The Cinematic Review-verse

Hello, Review-Verse audience!  Poster of ‘The Dog Stars.’ Courtesy of 20th Century Studios. Today’s subject: Ridley Scott ’s The Dog Stars, based on the novel by Peter Heller. Jacob Elordi as Hig and Josh Brolin as Bangley from ‘The Dog Stars.’ Courtesy of 20th Century Studios. The film took place in 2035. Jacob Elordi from Wuthering Heights starred as mechanic Hig, a survivor of a flu pandemic living with his dog Jasper and former Marine Bangley, played by Josh Brolin of Avengers: Endgame . Despite flying from their base in Erie, CO to Denver for supplies and reflections on his deceased wife, Hig longed to fly to a rumored safe haven in Grand Junction, CO, against Bangley’s protests given the hopelessness since the pandemic. Jasper the dog and Jacob Elordi as Hig from ‘The Dog Stars.’ Courtesy of 20th Century Studios. When Hig decided to finally make his dream a reality, he flew off with Bangley staying behind to defend their base from savages called Reapers. However, his plane ...

Hello, Review-Verse readers. ‘By Any Mean’ official release poster. Courtesy of Paramount Pictures and IMDb.com. Today, I’m going to be discussing By Any Means starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Mark Wahlberg . At first, I thought it was a buddy cop comedy starring the two, but it’s actually a historical crime drama taking place in 1966 Mississippi.  Mark Wahlberg as Gregory Scarpa and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as FBI Special Agent Wayne Strider in ‘By Any Means.’ Courtesy of Paramount Pictures and IMDb.com. Abdul-Mateen, who you may recognize as Marvel’s Wonder Man or Black Manta from DC’s Aquaman , played  Wayne Strider , an FBI Special Agent in Jackson, Mississippi assigned to the file room. Wahlberg played Gregory Scarpa , a hitman and enforcer for the Colombo crime family assigned to work with Strider to solve NAACP leader Vernon Dahmer ’s, played by Giancarlo Esposito , murder by white supremacists firebombing his house. FBI Special Agent Wayne Strider, played by Yahya Abd...

Good evening, all. For today’s Cinematic Review-Verse post, I’m discussing Finding Emily  starring Angourie Rice and Spike Fearn . Photo of ‘Finding Emily’ poster taken at AMC Garden State 16. Taken by William Edward Beavers, V. In Finding Emily , an English twentysomething named Owen, played by Fearn, was working as a sound engineer at a student union bar when he encountered a charming girl named Emily dressed in a fairy costume. Though they laughed and danced and Emily gave him her number, Owen couldn’t reach her and began a bizarre quest to reconnect with her, with some assistance by American psychology student Emily Raine, played by Rice. Spike Fearn as Owen, and Angourie Rice as Emily Raine in ‘Finding Emily.’ Courtesy of Focus Features and IMDb.com. It was actually a pretty cute movie. It was predictable that in trying to solve this quest, Owen and Emily fell in love. But it was great how he was able to make her laugh and believe in love again after falling out with a guy n...

Hello, Review-Verse audience! Since it's been a month since Spider-Man: Brand New Day was released, I think it is now safe to go from my abridged review  to a more in-depth one. Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man swinging in action in Spider-Man: Brand New Day . Courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Marvel Studios, and IMDb.com. When I saw Brand New Day in 3D, it was full of surprises I didn't expect. One was Sadie Sink of Stranger Things fame was playing Jean Grey . Jean and her sister Sara Grey , who I didn't know about till I saw the movie, and their telepathic powers made them a threat to Damage Control from Homecoming.  Sadie Sink as Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day . Courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Marvel Studios, and IMDb.com. Though I wish there was a bit more of an explanation for Jean's background, even if it was the usual Professor-X-trying-to-bring-out-her-best-self-with-her-mutation trope, I did like Sink's inclusion in the film...

Good afternoon, Review-Verse readers! Today on The Cinematic Review-Verse , I’m going to be discussing The End of Oak Street . It’s a science fiction and survival film starring Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor . Hathaway and McGregor are Denise and Greg Platt , a matriarch and patriarch of a family of two kids trying to deal with Denise’s aspiring novelist work and Greg working a pizza delivery job after being laid off from prior work, all in 1982 in the town of Flowervale, Michigan . The film started off with 1980s nostalgia of cul-de-aac barbecues and cassette players and Pat Benatar in the background, then comes the twist. A wormhole brought Jurassic Park to the world early with a bunch of hungry, rampaging dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and spiked tortoises, and assorted geysers and fauna. Now the Platt’s and their neighbors must fight to survive and find a wormhole to transport them to safety. I liked the film. Aside from throwbacks to 80s technology and lovely suburbia, I enjoyed Hathaw...

Good afternoon, folks!  As a return to my traditional blogging method, I am talking about “ Six: The Musical .”It’s a fusion of musical and dark comedy about Henry VIII ’s six wives- Catherine of Aragon , Anne Boleyn , Jane Seymour (not the actress), Anna of Cleves , Katherine Howard , and Catherine Parr, played by Jarnéia Richard-Noel, Millie O’Connell, Natalie Paris, Alexia McIntosh, Aimie Atkinson, and Maiya Quansah-Breed, respectively. I went to see the musical at one of my AMC Theatre establishments without knowing much about what it was. All I knew was it was musical on Broadway that I could see for free thanks to my job. But I was amazed at the end result. The six chicks (I call them that based on 13 Going on 30) were fabulous. It was fun how they had chemistry arguing like girls gossiping over who got the worst of it married to Henry. I’ve got to learn the soundtrack, but the very funny parts to me included O’Connell’s Anne Boleyn’s singing “Don’t Lose Ur Head” and McInt...

On Thursday, February 26, 2026, I saw ‘Crime 101.’ Despite knowing the cast but not the plot, I thought it was well-executed. It felt like a neo noir film, particularly like Steve McQueen’s ‘Bullitt’ movie with the California setting and Chris Hemsworth’s character in chases with stylish classic cars. Speaking of Hemsworth, I think he, along with co-star Mark Ruffalo, showed some star potential away from his frequent Marvel Studios films. And Halle Berry’s character proved that just because you’re older, doesn’t mean you don’t still have some gas left in the tank. In ‘Crime 101,’ Hemsworth played a jewel thief named Mike Davis who preferred to be nonviolent while trying to be rich. I liked him best when he was just cruising around in a Dodge Challenger and charming a publicist’s assistant named Maya, played by Monica Barbaro. Chris Hemsworth as Mike Davis in ‘Crime 101.’ Photo courtesy of IMDb.com and Amazon MGM Studios. Monica Barbaro and Chris Hemsworth in character as Maya, and Mike...

Poster of Is This Thing On?, starring Will Arnett and Laura Dern. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. Hello, Review-Verse fans. Earlier this month, I watched Will Arnett in Bradley Cooper's latest direction, Is This Thing On? . Arnett, who voiced a lot of characters in movies I grew up with, like Monsters vs Aliens , starred as Alex Novak, a husband divorced from his wife of 20 years, Tess, played by Laura Dern of Jurassic Park . Seeing Alex vent about his divorce at open mic nights at a comedy club reminded me of Woody Allen in Annie Hall .  And Dern's character dealt with the divorce by putting passion into some volleyball coaching and getting back into the dating scene.  I liked both Arnett and Dern's performances because they were doing something real-starting over with their social lives late into their adulting. There were fun jokes, there were sad moments, and kind of like Crazy, Stupid, Love, it doesn't explicitly show they call off the divorce and remarry, but it...