It’s Nightcrawler under the mask, and he’s an X character. That’s my thinking, anyway!

I’d go X-Men shelf!

We made it to the weekend. Happy Friday, folks!

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie It was early in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie that I was overcome with the film’s innate feeling of familiarity. Everything about it felt comfortable—the characters, music, even the animation …

My review:

Nabbed the bedsheets shirt!

I dunno who needs to hear it, but there’s a new Star Wars TV show called Maul: Shadow Lord and it TOTALLY rules. Beautiful artwork and score, great action, and plenty of Maul.

My Star Wars fandom has been at all all-time low since The Rise of Skywalker, but this is definitely worth watching.

As expected, adored The Super Mario Galaxy Movie! My 4-year-old daughter had what can only be described as a transcendent experience. I think what Nintendo is doing with these movies is really interesting, and can’t wait to write more about that in my review soon.

📽️ I won’t see the Mario Galaxy movie until Sunday, but I’m exhausted from the discourse already. Very telling that virtually everyone who has panned it has also mentioned their kids loved it.

Not that kids are always the arbiters of good taste, but sometimes we forget to just have fun.

For the record, I’m fascinated with it. I think it had a lot to say. Gonna mull it over for a bit.

Can’t remember the last time I watched a movie with my wife and we had WILDLY different reactions to it. But tonight, 28 Years Later had us deeply divided.

28 Days Later I’ve always been drawn to the things that make me uncomfortable. Even as a kid, I’d find a way to watch snippets of horror movies and inevitably traumatize myself. One of the creepier g…

📽️ Had a lot of fun revisiting 28 Days Later. Damn, this holds up so well. Hits just as hard as it did 20 years ago.

My review:

Matt, who hurt you??

Project Hail Mary There’s nothing quite like the mix of anticipation and dread that comes with a film adaptation of a great book. I’ve found that books are nearly always superior to their film counterpar…

📽️ Project Hail Mary was pretty much perfect. Bluesky has never been much of a traffic driver for my website, but taking a shot and adding my review to the mix.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery I’m not sure what I believe in these days. I spent a childhood attending Catholic Church on Sundays, only to abandon my faith in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The sex scandals tha…

📽️ Found myself unexpectedly affected by Wake Up Dead Man, and have been weighing my reaction to it for several weeks. It has so much to say about faith, and I find myself totally enamored with it… even if the whodunit aspect of the film felt like the least interesting thing about it. My review:

I grew up in the era of Chasing Amy ads on the back of all my comics for what was surely 8 years

Not sure I agree with that. I don’t think reviews are meant to be part of the promotional cycle. I spoil stuff all the time, because I’m dissecting a movie and how it makes me feel. Did a twist really work, or not work? Why? Skimming over that does a disservice, I feel. Just my opinion!

Thanks for the recommendation! For me, the latest critic I’ve found who does this so well is @priscillapage.bsky.social.

📽️ Been thinking a lot about the nature of film criticism lately. About how the best critics aren’t the people who dutifully review each new major release, but rather the ones who write with such passion that it drives you to seek out something new. That’s the power of film criticism.

I am flabbergasted at this news, and so so sorry. I got laid off a little over a decade ago, and I don’t think I’ll ever get fully over it. I just can’t even fathom someone laying off THE Matt Zoller Seitz. Hope everything works out and you land smoothly ✊

Never played a cozy game before and after finally giving in and downloading Pokemon Pokopia… oh no… what have I done…

I won’t argue, they’re both really great! I really do think they’re really better thought of as a single movie. But the world building in Way of Water is top notch, and of course the messaging is on point. Thanks for reading!

Avatar: Fire and Ash I guess I’m just a sucker for the Avatar movies. As far as I’m concerned, director James Cameron has crafted an intricate saga filled with memorable characters, exceptional drama, and jaw-dropping …

📽️ Avatar: Fire and Ash is my favorite of the series. It’s a beautifully constructed film with a deep emotional core, compelling characters, and the confidence of an auteur at the top of his game. To me, this film defines cinematic magic. I loved it.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery When Glass Onion was released in 2022, the world was just starting to return to normal following the COVID-19 pandemic. Watching it a few years removed from its original release, I found myself str…

📽️ My review of Glass Onion. Man, this just really hits. Not quite as good as Knives Out, but angrier and with more to say. A warning not enough heeded.

I had a reaction so unexpectedly emotional to this reveal. I never ever thought I’d see this released. I am ecstatic that I’ll get to play these with my daughter!

Shit, forgot Predator: Killer of Killers!

Other "released only on streaming" movies that absolutely deserve a physical release and I'm still steamed they haven't gotten one yet:
- No One Will Save You
- The Tomorrow War
- The Harder They Fall
- Palm Springs
- Tetris

Seeing KPop Demon Hunters and Frankenstein get a Criterion Collection release makes me so happy. But you know what else is deserving of a physical media release? Glass Onion and Wake Up, Dead Man. My Knives Out 4K is lonely! @rianjohnson.bsky.social what do we gotta do to make this a reality?! 😏

Wuthering Heights (2026) I am not the target audience for Wuthering Heights. I knew that going into this film. We all have film genres we tend to gravitate to, and a period romantic drama is not one of mine. That said, I l…

📽️ I went into Wuthering Heights completely blind. It’s a beautiful film, but the casual cruelty of the two main characters left a bad taste in my mouth. For me, it was too shallow and mean to enjoy, and not titillating enough to keep me engaged on a baser level.

My review:

#FilmSky

Oh man, I’m so sorry. Such a violating feeling. Them killing two-factor authentication was such a stupid move.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 I like to think of the first Sonic the Hedgehog film as an appetizer. That film wisely spends a lot of time introducing Sonic and his arch-nemesis Dr. Robotnik, focusing on character and tone rathe…

📽️ Sonic the Hedgehog 2 leans into nostalgia in unobtrusive ways to excite adults who played Sonic games on the Sega Genesis, while tripling down on the heart and humor that made the first film such a hit with younger audiences. My review: