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4/4
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The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
(1948)
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Matt Brunson
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My pick for the greatest Western of all time? That entirely depends on whether one places The Treasure of the Sierra Madre in the genre.
Posted Dec 02, 2025
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3/4
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Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
(1984)
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Matt Brunson
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A visually resplendent film that, while perhaps a bit too rigid to offer the proper degree of high adventure synonymous with the Tarzan trademark, contains no small measure of compelling sequences and strong performances.
Posted Dec 02, 2025
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1/4
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Tarzan, the Ape Man
(1981)
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Matt Brunson
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This cinematic atrocity truly is one of the all-time worsts.
Posted Dec 02, 2025
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1.5/4
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The Wolfman
(2010)
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Matt Brunson
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As for the epic battle pitting werewolf versus werewolf -- let’s just say it couldn’t be any less frightening had the filmmakers elected to pit Pekingese against Poodle.
Posted Dec 02, 2025
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2.5/4
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The People That Time Forgot
(1977)
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Matt Brunson
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Patrick Wayne is a dull lead, and the effects are even less polished than those in the previous film -- still, there's enough of interest to make it an entertaining and undemanding time-filler.
Posted Dec 02, 2025
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3/4
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The Land That Time Forgot
(1975)
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Matt Brunson
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A higher budget and a longer running time would have made this even better, but even as it stands, it's a satisfying film in the Saturday-matinee mold.
Posted Dec 02, 2025
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3/4
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Without a Clue
(1988)
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Matt Brunson
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The role reversal proves to be an irresistible hook for a comedy, and, for the most part, Without a Clue delivers on this idea.
Posted Dec 02, 2025
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3/4
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Gremlins
(1984)
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Matt Brunson
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The visual effects are imaginative, yet the jokey tone too often throws the entire film off.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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3.5/4
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The Shop Around the Corner
(1940)
|
Matt Brunson
|
A delightful romantic comedy.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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3.5/4
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Little Women
(2019)
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Matt Brunson
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Aside from one major miscalculation, this is a triumphant retelling of a book that's been brought to the screens (both big and small) on approximately a dozen occasions, the first arriving 102 years ago.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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3.5/4
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Aftersun
(2022)
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Matt Brunson
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For a movie that initially seemed slight upon first glance, this has haunted me like few other films from 2022.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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3.5/4
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Minari
(2020)
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Matt Brunson
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Unfussy and unassuming.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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4/4
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The Thin Man
(1934)
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Matt Brunson
|
This classic clicks on all cylinders.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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1.5/4
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Unforgettable
(1996)
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Matt Brunson
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The plot involves the presence of brain fluid -- no small irony, since the makers of this goof could have used some themselves, if only to avoid concocting a movie riddled with so many ridiculous coincidences and downright stupid characters.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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2.5/4
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The Jewel of the Nile
(1985)
|
Matt Brunson
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I’ve always found it a tad better than its mangy reputation.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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3.5/4
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Romancing the Stone
(1984)
|
Matt Brunson
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An ingratiating mix of comedy, action, and romance, this derives most of its charm from Kathleen Turner.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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3.5/4
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Mean Streets
(1973)
|
Matt Brunson
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It was this picture that allowed Martin Scorsese to position himself as one of the most notable of the exciting new directors making their mark on Hollywood during the explosive ’70s.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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3/4
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Flaming Star
(1960)
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Matt Brunson
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Elvis delivers one of his finest performances -- you can tell he means business, as there are only two songs and he’s completed both of them before the film is even six minutes old.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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3/4
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Together
(2025)
|
Matt Brunson
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Together is gruesome and disturbing in the best "body horror" sense, but it’s also wickedly funny and deeply perceptive.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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4/4
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Singin' in the Rain
(1952)
|
Matt Brunson
|
It's tough to fight the longstanding consensus that this is the greatest movie musical of all time, but what's often lost in the praise is that this also qualifies as a great comedy.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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4/4
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Yankee Doodle Dandy
(1942)
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Matt Brunson
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How sensational is Cagney? The real George M. Cohan saw the film shortly before he died of cancer in 1942 and, marveling at Cagney’s performance, exclaimed, "My God, what an act to follow!"
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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2.5/4
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For Whom the Bell Tolls
(1943)
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Matt Brunson
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As a generic war story between good guys and bad guys, it gets the job done, but don’t expect much Hemingway in there.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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2.5/4
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The Conjuring: Last Rites
(2025)
|
Matt Brunson
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The real-life Ed and Lorraine Warren (once described as, "at best, tellers of meaningless ghost stories, and, at worst, dangerous frauds") had about as much personality as wet dishrags, but they were blessed with the casting of Wilson and Farmiga.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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2.5/4
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Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy
(1955)
|
Matt Brunson
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While hardly top-notch, this is still an amusing entry in the A&C filmography.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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3.5/4
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Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
(1948)
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Matt Brunson
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None of the A&C efforts have endured quite like this horror-comedy classic.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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3/4
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Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man
(1951)
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Matt Brunson
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The comedic highlight is the climactic boxing match.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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3/4
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Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
(1953)
|
Matt Brunson
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While it isn’t as consistently funny as many A&C romps, there are nevertheless many clever bits.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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4/4
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Ran
(1985)
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Matt Brunson
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Kurosawa managed to fashion a movie that embodies that most overriding of cinematic oxymorons: an intimate epic.
Posted Nov 29, 2025
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3/4
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Cop Land
(1997)
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Matt Brunson
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Cop Land isn’t so much a police drama as a Western with a modern-day spin.
Posted Nov 26, 2025
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1.5/4
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The Chronicles of Riddick
(2004)
|
Matt Brunson
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Here's one Diesel-fueled vehicle that's neither fast nor furious.
Posted Nov 26, 2025
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2/4
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Riddick
(2013)
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Matt Brunson
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A step up from the 2004 slumber party The Chronicles of Riddick but still a few rungs down the ladder from 2000's pitch-perfect Pitch Black.
Posted Nov 26, 2025
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4/4
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The Conversation
(1974)
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Matt Brunson
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Very much a piece of its time, snuggling up nicely to other paranoia thrillers like The Parallax View and Three Days of the Condor.
Posted Nov 26, 2025
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3.5/4
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Sing Sing
(2023)
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Matt Brunson
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The best film of 2024. A beautiful example of real life and reel life blending in the most unique and inspiring manner possible.
Posted Nov 26, 2025
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3/4
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Day of the Dead
(1985)
|
Matt Brunson
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Largely missing is the primal horror of the first film and the sharp satire of the second, yet what remains isn’t bad at all.
Posted Nov 26, 2025
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3.5/4
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The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
(1974)
|
Matt Brunson
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The Texas Chain Saw Massacre remains a genuine classic of the genre, a punishing, unrelenting nightmare that never allows viewers even a moment of sanity or security.
Posted Nov 26, 2025
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4/4
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The Silence of the Lambs
(1991)
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Matt Brunson
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One of the all-time great thrillers. Demme directs this for maximum suspense, yet the film also works as a multilayered feminist tale, with Foster's resourceful agent emerging as a beautifully conceived character.
Posted Nov 26, 2025
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3.5/4
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September 5
(2024)
|
Matt Brunson
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One of 2024’s 10 best films.
Posted Nov 25, 2025
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2.5/4
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Nosferatu
(2024)
|
Matt Brunson
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Its biggest miscalculation is in Orlok, who looked truly frightening in the previous versions but here could be mistaken as the heavy in an ‘80s-era NWA wrestling bout.
Posted Nov 25, 2025
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4/4
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The Best Years of Our Lives
(1946)
|
Matt Brunson
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This enduring classic remains perhaps the best film ever made about the hardships endured by soldiers returning home from war.
Posted Nov 25, 2025
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3/4
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Judas and the Black Messiah
(2021)
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Matt Brunson
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A stirring and important work, with issues and attitudes that even today stubbornly refuse to exit the country.
Posted Nov 25, 2025
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2.5/4
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Inserts
(1975)
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Matt Brunson
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Writer-director John Byrum's storyline is alternately fascinating and flaccid (sorry), but the dialogue hums along nicely.
Posted Nov 25, 2025
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1.5/4
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Welcome to Mooseport
(2004)
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Matt Brunson
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The comedy quotient, waning from the start, becomes nonexistent whenever it's placed in Romano's clumsy mitts.
Posted Nov 22, 2025
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2/4
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Heartbreakers
(2001)
|
Matt Brunson
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After a dreadful first half, the film steadies itself once the plot mechanics start paying off.
Posted Nov 22, 2025
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3.5/4
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Hoosiers
(1986)
|
Matt Brunson
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Much of its appeal comes courtesy of Gene Hackman, whose work here -- a canny mix of aw-shucks bluster and below-the-surface slyness -- was a warm-up for the career-best performance he would deliver in 1988's Mississippi Burning.
Posted Nov 22, 2025
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1/4
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Crawlspace
(1986)
|
Matt Brunson
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While there's always intrinsic interest in watching the unhinged Klaus Kinski in action, even his bizarre behavior can't elevate this truly atrocious film.
Posted Nov 22, 2025
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1/4
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Wild Orchid
(1989)
|
Matt Brunson
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Writer-director Zalman King's Wild Orchid could be considered the Fifty Shades of Grey of its day: a would-be erotic romp that ultimately carries as much of a sexual charge as a Chicken McNugget.
Posted Nov 22, 2025
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2.5/4
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The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
(1967)
|
Matt Brunson
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Roger Corman's rat-tat-tat helming is one of the strengths of this crime flick ... What damages the picture are the performances by the two top-billed stars, Jason Robards and George Segal.
Posted Nov 22, 2025
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4/4
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The Wages of Fear
(1953)
|
Matt Brunson
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Nitroglycerin figures prominently in the plot of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear, but it’s the movie itself that’s truly explosive, a powder keg of social outrage and cinematic thrills.
Posted Nov 22, 2025
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4/4
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That's Entertainment!
(1974)
|
Matt Brunson
|
Pure pleasure from first frame to last.
Posted Nov 22, 2025
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1/4
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Batman & Robin
(1997)
|
Matt Brunson
|
About as much fun as a 20-year stint in a Turkish prison.
Posted Nov 22, 2025
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