The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (2024). This is an odd duck and I don't mean Daffy. I found parts of the film truly funny but most of it was uneven and formulaic. Both my wife and my 15 year old son loved it, however, so maybe these movies aren't made for old curmudgeon's like me.
I haven't watched the new series of Looney Tunes cartoons on Max that are part of the same filmmaker's work.…
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
The Three Musketeers (1921). This film was a huge hit for Douglas Fairbanks and directed by Fred Niblo.
The film has terrific sets and great action sequences, though it's a bit slow to warm up. The story is set up, like all his films, to make Douglas Fairbanks look heroic and dashing, though there are some fun comic bits thrown in to make his character, D'Artagnan, relatable.
The plot follow D'Artagnan from being sent forth by his father in search…
Sisu (2022). This is an old-school action picture from a Finnish filmmaker, Jalmari Helander. Near the end of World War II Finland, previously an ally of Germany, signed a peace treaty with USSR, which forced them to expel all Nazi soldiers out of Finland. The Nazis employ a scorched earth policy trying to destroy everything in their path as they leave.
Aatami (Jorma Tommila) is propecting for gold and hits the motherlode. His goal is simple, to get the gold…
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931). This was a real gem! Fredric March gives an amazing performance as the titular characters (I found out afterwards he won a best actor Oscar for this.) Rouben Mamoulian refuses to let the limits of early sound nail his camera to the stage floor in this adaption that brings to mind earlier silent masterpieces like The Golem and Nosferatu, rather than the stage-bound and static Dracula released the same year.
I think most people…
