Sinners (2025) | REVIEW

Michael B. Jordan and Miles Caton in Ryan Coogler’s SINNERS — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Ryan Coogler — Screenplay by Ryan Coogler.

Ryan Googler should be a household name. He burst onto the scene with his incredible feature debut Fruitvale Station, revitalized the modern American sports drama (and an iconic franchise) with Creed, broke box office records with the iconic superhero film Black Panther, and took on the daunting task of making a sequel to his superhero epic, even though it would be without its leading man with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, following Chadwick Boseman’s tragic passing. Coogler has proven himself to be a commercially viable filmmaker with something on his mind and the skill with which to pull off his ideas breathtakingly. But now he’s finally made something unique and original, despite the genre tropes his film willingly embraces, following years upon years of working with true stories, established characters, or within the Marvel machine. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is an original vampire period film of which he insisted on having full creative control and future ownership, with a deal that resembles what Quentin Tarantino, among others, have done before him. That was a deal worth fighting for, because Sinners is the kind of instant classic original genre film that will blow people away.

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Casting Ideas | James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy

James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 has been released, Gunn has finished his trilogy, and his time at Marvel is seemingly in the rearview mirror whether we like it or not. Warner Bros. and DC made a good decision to allow him to guide the direction of a shared universe of films based on DC Comics, which was something I advocated for in my review of his excellent The Suicide Squad film. Although his first DC film as a director, Superman Legacy, is still a couple of years away, now is as good a time as any to have a look at what actors would be good fits for the most iconic characters in Clark Kent’s corner of the DC Universe. So, without further ado, let’s have a look at some casting ideas for the upcoming Superman: Legacy film.

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REVIEW: Creed III (2023)

Jonathan Majors as ‘Diamond’ Damian Anderson in CREED III — PHOTO: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Warner Bros. Pictures / United Artists Releasing.

Directed by Michael B. Jordan — Screenplay by Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin.

It would be fair to say that Michael B. Jordan is, to a certain extent, following in the footsteps of Sylvester Stallone. Not only has he taken over as the lead of the Rocky franchise, which is now spearheaded by Apollo Creed’s son, Adonis “Donnie” Creed, but his films have followed similar patterns as Stallone’s Rocky films. With Creed III, the extent to which Jordan is following in his footsteps has reached a new level with Jordan taking on directing duties just as Stallone eventually did for one of his most beloved franchises, which he appeared to exit at the end of Creed II (I thought it was a sweet ending to his story, though it sounds like he isn’t happy about the series moving on without him). Ryan Coogler’s Creed was a beautiful and moving knockout blow, Steven Caple, Jr.’s Creed II was solid but formulaic (and felt too much like a sequel to Rocky IV), and, now, Michael B. Jordan’s Creed III is similarly formulaic but it is also a strong and satisfying response to some of the reservations that I had about Creed II

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Additional Bite-Sized Reviews, Summer ’21, Pt. 3: ‘The White Lotus,’ ‘Malcolm & Marie,’ and More

Alexandra Daddario and Jake Lacy in THE WHITE LOTUS — Photo: HBO.

In this edition of my monthly movie and television catch-up article series titled ‘Additional Bite-Sized Reviews,’ I once again talk about my experience of trying to catch-up on some of the 2021 films released earlier this year, but this time I also want to talk about a show that I was surprised I liked as much as I did. What did I like about The White Lotus? Is Malcolm & Marie better than its reputation? Are Antoine Fuqua and Stefano Sollima’s latest action films any good? Well, scroll down to find out what I think about all of that (and more) in yet another jam-packed edition of Additional Bite-Sized Reviews!

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IJR Awards 2018: Film Nominations Announced

It is finally time for me to announce my own personal film nominations for the I’m Jeffrey Rex Awards of 2018. Sure, we’re in 2019 now, but I needed some time to watch some of the films that were released in January in Denmark.

There will be a couple of surprises here, and I’m not just talking about the nominees. Four awards that have not previously been announced will make their debut here with their own sets of nominations. Also, one award has had its titled changed to allow for more than a small handful of nominees. Well, let’s get to it. Continue reading “IJR Awards 2018: Film Nominations Announced”

Who Should Play Batman in Matt Reeves’ Batman-Film? – Special Features #47

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Warner Bros. Pictures

Oh, Affleck. It seems like just yesterday that I was flip-flopping on the night of the announcement whether or not I liked that he was cast as DC’s Caped Crusader. He ended up doing a pretty good job in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but he was one of the clearly noticeable problems with Justice League. Recently, it was announced that Affleck will not be playing Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves’ film about the Dark Knight. So, today, I want to show my readers who I want to see play Batman in Reeves’ film. Continue reading “Who Should Play Batman in Matt Reeves’ Batman-Film? – Special Features #47”

Golden Globes Predictions: Winners – Special Features #41

It’s time to get ready for the first major awards show of 2019 — The Golden Globe Awards. Though not at all as prestigious as the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes ceremony is known all around the globe as the major American precursor to the Oscars. Today, I’ll give out my own predictions for the ceremony which is being held this weekend. Continue reading “Golden Globes Predictions: Winners – Special Features #41”

6th I’m Jeffrey Rex Awards, Part One – 2018

It’s the final day of 2018. What that means is that it is time to reveal the first half of my personal 2018 awards winners. This list will honor what I consider to be the best in song, heroics, and television. To see a complete of the nominees, click here. Also, do remember that the film nominations will be revealed in early 2019. Continue reading “6th I’m Jeffrey Rex Awards, Part One – 2018”

REVIEW: Creed II (2018)

US Theatrical Release Poster – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

The following is a review of Creed II — Directed by Steven Caple, Jr.

Back in early July this year, I watched and reviewed the highly anticipated sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario. The sequel subtitled Day of the Soldado was directed by Stefano Sollima and his film provided us with a perfect example of just how wrong it can go when you make a change in the director’s chair for a sequel. Day of the Soldado was offensive and hollow, and it is one of the biggest film disappointments of the year for me. Continue reading “REVIEW: Creed II (2018)”

IJR Awards 2018: Nominations, Part One of Two

Today I’m revealing the first half of the 2018 nominations for this blog’s IJR Awards (I’m Jeffrey Rex Awards, but you probably already guessed that). The two legend awards (Film Legend and TV Legend) aren’t getting any nominees, instead, I’ll reveal the winners, or honorees, in the two upcoming IJR Awards 2018-posts. Continue reading “IJR Awards 2018: Nominations, Part One of Two”