Resistance is Futile: "Ne Zha II," reviewed.

Ne Zha is part boy, part demon, all movie star. (CMC/A24)

 I’m well aware that many an enthusiastic plus-one has endured a similar cycle of befuddlement / intermittent exhilaration / ultimate exhaustion during a quarter-century where in the entire American industry has remade itself in the service of lore-dense, 2.5-hour-plus “Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter” and superhero sagas. No one who can easily tell Mr. Terrific from Mr. Fantastic should complain that a film that has brought so much delight to so many people is too confusing. And yet, I must confess I spent most of the very bright Ne Zha II in the figurative dark.

My Washington Post review of what is currently the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time is here.

Undead Reckoning: "28 Years Later," reviewed.

You can trust him; he’s a doctor. Ralph Fiennes in 28 Years Later.

I don’t know if I need two more of these in the next couple of years, but 28 Years Later, the reunion of director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland 23 year after their influential zombie flick 28 Days Later, is pretty great. My Washington City Paper review is here.

Prattle & Hum: "Bono: Stories of Surrender," reviewed.

Unos, dos, tres, catorce! My review of Andrew Dominik’s film of the stage play of this book is one of the three pieces I have in yer Washington Post today.

The Spy Who Fed Me: "Black Bag," reviewed.

Black Bag boasts a killer cast of trained killers.

My City Paper review of Black Bag, the second David Koepp-Steven Soderbergh collaboration this young year, is here. Good movie!

Ursine O' the TImes: "Paddington in Peru," reviewed.

A bear in his natural habitat. (Sony)

My Washington Post review of the jungle-action three-quel Paddington in Peru is here.

The Power of the "Dog Man"

Squirrels and criminals beware. (Dreamworks)

Look, I didn’t hallucinate the ALIENS and Die Hard quotes in Dog Man; they were really there. The only thing that came out of my draft of my Washington Post review was where I pointed out that the bloodless canine-human head-trade in this PG-rated movie reminded me of the cranial swap in the original 1958 version of The Fly.

Lupine Intervention: "Wolf Man," reviewed.

Julia Garner, Christopher Abbot, and Matilda Firth have a wolf problem. (Blumhouse)

Leigh Wannell’s 2020 Invisible Man was so strong that I had high hopes for his next update of a Universal Monsters classic. But his new Wolf Man is oddly toothless.

"Moana 2" is a Sea-Plus Musical Sea-Quel

Maui and Moana return in Moana 2, a film as inspired as its title. (Disney)

The Disney musical sequel Moana 2 is, like David Lynch’s surreal adult masterpiece Mulholland Drive before it, a repurposing of material originally intended for the small screen. My Washington Post review is here.