The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)::rating::3.5::rating::3.5::rating::3.5

P raise the moon and stars above, for the first time in a long time, we finally get a Marvel movie where we don't have to slog through a dozen movies and TV shows to understand it. Even better, this Fantastic Four doesn't spend an hour pounding its audience over the head with an overwritten origin…

ByTodd WoffordAugust 1, 20250Comments

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Thunderbolts* (2025)::rating::2.5

D eep in its middle age, the MCU has settled into a groove of casual mediocrity. Thunderbolts isn’t terrible—it just treads a well-beaten path with a pronounced yawn. At times, it even drapes itself in the drab dinginess of its dreaded DCEU cousins. So it’s no surprise Thunderbolts earns the same limp C- as The…

ByTodd WoffordJuly 17, 20250Comments

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A Hard Day’s Night (1964)::rating::5

A Hard Day's Night captures the Beatles in that brief window where they all loved being Beatles. The mania they inspired was still a novelty, and they greeted it with an innocent glee. That sense of fun radiates through the entire movie and its soundtrack. For this shining moment, the Beatles lack any awareness of…

ByTodd WoffordJune 12, 20250Comments

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The Dark Knight Rises (2012)::rating::4

E ven before its release, the deck was stacked against The Dark Knight Rises. The track record for sequels is not promising; threequels are even flimsier. (Seriously, count the great third movies. Do you need more than one hand?) To make matters worse, the Batman franchise was fresh from its most ambitious triumph, The Dark Knight. That…

ByTodd WoffordJune 6, 20250Comments

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A Minecraft Movie (2025)::rating::2.5

M any years ago, I recall watching a clip on the YouTubes: In it, a middle-aged man interviewed another middle-aged man. Neither of them spoke a lick of English. (I'll throw a wild guess and say I was hearing Dutch.) One of them must've said something that tickled the other, because they quickly descended into…

ByTodd WoffordJune 1, 20250Comments

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The Dark Knight (2008)::rating::4.5

I n interviews, Christopher Nolan has cited Heat, Michael Mann's 90s-noir masterpiece, as a reference for his approach to The Dark Knight. Naturally, the resulting film borrows quite a few storytelling beats from its ancestor: Knight opens with a frenetic, destructive heist, leaving the cops (and Batman) to sift through the detritus and hunt down their prey. Nolan…

ByTodd WoffordMay 27, 20250Comments

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Batman Begins (2005)::rating::4.5

B atman Begins largely succeeds by finally giving the title character the respect he deserves. For a decade, the franchise had languished in a campy, overblown hell. Previous filmmakers had fatally pigeonholed Batman as a brooding bore, and thus allowed their villains to devour the scenery. As a result, Bruce Wayne often felt like a…

ByTodd WoffordMay 20, 20250Comments

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Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)::rating::4.5

A s a critic, I am bound to acknowledge Raiders of the Lost Ark as the franchise peak. After all, that film represents a perfect alloy of highfalutin craftsmanship and blockbuster mass production. With that said, the heart wants what it wants, and it picks Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade as my emotional…

ByTodd WoffordApril 30, 20250Comments

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Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)::rating::2.5

I ndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is an enduring testament to why most sequels should never exist. After Raiders of the Lost Ark, this is a substantial letdown. From start to finish, it's louder, uglier, and more indulgent than the film the preceded it. Even worse, the filmmakers aim the humor and action for…

ByTodd WoffordApril 23, 20250Comments

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Captain America: Brave New World (2025)::rating::2.5

D espite that ballsy title, there isn't much brave or new about this fourth Captain America film. In fact, much of this overproduced, overextended pseudo-epic reeks of sheer exhaustion: The chummy banter that once distinguished the MCU couldn't feel more forced. All the big speeches lack emotional punch. Those brawny action scenes, all juiced-up with expensive CGI, resemble…

ByTodd WoffordApril 19, 20250Comments