Erik Dansereau

What's New on Hulu: July 2021. Hulu loads up on both old and new theatrical releases, and drops a few new original series.

Hulu loads up on both old and new theatrical releases, and drops a few new original series. When Hulu decides to replenish their library of third party films, they really don’t screw around. It’s a wall of text down there! From Caddyshack to Bell and Star Go to Del Mar, Hulu is packed to bursting with films this month. For those who may have missed all of the recent horror flicks that were…

What's New on Netflix: July 2021. Netflix aims to keep you out of the heat with a solid line-up of originals and series to binge watch.

Netflix aims to keep you out of the heat with a solid line-up of originals and series to binge watch. Netflix is really leaning into its foreign studios, to good effect. We’ve got more of their original anime series, several comedies and romance flicks out of Europe, and a bevy of solid Asian horror films. Add that on top of several new seasons of popular Netflix series, and there’s a ton of…

Box Office Wrap Up: F9 Blows Doors Off Box Office. The latest Fast and Furious movie roared past expectations to deliver a box office milestone.

The latest Fast and Furious movie roared past expectations to deliver a box office milestone. The box office passed the first major test of the post-pandemic movie season, with F9 delivering a gigantic opening weekend. Even with restrictions in place across the country and 20% of theaters still closed, the newest Fast and Furious film set records and matched up well against other entries in the…

Retro Review: The Fast and the Furious. With the ninth film in the franchise out this week, let's head back in time to where it all began.

With the ninth film in the franchise out this week, let’s head back in time to where it all began. That’s right, folks, The Fast and the Furious series is twenty years old. As such, they qualify for a retro review! When the film first came out, I gave it a pass. I’ve never been into muscle car culture, and despite enjoying Pitch Black, I was not a giant fan of Vin Diesel. I did watch parts of…

Our Ten's List: Least Anticipated 2021, Pt. 2. We're almost to the back-half of the year, so it's time to grab another ten dubious movies.

We’re almost to the back-half of the year, so it’s time to grab another ten movies we’re excited to miss. With theaters re-opening and more films locking in release dates after shuffling around the calendar, there are a ton of new movies to choose from. Some of these howlers are holdovers from our start of the year list (and some are even leftovers from 2020’s least anticipated lists!). Sequels,…

Binge or Purge?: M.O.D.O.K. Can Hulu's M.O.D.O.K. replicate the success of Marvel's new series? Short answer...no.

Can Hulu’s M.O.D.O.K. replicate the success of Disney’s new series? Short answer…no. Two series reviews in a row that A) involved a Marvel property, and B) are impossible to bury the lede on: Verdict: Purge. Unlike Loki, M.O.D.O.K. got on my bad side immediately. Despite an abiding affection for Patton Oswalt, this series is insufferable. It takes all of the laziest bits of Robot Chicken (not…

Coming Soon Trailers: F9 - The Fast Saga. It's about to get Fast and Furious again, as F9 hopes to blow the summer box office wide open.

It’s about to get Fast and Furious again, as F9 hopes to blow the summer box office wide open. Is this weekend the true start of the summer season? F9 looks to be the first in a fairly non-stop string of potential blockbusters, including Black Widow, Space Jam 2, and Snake Eyes. Therefore, prognosticators are keeping their eyes peeled to see how well the ninth movie in the Fast and Furious saga…

How Bad Is...Monster Hunter? Monster Hunter is a love letter to fans of the games, but others will likely not know what the heck is going on in this flick.

Monster Hunter is a love letter to fans of the games, but others will likely not know what the heck is going on in this flick. Director Paul W.S. Anderson and Mila Jovovich seem to be in good graces with Capcom, despite the diminishing returns on their Resident Evil movie franchise, so they got the nod to adapt the latest Monster Hunter game, Monster Hunter World. Monster Hunter is an odd…

Box Office Wrap Up: Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard Can't Halt Skid. We've got a new number one, but the box office is still heading in the wrong direction.

We’ve got a new number one, but the box office is still heading in the wrong direction. The sequel to The Hitman’s Bodyguard had a solid debut, but it couldn’t do enough to prevent the box office from contracting yet again. We’re managing to stay above pandemic levels of ticket sales, but it’s been a steady decline in revenue since the big Memorial Day weekend. Interestingly, this is the first…

VOD Review: Luca. Disney/Pixar really nail childhood's sense of wonder in their latest "fish-man out of water" tale.

Disney/Pixar really nail childhood’s sense of wonder in their latest “fish-man out of water” tale. Luca came out of left field for me. I figured a new Pixar movie would have been hyped to the heavens, considering that two Pixar movies got Oscar nominations last year. But Luca quietly slipped onto Disney+ this week, and if I hadn’t seen Jim Gaffigan goofing on his role in it on Twitter, I’d have…

Short Film Review: Kate Herron Triple Play. We take a look at the short film library from the director of Marvel's new hit series, Loki.

We take a look at the short film library from the director of Marvel’s new hit series, Loki. As is tradition here, when a new film or series really blows us away, we like to dive deep into the filmography of the people responsible. As most of the cast of Loki are known commodities, I wanted to look at the director, Kate Herron, behind the phenomenal series (episode 2 is just as good as the first…

Coming Soon Trailers: The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard. The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard gets a jump on the box office, releasing early in the week.

The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard gets a jump on the box office, releasing early in the week. Apparently Lionsgate couldn’t wait to get to market, since they dropped their wide release flick on a Wednesday. I think I can see why: we’ve got ten limited release films launching on Friday, plus seven films slated for home rental debuts. Looks like quite a bit of traffic the studio likely wanted to…

Movie Review: In the Heights. Lin-Manuel Miranda's screen adaptation of his Broadway play hits highs and lows.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s screen adaptation of his Broadway play hits highs and lows. In the Heights is more difficult to review than I anticipated. The first half hour is such a rush of energy, music, and choreography that I was star-struck. Then the movie settles into its rhythm and you notice a bare patches underneath the gaudy exterior. When the film builds up to those crazy crescendos that mark…

Box Office Wrap Up: In the Heights Silenced by A Quiet Place 2. After getting bumped off the top spot by The Conjuring, A Quiet Place 2 is back in first place.

After getting bumped off the top spot by The Conjuring, A Quiet Place 2 is back in first place. Lin Manuel-Miranda’s big screen adaptation of his hit Broadway musical, In the Heights, failed to hit its marks. Predicted to gross in the 20 million dollar range, it made little more than half that figure. This left an opening for A Quiet Place 2 to climb the ladder, besting both Heights and The…

Our Ten's List: Most Anticipated 2021, Pt 2. We're almost to the back-half of the year, so it's time to grab another ten movies we're excited to see.

We’re almost to the back-half of the year, so it’s time to grab another ten movies we’re excited to see. With theaters re-opening and more films locking in release dates after shuffling around the calendar, there are a ton of new movies to choose from. Some of these are holdover from our start of the year list (and some are even holdovers from 2020’s lists!) so we’ll try to pick ten films we…

VOD Review: Bo Burham Inside. We don't usually cover stand-up comedy, but Inside is a whole 'nother animal.

We don’t usually cover stand-up comedy, but Inside is a whole ‘nother animal. We’ve flirted with covering seminal stand-up comedy specials in the past, but doing so has rarely felt satisfying. Comedy is subjective, but once you discount talking about whether you found it funny or not, there’s not a lot left to say. Rarely do these specials present much in the way of technical nuts and bolts to…

Binge or Purge?: Loki. Can Tom Hiddleston bring his iconic trickster god, Loki, successfully to the small screen?

Can Tom Hiddleston bring his iconic trickster god, Loki, successfully to the small screen? We usually wait till the end of the article to reveal our verdict, but there’s no being coy about Marvel’s Loki: Verdict: Binge. I didn’t just like Loki after one episode, I loved it. Let’s dive in. Episode One: Glorious Purpose. Loki, the God of Mischief, steps out of his brother’s shadow to embark on…