Wildwood

 

After Laika’s fifth feature Missing Link failed to make me want to see it in a theater, their latest project Wildwood, based on the 2011 novel by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis, captured my interest right away with its tone and visuals. Reading about its 16-year development cycle got me even more interested with how ambitious the project turned out to be, and seeing the animation quality of Missing Link made me wonder how they would be able to top that. Seeing Wildwood on the big screen, I was floored by the visuals and storytelling in comparison to the studio’s previous works and I wouldn’t disagree with the notion that it’s Laika’s magnum opus.

Missing Link

 

As a fan of stop-motion animation studio Laika, I was initially excited about their then-upcoming fifth feature, Missing Link, during the initial teasing from the studio, only to be turned off from seeing it in the theater because of how different the trailers made it look from their previous works. In the years since, however, I became increasingly curious about giving it a fair chance to complete my experience with their output, more so in the run-up to their latest film, Wildwood. After finally giving Missing Link its due, I ended up liking it far better than I thought I would, but still thought it fell short from Laika’s first four films in terms of storytelling.

Good Boy (2025 Leonberg Film)

Among the horror films released in 2025, Good Boy (not to be confused with the 2025 thriller also known as Heel) made a surprising splash due to its unique concept of a horror film taking place from the perspective of a dog. This premise, alongside hearing about how good the dog Indy’s performance is, was also enough to pique my own interest, but for one reason or another, I wasn’t able to watch it until recently, when I discovered it was available to stream on Hulu through my Disney+ subscription. Despite its flaws, I thought it overall lived up to the hype, especially Indy’s award-winning performance.

Stubs - The Mummy's Hand

The Mummy’s Hand (1940) starring Dick Foran, Peggy Moran, Wallace Ford, Cecil Kellaway Directed by Christy Cabanne. Screenplay by Griffin Jay, Maxwell Shane. Produced by Ben Pivar Run time: 67 minutes. Black and White. USA Horror

When is a film the second in a series, but not a sequel and doesn’t tell a story related to the original? See The Mummy’s Hand, released by Universal in 1940, eight years after the original. Following the success of Son of Frankenstein, which revived the Frankenstein franchise, and The Invisible Man Returns, which revived that franchise, the studio decided to try that with The Mummy. Only this time there was no Boris Karloff, and no James Whale involved.

Rather, the film was produced by Ben Pivar, who director Reginald LeBorg described as the epitome artless, noncreative studio executive who was often crude and occasionally seemed illiterate. The director, Christy Cabanne, a former silent film actor, had a reputation for efficiency and for being able to make films very quickly.

Budgeted at $80,000, the film started filming in late May 1940. Cost cutting measures included using stock shots taken from The Mummy, leftover sets from James Whale's film Green Hell, and musical scores almost entirely lifted from Son of Frankenstein. Production continued into mid-June, which led to overtime hours for everyone. According to Peggy Moran, the female lead, she had to be on set at 6am to do hair and makeup and filming began at 8am and would occasionally work as late as 4am the next day. Over budget by $4000, editing was done by the end of June. The film opened on September 20, 1940.

Stubs - The Invisible Man Returns

The Invisible Man Returns (1940) starring Vincent Price, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nan Grey. Directed by Joe May. Screenplay by Curt Siodmak and Lester Cole. Suggested by the novel The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells (London, 1897). Associate Producer: Ken Goldsmith. Run time: 82 minutes. Black and White. USA. Horror.

As an actor, Vincent Price is best remembered for his roles in horror films. One of his earliest roles in such a film came in The Invisible Man Returns, a sequel to The Invisible Man, which had come out seven years prior.

Following the commercial success of Son of Frankenstein, Universal Studios announced the development of The Invisible Man Returns in March 1939. The film went through a few screenwriters, including W.P. Lipscomb, and directors, including Rowland V. Lee, before choosing Lester K. Cole and Curt Siodmak to write the script and Joe May to direct.

The production, which got underway on October 19, 1939, was apparently plagued from the start. By the second week, it was already behind schedule. The $243,750 budget and the 27-day planned production days were not adequate for the special effects. Production ended on November 11 and was followed by three to four days of post-production work needed to be done for the special effects. The film would be released on January 12, 1940.

Street Fighter (1994)

Just as there a seemingly endless number of Street Fighter game variants, the fighting game series is no stranger to outside media, with one of the most notorious being the 1994 Street Fighter film that was part of the initial wave of theatrical film adaptations of popular video game franchises (in this case, specifically adapting Street Fighter II). Much of its notoriety can be attributed to its production, in which Capcom was very hands-on and numerous behind-the-scenes issues plagued its development, resulting in a more atypical Street Fighter story. As someone who has had some familiarity with the Street Fighter series, mostly through Street Fighter IV and some amount of Street Fighter V, I had been curious to see what this film was like for myself and finally found an opportunity to do so in anticipation of the upcoming 2026 film. While it was lambasted at the time of its release, it has since been reevaluated as an enjoyable movie on its own, and I found myself falling more into the latter camp.

Ghostwire: Tokyo (PS5)

Hot off the success of The Evil Within and The Evil Within 2, Shinji Mikami and Ikumi Nakamura from Tango Gameworks would announce the studio’s next project, an action-adventure with horror elements called Ghostwire: Tokyo, at E3 2019. This project would later receive a generally positive reception following its official release in 2022, though it would notably depart in some ways from the survival horror gameplay of Tango’s first two games (before releasing something completely out of left field the next year with the acclaimed Hi-Fi Rush). Personally, E3 memes related to Nakamura aside, the original reveal had me interested in playing Ghostwire: Tokyo, to the point that I have the steelbook for it, although I would only get around to it after finally obtaining a physical copy of Hi-Fi Rush and after realizing that I owned every console Tango game physically. Though the wait felt worth it, I would agree on the repetitive nature of the gameplay, which had my initial enthusiasm for exploring every possible corner of the game gradually wane.

Resident Evil (2026)

Between the critical failure of Paul W. S. Anderson’s Resident Evil hexalogy and the commercial failure of Welcome to Raccoon City, Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil (2026) had a lot riding on it. Although Cregger found success in both Weapons and Barbarian, his take on Resident Evil would represent the second reboot of the film arm of the wider franchise, a side that had already burned longtime fans (but not necessarily general audiences) multiple times. As such, he decided that instead of adapting a specific game, he would focus on adapting the “survival horror” aspect while following a new character. Although a loud segment of the fandom would question this decision, the finished film would not only earn the highest critical scores of any video game movie, surpassing Exit 8, but also make over $250 million against its $75 million budget as of this writing. Personally, following the disappointment of Welcome to Raccoon City, Cregger’s clear passion for the franchise and a sneak peek shown at SDCC 2026 won me over and I couldn’t wait to see it as soon as I could. Fortunately, Cregger seems to have finally cracked the code on adapting a survival horror series to the big screen in a way that a film like Return to Silent Hill could not.

Stubs - Haunted Mansion (2023)

Haunted Mansion (2023) starring LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Dan Levy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jared Leto Directed by Justin Simien. Screenplay by Katie Dippold. Based on The Haunted Mansion by Walt Disney. Produced by Dan Lin, Jonathan Eirich Run time: 123 minutes. USA. Color. Supernatural Horror, Comedy.

Sometimes a film can have a really great cast but the material doesn’t live up to the casting. Such is the case with Haunted Mansion, a 2023 release from Walt Disney. It's a remake of sorts of The Haunted Mansion (2003), the original, which only gets better when compared with this film.

The Haunted Mansion (2003)

Back in 2003, Disney released Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, their most successful film based on one of their theme park attractions by virtue of spawning a money-printing pentalogy. That same year, mere months later, Disney would also release The Haunted Mansion, based on the theme park attraction of the same name. Although the film would actually break even at the box office, with about $180 million earned against a $90 million budget, the film’s negative reception among critics, with a meager 14% on Rotten Tomatoes, would turn me off from watching it in the two decades since its original run. That would change with this blog’s yearly celebration of the Halloween season. While by no means a masterpiece, I now firmly believe that critics were too harsh on the film the first time around.

Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom

With the continued development and popularity of the Wallace & Gromit spin-off Shaun the Sheep, a third feature film, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom (The Beast of Mossy Bottom), was inevitably produced, releasing just in time for the 2026 Halloween season. Unlike the previous feature, A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, this one was not locked behind Netflix Jail, instead receiving a wide theatrical release. Since I don’t have a Netflix account, this made it a lot easier to watch The Beast of Mossy Bottom within the release window, at a time that ended up being a private screening, and found myself thoroughly entertained as a fan of the series.

Second Screening - The Transformers: The Movie (1986) 40th Anniversary

Note: This review contains spoilers for The Transformers: The Movie (1986).

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1986), Hasbro held a promotional campaign framing it as an Apology Tour, centering on the trauma many ‘80s kids faced from the infamous death of Optimus Prime in the film and culminating in a special theatrical screening from Fathom Events. While this campaign was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, the recent passing of Optimus Prime voice actor Peter Cullen shortly before the planned screening made the whole thing very awkward, leading both Hasbro and Fathom to downplay the Apology Tour aspect, save for whatever was too late into production to change. Truth be told, before Peter Cullen’s passing, I was actually planning to skip the screening entirely until I learned there was to be a new animated coda attached to it, at which point I got tickets when they went on sale; similarly, I was also going to skip the upcoming 40th anniversary Blu-ray set (I already own the Rhino DVD, Sony DVD and both of Shout! Factory’s 30th and 35th anniversary sets since they all have different bonus features on them) until I learned said coda was going to be included. As for the screening itself, I still found the movie worth celebrating for Transformers fans, but felt mixed about the extra content.

Stubs - Batman (1943)

Batman (1943) starring Lewis Wilson, Douglas Croft, J. Carrol Naish, Shirley Patterson Directed by Lambert Hillyer. Screenplay by Victor McLeod, Leslie Swabacker, Harry L. Fraser. Based on Batman by Bill Finger (uncredited) and Bob Kane. Produced by Rudolph C. Flothow Run time: 260 minutes. Black and White USA Superhero

There’s a long list of actors who have played the Batman character on television and in movies: Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, Ben Afleck and Robert Pattison come to mind. But the first actor to don the mask and cape was Lewis Wilson, who starred in the first serial based on the DC character, Batman.

Review Hub - Wallace & Gromit

What started as a student film, A Grand Day Out, from Nick Park in 1989 went on to launch Wallace & Gromit, Aardman's flagship IP depicting the misadventures of eccentric inventor Wallace and his silent dog Gromit. While it has remained popular in its own right, even becoming a mainstay in British culture, the popularity of Shaun the sheep from A Close Shave led to him getting his own spinoff series, which shows no signs of stopping. Both franchises have even spawned their share of video games and feature films, a testament to their everlasting popularity.

Below is a list of links to every Wallace & Gromit review on this blog, separated by series and medium and listed in release order.

Update (9/27/2026): Added Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom

 

Wallace & Gromit

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Shaun the Sheep

Shaun the Sheep Movie
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom

 Video Games

Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures

Review Hub - Resident Evil

Since 1996, Resident Evil has made a splash in both video games and films, either through the strength of its own merits in the Survival Horror genre or through its continued influence. Below are all of our reviews of this famous franchise gathered in one place and broken up by timeline and medium. The Winters story is sectioned off due to its relatively isolated nature.

Below is a list of links to every Resident Evil review on this blog, separated by timeline and medium and listed in release order.

Original Timeline

Resident Evil 0
Resident Evil - CODE: Veronica X
Resident Evil 4 (2005)
Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil: Revelations
Resident Evil 6
Resident Evil: Revelations 2

Remake Timeline

Resident Evil (2002)
Resident Evil 2 (2019)
Resident Evil 3 (2020)
Resident Evil 4 (2023) (Separate Ways)

Winters Storyline

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Demos) (DLC) (Second Look)
Resident Evil Village (Second Look)

Films

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City

Review Hub - X-Men

Among Marvel's various super hero properties, one of its most popular and longest-running is the X-Men franchise, especially the characters of Wolverine and Deadpool. One of its arguably best known iterations is the series of live-action films from 20th Century Fox, which was later folded into the Marvel Cinematic Universe following the studio getting purchased by Disney and renamed to 20th Century Studios.

Below is a list of links to every X-Men review on this blog, separated by studio and medium and listed in release order.

 

20th Century Fox/20th Century Studios

 

 

X-Men

X2

X-Men: The Last Stand

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

X-Men: First Class

The Wolverine

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Deadpool (Second Look)

X-Men: Apocalypse

Logan (Second Opinion)

Deadpool 2 (Super Duper Cut) (Once Upon a Deadpool) (Second Look)

Dark Phoenix

The New Mutants

Marvel Studios

Deadpool & Wolverine

Video Games

 

Deadpool (Game) (Second Opinion) (Second Look)