Movies, Films & Flix

Quick Thoughts:

1. David Robert Mitchell loves featuring swimming pools in his films. 
2. It’s a good time. The world needs more 100-minute movies featuring dinosaurs.
3. Anne “Action Hero” Hathaway!
4. Don’t watch any trailers or look for spoilers.
5. Cinematographer Mike Gioulakis (It Follows, Us, Split, Old) deserves praise for some cool shots. The running scenes are legit.
6. Sit back, relax, and don’t think too much about the plot mechanics.

With a brisk running time of 100 minutes, The End of Oak Street is a fun creature feature that harkens back to Spielberg’s 1980s Amblin films, in which families were forced to deal with science fiction (or supernatural or horror) shenanigans. The high-concept films mostly took place in the suburbs, put kids in danger, and featured boring lives being upended spectacularly  (think E.T., Goonies, Back to the Future, etc..). After directing his Amblin-homage Super 8, J.J. Abrams teamed up with director/writer/producer David Robert Mitchell (It Follows, Under the Silver Lake) to bring the summer blockbuster to life. It’s nice to see Mitchell’s name in film credits again because he’s been in director’s jail since directing the $8 million budgeted A24 film Under the Silver Lake. Typically, director’s jail is meant for directors who helm massive stinkers, so it’s been a bit mystifying that an indie film (and now cult classic) sidetracked his career. It’s smart that he made his comeback with an accessible PG-13 monster movie that doesn’t feature hidden clues, a smelly protagonist, and homeless kings.The End of Oak Street was manufactured for summer audiences looking for a fun movie that keeps them out of the August heat for a couple of hours. The result is a fun summer popcorn film that has the potential to be a sleeper hit. During the press screening, the audience cheered multiple times (I won’t spoil anything) and genuinely seemed to be engrossed in the mayhem. 

The End of Oak Street begins with an idyllic summer barbecue in a well-manicured suburb. The main characters are Denise Platt (Anne Hathaway), a tough housewife (and secret writer), and her husband Greg (Ewan McGregor), who, despite having a day job, still spends his nights delivering pizza for extra cash. Their kids, Audrey (Maisy Stella – watch My Old Ass) and Brian (Christian Convery), are reasonably well-behaved and the family seems to exist in a pleasant world where the biggest problem is money and job security. Since it’s an Amblin-type film, the parents are having marital struggles, and it’s affecting their children who know exactly what’s going on when their parents step away to “talk.” Before the marital issues can be investigated further, a bright light appears, and the following morning Mel (P.J. Byrne), their grumpy neighbor, pounds on the Platts’ door to complain about a massive pile of poop in his backyard. The following day, there’s another bright light, and the family wakes up to a world that’s stuffed with hungry dinosaurs treating the suburbs like an all you can eat buffet. From there, they need to survive in a dangerous suburb that makes the post-apocalyptic world of Love and Monsters (wonderful movie) seem quaint. 

Once the action starts, the film never lets up and features solid athletic work from Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor, who must’ve been in great shape when the film wrapped. Together, they sprint around the Georgia-filmed suburbs (which were also used in Stranger Things) and evade huge snakes, hungry raptors, and slow-moving turtles. The production design by Maya Shimoguchi (Werewolf By Night, Hawkeye) utilizes on-location work and sound stages to recreate the 1980s. The costume design by Erin Benach (The Bikeriders, Roofman, Drive, Loving, The Place Beyond the Pines, Devil) is perfection, and I love how it incorporates Saucony shoes, short shorts, high socks, and nightgowns to capture the spirit of the 1980s. 

The cinematography by Mike Gioulakis (It Follows, Us, Split, Old) is the film’s MVP as it allows the various characters to run for their lives in expertly constructed wide shots. The chase scenes in The End of Oak Street were intelligently conceived, and when more information becomes available, I’m going to research how they were brought to life. There is something thrilling about watching actors test their cardio during long takes that see them sprinting across multiple lawns to avoid the hungry dinosaurs chasing them. Also, Anne Hathaway has showcased her physicality in The Dark Knight Rises and Mother Mary (excellent dancing), but it was a fun surprise seeing her play a tough-as-nails mom with cardio for days. 

Final Thoughts: David Robert Mitchell is back!

Quick Thoughts:

• It’s fun that director Eli Roth studied Saving Private Ryan while planning to film rampaging kids.
• Kiori Mirza Waldman, Charlie Zeltzer, and Shiloh O’ Reilly are solid.
• After watching a child saw off their parent’s head with a hacksaw, the rest of the bloody carnage is a bit monotonous.
• The film makes more sense when you learn that Roth made it for kids.
• Grade – 3 Evil Ice Cream Sandwiches out of 10.

Shot in 19 days during a Toronto summer, Ice Cream Man is a 20-year-in-the-making passion project from director Eli Roth. After almost 20 years of studios telling Roth that his “Pied Piper meets The Birds” splatterfest was commercially unfeasible, Roth started up an indie studio named The Horror Section so he could exorcise the idea from his head. It’s admirable that he chased his dream, but the result is loaded with too many scoops of plot cream which build towards a monotonous and unwieldy experience.

Ice Cream Man revolves around what happens when a mysterious ice cream man (Ari Millen) sells hundreds of frozen “treats” to the children of Bayleen Bay, an idyllic coastal town that will soon become a warzone. The frozen treats turn the children into homicidal maniacs who kill their parents and then spread throughout the town to kill the remaining adults. Amidst the carnage, it’s up to middle schoolers Jared (Charlie Zeltzer), Mia (Kiori Mirza Waldman), and Tommy (Shiloh O’Reilly) to save the town with the help of Jared’s sister Lizzie (Sarah Abbott – who has a fun but unnecessary Wolf of Wall Street-esque moment).

In the press notes, star Ari Millen describes the film as “Home Alone meets 28 Days Later,” and he’s not wrong because it features rampaging children inflicting creative pain on dozens of adults. Roth came up with the idea while dreaming, and the most memorable visual was children playing jump rope with intestines. So, he dreamt about children murdering adults, and then had to reverse-engineer the scenario to explain why the kids ripped open an adult’s midsection, pulled out their intestines, and then used them as a jump rope. The explanation shouldn’t be spoiled, but it involves town secrets, churches, and a school attack sequence involving 100+ children.

Fueled by high-key lighting and a hot August sun, the colorful-looking film goes hard on daylight horror, and had to happen so Roth could film with middle-school-aged kids. The nostalgic look is supposed to stand in opposition to the unrated violence involving bricks, shovels, garbage disposals, pencils, and hacksaws. However, the bright lights showcase Roth’s stretched ambition (you can’t hide anything in daylight). Roth wanted the film to feel like a fairy tale, but most fairy tales are fairly easy to explain and don’t need a bit about how hard it will be to defeat the Ice Cream Man. When you get into the plot mechanics of Ice Cream Man, it’s all a bunch of hooey, and they were clearly created around the initial ideas that Roth had 20 years ago. The biggest problem with building a 100-minute film around a feverish dream is that the elements don’t always fit organically. After directing for over 20 years, Roth knows his way around a successful production (Thanksgiving is a hoot), so it’s a surprise that he didn’t tighten the script to dedicate more attention to the seemingly simple premise.

It’s also worth noting that the majority of the townsfolk and students are terrible people before the evil ice cream is introduced. So, when the killing starts, nobody cares about the carnage because there are zero feelings involved when a person is attached to an ambulance and dragged through the street. The idea of Roth crafting a “Stand by Me” featuring deadly ice cream is fun, but the production was too rushed and stretched to do anything other than shoot really quickly. It’s neat that Roth was able to get this idea out of his head (with the help of a little bit of AI), and it will be fun to see what original idea he tackles next (or makes another Thanksgiving film).

Quick Thoughts:

1. Between The Dirties (2013), Operation Avalanche (2016), BlackBerry (2023), Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie (2025), and Tony, director/writer Matt Johnson is one of my favorite working directors.
2. I hope Antonio Banderas is nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. His performance is gruff, tender, smart, caring, funny, and likable.
3. You can tell that Johnson loved working with Leo Woodall. The guy takes over the screen whenever he’s around. 
4. Emilia Jones thrives in movies that take place in coastal cities. She is solid in CODA and Tony. 
5. I’ve never been more annoyed to have a shellfish allergy.
6. It knows exactly what it needs to be. 
7. Matt Johnson is on a legit (lobster) roll.
8. Grade – 7.4 Lobster Thermidors out of 10. 

After watching BlackBerry in 2023, I immediately felt the urge to message IFC and ask if there was a way I could interview director Matt Johnson. The ingenuity of the low-budget production was thrilling, and I wanted to learn more about the Toronto-based director. This led me to watch Nirvana the Band the Show, and then catch a special screening of Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie attended by Johnson and Jay McCarol. One of the highlights of watching a lot of films is when you witness an ingeniously crafted film. There’s something thrilling about watching collaborators make smart decisions that lead to a unique experience. Johnson’s winning streak continues with Tony, a well-made biopic that will hopefully earn Antonio Banderas an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Between Johnson, writers Matthew Miller/Todd Bartels/Lou Howe, and star Dominic Sessa knew exactly what they needed to do – and they did it.. Tony focuses on a formative three-month span of chef/writer/TV star Anthony Bourdain’s life, and it is easily Johnson’s most by-the-book film, but it’s done intelligently and with technical craft. You can still see shades of his early work in the close-ups and camera placement, but it’s a more polished and mainstream dish for the millions of people who loved Bourdain. 

The nice thing about this biopic is that it avoids a decades-long story that plays the greatest hits, and instead focuses on an eventful summer in 1975. A summer in which 19-year-old Anthony “Tony” Bourdain lied about winning a writing fellowship and traveled to Cape Cod (Provincetown, MA to be exact) to be near an older classmate named Nancy (Emilia Jones), who spent her summers on the peninsula. After a chaotic first day, which sees Tony lose all his money, drink way too much, and get knocked out by a local cook, he decides to call his impromptu trip off and head back home. When he learns he can’t afford a ferry, he starts washing dishes at the restaurant where he was kicked out of the night prior. The owner/head chef conveniently named Chef (Antonio Banderas) sees something in the little maniac and lets him sleep on his front porch hammock. When Tony runs into Nancy, he lies and says he landed a writing fellowship and is spending his summer in Cape Cod to work on the project. He also claims that his oyster-shucking coworker Sal (Leo Woodall) is a professor overseeing his writing project. Since it’s a coming-of-age film, the lies catch up to him, and the aftermath propels him to attend the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), in New York City.

During his months on the peninsula, he learns how to cook, does copious drugs, and learns that food can bring people together. Nothing is especially hard for the guy, but he needed to get away from his loving parents (Dagmara Domińczyk, Richard Sommer) so he could get beat up for a summer. Many of his problems are self-inflicted (so many lies), but several people see through his insecurities and see a witty kid who could become something. A lot of things that he comes across during the summer (drugs, kitchen work, community) play a role throughout his life, so it’s fun seeing it visualized on screen. 

One of the most interesting facts that I learned from the press notes is that Johnson was drawn to the project because of Dominic Sessa. Johnson and Sessa met after The Holdovers was released in 2023, and they had an hours-long conversation that ended with the two deciding that they needed to work together. Johnson had never read Bourdain’s book or watched his shows; instead, he was interested in directing Tony so he could work with the young actor. With Sessa and Johnson onboard, the cast quickly filled up with a smorgasbord of legit actors. 

Antonio Banderas (who owns eight restaurants) should get an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Chef. He’s funny, warm, tough, likable, and has excellent chemistry with the actors. Johnson directed the film because of Sessa, but it feels like he hands the movie over to Leo Woodall (watch Tuner – it’s good) whenever his chaotic presence is around. Leo’s character Sal is a hard-living maniac who is equal parts charismatic and evil. He never says no to anything, and he seems like he’s always about to get into a bar fight. Filling out the cast is Emilia Jones, who easily matches Sessa’s wits and is so cool that you understand why Tony creates a world of lies so he can be close to her.  

On the technical side, the movie looks and sounds really good. Johnson and DP Patrick Bauman used long lenses to stay in Sessa’s face as he skulked around Cape Cod. Bauman brought in vintage Panavision glass to recreate the feel of a 1975 summer. It also helps that the production shot mostly on location, as the realistic settings work well with Johnson’s documentary vibe. 

Final Thoughts: Watch It. Matt Johnson is on a legit (lobster) roll.

Quick Non-Spoiler Thoughts:

1. Good movie.
2. The lack of multiple CGI smack-em-ups is nice. 
3. The on-location work is appreciated
4. The characters have time to exist and be likable.
5. It’s obvious that everyone involved wanted to create something ambitious. Spider-Man: Brand New Day still fits nicely in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but it also stands apart because of its dedicated to developing characters and relationships. 
6. Director Destin Daniel Cretton is 3-for-3 in the MCU.
7. Grade – 7 out of 10 on the MCU scale. 

One of the reasons why Iron Man (2008) is my favorite MCU film is because it allows Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) to exist on his own (16.41 minutes to be exact – read my data article). Throughout the film, Stark is left to his own devices as he tests tech, builds suits, and deals with life after captivity. The film rests on his shoulders, and it kicked off a massive cinematic universe that pulled in billions of dollars and captured the world’s attention. The only other MCU character that could be trusted to exist alone for long periods of time is Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, he has 20.5 minutes of alone time (#1 overall in MCU), and the movie was a tremendous success. Moviegoers loved Holland’s portrayal of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, and the films work when it’s just Peter (the cast is great too. Props to director Jon Watts). Whether it’s being stuck in a massive warehouse or dealing with Mysterio’s nonsense, the guy can be trusted to hold the screen. After the bombast and game-changing ending of Spider-Man: No Way Home, it’s nice that Brand New Day scales things back by focusing on Peter’s self-imposed solitude and the effects of his alienation from the world. 

The film opens strong with a Spider-Man kicking butt montage that’s fueled by the TV on the Radio song “Wolf Like Me” (the segment is easily the best in the Spidey franchise). Peter’s focus on crime fighting has been good for New York City, but bad for the amiable kid, as his body starts changing due to depression and stress. He’s holed himself up in a loft where he spends his days tinkering with equipment and developing more efficient ways to defeat criminals like Scorpion (Michael Mando). The only time he leaves his fortress of solitude is when he visits Aunt May’s grave, or to grab the Little Caesars pizza left at his front door. His social interactions are limited to his phone chats with Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas – super likable) and occasionally bickering with Frank “The Punisher” Castle (Jon Bernthal) when they’re fighting crime. He also follows Ned’s (Jacob Batal0n) TikTok page, where he catches glimpses of MJ (Zendaya) in Ned’s videos that highlight their time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The plot kicks in during a tank chase involving a body-swapping antagonist who has been attacking the NYC-based Department of Damage Control (DODC) facilities. Sharing more wouldn’t be cool, but know that there are several well-executed action scenes and a generous heaping of quiet moments dedicated to developing relationships and characters. 

Between Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Wonder Man, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, director Destin Daniel Cretton has proven himself to be a capable director who understands how to play in the big-budget world of the MCU, while still being able to focus on character development (watch Short Term 12). He was originally supposed to direct The Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, but was able to pivot to the box office-friendly world of Spider-Man when Kang’s Dynasty collapsed. Shortly after joining the production, the film was delayed for six months, so Holland and Zendaya could work on The Odyssey. The extra time benefited the film as it gave the crew and writers time to tighten the script and focus on ways to take the production outside to real locations.

The nice thing about Tom Holland is that he could’ve coasted on his charm, but he was driven to take Peter Parker into adulthood. Holland cares about the character, and wasn’t satisfied with phoning it in. He pushed for more practical effects, and the streets of Glasgow, Scotland were well-tread during the production. The action scenes push the narrative forward, and it’s refreshing that there aren’t multiple CGI smack-em-ups. 

The nice part about including The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) in the proceedings is that he grounds the action and adds stakes whenever he’s around. Certain characters could smash with him easily, so watching Spider-Man keep him safe while trying not to get flattened works really well. Bernthal and Holland worked together on 2017’s Pilgrimage and 2026’s The Odyssey, and their familiarity pays on-screen dividends as they seem to genuinely like each other. 

The cinematography by Brett Pawlak (Short Term 12, Just Mercy, Wonderman) leans into his indie sensibilities while still maintaining the clean look of an MCU film. His handheld camera work and close-ups of Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, and Tramell Tillman provide intimacy for their characters (They can all hold the screen), and occasionally make audiences forget that they’re watching a massive blockbuster.

Final Thoughts – It’s worth a trip to the theaters.

Quick thoughts:

• Best 2026 coffee pouring.
• Watch Old Henry. I like what director Potsy Ponciroli has been making.
• ELEVATOR FIGHT!!!!!!
• It’s a refreshing experience that forces you to immerse yourself in it. People will love it, or hate it. 
• Ben Foster is on another level. 
• Shailene Woodley is a lot of fun.
• I like big swings. 
• Amar Chadha-Patel, Lionel Boyce, Pablo Schreiber, and Jack White provide solid supporting work
• I’ll give it 7 candy blades out of 10. 

Produced by and starring Alan Ritchson, Motor City is an ambitious revenge film that plays out almost entirely without dialogue. The film took 17 years to develop (people have been talking about this script for a long time) with directors and stars coming and going as they tried to crack the inspired script written by Chad St. John (Peppermint, London Has Fallen). Set in the 1970s and fueled by nonverbal storytelling, needle drops, and a doozy of an elevator fight, Motor City is worth watching on the big screen so you can immerse yourself in the mayhem and bask in the wonderful cinematography by John Matysiak (Old Henry – watch it). Director Potsy Ponciroli (Old Henry – seriously, watch it) interviewed for the directing job years ago and was turned down, but after the director dropped out, Ponciroli grabbed on to the project and saw it to completion (this is a good thing). The end result is a thrilling example of what happens when creatives throw caution to the wind and create an immersive and unique action film that will most likely divide audiences. 

The story focuses on what happens when an ex-Army Ranger named John Miller (Alan Ritchson) is framed for a comically large drug bust on the day he gets engaged to his girlfriend Sophia (Shailene Woodley), and learns that his parole has ended. He’ s put in prison by Savick (Pablo Schreiber), a corrupt detective who also works for local Detroit crime boss Reynolds (Ben Foster). The abusive Reynolds wants revenge because he was embarrassed during an alleyway brawl that happened when John caught Reynolds beating up his then-girlfriend Sophia. John is sent to prison for 25 years and vows to escape when he learns that Reynolds married Sophia and is pumping her full of drugs to keep her compliant and unable to escape his mansion. With the help of his Ranger friends Youngblood (Lionel Boyce) and Singh (Amar Chadha-Patel), John escapes, and it leads to a brutal series of events involving knife fights, homemade explosives, and bloody elevator fights. 

It’s worth mentioning that most of the scenes are told without dialogue, and it’s up to audiences to catch the newspaper clipping, facial cues, and hairstyles that tell the story. It’s not a lot of work, but the film requires audiences to engage and immerse themselves in the world (which won’t work for cell phone-loving audiences or people who need hand-holding). The action is top-notch, and there’s an elevator fight that belongs in the “Elevator Fight Hall of Fame,” but the main draws are the actors. Alan Ritchson, Ben Foster, Shailene Woodley, Lionel Boyce, Amar Chadha-Patel, Pablo Schreiber, Ben McKenzie and Jack White understood their assignments and thrived without dialogue. It’s hard to pick an MVP, but it’s difficult not to give Ben Foster the award because he’s an absolute maniac in the movie. Everything he does is magic, and it’s fun watching him pour coffee, dance in clubs, open presents, stab people, and push his glasses up his nose during a car chase.

Filmed in Patterson, New Jersey, for its old school aesthetic, Motor City is a unique looking film set in a Detroit hellscape (they aren’t going for realism). The cinematography by John Matysiak is wonderful, and he does a fine job of shooting conversations in ways that we can’t hear them. Whether it’s filming John’s parole meeting from outside an office with glass windows, or capturing Woodley yelling at McKenzie from the POV of a piano player (Jack White makes a cameo and was the music supervisor), the shot selection does a fine job of capturing the story without needing dialogue. 

The initial wig work is a bit wonky, but it’s excusable when you learn that Ritchson’s evolving hairstyles help tell a nonverbal story. When it comes to the film’s technical aspects, costume designer Amy Roth (The Mastermind, Motherless Brooklyn) seemed to have a blast coming up with good-looking outfits for the good-looking cast. It’s also fun that Roth seemingly designed all of Ben Foster’s costumes to accentuate his chest hair, which is on full display. 

Final thoughts – Motor City is an ambitious revenge thriller that deserves your attention.