Hops and Box Office Flops

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was the bite-sized hero's attempt to elevate the stakes of his solo outings. With Kang—the MCU's big bad in waiting—as the film's central villain, it was meant to serve as a narrative intro for the next Avengers team up. Alas, that appears like it is not to be. Even before Jonathan Majors, the actor portraying Kang, ran afoul with the law, Quantumania's poor revie...

The Flash , despite the character's powers, took forever to speed its way to the big screen. Originally announced as part of DC's film slate in 2014, it would be nine long years before it was finally released. During that time, numerous directors and writers were attached and then detached from the project. Ultimately, amid numerous legal troubles, Ezra Miller would return to star and IT's Andy Mu...

Blue Beetle is the type of superhero film that seems to be in increasingly rare supply these days. It places character firmly over spectacle, and in doing so, gives us one of the most heartfelt comic book films of recent memory. If you're not familiar with the character, Blue Beetle is sort of extraterrestrial Ironman. The character, Jaime Reyes, is human, but the tech, Khaji Da, is alien. The two...

Half Past Dead is the last feature film with Steven Seagal as the main star to earn a theatrical release. If one were to track what came after, that would come as no surprise. In his thankfully short-lived action cinema prime, Seagal was serviceable. Light on charm, looks, and acting acumen, his unique brand of punishment was entertaining enough. But, as the years and the pounds piled on, the shee...

Expend4bles is the epitome of milking an idea dry. It's lazy, visually a mess, and its narrative is almost completely nonsensical. Worse, like the third entry in the series, Expend4bles doesn't seem to grasp what made people interested in its concept in the first place. We lose even more of the action stars we all love and replace them with even less interesting people. Sure, this one returns the...

Written and directed by Taran Killam, Killing Gunther is a mockumentary centering on a group of incompetent assassins who assemble to take down the world's best hitman. It is a wonderfully comedic and weird film that was unfortunately slept on by both critics and viewers. Grossing less than $200,000, Killing Gunther never found much of an audience. But it should have. Its cast of eclectic characte...

Hollywood Homicide is a delightful mismatched buddy cop comedy. Unfortunately, everyone hated it, including its star—Harrison Ford. Written and directed by Ron Shelton, of Bull Durham and Tin Cup fame, Hollywood Homicide channels the real life exploits of one-time Los Angeles policeman Robert Souza. Judging by some of the movie's subplots, reality is indeed stranger than fiction. Speaking of those...

Die Hard and Lethal Weapon are two of the great 80s action movie. That much is indisputable. But they are also both set during the Christmas season. On this podcast, we debate which is the better Christmas movie.  So, sit back, revel in the holiday spirit with either a Merry Monkey from Victory Brewing or an Abita Christmas Ale , and don't think you're too old for this shit! I, the Thunderous Wiza...

Just Friends is a charming little comedy starring Ryan Reynolds before he ascended into super stardom. As Chris Brander, Reynolds plays a heavy-set high schooler whose love for his best friend Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart) is unrequited. Flash forward 10 years and Brander is now fit and successful. He begrudgingly returns to his hometown in New Jersey and takes one last shot with his longtime crush....

Palm Springs is a cinematic gem that went under the radar in 2020. Released at the height of the pandemic, it's an uproariously funny time loop movie, centering on a man stuck at a miserable wedding. When said man, Niles played by Andy Sandberg, mistakenly drags a fellow guest into the unending cycle, the real fun begins. Like Groundhog Day, Palm Springs is very much about our lead characters—the...

So I Married an Axe Murderer came hot off the heels of the mega hit Wayne's World. Unfortunately for Mike Myers, it could not replicate the famous skit's success. Banking just north of $11 million, So I Married and Axe Murderer was a box office bomb. But any child of the 90s will tell you that it's still a damn good time. This is peak Myers, a time when his oddball characters were still funny. It'...

Summer Catch came at the peak of Freddie Prinze, Jr. mania. He was sort of the king of sub-par romantic comedies in the mid-2000s, and like the rest of his films, this one, too, is mediocre. Full of cringeworthy schmaltz and baseball scenes that strain credibility, Summer Catch is exactly what one would expect from a genre that feasts on the contrived. It's got the local boy (Prinze, Jr.) trying t...

Werewolves Within —which is as loosely based on a video game as possible—is a horror/comedy whodunnit that relies far more on humor than gore. And, for the most part, it works well. Starring Sam Richardson as bumbling park ranger Finn Wheeler, Werewolves Within never takes itself too seriously. Beaverfield, VT, is a small-town full of eclectic stereotypes of modern America. From the uppity gas pip...

Renfield is a delightful little horror comedy chronicling the titular character's toxic relationship with his master, Count Dracula. Featuring Nicholas Hoult as Renfield and Nicolas Cage as that overbearing boss, it's a film that works despite its own confusion on what it wants to be. Cage is phenomenal as Dracula and Hoult is charming as the nebbish Renfield. Their interplay almost universally hi...

The Blackening is a satirical take on the horror genre. Poking fun at the trope of the Black character dying first, it offers an interesting quandary for the killer: If every character is Black, they can't all die first. Based on a skit of the same name, The Blackening makes good on that premise. It is often hilarious, has a ton of fun playing with that central theme, and features a great cast of...

Any Given Sunday is a brutal, uncompromising look at the world of pro football. It's never subtle—in either its performances or depictions—which unfortunately is what ultimately hamstrings it. Oliver Stone over-directs the hell out of this movie. From its frequent cuts to its odd insertions of clips from other films, Any Given Sunday is full on cinematic whiplash.  For the actual football scenes,...

Dazed and Confused is flat out a classic. Focusing on a group of wayward teens in 70s Austin, Texas, it somehow remains one of the most relatable looks at the high school experience. Sure, some things don't really translate to the present—the hazing, for example—but few movies have captured the essence of what it's like to feel stuck, even though your whole life is still in front of you. One of th...

The Replacements is a fairly derivate football film about a group of underdogs overcoming the odds. It takes elements of Major League, Necessary Roughness, and even the kid-centric Little Giants and throws them into a blender, producing a jumbled blend of bits done better in other movies. Despite all that, The Replacements somehow still works. That is due in large part to the sheer charisma of Kea...

In The Faculty , a malevolent alien force descends upon Herrington High School and begins taking over—one hapless teacher at a time. It is up to the students—a ragtag group of people who wouldn’t be caught dead together otherwise—to put a stop to it. Written by Kevin Williamson, who also co-wrote Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Faculty is a hip, high school-centric take on Invasion...

Heavyweights is a kid friendly take on the the traditional slobs versus snobs trope. In it, a group of kids are supposed to be headed to enjoy an awesome summer; but once there, they discover that the beloved owners of Camp Hope were forced to sell to an obnoxious fitness freak, Tony Perkis. It's Perkis' mission to whip these kids into shape—only not for their own benefit. He's trying to sell an i...

Wet Hot American Summer is an absolute cult classic. Boasting a cast on the cusp of superstardom, it is everything an eccentric comedy full of funny people should be. As in, it is hilarious. Wet Hot American Summer eschews plot in favor of nonsensical hijinks and non sequiturs. The things that happen vaguely follow its story, but they are much more in service to its anarchic stylings. That sense o...

Indian Summer is a heartwarming, ensemble comedy in the vein of The Big Chill. Seven friends, all at differing existential crises, reunite for one last magical summer at Camp Tamakwa, a seminal experience in each of their lives. Their mentor, camp owner Unca Lou, brings them all together because he, too, is at a crossroads. It's his last summer running the camp. That's the backdrop, but what makes...

Sleepaway Camp is considered an 80s horror cult classic. That is due in large part to its big final act twist. Otherwise, though, it's your general run-of-the-mill slasher that is too often derivative of better films in the genre, especially Friday the 13th. Sleepaway Camp boasts a laughably bad script, one made worse by the casts' delivery of it. And the kills—unfortunately—consistently fail to i...

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a wonderful and heartfelt sendoff to one of cinema's greatest heroes. It makes bold narrative decisions and gives us an Indy who's a man out of time. That may sound depressing—and there certainly are tough moments—but it's not. The heaviness of Dial of Destiny's story is what makes it work. It can be extremely compelling to see our heroes vulnerable, watchi...

Mac and Me is an unapologetic clone of E.T., a far superior movie. It's weird, loaded with unintentional laughs, and packed with an obscene amount of product placement. We're not joking. Mac and Me boasts a scene of the titular alien dancing on the counter of a McDonald's — in a bear suit, no less. These extraterrestrials also drink Coca Cola as their life blood, a fact that comes sadly into play...