FILM NOTES: From GLADIATOR to THE BATMAN PART II & More

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Cinemas...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 17:55:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch Toy Story 5 on America's 250th birthday!

On This Day in 1996: Remembering INDEPENDENCE DAY...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 23:13:00 +0000

30 years ago today, I watched the hit alien-invasion epic Independence Day at the theater. I've spoken about the sci-fi blockbuster—which is my favorite movie of 1996—so many times throughout the years that there's really nothing new to say about the film (but stay on this page, anyway)! Though in the wake of the latest files released by the Pentagon about UFOs encountered by U.S. military pilots over the past few decades, blogging about ID4 today couldn't be more timely. If you want to read previous things that I've said about the Roland Emmerich-directed epic, you can visit this blog update which celebrated the 10-year anniversary of ID4 in 2006.

Did I post an entry commemorating the 10-year anniversary of Independence Day: Resurgence (which was released in theaters nationwide on June 24, 2016) this year, you ask? No, I did not. That movie broke my heart like the Dumb and Dumber sequel, Dumb and Dumber To did in 2014. With that being said, Happy Fourth of July weekend to my fellow Yanks!

It's America's 250th birthday this Saturday... It sure would be nice if we had a different group of people running this country during this momentous occasion. Anyways, back to celebrating how awesome a movie ID4 was!

#OTD 30 years ago, I watched one of the greatest movie speeches ever on the big screen...#ID4 #IndependenceDay pic.twitter.com/Bhz8aobCzs
— Richard Par (@RichTPar) July 2, 2026

Two New Awards for OBSESSION...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 23:53:00 +0000

Hollywood Creative Alliance Announces Winners of the 2026 Astra Midseason Movie Awards (Press Release)

Los Angeles, CA – Tuesday June 30, 2026 – Amazon MGM’s Project Hail Mary was named Best Picture at the 2026 Astra Midseason Movie Awards, leading this year’s winners alongside The Invite, Obsession, and Michael, as the Hollywood Creative Alliance (HCA) celebrated the standout films and performances released during the first half of 2026.

In addition to winning Best Picture, Project Hail Mary took home Best Director for Phil Lord & Chris Miller. The Invite received Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Penélope Cruz, while Obsession won Best Actress for Inde Navarrette and Best Horror Feature. Michael also had a strong showing, with Jaafar Jackson taking home Best Actor and Colman Domingo winning Best Supporting Actor.

Other winners included Leviticus for Best Independent Feature, The Furious for Best Stunts, and The Odyssey, which was voted Most Anticipated Film for the second half of 2026.

The complete list of winners and runners-up is below.

2026 Astra Midseason Movie Awards Winners

Best Picture
Winner: Project Hail Mary
Runner-Up: The Invite

Best Actress
Winner: Inde Navarrette – Obsession
Runner-Up: Emily Blunt – Disclosure Day

Best Actor
Winner: Jaafar Jackson – Michael
Runner-Up: Ryan Gosling – Project Hail Mary

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Penélope Cruz – The Invite
Runner-Up: Sandra Hüller – Project Hail Mary

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Colman Domingo – Michael
Runner-Up: Edward Norton – The Invite

Best Screenplay
Winner: The Invite – Written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack
Runner-Up: Obsession – Written by Curry Barker

Best Director
Winner: Phil Lord & Chris Miller – Project Hail Mary
Runner-Up: Curry Barker – Obsession

Best Horror Feature
Winner: Obsession
Runner-Up: Backrooms

Best Independent Feature
Winner: Leviticus
Runner-Up: Tuner

Best Stunts
Winner: The Furious
Runner-Up: Mortal Kombat II

Most Anticipated Film (Second Half of 2026)
Winner: The Odyssey
Runner-Up: Avengers: Doomsday

Source: The Astra Awards

****

Another Day of Moviegoing at Regal Cinemas...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 17:09:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch Disclosure Day today!

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Cinemas...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 17:21:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch Masters of the Universe today!

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Cinemas...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 17:31:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch the latest installment of Scary Movie today!

A Day of Moviegoing at Harkins Theatres...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 17:21:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch the World War II flick Pressure today!

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Cinemas...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 30 May 2026 17:39:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch Backrooms today!

Quick Review: OBSESSION...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 May 2026 04:23:00 +0000

So before I ate barbecue for Memorial Day dinner today, I watched the horror movie Obsession at Regal Cinemas. The indie film by director Curry Barker was intense, witty, well-casted and of course gruesomely violent—just like other recent horror hits like Weapons, Barbarian and the Oscar-nominated Sinners.

Speaking of Weapons and the Oscars, Amy Madigan won the Best Supporting Actress trophy for her role as Aunt Gladys at the Academy Awards two months ago... Will Inde Navarrette be nominated for her role as Nikki at the Oscars next year? Maybe. Maybe not.

A Best Actress nomination carries more weight than one for Best Supporting Actress (not to disparage this award), and I'm guessing there will be lots of other amazing actresses who will be up for the former Academy Awards category when the actual Oscar baits get released at the theaters later this year. Other than that, well-done on a great horror flick, Barker, Navarrette, Michael Johnston, Megan Lawless, Cooper Tomlinson and company!

If only the One Wish Willow existed in real life... And I wonder what happened to that one billion dollars one of the characters won? Immediately watch Obsession on the big screen to know what I'm talking about!

Movie Review: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 May 2026 06:59:00 +0000

Earlier today, I went to Regal Cinemas to watch The Mandalorian and Grogu...the first Star Wars film to be theatrically released since The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. Needless to say, The Mandalorian and Grogu was a fun installment that's a nice addition to the mythology created by George Lucas almost 50 years ago!

If you watched the three current seasons of The Mandalorian on Disney+ like I did, you'll understand why director Jon Favreau structured the narrative of The Mandalorian and Grogu the way he did. The film fits nicely with its streaming counterpart—albeit with a higher budget ($165 million) that allowed more alien creatures and action sequences to be shown on the big screen.

One alien creature that stands out is Rotta the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White of such TV shows as The Bear and Shameless, as well as last year's biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere), the son of Jabba the Hutt and a central character in The Mandalorian and Grogu. The movie's marketing campaign portrayed Rotta as a villainous UFC-type fighter who Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), the Mandalorian himself, battled during his many adventures in the film.

In the actual film though, Rotta merely wants to separate his identity from that of his crime lord father. Rotta succeeds at the end, and will apparently become an integral member of the New Republic who might appear in future Star Wars shows. Another creature is Hugo Durant...a multi-armed food stand owner who's amusingly voiced by the great Martin Scorsese!

Not to be outdone by Rotta, Hugo and the other alien creatures (like the Anzelians, who were first seen in The Rise of Skywalker and Season 3 of The Mandalorian) are such human characters as Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver), the Mandalorian's New Republic handler, and Lord Janu (Jonny Coyne), who's responsible for Rotta's fighting career and was a former Imperial officer who still knows what the remnants of the Empire are up to in the galaxy. The Mandalorian and Grogu doesn't reveal any details about the Empire's secret plans...and rightfully focuses on the titular heroes of the movie instead.

Not only does The Mandalorian and Grogu have cool new alien creatures and action scenes (like a climactic X-Wing air battle), but it also had quiet moments that focused on the father-son relationship between Din Djarin and Grogu. At one point in the movie, Djarin is gravely injured during a skirmish on Nal Hutta (the homeworld of Rotta and the other Hutts), and it's in this sequence where we see how much Grogu cares for his father and how resourceful he's become under the Mandalorian's tutelage. From finding food and shelter for him and Djarin on Nal Hutta, to him using the Force to save another main character from imminent death in the film's climax, Grogu shows that he's not the helpless Jedi Youngling he was when he was rescued from Coruscant during Order 66, the Jedi Purge orchestrated by Darth Sidious in 2005's Revenge of the Sith.

A Season 4 is planned for The Mandalorian, and it's going to be exciting to see how The Mandalorian and Grogu influences the plotline for the next Disney+ adventures by Mando and company! It was The Mandalorian that ushered Star Wars into the post-Skywalker era in late 2019, so it makes sense that this particular film would be quite different from the 11 other live-action Star Wars movies that have been theatrically released since 1977. Just look at the kinetic music score for The Mandalorian and Grogu by 3-time Oscar winner Ludwig Göransson; there is not one single Star Wars theme by legendary composer John Williams in the new movie—only motifs that Göransson introduced in The Mandalorian Disney+ show itself.

Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed The Mandalorian and Grogu! I intend to watch it again on the big screen...and look forward to the next batch of Star Wars theatrical releases such as 2027's Star Wars: Starfighter. I can't wait to see how that Shawn Levy-directed installment contributes to George Lucas' mythology as well! This is the way.

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Cinemas...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 May 2026 18:01:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch In the Grey today!

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Cinemas...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 09 May 2026 17:01:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch Mortal Kombat II today!

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Cinemas...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 May 2026 18:55:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch Deep Water today!

A Day of Moviegoing at AMC Theatres...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 23:01:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch the Michael Jackson biopic Michael this evening!

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Cinemas...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 19:01:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch Lee Cronin's The Mummy today!

When Art and Entertainment Meets Science and Reality...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 05:03:00 +0000

Cool comparison shots that we have here. Just make sure Krypto doesn't get anywhere near NASA's Orion capsule in space!

Seriously though— Have a safe journey back to Earth, Artemis 2 crew! The four astronauts will splash down off the coast of California this Friday, April 10...ending their successful 10-day Moon mission.

And the Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow, will be released in theaters nationwide on July 9, 2027. Can't wait!

Warner Bros. Pictures / NASA

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Edwards...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 17:51:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch The Super Mario Galaxy Movie today!

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Edwards...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 18:15:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch Ready or Not 2: Here I Come today!

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Edwards...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 16:51:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch Project Hail Mary today!

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Edwards...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 18:51:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch Undertone today!

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Edwards...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 18:15:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch Scream 7 today!

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Edwards...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 17:51:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch Crime 101 today!

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Edwards...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 19:49:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch The Strangers – Chapter 3 today!

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Edwards...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 19:49:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch Send Help today!

A Day of Moviegoing at Regal Edwards...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 20:05:00 +0000

Gettin' ready to watch Greenland 2: Migration today!