinedly pushes through some of its awkwardness, with director Wise leveraging Harris’s captivating, inward performance along with Davis Boulton’s spectacular black and white photography. Excellent, albeit too cognizant of genre limitations.

Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) D: Robert Aldrich. S: Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Bruce Dern, Ellen Corby. Visually histrionic–while admirably not dramatically so–soft Southern Gothic about recluse Davis calling on semi-estranged cousin de Havilland for help saving the family home. Davis’s a recluse because she killed a beau in the prologue and de Havilland’s finding out the intervening years haven’t been good for her mental health. Davis does great in an undeserving part.

In the Grey (2026) D: Guy Ritchie. S: Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, Rosamund Pike, Eiza González, Fisher Stevens. Competent action set pieces, done on a budget, can’t make up for the banal, exposition-heavy script–international asset-recovery lawyer González has good-guy mercenaries Cavill and Gyllenhaal working for her. No one cares enough to put any effort into their performances (save Stevens, the bad guy’s lawyer). Director Ritchie’s idea of male bonding is exhausted gay jokes.

J’Accuse (1919) D: Abel Gance. S: Romuald Joubé, Séverin-Mars, Maryse Dauvray, Maxime Desjardins, Angèle Guys. Breathtaking condemnation of the First World War centers around poet Joubé fooling around with married woman Dauvray, only to end up serving with her husband (Séverin-Mars). Through those complications, the film explores jingoism, (toxic) masculinity, and misogyny, and how they intersect. Beautiful work from writer, director, editor Gance. He takes some big third act swings, landing enough of them.

The Legend of Hell House (1973) D: John Hough. S: Pamela Franklin, Roddy McDowall, Clive Revill, Peter Bowles, Roland Culver. Tedious, poorly written haunted house movie (scripted by Richard Matheson, adapting his own novel) takes place in a world where hauntings are real but maybe the afterlife isn’t. Academic Revill wants to show up mediums Franklin and McDowell. Hunnicutt’s along as Revill’s emotionally abused wife. Weird, creepy to ladies, and absent any scares; instead, bad acting, directing, writing choices.

Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971) D: John D. Hancock. S: Zohra Lampert, Barton Heyman, Kevin O’Connor, Gretchen Corbett, Mariclare Costello. Peculiar pastoral horror picture about city folks Lampert and Heyman moving out to the country to start apple farming. Pal O’Connor is along to help, gal Costello to vamp. Lampert’s just out of a mental hospital and very worried she’s not better. The title implies one gimmick, the film’s actually got another, but doesn’t embrace either. Only coincidentally imaginative.

The Orphanage (2007) D: J. A. Bayona. S: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep, Geraldine Chaplin, Edgar Vivar. Thirty-ish years after leaving, Rueda returns to the ORPHANAGE where she grew up, bringing husband Cayo and son Príncep along. Her plan? Open a home for people to dump their developmentally disabled children. Don’t worry, Rueda won’t have any staff to assist her. Oh, and there are ghosts and haunted things. Rueda’s compelling, while not really any good.

The Set-Up (1949) D: Robert Wise. S: Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter, George Tobias, Wallace Ford, Percy Helton. Exceptionally well-made drama about aging boxer Ryan not knowing he’s supposed to take the fall in his next fight. Great real-time narrative, lots of excellent character work, outstanding direction from Wise, a breathtaking Ryan performance, a glass-jawed conclusion, which chickens out on struggling wife Trotter. Nice to see Edwards as always. Ryan does his own boxing.

The Sheep Detectives (2026) D: Kyle Balda. S: Hugh Jackman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Emma Thompson, Bryan Cranston, Brett Goldstein. Very cute–with excellent CGI sheep–tale of a flock of sheep banding together to solve their shepherd’s murder. The sheep can talk, with Louis-Dreyfus voicing the main character (even if the movie forgets she’s the lead). It’s funny, adorable, couple times smartly funny, with delightful performances all around. Barely matters the resolve’s thin. Thompson’s a particularly hoot.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) D: Justin K. Thompson. S: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, J.K. Simmons, Jack Quaid. Pitch perfect sequel explores the Spider-Man mythos through three “outsiders” (Moore, Steinfeld, and Isaac). Moore’s got a minor foe (Schwartzman) leveling up with inter dimensional powers, reuniting him with Steinfeld, and running afoul of her boss (Isaac). Sensational CG animation, beautiful editing, pacing, and performances. They even manage to line up the exciting conclusion cliffhanger well. It’s amazing.

The Vanishing (1988) D: George Sluizer. S: Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege, Bernadette Le Saché, Pierre Forget. Pretty good thriller about ter Steege going missing and her boyfriend, Bervoets, trying to find her. Except then there’s a jump ahead, and the film focuses on otherwise mundane villain Donnadieu. Director Sluizer isn’t above dangling red herrings, but some fine filmmaking compensates. Even without a personality, Bervoets remains more interesting than rigorously examined Donnadieu, which causes significant imbalance.

Victor/Victoria (1982) D: Blake Edwards. S: Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren, John Rhys-Davies. Cute comedy with musical numbers about down-on-her-luck Andrews impersonating a male female impersonator and becoming a nightclub hit. Preston’s delightful as her co-conspirator, Garner’s a gangster (which is unfortunately important) who falls for her–regardless of gender. There’s some cool friendly to the gays stuff, but also ableism and misogyny. Warren’s fantastic as Garner’s moll.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) D: Robert Aldrich. S: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Anna Lee, Bert Freed. Former vaudeville child star Davis takes care of her sister, former Golden Age star Crawford, who everyone thinks Davis once ran down in a car, breaking her spine. They experience conflict. Davis gives a pointless tour de force, Crawford’s also in it, Buono’s hilarious. But it’s beyond tedious; director Aldrich runs out of ideas in the first twenty minutes.

The Wicker Man (1973) The Final Cut D: Robin Hardy. S: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt. Devoutly Christian police officer Woodward goes to a remote island to investigate a missing girl. There he finds hostile townsfolk, no missing child, general debauchery, flirtatious women, and island’s owner Lee running a pagan cult. Some fantastic scenes, beautiful direction, and excellent performances from Lee and Woodward. Always disquieting. The second act gets long, but the finale’s a corker.

Briefly (15 May 2026)

Comics

Superman: Lost (2023) #1 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. Portentous, if not actually big, concept SUPERMAN limited. He and Lois are happy workaholic marrieds until he disappears on a Justice League mission. Except he reappears–twenty years later–at just the same moment Lois finds out. It’s actually a bit of a team banter book, which is fine from Priest, but nothing’s gelling yet. Good-looking enough art.

Superman: Lost (2023) #2 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. Priest’s all over the place with the narrative–intentionally (present then varying degrees of past)–with Clark’s first stop in his trip back home. It’s an Earth-like planet, seemingly without any secrets to reveal. The numerous reveals keep the otherwise light outing going (fun dialogue only goes so far); so far, all Priest’s got going is the gimmick.

Superman: Lost (2023) #3 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. After a concerning Lois characterization (Clark’s got a time limit on recovering from trauma), it’s a fairly outstanding issue. Big space adventure with grounded, beautifully detailed art. Priest’s finding Clark’s voice, which is working through being more concerned with his own wellbeing than the beings he’s encountering. Provides interesting fodder amid strange new worlds and so on. Book’s cooking.

Superman: Lost (2023) #4 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. Priest changes the book but keeps the momentum. We skip ahead to Clark settled and trying to help on a planet divided between the haves and the people they’re trying to eradicate. There’s some fun and some pointed political observations, with a crowd pleaser hard cliffhanger. It’s just taking the story back two issues; Priest’s back to being cautious.

Superman: Lost (2023) #5 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. Some surprises and some excellent art get the issue through. Clark was LOST twenty years and halfway through they’re barely at five years. Seems like we’ll need some more jump aheads. The book’s moody and competently done, but it’s on autopilot for this one. Priest gives away too much in the lack of certain characterizations. It’s on cruise control.

Superman: Lost (2023) #6 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. The present day stuff is still concerning (Priest’s not making a Clark should be in therapy joke is a tell), but the flashback’s good. LOST is going to be about the single planet; committing to it helps Priest with the stakes. Flashing forward and back not so much. And there’s a big cop out about horny superheroes. Great cliffhanger.

Superman: Lost (2023) #7 W: Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Lee Weeks, Michael Jason Paz. Artist changes and Lex Luthor, it’s like they didn’t have a finish for the book. While flashback Clark listens to a potential future from a potential future self (most of the Weeks material), Lois decides the present day arc needs a kick in the pants if Priest can just do imaginary story homages to fill. It’s knowing not creative.

Superman: Lost (2023) #8 [2024] W: Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz, Will Conrad. Well. Priest certainly does know how to do a much ado about nothing. Not a plot homage, just a plot without any character development for the ostensibly growing Clark. Some of it has to do with the Lex Luthor subplot, which isn’t any good (Priest’s Lex’s boring), and doesn’t earn it any patience. Great art, however. Great art.

Superman: Lost (2023) #9 [2024] W: Christopher Priest. A: Brett Breeding, Carlo Pagulayan, Dan Jurgens, Michael Jason Paz. Honestly, LOST does read like a Superman who day dreams about himself illustrated by Dan Jurgens. And they get Jurgens to do it and those pages are rough. They clash with the better art, but the issue–Priest’s go at a Lex and Superman issue–is already a fail. Luthor’s got more personality stealing a Hostess. Bad cliffhanger, too.

Superman: Lost (2023) #10 [2024] W: Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Joe Prado, Jonas Trindade, Jose Luis, Julio Ferreira, Michael Jason Paz. In addition to multiple complete cop outs, timey-whimey and otherwise, Priest also has a *Superman: The New Movie* beat-for-beat-for-beat “nod.” It’s out of nowhere, which is fine because the fill-in art on it makes it feel all the more artifical. So it’s easy not to take the issue’s bellyflop finish too seriously.

Movies

Boom Town (1940) D: Jack Conway. S: Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Chill Wills, Frank Morgan. Overlong big-budget studio melodrama comes up empty. Roaring Twenties oil “wildcatters” Gable and Tracy, whose friendship-turned-business-partnership-turned-love-triangle (with Colbert) ostensibly drives the narrative. Unfortunately, the more rackish Gable gets, the less Tracy’s around, and Tracy’s a lot more likable. Lamarr’s all kinds of wooden as a scheming harlot. Okay action; real bad editing.

Human Highway (1982) Director’s Cut D: Dean Stockwell. S: Neil Young, Dean Stockwell, Dennis Hopper, Charlotte Stewart, Sally Kirkland. Micro-budget post-apocalyptic absurdist comedy from Neil Young, Stockwell, Tamblyn, and Devo. It’s at least twenty percent music video, though the occasional full cast numbers are much better. It’s strange without anything particular to recommend it (and the anti-Middle Eastern stuff is gross–brown-face), but it’s often entertaining and always enthusiastically executed. Great miniature effects work, too.

The Punisher: One Last Kill (2026) D: Reinaldo Marcus Green. S: Jon Bernthal, Deborah Ann Woll, Jason R. Moore, Judith Light, Chelsea Brea. Effective and well-executed but middling outing for Berenthal’s PUNISHER. Set at an indeterminate time related to the years past Netflix show, it tries hard to be moody until it’s time for the kickass righteous ultra-violence; albeit not particularly impressive action movie stuff. More proof-of-concept than full pilot episode. Light’s a lot of fun. And, Bubs.

Briefly (9 May 2026)

Comics

Blue Beetle (1967) #1 W: D.C. Glanzman, Steve Ditko. A: Steve Ditko. Fun first issue for BEETLE; however, the QUESTION backup ends up overshadowing it. The feature’s fun, with some great art–Ditko’s doing a ballet–but the much shorter QUESTION has more plot and more character. Even with the new BEETLE’s origin in question in the feature. The art’s downright delightful even if the typeset word balloons don’t play.

Blue Beetle (1967) #2 W: D.C. Glanzman, Steve Ditko. A: Steve Ditko. BEETLE’s secret origin involves killer robots, mad scientists, secret islands, and the original Blue Beetle. There’s not much more to it, except the framing device, which has his love interest in danger as well. It’s fine, but nothing special (other than Ditko doing a pin-up). The Question backup is similarly ho-hum. Just fighting a science criminal.

Blue Beetle (1967) #3 W: D.C. Glanzman, Steve Ditko. A: Steve Ditko. BEETLE gets back on track with a strong feature. The formula seems to be basic science hero plot. The bad guys steal Beetle’s gun and use it to rob banks, even if they can’t figure out how to shoot it. Gorgeous movement in Ditko’s visual ballet. The Question backup’s better, too. Okay mystery, no subplots, implied politics, excellent art.

Blue Beetle (1967) #4 W: Steve Ditko, Steve Skeates. A: Steve Ditko. And off again… when the BEETLE feature doesn’t just have Ted after science crooks, it flops. Worse, there’s not the action ballet. Here, he’s tracking the original BB to a remote island on an archelogical expedition and there’s an evil cult. Yawn. The Question backup’s weird, too. Office infighting, bland villains. All Ditko’s energy seems spent (four issues in).

Blue Beetle (1967) #5 [1968] W: D.C. Glanzman, Steve Ditko. A: Steve Ditko. Self-parody about how the squares will inherit the Earth. In the feature, Beetle and guest star Vic Sage battle evil, nihilistic young artists. Ted and Vic are mad they don’t love [white supremacist dog whistle] enough. Oof. The QUESTION backup has Vic torturing the bad guy to radicalize him into psychosis, thereby requiring apprehension. Middling (for Ditko) art.

Blue Beetle (1967) #6 [1974] W: D.C. Glanzman, Steve Ditko. A: Steve Ditko. Leadenly portentous but solid “issue” (unpublished until a fan publication did so) has Ted Kord once again in trouble with the law, while the court of public opinion is condemning scientists, science, and Blue Beetle! The villain’s a mostly invisible man, so even without the best Ditko ballet, the physical stuff is still great. It’s just also incredibly goofy.

Movies

Barton Fink (1991) D: Joel Coen. S: John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Steve Buscemi, Tony Shalhoub. Newly successful New York playwright Turturro goes to Hollywood, quickly discovering his “common man” hotel is a dump and he’s got writer’s block. Plus, there’s something a little odd about neighbor Goodman. Throw in a famous author, Pearl Harbor, and some murder, and… the Coen Brothers don’t find the movie. Some great filmmaking and good acting, but it misses.

Crime Doctor’s Man Hunt (1946) D: William Castle. S: Warner Baxter, Ellen Drew, William Frawley, Ivan Triesault, Claire Carleton. Despite an interesting mystery–albeit not a mysterious one–the entry can’t overcome Castle’s repetitive, rote direction. Yes, it’s soundstage after soundstage but it’s always the same shot during the endless expository scenes. Excellent Baxter with a flashlight sequence, and both the photography and music have their moments. If any of the supporting cast worked out, it might’ve clicked.

Just Before Dawn (1946) D: William Castle. S: Warner Baxter, Adele Roberts, Martin Kosleck, Marvin Miller, Robert Barrat. Banal (but lethal) entry involves Baxter happening upon a poisoning ring and a plastic surgery for wanted criminals concern. They’re barely connected (but still less contrived than Baxter’s entry into the case), which means the mystery isn’t particularly involving. Baxter’s more an adventurer this time around; it doesn’t play. Even with the thin parts, the performances are okay enough.

Millennium (1989) D: Michael Anderson. S: Kris Kristofferson, Cheryl Ladd, Daniel J. Travanti, Robert Joy, Maury Chaykin. Too high concept, too low budget sci-fi about the correlation and not causation of time travelers and airplane crashes. Kristofferson’s a no-nonsense flight investigator, Ladd’s a mystery woman who’s sometimes a sex kitten, other times a badass future warrior. They do not appear to enjoy kissing each other; Kristofferson makes his adject disinterest obvious. Ladd’s eventually appealing.

Briefly (2 May 2026)

Movies

36 Hours to Kill (1936) D: Eugene Forde. S: Brian Donlevy, Gloria Stuart, Douglas Fowley, Paul Fix, Jonathan Hale. Relaxed cheapie thriller about gangster Fowley taking a cross-country train to escape a dragnet, only to run into somewhat nosy reporter Donlevy. They then get into a love triangle with mystery woman Stuart. It’d be a lot better if at least ten minutes (of a sixty-five-minute runtime) weren’t dedicated to crappy racist jokes at Fetchit’s expense.

A Blueprint for Murder (1953) D: Andrew L. Stone. S: Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, Gary Merrill, Jack Kruschen, Barney Phillips. Visiting brother-in-law Cotten begins to suspect Peters, step-mom to his niece and nephew, has malicious intent. Half the movie is Cotten and the supporting cast trying to catch her, half is the aftermath. The procedural stuff’s a drag. Cotten’s okay, but Peters only gets to show personality in the finale. Too low budget, too thin script.

Crime Doctor (1943) D: Michael Gordon. S: Warner Baxter, Margaret Lindsay, John Litel, Bess Flowers, Ray Collins. Densely plotted origin story has amnesiac Baxter becoming a renowned psychiatrist who used to be some kind of crook, but he avoids finding out until the last twenty minutes (of sixty-six). Occasionally inventive, usually competent, always efficient. Baxter and love interest Lindsay lack chemistry. Collins’s the mentor, Litel’s the villain. Also fun is spotting the THIN MAN alums. Adapted from the Philip Morris-sponsored radio show created by Max Marcin; first of ten CRIME DOCTOR films starring Baxter. Followed by THE CRIME DOCTOR’S STRANGEST CASE.

The Crime Doctor’s Courage (1945) D: George Sherman. S: Warner Baxter, Hillary Brooke, Jerome Cowan, Emory Parnell, Anthony Caruso. Baxter’s on vacation in sunny Los Angeles and quickly gets involved with a case of newlywed Brooke discovering husband Crane was cleared of his first two wives’ suspicious deaths (days after marrying them). There’s not much mystery to this one, just red herrings and a bunch of supernatural intimations to pack the runtime. Baxter’s game enough, but COURAGE’s thin. Followed by CRIME DOCTOR’S WARNING.

The Crime Doctor’s Warning (1945) D: William Castle. S: Warner Baxter, John Litel, Dusty Anderson, John Abbott, Miles Mander. Overlong installment has Baxter trying to clear rich kid turned wannabe artist Irwin, who may be murdering his models. There are plenty of faces to spot in the supporting cast–Mander’s the most fun of the credited, J.M. Kerrigan of the uncredited–but their scenes are always short. It’s mostly Baxter investigating alone in dark sets. Definitionally middling. Followed by JUST BEFORE DAWN.

The Crime Doctor’s Strangest Case (1943) D: Eugene Forde. S: Warner Baxter, Lynn Merrick, Gloria Dickson, Lloyd Bridges, Sam Flint. Very efficient programmer has Baxter investigating a rich guy’s murder by poison. Bridges is the prime suspect, and a fellow Baxter saved from a previous charge involving a poisoned rich guy. The mystery itself’s solid, and director Forde does well with suspense. The actors not as much. The finish needs to be better, but it nearly works out. Followed by SHADOWS IN THE NIGHT.

Seconds (1966) D: John Frankenheimer. S: Rock Hudson, Salome Jens, John Randolph, Richard Anderson, Murray Hamilton. Incredibly intense, meticulously photographed (gorgeous James Wong Howe black and white) and edited (Ferris Webster and David Newhouse) sci-fi thriller about two painters, lapsed amateur Randolph and successful but lost Hudson, and their dealings with a peculiar services company. Great performances from Randolph and Hudson. Excellent Frankenheimer direction. The third act whiffs a bit, but not too much.

Shadows in the Night (1944) D: Eugene Forde. S: Warner Baxter, Nina Foch, George Zucco, Lester Matthews, Ben Welden. Baxter’s out of his element at a seaside estate trying to figure out patient Foch’s nightmares, except he’s having them, too. The first half drags but once the reveals get started, it’s a fine enough mystery. Foch’s wanting. Welden’s very nearly Baxter’s sidekick, providing sorely needed rapport. The series’s brutal efficiency rarely allows time for the numerous red herrings. Followed by CRIME DOCTOR’S WARNING.

Shoeshine (1946) D: Vittorio De Sica. S: Franco Interlenghi, Rinaldo Smordoni, Annielo Mele, Emilio Cigoli, Bruno Ortenzi. Stark, compassionate rendering of postwar Roman boyhood. Best friends Interlenghi and Smordoni luck into a financial windfall only it comes with devastating consequences. Fantastic performances, particularly from the mostly young cast. De Sica’s direction is superb. Sublime pacing and plotting, the editing is outstanding. Relentlessly depressing, but never quite despondent. The film finds the humanity everywhere it looks.

Sweet Smell of Success (1957) D: Alexander Mackendrick. S: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, Martin Milner, Sam Levene. Amoral New York press agent Curtis will do anything to stay in also amoral gossip columnist Lancaster’s good graces. Determining who’s more amoral and how many lives can be ruined in the continuous thirty-six hour present action is the relentless, often mortifying character study. Fantastic performances, photography, and direction. Great location shooting. Spectacular, rapid fire dialogue and pace.

Comics

Masters of the Universe The Motion Picture (1987) #1 W: Ralph Macchio. A: Art Nichols, Dennis Janke, George Tuska, Mike Zeck. Rote movie adaptation is only of note–barely–for the use of the HE-MAN toy designs instead of the movie costumes (except for the cheap-o new movie creatures). George Tuska’s pencils are hurried, but he gives the book more than it deserves. Not enough to make it worth a look, but at least there’s some bare competence.

Briefly (12 April 2026)

Movies

Big Driver (2014) D: Mikael Salomon. S: Maria Bello, Ann Dowd, Will Harris, Olympia Dukakis, Joan Jett. Tonally concerning, poorly written adaptation of Stephen King novella about cozy murder mystery novelist Bello surviving a sexual assault and attempted murder. Way too many exploitation vibes for a Lifetime TV movie, especially how it objectifies Bello’s trauma for audio-video fodder. She does better than the project deserves, though even a tense third act can’t overcome the writing.

Man Wanted (1932) D: William Dieterle. S: Kay Francis, David Manners, Una Merkel, Bess Flowers, Elizabeth Patterson. Girlboss Francis can’t find a good secretary until she hires recent Harvard grad Manners. Except he’s only good at it because he moons over her the whole time. Too bad she’s married to philandering Thomson (and Manners is engaged to annoying Merkel). Manners is lousy, so the precisely shot lusty moments don’t work. Francis’s solid, good production, wanting script.

A Night in Casablanca (1946) D: Archie Mayo. S: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Paul Harvey, Charles Drake. Groucho takes over the Hotel Casablanca, unaware he’s in the crosshairs of escaped Nazi Ruman, who’s hiding stolen treasure in the hotel. Very choppy, with whole subplots disappearing. A handful of decent moments, but the low budget and Mayo’s iffy handle on directing the picture hurt. Verea’s the fatale (she’s solid). Harpo gets to play a very pretty song.

Project Hail Mary (2026) D: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller. S: Ryan Gosling, James Ortiz, Sandra Hüller, Milana Vayntrub, Meryl Streep. Amnesiac Gosling wakes up on a spaceship far from Earth and has to remember why he’s there. The audience learns through pointlessly expository flashbacks. Drew Goddard’s script or Lord and Miller’s direction are both profoundly flat, with no dramatic tension, even in disaster sequences. Daniel Pemberton’s unceasing muzak doesn’t help either. Gosling and Ortiz do okay, for zero reward.

The Racketeer (1929) D: Howard Higgin. S: Robert Armstrong, Carole Lombard, Roland Drew, Paul Hurst, Kit Guard. Languid romantic melodrama about semi-legit gangster Armstrong falling hard for fallen woman Lombard, who can’t shake her devotion to drunken violinist Drew. Guard Armstrong’s right-hand man, Hurst, is the cop out to get them. Very talky, very slow (at an hour and change); no one can pace their dialogue. Perhaps notable as an early talkie, otherwise not.

Solarbabies (1986) D: Alan Johnson. S: Richard Jordan, Jami Gertz, Jason Patric, Lukas Haas, James Le Gros. Dismal post-apocalyptic kids movie about a bunch of rollerskating orphans (don’t worry, it doesn’t make sense) finding a magic orb. Top-billed Jordan’s the vicious cop after them, Durning (who hopefully enjoyed his trip to Spain for filming at least) is the weary orphanage warden. Nothing good about it, though many elements are worse than others. Terrible music.

Welcome to Collinwood (2002) D: Anthony Russo. S: Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy, Isaiah Washington, George Clooney, Gabrielle Union. Often funny remake of BIG DEAL ON MADONNA STREET relocates the action to an impoverished Cleveland neighborhood and its desperate denizens. Nice performances all around, with standouts from Rockwell, Macy, Washington, and Clarkson. It’s short, breezy, and amusing, but the writing and directing Russo Brothers don’t have anything other than excellent actors performing an adequate screenplay. Simultaneously tries too hard and not enough.

Comics

Action Comics (1938) #592 [1987] W: John Byrne. A: John Byrne, Keith Williams. Big Barda comes to Metropolis and is almost immediately captured by one of Darkseid’s previously unknown ex-minions. Meanwhile, Clark Kent visits a clinic treating victims of an unknown radiation poisoning. The two things are connected, leading to a rescue and a fight. While multi-hyphenate John Byrne canonically loves Kirby, you couldn’t tell from the story or art.

Action Comics (1938) #593 [1987] W: John Byrne. A: John Byrne, Keith Williams. John Byrne’s attempt to make Superman relevant again to readers now includes brainwashed Supes and Big Barda doing pornos together. Darkseid sends Mister Miracle to the rescue for dumb reasons. Some implied sexual assault (again), bland Byrne art, and tedious writing round out the issue. It’s further example of Byrne sapping the life out of Kirby characters, nothing more.

Briefly, Movies (22 March 2026)

Dolemite Is My Name (2019) D: Craig Brewer. S: Eddie Murphy, Wesley Snipes, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Keegan-Michael Key, Mike Epps, Craig Robinson, Tituss Burgess. Good, not great biopic of DOLEMITE creator Rudy Ray Moore. In traditional Karaszewski and Alexander biopic style, the movie just doesn’t have a third act. Halfway through, it stops being Moore’s story to focus on the DOLEMITE production and aftermath, sans a take. They maintain funny as the narrative’s treading water. Murphy’s singular. Great support from Randolph and Snipes.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (2026) D: Gore Verbinski. S: Sam Rockwell, Juno Temple, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, Asim Chaudhry, Tom Taylor. Fun (thanks to the ever-reliable Rockwell) ride through a series of unfinished BLACK MIRROR pitches with a link plot. Rockwell’s the link plot, Temple, Richardson, Peña and Beetz all get episodes and varying degrees of importance when everything is connected. Temple and Richardson put in more effort than the film deserves. It’s an awkwardly anti-hangout hangout movie.

Heat Lightning (1934) D: Mervyn LeRoy. S: Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak, Preston Foster, Lyle Talbot, Glenda Farrell, Frank McHugh, Ruth Donnelly. Tough melodrama about reformed not-technically-bad-herself-but-okay-with-a-bad-boyfriend girl MacMahon contending with her past as bank robber Foster stops by her desert filling station and lunch room. Complicating matters is Dvorak as MacMahon’s kid sister, who’s naive enough to believe men. Great performance from MacMahon, good ones from everyone else. It’s almost there.

Hedda (2025) D: Nia DaCosta. S: Tessa Thompson, Nina Hoss, Imogen Poots, Nicholas Pinnock, Tom Bateman, Finbar Lynch, Mirren Mack. Exquisitely produced and directed adaptation of the Ibsen play has Thompson using her estate’s opening party to manipulate her friends and loved ones. She’s just not expecting all the feelings (or all the blood). Great performances in general, Thompson, Hoss, and Pinnock in particular. The third act loses track of Thompson a little too much, but a fantastic picture.

Homicide (1991) D: David Mamet. S: Joe Mantegna, William H. Macy, Vincent Guastaferro, J.J. Johnston, Jack Wallace, Lionel Mark Smith, Rebecca Pidgeon. Rewarding disappointment about Jewish cop Mantenga getting stuck solving a murder with Israeli conspiracy implications, instead of hanging out with the boys on the guns-a-blazing manhunt. Lots going on with the film’s internal politics; writer-director Mamet has moody set pieces, but not a movie. Mantegna’s got some good scenes (and the film looks and sounds fantastic).

Invisible Ghost (1941) D: Joseph H. Lewis. S: Bela Lugosi, Polly Ann Young, John McGuire, Clarence Muse, George Pembroke, Betty Compson, Ernie Adams. Lugosi’s pretty good in this creaky, Poverty Row old dark house programmer about a runaway wife, twin brothers, a strangler, men acting ungallantly with ladies, at least three murders, a police inspector with a fake cigar stuck in his mouth, and unintentional hypnotism. The supporting cast’s mostly okay. The lack of personality (and universally wanting sets) weighs it down.

Okja (2017) D: Bong Joon Ho. S: An Seo-hyun, Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Steven Yeun, Jake Gyllenhaal, Giancarlo Esposito, Byun Hee-bong. Excellent mix of black comedy and kids movie about tween An, her giant super pig best friend, and evil American capitalist Swinton’s bozo scheme. Along the way An meets reality TV animal doctor Gyllenhaal, and animal rights pacifist terrorist Dano. Great performances from the supporting players and the ever centered one from An. Simultaneously joyous, rending, and heartbreaking.

Set It Off (1996) D: F. Gary Gray. S: Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, Kimberly Elise, Blair Underwood, John C. McGinley, Ella Joyce. Excellent until the third act (and then still pretty good) crime drama about four young Black women becoming to bank robbers, motivated by desperation, rage, and (for Latifah) adrenaline. The women’s friends story arc loses importance way too soon (to focus on Pinkett’s romance with banker Underwood), and Fox oddly doesn’t get much. Often real good, with great performances.

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976) D: John Badham. S: Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, Richard Pryor, Rico Dawson, Sam Brison, Jophery C. Brown, Leon Wagner. Fun, usually charming look at Negro League baseball players Williams and Jones’s attempt to go it on their own, away from the greedy owners. Director Badham’s bad at directing the sports stuff, not really good at any of the rest, but the production values are nice. Jones is great, Williams’s a fantastic lead, and the supporting cast all delivers.

The Pawnbroker (1965) D: Sidney Lumet. S: Rod Steiger, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Brock Peters, Jaime Sánchez, Thelma Oliver, Marketa Kimbrell, Juano Hernández. Relentlessly devastating character study of Holocaust survivor Steiger (in a singular performance), coping via misanthropy, who runs a pawnshop in Harlem, supporting his extended family and his lover. He starts remembering too much, partly thanks to the new employee Sánchez, who looks to him as a mentor, partly just from too much repression for too long. Excellent all around.

Briefly, Movies (4 February 2026)

Behind the Mask (1932) D: John Francis Dillon. S: Jack Holt, Constance Cummings, Boris Karloff, Claude King, Bertha Mann, Edward Van Sloan, Willard Robertson. Tedious–at under seventy minutes–thriller about the Secret Service trying to track down “Mr. X,” without realizing they just need to look for the credited actor in a bunch of makeup. Karloff’s a delight as the lead bad guy, but he’s barely in it, especially in the second half. Holt romancing half his age Cummings is major creeptown.

Heavenly Creatures (1994) D: Peter Jackson. S: Melanie Lynskey, Kate Winslet, Sarah Peirse, Diana Kent, Clive Merrison, Simon O’Connor, Jed Brophy. Mesmerizing account of two teenage girls devoted, singular, murderous friendship in 1950s New Zealand. Jackson takes great care making sure the dynamic visuals serve the story, which is based directly on one of the girl’s diaries (played by Lynskey). She’s the shy, quiet one, Winslet’s the glamorous, audacious one. They’re both superb. Nice pace, strong production values, iffy effects. The international version runs ten minutes shorter than the original cut and, according to the Internet, Jackson’s preferred version.

High Powered (1945) D: William Berke. S: Robert Lowery, Phyllis Brooks, Mary Treen, Joe Sawyer, Roger Pryor, Ralph Sanford, Billy Nelson. Wartime quickie about goings on at a construction project–lunch counter gals Brooks and Treen are trying to find single men, with lug Sawyer somehow capturing Treen’s attention. Brooks gets a love triangle with boss Pryor and haunted Lowery. Maybe if Brooks weren’t a jerk it’d play better? Dirt cheap, but some fun “cameo” appearances and well-executed thrills.

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) D: Joel Coen. S: Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Charles Durning, Paul Newman, Jim True-Frost, John Mahoney, Bill Cobbs. Fun but distressingly thin Coen Brothers (and Sam Raimi!) Capracorn homage. Except it’s set in the late fifties, ages past screwball. Lots of knowing nods and meticulous homage. Robbins is a rube who may be more, Jason Leigh’s the reporter who falls for him, Newman (who’s awesome) is the schemer. Good performances, lovely period visuals, bad third act.

Internes Can’t Take Money (1937) D: Alfred Santell. S: Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Lloyd Nolan, Stanley Ridges, Lee Bowman, Barry Macollum, Irving Bacon. Accomplished intern McCrea falls for patient Stanwyck, who just happens to be an (unwilling) ex-gangster’s moll trying to find her lost baby. It’s very complicated as Stanwyck and McCrea can’t ever talk about it. Creep Ridges will trade info for favors. McCrea knows mob boss Nolan, which figures in. Great looking picture, poorly written; Stanwyck’s great, McCrea’s miscasted.

Niagara Falls (1941) D: Gordon Douglas. S: Marjorie Woodworth, Tom Brown, Zasu Pitts, Slim Summerville, Chester Clute, Edgar Dearing, Edward Gargan. Very short feature (a Hal Roach Streamliner) about autumn years newlyweds Pitts and Summerville’s trip to NIAGARA. Except Summerville’s so worried about getting horizontal he meddles in unconnected travellers Woodworth and Brown’s visit. There’s a funny gag at the end, but they backtrack, and some okay set pieces, but Summerville’s a drag, Pitts’s wasted, and the romances’re lukewarm. Eh.

The People’s Enemy (1935) D: Crane Wilbur. S: Preston Foster, Lila Lee, Melvyn Douglas, Shirley Grey, Roscoe Ates, William Collier Jr., Herbert Rawlinson. The Feds send mobster Foster up the river for tax evasion. Leading Foster to instruct lawyer Douglas track down his abandoned family. Then Foster’s kid brother, Collier, starts mucking things up. Douglas falling for the wife’s barely a plot point. Rawlinson’s awful in a consequential part, the blue blood turncoat. Douglas’s excellent, however, Foster’s impressively sociopathic, and it’s snappy.

Predator: Badlands (2025) D: Dan Trachtenberg. S: Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Ravi Narayan, Michael Homick, Stefan Grube, Reuben De Jong, Cameron Brown. Inane video game cutscene of a movie about the PREDATOR (who, it turns out, has a culture so similar to STAR TREK’s Klingons it’d be distracting if this movie weren’t as boring) who teams up with a legless android with a heart of gold (a profoundly bland Fanning), to survive a monster planet. Plus, there’s a Baby Yoda.

Weapons (2025) D: Zach Cregger. S: Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan, Cary Christopher. Handsome–if endlessly derivative–horror picture about a missing grade schoolers. Garner’s their troubled but innocent teacher, Brolin’s an obsessed dad, Christopher’s the one kid who didn’t disappear, Madigan’s his eccentric aunt. The fractured narrative hops from character to character; without it there’s no movie. Incompetent cops and school officials also enable it. Christopher and Madigan are great.