Stubs - 3 Bad Men

3 Bad Men (1926) starring George O’Brien, Olive Borden, Lou Tellegen, Tom Santschi, J. Farrell MacDonald, Frank Campeau, Priscilla Bonner, Otis Harlan, Phyllis Haver, Georgie Harris, Alec Francis, Jay Hunt Directed by John Ford. Screenplay by  John Stone, Ralph Spence, Malcolm Stuart Boyla. Based on the novel Over the Border by Herman Whitaker (New York, 1917). Producer: William Fox. Run time: 93 minutes. Black and White. USA. Western, Silent

3 Bad Men came to my attention through reading Joy Girl: A Novel of Olive Borden (Forgotten Actresses) by Laini Giles. Even though the book is historical fiction, it is based on real events, include Olive Borden meeting George O’Brien on the set of this film. Turns out I had the film in the Ford at Fox collection, which came out in 2007.

Following his success with The Iron Horse (1924), director John Ford was given carte blanche by Fox. He chose as his next project the novel, Over the Border by British writer Herman Whitaker. The book tells the story of Three Bad Men - Sliver Smith, Bull Perrin, and Jake Evers - who have established their hideout in a desolate region of the Mexican desert. The narrative captures their adventures and confrontations in a land marked by revolution, rustling, and crossing borders, while exploring themes of survival, loyalty, and the blurred lines between right and wrong.

Stubs - The Fantastic Four: First Steps

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, Ralph Ineson Directed by Matt Shakman. Screenplay by Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer. Based on The Fantastic Four comic book created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Produced by Kevin Fiege. Run time: 115 minutes. Color. USA. Action, Sci-Fi, Superheroes, MCU

Every ten years, we get a new Fantastic Four. The first was 2005’s Fantastic Four directed by Tim Story, (which had a sequel in 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer); was rebooted in 2015 as Fantastic Four aka Fant4stic directed by Josh Trank. Now, in the summer of 2025, we get The Fantastic Four: First Steps, directed by Matt Shakman. The good news is that it is better than its predecessors, but that is a low bar.

Freakier Friday

While each generation can say they have their own adaptation of Mary Rodgers’ book Freaky Friday, probably one of the more iconic adaptations would be the 2003 film starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis. So much so, in fact, that it would be the first to get a sequel 22 years later, Freakier Friday, featuring the return of Lohan and Curtis in starring roles. I did have some interest in seeing this film after watching the 2003 Freaky Friday, but I will admit to having some concerns over its quality due to have Hocus Pocus 2 turned out. Feeling confident enough to see it in a theater, it was not only far better than I expected, but I even say it’s what Hocus Pocus 2 should have been.

The Bad Guys 2

 

Following the release of the first The Bad Guys film, I was hyped enough by it and the prospect of a sequel that I caught up, and kept up with, the book series until it finished (I was not a fan of how it ended). On seeing trailers for The Bad Guys 2, I was hyped once again based on how much I liked the first, but practiced cautious optimism for how it would handle the introduction of new characters from the source material. These fears were put to rest on seeing the actual movie, which only reinforced my opinion that the films were superior to the books.

Freaky Friday (2003)

While Disney is no stranger to adaptations, the novel Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers is one that the company has made into a franchise with multiple unique adaptations for each generation since 1976. Perhaps the most well-known of these is the third adaptation of Freaky Friday from 2003, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, which was also the one that was advertised to me as a kid. Though I had always had the curiosity about it in the back of my head, I didn’t watch it in earnest until the announcement of a 2025 sequel to it, dubbed Freakier Friday. After streaming the movie through Disney+, I not only enjoyed it more than I expected, I also thought it mostly aged surprisingly well.

Stubs - Superman (2025)

Superman (2025) starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced Directed by James Gunn Screenplay by James Gunn. Based on characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Produced by Peter Safran, James Gunn Run time: 129 minutes. Color. USA. Superhero

When launching a new DC Universe, James Gunn started with Superman, a logical place to begin. Superman is not the first superhero, but he is perhaps the best known. And since Gunn didn’t feel the need to retell Superman’s origin story, the film feels somewhat like a sequel rather than a starting place. We’re given a little bit of exposition in text at the beginning, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was coming in the middle of a story that was already in progress. And there are a lot of things that are never explained, like his Fortress of Solitude.

A Minecraft Movie

Note: This review contains spoilers for A Minecraft Movie.

What happens when you make a movie based on a video game with no story? Markus “Notch” Persson tried to find out in 2014 when his company, Mojang, struck with a deal with Warner Bros. to develop Minecraft, Persson’s creation and currently the best-selling video game of all time. As with many Hollywood projects, however, the project went through development hell for nearly a decade, surviving several personnel changes both at Warner Bros. and at Mojang, including Microsoft purchasing the company and Persson subsequently stepping down. Finally, in 2022, production finally went into full swing, with filming conducted in 2024 and the final release in 2025. Although the film received mixed reception from critics, with a 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, it still earned just shy of $1 billion at the box office against a budget of $150 million. A rather impressive feat.

Although I had some experience with Minecraft, I didn’t really watch it out of any genuine excitement. The first trailer left a bad impression between its use of The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” and editing that didn’t contain a single trace of sincerity. The following trailers did a better job with showing the actual plot and comedic tone, but did little to wash out the sour taste left by the initial reveal. Of course, when the movie succeeded despite expectations, it gained awareness not for any indication of quality, but from the memes that spawned from it, including the infamous “Chicken Jockey” trend that caused headaches for theaters and the employees who had to clean up huge messes, not helped by how director Jared Hess didn’t really discourage the behavior (he did benefit from the increased ticket sales, after all). The non-zero possibility of witnessing such chaos firsthand discouraged me from seeing in the theater, even if I really wanted to, so I didn’t consider it until I could stream it on HBO Max, free from spills, live chickens or rowdy theatergoers, if only to see what all the fuss was about. About 100 minutes later, I walked away fully convinced that such an average film’s success came entirely from memes, for better or worse.