A talky historical drama, The Brink of War marks the second Ronald Reagan flick in as many years, the first being Reagan, starring Dennis Quaid. With two films tackling the same historical figure and released so close together, it’s…

Years ago on my old website blog, I regularly published a list of related movies, reviewing them in one sentence or, sometimes, less. In honor of Spider-Man: Brand New Day (my scathing review of which you can read here)…

The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Reader be warned.

Although Tom Holland’s Wall-Crawler has never been “my” Spider-Man, I get it. He’s Spidey for Gen Z, and I’ve enjoyed his solo outings to varying…

Amnesia, superheroes, dream thieves, nukes — over the last quarter century, Christopher Nolan has tackled a plethora of subjects across a variety of genres to massive critical acclaim and box office success. Now, as the director’s hotly anticipated (and already…

Newcomer William Franklyn-Miller shines as young George Washington in Angel Studios’ surprisingly solid biopic of the first American president.

Although studios known primarily for “faith-based” films have made significant strides in recent years, most efforts have remained bogged down by…

From revolutionaries battling Red Coats to super soldiers punching Nazis, nothing sets the mood for Independence Day quite like good old fashioned movies about American history and heroes. As we approach the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, I’m counting down…

Although the trailers for Toy Story 5 teased an all-out war on the childhood tech addiction epidemic, recent comments from directors Andrew Stanton and McKenna Harris had me bracing for a milquetoast message about electronics ultimately being fine for young…

Having disliked the one trailer I saw, I opted to catch Disclosure Day in theaters for one reason only: Steven Spielberg. As a millennial who grew up watching E.T., Jurassic Park, and the original Indiana Jones trilogy, I…

The trailers for the new Masters of the Universe movie had me hooked. The film looked to be aiming for a 2000s-to-2010s big-budget, speculative fiction vibe (think early MCU), and as a huge fan of that era, I headed out…

Raised on a steady diet of crime novels, a flock of rural English sheep set out to solve their eccentric shepherd’s murder.

So goes the premise of Sheep Detectives, the new Hugh Jackman vehicle released in the U.S. by…

A couple of years ago, I released an episode of my podcast, Words Like That, focusing on five excellent but under-appreciated Christmas movies. While you can read article versions of those recommendations on Medium, below, readers will find…

A look back at Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors’ seminal album, ten years after its initial release.

In many ways, Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors’ Medicine represents a quintessentially “Southern” sound — blues, rock, and country, shaken and stirred. A…

Although I grew up on oldies and classic rock, I didn’t know many Bruce Springsteen songs until I began producing music reaction videos for YouTube a few years ago.

At that point, I dove headfirst into “The Boss’s” catalog, listening…

I saw Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning this past Thursday afternoon, the earliest showing that was available in my area. I am a huge fan of the Mission Impossible franchise and Tom Cruise. I love all of these movies. I…

This weekend I ventured from my rural seclusion to “the big city” to see A Complete Unknown, the new Bob Dylan biopic directed by James Mangold and starring Timothée Chalamet.

Having previously helmed one of the greatest musical biopics…

Thirty years ago this past fall, I caught the last twenty seconds of a new animated Disney series airing in the early week day morning block on my local Fox affiliate. That series was Gargoyles, and those last few…

Adapted from Words Like That S2 Ep. 11, originally released October 31, 2024.

I am a huge fan of monster movies. And I mean all kinds of monsters. Jaws. Godzilla. Alien. But my favorites are the classic horror monsters…

Adapted from Words Like That S2 Ep. 10, originally released October 2, 2024.

I’m a bit of history buff. I'm a sucker for a good biopic. I like Dennis Quaid. It’s no wonder, then, that I headed to…

Adapted from Words Like That S2 Ep. 2, originally released in audio-only format April 29, 2024.

The Professor and the Mad Man, starring Mel Gibson and Sean Penn, is a historical drama/biopic about the 19th-century Scottish linguist who…

Adapted from Words Like That S2 Bonus #1, originally released August 1, 2024.

On the July 12, 2024, episode of Words Like That, I reviewed Kevin Costner's Horizon: An American Saga, Pt. 1. In that review, I…

Adapted from Words Like That S2 Ep. 7, originally released July 23, 2024.

With the comic book movie world going gaga for Deadpool & Wolverine this weekend, I'm counting down every previous Hugh Jackman X-Men movie. (Note: This will…

Adapted from Words Like That S2 Ep. 5, originally released July 12, 2024.

Horizon: An American Saga, Pt. 1. is the 3-hr.-long first installment in actor/writer/director Kevin Costner’s ambitious cinematic experiment: a western tetraloogy examining American expansion in…

Adapted from Words Like That S2 Ep. 4, originally released July 8, 2024.

I am a huge Planet of the Apes fan. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the original 1968 Charlton Heston version. I liked…

Adapted from Random Reaction Super Show #13, originally released April 6, 2024.

Like many nerds of my generation, the 1992 premiere of X-Men: The Animated Series was a childhood-defining moment. I became instantly obsessed with the show and never…

Adapted from Random Reaction Super Show #11, originally released March 18, 2024.

I finally saw Wonka this past weekend, and, frankly, I was pleasantly surprised. Based on the trailers, I was expecting this to be another big-budget reboot/prequel/requel flop…