Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die

The first time I had heard of Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (GLHFDD) was a trailer for it in front of my theatrical screening of Return to Silent Hill. Its concept and style of humor immediately piqued my interest, and my own familiarity with some of director Gore Verbinski’s previous work certainly helped. Although I didn’t end up seeing it in a theater, I was able to eventually watch it through streaming, however I had to rent it through Amazon Prime due to the Hulu/Disney+ option hitching up only on the device I intended to watch it on. Not only was I thoroughly entertained by the execution of its premise, it also provided some interesting commentary on the state of technology that made me think about my own usage of it.

Mercy (2026)

Having a narrative unfold on screen in real time takes a lot of planning and coordination to pull off properly, which may be why it’s rare enough to be notable. Even more difficult is carrying that through an entire film or TV episode, with notable early examples being Alfred Hitchcock’s 1948 thriller Rope and Robert Wise’s 1949 boxing drama The Set-Up. When I first heard about the recent 2026 film named Mercy, the premise sounded vaguely interesting, but I wasn’t sure about seeing it until confirming that it unfolds in real time, which made me thinks of the aforementioned films that I had been exposed to when I was younger. Though I missed the theatrical window, it being an Amazon MGM distribution meant I was able to watch it for free on Amazon Prime Video (now with ads after the introduction of Prime Video Ultra). While I enjoyed it and thought critic reviews were a little harsh, I feel like I might have felt differently had I watched it outside of a streaming platform.

Hoppers

As I said in my review of Elio, Pixar’s track record has proven rather hit and miss in the 2020s, complete with Elio itself finishing its theatrical run as a box office bomb that maybe made its $150 million budget back. This made me less enthusiastic about their follow-up film, Hoppers, at least at first. The more I saw the trailers, however, the more my curiosity got the better of me and I ended up watching it on opening weekend. Although I didn’t have high expectations going in, I had a genuinely good time and walked away with a willingness to actually rewatch a recent Pixar film later, which rekindled some hope for the studio’s future.

Iron Lung (Film)

It’s not uncommon for online video content creators to branch out into film, whether acting or directing. Less common, however, is a content creator not only writing, directing, starring in, editing and executive producing their own independent feature, but also adapting a video game. Such is the case with Iron Lung, which represents Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach’s feature directorial debut and adapts the 2022 indie horror game of the same name by David Szymanski. As a fan of Markiplier, I followed the status of the production throughout, including how conflicts with shooting times prevented him from appearing in the original Five Nights at Freddy’s film. I also witnessed the splash that Iron Lung made closer to release, with a small theatrical rollout brought on by independently distributing the film quickly ballooning to the point that major theater chains like AMC and Regal picked it up, the latter even offering an exclusive (3D printable) popcorn bucket. I was hyped enough to be a part of something so unique, regardless of the quality, that I bought tickets for an early screening the day they went live. Fortunately, Markiplier managed to put his money where his mouth is and create a very solid, if imperfect, big screen debut.

Tron: Ares

Note: This review contains spoilers for Tron: Legacy.

About fifteen years after the release of Tron: Legacy, and coincidentally about fifteen years after the start of this blog, Tron fans finally witnessed the release of a third film, Tron: Ares. Although Legacy director Joseph Kosinski had plans for a sequel, which would have been known as Tron: Ascension, it entered development hell due to a combination of Tomorrowland bombing at the box office and Disney’s buyouts of Lucasfilm and Marvel, though the company never outright cancelled it. Around 2017, plans shifted to the Jared Leto-led sequel that we have now, with a different writer (Jesse Wigutow), director (Joachim Rønning) and composer (Nine Inch Nails) to boot. As a fan of the franchise, I felt hyped going in despite the chosen lead, as I simply felt glad that Disney gave us more Tron at all. However, now that I’ve actually seen Ares, in IMAX 3D no less, I can happily say that although it’s not the best written installment, it was well worth the fifteen-year wait.

Elio

I hate to say this about a studio that I loved growing up, but the 2020s have not been kind to Pixar. Although they’ve had hits with Soul and Luca, duds like Lightyear and, to a lesser extent, Elemental have stood out far more than they would have in the past. This feeling perhaps contributed to my lack of motivation to see Elio, their latest release, based on both the original 2023 teaser and revised 2024 teaser, the latter of which had occurred due to a test screening in which not a single person said they liked it enough to watch it in a theater. My apathy felt justified when, despite the revised direction and positive critical reception, the film had bombed at the box office, making only $154 million on a budget of about $150-200 million. Of course, we remained undeterred in our streak of viewing every single Pixar film in some form or another and finally gave it a try when it hit Disney+. Sadly, although I did like it a little more than I thought I would, I still thought while the credits rolled that I would have felt ripped off if I had paid for the full theatrical experience.

Stubs - When Worlds Collide

When Worlds Collide (1951) Starring: Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hanson, John Hoyt. Directed by Rudolph Maté. Screenplay by Sydney Boehm. Based on the serial story "When Worlds Collide" by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie in Blue Book Magazine (Sep 1932--Feb 1933). Produced by George Pal. USA. Run time 83 minutes. Science Fiction

I’ll be honest, part of my interest in seeing When Worlds Collide was that it gets a mention in the song “Science Fiction - Double Feature” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975); “…But when worlds collide / Said George Pal to his bride…” When I saw this was going to be on TCM, on went the DVR.

The movie rights for the novel, When Worlds Collide, were originally purchased by Paramount Pictures in 1922 with the idea of Cecil B. DeMille making a film called End of the World. But that film wasn’t made. The story was shelved until October 1949 when Paramount sold them to George Pal, a producer best known for a puppet-cartoon series The Puppetoons. When Pal signed a production contract with the studio, he sold the rights back.

Following the success of Pal’s Destination Moon (1950), Paramount rushed When Worlds Collide into production to capitalize on that film’s success.

Stubs - X-Men: The Last Stand

 

X-Men: The Last Stand aka X-Men III (2006) starring: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen. Directed by Brett Ratner. Screenplay by Simon Kinberg, Zak Penn Based on the comic book series X-Men created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Produced by Lauren Shuler Donner, Ralph Winter, Avi Arad Run time: 104 minutes. Color. United Kingdom, United States. Adventure, Science Fiction

Following the success of X2 (2003), it seemed only natural that there would be a third film in the series. However, the director of the previous two films wasn’t all that interested in pursuing it. Singer stated that he "didn't fully have X-Men 3 in my mind" and was more interested in making the next Superman film, Superman Returns (2006) at Warner Bros.

Finding a replacement was not easy. Hugh Jackman's contract included the approval of director, and the job was offered to Darren Aronofsky, with whom he had just finished filming on The Fountain (2006). But Aronofsky was not the last person to be offered the position. Joss Whedon, Rob Bowman, Alex Proyas, Zack Snyder, Peter Berg, and Guillermo del Toro were all approached, but had other projects that kept them from taking the job.

In February 2005, even without a director, Fox announced the film’s release date (May 5, 2006) and that production would start in July 2005. A month later, it was announced that Matthew Vaughn had been secured to direct, but family issues would force him to resign from the project. Apparently, Vaughn also wasn’t happy about the tight deadlines imposed by Fox, stating that he "didn't have the time to make the movie that I wanted to make".

Frankenweenie (2012)

Tim Burton’s 1984 live-action short Frankenweenie has an odd place in his career. Not only did it have a more niche audience for the longest time, only seeing a home video release within certain releases of The Nightmare Before Christmas, but the short’s creation also led to Disney firing him for what they considered a waste of company resources. Fast forward to 2007, when Disney hired Burton to direct two 3D films, one of which was a feature length remake of Frankenweenie, this time in stop-motion. The finished product would release in 2012 to generally positive critical reception and also had the honor of being both the first black-and-white feature and first stop-motion film shown in IMAX 3D. In the context of its creation and release, Frankenweenie is certainly a technical achievement, as well as a personal one considering that not many people can say they got to remake a project that got them fired by the same company that hired them. In the context of the rest of his output, however, Frankenweenie’s second chance at life doesn’t change the fact that it’s not one of Burton’s best creations.

Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch

Note: This review contains spoilers for Lilo & Stitch.

When Disney releases a hit movie, it’s not uncommon to give that success legacy support in the form of a sequel (often direct-to-video but sometimes theatrical) or a TV series, often both. Such was the case with Lilo & Stitch, a film so popular at the time that it spawned a multimedia franchise with four films (including the original), a 65-episode animated series (Lilo & Stitch: The Series), a Japanese anime (Stitch!), a Chinese donghua (Stitch & Ai) and numerous English and Japanese books and video games. Although the wider franchise has faded into relative obscurity, the original film is still celebrated to this day, with Stitch himself appearing as a summon in Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts III and serving as the subject of Disney’s annual holiday 626 Day.

In honor of this year’s 626 Day, we decided to take a look at one of the DTV sequels, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, animated by Disneytoon Studios. Although it’s not the second film released, despite the number in the title (it’s actually the third), we chose this one because it’s the only one not directly tied to Lilo & Stitch: The Series and is the second film chronologically, acting as a midquel between the original film and Stitch! The Movie. Unlike most Disney DTV sequels, this one does a decent job of capturing the spirit of the original film. Like most Disney DTV sequels, however, it still falls short of the overall quality of the original.

WALL-E

“What if mankind had to leave Earth and somebody forgot to turn off the last robot?” This was the question Andrew Stanton posed at a now famous lunch in 1994, where, following the success of Toy Story, he and fellow Pixar pioneers Jon Lasseter, Pete Doctor and the late Joe Ranft discussed ideas for their next projects. The films that came out of this lunch were A Bug’s Life, Monster’s Inc., Finding Nemo and WALL-E, the last of which had a much longer development time, finally seeing the light of day in 2008. While longtime Pixar fans may feel divided on some apsects of WALL-E, the film received critical acclaim on release and has not only since been preserved in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, but has also seen a re-release through the Criterion Collection, the first Pixar film to do so.

Stubs - Everything Everywhere All at Once

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) Starring Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis. Directed by Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert. Screenplay by Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert. Produced by Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Mike Larocca, Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang. Run time: 140 minutes. Color. USA Absurdist, Science Fiction, Adventure, Comedy-Drama

Multiverses seem to be all the rage recently with such films as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) all taking shots at the concept. While the superhero movies have been hit and miss with it another entry into the genre succeeds; Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, known collectively as Daniels.

Frankenweenie (1984)

Among the many films directed by Tim Burton, one was the stop-motion animated feature Frankenweenie, which released in 2012 to positive reviews and modest success. What most may not know, however, is that it was based on a 1984 live-action short also called Frankenweenie. Of course, no one would blame you if you didn’t, as it had a fairly niche audience for the longest time, with only one theatrical run alongside a rerelease of Pinocchio, as well as the critically panned Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend in the UK, with every home video release attached to certain versions of The Nightmare Before Christmas before the inevitable Disney+ listing. In the spirit of the season, we decided to look back on this lesser-known part of Tim Burton’s career. Unfortunately, it’s not very remarkable.

Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe

After a brief revival in 2011, Beavis and Butt-Head remained dormant for several years until the announcement of a second revival meant for Comedy Central, later switched to Paramount+. This included a sequel film, Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe, which released on Paramount+ in late June 2022. With the first film, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996), still fresh in my head, I watched Do the Universe on the first day of its release and found myself laughing at the crass Texas duo once more.

Stubs - Dune (2021)

Dune (2021) Starring Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem. Directed by Denis Villeneuve. Screenplay by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth. Based on Dune by Frank Herbert. Produced by Denis Villeneuve, Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Joe Caracciolo Jr. Run time: 156 minutes. USA. Color. Science Fiction, Fantasy

Since the novel Dune by Frank Herbert, published in 1965, has been cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in the world, it should come as no surprise that there have been several attempts to bring it to the big screen. Despite a badly-received 1984 adaptation directed by David Lynch, a second attempt has recently been made, this time by director Denis Villeneuve.

While the film was released theatrically, it was also same day released on HBO Max, which is where it was watched for this review. While Trophy Unlocked isn’t quite ready to venture into theaters, we will admit that the film was made and should ideally be viewed on a larger screen than our TV set. This is an epic film, to say the least, with everything big, if not oversized, throughout the film.

Stubs - Black Widow

Note: This review contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame.

Black Widow (2021) Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, Olga Kurylenko, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, Rachel Weisz. Directed by Cate Shortland. Screenplay by Eric Pearson. Based on Marvel Comics. Produced by Kevin Feige. Color. USA Runtime: 134 minutes. Science Fiction, Action, Adventure, Superhero, MCU.

MCU Phase 4 is upon us and it starts with an interquel about Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). While it is good to see her finally get a backstory film of her own, the film feels a little out of place. Why start a new Phase with a look back at a character that, spoiler alert, has died. It’s sort of like ending Phase 3 with a film after Avengers: Endgame; oh yeah, they did just that.

Stubs - Ghost in the Shell (2017)

Ghost in the Shell (2017) Starring Scarlett Johansson, Michael Carmen Pitt, Pilou Asbæk, Chin Han, Juliette Binoche. Directed by Rupert Sanders. Screenplay by Jamie Moss, William Wheeler, Ehren Kruger. Based on the Japanese Manga Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow and the film Ghost in the Shell directed by Mamoru Oshii. Produced by Avi Arad, Ari Arad, Steven Paul, and Michael Costigan. Run Time: 106 minutes. USA Color Science Fiction, Action

There seems to be a real trend in making live-action films from animated movies. Disney may be the most notable since it began reimagining their classic films starting with 101 Dalmatians (1996), a remake of the animated film from 1961, and continuing with remakes of Alice in Wonderland (2010), Maleficent (2014), a telling of Sleeping Beauty (1959), Cinderella (2015), Jungle Book (2016), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Aladdin (2019), and Mulan (2020).

Stubs - Kong: Skull Island - Even Bigger and Better

Kong: Skull Island (2017) Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Brie Larson, Jing Tian, Toby Kebbell, John Ortiz, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Shea Whigham, Thomas Mann, Terry Notary, and John C. Reilly. Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts. Screenplay by Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, Derek Connolly. Based on King Kong by Merian C. Cooper, Edgar Wallace. Produced by Thomas Tull, Mary Parent, Jon Jashni, Alex Garcia. Run time: 118 minutes. USA Color Science Fiction, Monster, Adventure.

It’s starting to seem like Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace’s King Kong is becoming like Shakespeare in Hollywood, a go-to commodity that filmmakers hope they can make seem fresh and new, even though in many ways, they’re telling the same old story over again. With Kong: Skull Island there are some efforts to tell something different, though the main player King Kong has pretty much the same lines he’s always had.

Now, if it seems the remakes are coming quicker than ever since it was only 12 years since Peter Jackson’s take on the big ape, it should be noted that Kong is getting a new treatment for an old cause. There is a battle to be fought between America’s Kong and Japan’s Godzilla but that heavyweight fight has to be set up with a series of movies, of which Skull Island is just a part. It is also why the film, originally set up at Universal, ended up at Warner Bros.

Stubs - Revenge of the Creature

Revenge of the Creature (1955) Starring: John Agar, Lori Nelson, John Bromfield Directed by Jack Arnold Screenplay by Martin Berkeley, William Alland. Produced by William Alland. Black and White Run time: 82 minutes USA Horror, Science Fiction, 3-D

As with any successful film, Hollywood is only too happy to make a sequel. Given that The Creature from the Black Lagoon made a whopping $1.3 million at the box office, Universal was willing to make another two, as it turns out. (Given the times, the genre and the original budget $1.3 million was a lot of money.)

Stubs - Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) Starring: Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Daniels, Naomi Ackie, Domhnall Gleeson, Richard E. Grant, Lupita Nyong'o, Keri Russell, Ian McDiarmid, Billy Dee Williams Directed by J.J. Abrams Screenplay by J.J. Abrams, Chris Terrio Based on Characters by George Lucas. Produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J. J. Abrams, Michelle Rejwan Run Time: 142 minutes, U.S. Science Fiction, Fantasy

The Star Wars triple trilogy which began with Star Wars (1977) finally wraps up the "Skywalker Saga" and the "Sequel Trilogy" with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Nine films over 42 years, with a couple of stand-alones thrown in along the way, not to mention cartoons, TV Series, video games, books, some no longer considered "canon", and merchandise. So while there haven't been all that many movies, Star Wars has never been out of the public view.