Category: Uncategorized

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of June 9, 2025

How to Train Your Dragon
Rated PG for sequences of intense action and peril
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%
In Theaters
In 2010, Dreamworks and filmmaker Dean DeBlois blew us away with the spectacular animated film How to Train Your Dragon, based on the book by Cressida Cowell. Fifteen years later, they are teaming up again to bring the story with a live action version. The movie takes place on the island of Berk, where a community of coastal Vikings are at constant war with dragons, who seem to love to attack their village and steal their livestock. The son of the chieftain, Hiccup (Mason Thames) longs to be a dragon fighter like his father, but he lacks the strength and skills necessary to do the job. But what he lacks in physical presence, he more than makes up for in brains. Designing a tool to snare dragons, he manages to capture a beast that none of his clan has ever seen: the elusive night fury. Unfortunately, he can’t stomach the thought of killing it, so instead he befriends it and comes to the realization that dragons don’t have to be their enemies. This remake, unsurprisingly, is almost identical to the animated version, which completely makes sense since that film was absolutely brilliant. Replacing the stunning animation here is breathtaking CG and cinematography. But most of the elements from the original didn’t need to be tinkered with, and they very adeptly left those things alone. While the opening felt a bit like you were watching a stage production at Universal Studios (the characters are a little silly for live action), once you get to the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless, there is an emotional pull that is hard to describe. Just as it did fifteen years ago, the tears started streaming and I was hooked. Much of the credit for this belongs to composer John Powell who creates a gorgeous variation on a theme with this new but familiar score which lifts the entire film on its wings. Was the film necessary? Probably not. But that doesn’t make it less enjoyable. I’m actually jealous of the folks who didn’t see the original first as I wonder what it would be like to have this as your source material. A-

The Life of Chuck
Rated R for language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%
In Theaters
Taken from a Stephen King novella, The Life of Chuck takes place in three parts, told in reverse order, about a man named Chuck. From the very start, things are weird and kind of scary as Chiwetel Ejiofor plays a schoolteacher at what appears to be the end of the world. California has fallen into the ocean, the internet is gone, and life is rapidly changing for the worse. And we are slowly introduced to Chuck (Tom Hiddleston). But never fear, the second and third parts make sense of the whole thing, and by the end we get a beautiful tale, full of life, love and dance. It sounds weird, I know, but this is a truly great little film that you will find difficult to describe to others without giving everything away. So don’t. Writer/director Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep) seems to understand really well how to bring King to the big screen, which is no small feat. Sure the whole thing is a bit odd, but some of the best art is. A

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of June 2, 2025

The Phoenician Scheme
Rated PG-13 for smoking throughout, nude images, bloody images, some sexual material, and violent content
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 78%
In Theaters
In Wes Anderson’s latest creation, Benicio Del Toro plays an industrialist and arms dealer named Zsa-Zsa Korda who is trying to survive a series of assassination attempts and near-death experiences in order to makes his latest ambitious scheme come to life. But in order to bring it to fruition, he recruits his long-lost daughter (Mia Threapleton), who happens to be a nun, as well as the tutor he has hired for his multitudes of sons (Michael Cera) to follow him on a series of missions to persuade several parties to bend to his requests to make the project happen. Amongst all the directors working today, Anderson’s work is definitely the most distinctive. His style is quirky, whimsical, and usually frivolous, which happens to again be the case here. What we get with this story is another situation where the plot is insane, but easy enough to digest because of how it’s pulled off. Anderson does this by once again incorporating an impressive cast of actors, including Tom Hanks, Riz Ahmed, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, and others, who all play over-the-top characters, to distract you from the fact that the story is not very compelling without them, but works because of them. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as the film is certainly entertaining and sometimes extremely funny. Since almost all of Wes’s projects are essentially only compared to his other works, this one falls in line easily, but just like most of his movies, it is mostly style and little substance. It’s been years since he has created a feature-length film comparable to the likes of The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel or Rushmore, and it looks like we will have to wait a bit longer for something that stands out in that category. Fortunately, you can tell the creative spark is still there, and one of these days he is going to gives us another masterpiece. But for right now, The Phoenician Scheme can serve as a pleasant enough diversion and next chapter in a long list of quirky and colorful experiences. B

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of May 26, 2025

Fountain of Youth
Rated PG-13
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 38%
Streaming on Apple TV+
Director Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Sherlock Holmes) brings us this action thriller starring John Krasinski (The Office) as a treasure hunter/thief who has been hired by a billionaire (Domhall Gleeson) to uncover the whereabouts for the legendary fountain of youth. Recruiting his reluctant sister and museum curator (Natalie Portman), his team travels around the world, searching for clues, but is closely followed by both Interpol and a deadly team of assassins attempting to keep the secrets of the fountain forever hidden. Looking at this film on paper, you would think this could be a huge hit, given the pedigree of filmmakers and stars. But five minutes in and you immediately understand why it went straight to streaming in a time where most of the big releases from Apple are playing in theaters at least a little bit before heading home. From the very start, the project feels like a two-bit Indiana Jones with a peppering of National Treasure. The action is silly and its plans obvious. And as you move forward through the two-hour project, this tromping through the plot becomes more and more tedious. By the end, you don’t just get a poorly created Indiana Jones, but rather a direct rip-off of The Last Crusade, done with the heart, brain and soul completely removed. Apple has been delivering some of the best at-home entertainment out there with the recent releases of The Studio and Your Friends and Neighbors being possibly the two best new television series this year. And in spite of possible good intentions, Fountain of Youth does everything in its power to wreck their credibility when it comes to theatrical-style entertainment. D

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of May 19, 2025

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Rated PG-13 for bloody images, action, brief language, and sequences of strong violence
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%
In Theaters
Finally, we are getting the finale of Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible franchise, which also happens to be the second part of this two-part mission. Continuing the tale from before, Ethan (Cruise) is on the hunt to find and destroy The Entity, an AI system that has gotten out of control and which threatens the entire planet. The key to finding The Entity lies with stopping Gabriel, the one man chosen to be the human intermediary as it tries to take over the world. Traveling from continent to continent, Ethan and his team play a dangerous game of chess with millions of lives at stake. I must hand it to Cruise – while I don’t really care for him or his crazy personal life, he is really good at making movies. And this one is truly epic, especially when you take the two movies as a whole. For the first hour, the film is surprisingly soft, with only a splash of action and a lot of exposition. But at almost three hours long, you can guess correctly that that will change, and it manages to put you on the edge of your seat, chewing your nails down to their nubs, for much of the second and third act. Especially impressive is that Cruise is still doing most of his own stunts, and the stunts look very much out of control and extremely dangerous. But if it were just action, it would suffer under its own weight, so thankfully there is a solid and relevant story behind it all, and while the pieces of the puzzle are technically all big MacGuffins, you are completely invested in their importance and their necessity. If the film has one fault, it’s that it spends way too much time, throughout, making sure the audience understands that this franchise is almost thirty years old, with multiple flashbacks and old characters, or references to old characters, popping in to say hi. I’m guessing that they are assuming that much of the audience might be new to the series and this might help advertise to go back and watch the earlier films. But cutting out ten to fifteen minutes would have served the story better in this particular case. A-

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of April 28, 2025

Thunderbolts*
Rated PG-13 for some drug references, language, some suggestive references, strong violence, and thematic elements
Rotten Tomatoes: None at time of writing
In Theaters
In this latest Marvel flick, CIA Director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus doing her best Tulsi Gabbard impersonation) attempts to eliminate a group of lone mercenaries who work for her, including Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) by having them kill each other while thinking they are on a special mission. But when the survivors realize what is going on, they team up, along with a random guy they found named Bob (Lewis Pullman), as well as Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and Red Guardian (David Harbour), in order to find Valentina and bring her to justice. But what none of them know is that Bob carries a secret that even he is unaware of. One that could wreak destruction on the planet. Marvel appears to be reaching when it comes to their once-dominant place in the box office. First, their whole Kang the Conqueror storyline was brought down by bad movies and a star who they couldn’t work with any longer. Now, with the exception of the Deadpool & Wolverine triumph, we are getting lame heroes and anti-heroes, and mediocre villains in a meta-story that looks largely unfocused. The action is decent, with several exciting fight sequences to propel the story forward, but the way their narrative is resolved could have used a big rewrite. What came across the most was the theme of depression, which made the movie interesting, but also quite a downer. While Red Guardian added a bit of humor, this film needed a huge infusion of laughter, which unfortunately wasn’t present in large enough quantities. I also am not fond of an over-powered, yet boring villain, which is very much what we get here in Sentry. There is absolutely no way these heroes can fight him, so we get a very un-Marvelesque finale. This is probably why Disney is trying to promote it as being like an A24 film, which honestly is one of the strangest movie campaigns I’ve ever seen. Ultimately, just like Captain America: Brave New World, this probably should have been a straight to streaming project, or maybe limited series, as it doesn’t deliver on screen what Marvel has been consistently delivering until this latest phase. C+

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of April 21, 2025

Andor: Season 2
Rated TV-14
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%
Streaming on Disney+
Since Disney+ launched in 2019, their goal was to produce a huge amount of content for their Star Wars franchise, filling in the gaps of the massive universe with new stories and characters for us to adventure with. In 2022, they released the first season of Andor, created by Rogue One writer Tony Gilroy (also of Bourne Identity and Michael Clayton fame), which tells the story of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in the events that lead up to 2016’s Rogue One. It was an adult-themed Star Wars show that struck big with fans hungry for a series that was worthy of the Star Wars label. Season One left us with huge chasm of time to fill before the impending doom of its hero, which we are quickly made aware of in season 2 when we see the time stamp at the beginning of the first episode: BBY 4, or 4 years Before the Battle of Yavin, the war that would take down the empire in 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope. I have to admit that I’m not as negative on the multitude of new movies and series as some other fans have been. I like nearly all of them okay and enjoy learning more about the Universe surrounding the stories that filled and deeply influenced my childhood. But while I like (sometimes really like) the content seen so far, I LOVE what Disney has done with Andor. In this new season, you not only see the adventures of renegade rebel hitman Cassian Andor, but we also get to become more aware of the rise of the rebellion through the actions of antiquities dealer/resistance leader Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard) and the politician who would take over the rebellion in Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly). We also get more interplay from the evil forces of the galactic empire, including super baddie and Death Star mastermind Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) and Deedra Meero (Denise Gough), the ambitious officer who is desperately trying to prove herself while trying not to think about the evil she is committing. It all results in a strong group of characters and a complex web of plots with writing that is undeniably powerful and effective. What also works here is the ticking of the clock with a countdown that will effect the entire galaxy, although unbeknownst to them in the moment. By the end we get an impressive and entirely bingeable series that will undoubtedly leave fans satisfied. While most of Disney’s shows are released weekly for the course of the run, this series will be dropping three per week, starting this week, and will finish its series of 12 episodes in a month’s time, without forcing you to wait until July to complete the watch, or start the binge. A

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of April 14, 2025

Sinners
Rated R for sexual content, language, and strong bloody violence
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%
In Theaters
Writer/director Ryan Coogler (Black Panther, Creed) teams up with Michael B. Jordan again for this supernatural thriller about a pair of twins in 1930’s Mississippi (both played by Jordan) who come back to their hometown, after a stint in Chicago, to open a juke joint. After buying a local sawmill, they hastily put together a band, featuring their young cousin Sammie (newcomer Miles Caton), a blues prodigy with huge potential, and Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo) a local legend as the band leader. Opening night begins to go off with nary a hitch, until a trio of music-loving vampires show up to try to crash the party. When the teaser premiered last fall, I didn’t know what to think of it. Was it a crime drama? Thriller? Horror flick? Musical? Race war? All I did know was that Ryan Coogler has an impressive resume and the likelihood of disappointment was low. On that last point I was correct. Sinners does not disappoint. It works on so many levels and its genre is hard to account for. It is a true piece of art with elements of all the above, elevating it to an almost indescribable experience that will simply leave you floored by the end. On that note, make sure you stay until after the credits roll. Obviously, Coogler is the glue that holds the film together. His writing is strong here and the directing is visionary. And Jordan serves as a great lead, playing two roles and having a fun time while doing it. One unexpected element is Miles Caton and his character Sammie who blows the roof off the place in a star-making turn that will leave audiences buzzing. And then there is the wind in the movie’s sails provided by Oscar-winning composer Ludwig Göransson (Black Panther, Oppenheimer) whose musical vision is breathtakingly on display here. While it’s early in the year movie-wise, I can easily see this score being the one to beat come awards season. Rich in blues, classical and rock, the music is the palette the movie is being painted on, giving the film an almost ethereal feel and unforgettable quality. A

Sacramento
Rated R
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%
In Theaters
Lovable loser Michael Cera is about to become a father, but his neurosis is driving his wife (Kristen Stewart) nuts, and something needs to change for both of them. Writer, director, and costar Michael Angarano provides that catalyst for him when he shows up unannounced, wanting to take a road trip to Sacramento from Southern California in order to spread his father’s ashes. But nothing his friend says is on the level and the road trip turns into a chaotic circus with two unstable individuals trying to figure out their lives. If you like awkward comedies (and I mean super awkward), this might be a good buddy movie for you. It is quirky to the extreme and a bit of a mess. But I will admit that the humor isn’t for everyone, and its oddness can be a bit unsettling. Personally, and probably unprofessionally on my part, I was thrown off by Cera’s horrible beard, which he should have never grown. But aside from the nightmarish facial hair, the project just seemed off to me, which I feel was on purpose. There were moments I laughed, but there were more where I could tell they were trying to get me to laugh, unsuccessfully. At least it was short, but I would still only recommend a watch once it comes out on streaming and the only thing you have to lose is 90 minutes. C+

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of April 7, 2025

The White Lotus: Season 3
Rated TV-MA
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%
Streaming on MAX
Now that this popular TV event is over for the season, it is fully available to binge at your leisure, and I would highly recommend you do so sooner than later, as it is the show everyone is talking about and you are bound to learn things you don’t want to know, the longer you wait. In season three, creator Mike White brings us to a beautiful resort in Thailand. The show begins with gunfire and a dead body floating in water before it goes back a week, giving you time to put everything together before finding out what actually happens in the season’s finale. As you’d expect, the characters are full of drama, maybe more so than previously, and you can see the death coming from inside any of the camps. The season brings on some big names and an overall very talented ensemble, with some of the biggest names stepping in later in the season. The group includes Walton Goggins, Michelle Monaghan, Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey and Patrick Schwarzenegger, as well as some names that we will no doubt be seeing and remembering in the future. While the previous two seasons have brought about some disturbing and reckless behavior, this season takes the cake with themes of incest, familicide and revenge. But it’s mostly in good fun, if you have the right sense of humor, and the drama proves to be riveting. While a lot of folks choose to wait and binge, millions of people tuned in every Sunday, impatiently waiting to see what would happen next to this huge gang of misfits. Yes it pushes the envelope, but in a way that makes the audience into more a voyeur, looking through the window, watching what they know they aren’t supposed to see. This just adds to the fun, and by the end, your jaw will surely drop to the ground as much of the story is resolved. I’ve always enjoyed Mike White’s projects, but I’m especially glad that he has found his footing here and I can’t wait to see what he has in store for season 4. A

1923: Season 2
Rated TV-MA
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%
Streaming on Paramount+
This Yellowstone spinoff got off to a hell of start, leaving us with a huge cliffhanger waiting for this series finale. Picking up right when there left off, John Dutton’s great aunt and uncle (Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford) are being threatened by the town’s billionaire (Timothy Dalton) who wants their land in order to build a giant ski resort. Meanwhile, Dutton’s mother and father (Julia Schlepper and Brandon Sklenar) are desperately trying to make it to Montana from Africa in order to finally be together and save the ranch. Having been separated in season one, they both are making the difficult journey with a huge plethora of obstacles at every turn. While I love the show and the drama it provides, these obstacles for getting back to Montana will truly wear you out as it doesn’t seem that anything goes right for them at all. But the acting and the tremendous production carry us through the blood-drench conclusion that everyone wanted to see coming. Unlike Taylor Sheridan’s other hit shows (Yellowstone, Lioness, Landman) this one comes close to being pornographic or at least like something you used to see on late night Cinemax. Dalton’s character is a sadomasochist and the scenes involving his two prostitutes are highly sexual and disturbing. I remember I tried to get my mom to watch 1923 at the beginning of last season, and I am glad that she ignored me on that one. The Hallmark Channel it ain’t. But regardless, this final chapter in the 1923 saga is a solid piece of entertainment and another excellent example of Sheridan’s work. A-

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of March 31, 2025

The Friend
Rated R for a sexual reference and language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%
In Theaters
Based on the award-winning novel by Sigrid Nunez, Naomi Watts plays a single novelist living in a small New York City Apartment whose mentor and friend, played by Bill Murray, commits suicide, and bequeaths his giant Great Dane to her. As her apartment doesn’t allow dogs, and she has no interest in taking care of a 150-pound behemoth, life is tough as she tries to figure out a new home for the animal. But as she starts to bond with the dog, things start to change. I was really looking forward to this one after seeing the trailer, as it looked like a great Bill Murray vehicle that would undoubtedly be sad at times, but it also looked to have real potential for being funny. So there was a little disappointment that Bill Murray plays a relatively small role and there is very little humor to be found. While Murray doesn’t have the expected screen time, he is looming large in every single frame, as the entire film is basically about him. While the film lacks in laughter, it turns out to be a highly intellectual and poignant look at the relationship between a dog and their owner, as well as a thoughtful viewpoint of suicide and legacy. With the subject matter being so grim at times, the filmmakers make a tremendous attempt at trying to keep the tissues away by keeping the focus off the sad things, while always making them the elephant in the room. This proves to be effective, and while I did drop a few tears, I wasn’t balling like I expected as I moved through the film. Naomi Watts was such perfect casting here, turning in a deep and moving performance which draws in empathy like a black hole. You can easily put yourself in her shoes as you experience her ups and downs. This ends up being a very different kind of dog movie than I have ever seen. As I have already inferred, there is no hijinx or silliness anywhere to be found here. Instead, this turns out to be a more mature discussion about the relationship between man and beast which fixates more on the human and the influence that dogs have on them. B+

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of March 24, 2025

Bob Trevino Likes It
Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and thematic elements
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%
In Theaters
In 2024, this little independent movie by filmmaker Tracie Laymon won the prestigious South by Southwest Narrative Feature Competition and Audience Awards, making her the hottest new indie filmmaker on the scene. And she just happens to be from Houston. I have to start out with a disclosure that I have been friends with Tracie for over 15 years, and while 2024 was a great year for her, she has been working hard for a very long time to get there, which makes me extremely proud of her accomplishment here. In this fictional take on true events from her own life, the story follows Lily Trevino (Barbie Ferreira), a traumatized young woman with perhaps the world’s most selfish father (French Stewart) who finds a friend online (John Leguizamo), who happens to have her father’s same name. The two lost souls come together to form a tremendous friendship that would change both of their lives for the better. Sweet but never sappy, the film had real potential to transform into a movie of the week flick, but never treads there as it really dives into Lily’s pain and insecurities, helping the audience not only understand her but truly empathize, cheering her on as she learns to stand up for herself. But it is also the plight of Bob Trevino that wins you over as you experience his pains and the giant hole in his heart that allowed the friendship to develop. Leguizamo has always been a solid contributor to the films he chooses to be in, but he’s never done anything like this, and while I’m sure his presence helped to get the film made and seen, this project should have a tremendous positive impact on his career as well. And relative newcomer Barbie Ferreira holds her own and more as her arc proves to be one worth getting behind. Holding it together is the strong personal writing and directing from Laymon, giving the movie real gravitas as you move through Lily’s journey. And while I may be a bit biased here, I’m not alone when I say that this is the best film so far in 2025, and an indie that is definitely worthy of a night out at the movies. A

The Penguin Lessons
Rated PG-13 for some sexual references, thematic elements, and strong language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 74%
In Theaters
Another remarkable story based on true events takes place in 1970’s politically charged Argentina as a British school teach hired to teach English (Steve Coogan) finds himself the not-so-proud owner of a penguin as he cleans one up after an oil spill, and the government won’t allow him to leave it behind. So, he takes the penguin back to his school, where it starts to influence everyones’ lives. Directed by Oscar-nominee Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) the film earns its stripes as a feel-good comedy, but weighted down by the politics of the day (which feel relevant now), the movie does its best to transcend what could have been merely a cheesy little animal comedy into a much more broad and effective drama. It helps to have Coogan who was perfectly cast here in a role that very few actors could have realistically portrayed. And the irony of having Jonathan Pryce as the head of the college was also a nice touch as one of Pryce’s most popular roles was playing Juan Perón in Evita, and the turmoil of the timing of this story comes at the heels of Perón’s death. So, while the film is adorable and quite funny, it also has a serious touch that proves to be substantial. Overall, the movie is both enjoyable and rewarding, and while it’s hard to believe something like this could have actually happened, it’s fun to learn that not only did it happen, but it was just as impactful to those who were part of it. B+