Daredevil: Born Again (2025) s01e01 “Episode 1” D: Aaron Moorhead. S: Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Margarita Levieva, Nikki M. James, Clark Johnson, Michael Gandolfini, Ayelet Zurer. After making some big cast changes and punting some other decisions down the line, the show gets going with D’Onofrio returning to New York to run for mayor. A more battle-scarred than usual Cox isn’t thrilled at the news and tries to suss out D’Onofrio’s true intentions. Some season setup, some series setup, and some good acting. Nice.

Daredevil: Born Again (2025) s01e02 “Episode 2” D: Michael Cuesta. S: Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Margarita Levieva, Nikki M. James, Clark Johnson, Michael Gandolfini, Ayelet Zurer. For its first “normal” episode, BORN AGAIN immediately introduces a trial-of-the-week format… only to reveal a conspiracy, which will need multiple parts. Well played. While Cox is lawyering, Fisk is busy trying to play nice with the cops and estranged wife Zurer. Some surprises, some contrivances, and some lovely acting. Cox and D’Onofrio are real good.

Paradise (2025) s01e01 “Wildcat Is Down” D: John Requa. S: Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, Nicole Brydon Bloom, Aliyah Mastin, Percy Daggs IV, James Marsden, Jon Beavers. Brown’s the Secret Service Agent in Charge (or whatever) of ex-president Marsden. The episode opens with Brown discovering Marsden dead, with flashbacks setting up the ground situation. Mystery and surprises, along with a big finale reveal; Brown’s so good and so in command of the show, it weathers everything. Including Marden’s limp prez.

Paradise (2025) s01e02 “Sinatra” D: John Requa. S: Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, Sarah Shahi, Aliyah Mastin, James Marsden, Krys Marshall. Lots more flashbacks–this time to Nicholson’s specific tragedy and character motivation–juxtaposed against fall out affecting Brown’s plans to investigate. Shahi shows up for a scene or two (plus flashback duty) as the town shrink who’ll probably end up helping Brown, but not this episode–they’re still setting up the underground town stuff. Brown puts it over mid.

Paradise (2025) s01e03 “The Architect of Social Well-Being” D: Gandja Monteiro. S: Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, Sarah Shahi. There’s a bunch of Krys Marshall’s investigation (weird they’re only paying her guest star money) and Nicholson’s undue influence on it. Then Brown and Shahi go on a walking meet-cute around town, only it’s mostly flashbacks of Brown and his dad (Glynn Turman!). Maybe if Nicholson weren’t so one note and the town tour had been a tour.

Severance (2022) s02e05 “Trojan’s Horse” [2025] D: Sam Donovan. S: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, John Turturro. The season passes the halfway point with almost everything leftover from last season’s cliffhanger resolved. There are some more surprise reveals, some unexpected (and expected) character developments, and fantastic acting from the entire cast. Tillman and Lower get the best material, but Scott and Cherry are also very good. It’s an office bickering episode, with mysterious and rewarding stakes.

Severance (2022) s02e06 “Attila” [2025] D: Uta Briesewitz. S: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Jen Tullock, John Turturro, Christopher Walken. Rather good episode–even if Briesewitz’s direction is… a bit extra. And not even with all the “sharing vessels” (this episode is very horny), just everything. It’ll eventually lead to some obvious tropes, but it’s a fine ride there. Great performances from Lower, Tillman, Cherry, and Scott. Turturro and Walken are “back,” but it’s something else. Lots afoot.

Severance (2022) s02e07 “Chikhai Bardo” [2025] D: Jessica Lee Gagné. S: Adam Scott, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, Dichen Lachman, Robby Benson. Surprise, Lachman is the main character. She gets a great showcase as a recovering but unconscious Scott remembers the way they were. Entirely coincidentally, Lachman’s thinking about it too, as she goes about a hellish, And mysterious existence. But their backstory is mid and reductive; plus, Scott’s flashback performance is off. Exquisitely directed, just an average mythology reveal script.

The 39 Steps (1935) D: Alfred Hitchcock. S: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim. Early Hitchcock spy thriller has a good first half as average man-in-a-plot Donat flees London for Scotland, complete with good chemistry opposite spy Mannheim. Then Carroll comes in as the actual love interest, and the film stumbles and the pacing never recovers. Fine Scotland visuals only help so much. Even the decent finale is clunkily constructed.

The Bad Sleep Well (1960) D: Akira Kurosawa. S: Toshirō Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Kamatari Fujiwara. Kurosawa in prime form–an office-politics thriller starts with a twenty-minute wedding scene. Mifune’s protagonist isn’t even revealed for another twenty. The film builds through impossible situations with unexpected tenderness and playfulness. There’s a loose HAMLET framework, which never overwhelms the corruption storylines. Kurosawa and Mifune are also a lot more tender than HAMLET. It’s a great one.

Best Defense (1984) D: Willard Huyck. S: Dudley Moore, Eddie Murphy, Kate Capshaw, George Dzundza, Helen Shaver, Peter Michael Goetz, David Rasche. Abysmal military-industrial complex comedy about goof-off engineer Moore putzing around with spies and trade secrets while trying not to get laid off again. The film tested so poorly they added Murphy (commanding Moore’s tank in the field) to salvage it. Murphy’s not funny, but he’s fine. Rasche’s hilarious. The rest’s terrible, notably Moore (and the script).

Boogie Nights (1997) D: Paul Thomas Anderson. S: Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore. Dazzling technical achievement follows Wahlberg’s rise and fall in ’70s porn industry. The first half’s upbeat comedy gives way to brutal second half, with Anderson torturing his dimwitted characters until they sweat humanity. Incredible ensemble with standouts in Reynolds, Don Cheadle, and Thomas Jane. Almost too well-made for its own good–NIGHTS works despite its formula constraints.

Citizen Kane (1941) D: Orson Welles. S: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore. Structurally brilliant and emotionally devastating Welles masterpiece about a newspaper tycoon’s rise and fall. KANE’s melodramatic framework conceals subtle moments between stellar performers (Welles, obviously, but also Comingore, Cotten, and everyone). The newsreel opening, disorienting timeline, and withheld conclusion demand engagement. Welles crafts an unsentimental film about a sentimental subject, with impeccable technicals like Gregg Toland’s photography.

Dune (2021) D: Denis Villeneuve. S: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgård, Josh Brolin, Zendaya. The Frank Herbert novel gets the mega-epic adaptation (complete with splitting it into two parts) but outside the magnificent production design, there’s not much to DUNE. Chalamet rarely gets to lead the movie, with director Villeneuve instead relying on his dream sequences to promise character development. Skarsgård’s great as the odious villain; otherwise, it’s by the numbers prestige.

Dune: Part Two (2024) D: Denis Villeneuve. S: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Stellan Skarsgård. Some better acting this entry, but a worse screenplay (by director Villeneuve and PART ONE scripter Jon Spaihts) takes out any substantial gains. Villeneuve hasn’t got any (good) new tricks left for this entry (the black-and-white sequence is sad more than anything else). Who knows, maybe they should’ve just trusted Chalamet to lead his own messiah movie…

The Golden Child (1986) D: Michael Ritchie. S: Eddie Murphy, Charles Dance, Charlotte Lewis, J.L. Reate, Victor Wong, Randall “Tex” Cobb, James Hong. Terrible Murphy vehicle curbs the language at PG-13, gives him a chemistry-free romance with Lewis, and leverages his likability way too much. Murphy can’t make up for CHILD’s mind-bending choices, like demons. And make-up villains. It’s almost a curiosity given the flexes, but it’s also awful. It’s an attempted family-friendly movie about child sacrifice.

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) D: Barry Jenkins. S: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Teyonah Parris, Colman Domingo, Michael Beach, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. Beautiful, rending adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel. James is recently imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. Pregnant girlfriend Layne and her family work to get him free. Layne’s narration provides a structure, with flashbacks revealing James and Layne’s love story. Breathtaking, layered, patient work from Jenkins, Layne, James, and King (as Layne’s mom). It’s a splendid, devastating film.

King Kong (1933) D: Ernest B. Schoedsack. S: Robert Armstrong, Fay Wray, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher, Victor Wong, James Flavin, Sam Hardy. Adventurist director Armstrong picks up down-and-out actress Wray for the chance of a lifetime in his next picture… which will co-star a giant ape on an island lost to time. The groundbreaking stop motion effects still astonish. The film never forces sympathy for Kong but does create the space. Even the hasty New York finale works.

The Lady Vanishes (1938) D: Alfred Hitchcock. S: Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Paul Lukas, May Whitty. Early Hitchcock mixes comedy, mystery, and action (in roughly that order) and delivers the purest entertainment. On a European train, where Lockwood tries to find mysteriously missing fellow passenger Whitty. Pretty soon Redgrave’s involved–he and Lockwood have excellent chemistry–and Lukas also figures in. Lukas is particularly fantastic here. It’s an outstanding picture. A technical delight as well. Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford’s cricket-obsessed passengers return in NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH.

Shock Corridor (1963) D: Samuel Fuller. S: Peter Breck, Constance Towers, Gene Evans, James Best, Hari Rhodes. Provocative noir tracking reporter Breck’s adventures after committing himself to a mental hospital to solve a murder. Uneven but often brilliant exposé of American social issues–especially Rhodes’s spellbinding performance as a Black student driven mad. The second act procedural soars, while the problematic premise and rushed conclusion disappoint. Fuller’s ambition exceeds his execution, but it’s outstanding work.

The Third Man (1949) D: Carol Reed. S: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, Orson Welles. Post-WWII noir masterpiece follows hapless American Cotten through occupied Vienna searching for old friend Welles. Phenomenal work from Reed–breathtaking, stark expressionist visuals throughout. When Welles finally arrives–otherworldly and magnetic–the film shifts into both thriller and profound anti-war statement. Every technical is superlative, including Anton Karas’s haunting zither music. THIRD MAN’s a perfect motion picture.

The Asphalt Jungle (1950) D: John Huston. S: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Sam Jaffe, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, John McIntire, Marc Lawrence. Beautifully directed look at a caper unfolding, with newly paroled planner Jaffe trying to put a team together. Hayden’s the ostensible protagonist but not really. Strongest performances are Jaffe, Whitmore, and Lawrence. The third act turns into a moralizing copaganda flex, as Huston condemns the low morale character of criminals (and those who consort with them). Shits the bed. Lots.

Dazed and Confused (1993) D: Richard Linklater. S: Jason London, Matthew McConaughey, Wiley Wiggins, Anthony Rapp, Ben Affleck, Marissa Ribisi, Michelle Burke. Linklater’s last-day-of-school nostalgia piece follows star quarterback London (who’d rather hang with stoners) and incoming freshman Wiggins. Large cast delivers charm but little depth; McConaughey’s creepy twentysomething stands out. Good period design and soundtrack paper over thin characterization. Worse, Linklater’s more invested in that script than his direction, leaving solid performers (Rapp, Ribisi, Burke) stranded.

Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995) D: John McTiernan. S: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Irons, Larry Bryggman, Graham Greene, Anthony Peck, Nicholas Wyman. Terrorist with familiar last name Irons sends now NYC cop again, on-the-skids Willis on a riddle-solving chase, with civilian Jackson along for the ride. Fantastic direction from McTiernan; Willis and Jackson sell their buddy rapport despite thin material. Outstanding technicals. Irons relishes the villainy and a strong cast overall (particularly Bryggman). The tacked-on ending stinks, though.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) D: Jonathan Goldstein. S: Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Hugh Grant, Regé-Jean Page, Chloe Coleman. Epic, fun, and funny (but never silly) “adaptation” of the role playing game doesn’t require foreknowledge. It still has nods and gags and Easter eggs, but the story is the thing. Pine’s a rogue trying to get back to his daughter, Rodriguez is his warrior bud; they’ve got to quest it. Delightful performances and a strong script sell it.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) D: Tim Story. S: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon, Doug Jones, Laurence Fishburne. Vast improvement over the first FOUR, this one’s a superhero wedding comedy with apocalyptic stakes. The FOUR’s clicked– especially Gruffudd and Alba–making even the cartoon action work. Director Story handles the effects better; Jones & Fishburne’s Silver Surfer impresses. McMahon’s Doom feels tacked on, though, and Beau Garrett’s weak. Mostly it’s just fun spending time with the family now.

The Heat (2013) D: Paul Feig. S: Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Demián Bichir, Marlon Wayans, Michael Rapaport, Jane Curtin, Thomas F. Wilson. Uptight FBI agent Bullock’s got to work with profane Boston cop McCarthy on a case. Conflict ensues. McCarthy dominates every scene while Bullock struggles through a basic character arc about not being (so) uptight. Fine direction from Feig; the plot’s just framing for McCarthy’s comedy. Sadly, the strong supporting cast (Wilson, Curtin, Wayans) is wasted. McCarthy’s hilarious.

The Mole People (1956) D: Virgil W. Vogel. S: John Agar, Cynthia Patrick, Hugh Beaumont, Alan Napier, Nestor Paiva, Phil Chambers, Rodd Redwing. ’50s Universal sci-fi about archaeologists Agar and Beaumont discovering underground civilization. Agar’s obnoxious, Beaumont’s patient; Paiva steals the show. Strong first half (with exceptional black and white photography). Second half stumbles thanks mostly to Napier’s weak villain. Vogel’s technically solid direction can’t overcome the too chatty script. Great music, though, and Patrick’s game as the love interest.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Mystery of the White Room (1939) D: Otis Garrett. S: Bruce Cabot, Helen Mack, Joan Woodbury, Constance Worth, Thomas E. Jackson, Roland Drew, Frank Reicher. Tedious–at under an hour–murder mystery set at a hospital. Jackson’s the cop who suspects top-billed Cabot. Cabot and Mack are an item, which keeps her around but with nothing to do. Drew is terrible as the twerp suck-up surgeon. It’s very low budget and the direction’s not creative with it. Reicher’s a delight, however.

Secret of the Blue Room (1933) D: Kurt Neumann. S: Lionel Atwill, Gloria Stuart, Paul Lukas, Edward Arnold, Onslow Stevens, William Janney, Elizabeth Patterson. Creaky “thriller” about Stuart’s three suitors each spending a night in her family castle’s BLUE ROOM. Oh, and it’s haunted. Also in the suspect pool is Atwill as Stuart’s secretive father. Some good direction helps, but until Arnold shows up towards the end, it’s lethargic. Maybe have any of the red herrings be interesting. Long even for an hour.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) D: Joseph Sargent. S: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Héctor Elizondo, Earl Hindman, James Broderick, Jerry Stiller. Perfectly cut, tightly wound thriller about a rag-tag group of terrorists taking over a New York City subway train. Shaw’s the boss and brains, Balsam’s the ex-motorman grinding an ax, Elizondo’s the psychopath, and Hindman’s the doofus. PELHAM barely spends any time with the hostages, instead focusing on transit cop Matthau’s procedural end of things. It’s outstanding.

Underworld (1937) D: Oscar Micheaux. S: Bee Freeman, Sol Johnson, ‘Slick’ Chester, Ethel Moses, Oscar Polk, Lorenzo Tucker, Dotty Saulter. Con man Chester brings well-to-do college student Johnson up to Chicago for summer break, planning on fleecing him fast. But then Johnson falls for Freeman, who’s married to gangster Polk, while romancing and supporting Chester. If only Johnson could meet a nice girl like Moses… Fine low budget filmmaking from Micheaux, with Freeman a strong proto-fatale.

Agatha All Along (2024) s01e05 “Darkest Hour / Wake Thy Power” D: Rachel Goldberg. S: Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Debra Jo Rupp, Patti LuPone, Aubrey Plaza. The episode does a big death and a couple twist reveals, but it’s a tad slight. The gang gets to Hahn’s trial and the show rushes it with a ouija board bit. And the rush seems to be so they can move the narrative’s perspective between characters. Only… kind of not? LuPone’s great. Hahn’s got bad material.

Agatha All Along (2024) s01e06 “Familiar by Thy Side” D: Gandja Monteiro. S: Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Debra Jo Rupp, Patti LuPone, Aubrey Plaza. Locke’s secret origin reveals all the ties to WANDAVISION and some to the rest of the series so far. And it’s a good episode, except where it lands in the series. Episode six feels a tad long to get around to the stakes… not to mention the character development reset. Locke’s real good and an awesome returning player.

Agatha All Along (2024) s01e07 “Death’s Hand in Mine” D: Jac Schaeffer. S: Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Debra Jo Rupp, Patti LuPone, Aubrey Plaza. LuPone gets her spotlight episode amid all the reveals happening with Locke. It’s a beautifully directed episode, wonderfully acted, and feels very much like a Hail Mary victory lap. The show’s not sure it’s getting away with it. None of the groundwork for LuPone’s adventures here compare to what they do now. Even the effects work seems better.

Agatha All Along (2024) s01e08 “Follow Me My Friend / To Glory at the End” D: Gandja Monteiro. S: Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Debra Jo Rupp, Patti LuPone, Aubrey Plaza. The last five minutes, when Locke pretends he’s been leading the show the whole time, those five minutes are a disaster. But most of the episode is this weird misfire with Hahn, Locke, and Zamata reaching the end of the Road. Plaza’s there, too, post-her big reveal. None of the performances click, which hurts it the most.

Agatha All Along (2024) s01e09 “Maiden Mother Crone” D: Gandja Monteiro. S: Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Debra Jo Rupp, Patti LuPone, Aubrey Plaza. The grand finale answers all questions but not the most important–what performance did they think Hahn was going to give and why didn’t she? For her secret origin flashback, she entirely phones it in. The present day conclusion is for a show they didn’t do. It’s a bewildering shrug of a finish. Poorly directed, too.

The Rig (2023) s02e05 “Episode 5” [2025] D: Alex Holmes. S: Emily Hampshire, Iain Glen, Martin Compston, Rochenda Sandall, Owen Teale, Abraham Popoola. They spend the whole episode resolving the cliffhanger, which works out fairly well. It’d be better if the geography were more involved, but it’s a fine cat and mouse chase. Then there’s land stuff with Teale and Alice Krige discovering common purpose. For an Amazon “backdoor” second season it’s actually working out rather well.

The Rig (2023) s02e06 “Episode 6” [2025] D: Alex Holmes. S: Emily Hampshire, Iain Glen, Martin Compston, Rochenda Sandall, Owen Teale, Abraham Popoola. Okay finale really wants to be THE ABYSS, with some pointlessly self-indulgent shots given the budget. It does give Hampshire her easy best episode of the season and it’s nothing special, she just gets to have some character development. It’s packed, too. The pacing is excellent; though they did need the happy gay couple to smooch.

Severance (2022) s02e01 “Hello, Ms. Cobel” [2025] D: Ben Stiller. S: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, Tramell Tillman, John Turturro, Sarah Bock, Bob Balaban. Scott returns to the office to find almost everything different, and only mysterious answers to what’s happened since last season’s cliffhanger finale. There are coworkers missing, some new coworkers, some promotions, and pop culture references. And too much CGI. It’s manipulative and might show the season’s whole hand, but it’s still pretty good. Cherry and Tillman rock on.

Severance (2022) s02e02 “Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig” [2025] D: Sam Donovan. S: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, John Turturro. Now it’s the outies’ story since the season one cliffhanger. Some surprises, which may or may not pay off, they’re playing it very close all of a sudden. We meet Lower’s other half for the first time. Pins in that. All the acting’s good or great, with Tillman and Arquette in particular fire. It’s getting a better footing.

Severance (2022) s02e03 “Who Is Alive?” [2025] D: Ben Stiller. S: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, John Turturro. Some of the show seems to be going back to the first season’s outstanding threads–with some genuine narrative surprises–while Season Two business spins its wheels. The show keeps introducing incongruous details, without ever addressing the unresolved ones; it’s in danger of folding in on itself with intentional inconsistencies. Some excellent acting; it’s solid but just.

Severance (2022) s02e04 “Woe’s Hollow” [2025] D: Ben Stiller. S: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Sarah Bock, John Turturro, Christopher Walken. Is punting a big cliffhanger going to be a “SEVERANCE?” Perhaps (they do it again here). The gang wakes up outside on a tundra. They will get an explanation, which raises unanswered (and sometimes unaddressed) questions. But they do deal with one of the season two subplots, not letting it go stale. Great Turturro and Tillman performances.

Silo (2023) s02e10 “Into the Fire” [2025] D: Bert. S: Rebecca Ferguson, Common, Harriet Walter, Chinaza Uche, Tim Robbins, Shane McRae, Steve Zahn. There’s a lot of good acting. And what should be Ferguson’s best scenes, if the script weren’t so banal. Everything comes to a head and so on, nothing goes unresolved (except stuff for next season). It’s all very neat, and also shows the effects of never flexing against constraints. Zahn does not break out (sadly); Robbins maybe next season?