REWATCH THIS SPACE: EVERY 2025 VIDEO

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Rewatch This Space looks back at every episode of Watch This Space produced and released in 2025.   ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: December 30th 2025  #compilation #movies #tv #reviews

Transcript

00:00:19Happy New Year when you're watching this because I wrote and made this episode well in advance

00:00:25and also it may not be New Year's when you watch this considering how much lists I've

00:00:29made. Anyway, 2024 was a midly premix in general but as we enter a new year it's good to look

00:00:36forward mostly to the films because yeesh and 2025 seems to have a pretty interesting slay ahead of

00:00:42us so let's get into it. Honourable Mentions. So a little house clean in this section is for films

00:00:48I'm interested in seeing but either didn't make it into the final 10 or I just found more interesting

00:00:54but I don't know if it's getting a release this year especially if it might be released at a

00:01:00festival where it sometimes takes years for it to be seen by the general public so here are the

00:01:05honourable mentions. Aztec Batman. Now on the surface this may seem like another animated Batman movie

00:01:13those usually are a dime a dozen on the DTV market but this one is something you should check out

00:01:19mostly for the premise. What if Batman but instead of Gotham City it's Aztec Mexico. This looks interesting

00:01:24blending real history with comic book superheroics with Hernan Cortez being a version of Two-Face and

00:01:30it's cool to see an interpretation of a hero from a different country than we used to so there's

00:01:35something to look forward to in that.

00:01:42Queens of the Dead. On the surface this might seem like another comedic zombie film but what piqued my

00:01:48interest for this film is who's directing it. Tina Romero daughter of George A Romero so yeah it's

00:01:53cool to see if this might be like her father's or that most likely judging by the title and the

00:01:59comedic

00:01:59set up strike out in her own it's got an interesting cast as well so yeah I hope see if

00:02:05this gets

00:02:05released this year.

00:02:13Red Sonja. MJ Bass is a filmmaker I don't see talk about much. She's done a lot of action and

00:02:18horror

00:02:18movies like 2002's Death Watch or that Megan Fox Line movie from 2020 and she's done TV work on

00:02:24action shows like Ash vs. Evil Dead, Strike Back and the first trans person to work on an MCU project

00:02:29by

00:02:30directing an episode of Iron Fist. Now she's done an adaptation of Red Sonja and if you've seen her last

00:02:35Howard adaptation Solomon Cain then you can see she has to drop to direct it and I'm very interested to

00:02:39see what can she do with this property.

00:02:48Retreat. Now this looks interesting. Retreat is a thriller film with an all death cast and that's something we don't

00:02:53usually see a lot of. Now not a lot of disabled people get off opportunities like this and I think

00:02:58if we want to see films that reflect the world we live in we should champion films that do stuff

00:03:01like this.

00:03:07And now onto the 10 films I'm excited for this year.

00:03:12Number 10. Battle of Thorn High. Jokot Anwar is a filmmaker from Indonesia I'm interested in but I haven't watched

00:03:20most of his films. I've seen his Saint Slaves remake slash prequel and I'm interested in what he's made which

00:03:25ranges from horror films, dramas to even Indonesia's very own superhero franchise.

00:03:29And his next film Battle of Thorn High sets to be the first collaboration between a Hollywood studio and Indonesia

00:03:35and that seems pretty neat.

00:03:37Number 9. 28 Years Later.

00:03:3928 Days Later to me is several things. One of the best modern zombie movies, one of the best British

00:03:44movies and one of the best British horror films and that's a good line up to be a part of.

00:03:47So now we're getting another sequel with original director Dane Boyle, original writer Alex Garland and original star Cillian Murphy

00:03:53back with actors like Jodie Comt, Murr, Arentaine O'Johnson and Ralph Fiennes.

00:04:02And what seems to be the start of the new trilogy and judged by the trailer looks really good.

00:04:06I might be infected with Rage Vibes because I'm not walking to see this film.

00:04:15Number 8. Wildwood.

00:04:17It wouldn't be an anticipated list without at least one entry from one of the prestige animation studios.

00:04:23Either it all looks fun, co-directed by Dominic Shee who else did the fun time in red.

00:04:32We're getting another Zootopia movie and Bad Guys 2 looks fun but it's like as Wildwood which has piqued my

00:04:37interest.

00:04:38Because I don't usually pump out a film every year like the other studios so it feels like an event.

00:04:43The film also boasts a good cast and judging by the teaser trailer it still has that handcrafted look that

00:04:48the other films usually have.

00:04:55Number 7. The Naked Gun.

00:04:57I feel like it's been said before, and I'm going to repeat it here, that good spoof movies don't get

00:05:02made anymore.

00:05:02Especially in the vein of the Zucker, Abram, Pans and Zucker films with their blend of Joker Mini and sight

00:05:07gags that gave their films their own identity.

00:05:09And that is often hard to replicate.

00:05:11So imagine my excitement that Zuff McFarland and Akiva Schaefer of The Lonely Island are making a reboot with perfectly

00:05:16cast Liam Neeson in the Frank Drebin role.

00:05:19It seems like a perfect fit.

00:05:27Number 6. The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnot.

00:05:30Another animated film, this time from director Sylvain Chomet.

00:05:34The director behind films like Triplets of Bellevue and The Illusionist.

00:05:38Yeah, so if you know your animated movies, or your French movies, you know.

00:05:42Number 5. Frankenstein and The Bride.

00:05:46Showing a number 5 spot, because my list, by rules, and because they're very similar.

00:05:50Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein and Mary General's The Bride.

00:05:53Both are adaptations of the Mary Sheppily novel.

00:05:56One is by a director who's an obvious match for the source material,

00:05:58generally by his appreciation of the genre and how it shows in his films.

00:06:01And the other seems like an interesting take.

00:06:03It's a musical with a good cast behind it.

00:06:05It's feeding my Frankenstein itch.

00:06:19Number 4. The Fantastic Four. The First Steps.

00:06:23Obviously, at the number 4 spot, it's The Fantastic Four.

00:06:27Marvel's First Family finally comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe,

00:06:30and with a good cast and director behind it.

00:06:33And with the same being an alternate 1960s, this film seems like a good time,

00:06:36and it'd be very interesting to see how it ties in with Marvel's multiversal machinations.

00:06:48Number 3. Wake Up Dead Man.

00:06:50Rian Johnson is doing another 9th South Mystery with Daniel Craig in it,

00:06:53and like always, it has a good cast set,

00:06:55it'll do another good twist within a twist-like lawsuit,

00:06:58and hopefully it'll be a good time.

00:07:06Number 2. The Life of Chuck.

00:07:08Mike Flanagan's latest film for the first six years is coming,

00:07:12and already has racked up a lot of praise at its festival run,

00:07:15and in the people's choice of all that tick.

00:07:17It sees Flanagan adapt Stephen King again,

00:07:19and it seems to be doing, not in the vein of a horror film,

00:07:21like he's known for, but in the vein of a Frank Capra film.

00:07:24Seems like it's going to be great.

00:07:27Number 1. Superman.

00:07:29James Gunn is doing a Superman movie,

00:07:30and if you can see how he managed to balance optimism

00:07:32with the Ethan Crude and Widow elements of the Marvel Universe,

00:07:35and judging by his previous DC work,

00:07:37they need a perfect fit.

00:07:38It's also exciting to see this kick off another DC film universe

00:07:41that feels more confident and more impressive

00:07:43of the elements of Superman

00:07:44that haven't gotten the love in previous films.

00:07:46I'm really excited to see what James Gunn can do with this.

00:07:54And that was with my anticipated films of 2025.

00:07:57Are there any other films you're excited for this year?

00:07:59Please comment below, and also like and subscribe.

00:08:07Well, it's the end of the year, and despite everything else,

00:08:10the movies were good.

00:08:11It was a year about the horrors of pregnancy, clowns,

00:08:14films about TV, prequels, unconventional music biopics,

00:08:18and multi-part films.

00:08:20So here's a list of my favourite films of the year.

00:08:23Now, before we get into this list,

00:08:24I know that I'm going to get asked in the comments section

00:08:27about why I left out certain films in this list.

00:08:29Well, certain Oscar movies,

00:08:31The Complete Unknown, The Brutalist, etc,

00:08:34don't get released in the UK until January,

00:08:36so that's why they're not on the list.

00:08:38I haven't seen the film that you might mention,

00:08:41because I mostly do this channel more as a hobby,

00:08:43but I can probably monetize if I can reach a certain number of subscribers.

00:08:47Please subscribe.

00:08:48So I'm not a professional film critic in that sense,

00:08:50so I don't often watch as many films as most professional film critics do,

00:08:54and I just didn't get to see certain films.

00:08:56Draw number two? Didn't see it.

00:08:58Queer? Didn't see it.

00:08:59I saw the TV glow?

00:09:01Regrettably, I didn't get to see it.

00:09:03Why is this 2023 film here?

00:09:05Certain films and questions would have had a festival run in the year before,

00:09:08but have been given a general release this year, which is fair game.

00:09:11I watched it, liked it,

00:09:12I didn't put it on the list because I saw something I thought was better,

00:09:15but don't worry, that's why we have honorable mentions.

00:09:21Acquired Place, day one.

00:09:22This prequel managed to pack a lot of heart in an alien invasion story,

00:09:26showing that in dire circumstances there's still something to fight for.

00:09:30Fury Elsa.

00:09:31Another prequel, this time playing like the slower and observant

00:09:34opposite to Fury Road's high energetic chase.

00:09:38Rita.

00:09:39A dark fantasy that is sometimes harrowing, but still helpful in some spots.

00:09:43Not an easy watch, but still good.

00:09:46Stop Motion.

00:09:47Horror and animation combine to make an interesting and unique film,

00:09:51but it doesn't break new ground in certain regards,

00:09:53but the stop motion animation makes it something worth you to seek out.

00:09:57The Wild Robot.

00:09:59Originally I wanted to put this on my top ten list, but it got organized out,

00:10:02so that gives you an example of how good it was.

00:10:05Animation is bright and colorful,

00:10:06there's a lot to say about motherhood, and some good voice performances

00:10:09are in the film as well.

00:10:11If that was out of the way, in alphabetical order,

00:10:13it's time for my favorite films of 2024.

00:10:18Onora.

00:10:18Sean Baker delivers another look at sex work,

00:10:20this time detailing a romance between a stripper and a son of an oligarch,

00:10:23which starts out like a Cinderella story, but collides into something more tragic,

00:10:26but still funny.

00:10:27Ike Madison is great, given a belt of performance,

00:10:29but I think praise shall also be given to the supporting cast,

00:10:32who gives this film some extra depth that makes this work very well.

00:10:37Conclave.

00:10:38Edward Burgess Pontiff Election Thriller is an engaging and timely examination of faith

00:10:44and the inter-politics of places like the Vatican,

00:10:47with material that might seem a bit dull on one hand,

00:10:49the director and an excellent cast elevate it into a stirring chamber drama

00:10:53about faith, authority and how people seek it.

00:10:57Daughters.

00:10:58There was a bunch of interesting documentaries I must watch this year,

00:11:01like Wargames or Remarkable Life Iblen,

00:11:04but sadly I didn't get to watch them.

00:11:05But I managed to watch this kind and heartfelt documentary called Daughters.

00:11:09Daughters is about the father-daughter dance in prison,

00:11:12a program set up by the film's co-director Angela Patton

00:11:15to help develop the ones between daughters and their fathers who are in jail.

00:11:18While other films would gesture at the American Prison Industrial Complex,

00:11:21which this film does,

00:11:22this film wisely focuses on fathers and daughters

00:11:24and doesn't play up things for dramatic effect,

00:11:27showing how everyone is feeling.

00:11:28It's a feel-good film about reconciliation.

00:11:31In a violent nature.

00:11:33In a slasher movie archetype has been done before in films,

00:11:36like the remake of Maniac for Elijah Wood or Behind the Mask,

00:11:38but what In a Violent Nature does is take a more slower atmospheric approach to it,

00:11:42often feeling like slow-simmer,

00:11:44and when I can tell what horror movie franchise it's riffing on,

00:11:47the film stands on its own as a damn good slasher with some great kills.

00:11:51Long Legs.

00:11:52Osgood Perkins, his horror thriller,

00:11:55is a creepy and dark film.

00:11:56His direction is great,

00:11:57and a lot of use of riding close-up shots and making the film feel uncomfortable,

00:12:01aided by a good Nicolas Cage performance,

00:12:02which I've heard other people seem to have a place with,

00:12:05but I thought it added to the creepiness.

00:12:06Micah Monroe also gives a good performance here as well,

00:12:09turned a lot through looks and reactions.

00:12:11Long Legs is a creepy film,

00:12:12a good one,

00:12:13but yeah, it's creepy.

00:12:15Look Back.

00:12:16One thing that made 2024 noticeable was that there was a noticeable lack of comic book films.

00:12:20Well, there was one MCU film in Dead Point War 3,

00:12:23which is more of a Fox X-Men film.

00:12:24We had all the Spider-Man-less Spinner films that didn't take off,

00:12:27a long job too,

00:12:28and oh yeah, they made another Chrome movie.

00:12:30But not every comic book has capes and cows,

00:12:32and Look Back is probably one of the best comic book films of the year,

00:12:35one of the best animated films of the year,

00:12:36and one of the best films about comic books.

00:12:38Based on the one-shot manga by Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto,

00:12:42it's a great film about collaborative creativity,

00:12:44and the friendships that can be born out of it,

00:12:46being a sweet and heartfelt film.

00:12:47While this film has a short run time,

00:12:50and some moments might feel fleeting,

00:12:51but it tells the story how it wants to,

00:12:53and does so in the right way,

00:12:55the animation is pretty good as well.

00:12:57Rebel Ridge.

00:12:58What's that's out?

00:12:59Like we're from First Blood,

00:13:00turns into a pretty good action film,

00:13:01with a lot of things on it's fine,

00:13:02it's good examination on the American justice system,

00:13:05and policing,

00:13:05but there was a bunch of damn good action scenes,

00:13:07making a good balance.

00:13:08It's also impressive in how the main protagonist doesn't kill anyone,

00:13:11but in how other action films go,

00:13:13and works hand in hand with director Jeremy Saulnier's other works like Blue Ruin,

00:13:17and how it looks at violence.

00:13:19Aaron Pierre is cool as lead,

00:13:20and Don Johnson should be put on Mount Rushmore of actors who play corrupt policemen well.

00:13:25The first element.

00:13:26One of 2024's bigot trends was films about pregnancy.

00:13:29We had comedies about pregnancy like Baves,

00:13:32but majority were horror films like The Rosemary's Babies prequel,

00:13:35Apartment 7A,

00:13:36Alien Romulus,

00:13:37Immaculate with Sydney Sweeney,

00:13:39and my pick, The Elmen prequel,

00:13:40The First Elmen.

00:13:41Yeah, don't know why there's a bunch of movies about the horrors of your body being used to further someone

00:13:46else's ends.

00:13:47Anyway, The First Elmen has no right to be as good as a prequel to The Elmen could be,

00:13:50but director Akasha Stevenson makes some creepy and disturbing imagery that sticks with you,

00:13:54and now Tiger 3 also gives it her role in this film as well.

00:13:58It feels like a satanic called The Midwife episode,

00:13:59but it's a damn fine horror film.

00:14:02The Shadow Strays.

00:14:03I've already reviewed this in depth,

00:14:05but to repeat myself,

00:14:06Team of Jahangels' Shadow Strays is a brutal and abitual and intense action film.

00:14:10Fracture scenes that are as tense as they are bloody,

00:14:12he doesn't pull any punches,

00:14:13and that doesn't make it hard not to look away,

00:14:15and still adds a human element that makes the film all the more engaging.

00:14:19The Substance.

00:14:20Another film I've already reviewed,

00:14:21but in short, The Substance is a creepy and timely film that can be a good treat to you,

00:14:24un-aged, the media industry and what it does to being a woman,

00:14:27and also a great body horror film that M.H. works from Ronenberg and Brian Usner,

00:14:30which stands out on its own.

00:14:31Dummy Moore gives a good performance here,

00:14:33along with Mark Qualey,

00:14:34who had a good year herself,

00:14:35being in the under-aid driver-aid dolls,

00:14:37and a Yorgos Lathamos kind of kindness.

00:14:39The Substance is a great horror movie,

00:14:41and one of the best of the year.

00:14:42That's why it deserves the place on this list.

00:14:44So those were my favourite films of the year.

00:14:46What were yours?

00:14:46Please comment below and like and share.

00:14:53This is probably old news, but according to comicbook.com,

00:14:56DC Studios head James Gunn was asked at a studio event

00:14:59about the idea of a DC Comics answer to the recent video game Marvel Rivals,

00:15:03the hero shooter with characters from DC's fellow publisher Marvel,

00:15:07saying,

00:15:07totally possible.

00:15:08I'll be open to it.

00:15:09Now this got me pondering the idea about what characters should be in a hypothetical DC hero shooter,

00:15:14but then my mind wandered into a more interesting topic.

00:15:17Who gets to be in a hypothetical DC hero shooter?

00:15:20What I mean by this is that one of the reasons I think Marvel Rivals is a big success,

00:15:24non-gameplay rise, I don't play it,

00:15:26is because it has a good variety of A-list characters,

00:15:28but also more lesser-known characters in its roster.

00:15:31Cloak and Dagger, Magic, Luna Snell, Squirrel Girl, and Jeff the Landshark

00:15:34aren't characters you think of when you hear the words Marvel,

00:15:37and I think embracing that variety and having deep cuts along with the A-list is good.

00:15:41Heck, this expands to the non-playable characters as well,

00:15:44with them going with Galacto instead of Galactus.

00:15:46So, which obscure or lesser-known characters can a hypothetical DC hero shooter use?

00:15:51DC has a lot of characters from different eras, companies, time periods, universes, galaxies,

00:15:56and everybody can't all be in one game, but there's still a big pool to choose from.

00:16:00From the Golden Age to the Modern Age to the Slightly Strange to the Downright Serious

00:16:04and some from different time periods.

00:16:06It's a big roster to pick and choose from,

00:16:08so it does seem a bit of a daunting task to choose from.

00:16:10Another thing about Marvel Rivals that have got going for them is diversity.

00:16:13Yeah, Tavell's watching this and are about to flood my comments with

00:16:16Why are you putting the new, well, goodnest reply characters over more traditional and normal ones?

00:16:22Comics have always been diverse and Marvel Rivals has embraced that aspect as well,

00:16:26not just the fact that it has characters like Storm, Luna Snell, and Black Panther,

00:16:29but also characters of a diverse background, taking the mantle of traditionally right characters like Iron Fist here,

00:16:34who isn't Danny Rand, but Lin Lee,

00:16:37and the name in this game is more inspired by the Mesoamerican version from Black Panther Wakanda Forever.

00:16:42And DC has got a relatively diverse series to choose from,

00:16:44both original characters but also legacy characters as well.

00:16:48Also, they could kind of make characters who are traditionally portrayed and depicted as white into other races.

00:16:56I mean, DC has done other adaptations where they've done this before and they've been doing it for years.

00:17:02Also, maybe change the gender of certain characters as well.

00:17:06Again, that's another thing DC's done throughout its adaptations,

00:17:10so that'd be kind of cool to see and, you know,

00:17:12it would make the hypothetical game better representative of the world that we live in.

00:17:17Another thing DC has is a lot of heroes with disabilities,

00:17:19both in a physical sense but also mentally as well.

00:17:21And also, hey, a slew of characters on the LGBTQ spectrum.

00:17:25Hey, Lunaka Snow, bringing her up again,

00:17:27because, hey, she is not an American superhero like the rest of the people in here.

00:17:32In fact, DC has a lot of heroes from outside of America

00:17:37and, you know, a lot of games have characters from around the world

00:17:42and, you know, the entire gaming world is more international now,

00:17:44it always has been,

00:17:46so it'd be kind of cool to have a playable character represent a country that is in America.

00:17:49And DC has a lot of heroes from around the world,

00:17:53not just America,

00:17:54so you've got a lot to pick from there.

00:17:56Also, hey, Jeff the Landshark.

00:17:58Does DC have a bunch of animal characters?

00:18:00Yes.

00:18:01Yes, they do.

00:18:02The majority of them are gorillas,

00:18:03but, yes, a plethora of animal characters.

00:18:05Also, robots and aliens,

00:18:07so it doesn't have to be human characters as well.

00:18:09Another thing Marvel Rivals has in its pocket

00:18:11is that it draws characters who weren't from the mainline Marvel canon in its lineup.

00:18:15Cyclocke is from an out-of-continuity story

00:18:17and not, say, the Betsy Radical Quanon version.

00:18:20And Penny Parker is a variant of Peter Parker.

00:18:22And DC has several different characters from different universes,

00:18:25and companies they would layer by as well.

00:18:27Some characters have different takes on mainline heroes,

00:18:29others are completely original to their own universe.

00:18:31DC also has characters from not just a contemporary setting,

00:18:36but also from different time periods.

00:18:38The past, the future, the far future,

00:18:40so many different Batman of the future.

00:18:43I don't think Marvel Rivals has a lot of characters from, say,

00:18:46different time periods,

00:18:47so that'd be kind of a cool difference between that and a hypothetical DC shooter.

00:18:51Bringing up Luna Snow again,

00:18:52but she was also an original character who didn't originate in the comics

00:18:56and was made for another game.

00:18:58So maybe a hypothetical DC hero shooter

00:19:01could use some characters who weren't originally from the comics

00:19:06and would just create for prior adaptations.

00:19:10There's a whole lot of them, and it would all kind of be a good fit.

00:19:14In conclusion, if they ever did make a DC Comics-themed hero shooter,

00:19:17there's a lot of characters to choose from

00:19:18and that they could make some interesting choices

00:19:20with which characters they should put in.

00:19:27So, 2025 will be the 85th anniversary of Robin,

00:19:29and he does not look a day over 70.

00:19:31Now, there's been several Robins,

00:19:33Dick Grayson,

00:19:34Jason Todd,

00:19:34Tim Drake,

00:19:35Stephanie Brown,

00:19:36Damian Wayne,

00:19:36Duke Thomas if you count me a Robin,

00:19:38and Carrie Kelly.

00:19:39But did you know that there's a Robin

00:19:40that not many people know about outside of Earth?

00:19:43Let's talk about Mary Wills,

00:19:44a.k.a. Roberta the Girl Wonder.

00:19:47Now, before we get into the Girl Wonder,

00:19:48I should direct you to this article by Brian Cronin,

00:19:50which does go into detail about this character.

00:19:53Link here.

00:19:53Now, Roberta first showed up in a Robin story

00:19:56in the anthology book Star Spangled Comics,

00:19:58written by Jim Mooney in 1950.

00:20:00Roberta is Mary Wills,

00:20:02a student who has a crush on Robin

00:20:03who decides to become a costume adventurer herself to date Robin,

00:20:06unaware that her fellow student

00:20:07and subject of disdain,

00:20:08Dick Grayson,

00:20:09is one of the same.

00:20:10She does put in the effort

00:20:11in trying to become a superhero,

00:20:13show on doing the workout regime

00:20:14and research into crime applying,

00:20:16and manages to make her own gadgets and costumes.

00:20:17But, instead of a utility belt,

00:20:19she has a crime compact because this is 1950.

00:20:21She late teams up with Robin,

00:20:23managing to sneak into the Batcave

00:20:24and helping him take down criminals,

00:20:26but Robin,

00:20:26managing to find out her secret identity,

00:20:28fears for her safety

00:20:29and thinks of a way to get her out of the crime fighting game

00:20:32by doing an aptly named dick move

00:20:34by outing her secret identity to the public.

00:20:36Now, Roberta hasn't had any other appearances in the comics afterwards,

00:20:39which is surprising given that there's been a lot of writers

00:20:41who love to bring back old and obscure characters.

00:20:43But, what I find interesting is that Roberta does predate

00:20:46a lot of distaff counterpart characters.

00:20:48The Cathy Kane Batwoman first appeared in 1956

00:20:50and also had a utility handbag,

00:20:52and Supergirl was in 1959,

00:20:53and it's also interesting that Jim Mooney had a stint

00:20:55drawing the Supergirl stories as well.

00:20:57He also created Catman.

00:20:58Now, does this mean that Roberta is patient zero

00:21:01and that a lot of other distaff counterpart characters

00:21:03or male heroes that have showed up since

00:21:06all kind of overexistent to her?

00:21:08Probably not.

00:21:08In fact, the first distaff counterpart character

00:21:10was Mary Marvel,

00:21:11but I found Roberta an interesting character

00:21:13in Batman mythos

00:21:15that I thought we'd make a good video about.

00:21:22So, we're halfway through the year,

00:21:23and I thought, why not do a midpoint best films of the year list?

00:21:27Mostly to show what I've enjoyed throughout the year so far,

00:21:30inform you, the audience,

00:21:32of films you might have missed during the year,

00:21:34and give you time to catch up on them

00:21:36if you missed them.

00:21:38My rules are still the same as the best of 2024 list,

00:21:41must have been released to an audience in 2025.

00:21:44Films that had a festival release count.

00:21:46Films that had a run in theatres the year before

00:21:48getting released in the UK do not count.

00:21:50Anyway, let's start this list with...

00:21:53Number one, Black Bag.

00:21:56A cool John Le Carrier-esque spy thriller

00:21:58directed in a no-nonsense, no-frills manner,

00:22:01but Steven Soderbergh still adds a lot of style into it.

00:22:06Number two, Bullet Train Explosion.

00:22:08While I haven't seen the original that this film is a sequel to,

00:22:11I found it a good time.

00:22:13Like most disaster movies like this,

00:22:15it has all the same hallmarks of the genre.

00:22:17People in suits figuring out how to solve the problem,

00:22:20cast of different character archetypes all stuck in one location,

00:22:23and tense situations to go into.

00:22:24The film is a sequel to a Japanese film from 1975,

00:22:27and you don't have to watch that film to get the full picture for this film,

00:22:31but towards the end it does connect itself with the original film

00:22:33where the uninitiated might get lost.

00:22:35The film is available on Netflix.

00:22:38Number three, Drop.

00:22:40From Happy Death Days Christopher Landon comes Drop,

00:22:42a confident and fun thriller.

00:22:44Here, Megan Fahey goes on a date

00:22:46and is giving sinister Dropbox messages.

00:22:48It's a good time,

00:22:49the premise is used to full effect,

00:22:50the situation is tense,

00:22:52and like Landon's other films,

00:22:53has a good mystery to it.

00:22:55Number four, Havoc.

00:22:56Eleven years ago, Welsh director Gareth Evans

00:22:58made probably one of the best action movies of the 2010s in The Raid 2,

00:23:02a shining gem and a pretty good year for action movies in retrospect.

00:23:05This year he returns to the action genre in Havoc,

00:23:07a film that got delayed a bunch,

00:23:09but the end result is good.

00:23:10It's not as transcendent as the Raid movies,

00:23:12but it's a good time regardless.

00:23:13The action is great with viciously bloody style

00:23:16and close call to gunfights.

00:23:18This film is also streaming on Netflix.

00:23:21Number five, Revelations.

00:23:23From Train to Busan director Yi Yong Sang-ho

00:23:27comes Revelations,

00:23:28a mystery film from South Korea

00:23:30about a priest who gets interested in one of his parishioners

00:23:33who might be involved in a police investigation

00:23:35and that's all I'm going to say from here on in.

00:23:38It's a good film.

00:23:39There's a lot of moving parts,

00:23:40some don't get as much attention as they should,

00:23:43but I was entertained by it,

00:23:44especially with the performances.

00:23:46If you have seen Yi Yong Sang-ho's other films,

00:23:48you can see the attention he pays

00:23:50to themes like Family and Guilt.

00:23:51This film is, yet again, on Netflix.

00:23:55Number six, Sinners.

00:23:57Lots of things have been said by people

00:23:59who are smarter than me about this movie

00:24:01and probably have better recording equipment

00:24:03than me as well,

00:24:04but it's still true.

00:24:04Ryan Coogler's Sinners is both a great vampire movie

00:24:07and a loving piece on the communal power of music.

00:24:10Michael B. Jordan does a good double performance

00:24:12and Jack O'Connell is having a lot of fun as the main villain.

00:24:16Number seven, The Monkey.

00:24:18I liked the latest Final Destination just fine,

00:24:21but I found this latest Stephen King adaptation by Oz Perkins

00:24:24just slightly more than that film.

00:24:26Not saying it's bad though,

00:24:27it's actually pretty good as well.

00:24:29Here, Perkins trades in the slow burning and disquieting horror

00:24:33of his previous film, Long Legs, for a straight up black comedy

00:24:36and it's effective.

00:24:37The film goes straight into a gleeful and over the top-ness with the deaths

00:24:42and they're funny,

00:24:43making it feel like it would have been a great fit for a creep shell movie

00:24:46if the film was a bit shorter.

00:24:47With the recent drought of theatrical comedy films,

00:24:50I found The Monkey one of the best comedies I've seen so far this year.

00:24:55Number eight, The Wedding Banquet.

00:24:57I haven't seen the original Ang Lee Wedding Banquet,

00:24:59but I found this remake thoroughly enjoyable

00:25:02and a great feel-good movie,

00:25:03probably my favourite of the year so far.

00:25:05A thoroughly modern look at queer relationships

00:25:07with great performances all around,

00:25:09from a cast working on all cylinders.

00:25:12It's a delightful and funny movie as well.

00:25:16Number nine, Thunderbolts.

00:25:18While I still enjoyed the post-Endgame movies,

00:25:20Thunderbolts is probably the best of the recent bunch.

00:25:22The film is a great inversion of the superhero team-up,

00:25:25where the cast this time all wash-outs with different sets of hang-ups

00:25:28that they all have to deal with,

00:25:29and the actors who play them all work well together.

00:25:31Lewis Pullman's Bob is one of the year's best new characters,

00:25:34and the film's way of talking about mental health

00:25:36makes this one of the best superhero movies of the year so far.

00:25:40Number ten, 825 Forest Road.

00:25:43This film sees Hell House LLC director Steven Cognetti

00:25:46step away from his found footage franchise that concludes this year.

00:25:54with a completely different horror film.

00:25:56Shot like a regular film, but it's still a creepy and scary film nonetheless.

00:26:00The film is told in a Rashomon style,

00:26:01with each act being told from a different perspective,

00:26:03and he manages to craft some excellent and creepy scenes from this setup.

00:26:07I'm excited to see what he does next,

00:26:08especially as his next Hell House film seems to be doing it in a way with the found footage style

00:26:13as well.

00:26:18So these are my favourite films of the year so far.

00:26:24Just adding this here, saying that I just watched the Phoenician Scheme yesterday,

00:26:28I was in the middle of editing this,

00:26:30and that's also a good film I also enjoyed,

00:26:32and probably one of my favourites of the year so far,

00:26:34and I just put it on here because, well,

00:26:37I don't know where else I'm going to talk about it.

00:26:39Will this change at the end of the year?

00:26:40Maybe. Maybe not.

00:26:42Will I be reusing clips of these in my end of year video this year to save time?

00:26:47Probably.

00:26:48But I might have other things to say about these films down the line, so who knows.

00:26:52Now what's the best film of the year you've seen so far?

00:26:54Please comment below, and don't forget to like, share, and subscribe.

00:26:57Hey! Do you like movies? Do you like movie reviews?

00:27:00Then this channel is stuff like that.

00:27:01There's Watch This Space, my film review show where I view recent films,

00:27:04and I also make short films like Correspondence, which is very unique.

00:27:08If you'd like to see stuff like this, then please subscribe to stay updated on my work.

00:27:11I also follow my social media channels as well.

00:27:14So please subscribe to my channel.

00:27:21Warning! The following video discusses spoilers about Season 2 of The Last of Us,

00:27:26and elements of the game that has not been adapted for TV yet.

00:27:29Please watch this at your own discretion.

00:27:36So, The Last of Us Season 2 has come and gone, and the reactions to it have been interesting compared

00:27:42to the game it's adapted from.

00:27:43When The Last of Us 2 came out, it was a divisive game to say the least, mostly owing to

00:27:48certain story elements.

00:27:50Here the discussion for the TV show seems to be on how the TV show adapted the game,

00:27:54mostly changing some elements to make it work as a TV show.

00:27:58Lots of people have decried these changes, and I don't understand where they're coming from,

00:28:02but I am okay with how they changed things.

00:28:04Well yes, there are some moments I wish were in the game, like the scene in the synagogue,

00:28:08and I do think Abby telling Joel her motivations take away from the mystery that was in the game,

00:28:12along with showing who the WLF and scars are early, but I can see why certain elements were changed.

00:28:17Video game adaptations, especially movies and TV shows, were for a long time seen as not good,

00:28:22often being in poor quality.

00:28:24Sometimes you can get a Mortal Kombat 1995, or something made by Uwe Boll.

00:28:29I feel like the reason why video games are hard to adapt is because of one thing that TV shows

00:28:33and movies don't have.

00:28:35Interactivity.

00:28:35Video games are an interactive medium.

00:28:37You control a character, and you can make them do what you want to do.

00:28:41You can make choices that affect the story, you can fight enemies, you can choose who you can fall in

00:28:45love with,

00:28:46and you can explore the world.

00:28:47You can't do that in a film or an episode of TV where you're just watching something.

00:28:51When reviewing the 2005 adaptation of Doom, Roger Ebert once said,

00:28:55This movie has been inspired by the famous video game.

00:28:58No, I haven't played it, and I never will.

00:29:00But I know how it feels not to play it, because I've seen the movie.

00:29:04Doom is like some kid came over and is using your computer and won't let you play.

00:29:08Interactivity is something that inherits video games, and without that factor,

00:29:11it takes away from the experience and makes it feel derivative in an adaptation.

00:29:14What would make a Last of Us TV show different from something like The Walking Dead,

00:29:18if you take out all the scavenging and gameplay sections if you're not controlling the characters on screen.

00:29:22Luckily, when it came to adapting the first video game into a TV show,

00:29:26they did some interesting creative decisions to circumvent the lack of interactivity.

00:29:31The Last of Us is a more story-driven game, which can easily fit into the mode of television.

00:29:35The game's chapters and levels have beginning, middles and endings which you can make into TV episodes,

00:29:39and you can even adapt and change it.

00:29:41The Bill and Frank episode is a complete 180 from the game, turning another level

00:29:45which you have to try and escape the infected into a more personal character piece.

00:29:49Putting focus away from Joel and Ellie, and creates a breather after the action of the last episode.

00:29:54In an interview with TechRadar, Neil Druckmann talked about this process of adaptation of Craig Mason when it came to

00:30:00episode 3.

00:30:00That's what would have been an important thing in the past when you're adapting video games and looking at superficial

00:30:05aspects and thinking,

00:30:06oh, players want to see that gameplay moment.

00:30:08That's not what they want.

00:30:09They want the core of the heart of this experience.

00:30:12The Last of Us Season 1 adds more scenes and more characters to flesh out the world,

00:30:15taking away the moments where you as a player would explore the world.

00:30:18In the show, we have scenes in the past, we have scenes outside of America,

00:30:21and we have new characters, so you can see them follow this mentality when it came to adapting part 2.

00:30:25We get more scenes with other characters, we see Jackson spinning off a horde while Abby works on a golf

00:30:29swing,

00:30:30and we have new characters and get more flashbacked into other characters like Isaac.

00:30:34But do they work? Kinda.

00:30:35Compared to Season 1, Season 2 is adapting half of the game,

00:30:37so you can see moments that clearly are set up for when they deal with Abby's side of the story,

00:30:42especially the scenes with Ellie training in Episode 1.

00:30:44Don't think that will come into play later.

00:30:46Or what Joel said to Eugene when they did the porch scene earlier than expected.

00:30:50With how they structured the season, it does leave things hanging in some regards.

00:30:53One aspect that I did love was how it had to circumvent the lack of gameplay.

00:30:56Last of Us Part 2 is a sprawling game, then the first.

00:30:58There's lots of exploration and traversal and lots of killing.

00:31:01Lots and lots of killing in the name of revenge.

00:31:04Ending with Ellie's killing of Nora.

00:31:08A pregnant woman being a dark combination of a quest for revenge.

00:31:11The show being a TV show with a set time limit for an episode,

00:31:14there isn't a lot of time spent on the killing.

00:31:16So the show changes that aspect, and by mixing up certain elements.

00:31:19Mainly having Ellie and Dinah go out to Seattle before Tommy,

00:31:22and in spite of their community's decision not to do so.

00:31:25And have Dinah get involved with the action after revealing she's pregnant,

00:31:29but until she's injured and taken out of action,

00:31:31Jessie and Tommy have to chase off of them because of this.

00:31:33Then when you get to Ellie's murder of Nora, the dark of the cell moment for Ellie,

00:31:37it's a realisation that she dragged a lot of people into this.

00:31:39Millie got her girlfriend killed more than once, and they could have gotten killed as well.

00:31:44This change is effective and manages to contain the same manner of impact the game did.

00:31:48Still shocking, and managed to capture the core of the game's story.

00:31:51And you can tell that this is obviously going to have a bit more impactful

00:31:54when they do get round to adapting the Abbey parts in Season 3.

00:32:03But ultimately the second season does feel incomplete,

00:32:05and there are some moments I do wish we did get to see adapted.

00:32:08It will be interesting to see how they adapt the Abbey scenes to TV.

00:32:11What characters will get expanded upon, and how will it play out as a whole?

00:32:24One thing I don't think is discussed enough in online film critic circles about Netflix,

00:32:29is that they do good animated films.

00:32:31Nimona is great, Pinocchio got an Oscar,

00:32:33I get a lot of animation veterans making these films,

00:32:36and I'm excited for Fixed!

00:32:43A good example is the most recent film, K-Pop Demon Hunters.

00:32:47The film is about a group of K-Pop singers who also hunt and fight demons.

00:32:51There's three of them, and if you've seen any film or TV show where there's a group of three,

00:32:55then you know what you're getting.

00:32:56You've got the leader, the cute one, and the muscle.

00:32:59The group, Huntrix, finds themselves facing off against a rival pop group called the Visager Boys,

00:33:04who, surprise surprise, turn out to be demons,

00:33:07but there seems to be more going on than you think.

00:33:09I quite enjoyed this film.

00:33:11It's a bright and vibrant film with great energetic animation,

00:33:14that has a very 2D quality to it.

00:33:16The film is very funny as well, with a lot of gags with the demons,

00:33:18especially one involving a big demon cat,

00:33:20and the Popcorn Eyes joke is a great and clever gag,

00:33:23and always made me laugh whenever it popped up on screen.

00:33:26If anything, this film has made me interested in what co-director Maggie Kang will do next.

00:33:35The music is good as well.

00:33:36While I'm not a K-Pop guy, I do think the songs are kind of important in a film about

00:33:40musicians.

00:33:41There's a lot of nods to the whole K-Pop scene and its fan culture,

00:33:44which I feel a lot of fans would appreciate, but it kind of went over my head.

00:33:47I've mentioned the power trio aspect of the film before,

00:33:50and it does owe a lot of respect to shows and films of that ilk,

00:33:53like Powerpuff Girls, Totally Spies, and Hi Hi Puffy Yama Yumi.

00:33:57Yes, I remember that, I'm Azuma.

00:33:59The film feels very much like a continuation in that tradition,

00:34:02and also a great addition in the pantheon.

00:34:04My main complaint is that the film is a little bit bare-boned.

00:34:07Some aspects are well-developed, like Rumi's eternal struggle,

00:34:09but others are left out to dry.

00:34:12Like the character of Selene, who is established as the group's mentor,

00:34:14but she only shows up sporadically so we don't get a better understanding of her relationship with the group as

00:34:19a whole.

00:34:20And Ken Jeong's role as the manager gets a whole scene during the All Is Lost moment,

00:34:24but we don't get much about his relationship with the group as a whole.

00:34:27The film has a fast pace, but it leaves a lot of things behind.

00:34:30Overall, K-Pop Demon Hunters is a fun film.

00:34:32While ultimately some elements do feel underdeveloped and should have been given more focus,

00:34:36I still found this an entertaining film with a lot of energy.

00:34:40I'm excited to see what the team who made this film do in the future.

00:34:48Warning, the following video discusses the latest Superman film,

00:34:51and we'll get into spoilers about the film.

00:34:53When the video veers into spoiler discussion, there will be a warning about it that you can skip over.

00:34:58But still, viewer discretion is advised.

00:35:01So James Gunn's Superman is good, the guy who did three of the best MCU films,

00:35:05surprisingly knows how to make a great superhero film that has a lot of weird, offbeat and obscure elements,

00:35:09and makes them work when added to a Superman film,

00:35:12a film series that often has had trouble trying to leave the shadow of the 1978 film and make it

00:35:17seem new.

00:35:17It has elements like Krypto or his robot assistants,

00:35:20or additional DC characters like Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, Metamorpho or Mr Terrific.

00:35:24You haven't seen goofy stuff like that in a superhero film, especially in a DC film,

00:35:28and it sets itself apart from other films.

00:35:31But I also like how it adds elements from two other older films,

00:35:34and you'll be surprised which ones came to my mind when watching it.

00:35:38Yeah, as I mentioned before, the 1978 Superman film has a large cultural footprint.

00:35:42Elements like the design of the Fortress of Solitude,

00:35:44going from an arctic cave to a crystal fortress,

00:35:47and the S symbol, being the symbol of the House of Elf,

00:35:49has been adapted into comics and other adaptations before,

00:35:51and characters like Lex Luthor's assistant Miss Tessmarker and owners

00:35:54have been used in other adaptations like the CW series,

00:35:57or have been added to the comics.

00:35:59And the death of Jonathan Kent from a heart attack

00:36:01has been a major aspect of the character's mythos.

00:36:03But James Gunn's Superman film has a, surprisingly enough for me,

00:36:07more connective tissue with Superman 4, The Crest of Peace,

00:36:10and, you know, the last Superman reboot, Man of Steel.

00:36:13Crest of Peace is often considered one of the bad ones out of Christopher Reeves' run of films,

00:36:17with bad effects, low budget, hampering everything,

00:36:20and Milton Keynes is now New York City, or Metropolis.

00:36:23But one element of the film is that it involves Superman dealing with geopolitical topics.

00:36:28In Superman 4, it has Superman walking to the UN and telling them

00:36:30that he's going to disarm all these countries' nuclear arsenals,

00:36:33and they all go along with it without any prior discussion about it.

00:36:36Gunn's film also deals with geopolitics,

00:36:38namely Superman and Civil Union conflicts between two countries,

00:36:40but unlike Crest of Peace, it deals with the consequences of that.

00:36:43That film also has Lex Luthor involved,

00:36:45and, like that film, has him trying to benefit from the geopolitical conflict in Crest of Peace.

00:36:49He's making a play at arms dealing, and in Gunn's film, he's also doing that,

00:36:52but trying to get land.

00:36:53I know he's also doing that just to show he's better than Superman,

00:36:56but I felt it was very similar to Hackman's version of the character,

00:36:58so I thought I'd bring it up here.

00:37:00WARNING! This part gets into the spoilers about the film!

00:37:03Best skip this section if you haven't seen the film!

00:37:05You have been warned!

00:37:06Also, Ultron, who turns out to be a clone of Superman in the end.

00:37:09Well, this does bring to mind Bizarro,

00:37:10and especially with him being sent into the pocket dimension,

00:37:12which seems like a likely set-up for Bizarro world.

00:37:15But also in Superman 4, The Quest for Peace,

00:37:17that has Lex Luthor created his own Superman,

00:37:20the Nuclear Man.

00:37:20In a bit of dialogue in the Gunn film,

00:37:22Lex mentions that he could have cried from the scrap of Superman's hair.

00:37:25Yeah, Gunn, a man who put Howl the Duck in the MCU,

00:37:28is not afraid to reference prior 80's comic book adaptations.

00:37:31Now get Heather Locke clear in this universe,

00:37:32and he gets a trifecta.

00:37:33Spoiler time is over for now!

00:37:36You can now continue to watch the video!

00:37:38Now there has been lots of comparisons made between this film

00:37:40and the last Superman reboot,

00:37:422013's Man of Steel.

00:37:43Which I think is fair,

00:37:44as Man of Steel tried to go in a different direction

00:37:45from the previous Superman movie, Superman Returns,

00:37:48but the end result is a little bit divisive, to say the least.

00:37:50And you can see Gunn build upon the themes and ideas

00:37:52that previous Superman film director Zack Snyder

00:37:54had touched upon in his films.

00:37:56Spoilers again!

00:37:57Please skip if you do not want the movie to get spoiled!

00:37:59For instance, Harry Handel's Krypton.

00:38:01While it isn't that much of a focus in his film,

00:38:04but Gunn does make a big change in their depiction,

00:38:06of what is usually shown as a more utopian,

00:38:07but for civilisation as a more colonial one.

00:38:10Man of Steel did touch upon this as well,

00:38:12but with Krypton being more explorers than militaristic.

00:38:15Along with the Zoran's plot in that film

00:38:17was to make Earth Krypton with the dubstep machine.

00:38:19But this isn't new.

00:38:20My Adventures of Superman depicted Krypton

00:38:22in a more militaristic fashion as well,

00:38:24and during the New 52 era,

00:38:25Lara was made part of Krypton's military,

00:38:28but it's helpful when pairing it to the film.

00:38:29Spoiler talk over!

00:38:31Yes, this is a bit indulgent,

00:38:33but it adds to the runtime and, you know,

00:38:35how you gotta catch that algorithm.

00:38:41Also, Gunn's depiction of Lex Luthor

00:38:43feels like a refined version of what Snyder was doing

00:38:45with the character in Batman v Superman.

00:38:47In the DCEU,

00:38:48Lex Luthor was being imagined as a tech billionaire

00:38:50like Mark Zuckerberg,

00:38:51because that was the easy screenwriting shorthand

00:38:53for evil industrial villain at the time.

00:38:55They even got Jesse Eisenberg to play an updated version

00:38:58of the post-Crisis Lex Luthor,

00:38:59but he also had elements of the mad scientist characterisation

00:39:02from the pre-Crisis continuity.

00:39:04PBS's Luthor feels a bit derivative of other tech industry characters

00:39:07that were showing up in films and TV at the time,

00:39:10with Jesse Eisenberg's performance feeling a bit too manic.

00:39:12Compare that to Gunn and Nicholas Holt's version of Luthor,

00:39:15and you can see he's a bit more defined,

00:39:17and a bit more darker.

00:39:18Gunn, as a writer,

00:39:19knows how to write villains

00:39:20and makes them utterly reprehensible.

00:39:22Him and Holt's version of Luthor is manic,

00:39:24but he has a man that makes pretty light film dark,

00:39:26while Eisenberg's Luthor was manic,

00:39:28but not that threatening and a bit silly

00:39:29in a film that was trying to be serious.

00:39:31So those were the only strange observations

00:39:32about a great movie I watched recently.

00:39:34Do you have any observations you made about this film?

00:39:37Say enough in the comments,

00:39:38and don't forget to share this video,

00:39:39like it,

00:39:40and also subscribe to my channel.

00:39:46While I reviewed Kpop Demon Hunters,

00:39:48I didn't expect it to become a big sensation.

00:39:50I decided to review it because I had some free time,

00:39:53and I made it at a resoundingly quick speed,

00:39:55and considering my numbers of subscribers,

00:39:57and my average view count,

00:39:58which ranges around 50 or 60 views,

00:40:00please subscribe,

00:40:01I didn't realise that it would be my channel's most popular video.

00:40:09Firstly, thanks for the views,

00:40:11much appreciated.

00:40:12Secondly,

00:40:12why is it my most popular video?

00:40:13Well, I think one reason why it's my most popular video

00:40:15is because I reviewed one of the year's most popular films.

00:40:19The film,

00:40:20Kpop Demon Hunters,

00:40:21has surprisingly become a huge hit for Netflix,

00:40:23becoming its most viewed animated movie,

00:40:25and not just that,

00:40:26but the film's songs have topped the charts,

00:40:27and has its own fandom

00:40:29that's popped up seemingly overnight.

00:40:31This popularity has gotten the attention

00:40:32of even major news publications,

00:40:33like the Social Security Press and The Guardian.

00:40:35Now,

00:40:35I may be a small,

00:40:37poldank YouTube video maker,

00:40:38but I have my own two cents on this topic.

00:40:40It's a good film that appeals to a lot of people,

00:40:42and has become a good word of mouth hit.

00:40:44That's it.

00:40:45Like what you see here?

00:40:46Then please subscribe from my YouTube channel,

00:40:47so you can get more.

00:40:48Actually,

00:40:49there's a lot more going on than you might think.

00:40:51In the Associated Press article,

00:40:53they mentioned that the film manages to appeal to

00:40:55the massive fan community that surrounds Kpop,

00:40:57and it factors into the film in a big way.

00:40:59Indeed,

00:41:00they did a lot of research.

00:41:01One of the film's directors,

00:41:02Maggie Kan,

00:41:02said her team prioritised represent the fandom

00:41:04and the idols in a very specific way,

00:41:06as to not disappoint Kpop fans.

00:41:08Now,

00:41:09a lot of recent media is often made to appeal to fans,

00:41:13but a lot of it focuses on the nostalgic market.

00:41:17It's usually a day that ends in Y

00:41:18whenever some 80s movies gets a legacy sequel.

00:41:22But Kpop's,

00:41:23we're talking about the music genre here,

00:41:24this popularity is relatively new,

00:41:26often cited as part of the second generation of the Korean wave,

00:41:29the increased popularity of Korean culture that we're still in the midst of.

00:41:32Kpop Demon Hunters captures a modern zeitgeist instead of a past,

00:41:36with the fandom popularity playing a big part in the film.

00:41:39Even though I don't listen to it,

00:41:40in my view I did mention that there's a lot of nods to the fan culture surrounding Kpop as well.

00:41:44There's a lot of nods to the whole Kpop scene and its fan culture,

00:41:47which I feel a lot of fans would appreciate,

00:41:49but it kind of went over my head,

00:41:51just as much as any other older nerd media will reference stuff like that as well.

00:41:55Kpop Demon Hunters' success can be due to it appealing to a current pop cultural trend than something from the

00:42:00past,

00:42:01but most modern media has often been reused and has been stuck in recently.

00:42:09.........

00:42:22Mononoke! Good TV show, very spooky!

00:42:24It's about a medicine seller who deals with some spooky stuff.

00:42:26Last year we did a movie wearing rest skates going Zona Anoku,

00:42:29a.k.a. the Haram of the Chogun.

00:42:31I reviewed the previous movie, and I'm going to show you my previous review here quickly.

00:42:46And if you want to watch that in slow motion, check it out here, but also other videos I have

00:42:51on

00:42:51my channel. Be subscribed to get more like it. Anyway, in Mononoke the Movie, Chapter 2, Ashes

00:42:56of Rage, the Medicine Seller is back at the Yoku again to deal with some spooky stuff, but this time

00:43:02the focus is on the upper chambers where the higher class of concubine vie for the attention of the

00:43:07shogun, where things get testy, as one lady, the lower in social class fuku, is pregnant, and this

00:43:13has caused much distress in the court, and might be related to a possibly unrelated but obviously not

00:43:18fiery death of another concubine which the Medicine Seller has to solve. I like this film. While its

00:43:23runtime is a bit shorter, so it doesn't have the slow burn of Phantom in the Rain, nor does it

00:43:28have

00:43:28the rising creepiness as well. I don't mind it, as the film makes up for it in other ways. We

00:43:32get more

00:43:33insight of the inner workings of the Yoku, mainly in the upper class areas. Secondary characters who

00:43:38showed up in the previous film get more bigger roles, like Sachiko the God or Lady Boltan.

00:43:43But again, Asa, the main character from the first film, shows up briefly, which is kind of odd,

00:43:47considering that she was kind of the main character in the last one, and I was kind of thinking she'd

00:43:50be

00:43:50like the main throughline character, but surprisingly not, which is a shame because I liked her character

00:43:54in the last one. The Shogun is also briefly seen, but he's still not that big of a presence.

00:43:59It's clear when all three films will be released that they're going to play well together, and that's

00:44:03where you can also see little story beats set up and will be played off, especially in regards to

00:44:08how things are set up in each film. This film also carries the previous film's themes of what women

00:44:13give up to work in a patriarchal society. The last film was about identity, with most of the concubines

00:44:18for an array of personal belongings to start working at the Elku. This one is about bodily

00:44:22autonomy, so that's fun. If the first film felt like it was expanding on the themes of the

00:44:26Noppao Bo arc, this one taps into the themes of the Zashiki Roroshari arc, but unlike that one,

00:44:32it doesn't feel muddled. If you've seen the show, you understand what I'm talking about,

00:44:36because I've not given up a lot of details here, because they might give the film's game away.

00:44:40Here we see most of the Shogun's counsellors in the film, whose daughters are all concubines,

00:44:43and we see them trying to jostle for power, using their own daughters as pawns in the game.

00:44:48And helping us nail that theme down, is that most of the scenes that are all seen playing

00:44:52a game of Shogun, subtle. In my last film, I compared the theme to Immaculate, the assuming

00:44:57none movie, but that comparison is more appropriate here, along with last year's first omens,

00:45:01as they also deal with bodily autonomy and how the patriarchy seeks to control women.

00:45:05There seems to be a bigger theme across these films emerging, like permission, the medicine

00:45:08isn't allowed into the Elku unless he has permission and still uses the party earned from the last

00:45:12film, and certain characters are asked to do things if they consent to it, but often that

00:45:16is given under duress. It's a small thing, but I sense it will become a bit clearer when

00:45:20the third film comes out next year. On the animation side, it's as good as the previous

00:45:23film, still has the psychedelic Ukiya-Eye look, and the structural mononoke this time around

00:45:28looks cool, and makes a good companion to the previous film's one.

00:45:31Obviously, the editor in this movie is a bit less hyperactive than the last film, but

00:45:35editor Shiguro Nishiyama does some interesting tricks, like how he uses jump cuts to make a close-up

00:45:41on Lady Boltan, or how it cuts to a different character to correct juxtaposition who is

00:45:45often in the same place. Mononoke the movie, Ashes of Rage, is a good and consistent follow-up

00:45:50to Phantom in the Rain, tackling some interesting themes and painting a clear throughline between

00:45:53these films with good animation to boot. I'm excited for the final part that comes out

00:45:57next year. This film, along with its previous entry and the TV show it's based on, are all

00:46:01available on Netflix at the time of recording.

00:46:09And thus, it's the end of the summer, and now the time to take stock and look back at

00:46:13what we did during it. I mainly watched films, so here's a list of some of my favourite films

00:46:18of the summer season. Now, lists like this are kind of a bit superfluous, as studios spread

00:46:23out their tent poles throughout the year, big hits like a Minecraft movie and Sinners came

00:46:27out in April, a month before the summer movie started. But I'm keeping this list restricted

00:46:31to films that came out from May to August, and yes, that will include streamed movies

00:46:35in this list as well. Also, it was kind of hard to find what film qualifies as a blockbuster,

00:46:41and there are two films I liked, but I was confused on if they belong on this list, and that's

00:46:47why we have Honourable Mentions!

00:46:52The Life of Chuck

00:46:54Mike Flanagan's first film in six years since 2019's Doctor Sleep is a change of direction

00:46:59from the director's horror-based work, but he still gets to execute those horror film

00:47:03skills successfully here, delivering a Stephen King adaptation with a lot of heart and a great

00:47:07ensemble cast all getting their own moments to shine.

00:47:12The Phoenician Scheme

00:47:14Wes Anderson's espionage caper is a lot of fun, but behind the intricacies and the humour

00:47:19is a sense of yearning for times lost and connection, with Benedito del Toro and Mia

00:47:24Freppleton giving great performances that match Anderson's style. Now with those two out

00:47:28of the way, let's get to the main event.

00:47:33Final Destinations

00:47:35Bloodlines

00:47:35I haven't seen a Final Destination movie before, but I do know the formula and the premise.

00:47:40See also Osgood Perkins' excellent The Monkey, but I had a lot of fun with this film, managing

00:47:45to have fun with the premise and crafting some excellent Rube Goldberg deaths, but it doesn't

00:47:49let the fun underscore the dice sakes of this film as it is a family being killed. Add in

00:47:53an excellent swan song for the dearly miss Tony Todd and you've got yourself an excellent horror film.

00:48:00Happy Gilmore 2

00:48:01Ten years ago, Adam Sandler made probably two films that would define his career,

00:48:06wherever he intended to. Pixels and The Ridiculous Six. One being his last big theatrical film,

00:48:10outside a Transylvania sequel or Uncut Gems, and the other being his first in a long line of Netflix films.

00:48:16Now comes this legacy sequel to one of his best films, and while it's a bit too full of callbacks

00:48:20and cameos, Sandler puts in the effort here and does some good work here. He had some pathos

00:48:25amongst the laughs, and it works really well. An excellent crowd pleaser. This film is available on Netflix.

00:48:32K-pop Demon Hunters

00:48:34I've already reviewed this film, and also examined why it became such a big hit.

00:48:42But to reiterate, K-pop Demon Hunters is an energetic, bright, and funny film that taps

00:48:47into a modern zeitgeist, but manages to chart its own story regardless. The animation is great here,

00:48:51and excels when it gets to be very cartoony. This film, as you well know by now, is available on

00:48:56Netflix.

00:49:00This is one I debated putting on here because on one hand it's romantic comedy, but one that is made

00:49:04by a director whose last film was nominated for an Oscar, so it has that little prestige element,

00:49:08but it's my list and it's my rules. Anyway, while many were a bit shocked that the film we got

00:49:13was

00:49:13different from what was marketed, I found Celine Song's examination on modern dating culture and

00:49:19deconstruction of romantic comedy excellent. Fits in line with the themes of past lives, especially with

00:49:24regards to distance, this time on a financial angle, and Dakota Johnson proves she's more than

00:49:28Fifty Shades or Madame Web. It's probably one of the year's most suffices films, but I think it's one of

00:49:33the best.

00:49:37Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning

00:49:39While I like these films, I'm not one of those who treat them as the saviour of cinema,

00:49:43but Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning ends the series, for now, on a high. Well yes,

00:49:48it is a bit too front-loaded with exposition in the first half, but when it gets going, it gets

00:49:52really

00:49:52going. The submarine sequence and the dogfight scenes are standouts and were amazing to watch on

00:49:57the big screen.

00:50:01Killer of Killers I feel this is what streaming movies

00:50:04should do more of, especially if they're spin-offs of big franchises. This animated spin-off of the

00:50:09Predator movies feels like a direct-to-video movie from 2007 that you mostly watch via clips on YouTube,

00:50:13but this film boasts three great little stories set in different time periods that are all strong in

00:50:18their own. And then the Predator shows up and flips the script on them. The film manages to focus on

00:50:22certain aspects of the Predators and matching it to a different period of human history is an

00:50:26inspired choice. The animation is good as well, which has a patently look to it. This film is

00:50:29streaming on Hulu in America and on Disney Plus overseas.

00:50:36Superman James Gunn managed to do what no other Superman movie has done before and embrace the

00:50:40weirdness that is comic books, kicking this new DC universe off on the right foot with a hopeful tone and

00:50:45timely message. David Cornswet's turn in the trunks is an excellent one and Nicholas Holt's

00:50:50Luther is a despicable one. It's a great film. Super, you might say.

00:50:56The Fantastic Four, The First Steps. Marvel's first family arrives to the Marvel Cinematic

00:51:01Universe and we get to see the four embracing the Silver Age stories of the Lee Kirby run that

00:51:05made the Marvel Universe. Finally getting Galactus in his purple glory and being a bit more introspective.

00:51:09A bit like Eternals, the other Kirby adaptation in the MCU. The cast here all do good work,

00:51:14all getting time to shine, especially as the film focuses on the family aspect. While there's

00:51:18some bits not getting that much focus due to editing, it's still a fantastic film.

00:51:25The Naked Gun. This lived up to the hype for me. The film manages to recapture the

00:51:28joke per minute of the original films with all the effort put into it. Lee and Neeson girls all

00:51:32in with the silliness of a straight-laced performance, aided by again Pamela Anderson.

00:51:3928 years later, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland go back to an infected England and taps into a

00:51:44plethora of themes, ranging from social aggression, masculinity, colonialism to make a great horror

00:51:49film. Boyle and Garland also play around the fact that the zombies in this film aren't the

00:51:52undead ones that we know and give probably one of the most poignant moments in a horror film this

00:51:56year. I'm excited to see what Nia Costa does with the sequel in January. So those were my favourite

00:52:01films of the summer. Agree? Disgree? Please leave a comment down below and don't forget to subscribe

00:52:04to this channel to get more videos like this and other stuff I'm making.

00:52:13WARNING! This video contains spoilers for Season 2 of Peacemaker. If you haven't watched the show,

00:52:17please watch that and then watch this video or just watch at your own discretion.

00:52:26And now Season 2 of Peacemaker has come to an end. And watching it has made me think of something,

00:52:32especially after seeing Superman, is that Peacemaker and Superman are kind of the same

00:52:37character. It's an interesting dichotomy as Superman and Peacemaker are two different types

00:52:40of heroes. Superman is, well, Superman, the archetypal superhero, which has had many variations based on him.

00:52:47Superman if he's a kid. Superman if he was a teenager. Superman if he was your dad. Superman but at

00:52:52Marvel.

00:52:53Superman if he was black. Superman but Batman's boyfriend. Superman but washed up. Superman but evil.

00:53:00Superman but evil but also at Marvel. Superman if he's a kid and also evil.

00:53:04Well, this version of Peacemaker's variation on various anti-heroes that have shown up in the comics.

00:53:09This one takes cues from the 80s version, who changed from his more espionage route to a more

00:53:14darker and edgier vigilante, who's haunted by his past. As part of a trend in comics,

00:53:19trend towards more anti-heroes inspired by the likes of Punisher, Wolverine, and most importantly

00:53:23Watchmen, which in turn had the Comedian, a character inspired by the original child

00:53:27comics, Peacemaker. Superman has been pastiche and the other one has become a pastiche.

00:53:31But James Gunn gives both Superman and Peacemaker the same type of hurdles,

00:53:35despite their difference in status. In Peacemaker, Chris Smith is a man who's trying to reconcile his

00:53:39upbringing by an abusive white supremacist father and tries to move on from it. And Superman,

00:53:44Clark Kent, or Kal-El, learns that his space parents were not the ideal figures he believed

00:53:48them to be. Parental figures have always been part of James Gunn's work. But it's interesting that the

00:53:53same arc of having to deal with imperfect, to say the least, parental figures has been given

00:53:57both to Superman and Peacemaker. Another interesting aspect is that both characters are defined by music,

00:54:02as you expect from a James Gunn production. In the episode where the 11th Street kids and

00:54:05Judo Master rescued Chris from Earth-X. Adebayo and Judo Master discussed Chris and his love of

00:54:11hair metal, with Adebayo comparing Chris to the music genre saying, I just had to open my mind a

00:54:16little and get past the parts that were cheesy, but that's what Chris is like. You just got to open

00:54:20your mind up a little bit and get past the parts that are cheesy. To me, this scene felt similar

00:54:24to

00:54:24a scene in Gunn's Superman film where Clark and Lois discuss the message from his space parents, and the

00:54:29tangent about Clark's taste in punk bands and how Clark's more trust and attitude is the real punk rock.

00:54:33The two characters have a musical taste that are genres that aren't exactly highly praised.

00:54:38It's another interesting comparison between the two characters. Also, both characters' relationship

00:54:42to the wider superhero community is also comparable. Superman's relationship with the Justice Gang

00:54:47isn't exactly on the up and up. While they do work with each other and see themselves as a colleague,

00:54:51Clark even divulging his secret identities to them, he doesn't like their methods. Peacemaker is

00:54:56not respected at all. His frustrations are shown through his endless conspiracies about the heroes

00:55:00he spouts in Season 1 back when he was set in the DCEU. He is proof positive of that, and

00:55:05he's rejected

00:55:06by Maxwell Lord, Guy Gardner, and Hawkgirl at the beginning of Season 2. This also brings me to another

00:55:10comparison. Both of them find comfort in what they thought were the ideal versions of their parental

00:55:14figures. Gary, Superman's robot, keeps mentioning that the Kryptonian message soothes him, and Peacemaker

00:55:18initially finds Earth-X a perfect world for him, but both end up on a rug called out under them,

00:55:22and in the end

00:55:22they both find solace in their found families. Now, there's some key differences between the heroes as well. For

00:55:27instance, they have a different work-life balance. Superman, as always, keeps up the whole secret

00:55:31identity, where the only person who knows about his heroic side gig at the day planner is Lois Lane,

00:55:35but it was implied that maybe Perry Wright and Jimmy Olsen are also privy to it, compared to Peacemaker,

00:55:39who doesn't really have a normal job or life, and only does government work, but still maintains

00:55:43the social life of his co-workers, who now Peacemaker is Christopher Smith. Also, one kills and the other

00:55:48doesn't. That's another important detail, but it's all about the work-life balance for me. James Gunn manages to

00:55:53give one of the most well-known superheroes and one of the most obscure ones similar character beats

00:55:56greater interest and juxtaposition between them, showing that while there are differences on some

00:56:00levels, they are still deemed the same stuff. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the DC

00:56:03universe will play along with this idea.

00:56:13With the final of Peacemaker, there won't be any other DC universe projects until Supergirls release

00:56:17next year, so I thought why not do a look back at the series so far and focus on certain

00:56:21aspects that I

00:56:21found interesting. Let's start with Rick Flagg Senior.

00:56:27Starting off with probably the only character who's appeared in all three released DC universe

00:56:31projects so far, Rick Flagg Senior, played by Frank Grillo. I feel like he's what Nick Fury was

00:56:36the earlier MCU films, as the figure usually shows up in each project, often as a tease and as a

00:56:41connective tissue. Now, by the end of Peacemaker Season 2, he takes more villainous role, which I've

00:56:45seen some people say is inconsistent with his portrayal in Creature Commandos, but then again,

00:56:49in that shell, he got manipulated by Princess, who feigned attraction to him, and I have a feeling

00:56:53Lex and his luckies are doing the same to him, by helping him try and get revenge on Peacemaker.

00:56:58Speaking of Rick Flagg...

00:57:02So it's clear that the remaining elements from the old DCEU are the projects that James Gunn worked on,

00:57:07namely the Suicide Squad and the first season of Peacemaker, with most of the characters adjacent

00:57:11to those projects making a move over to the new universe. But in the episode of Peacemaker,

00:57:15another Rick Up My Sleeve had Joel Kinnaman appear as two versions of Rick Flagg, the one from the

00:57:19mainline universe, and the one on Earth-X. And the mainline version mentions his relationship

00:57:23with Enchantress, which occurred in Suicide Squad 2016. Does this mean that that film is

00:57:28canned with the rest of the new DC universe? Maybe not, as that film was a bit reliant on the

00:57:33events of Batman v Superman, but then again, this new universe has embraced rat-cons like in the comics.

00:57:37So do I think this could leave the door open for Enchantress, or maybe a different version played by

00:57:42different actors to show up, because we saw how Juniors have death affected Xenia. And maybe

00:57:46Katana as well, considering that she had Rick's back in that film, and she can cut people in half

00:57:50with one sword stroke. Just like Mona Lorne, it would be advisable not getting killed by her.

00:57:54Her sword traps the souls of his victims? Maybe not. But also we have Metamonfo show up in Superman,

00:58:01and she, him, and Black Lightning were on the Outsiders, so hey, maybe that could be a good way to

00:58:06introduce them. I also know Blue Beef Tool is getting an animated follow-up with Zolo,

00:58:09Meryl de Gheninger, so spying in his role, but it remains to be seen if it will reference the

00:58:14film, but because in that film was pretty much isolated and still on its own, I don't think

00:58:17there'll be much retconning. At the end of Peacemaker, we saw the formation of Checkmate,

00:58:24with its ranks being made up of the cast of Peacemaker. I feel like we'll be seeing them

00:58:27pop up in other projects. Much like how Rick Flagg Sr. is this universe's equivalent of Nick Fury,

00:58:32Checkmate could be this universe's equivalent to S.H.I.E.L.D., making sporadic appearances,

00:58:36all mentioned in passing. In the comics, well, Mr. Terrific was Elsa, remember, and so was Amanda

00:58:40Waller, Adebayo's mother, and considering that she's getting her own series that might come into

00:58:44play. With a lot of use of Cloak and the Dagger spy work and the topic of power, both real

00:58:48-length

00:58:48geopolitical, I'm feeling this first chapter, Gods and Monsters, is influenced by the Catamount

00:58:52cycle of Justice League Unlimited. Just a hunch, but I'm feeling a lot of similarities here.

00:58:58Now it's been noted that DC's fictional countries show up in the universe,

00:59:02Kolostan, Borevia, and Jahanapur being the most prominent ones. I suspect we'll see more of DC's

00:59:07fake file states like Bialia, which was mentioned in Creature Commandos, Crack,

00:59:10Markovia, Agee of Force was part of the Outsiders, Kasnia, Vlaterra, and so on.

00:59:18With what's been released so far, they've all been under the direction of James Gunn,

00:59:21and all containers created fingerprints, so it's going to be interesting to see next year,

00:59:25as most of the projects will be held by other creatives, not favoring to the table. While I enjoy

00:59:29Gunn's work, I do hope we get a variety of different voices being brought into each project.

00:59:36One last thing I want to talk about is how this series' attitude to projects and how they be

00:59:40released. It all feels very fluid. Clayface was on the part of the original announcement in 2023,

00:59:44only coming about because Mike Fallon had a pitch, and that film is currently in production. See also

00:59:47the Sergeant Hawk movie that was supposed to be made by director Luca Guadagnol, but that's been

00:59:51put on hold, and the authority might be made in a TV show. It shows there's a fluidity with how

00:59:55these

00:59:56projects are handled at the development stage, unlike Marvel, which has the appearance of it being

00:59:59planned out from the start. So those were some observations about the DC Universe. Is there

01:00:03anything you noticed that I missed? Please comment below, and also like this video,

01:00:06and share this with all your friends. Your help is much appreciated.

01:00:13For those of you that aren't into your horror movie series, a new Hell House LLC film came out

01:00:19recently on Shubber. For those of you not in the null, the Hell House movies are a series of

01:00:22found footage movies directed by Stephen Cognetti, detailing the haunted goings-on of the Aberdon Hotel.

01:00:28Throughout the first three films, a history of the Hell Tale was revealed, showing its ties to a

01:00:32satanic cult led by a man named Andrew Tully. The series was thought to have seemingly ended with

01:00:37its third film, Lake of Fire, as the Aberdon Hotel was destroyed in that film, but in 2023,

01:00:42Cognetti made a pre-sequel film, Hell House LLC Origins, The Carmichael Manor. Carmichael Manor

01:00:48detailed a different film crew investigating a different haunted house, whose owners were members of

01:00:52Tully's cult. I binged the film series last year for Hooptober, and I liked them all, especially

01:00:56Carmichael Manor. I liked how Cognetti uses found footage to tell his stories, and how he can make

01:01:00some truly scarce moments with the bare minimum. This latest entry, and last for Cognetti behind

01:01:05the camera, Hell House LLC Lineage, holds on not just the events of Carmichael Manor, but the

01:01:10previous trilogy as well, as the film focuses on Elizabeth Vermilia's Vanessa Shepard, a character

01:01:15from the third entry, Lake of Fire, who is still dealing with surviving the events of that film.

01:01:20She gets pulled back into the fray, when several people end up mysteriously dying, who in some way

01:01:24are involved with Carmichael Manor, and how she is connected to that. The big thing for this latest

01:01:28entry is that it breaks away from its found footage style, and goes through a conventional

01:01:31style of filmmaking. It's a big risk. Found footage was an essential part of the series, and transitioning

01:01:37to a different style could end up being a detriment, but Cognetti manages to stick the land in. Retaining

01:01:41the series' creepy and tense horror, but also telling a more detailed and involved story than a

01:01:46found footage film would allow. Which brings me to my main, but minor, point of contention with the

01:01:51film. The film is Cognetti's last film as director, and it feels like he's dumping a lot of lore for

01:01:55the overall series on the way out, which isn't bad. In fact, the film finds a good balance between

01:01:59backstory and horror, but if you aren't as caught up with the series, you're going to be lost,

01:02:03especially the ending and what it reveals about certain characters left me a little bit confused.

01:02:08But on the other hand, as mentioned before, Cognetti still makes this film scary by doing not a lot.

01:02:13Some of its most frightening and effective scares come from one of the clown mannequins,

01:02:16the series' mascots, are deployed. Cognetti manages to mine some great scary moments with them,

01:02:20aided by this film becoming a regular footage movie, giving a different type of present

01:02:23than what they had in previous films. In previous films, they were scary because you couldn't always

01:02:27keep track of them, due to the found footage genre's more intimate and personal style. In this,

01:02:32we see what they are doing most of the time in this film, which makes it just as scary.

01:02:36Cognetti's use of minimalism in this film also helps the film's non-clown frights as well.

01:02:40While there are some flashy and good moments, its best scares are usually the more simpler ones,

01:02:45which give a sense of tension to the proceedings. It's something carried over from the found

01:02:49footage films that manage to survive the move and is used to good effect here.

01:02:52On top of filming, I like how Cognetti uses flashbacks and how he restages certain scenes

01:02:57from the previous film in a conventional way. As a small thing, but I like how he does it.

01:03:00Another aspect I liked was Elizabeth Vermilia's performance in this film.

01:03:03Her character isn't too dissimilar from other horror protagonists who survived the last film and

01:03:07now have trauma that you've seen before, but Vermilia sells it rather well here.

01:03:11She has to do a lot of heavy lifting in this film, and it's a highlight for me to see

01:03:14her do it.

01:03:15I hope to see her in more stuff down the line. I found Hell House LLC Lineage a good entry

01:03:19that

01:03:19does something different from the previous films, even if it is tangled in some backstory business.

01:03:23It manages to be just as scary as the previous entries.

01:03:26The film is currently available on Shudder at the time of this recording.

01:03:34Hello, I'm an internet reviewer slash commentator who is talking about Star Wars. I like Star Wars.

01:03:38If there is an entry I don't particularly like, I move on from it and do not make it

01:03:42my entire online persona for the rest of my life. Also, if there's an entry I do like,

01:03:46I also don't make it a new yarn so to judge all previous and future entries with.

01:03:51Anyway, we've got another Star Wars Vision Anthology.

01:03:57With Volume 3, we see the animated Star Wars Anthology return to its anime theme this year,

01:04:03which I do admit, I do kind of wish we had more of the international animation studios,

01:04:07like we got in Volume 2, but Volume 3 has a solid and interesting set of stories to tell,

01:04:12starting with...

01:04:15The Jewel, Payback, from Kamikaze Dogga and Anima.

01:04:19This story is a sequel to one from Volume 1.

01:04:22All in the three in this collection, set in a reimagined version of the Star Wars universe,

01:04:25we see our Sith, Ronin, having to deal with a Jedi Crusader who we maimed previously.

01:04:30This short has a lot of fun playing around in the Kurosawa inspired sandbox,

01:04:34with a mishmash of aesthetics from different trilogies. It has a lot of fun characters and

01:04:39some interesting ideas with regards to the Jedi, where they come off as religious fanatics,

01:04:44with the Crusader calling out our Ronin as a sinner. Put a pin in that because there's a theme here.

01:04:48The animation is great here, as it was an original story with some great action scenes.

01:04:55The Song of the Four Wings from Project Studio Q. This is the first CGI animated story of the volume.

01:05:01This was a fun story about a princess in the Rebel Alliance, not that one,

01:05:05who helps rescue a cute alien baby and stop an Imperial mine operation.

01:05:09This was a fun short, the cel-shaded animation looks appealing and there's a fun over-the-top

01:05:13cartini feel to it. From the designs, to the action beats, to a Starles-esque magical girl

01:05:18transformation sequence, this was a fun one.

01:05:23The Ninth Jedi, Child of Hope. The second sequel, this one, follows up from Studio IG's Ninth

01:05:29Jedi short. Before this volume was released, it was announced that the Ninth Jedi short is getting

01:05:33its own spin-off series, and with that in mind, this short feels like a teaser for the series,

01:05:37but I don't mind that because it's pretty good. It's a bit of a refresher course reminding you

01:05:41of who the characters are and what their respective deals are. This one deals with Larkara,

01:05:46a Jedi in a train helping a droid in a derelict starship. It's a good story,

01:05:49gives out more details of the setting, and has a fun droid character called Tito,

01:05:53who is a cool CGI design that meshes well with the 2D elements.

01:05:58The Bounty Hunters. This one, from Wit Studio, feels like a backdoor pilot to another show,

01:06:04which I totally would watch. This one details the adventures of Sven, a fugitive assassin turned

01:06:08bounty hunter, and her droid assistant, Ivy A4, doing a job for a rich guy who, surprise surprise,

01:06:13turns out to be not on the up-and-up. As I mentioned before, this one felt like a backdoor

01:06:17pilot, especially as some elements like Sven's quest to find them and kill the Jedi who saved

01:06:21her, and there's some characters mentioned who feel like they might possibly be important down

01:06:25the line. Not that I wouldn't mind. In fact, I would love to see more of the characters in this.

01:06:29I also like the character of Sven and her view on the Jedi. As while she did save her from

01:06:33slavery

01:06:34as a child, she ended up with a target on her back by the organization, and now wants to kill

01:06:38her

01:06:38savior. Which, to me, is an interesting aspect, as we don't see a lot of characters, especially

01:06:42reveals on the good, or potentially, have a not-particular-kind view of the Jedi. Let's

01:06:46show you some good action scenes, especially one with droid mech, which was something I didn't

01:06:50know I needed. Overall, the show itself was good, and I'd definitely sign up for more if they do

01:06:54continue the story.

01:06:58Yukel's Treasure. Oh, this was a sweet one. This story, from Cinema Citrus, is a nice revert.

01:07:02It's about an orphan and his caretaker, who's the robot teddy bear, sure, why not, who live on Tatarin.

01:07:06But their idyllic life on the Dust Ball is put under threat when a gang of pirates come to steal

01:07:10something from them. It's a cute little adventure with a lot of heart and comedy. It feels a bit

01:07:13like Skeleton Crew. If you liked that show, you'd definitely like this one.

01:07:19Lost one. Another one from Cinema Citrus, and another sequel. This one's my personal favorite

01:07:23of Volume 1 shorts, The Village Bride. This details the manic Jedi, F, having to save a group of

01:07:27refugees from the Empire, but also having to do with her former master, who now works in the Empire.

01:07:32This is a great flop. We get a lot more about F. For instance, we learn she's got a robotic

01:07:35leg,

01:07:35and we get some interesting side characters. The animation, like its prequel, is also good. It also has a good

01:07:40color palette with bright and stark colors being put to good use.

01:07:46The Smuggler. From Studio Trigger comes The Smuggler. This one is a fun little escapade,

01:07:51dealing with a smuggler trying to help a fugitive prince escape the Empire's crackdown on his world.

01:07:55There's a lot of excitement to be had with a great chase scene, some interesting characters,

01:07:58and some good world building. It's also here I noticed one of the big themes of this volume,

01:08:02survival. Each story in this volume have a lot of characters who've survived some horrible

01:08:06experiences, like Rupass, the cute baby whose village was massacred, the numerous Jedi who

01:08:10survived Order 66, the Sith being hunted by the Grand Master's Crusade, and the prince in this story

01:08:14who lost his world family. It's a thing that's always been the Star Wars when you get to see

01:08:17all the survivors in this story trying and move on in some way or another, be it the Ronin trying

01:08:22to

01:08:22make amends, F trying to keep their traditions going, and the prince in this story trying to help

01:08:26free his world from the Empire along with another Order 66 survivor who pledges her alliance to him,

01:08:31reinforcing this theme. The Bird of Paradise from Polygon Pictures. The second CGI short of the

01:08:39volume comes The Bird of Paradise. In this short it details a young Jedi Padawan called Nakimi

01:08:44having to deal with losing her sight after a battle with Sith. The animation in this one is great and

01:08:48gets craven how it depicts the Padawans in a turmoil and accompanying force visions and its overall

01:08:53message of acceptance is appreciated. It's also here where two of the volume's themes crop up,

01:08:59the depiction of Jedi and disability. Throughout the volume we see the Jedi in an interesting light.

01:09:05For some, like in Payback and Bounty Hunters, they're not seen in the good light with the Grand

01:09:09Master and the Jewel as mentioned before being portrayed as a crusading knight who vanquishes

01:09:13enemies regardless who gets in his way, and Sven in her short seeks vengeance against the Jedi who

01:09:17rescued her but left to defend for herself. In this short we see Nakimi having to come to terms with

01:09:21not just her disability but also her arrogance that led her to the situation. It feels in line with

01:09:26The Last Jedi or the Acolye, installments that tackled the less admirable aspects of the Jedi

01:09:30Order that we've seen in this film, but the short kind of does it in a more lighter approach.

01:09:38Another theme I noticed was disability. While Souls has always had characters who have a disability,

01:09:43it's probably the oldest film franchise of a main character who is an NPC if you think about it.

01:09:47Throughout the volume we see characters who lost limbs and he lost her arm in the Payback and the

01:09:51Grand Master has various injuries requiring a Darth Vader-like procedure to keep him alive.

01:09:56Gleno and F have cybernetic prosthetics. It ties itself into this volume's general theme of survival

01:10:00and how to overcome it, which is Nakimi's arc in this short, how to accept what was lost.

01:10:08Black. Okay, so this one is both the best short of this volume but also a bit hard to review.

01:10:13From David Productions and veteran animator Shinya Ohira, a man who's worked on a lot of anime

01:10:18productions. Like name anyone you're thinking of, he's probably worked on them in some capacity.

01:10:23Anyway, this short details the experience of a stormtrooper who's losing the battle.

01:10:26That's what I can gather from it as this one goes in an experimental direction, detailing a

01:10:31psychedelic vision, get it, of a typical Star Wars space battle with great music by Fujiwara

01:10:35Sakura. His animation is fluid and sketchy, reminiscent of Ohira's previous works like

01:10:39the animated sequence in Kill Bill Volume 1. It just doesn't light up. Everything's changing

01:10:43constantly with Star Wars iconography constantly being swapped out. But it doesn't feel too hollow,

01:10:48as there's some details to grab onto. In short, it's Star Wars as you've never seen it before.

01:10:52Star Wars Vision's third volume still continues one of the most creative and fun entries in the

01:10:56Star Wars saga, with a bunch of stories that run the gamut from funny to action-packed to just plain

01:11:00weird. It's a great part of the saga that I always like coming back to.

01:11:09We are currently in a boom period of video game adaptations. A result of a generational shift in

01:11:15the entertainment industry where a bunch of people who grew up in the milieu of gaming culture are

01:11:19now in positions of producing power to make any TV and film productions based on video games as they

01:11:24wish. We've already had projects based on Halo, Mario, Sonic, and Minecraft, and we have many more

01:11:29to come. One game on the adaptation block is Mass Effect, the popular science fiction RPG from Bioware.

01:11:36Now, this made me raise an eyebrow because if you recall my last Star Wars video, I argued that when

01:11:41transition from one medium to another, changes have to be made to make up for the lack of interactivity

01:11:47inherent to video games. Video games are an interactive medium. You control a character and you can make

01:11:53them do what you want to do. You can make choices that affect the story, you can fight enemies, you

01:11:57can

01:11:57choose who you can fall in love with, and you can explore the world. You can't do that in a

01:12:01film or

01:12:02an episode TV where you're just watching something. One of the big things that Mass Effect has is that

01:12:07it was a choice-based game. You choose who you fall in love with, who you save, and even the

01:12:11appearance

01:12:11of gender of your character, famously. So, if you're adapting that to any medium, it would be hard to

01:12:16contain, let alone adapt, given the branching storylines and how it affects outcomes. This is

01:12:21why on N7 Day we got some details on the upcoming Mass Effect TV show. In a blog stating,

01:12:27the show will explore a brand new story within the universe's timeline and will be set after the

01:12:31original trilogy. It won't be a retread of Commander Shepard's story, because after all,

01:12:35that's your story, isn't it? Firstly, this was an obvious direction for any adaptation of Mass Effect

01:12:39to go. Look at how Fallout, another choice-based game, was adapted into TV, and it seems to be an

01:12:44avenue that other video game adaptations are going like the recent Death Stranding anime. Secondly,

01:12:48I think this is great. Mass Effect has a great world to play around in, and there's lots of

01:12:52directions this can go. But I have something else on my mind as well. How will this brand new story

01:12:56work? Details are brief, and the show is still in development, so this video could be entirely pointless

01:13:01when more details emerge. But if this show is set after Mass Effect 3, how will it reconcile

01:13:05its three endings? Well, obviously, having an original story takes away the hurdle of the

01:13:10choice-based system. If it's going to be set after the trilogy, then you can't really do that without

01:13:14acknowledging that one of the three endings, and, you know, those endings ended with some pretty big

01:13:20shake-ups for the universe at large. Now, there are ways to circumvent this. Mass Effect drama

01:13:24sets itself a hundred years in the future, and also in another galaxy to avoid any clashes with the

01:13:29endings. Unrelated to Mass Effect, but the Milo Jovovich Resident Evil movies at first implied the

01:13:33plot of the games were happening at the same time. But then again, these are early days, and we don't

01:13:38know how it could go. But it shows the ways people adapt video games with different play styles to

01:13:42another medium. You can do a one-to-one adaptation like The Last of Us, or say it in the

01:13:46same universe

01:13:46like Fallout. It shows there's no one way to adapt games.

01:13:55There's been a lot of Batman adaptations over the years. Also, water is wet. Yeah,

01:13:59beginning this with the obvious, but when discussing actors who've played Batman,

01:14:02it's mostly focused on films, with the occasional nod to TV like Adam West or animation with Kevin

01:14:07Conway. But if you dig deep enough, you'll find there's been a bunch of actors who've played

01:14:11Batman in live-action outside of the most well-known versions. So for this episode, we're looking at the

01:14:15lesser-known live-action Batman. I'm mostly sticking to live-action because, well, there's a lot of

01:14:20great animated Batman productions. There's just a lot of it, and I want to make these episodes a

01:14:25little bit shorter. So let's start with the first actor to actually play Batman in live-action back

01:14:30in the 40s, Lewis Wilson. The first live-action depiction of Batman was a film serial in 1943,

01:14:35where he was played by actor Lewis Wilson. Wilson made appearances in other films, but mostly quit

01:14:40acting and went to work with General Foods, his last role being in the TV show Orson Welles'

01:14:44Great Mysteries in 1973. A fascinating fact I found was that his wife was actress Dana Nuttall,

01:14:49who he starred opposite in the B-movie Wild Woman. She would later marry film producer Albert Chubby

01:14:54Broccoli, aka the producer of the James Bond movies. In fact, his son, Michael G. Wilson,

01:14:58along with his stepsister Barbara Broccoli, were producers of the franchise until they gave

01:15:02Crow of Control to Amazon MGM this year. So there's a relationship between Batman and Bond?

01:15:06You probably didn't know until now. In 1949, they made another serial,

01:15:10but Wilson didn't return as a Caped Crusader. That role would be filled out by Robert Lurie.

01:15:15Robert Lurie took on the role in the 1949 serial Batman and Robin. Prior to Batman,

01:15:19he had a lot of roles in action films, especially in the Tyrone Power film Mark of Zorro in 1940.

01:15:25Huh. He also starred in a ton of westerns, with his most prominent one being Mick Lintock,

01:15:30with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. He also had a steady career in TV and appeared in another DC

01:15:34Comics

01:15:34adaptation, a 1956 episode of the George Reeves Adventures of Superman show, a little bit of a

01:15:39cool technical crossover there. Reeves and Lurie also acted in a World War II propaganda film about

01:15:44VD, directed by John Ford, well before their time in the tights. Small world. Now this one had an

01:15:51interesting story behind it. In 1973, five years after the cancellation of the 60s TV show, Burt Ward and

01:15:58Yvonne Craig reprised their roles as Robin and Batgirl for a PSA about equal pay. But Adam West did not

01:16:03reprise his role. At the time, West wanted to distance himself from the role, so actor Dick

01:16:08Gautier played the role for this PSA. Gautier has had an interesting career. He started in the

01:16:12original production of Bye Bye Birdie, earning a Tony Award nomination, and ended several appearances

01:16:16in TV shows like Get Smart, The Mary Time More Show, and Charlie's Angels, among others. And films

01:16:21like the original Fun of Dick and Jane, and Billy Jack Goes to Washington. He also had a voice acting

01:16:25career, including Serpenter in G.I. Joe, and Rodimus Prime in Transformers. Batman wasn't his only

01:16:30flirtation with DC Comics, as he had an appearance in the Lundercart Wonder Woman show, and a voice

01:16:34role in Batman the Animated Series Feet of Clay as Matt Hagen's friend. Also his son was Rand Gautier,

01:16:40the man who stole Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's tape in the 90s, and was played by Zef

01:16:44Rogan in the Pam and Tommy miniseries. Yeah, again, small world. In the early 2000s, there was a series

01:16:50of adverts for OnStar, an unballed guidance system starring Batman, with the visuals taking

01:16:55inspiration from the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher films. The ads had Michael Gohl turn as Alfred from

01:17:00those movies, alongside Curtis Armstrong as the Joker, and Brian Stepanek as the Riddler.

01:17:04Batman also appeared in these ads, played by actor Bruce Thomas. Thomas has had a steady career,

01:17:09he's done voiceover work in cartoons and video games, he was a motion capture actor for Master

01:17:13Chief in the last three Halo games, and, more importantly for this video, did some voice

01:17:17work for some animated DC work. He was the voice of Commissioner Gordon in the DC Universe

01:17:21Animated Original Movies during the New 52 period, among other films as well. He was also apparently

01:17:25believed to be the man who played Batman in the Birds of Prey TV show, but he debunked that.

01:17:30That Batman was apparently played by two stuntmen, Keith Campbell and Alex Daniels, but there isn't

01:17:34any confirmation of that actually being true. So with this and a few other entries, I debated

01:17:38taking off this list. In this instance, it was because David Mazuse is a young actor with Gotham,

01:17:43the Batman prequel show, focused on the scene before Batman arrived on the scene,

01:17:46being his big major role so far, and also because in Gotham he played a young Bruce Wayne,

01:17:50so technically not Batman age, but in the show's final, Medusa wore the cape and cow for one scene.

01:17:55There were other moments, but he was mostly kept off screen until the last scene of the show,

01:17:59which was the first time Batman made an appearance on a TV show in live action since the 60s,

01:18:03so there's a little interesting fact for you. It was also the same year when Ian Glenn showed up as

01:18:06Bruce Wayne in Titans. Titans was known as one of the few live action DC shows that allowed to use

01:18:11Batman with an on-screen appearance, whereas others were prevented from doing so before,

01:18:15it's why Green Arrow appeared in Smallville, for example. In Titans, what was originally the flagship

01:18:19show for DC Universe, the DC Comics streaming service, yet the streaming rules were weird.

01:18:23Bruce Wayne appeared in season 2 and 3, played by Game of Thrones actor Ian Glenn. While he wasn't

01:18:27wearing the costume, I think it still counts. Glenn is an actor who's had a steady career before and

01:18:32since playing the Kate Crusader, so no deep dive, but he's also been the first live action Batman to

01:18:36share the screen with Jason Todd, played by Colin Reuters, so there's that for you. Also in 2019,

01:18:41yeah, big year for DC shows, there was a Batwoman show. Batwoman was a show set in the Arrowverse,

01:18:46series of DC Comic TV shows all show in the same universe, but with a caveat that they couldn't

01:18:50use some of the big name DC characters, with some exceptions. This was mostly due to the concurrent

01:18:55DC Extended Universe film series that were using all the big name characters. Batwoman,

01:18:59the Gotham City set show starring Bruce Wayne's cousin Kate Kane, then later Ryan Wilder because

01:19:03Ruby Rose left the show before season 2, defending Gotham in Bruce's absence.

01:19:08While Batman never showed up in person, sometimes he was obscured, but he managed to get Bruce Wayne to

01:19:12appear. In the season 2 premiere, Batman was impersonated by the super villain Harsh and

01:19:16appeared in A Vision to Luke Fox in another episode. Both of these instances, he was played

01:19:20by actor Warren Christie. Warren Christie has and continues to work in TV and film. Notable

01:19:24appearances include an episode of Arrow as a different character, and also Supernatural,

01:19:28whose colleague Jensen Ackles was considered to play a role, but didn't come to fruition.

01:19:32Also, Batwoman was supposed to have a crossover with Superman and Lois, but that didn't happen

01:19:35due to the Covid pandemic affecting TV production. It's been suggested, but never confirmed,

01:19:39if it was supposed to include Bruce Wayne. The main plotline of Batman was about what happened

01:19:43to Bruce and why he disappeared. So, it would make sense for a crossover to maybe follow that plot,

01:19:49but it didn't happen, so there's no way of knowing what was that going to entail.

01:19:52So, Warren Christie's appearance came after Karen Conway's brief live-action appearance as Bruce Wayne

01:19:56in the first season of Batman, but I decided to mention it at the end because I thought it would

01:20:00be a good way to end the video on. During the Arrow vs Cross on Infinite Earths crossover event,

01:20:04Karen Conway made an appearance as an older Bruce Wayne.

01:20:09It's obviously well known at this point, but Kevin Conway was known for the voice of Batman

01:20:12in a variety of different mediums, animation, film, and video games, and in a crisis crossover,

01:20:17he got to play Batman, who broke his code and went bad. It's a good performance,

01:20:20out of several from The Man, going against type, serving as a contrast to Brandon Ruth's

01:20:24Turner's Superman in the same episode, and gets to envelop every old,

01:20:26future version of Batman. He's got the exoskeleton from Kingdom Come,

01:20:30he crows Dark Knight Returns, he also gets to show a scene with Kate Kane,

01:20:32which this performance has a bit of visceral importance. Kevin Conway is the first

01:20:35of the gay man to play Batman in live action, and having him show a scene with Kate Kane,

01:20:39one of the most prominent lesbian superheroes, and especially in an episode of her own show,

01:20:44is a good scene with a lot of significance to it. It also is a little bit thematically relevant to

01:20:48the show's overall arc, especially with Kane's character arc of trying to be Batman, or Bat-woman.

01:20:53Yeah, they kind of went the legacy route. Anyway, it's a good scene with a lot of significance to

01:20:57it, and it's one of my favourite moments of Kevin Conway as Batman. So those were the men who were

01:21:01Batman in one way or another. While they may not be talked about among the well-known Bat-men,

01:21:06they still got to be the Dark Knight for one moment.

01:21:13As 2025 draws to a close, it's usually a time to look back, but for this episode,

01:21:18I want to look forward at what 2026 offers us on the film front. Now a small disclaimer,

01:21:23this list will be films that have a sort of release date, so no independent films that have

01:21:26not found a distributor yet will not appear on this list, and I should also acknowledge that films

01:21:30released dates are subject to change. My previous anticipation list had films that got pushed back,

01:21:35so there's a good chance that some films on this list might be pushed back to 2027,

01:21:39so be cautious of that. Now before we get into the main event, let's get to honorable mentions.

01:21:44These are films that might come out next year, but don't have release dates that I'm interested in,

01:21:48so let's start with...

01:21:52Daisy's Life. Masaaki Rasa, mind game, night is short, walk on go,

01:21:55Lou over the wall, and Inuo, has another film coming out from his new studio, Ame Pippin.

01:22:00This film is an adaptation of Banana Yoshimoto's Daisy's Life. I'm excited to see what Yuasa has to

01:22:06offer this time.

01:22:10Palangi di Mars. One of the things I tend to do is try and watch a variety of different films

01:22:14from

01:22:15around the world. One film I have on my radar is Palangi di Mars, a science fiction film from

01:22:18Indonesia, and to my knowledge, the country's first. It looks good, and I hope to see it next year,

01:22:23depending on how it's distributed outside of the country.

01:22:29Rogue Trooper. Based on the 2000 AD comic, Rogue Trooper sees Moon and source code director

01:22:34Duncan Jones venture into animation using Unreal Engine 5. Looking by these preview images,

01:22:39it looks really good, so let's hope it comes together. It also has a stacked cast of great

01:22:42British talent behind it. Now let's look at the films with solid, at the time of recording,

01:22:47release dates. At number one, it's All You Need Is Kill. Edge of Tomorrow, or Live Die Repeat,

01:22:51depending on how you call it, is Getting Another Girl, or just that light novel it's based on is

01:22:55getting adapted again, this time as an anime movie detailing a different perspective from the novel

01:22:59and the film. The animation looks good. It has a good cel-shaded CGI look that I mistook for 2D

01:23:04until further inspection. I'm excited to see what this film has to offer.

01:23:10Number two, Clayface and Supergirl. Sharing the sport here because they're both DC Universe films,

01:23:15and the two are films that mark big firsts for this new superhero series. Supergirl is the series'

01:23:20first female-led superhero film. Clayface is the first film focusing on a villain. There's also some

01:23:24of the universe's first projects not directed by James Gunn, so it's interesting to see what

01:23:28directors Craig Gillespie and James Watkins bring to the table. With Clayface, it's the first horror

01:23:32project for the universe, which is a rare thing in this genre, and has a screenplay by Mike Flanagan

01:23:37inspired by the Batman animated series episode of Feet of Clay. I'm also excited to see Supergirl,

01:23:41as it's inspired by Tom King's Great Woman of Tomorrow storyline, and it looks a lot of fun.

01:23:45Both films have a lot of interesting things going on for me.

01:23:50Number three, Coyote vs Acme. Coyote vs Acme is finally getting released in 2026. The film was

01:23:56shelved by Warner Brothers for the tax write-off, but due to backlash, they reversed the decision and

01:24:01led the film to be shopped around to other studios, and now it will be released by Ketchup Entertainment.

01:24:05That's great seeing a film be released, but then there's the premise of the film, which sees

01:24:09Wile E. Coyote to Acme Products in court for failing him all those years in his attempts to

01:24:14capture the roadrunner. I love Looney Tunes, I love Wile E. Coyote, I love the premise,

01:24:17I love that it's getting released, it's also co-written by James Gunn, so I'm pretty damn excited about this.

01:24:24Number four, Disclosure Day. Steven Spielberg. Nuff said.

01:24:31Number five, I love Boosters. In 2018, Boots Wile's excellent debut,

01:24:35Sorry to Bother You, was a wild movie. In 2026, he brings up his follow-up with I Love Boosters,

01:24:40a film about shoplifters. The film's casts include Kiki Palmer, Naomi Aki, Taylor Page,

01:24:44Demi Moore, Don Cheadle, and many more. I've definitely got this film pencil-ruled in,

01:24:49and hopefully it isn't going to be released in the UK, unlike Sorry to Bother You.

01:24:54Number six, Mononoke the Movie, Chapter 3, The Curse of the Serpent. I feel like the Mononoke movies are

01:24:59pretty underrated. Some of the best animated films I've seen recently, and 2026 offers us the conclusion to the

01:25:04Medicine Cellar's escapades in the Yoku. This one seems to finally involve the Shogun,

01:25:07who's made sporadic appearances in the films, and could possibly type other mysteries that have

01:25:11popped up about the Yoku in the films. Well, I'm probably going to have to watch the film to find

01:25:14out if they'll answer my questions.

01:25:19Number seven, Resident Evil. Zach Kragger, fresh off Barbarian and Rapunzel, is doing a Resident Evil

01:25:24movie. I hope it brings the level of crafty mystery and darkly humorous horror to this video game

01:25:28adaptation, which its sort of material has managed to tell the line between silly and scary,

01:25:31so I'm really excited for this.

01:25:36Number eight, was originally going to be the Avatar movie they were going to put into theaters,

01:25:41but during production of this was announced to be moving to Paramount Plus, so I had to take it

01:25:46off the list. So that Street Fighter movie looks pretty silly.

01:25:52Number nine, The Social Reckoning. David Fincher and Aaron Stalkins, The Social Network, was one of the

01:25:56most prescient films of the 2010s in regards to how Facebook and the large tech world would affect our

01:26:01lives one way or another. Now, Aaron Sorkin directs the sequel, 16 years later, in a world where the

01:26:05tech industry seems to have made our lives not good. So I'll be interested to see how this film tackles

01:26:10that.

01:26:13Number 10, 28 Years Later, The Bone Temple. I loved 28 Years Later, one of my favorite films of

01:26:182025. The sequel sees Nita Costa to take the director's chair from Danny Boyle. I'm excited to see where this

01:26:23sequel goes to, and I loved Costa's other films, and I'd like to see how a non-Brit handles the

01:26:27material

01:26:27considering 28 years later had a very British cultural sense about itself. So those are the

01:26:30films I'm excited to see in 2026. What films are you excited for in 2026? Please stand off in the

01:26:35comments below and have a great 2026 from me.

01:27:04Number 8, The Legend of Aang, The Last Airbender. Avatar The Last Airbender is probably one of the big

01:27:10Gen Z touchdowns, like what Souls was for Gen X, and insert recent reboot-slash-revival here for

01:27:15Millennials. So it's getting a movie. The film will focus on a gang as young adults with a new voice

01:27:19cast

01:27:20including Steven Ewan as Zuko, and the young Quan as Toph, who is legally blind, so you don't usually see

01:27:25someone with a disability like that headline a film, animated or otherwise. The film also will be

01:27:29directed by Lauren Montgomery, an animation veteran who worked on both Last Airbender and Legend of

01:27:33Korra, and also some of the best DC animated movies like Greenlands and First Flight, and Batman Year

01:27:37One. Like what you see here? Then please subscribe from my YouTube channel so you can get more Watch

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01:27:46videos you just watched, and also please check out The Orange Bin, my blog where I have write-ups of

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01:27:52episodes here, with links to sources that I mention on the show. I also contain some of my old blog

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