2025 Catch Up: The Day The Earth Blew Up- A Looney Tunes Movie

 A Film that Warner Bros made and then didn't feel like releasing.

In 2025, it finally got released in Theaters and later on Streaming.

Now that it has a UK Release, I've got a Screener to check out...

This is an Origin Story for Daffy Duck and Porky Pig.

In this one, they are raised together by this big old Farmer.

One day, when they are adults, he leaves them to take care of themselves.

As you can see, things are going great!

When an Alien crashes to the Earth, it wrecks their roof and takes over a Scientist.

Now the duo have to fix the roof or be evicted.

Things look up when they meet a new friend, who just happens to work at the Gum Factory in Town.

The job goes well until Daffy sees the Scientist, who is now basically a living zombie.

He sees him put something in the gum and freaks out.

Being Daffy, well, nobody believes him...when they should.

They get help from Penelope and isolate a sample.

It goes...well, I won't SPOIL how it goes.

Sufficed to say, they now know that there's a real threat!

To save the day, they must free the townspeople, stop the Alien and save the Earth itself.

I'm sure they've got this.
Right?

To see how it goes, check it out in Theaters or Stream it on my side of the pond.

A fun, refreshing Film that makes a good use of the Looney Tunes.

This one was a bold pick for a number of reasons.

No Bugs Bunny.
A Sci-Fi Plot.
A Theatrical Release.

By making this one a Buddy Film with Daffy and Porky, it really benefits.  As an ensemble picture, it would mean less time for the growth and less moments for each character.

Said Characters are fun to watch and you empathize with them both.

Peter MacNicol is also great as the Alien.  He has such a great voice for Animation and really goes all out.

The Film goes hard sci-fi in many ways and does feature some scares.  It is still, ultimately, a Looney Tunes Adventure and one I hope that we get more of.

Now open wide...

A fun Film that is a great return to Looney Tunes Animation made for the big screen.  Hopefully, this teaches WB some sort of lesson.

Holiday Flix: Heart Eyes (2025)

 A Holiday based around love and commitment.

A Film about love and death.

This is the most recent Josh Ruben Film known as...

In a (very) Cold Open, we see a pretentious Couple filming their Engagement at a Vineyard.

A masked killer strikes, taking out the Couple, the Videographer and a Cop.

This is the Heart Eyes Killer or HEK for short.
Yes, that is clearly based on BTK.

For the last 2 years, he's had a murder spree of exclusively Couples (plus anyone in the way) in two different Cities.

Now it is the third Valentine's Day and he's, naturally, in the Town where the Film is set.

This is Ally.

She's an Ad Executive whose Marketing Campaign for Jewelry has gone horribly wrong.

She needs to fix it ASAP.

Is it because she doesn't believe in love?

She meet-cutes a guy named Jay (Mason Gooding from Scream 5-6).

He believes in love.
She doesn't.

They kiss.

Unfortunately, that has made them the next target for HEK!

They try to fight HEK.
It doesn't go too well.

They try to flee HEK.
It doesn't go much better.

Things take a turn as Jay is accused of being HEK.

We know that isn't true, but tell it to Hobbs and Shaw (Devon Sawa and Jordana Brewster)- the Detectives on the case.

I won't SPOIL anymore of it, so stream away.

A Film that is a fun blend of Comedy, Romance and Horror.

You shouldn't be able to do all three, but it does.

The Plot plays with conventions, establishing a new killer with a background from the get-go.  We then get Leads that are not the normal kinds of victims.

The whole thing works best once you see the whole Film.  The explanation for the killer makes earlier Scenes make sense.

I like when a twist (or three) actually helps the Movie and not the other way around.

Josh Ruben said in an interview that his goal was to 'shoot the romantic scenes like Nora Ephron and the killer scenes like Wes Craven.'

Sounds crazy, but...yeah, it works.

At its worst, the Film doesn't exactly break the mold.  We'll see what the planned Sequel does.

For now, enjoy this alternate Poster that pays homage to The Burning...

A Film for romantics that like gore OR gore fans feeling a bit romantic.  It's also just pretty damn funny to boot.

Holiday TV: 'Cupid's Quiver' (Friday the 13th: The Series)

 Another Friday the 13th is here.  The first of 3 this Year.

This one comes the day before Valentine's Day, so love is truly in the air!

This is Season 1, Episode 3.  We are checking out...

A man is rejected at a Bar.

In response, he unwraps the Cupid Statuette that he apparently brought with him and uses it to entrance the woman who just turned him down.

Good thing this is Canada- they are too polite to steal it from the bar!

She falls in love with him and they have offscreen sex.

In the afterglow, he tries to choke her to death, spurred on by the creepy Statuette.

He's thankfully interrupted, but a College 'Kid' (who was nearby and called the Cops) takes the Cupid with him.

Our Heroes are now looking for it and we are at the Campus of said College 'Kid.'

We meet Eddie, who is the even creepier version of Langly from The Lone Gunmen and he's fixated on a girl.

He manages to steal the Statuette from the 'Kid' (since he's a lackey who cleans up for the frat).

He uses it at a bar to get what he wants.

In the afterglow, he enacts an elaborate murder plan involving opening a jar of honey, retrieving a Beehive (safely) and locking the woman in the car with said bees.

Foreshadowing the Vampire Bees in Season 2.

He uses it on his unrequited 'love,' but the gang interrupts and chases him off.

He gets Cupid back and gets her to show up...

...but it was actually a trick by our Heroes!

He tries to escape with it yet again, but falls to his death in the process.

Love hurts.

The End.

A tale of an incel decades before the term was coined.

This one is interesting, because they could have made the bad guy pathetic and made you feel sorry for him.  Instead, he's just a creep and you don't.

It is the easier choice, but is it the better one?

The Cupid Statuette is a creepy prop and it is elegant in its simplicity.  The face is creepy.  It moves just enough to let you know that it is magic.

Good work all around.

I appreciate the twists and turns in the tale.  It still goes where you think it will, but I appreciate the journey.
That said, why use bees to kill the girl in the truck?  So random!

All in all, it is a good (and topical) Episode.
Next, you'll tell me that the Director went on to be highly acclaimed or something...

A tale that is about love and rejection.  Just don't reject a chance to revisit this underrated Show.

Tubi Thursday: Ooga Booga (2013)

 A Full Moon has risen yet again.

The Film Company that still thinks that it is 1988 has struck again with another Killer Doll Spin-off Film.

This is...

Deep breath.  Power through it.

We are first introduced to a terrible Kids Show featuring Hambone.

Instead of him, here's his cute Lady Friend.

He's a drunk idiot and he gets fired.  Joy.

He shows off his plan to rebound to his old friend- our Hero.

I won't show most of them, since even the Film calls them 'racist' as part of the Plot.

Thanks to a series of terrible (or terribly written) events, the young black man is killed by a Racist Cop.

As he dies, his soul ends up in the larger version of Hambone's terrible doll, which was given to him as a terrible gift.

He reunites with his Girlfriend and they begin a plan to get revenge.

They have to take out a trio of Racist Drug Dealers, the Racist Cop who killed him, Karen Black (aw...really?!?) and a Racist Judge played by Stacy Keach (aw, really?!?).

This was made in 2013, not 1973.

This Doll is, well, still a doll.

It can do such big feats as stab someone lightly and...that's basically it.

Joy.

The Film is full of Racists- including the one Scene and killed Building Manager- and they die at the tiny spear of Ooga Booga.

Too bad it took them 80 minutes to do this.

The End.

There's a reason that I don't cover Full Moon Films that often.
You see why?

The Film is, I think, supposed to be a Comedy.  I mean...look at the Plot.

A Racist Doll is inhabited by a guy's soul after a malfunctioning slushy machine sparks nears them.
This is all treated seriously.

As noted, every White Guy (save one) is a Racist and gets punished.
The lone exception is the other Cop, who is revealed to have a Black Wife and Biracial Children.

There's one extreme or the other.

Ooga Booga is a Film full of terrible people, good Actors slumming it and very little in the way of proper payoff.
Just...don't.

A Full Moon Film with a killer doll and no Nazis.  In their place, racist jerks and awful writing.

Shudder Day: Dark Match (2024)

 A Film that I nearly did before WrestleMania last year gets a new chance in Black History Month.

And no, it's not just a pun on the word 'Dark' in the Title.
Although I would do that.

This is...

In vaguely the late 80s, a small Indy Wrestling Company takes a big paying gig.

It is in the middle of nowhere, so that's not a red flag or anything.

Little Miss Sunshine 2

The group ends up preparing for a Show at a Church of some kind.

The Heels and Faces (aka Bad Guys and Good Guys) are segregated before it begins.

Thanks a lot, Hacksaw Jim Duggan!

The whole Show is run by a guy called The Leader (not the green guy).

He's Chris Jericho and his Character is the former rival of our main Hero.

Who will make The List?

The matches take a strange turn as the Face Wrestlers now are acting strange.

These are now fights...to the death!

Alliances will be tested.
Lives will be lost.

What is the real reason for this crazy murder Show?

To find out, stream it now.

A Film that has some interesting ideas, but the execution is not amazing.

On the plus side, the Film has a gritty feel.  It is less ridiculous than the Zombie version of this I saw.

The Action is not that great here, as it mostly features non-wrestlers and short bits.  If you come for the Wrestling, this is not for you.

If you're here for the Horror, there's a decent amount of blood and violence.
If you're here to see 'Trevor' from GTA 5, he's definitely here.

The Acting is mostly good to fine.  Nobody is amazing, but nobody sucks.  That said...

We get so many teases of a really interesting Plot.  Maybe a different Film could do more with it.

Oh well, there's always the next Match.

A Film full of promise.  Sadly, it has the Budget of a large cookout and lots of half-finished ideas.

Fiction vs. Fiction: Black Sunday (1977)

 Let's celebrate the Big Game (TM?) with a look at possible peril!

I already watched and reviewed Black Sunday years ago, but didn't get the Book until later.

Well, now let's see how the two match up!

This is...

***VS***

What's the Same?

As the Film is based on the Book, the Plot doesn't change.

It is still about a crazy guy being manipulated into attempting to blow up a blimp during the Superbowl.

What's Different?

For starters, the Film was released 2 years after the Book, so the Setting has to change.  The Book is set when the 1975 Game happened and the Film is set when the 1977 Game happened.

In addition, the Book gives you way more backstory on everyone involved, from the villains to the heroes.  The former gets a whole Chapter to set up why he's so crazy and driven.

Curiously, the biggest difference here is just who survives the Story and who doesn't.

The 3 Writers for the Film mixed things up for one reason or another.  So...

Kabakov (Robert Shaw) dies in the Book, but lives in the Film.
Moshevsky (his Partner) lives int the Book but dies in the Film.

(A random Cop is killed in the partner's place in the Book)

Fasil (the planner) survives to be tried in the Book but dies in the Film.

Muzi (the importer of the explosives) is tortured for information in the Film, but this happens to Fasil in the Book.

In addition, Muzi dies in an explosion set by the villains in the Book, but now he's a Japanese Captain in the Film.

The last big change is in the branding involved.

The Book uses the fill-in TV Station name of NBS, but the Film uses CBS and real Broadcasters.
They also got Goodyear to let them use their blimp, but conditions were attached to this.

They had to say that Landers (the Pilot) was not an official Employee and they couldn't blow up the blimp with 'Goodyear' facing the camera.
No, really.

Final Thoughts

Both versions are good- no question.

One is a tense Book Thriller that really explores the Characters.
One is a tense Film Thriller that delivers on all of the big moments.

To be fair, the finale of the Book is rushed.  They only launch the Blimp in the last EIGHT PAGES (of a 318-page book).

There's really no bad option.

What is Better?

A hard choice, but I give the slight edge in execution to...

The Film

I'm glad that I got around to reading the Book and rewatching the Film.  Give them both a look, honestly.

Bail Bond: Live and Let Die (1973)

Is this still my favorite Bond Film in 2026?

Today's Film is Live and Let Die, a 1973 Film that marks the return of James Bond to Theaters.

After Connery turned down a massive payday (something akin to about $30 million today), a new Bond had to be found...again.
The Producers yet again went to Roger Moore and this time he was free (having been busy doing two different Shows when asked in the past).  He was actually OLDER at this point than Connery was when Diamonds Forever came out but didn't look or feel it.

The Plot is a big swing, going from tales about billionaires wanting world domination to being about a drug kingpin.  It is also heavily a Blaxploitation Film in all of the best (and sometimes worst) ways.

Yaphet Kotto really shines here, also giving us our first Bond Villain of Color.  We also get our first Bond Girl of Color in Gloria Hendry, but I'll get to my issues with that later.

Start humming that Oscar nominated Bond Theme as I dive right into...

In the Cold Open, a trio of Agents are killed while spying on Mr. Big (a drug kingpin) and Kananga (Kotto).

One via sound blast (I think?), one via stabbing and one via snake/voodoo ritual.

Moore got his buddy cast as Agent Dead Meat #2

Bond- after a wacky bit of hiding the lady he just slept with- is off to New York to meet up with Felix (David Hedison) and find out what Mr. Big is up to.

Kananga is also in the City too, which is certainly not a coincidence.

People often refer to Blazing Saddles- released a year later- but I think other Films are more applicable.

Thanks, Tom Mankiewicz.

Bond fails at the Secret part of the Secret Agent role and falls into Mr. Big and later Kananga's clutches, followed the whole time.

He meets Solitaire (Jane Seymour) who is the Fortune Teller/Tarot Card Reader for the latter.

After escaping, he follows the trail to Jamaica, where he meets up with a new CIA contact in Rosie Carver (Hendry).

Her role consists of being scared, being incompetent, having her ass grabbed by Bond...and then being revealed as work for Kananga (not of her own free will).

She dies after running away.

* A sort of progress, no? *

Bond sneaks into Kananga's Base there and meets up with Solitaire.

He tricks her with her cards into sleeping with him, which he doesn't realize will make her 'lose her powers.'

To be fair, she did clearly want to sleep with him, but he did cheat with the cards.

As we end Act 2, Bond meets up with Mr. Big again and then the truth comes out.

Mr. Big is Kananga.

He's planning to flood the US with Drugs and then exploit the addicts.
Don't worry- Trump will pardon you.

In New Orleans, we get two of the Film's iconic Scenes.

A Captured Bond must first find a way to escape crocodiles (and not alligators?) surrounding him.

Later, he takes a speedboat and takes part in a massive, amazing Chase Scene.

*****

A climactic series of Action Scenes ensues.

Bond kills Baron Samedi, he blows up the drug supply and then fights Kananga by some sharks.
Yes, this Film has Crocodiles AND Sharks.

He uses a very recent Chekhov's Gun to blow up the bad guy.

Of course, the Henchman wasn't actually killed and is here for One Last Hurrah.

Bond kills him on the train, in spite of him being a full-on cyborg that looks like Tony Todd.

The End.

A Film that is very dated and very fun.

This Bond Film feels like a breath of fresh air.  After so many Films with Connery (and one with Lazenby), it was needed.

The villain sells drugs.  Bond goes to Harlem.  Voodoo.

Moore is a really great Bond, since he feels so different from Connery.  That's not a dig on him, but you don't want a repeat after a Decade, no?

Kotto and company really shine here as well, chewing the scenery just the right amount.  His plain is crazy.  His demeanor is unbalanced.  He's so good.

The Action Scenes and Atmosphere really seal the deal.  It's so good.  It's so bonkers.
Even better, it is the start of a new Series...

Next up, an Action Film with both Ice T and Cube in it.  That's a good pick for Black History Month, right?  Stay tuned...