Mark McPherson's Blog, page 19

“The Union” (2024) Review

The Union feels like a made-to-order action film with and . Perhaps there was a genuine desire to make a sort of Kingsman where blue-collar workers get to double as spies. Maybe with some thought and polish, there might’ve been a compelling and insightful film. Instead, this picture presents a plot that serves more as a thin and rickety framing to push Wahlberg and Berry into action sequences (and not great ones either).

Wahlberg plays Mike McKenna as a loser constru...

“Incoming” (2024) Review

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The one-wild-night comedy premise requires a certain level of courage, energy, and wit to be fun. It’s also a sub-genre that tends to adhere to the youth of the era, where Gen-X had Adventures in Babysitting whil...

“The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat” Review

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Here is a film that keeps baiting. From the title to the climax, it always feels like there’s untapped potential. For starters, no, this is not a film about the actual Supremes ensemble playing at a place called Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat. Perhaps if the non-linear drama of the three friends was strong enough to carry this picture...

“Daughters” (2024) Review

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Daughters details the stories behind the Daddy Daughter Dance, a historic event where incarerated fathers are given the chance to spend a day dancing with their daughters. Early in the film, the coordinator warns...

“Jackpot!” (2024) Review

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There’s a barrier that Jackpot taps into in its attempts to wield dark comedy and slapstick action amid a dystopian setting of greed. Rather than offer anything wittingly wry on the topic, Paul Fe...

“The Beast” (2024) Review

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It’s fitting that The Beast begins with being placed in a green-screen environment. She a...

“Alien: Romulus” Review

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There’s something to be said of the Goldilocks Zone aimed for with Alien: Romulus that actually manages to reaches that safe space. It’s not a rip-roaring sci-fi action extravagnza akin to James Cameron’s Aliens, nor is it a meaty philosophical contemplation present in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. Romulus preserves the spectacle thrills of past Alien films with some of...

“Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie” Review

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SpongeBob SquarePants has been around for so long that there was bound to be some reinventing of the wheel. There are plenty of spin-offs of varying quality, ranging from a Patrick Star show to a youthful prequel...

“Crash” (1996) Review

How easy it would be write off Crash as a film about weird people who are horny for car crashes. It’s not a big surprise considering Cronenberg’s resume of body horror from the flesh-obsessed Videodrome to the brain-exploding Scanners. Yet, the eroticism takes on such a cerebral and alluring tone that can make one succumb to its tabbo temptations of metal and flesh. Where others would make a joke at the gaping, vaginal hole of a fetish, Cronenberg plunges deeper into the dark...

“Orion and the Dark” Review

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There is something to be said of how kids fear the darkness. It goes beyond the mere terror of a boogeyman under the bed or a monster in the closet. Simple scares befall young kids, but what about the older kids?...