REVIEW: Renfield (2023)

Nicolas Cage as Count Dracula in Chris McKay’s RENFIELD — PHOTO: Universal Pictures.

Directed by Chris McKay (The LEGO Batman Movie) — Screenplay by Ryan Ridley — Story by Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead).

In Chris McKay’s Renfield, we follow R. M. Renfield (played by Nicholas Hoult) who, a long, long time ago, became the most trusted servant of Count Dracula (played by Nicolas Cage) and thus was granted immortality and the ability to be super powerful if he eats bugs. However, in the present day, Renfield has grown tired of serving his abusive master. In an attempt to find a way to deal with these feelings of exhaustion and depression, Renfield has sought out a self-help group for people in co-dependent relationships. And because he still needs to feed his master, Renfield has decided that he should only feed Dracula the abusive partners that the people in his self-help group complain about. Meanwhile, Renfield is also trying to build a life for himself without considering his master’s needs. When Renfield inadvertently comes into the crosshairs of a significant crime family, Dracula is made aware of his servant’s betrayal and decides to come out of hiding.

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REVIEW: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

Nicolas Cage plays an exaggerated version of himself in Tom Gormican’s THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT – Photo: Lionsgate.

Directed by Tom Gormican – Screenplay by Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten.

Nicolas Cage is incredible. He’s a legend. This film’s opening states as much. It is true, though. The Academy Award winner may have done a lot of cheaper straight-to-video B-films over the course of more than the last decade, but the star with a cult following has remained a wildly entertaining thespian through it all, and he hasn’t lost a step, like Michael Sarnoski’s Pig, from last year, proved. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent may not ultimately earn Cage as many critical accolades as the aforementioned Sarnoski film did, but it is a great comedic tribute to Cage, as well as a reminder to audiences all around the world that he’s still here, he never went anywhere, and he’s as entertaining as ever.

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REVIEW: Pig (2021)

Nicolas Cage as Robin Feld with his titular companion in PIG — Photo: David Reamer / NEON.

Directed by Michael Sarnoski — Screenplay by Michael Sarnoski.

The beloved Academy Award-winning actor Nicolas Cage has had a strange career. The unpredictable cult-favorite thespian has, for quite some time, reshaped his career and, to some, perhaps diluted his filmography by starring in several direct-to-video B-films. Whenever he returns to a major project, it feels special and like something to treasure. Thankfully, Pig is the kind of film that feels like a return to form for Cage, whose latest performance is arguably one of his very best.

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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”

REVIEW: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Sony Pictures Releasing

The following is a review of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman

The late, great, legendary film critic Roger Ebert opened his review of my favorite Spider-Man film, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, with the line: “Now this is what a superhero movie should be,” a sentence that feels pretty appropriate to use today when describing the first of, likely, many theatrically released Sony Pictures Animation Spider-Man-related films because Into the Spider-Verse is a special movie in virtually every way imaginable.
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REVIEW: The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened? (2015)

supermanlives
Written and Directed by Jon Schnepp

The following is a review of Jon Schnepp’s The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened?

For more reasons than one, this is the perfect time for Jon Schnepp’s documentary to be released. Not only is Ant-Man out in theaters in the summer of 2015 – a film infamous for the Edgar Wright-problems – but Avengers: Age of Ultron suffered from problematic quotes from its director back in April 2015. Meanwhile, Superman has not been this relevant since 1978.

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