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ACTION. “Fight or Flight.” / “The Unholy Trinity.” / “Fatman.”

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“Fight or Flight” (2025, Apple TV+) action comedy film. Stars Josh Hartnett as a man who is recruited to identify and protect a wanted criminal aboard a commercial airline.         This is an insane movie, just what stoners and constantly high viewers ask for. Yup, Josh Hartnett is game enough to dive into the trip. Cartoonish, silly, wild. Everybody's cartoon character here. It would have been a lot cooler if Danny McBride was in this movie. 🎥💻📽 “The Unholy Trinity” (2024. Hulu) Western action film about a young man who travels to the titular town of Montana to avenge his father's death.        No problem watching veterans Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L. Jackson, always a pleasure. But this formidable duo can only do so much other than deliver their idiosyncratic mannerisms. None of those saved the drained dialogue, formulaic action sequences, and overall narrative cliché of this “day on the job” project. 🎥...
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WATCHED THEM AGAIN. “Jackie Brown.” / “The Fifth Element.” / “The Running Man” / “Eraserhead.”

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“Jackie Brown” (1997, Pluto TV) American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino , based on the 1992 novel “ Rum Punch ” by Elmore Leonard . Stars Pam Grier as Jackie Brown, a flight attendant who smuggles money between the United States and Mexico. I saw this movie many years ago in Manila.         A homage to 1970s blaxploitation films, which featured Ms Grier in a number of flicks, Mr Tarantino's off-center treatment of the genre is quite badass catchy. Alluring in a stereotypical but entertaining way. For some reason, Samuel L. Jackson's “maddafacqa” mouth stays hilariously charming.         Robert Forster's performance (as a bail bond guy) earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor , and Golden Globe Award nominations for Samuel L. Jackson (you know the role) and Pam Grier. 🎥💻📽 “The Fifth Element” (1997, Pluto TV) English-language French science-fiction...
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HORROR THRILLER. “Vicious.” / “The Rule of Jenny Pen.” / “Studio 666.” / “The Wolf of Snow Hollow.” / “The Wind.”

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“Vicious” (2025, Apple TV+) horror about a directionless woman in her 30s who is stuck in a dead end job and fretting over starting at school again.          Star Dakota Fanning , who basically dominates the screen from start to finish, weeping and screaming and cutting herself.         Ms Fanning's Polly is a directionless woman in her 30s who is stuck in a dead end job and fretting over starting at school again. She lives alone in a house she rents from her sister Lainie whose daughter Aly Polly dotes over.         The plot is nothing we already saw in the genre so despite “mixed or average reviews” from Rotten Tomatoes, my judgment is sure: C+. Though I am enamored with Dakota's alluring face, whether she's smiling, stoic or screaming. 🎥💻📽 “The Rule of Jenny Pen” (2024, Hulu) New Zealand psychological horror . In a care home for the elderly, one resident se...
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DRAMA. “Ballad of a Small Player.” / “Villain.” / “Rare Beasts.” / “Wildlife.” / “Cardboard Boxer.” / “Francine.”

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“Ballad of a Small Player” (2025, Netflix) is a 2025 British psychological thriller, based on the 2014 novel by Lawrence Osborne . Lord Doyle is laying low in Macau , spending his days and nights on the casino floors.         This movie started fine, a subtle gut punch augmented by Colin Farrell's involved performance. Add the lavish presentation of Macau as a gambling hub. Include Tilda Swinton's fancy (or macabre) Cynthia Blithe in the proceedings, though intermittently. Tilda is always remarkable, whatever character coat she wears.        However, the thrill in this psychological black comedy wanes and withers as we approach the second half. Director Edward Berger lost grip somewhere and the entire joint ended in a conflagration (literally) of wild yet melodramatic pfft. 🎥💻📽 “Villain” (2020, Roku) British film. Follows an ex-convict as he tries to go straight after a ten-year prison sentence. However, he is...
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MOVIES THAT SUCK. “Gringa.” / “Twist.” / “The Last Days of American Crime.” / “New Rose Hotel.”

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“ Gringa ” (2023, Sling) comedy-drama. A troubled teenage girl who runs away to Mexico to find her father.         Gringa or Marge, an American teenager, also tried to return to the U.S. via the border gate but was not allowed to (re)enter America because she couldn't present a valid document. She sort of crossed to Mexico without a document, I think. LOL! So she joined other undocumented migrants to, you know, cross to Arizona or Southern California.        But that's not the story, which would have been more interesting. This is about Marge (played by Jess Gabor) finding her dad quite easily and then they tried to bond. You know the drill. Dad is Steve Zahn, who despite his many attempts to do drama, still looked like a one-dimensional comedian. And Ms Gabor? She seems to project only two emotions in her face.         Believe it or not, there are two directors in this mov...
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