Brandon Routh’s character is far from super in the horror-comedy “Ick.”

He plays a nebbishy science teacher standing between his hometown and a gooey menace with a singular name.

“Ick.”

Director Joseph Kahn’s film savors ’50s horror tropes while taking a long, hard look at today’s Gen Z mindset. The cultural Left takes it on the chin early and often. So does the Right.

In between, “Ick” provides a fun if exhausting romp led by the erstwhile Man of Steel. Don’t be surprised if it becomes a cult favorite.

In fact, bank on it.

Routh stars as Hank Wallace, a high school heartthrob whose glory days end after a brutal football injury. He loses his gridiron dreams and girlfriend (Mena Suvari) in brutal order. Some modest CGI de-aging fleshes out his sob story.

The movie zooms to the present, showing Hank as a depressed science teacher with a limp from his old injury.

All the while, a mysterious shrub-like growth invades the neighborhood. The curious weed, dubbed the Ick, becomes part of the small town landscape. It’s odd, but harmless, and locals give it little thought.

Until one day the Ick gets hungry.

Now, Hank and a handful of students – including one who might be his biological daughter (a spunky Malina Weissman) – scramble to save their town.

That’s Genre Storytelling 101, down to an homage to “The Blob” (1958). Director/co-writer Kahn brings a twitchy vibe to every part of “Ick.” Visually, it’s a stunner, with dazzling set pieces that outkick the film’s budget coverage.

Think director Edgar Wright’s style, but with more heart and narrative fidelity. The script is relentlessly hip and wise, boosted by a retro soundtrack of early 2000 tunes.

Yes, there will be Hoobastank.

The pulpy horror comedy, ICK, from acclaimed director Joseph Kahn is coming to theatres nationwide July 27, 28, & 29! pic.twitter.com/WfGQBzNuMX

— Fathom Entertainment (@FathomEnt) July 10, 2025

Routh has worked steadily since his 2006 “Superman Returns” closeup, but he never became an A-lister. He’s older and more vulnerable here, qualities the film embraces while alluding to his super audition. Routh instinctively “gets” the film’s fizzy tone, which makes even the few quiet scenes pop.

Very few, to be specific.

“Ick” is like listening to a podcast on 1.5x speed. The visual rat-a-tat is delirious, while the banter brings modern America to life. It ain’t always pretty.

The screenplay pokes fun at false flags, conspiracy mongers and more. Meanwhile, some teens speak as if Lena Dunham demanded they sound as woke as possible. Those characters don’t realize they’re the butt of the joke.

We do. How refreshing.

Kahn’s sense of cultural balance is impressive. Take the Alpha Male gym teacher who overdoses on Alex Jones-style messaging. That “South Park” blueprint – hit both sides – wins the day. Again.

Best of all? The locals aren’t exactly running scared from the Ick, even when it’s hungry. They’re more concerned that they might cancel Prom. Priorities, priorities.

RELATED: ‘ANOTHER EVIL’ DIRECTOR SHARES HORROR-COMEDY SECRET 

The beauty of “Ick” is how easily viewers can process the titular threat. The dangers of social media run wild? Check. Ignore Climate Change at your peril?

Check-check.

It’s breezy and open-ended, letting viewers make the final call.

“Ick” can be overwhelming and self-aware, but those feelings never last long. There’s also a perfectly executed quip or clever kill to win us over.

It’s smart, spooky and relentlessly fresh even if some plot beats make less sense than others. No matter. Kahn’s exuberant “Ick” demands repeat viewings.

Here’s betting it’ll generate just that.

HiT or Miss: “Ick” is exactly what the title promises, a gooey horror-comedy with humor, heart and a dizzying sense of real-world chaos.

The post ‘Ick’ Delivers Culture War TKO appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

Curtis Hanson’s “Wonder Boys” (2000) is my college movie, the film I look to when I think back to not only the professors who inspired me as a student but also those I worked alongside as a young college lecturer.

The last time I saw “Wonder Boys,” it was three years ago, at a point when its characters were all very real figures in my life.

I was working on my master’s degree and had to write an extensive analysis on the film, comparing it to Michael Chabon’s source novel. At the time, I was also working as a film lecturer at a Colorado university.

I was knee deep in the world of academia, spending my days either in front of a classroom or typing madly and working on papers for my professors. The experience of being a student, while teaching my classes and spending time with teachers who were both my instructors and my colleagues, made for a multi-faceted perspective on campus life.

If there’s anything that “Wonder Boys,” both Chabon’s casually brilliant 1995 novel and Curtis Hanson’s terrific movie, understands is that college life has a hermetically sealed feel.

When you’re having rich conversations with academic giants on Faulkner, Proust and Eisenstein, witnessing great student films and feel inspired just being around people who ache to write, let alone read, The Next Great American Novel, the rest of the world feels bland in comparison.

The film’s protagonist, Grady Tripp, is someone whose spirit has been embodied in a handful of mentor/colleagues I’ve known. He’s the classic college professor, dressed in a rumpled jacket, who wears a scarf even when it’s unneeded and seemingly never speaks a word that isn’t carefully, cleverly chosen.

Michael Douglas plays him, and it’s a real beauty of a performance. Alongside his work in “Wall Street” (1987), “Falling Down” (1993), The Game” (1997), “Solitary Man” (2009) and “The War of the Roses” (1989), Douglas once again conveys his character’s painful flaws and tender vulnerability.

He allows us to see why Tripp, this wounded lion of a man, is brilliant, loved and respected.

Co-starring as James Leer, his deeply troubled but extraordinary student, whose messy life makes Tripp’s existence even more impossible, is Tobey Maguire. The soulfulness in Maguire’s work matches the pathos in Douglas’ characterization.

Together, they create a teacher/student equivalent of a platonic “Harold and Maude” (1971). As if that weren’t enough, there’s also excellent, juicy character turns by Robert Downey Jr., Frances McDormand, Rip Torn and Richard Thomas.

Katie Holmes plays Tripp’s other star student, a gifted writer who recognizes the brilliance and shortcomings in Tripp, her mentor and crush. Holmes has deservedly received acclaim for her work in “Pieces of April” (2003) and “The Gift” (2000) but this is her finest work as a character actress.

She and Maguire come across like bright-eyed students with bohemian hearts, not the Hollywood actors we know them as.

I can’t help comparing Hanson’s film to Chabon’s novel and will briefly mention that the film makes changes that don’t help it. A lengthy passage from the book, involving Jewish customs and Tripp’s horrible approach to relationships, is missed. So is the book’s ending, replaced here with an Everybody Wins fadeout that replaces Chabon’s perfectly sad-but-true conclusion.

“Wonder Boys” just misses perfection as a film but the end result is so rich in character, unpredictable and frequently hilarious, it stands as a nice companion to the novel.

It didn’t do well in theaters but deserves to accumulate a cult following. When the plot includes a bizarre shooting, a whirlwind of runaway book pages, a pot-smoking college professor and a jacket worn by Marilyn Monroe play into the story, a cult following is practically inevitable.

Aside from its stature as a rare example of a comedy both funny and uncommonly intelligent, I loved the film because it knows its characters and the world they inhabit, capturing campus life with astute observations.
This movie takes me back to the colorful teachers and students I’ve known, both intimately and barely.

There’s something vivid, and familiar about the passions, tortured secrets and flower power beauty of these characters.

I’ve known all sorts of college Wonder Boys, with their grandiose ideas, jazz-like ability with casual conversation and their contradictory blend of optimism and self-defeating doubt. It’s a joy to be a part of that world, something this movie gets completely.

The post ‘Wonder Boys’ at 25: The College Mindset, Defined appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

If “The Goonies” was written by Carl Sagan, it might have resembled “Explorers,” the 1985 fantasy that director Joe Dante chose as his follow-up to “Gremlins.”

Unlike that widely popular film, which was released in 1984 by Warner Bros., “Explorers” was an expensive flop poorly managed by Paramount Pictures. It’s worth noting that, to date, Dante has never made another movie at that studio again.

Ethan Hawke (in his film debut), Jason Presson and River Phoenix play grade-school kids who, in different ways, are outsiders and not well-liked at school. Their home lives are equally complicated, with parents who are either affectionate, odd or irresponsible.

When their shared, recurring dreams of an alien circuit board (which resembles the Flux Capacitor from “Back to the Future”) become increasingly vivid, they decide to build the thing. What begins as the discovery of a new, powerful, spherical force field leads to the inspiration to build a spaceship.

The early scenes evoke a sense of awe and Spielbergian feel of urban restlessness. This is about growing up in the suburbs, longing for adventure and an acknowledgement of the possibilities that are outside of your neighborhood.

As the poster tagline put it so perfectly, “An Adventure That Begins in Your Own Backyard!”

While “Explorers” has a distinctly ’80s look and feel (coming mid-decade, of course it does), it achieves what Spielberg’s “Amazing Stories” TV series or the ’80s version of “The Twilight Zone” did in their best episodes: present its story in a nostalgia-fueled glow and twist the extraordinary out of the ordinary.

“Explorers” may be silly, but it’s filled with wonder.

The three leads give winning, natural turns, with Phoenix particularly amusing as a kid even nerdier than Matthew Broderick in “War Games” (1983). I liked these characters because, rather than come across as obnoxious, they’re intelligent and resourceful.

Dante is clearly having fun here, as the kid’s school is named Charles M. Jones Junior High, Hawke declares his affection for “This Island Earth” (1955) and “Forbidden Planet” (1956) and there’s a scene at a drive-in with a movie called “Star Killer.”

The actor in the movie-within-a-movie is Robert Picardo, who appears with Dick Miller, another Dante favorite.

Mike Ploog concept art of the alien, Wak, from Joe Dante’s EXPLORERS. Wak was created by Rob Bottin and played by Robert Picardo. EXPLORERS was released on this date in 1985. pic.twitter.com/Kggepp7XbQ

— Body Snatchers (@BodySnatchers79) July 13, 2024

There’s also a hilarious talking mouse, made possible by a voice box that translates its thoughts. We’re introduced to it being harassed by a cat, yelling, “Help!” The cat is shooed away and the mouse replies, “Thank You… I want cheese!”

The special effects are from Industrial Light and Magic and they’re truly beautiful. So is Jerry Goldsmith’s score. The flying and surreal dream sequences are stunning, particularly a final shot of a sky full of young dreamers, soaring through the night sky.

The first act seems like this could be Dante’s masterpiece. Then, around the time a mechanical spider appears, things begin to feel off and become overly jokey. Once the boys travel through space and encounter the beings who sent them the blueprints for their spaceship, it plays like a much different, subpar children’s film has hijacked a great movie.

There is visual beauty in this long sequence, in which TV monitors surround the characters and depict TV as a means of alien communication and fuel for our dreams. However, the cornball execution of the quipster alien characters is cringe-worthy, as is a musical number and a stand-up routine that drags on too long.

There is even a suggestion of TV providing aliens with proof of man’s cruelty, an oddly similar idea that was better handled in the director’s cut of “The Abyss” (1989).

Few moments in cinema have captured the magic of true wonder like Dick Miller watching Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix fly off into space in EXPLORERS.

I wish Joe Dante could’ve finished the movie the way he wanted. It might’ve been his masterpiece.

Happy 40th to a classic. pic.twitter.com/jsNebjjyna

— Joe Russo (@joerussotweets) July 13, 2025

The film mostly course-corrects when it touches back down to earth. It also offers an interpretation that matches the film’s famously being released unfinished and heavily edited. At one point, Hawke asks, “It feels like a dream, doesn’t it?”

It very well could be, as the narrative, as a whole, makes a great deal of sense if interpreted as the dream of an older man looking back on his childhood. Specifically, the story could be the dream of Miller’s character, who tellingly says, “I haven’t had dreams like this since I was a kid.”

The botched alien sequence (which, in addition to being corny, is too elaborate for a movie with an intimate, small-town scope) and the jumbled editing in the third act keep this from soaring as high as it could have.

Yet, the film is still, in its best passages, thrilling and evokes a rich sense of childhood discovery.

I haven’t been a kid in a long time and don’t know if there are still kids who look at the night sky with their telescope, watch monster movies, lay on their roof and gaze at the milky way in awe. This movie was made for kids like that, kids like Hawke’s character, and big kids like me.

The post ‘Explorers’ at 40: How Joe Dante Captured Childhood Awe, Wonder appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for a film celebrating the “good guy with a gun” narrative.

Just as unlikely? A gun-toting rabbi taking the phrase “never again” into his own hands. Unlikely, but not impossible, as it turns out.

The indie thriller “Guns & Moses” follows a fed-up Rabbi who arms himself following a friend’s assassination. It’s a ripped-from-the-headlines yarn created before the events of Oct. 7. Its timeliness couldn’t work any better on its behalf.

Sadly.

“Guns & Moses” doubles as a close-up of Jewish traditions, but the film’s unconventional hero sets this thriller apart. Step aside, Dirty Harry, Rabbi Mo is in town and he’s packing … brownies.

Rabbi Moses “Mo” Zaltzman (Mark Feuerstein, excellent) welcomes an old friend’s contribution to his synagogue. Rabbi Mo has been working out of a storefront for too long, and a donation from benefactor Alan Rosner (Dermot Mulroney) will allow his flock to expand at long last.

An assassin kills Alan during a ceremony honoring that gift. All signs point to Clay Gibbons (Jackson A. Dunn), a White Nationalist who previously tangled with Rabbi Mo.

Open and shut case, right? The Rabbi isn’t convinced of the teen’s guilt, so he starts investigating leads that local law enforcement deemed worthless. And the more he investigates, the more he realizes he needs protection to keep his family safe.

We know what that means.

ScreenRant presents an exclusive BTS clip from Guns & Moses.

The crime thriller starring Dermot Mulroney, Christopher Lloyd, Neal McDonough, and Mark Feuerstein arrives in theaters on July 18. #gunsandmoses pic.twitter.com/smHHFeDvgJ

— Screen Rant (@screenrant) July 15, 2025

Bodies start to pile up, and the whodunnit elements come into sharp relief. Greed, green energy and ambitions collide, and more lives could be at risk.

Can Rabbi Mo solve the murder, or will he be next on the killer’s “to-do” list?

“Guns & Moses” opens with a western-style score, and that’s no accident. Swap the settings, and this tale would fit nicely within the genre. Except director/co-writer Salvador Litvak understands the stakes in play. Jews have been under attack for some time, and their vulnerability makes them a target.

The film benefits from familiar faces lending gravitas to the yarn. Christopher Lloyd plays a Holocaust survivor who memorably recalls his history for a wayward teen. Neal McDonough, suddenly as busy as Pedro Pascal, co-stars as a mayor stunned by Alan’s murder.

Jake Busey isn’t granted much screen time, but he leaves an impression as Clay’s stricken Pa.

“Guns & Moses” spends quality time upending stereotypes, all the while focusing on Jewish culture in ways most movies ignore. That alone gives the film a sense of creative urgency.

Feuerstein’s reluctant hero pushes redemption as well as lead slinging. He’s a very different kind of hero, and the veteran actor never embraces his vigilante potential.

He’s afraid but resolute, unwilling to become yet another statistic.

The film wraps in a way that makes sense on paper, but it still breaks the film’s humble tone. That unfolds in line with the subject matter, but the transition still feels jarring.

The message throughout remains clear. The villains in “Guns & Moses” messed with the wrong Rabbi.

HiT or Miss: “Guns & Moses” suffers from a tonal shift in the third act, but it’s a cautionary tale told with heart and confidence.

The post ‘Guns & Moses’ – The Movie Hollywood Would Never Make appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

“Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” (1985), Tim Burton’s debut feature film, is a perfect synchronization of star and filmmaker.

Burton, the wunderkind ex-Disney animator and director of striking, personal short films, and Paul Reubens, the pleasingly strange comic who became big playing Pee-Wee Herman on “Late Night with David Letterman” and the adored 1981 “The Pee-Wee Herman Show” HBO special, were an ideal match.

Together, they created a vehicle that brought out the best in both of them.

The story plays like a kindergartener’s recitation of “The Bicycle Thief” plot, with Pee-Wee’s search for his stolen bike leading him on a cross-country search. We know from the start who took his bike: the devilish Francis, a privileged, snot-nosed brat, played to the hilt by Mark Holton.

The point isn’t who did it, but where the bike ends up and how Herman can get it back.

“Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” is strange and juvenile, truly one of the silliest comedies of its decade. It’s also one of the funniest films ever made and easily among the most stylish Burton ever crafted.

I realize how goofy it is to be rehashing this story, but really, Pee-Wee’s odyssey is oddly compelling. The episodic plot takes him to the Alamo, a biker bar, the famous Wheel Inn restaurant (where the giant dinosaur still stands), on a train trip and to a Hollywood studio.

RELATED: WILL HARRISON FORD’S ‘INDY’ GO THE FULL PEE-WEE?

There’s a magic to the world of “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure,” a sort of Movie Land fairy tale setting where anything is possible. Seeing the film when I was a child, I was delighted from start to finish, though my un-cynical view of the world was in synch with the film’s.

Today, recalling when the film was made, it’s even more special, knowing that an innocent fable about a man-child in search of his bike came out during the Me Decade.

My first real introduction to his most iconic character was seeing a matinee of “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” with my family in an old-fashioned, two-story movie theater in Clifton, New Jersey.

Like most children who saw the film in 1985, the famous “Large Marge” sequence is what I remember the most about my initial viewing, as the sequence startled me in a way few horror films have since. The trauma of the Chiodo Brothers’ vividly ghoulish (and hilarious) animation aside, I loved “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.”

I loved it for how hard it made me laugh, for how cool Pee-Wee’s mechanized home is, how wonderful Pee-Wee’s dance to The Champs’ “Tequila” is and how the story is also about a girl named Dottie, who is infatuated with a weird guy who always wears a suit and bow tie.

Most know the film for either its value as an offbeat American comedy or its stature as Burton’s unlikely and brilliant debut film. Coming out the same season as the enjoyable and ultra-commercial “The Goonies,” the Chevy and Danny nuke farce “Spies Like Us,” the 1950’s nostalgia-fueled “Back to the Future” and the boobs and beer sequel, “Porky’s Revenge,” Burton’s movie was totally out-of-step with every other mainstream comedy.

Looking at it today, I’m struck by how obviously low budget it is (a quality that somehow makes it more dream-like) and the ways it feels like an art movie.

Scenes of Pee-Wee frolicking around his house, utterly embracing how juvenile his existence is (do I even need to mention Reubens was 33 when he made this?) aren’t uncommon in many Adam Sandler films. In ’85, it was as refreshingly weird, so-unhip-it-was-cool and as subversively odd as David Letterman’s show was in the early going.

Pee-Wee’s home, with its Rube Goldberg-esque traps, tacky lawn furniture, pop culture relics and quasi-50’s decor, is part Fellini, part Liberace lawn sale.

The establishing scenes, a dream sequence (which is even funnier today than it was in the eighties) and the character-establishing bits are shamelessly silly and undeniably sweet.

Much like the movie itself.

Each sequence plays like a mini-classic. The screenplay, penned by Reubens, Michael Varhol and the late, great Phil Hartman, is relentlessly silly but never stupid, mean-spirited or raunchy. The onslaught of jokes is surprisingly smart, with the best gags the most surreal ones (like how everyone in Texas knows the lyrics to a certain song).

Every single character Pee-Wee encounters feels like an escapee from a B-movie, a quality the film fully embraces as the climax blurs the line between parodying a Hollywood movie and fully embracing the clichés it teases. It all works, even the bit where Pee-Wee interrupts the filming of a Twisted Sister video.

Burton makes his inaugural film a tour de force of style and tone. Burton, art director David L. Snyder and composer Danny Elfman create a film for children, about children, told by adults who are kids at heart.

The moments of “edge” (particularly the terrific, kaleidoscopically stylish dream sequences) are perfect, which balance out the cotton-candy softness at the film’s center. The closing image, of a boy and the girl he loves, riding off on their bicycles, as their shadows are projected on a drive-in screen, couldn’t be more perfect.

This movie is irresistible.

The post ‘Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure’ at 40: This Man-Child Never Grows Old appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

“DC League of Super-Pets” has become the underrated and not automatically remembered entry in the “Superman” film franchise.

That’s funny, since it’s only three years old and is firmly a part of the DC film universe.  In fact, the film is oddly aligned to another, subsequent DC Comics-based flop (more on that later).

Not only is the film such a spry, funny sleeper, far outshining its initial appearance as kiddie fodder, it actually gave me a lot of something I didn’t get enough of in James Gunn’s new “Superman”: Krypto the Dog!

A terrific prolog retells the destruction of Krypton, only from the perspective of baby Kal-El’s pet puppy, Krypto the dog. As the planet Krypton is falling apart and Kal-El’s parents place the boy in an escape pod, the boy pleads for his dog, who Jor-El sends with him as they hurtle through the cosmos while Krypton explodes.

The animation here and onward is spectacular, but it’s the character details that hit: Krypto the puppy comforts the alone and crying Kal-El as their ship makes its way to Earth. I was about to lose it and cry buckets, until we get a flash cut, showing how things are for the pair in contemporary times.

In modern-day Metropolis, the grown-up Kal-El is now Superman (John Krasinski), and his unfailingly loyal Krypto (Dwayne Johnson) is fully grown and diligently mimics his companion. Their morning walk, in full superhero attire, includes a run through the park, a flight through the clouds and saving Metropolis from Braniac.

Set to Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend,” the tone is clear – it’s cheerful and funny but not kidding around in the way it’s telling a Man of Steel story.

We hear Krypto’s dialog, as do the other animals he encounters, while Superman and all the other humans only hear barking. While Superman adores Krypto, he recognizes that the dog is clearly obsessed with him.

A sight gag I loved is how, while Lois Lane (Olivia Wilde) is having a stolen moment with Superman on a park bench, gazing into his eyes, she looks out and notes that Krypto is sitting yards away, staring at them.

Krypto sheepishly smiles and waves at them.

In addition to having all the same powers and abilities as Superman, Krypto is also as earnest and corny the Man of Steel. One example? He dishes out lots of puns (“Pup, pup and away!”). When Krypto meets another dog named Ace (Kevin Hart) and a slew of rescue pups with real problems, Krypto has no idea how to mingle with them.

Another problem is that Lex Luthor’s guinea pig, Lulu (Kate McKinnon) is, like Krypto, trying to impress her master. The critter has a wild plot for world domination.

Pup, pup, and away!

DC League of Super-Pets is now streaming on @hbo via HBO Max. pic.twitter.com/fjKAVGeaHN

— Actually HBO Max (@StreamOnMax) September 26, 2022

The style of animation sometimes changes to convey flashbacks, like a funny montage where Krypto imagines how Superman favors Lois Lane more than him. There’s also a touching sequence, akin to the “When She Loved Me” sequence from “Toy Story 2” (1999), where we learn why Ace was separated from his home and the child he cared for.

The intro to Ace and his contrast to Krypto sets the plot in motion, but it’s less cynical and crude than expected. Unlike most animated kiddie comedies, the emphasis isn’t on lowbrow humor, aside from the reveal that Krypto’s droppings have the scent of sandalwood.

A nice touch is that, for all the verbal silliness and adorable talking animals, this never feels like either “The Secret Lives of Pets” (2016) or its sequel. In fact, “DC League of Super-Pets” is a lot closer to the smart, exciting “Bolt” (2008), and would make an ideal double feature with this one.

McKinnon’s small but diabolical guinea pig reminded me a lot of Pinky, from one of my favorite Warner Bros. cartoons, “Pinky and the Brain” (1995-1998). Keanu Reeves is hilarious voicing Batman – every single one of his lines garners a big laugh.

While the movie sags a little during the second act and gets a genuine but never terminal case of the cutes, the third act connects and comes roaring to life.

Despite lots of intellectual property and Warner Bros. references, this never becomes an empty IP excuse like “Space Jam: A New Legacy” (2021).

“DC League of Super-Pets” is an ideal vehicle for Johnson as well as Hart, who are both much funnier here than they were in the live-action, underwhelming “Central Intelligence” (2016). The all-star cast is in good form, though it’s Krasinski’s sly turn as Superman, Johnson’s amusing commitment to Krypto’s insane devotion to Superman and especially Reeves’ wildly funny line readings that garner the biggest laughs.

Another highlight: David Keith’s vocal turn as Dog-El, Krypto’s father, who leaves him messages from the grave that are hysterically funny (my hands-down favorite: “Fireworks SUCK!”).

There’s also a great soundtrack, with an ideal Taylor Swift song over the end that is easily my favorite thing she’s produced. The grand finale is spectacular and earns the emotional beats it goes for. Yes, it’s a comedy about superheroes and the genre itself, but the emotional stakes are in place.

Here is a comedy about how insecure the pets of superheroes must feel, while the superheroes themselves carry their own issues. It’s more of a concept than an overall point, though the earnest message seems to be that, whether we’re talking about pets, humans, super-humans or all of the above, there’s someone for everyone.

The only thing that doesn’t work is the post-credit sequence that includes vocal work from Johnson as both Krypto and Black Adam, which was scheduled to open after this movie. The set-up for the dud that is “Black Adam” is a reminder that this leg of the DC Cinematic Universe is now in James Gunn’s hands, with the likes of “Black Adam” (2020) and “Blue Beetle” (2023) a thing of the past.

“DC League of Super-Pets” did okay at the box office ($93 million U.S.) and can be found on streaming channels (most notably HBO Max). I rarely hear it discussed alongside the best movies about Superman. Well, surprise – it may be sweet and geared for kids, but this winning comedy will delight the fanboys and their parents.

Instead of seeing how little screen time Krypto gets in Gunn’s very-PG-13, highly profane and brutal new “Superman,” I recommend going backwards and showing kids the time Krypto was always at Superman’s side and sounded like The Rock.

The post How ‘DC League of Super-Pets’ Laps Gunn’s ‘Superman’ appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

If you like “The Daily Show,” “Saturday Night Live” or even “Airplane!” you can thank Alfred E. Neuman.

“When We Went MAD!” says they reflect the magazine’s precocious mascot. The documentary has a point, one shared with wry anecdotes and historical callbacks. This mash note to the “usual gang of idiots” will delight fans and leave others wondering what they missed.

Plenty, as it turns out.

The magazine’s culture war battles raged without enough fanfare, and its pages inspired some of the biggest comedy names today.

It’s shocking we haven’t seen a similar film on MAD’s impact until now. 

MAD’s humble roots belie its cultural run. The magazine began in 1952 as yet another comic creation, albeit one mocking horror titles. It grew beyond those targets, thanks to the tenacity of co-founders Harvey Kurtzman and William Gaines.

MAD became a glossy magazine, and when it embraced movie parodies its fan base exploded. Along the way, MAD challenged authority, mocked politicians and ribbed all the right people.

The creators may have been left-leaning via their choice of targets, but they hit both sides and didn’t shy from controversy. They even took pot shots at hippies, a no-no in select circles.

Today, the mag would be considered MAGA for those reasons alone. After all, Alfred E. Neuman would never lecture his readers.

The magazine’s rigorously PG-rated humor, inspired by the founders’ Jewish roots, didn’t come without a fight. MAD battled back against lawsuits, helping expand the creative field for fellow satirists.

A sequence detailing the FBI’s fury with MAD is fascinating and prescient. Back then, humor was the target. More recently, concerned parents found themselves in the FBI’s crosshairs.

A few details feel unnecessary, like the magazine’s penchant for group vacations and fanboy anecdotes from folks like Bryan Cranston. Others, like Judd Apatow, “Weird” Al Yankovic and Howie Mandel, suggest the magazine’s reach lives on today, even if MAD essentially shuttered in 2019.

Yes, the film genuflects to the subject, but it admits the magazine’s attempt to conquer the big screen failed. The 1980 comedy “Up the Academy,” presented by MAD, proved a critical and commercial dud.

Fanboy Quentin Tarantino notes MAD should have lent its gravitas to better comedies like that year’s “Airplane!”

He’s not wrong.

Oddly, we’re treated to less than zero reflection on “MADtv,” the “SNL”-style series that expanded on the sketch TV format. That was part of MAD’s “selling out” era, a time following Gaines’ 1992 death.

The film doubles as a love letter to the eccentric co-founder. Gaines proved both cheap and generous in equal measures. His quest to retain creative independence meant MAD wouldn’t sell out or compromise its giddy integrity. That he treated his “idiots” like family suggests why the institution clung to satirical power for so long.

Speaking of death, some talking head segments reveal the film’s long incubation period. Comic Gilbert Gottfried passed in 2022, and MAD legend Al Jaffee died a year later at 102.

“When We Went MAD!” shows how overwhelmingly white and male the magazine’s creative team was over the decades, but there’s no hand-wringing over the dearth of diversity. The finished product speaks for itself, and that should be the final word on the subject.

That, and Blecch, of course.

“When We Went MAD!” is available on most VOD platforms.

HiT or Miss: “When We Went MAD!” offers a fascinating look at a magazine that spoke “truth to power” before it was cool.

The post ‘When We Went MAD!’ Shows What’s Missing from Digital Era appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

James Gunn summons that iconic “Superman” score for his DC Comics do-over.

He needn’t have bothered.

There’s little Gunn brings to the DC Comics reboot that demands John Williams’ golden touch. Gunn’s “Superman” is frantic and eager to please, a lackluster story made smaller by forgettable banter.

It’s good to see the aw, shucks Man of Steel again, but Gunn can’t escape the shadow of Christopher Reeve’s 1978 classic.

To be blunt, Gunn and co. never come close.

A text scroll sets the story in motion. No origin story. No trips back to the planet Krypton.

Our hero (a well-cast David Corenswet) is lying on a snowy landscape, blood trickling from his mouth. He’s rescued by Krypto, a CGI-powered pup who drags Supe to his Fortress of Solitude to mend.

The film is only a few minutes old, and we’re in a very different DC Comics landscape. It’s frothier than anything in the SnyderVerse, with Gunn setting a lighter tone more appropriate for heroes in tights.

We’ll allow it. Heck, it’s overdue.

An early sequence where Superman’s alter ego has a flirty “interview” with Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) also lands. The two have fine on-screen chemistry, but the frantic story leaves little room for them to grow.

Big mistake.

RELATED: THE CRAZY SUPERMAN-HOWARD STERN CONNECTION

Blame Lex Luthor. Nicholas Hoult looks too young for the role, but he does all he can to make this supervillain his own. Ol’ Lex has it out for Superman, and he targets him on two fronts.

Luthor’s team of meta-humans offers a physical challenge worthy of the Krypton native. A secondary plot has Luthor tied to a clash between a powerful Middle Eastern country and its impoverished neighbor.

Is this an Israel/Palestine riff from oh, so tolerant Hollywood? Likely no. It’s still a clumsy narrative filled with cartoonish figures and one-dimensional politics.

Call it a missed opportunity, and those stack up fast.

We haven’t gotten to the Justice Gang, a smug trio of meta-humans who occasionally rush to Superman’s side. The standout here is Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), who slinks away with every scene in his superhero tights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Gunn’s penchant for subversive comic book takes is mostly missing here. His approach is earnest and sweet to a fault. It still lacks the Man of Steel’s essential depth. This isn’t your ordinary hero. He’s the strongest character around, an eternal Boy Scout who captures his homeland’s core values.

Truth, justice and … eh, you know a Hollywood movie won’t go near that tag line, right?

Corenswet has that Superman swagger, and he looks the part in every way that matters. He still feels small, a God-like character uncomfortable in his own skin. He’s the main attraction, at least on paper, but he never lives up to the billing.

Gunn’s film offers many inventive twists, from fascinating set pieces to wild secondary characters. It’s fun at first, a diversion that eventually fades. He’s swinging for the fences, but the whiffs pile up quickly.

Why should we care about this reboot again?

Jimmy Olsen (a bland Skyler Gisondo) has a cringe-worthy romance with a selfie-obsessed Ms. Teschmacher (Sara Sampolo) that doubles as a dopey plot device. How that storyline made it to the final cut of a movie meant to restart the DC Comics universe is beyond this critic.

Far better is the Clark/Lois romance. They’re having relationship issues, which is understable for all the obvious reasons. Yet Gunn has little interest in this meaty theme. He’d rather stuff in another generic action sequence.

Modern FX makes it easy to believe a man can fly, but “Superman” leans so heavily on ones and zeroes it takes the human touch out of the yarn.

RELATED: ‘BATMAN v SUPERMAN’-WHY SO SERIOUS?

Another potentially juicy theme left in the dust? Superman obsesses over not killing anyway with his heroics, going so far as to save a squirrel from certain doom.

That’s a bit much.

So is the film’s reliance on Krypto to repeatedly save the day and stitch plot threads together. It’s bad enough to use an obviously CGI dog. It’s a new level of disbelief to inject him so heavily into the saga.

Rough.

“Superman” is never dull, features stars dialed into their roles and reminds us why we loved Superman in the first place. Try revisiting Reeve’s pitch-perfect original before being let down by yet another bland remake.

P.S. The two post-credit #Superman scenes are as weak as anything we’ve been served up until now. Oh, and the brief introduction to Supergirl (Milly Alcock) is even more embarrassing than Jimmy Olsen’s love subplot. If that’s possible…

HiT or Miss: “Superman” gets the key casting decisions right, but the film itself doesn’t live up to the pop culture legend.

The post Gunn’s ‘Superman’ Grounds High-Flying Hero appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

Breitbart News’ John Nolte likely coined the term “sucker punch” for Hollywood storytelling.

A conservative viewer will be deep into a film or TV show, and suddenly the creator attacks their values with a moment meant to insult half the country.

Or, as Nolte calls it, a “sucker punch.”

Consider a throwaway sequence in the 2012 film “The Three Stooges.” The villains are shown reading a conservative magazine in bed. It’s a sly visual nod to their evil nature and a slap against right-leaning audiences.

The 2021 thriller “The Boy Behind the Door” offers another example. The film’s villain drives away from the scene of the kidnapping, and his car’s bumper sticker reads, “Make America Great Again.” Oh, so the kidnapper is both a monster AND a Trump supporter. Got it.

Prime Video’s “Heads of State” has just such a moment.

Spoiler Ahead:

John Cena plays American president Will Derringer, who along with British Prime Minister Sam Clarke (Idris Elba) is attacked and presumed dead. That leaves Vice President Elizabeth Kirk (Carla Gugino) in charge.

One of Gugino’s first scenes finds her sharing a distinct political philosophy – she calls it, “America First.”

Stop right there. VP Kirk appears to be a humble U.S. servant, forced to lead in a time of tragedy. Once she utters that line, audiences immediately know far too much about her.

Does it even need to be typed out given the Right’s real-world embrace of that philosophy? It’s a micro-moment in a frothy action comedy, but it’s far from accidental. 

Why add it to the story if you want to keep President Kirk’s true nature a secret?

Conservatives, or just anyone who understands biology, will loathe another, more consequential part of the film.

Undercover agent Noel Bisset (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) plays a sizable role in the story. She’s both the Prime Minister’s ex-girlfriend and someone capable of keeping the titular heads of state safe.

Chopra Jonas doesn’t have a lengthy U.S. film resume, but she acquits herself nicely in a physically demanding role. She’s convincing as a bareknuckled brawler.

And yet her character outslugs a dozen or more men in the movie, a Mary Sue-esque flaw from 21st-century films.

She doesn’t have any superpowers, nor is she physically imposing like a Gina Carano-style actress. She still goes toe-to-toe with an army of thugs, always coming out on top.

“Heads of State” serves up a dizzying array of silly set pieces, but this Hollywood trend is just … exhausting and anti-science.

Otherwise, “Heads of State” is both deliriously dumb and entertaining. Director Ilya Naishuller (“Nobody”) struggles with his third-act storytelling once more. The film could lose a good 15 minutes, most of it on the back end, and be all the better for it.

The chemistry between Cena and Elba never flags, making this the perfect streaming original. Fun, forgettable and lighter than air.

The post Two ‘Heads of State’ Flaws Will Drive Conservatives Batty appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

Remember the ’90s?

The Internet was so new we had to wade through a series of squawks before going online. Comedians told any joke they pleased, and no one feared cancellation for painting outside the lines.

Musicians toured without lecturing crowds on how they should vote or live their lives.

And trigger warnings weren’t even a thing. Still, the 1994 comedy “PCU” predicted the coming woke revolution. 

And here we are.

The 1998 action comedy “Rush Hour” just got a 21st-century warning, courtesy of USA Network. (Hat Tip: World of Reel)

We all love our buddy comedies … but this movie was created in a different time. FYI certain depictions, language and humor may seem outdated and at times offensive.

Audiences watched the movie for 27 years without any such “protection.” Now, a major cable network deems it necessary. Will it air a similar warning for “Rush Hour 2” and “Rush Hour 3?” What other movies are next?

Yeah, we miss the ’90s. Badly.

It’s why the triple bill at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre Friday got such a warm welcome from the crowd. The night featured the Spin Doctors, Gin Blossoms and Blues Traveler in a lineup dating back to the roaring ’90s.

The Spin Doctors broke out pop gems like “Two Princes” and “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong,” showing an appreciation for the crowd sticking with the rockers all these years later.

A similar sentiment came from Robin Wilson, the ageless lead singer for The Gin Blossoms. The band saved its biggest hit, “Hey, Jealousy,” for the end of its set. Other bangers like “Follow You Down” and “Found Out About You” kept the crowd on its feet up until then.

Both opening bands were in fine form. They didn’t noodle with their classic tracks, delivering them exactly as the crowd anticipated.

After all, those fans matter the most. And so did the date on the calendar – July 4, 2025. The show couldn’t forget the nation’s birthday, showcasing the fireworks exploding all around the venue.

Blues Traveler hit the stage to strains from “South Park’s” giddy anthem, “America (F*** Yeah)” from “Team America: World Police.” The stars and stripes could be seen on stage and lead singer John Popper played the National Anthem on his harmonica.

He, too, thanked the crowd for joining them on a pristine summer night, hinting at a medical hiccup that nearly derailed his appearance.

The show must go on, and with it killer covers of “Hot for Teacher” and “Mary Jane’s Last Chance” along with the band’s blistering smash “Runaround.”

For one night, the 1990s were back. No woke lectures or trigger warnings. Just old school rock, pop and blues played at a high level.

We don’t always need Doc Brown’s time machine for nights like this.

The post Blast of ’90s Greatness Greets Red Rocks Amphitheatre appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

Jeff Goldblum’s “Jurassic Park” character had more charisma in his pinky than anyone in “Jurassic World Rebirth.”

Yeah, that’s a problem.

Watching dinosaurs romp across the screen will never get old. It’s why “Rebirth” is the seventh film in the “Jurassic” saga, and likely the start of a new trilogy. We still need characters to care about, and the heroes in “Jurassic World Rebirth” barely qualify.

And you can blame the scribe who set this saga in motion for that state of affairs.

Scarlett Johansson supplies the star power as Zora Bennett, an “extraction” specialist who takes a team into a part of the globe where the remaining dinosaurs roam. The film starts five years after the events of “Jurassic World: Dominion,” and the creatures can only thrive in select climates.

It’s the ultimate “no-go” zone, but that won’t stop the intrepid Zora and friends.

Why risk life and limb on such an extraction? The beasts harbor chemicals that can lead to a crush of life-saving medicines. The trick? Nabbing samples and returning to society in one piece.

The “science” behind “Jurassic World Rebirth” is dumber than a second-tier “Barney & Friends” episode. We can look past that if the story engages us and the characters matter.

Swinggggg, and a miss.

The team includes a dull paleontologist (Jonathan Bailey), the financial guru funding the mission (Rupert Friend) and ship captain Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali).

Hiring a two-time Oscar winner like Ali for such a forgettable part is darn near criminal. Lock them up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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There’s a villain in the midst, naturally, but the character is so poorly drawn that it barely matters.

A secondary story follows a Latino family that gets shipwrecked early in the film and must scramble for survival. It’s moderately more engaging than the A. plot, mostly because the father figure (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) cares about protecting his brood.

Director Gareth Edwards of “Godzilla” fame knows the prehistoric ropes, but little in his visual toolkit catches us by surprise. We know all the ways dinosaurs sneak up on their prey, rendering even the “startling” moments moot.

Been there, seen better dinosaur sequences. Sorry.

Edwards showed far more flair with both “Rogue One” and “The Creator.” Here, he’s punching the clock. And boy, does it show.

Veteran screenwriter David Koepp (“Jurassic Park,” “Spider-Man,” “Carlito’s Way”) deserves much of the blame. Look past the stupefying science and illogical plotting. Koepp gives us little to savor.

RELATED: HiT REWIND: ‘JURASSIC PARK’

The laugh lines mostly miss. Johansson’s character isn’t even woke enough to be a Mary Sue. She’s Generic Action Hero … just add water. And don’t even think about any possible romance between Zora and her handsome co-stars. 

We can’t have that, can we?

Look all you want, but you won’t find anything resembling a character arc or meaty theme. The morality behind finding a miracle drug gets mentioned a few times. Do you get rich off the discovery or share it with the world?

The ensuing debates are beyond vapid, robbing the story of anything resembling texture.

Why are we here again? Oh, the dinosaur clashes. They’re perfectly fine but nothing can compare to what Steven Spielberg uncorked in the movie that started it all.

So why bother?

The bigger question is why hire the likes of Johansson and Ali when you’ve given them nothing to do but look afraid of CGI dinosaurs created in post?

“Jurassic Park Rebirth” doesn’t come close to sharing any answers.

HiT or Miss: “Jurassic World Rebirth” is a popular franchise stuck on stupid.

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