A Pitt Stop

Zach Cregger’s follow-up to his surprise horror hit Barbarian (2022) – which was a wildly original premise, that, despite some flaws, ensnared its audience, finds Weapons (2025) doing the very same thing... coming up with a mesmeric premise that is sure to impress fans of the genre. Told in a most engaging way, for some modern viewers it may come across as a tad lethargic, but it better helps grow the mystery, suspense and thrills of this slow-burner of a story – as its non-linear approach may answer a question or two, while also adding more questions along the way.

Reveling in its 1990's era setting, Darren Aronofsky’s crime thriller Caught Stealing (2025), finds new ground within the criminal underworld while also being somewhat reminiscent of movies from that time period like Guy Ritchie’s early works in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), as well as one offs like The Fugitive (1993), Carlito’s Way (1993), The Boondock Saints (1999), and several others. A rare change of pace for Aronofsky

The action renaissance continues to flourish late into the summer of 2025... as Timo Tjahjanto’s Nobody 2 (2025) becomes the most recent blow-up to grace the big screen after nearly a decade of successes (even if that doesn’t always mean at the box office) from the likes of the John Wick franchise (and its spinoff Ballerina), Tom Cruise doing his thing in the last four Christopher McQuarrie fueled Mission: Impossible adventures, George Miller’s post apocalyptic landscape of Mad Max: Fury Road (and its prequel), as well as many memorable standalones like Baby Driver, The Nice Guys, et al. Following the rhythm and cadence of the first movie of the franchise (thanks to screenwriter Derek Kolstad being back– he’s also the mind behind the John Wick universe),

Upon hearing that The Naked Gun: from the Files of Police Squad (1988) and its sequels The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991) and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994) were getting their own reworking of a sequel all these years later, simply titled The Naked Gun (2025), dare I say, it was a tad worrisome. The last decade has been kind to the action and horror genres, but not so for much else... with the last comedies I can remember being either liked or successful ranging all the way back to the buddy cop action comedy The Nice Guys (2016), Game Night and Tag (both 2018), and Good Boys (2019) – of course, there are a few rom/coms and other such things strewn in there, but it hasn’t been a solid stretch for the laugh factory out of Hollywood. Yet, somehow this one has dodged the current comedy killer bullet and survived the dreaded thirty plus year remake/reboot sequel.

Hanging around in the much darker side of the cave, The Batman (2022), co-written and directed by Matt Reeves, follows in the same playing card suit as the 2019 psychological thriller Joker, further showing off the more dilapidated, delinquent strewn streets of Gotham and its equally as sinister and Machiavellian criminals/political landscape. Feeling a tad closer to an Indie produced marauding neo-noir than your prototypical comic book movie, this iteration of the Caped Crusader is not your more traditional Bruce Wayne/Batman (Robert Pattinson – Tenet; The Lighthouse), in fact

This is not the first time this is being said here... but there is no denying that the James Bond franchise, which is one of my favourites, has been outplayed by other action franchises over the past few decades. With No Time To Die (2021), a glorious door opened wide with Ana De Armas... after a twelve minute cameo from the actress as Paloma got the fandom going crazy – a perfect avenue for a female spinoff as fans were clamoring for more. Outmaneuvered once again, it was not the Bond producers that speedily green lit a new production, but one of their main rivals who signed the actress up for an action saga with: From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025), directed by Len Wiseman and co-written by action guru scribe Derek Kolstad (who has been involved with the first three John Wick’s, as well as the sole penman of Nobody). The other writing credit goes to Shay Hatten (who helped with parts three and four of Wick).