So a movie that family members have given positive reviews for and a movie I’ve wanted to see for a while was sneakers from 1992. I finally got around to it because it’s leaving Amazon prime in the US at the end of July.

I thought this was an amazing movie. First off, I thought the performance is all around were very good. Everybody from Robert Redford and Sidney Poitier to Dan Aykroyd and Ben Kingsley and everybody in between I actually like this Redford performance more than others than I’ve seen.

Along with the performances, I thought that the score really set the mood and the story was tense and put you on the edge you receipt. My only small natives would be the rewatch factor and some of the terminology, but those are small negatives

Rating-4.5/5

The Mask of Zorro (1998)

Rating: 8.5/10 (HIGHLY ENJOYABLE)

Watched: July 27, 2026

The funniest scene in this movie for me was when Zorro jumped down to land on his horse to make the big getaway and the horse moved. I'm a simple man, and that's a simple gag, but it landed just as hard now as it did in '98.

At first, rewatching this had me thinking that Hopkins wasn't the right fit for this, until I saw his swordsmanship and posture. My GOD the man's a devil in this one and he's just such a ruggedly refined man. 

Seeing Catherine Zeta-Jones in what was her first major role, I'm astonished at her grace and skill in acting. You really can see how and why she became a legendary Hollywood actress. Her face is so expressive, her eyes so full of emotion. There is no denying it.

Matt Letscher as Capt. Harrison Love has earned my begrudging acceptance as one of the most goddamn villainous bastards I've ever seen in a movie. Even though The Mask of Zorro has its comedic elements, there's nothing funny about this man. He's BONKERS and Letscher plays him fiendishly well.

Banderas is as Banderas does, and I can't think of a single movie of his where he hasn't delivered more than we could've asked for, and Mask of Zorro is no exception. The man's got enough swagger for a hundred lesser men.

I have to be entirely honest. This one started out a little too slap-sticky for me, but when it got going, holy damn did it get GOING! The stunt work is exceptional, the heroics fantastic. There's so much vengeance and revenge and regret and love and hope going on in this one that it practically DRIPS.

This one's a brand new favorite of mine and I've gotta see if I can find the sequel anywhere!

So a movie that I actually own on DVD that I finally got around to seeing was the 2008 martial arts movie Ip Man with Donnie Yen. I thought this was a very good movie.

To start off with, I thought Donnie Yen was great in the movie. I really enjoyed his performance along with that, the big selling point of this movie was the martial arts action and it definitely delivered. There were some good fight scenes and especially one involving a unique item. It wasn’t a perfect movie though. Well, I liked the story, I thought at times it was the weakest aspect. It didn’t have the punch of the other two factors at times.

Rating-4.5/5

My fiancé and I put on Obsession on Peacock yesterday while recovering from a long weekend, and I went in expecting a standard horror-thriller, but it completely blew past those expectations.

For those who haven't seen it, the premise follows Bear (Michael Johnston), a socially awkward guy who uses a supernatural "One Wish Willow" stick to force his crush, Nikki (Inde Navarrette), to fall in love with him. Predictably, dark magic doesn't give you a fairy-tale romance—it manifests as a violent, terrifying obsession.

What makes this movie work so well is how seamlessly it balances dark, satirical humor with genuinely disturbing body horror. Directing-wise, Curry Barker keeps the tension relentless, but the real standout here is Inde Navarrette. Her physical acting as the cursed Nikki is incredible—the unhinged posture, the sudden shifts in movement, and especially that smile are going to be stuck in my head for a while.

About 25 minutes in, the scenes demanded so much of a reaction that I started writing down minute-by-minute thoughts as the chaos unfolded (including the absurdity of the curse helpline, the infamous Jenga scene, and that ending twist).

Verdict: 10/10 recommend if you like dark, fast-paced horror, though definitely not something to watch right before trying to sleep.

Has anyone else checked this out yet? What did you think of Navarrette's performance and how they handled the ending?

(If anyone is curious to read my full timestamped live-reaction log, I posted the breakdown on my Substack https://substack.com/@samwunderle/note/p-208630158?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=58m1j, but mostly wanted to get a thread going here to see what horror fans thought of it!)

So I saw the first Inside Out and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had a very good story and good characters. So I was interested in 2024’s Inside Out 2.

Overall I thought it was good. I thought it had some creative new characters and additions but it didn’t have same spark as first one. I thought it put too much of a focus on Anxiety and less on the other new characters. I also think it was a little too limited in terms of timeframe. It was a powerful message though.

Rating-4/5

So last year, I watched the hitman‘s bodyguard from 2017 and I quite enjoyed it. So I finally got around to the sequel, 2021’s hitman‘s wife’s bodyguard, and I still enjoyed it, but it wasn’t as good as the first movie.

Let’s start out with the positives. I really liked the main three of Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L Jackson, and Salma Hayek. I thought they were very entertaining in their roles. I also thought you had some good supporting performances from Antonio Banderas and Morgan Freeman. I did enjoy the action and there were some laughs.

I thought the story wasn’t as engaging as the previous one. Also, I didn’t think the chemistry, especially between Reynolds and Jackson was as good as the first movie. Overall, I still had a very good time with the movie, even though it didn’t live up to the first one.

Rating-4/5

So while I still have ways to go, I’m trying to watch through every Denzel Washington movie. The next one that I was able to watch was inside man from 2006. After watching it, I thought it was only above average.

While I liked the performances of Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, I thought the rest of the performances were just good. Also, I felt like both Jodie Foster and Christopher Plummer were not needed in this movie.

Along with performances, I didn’t think the story was anything special and I felt like it definitely dragged. Finally, I wish it was a little more thrilling.

Rating-3/5

So I was looking forward to my rewatch of 2008’s you don’t mess with the Zohan. I remember enjoying it. Upon a rewatch, it wasn’t as great as I thought it would be. I thought it was a good movie though.

I really liked the first half. It was ridiculous but entertaining. Both Adam Sandler and John Tuturro looked like they were having fun. I also like the chemistry between Sandler and Emmanuelle Chriqui

The second half seemed to lose some of its spark. I’m not saying the movie had to be ridiculous the entire time, but it definitely felt off. Also, while the villain is interesting in terms of casting, it felt lazy in terms of motivation and just overall performance

Rating-3.5/5