Keepin' it Reel

The Naked Gun ; Does a great job mirroring the tone & gags of the OG series, but doesn’t quite feel as laugh per minute as the originals...

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events ; Stellar production work brings the first three books alive in a delightfully sinister fash...

Happy Gilmore 2 ; Light on laughs, relying on nostalgic moments & golfer cameos to elicit a reaction. It seems designed to provide the S...

The Fantastic Four: First Steps ; Exquisite production design paints a fabulous world, more idealistic than any Earth we’ve known, situating...

BLACKPINK: The Movie ; A Covid lockdown era gift to fans while the world slowed, this time capsule documentary celebrating 5 years is enjoya...

Clue ; A classic that hits great today, because its comedy is rooted in the timelessness of witty writing, broad slapstick physical comedy, ...

Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 4: Dawn of the Vampires ; Why make original films when Disney can trot out more tropes to give very talented performers a plat...

Superman ; Exquisite casting of major roles creates a Superman story driven by character and defining attributes. Side characters serve the ...

Elio ; Seemingly less ambitious than Pixar’s previous films, while still striving to push animation into realms only existing in our imagina...

A Minecraft Movie ; Battles between a banal attempt to craft a comprehensible story out of nonsense and Jack Black and Jason Mamoa rollickin...

How to Train Your Dragon ; Impeccable casting allows this remake to succeed when it had no business being as good as its source material. So...

Ballerina ; Ana DeArmas works wonderfully in the world of John Wick. She has always had an ability to kick ass while looking artistically be...

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning ; Serves up 2x tense stunt sequences, w/a greater emphasis on dramatic high stakes w/somber revere...

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre ; A Wild Journey taken by a trio of men who differ greatly in how they handle desperate times and moments o...

Casablanca ; Classics become one on account of their individual elements excelling on all fronts. This film has the writing, acting, directi...

The Maltese Falcon ; A fast talking detective noir that doesn’t pull punches. The cast of characters spout dialogue like a radio play, snapp...

Captain America: Brave New World ; Has the opportunity to cover new ground but seems to rehash old themes and topics. Film feels like a sad ...

Fear Street: Prom Queen ; Completely 80s style horror w/few knowing winks or attempts at meta commentary. In many ways, it feels very much l...

One of Them Days ; Keke Palmer is so readily watchable, adeptly conveying comedy, romance & drama across a day’s worth of zany coinciden...

Havoc ; If a bullets and blood orgy is your thing, you’re going to like this film. But if the actors are the draw, you’ll soon find they’re ...

Thunderbolts* ; Gets deeper than anticipated while offering Marvel brand destruction couched in humour we’ve come to expect. The cast plays ...

The Children’s Train ; A sad film that conveys a sense that there’s a really good book as its source, while failing to fully realize the emo...

A Real Pain ; Explores a very real nuanced dichotomy we experience in our day to day lives, which is heightened in our most life changing mo...

Sinners ; A layered, intriguing take on a century old genre that owes much to the cinematic auteurs who inspired Coogler, while also being h...

The Last Detail ; An odd trio of navy men find themselves on the road together and make unlikely revelations about their lives and their cou...

Mufasa: The Lion King ; Miranda has lost his golden touch, as the songs are cringe inducing. The animation is spectacular but the stylized n...

The Conversation ; After Hackman’s roles in early 70s action films, his buttoned down, subdued & introspective turn in this Coppola helm...

The French Connection ; In addition to the highly regarded car chase, there’s foot chases, shakedowns, stakeouts and shoot outs; a constant ...

Anora ; Grabs hold of you from the opening frames and takes you on a ride with its tragic protagonist. Kinetic energy propels the film, as i...

Funny Boy ; An entry into the horrors, of a national civil war, by way of a small and personal struggle. The story telling is intimate, the ...

Bugsy Malone ; Either you have a predilection for this sort of thing or you find it appalling. Its kitschy use of children acting like adult...

Indian Horse ; Attempts to make horrors of residential schools palatable to audiences by wrapping it up in a hockey story. Result is a typic...

Piece by Piece ; Clever conceit to use LEGO animation to prop up biopic that doesn’t have much drama but a ton of great music to spotlight. ...

Taking Chance ; A side of war not often showcased, the preparation and transportation of a dead soldier. Bacon gives a great solemn performa...

The Wild Robot ; Beautifully rendered, lovingly told, the film follows the WALL-E way of endearing the audience to the robot via silent film...

Se7en ; Sordid, bleak investigation pairs two very different cops, played marvellously by Freeman & Pitt, captivates via a tight script,...

Panic Room ; Epitome of a contained thriller, expertly crafted to squeeze every ounce of tension from a cats and mice culmination of conundr...

My Old Ass ; Sweet, funny, honest & real. Wonderful work by the entire cast. Another stunning, poignant directorial piece from Park. Cap...

Little Big Man ; Combats Hollywood mythology using hilarious satire, brutally violent reenactments daring to sympathize w/the original peopl...

The year 2024 did not turn out to be a great year for movies. Looking back at old Top 10 lists, I'd be hard pressed to place any of this...