Stubs - Waitress

Waitress (2007) starring: Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines, Adrienne Shelly, Eddie Jemison, Jeremy Sisto, Andy Griffith. Directed by Adrienne Shelly. Screenplay by Adrienne Shelly. Produced by Michael Roiff. Run time: 104 minutes. Color. USA. Comedy.

Every holiday seems to have related films, take Groundhog Day, or even a genre of films, Christmas with the holiday film. But some holidays don’t have films that come to mind. For Pi(e) Day, can we recommend Waitress directed by Adrienne Shelly?

URLate

While browsing the free section on Steam, I have been careful in discerning games I want to play, with one factor being whether it stands out for the right reasons. One such title is the recently-released URLate, the first title from solo indie dev NoSepoGames. The point-and-click gameplay and visual style intrigued me enough to play it as soon as I could, and even in its short length it showed a lot of promise from this new developer.

Stubs - Conclave

Conclave (2024) starring: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini Directed by Edward Berger. Screenplay by Peter Straughan. Based on Conclave by Robert Harris. Produced by Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Michael Jackman, Alice Dawson, Robert Harris. Run time: 120 minutes. Color US/UK Political Thriller

While art is not always a reflection of real life, sometimes a movie comes at a time when, even though it might be fiction, gives insight into current and future events. With the current Pope seriously ill, the process through which he would be replaced is examined in Conclave, a film from director Edward Berger, based on the novel of the same name by Robert Harris.

Stubs - Elektra

Elektra  (2005) starring Jennifer Garner, Goran Višnjić, Will Yun Lee, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Terence Stamp Directed by Rob Bowman Screenplay by Zak Penn, Stuart Zicherman, M. Raven Metzner.  Based on Comic book characters by Frank Miller. Motion picture characters by Mark Steven Johnson. Produced by Arnon Milchan, Gary Foster, Avi Arad. Color Run time: 97 minutes. Superhero USA

If you watched the recent Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) and saw Jennifer Garner dressed up as a superhero and were unfamiliar with the character she’s playing, you might be tempted to watch Elektra (2005), in which she portrayed the titular character. Or, if you watched the much-assailed Daredevil (2003), you might want to see what happened to the Elektra character that was believed dead but apparently wasn’t, in which case you might also be curious about this film, the supposed continuation of her story.

Sonic Colors: Ultimate

Following the release of Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Team and Dimps decided to try a new approach based on fan feedback that saw Sonic returning to his roots. Not only would they make Sonic the only playable character, but the balance between speed and platforming would hearken back to the Genesis days and there wouldn’t be any gimmicks as in Sonic and the Black Knight. Additionally, there would be two notable personnel changes: Ken Pontac and Warren Graff, best known at the time for their work on Happy Tree Friends, would take over writing duties and the entire English dub cast would change once more, with the exception of Mike Pollock continuing his role as Doctor Eggman. This approach led to mostly positive reviews in 2010, though the game would only see a release on the Nintendo Wii and DS.

A decade later, Sonic Colors would receive a remastered release, Sonic Colors: Ultimate, due to both the influx of fans from more recent games and the first Sonic the Hedgehog film, as well as the fact that Colors remains locked to the Wii and DS platforms. Blind Squirrel Games would develop this remaster, based on the Wii version, and add in a good amount of new content, including mechanics meant to help beginner players. Unlike the original game, however, Ultimate would receive more mixed reviews due to a number of newer bugs and glitches. Although I bought a PS4 copy day one back in 2021, as I had never owned or played the original Colors, the controversy over the release led me to waiting until well after the “Play Date” had passed before taking a crack at playing it. I may be biased, but after coming right off of Sonic Superstars, I found Sonic Colors: Ultimate a rather enjoyable, if flawed, experience.

Stubs - Anora

Anora (2024) starring Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, Aleksei Serebryakov. Directed by Sean Baker. Screenplay by Sean Baker. Produced by Alex Coco, Samantha Quan, Sean Baker. Run time: 239 minutes. Color. USA Comedy, Drama

Sometimes the hype hits the road and it’s not a pretty sight. You hear over and over again how good a film is and how many awards its won and you think you need to watch it to keep up. A few years ago, it was Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and this year it’s Anora. But after watching, you wonder why it’s being hailed as a possible Academy Award Best Picture winner.

Daredevil (+ Director's Cut)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Daredevil.

In a post-MCU world, it can be difficult to remember a time when Marvel had licensed their properties to other studios in the 2000s, even more so the films that didn’t reach the same notoriety as some of Fox’s thirteen X-Men films or Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy at Sony. One of these films was Daredevil, starring Ben Affleck and released by Fox in 2003. Although it received mixed reviews from critics, it still saw some success at the box office, earning $178 million against a budget of $78 million, and spawned the Elektra spinoff film, itself a box office bomb. Based on the reviews at the time, as well as negative word of mouth and Ben Affleck earning a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor, I went in expecting a cinematic trainwreck on par with other duds like Batman & Robin or Fant4stic. Instead, I saw a film that, while flawed in execution, represented a bold step forward for grounded cinematic takes on comic book superheroes.