Movie Reviews

By: Bob Garver     “Predator” and I got off on the wrong foot. I’m not talking about the new movie, but rather the 1987 original, and by extension the whole franchise. I rented the film hoping to enjoy some action-movie interaction between two future governors: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura. Unfortunately, there was little…

By Bob Garver     How is it that Halloween of 2025 couldn’t give us a better horror movie than “Black Phone 2”? It’s not that I’m shocked that a Halloween horror movie is a disappointment. I’m just shocked that we got such a disappointing movie this year. 2025 has been such a banner year…

By Bob Garver   The legacy of the “Tron” franchise is complicated. On a consistently positive note, the series has always been a feast for the eyes and ears, with pleasing, if not groundbreaking special effects and musical scores that heart-pumpingly convey that technological developments are happening every minute. But the films have never quite…

By Bob Garver     Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson is known as a top-tier talent without top-tier recognition. None of his movies have made more than $50 million at the domestic box office, and despite 11 nominations, he’s never won himself an Academy Award (a combined three Oscar wins have come from his films, including…

By Bob Garver     Jokes linking football and religion, especially Christianity, are common. “One gets Americans to sit attentively for hours every Sunday, the other is religion.” “Christian athletes always thank God when they win, never blame Him when they lose.” And of course, “WW(FSDJ)D? – What Would (Football Star Du Jour) Do?” With…

By: Bob Garver     NOTE: Many theaters have this Japanese animated film available in both “Subbed” and “Dubbed” versions. This review is based on the “Subbed” version – Japanese spoken with English subtitles, with the Japanese voice cast credited. Ah, “Demon Slayer,” the anime franchise that comes out with a new movie about once…

By: Bob Garver     A few days before I saw “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” a friend of mine asked me about my plans for the weekend. I told her that I planned to see the film, and I was excited. When she asked me why I was excited to see yet another entry in…

By: Bob Garver     “Caught Stealing” is one of those twisty crime thrillers where it seems like the filmmakers cast as many interesting names as they could and then wrote the movie around using them all. For example, at no point did I feel it was necessary for the film to feature Matt Smith…

By: Bob Garver     This past weekend’s biggest big-screen hit didn’t go straight to the big screen. Animated actioner “KPop Demon Hunters” premiered in June on Netflix, reportedly racking up over 180 million views in its first eight weeks. A special one-weekend-only “Sing-Along” version of the film was released to select theaters this past Saturday…