Dust Bunny (2025) – Best movie I’ve seen in 10 years.** HBO.
Survive (2024) – Teen French girl at sea survives an extinction-level event that empties the ocean. Yeah, a few others also survive, but it’s never too soon to think about repopulation. Comme ci, comme ça. Amazon.
Space (2020) – Another blog says the director financed this movie with his Price is Right winnings. Maybe get a Jeopardy winner next time. Looks great for the money, but the script just doesn’t live up to the rest. Tubi.
Obsession (2026) – A lightning strike ended my theater’s showing after about an hour, and that was OK by me. The overwhelming box-office baffles me. Inde Navarrette was awesome, though. Theater.
Backrooms (2026) – Man wanders mostly-empty, poorly-lit, inter-dimensional spaces; or maybe it’s an early 2000’s Sears. Yay! Finally, an original idea from our genius Hollywood betters! Well . . . after being developed by a teenager on YouTube. Theater.
Exit 8 (2025) – Backrooms in a Japanese subway station. Shudder.
Disclosure Day (2026) – “ET, phoned-in”. Theater.
True Detective S1 (2014) – Entire police force can’t crack the case of how Woody Harrelson is married to Michelle Monaghan, bangs Alexandra Daddario on the side, and picks up a hottie < half his age in a bar. Solid, but overrated. HBO.
Citizen Vigilante (2026) – Feel-good hit of the Summer! PPV.
Pluribus S1 (2026) – The excellent visuals & direction lap the story, but that works for me. I would watch Rhea Seehorn do her taxes. Some ironing would be hot, too. Apple.
Shark Night (2011) – Cliché token black character who is also a football star – check. Cliché interracial couple – check. Cliché tooth-challenged murderous hillbillies – check. Cliché bevy of bikini babes who don’t take off their tops – check. Cliché 3D film converted to 2D – check. OTOH, quite a bit of peak-Sara-Paxton in a bikini – so call it a draw. Surprisingly entertaining. Tubi.
Shark Terror (2025) – I must really be in a mood tonight. Unique premise & good female leads outweigh uniformly idiotic dudes and a conspicuous lack of Sara Paxton. Surprisingly entertaining. Tubi.
Young Washington (2026) – Solid bio-pic. Stoic yet ambitious, and much-needed for the times – just like the man. Theater.
Beyond the Reach (2014) – Gordon Gekko mistakenly shoots a man in the desert, frames his guide, and expects to get home to Catherine Zendaya-Jones for dinner. Fine Sunday afternoon fare. Slant gives it 1 star — those pretentious dicks would give 1 star to water if they were sitting in a fire. Amazon.
Air Force One Down (2024) – The first 30 minutes are the worst-directed, Lifetime-caliber, leaden embarrassment I have seen in quite a while. However, once the action starts, it is a wild ride, baby! Katherine McNamara is a creditable Joan Wick, killing dozens of dudes to get to the hostage President. Fun . . . eventually. Amazon.
From the Earth to the Moon (1998) — I forgot how dreary this series was. Each episode opens with an insipid intro from a shoe-polish-haired Tom Hanks, absurdly compresses the early history, often focuses on inexplicable minutia of the missions, and is bathed in a maudlin, snooze-inducing score. Damn, this could have been great! HBO.
The Martian (2015) — Even for non-fan of Matt Damon, this is just about a perfect movie. Damn this was great! HBO.
** Dust Bunny (2025) – Well, one of the best I’ve seen in 10 years. I base that on every shot being beautifully composed (like Spielberg’s Jaws thru Indy era), original characters, excellent performances, and a clever use of the unreliable narrator. Sure, it cheats a little on the premise, and could have easily lost 10 minutes, but that’s just nit-picking. Thank God somebody is making an effort. HBO.