Category: November 2025

Eternity “Review”

Release date: November 26, 2025 (USA)

Director: David Freyne

Starring: Miles Teller; Elizabeth Olsen; Callum Turner; John Early; Olga Merediz; Da’Vine Joy Randolph

Running time: 1h 53m

MPAA rating: PG-13

Distributed by: A24

Trailer looked super sweet, and I had to see which Eternity was to be chosen… let’s discuss!

This was a super sweet and touching story. Taking us from the last few moments of Joan (Played by Elizabeth Olsen) & her husband Larry Cutler (Played by Miles Teller). Unlike the movie Keeper, which didn’t connect the couple’s relationship. In moments of the film opening, you felt this couple’s connection, which was continuously explored and delved deep into for the audience throughout the movie.

Waiting for Joan in the afterlife junction was her first husband, Luke (Played by Callum Turner). Both Larry & Joan had their AC – (Afterlife Co-Ordinator) played by two fantastic people Anna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) & Ryan (John Early).

This movie had so much heart and throwbacks (Bow Ties :D), which made for a wonderful, touching moviegoing experience. I wish I had watched this one with my Wife, because it made me miss her not being there. Lots of fun and surprises to explore within this title, so I love to hear your thoughts in the comments if you checked it out.

7.5/10 Solid, Good movie going experience. I’d probably even watch again if asked.

I may watch Zootopia again this weekend and update my “review”. Otherwise for new movies this week. There’s also – The thing with feathers or catch Sisu before it leaves theatres.

Any recommendations before FNAF 2 hits next week? Let me know in the comments below. Anything not in my top 10 list that I need to revisit? Or the other way around, anything on my top 10 list that needs to be re-watched before December’s end.

Happy holidays, everyone, especially currently for those in America. Going to get back to playing Expedition 33 before Metroid 4 releases next week!

Thank you, everyone! Until the next batch, happy movie going fellow moviegoers!

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Zootopia 2 “Review”

Release date: November 26, 2025 (USA)

Directors: Jared Bush, Byron Howard

Prequel: Zootopia

Running time: 1h 48m

MPAA rating: PG

Distributed by: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Pretty gutted by this one…. I missed a portion of the middle due to tiredness 😦

It’s been an insane 9 years since the first feature of Zootopia. I loved the first one so was excited to see what’s to come from this title…. okay I’ll give a quick “review” as I missed the middle which going off other reviews I’ve seen is filled with a lot of heart which I missed.

Yeah, I prefer Beastars if we’re going for a romantic connection…. I haven’t been won over by this narrative yet, but maybe by Zootopia 3 or my second watch, it’ll get me?

There were jokes at the beginning and end that got me laughing out loud. I had earplugs to drown out the audience, but the movie isn’t loud, so I’m sure that added to my missing a portion of the middle.

Loved the dynamic between all the characters, new & old. It was fun returning to that world and exploring further layers of connection and growth. Zebros are the best!

At the start, I felt like an 8/10 great movie. At the end, I had slipped to a 7.5, but maybe with renewed eyes, this could be an 8/10, but it’s totally worth seeing, and I look forward to a repeat experience :D.

Stick around for the second of this weeks batch – Eternity 😀 which again I went in tired….but I stayed awake! I need to prioritize sleep after the holidays for sure!

Thanks for coming by, Popped for your movie “reviews”. Did you check out Zootopia 2 yet? Love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

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Rental Family “Review”

Release date: November 21, 2025 (USA)

Director: Hikari

Producers: Hikari, Julia Lebedev, Eddie Vaisman, Shin Yamaguchi

Languages: Japanese, English

Running time: 1h 50m

MPAA rating: PG-13

Trailer caught my interest and love seeing Brendan Fraser in new projects – JAPAN! 😀

Branden Fraser plays Phillip Vandarploeug, a struggling American actor working in Japan.

The first 30 minutes or so, I was feeling out this character and the surrounding areas of Japan. During this process, it dawned on me that I connected to the little girl in this film with her first interactions with Phillip.

Phillip finds himself being recruited by an organization called “Rental Family.” Selling people services of emotions, such as an apology service, friendship, or being their biological father, to gain acceptance into a school, etc. This was the main storyline I thought we’d be following. But it’s just a piece of a bigger interconnecting web of relationships and connections you’ll create along this story.

I was solidly in the 7’s with this title. Having a nice time exploring Japan while creating these connections. I wasn’t connecting to everyone’s story until it hit me. (The moment I mentioned earlier). I went up to 7.5 as I would honestly re-watch this movie if asked. But that ending had a beautiful bow tie and a heart-warming message/effect on me, which got it a Popped score of 8/10.

Next Wednesday, I’ll be back with another double batch, Zootopia 2 & Eternity. Before kicking off December with Fackham Hall & Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.

Thank you all for coming to Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Wicked For Good is out this weekend, so lots of good movies to enjoy with the family.

Happy movie going, fellow movie goers 😀 See you next time!

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Wicked: For Good “Review”

Release date: November 21, 2025 (USA)

Director: Jon M. Chu

Running time: 2h 17m

Adapted from: Wicked, The Wizard of OZ

MPAA rating: PG

Distributed by: Universal Pictures

This one pains me….shall we get into it? Let’s Discuss!

If you’ve been here a while, you may know I was expecting this to be in my top 10 of 2025.

Let’s review my 9s thus far, quickly. Sarah’s Oil, Christy & Soul On Fire – My most recent 9’s all hit me in the feels. Elanor, Honey Don’t & One Battle After Another – Great pacing with storytelling and impact of experience.

Top 10 list 9s – F1, Life Of Chuck & Bring Her Back – Movies that impacted their genre. Had a powerful emotional impact within me or had powerful meanings behind their storytelling that sat with me.

There’s more, but hopefully you get my point from the type of experiences I felt / had while watching these movies. Sinners, The Surfer & Last Breath included. Shoot Ne Zha 2 I still talk about to this day.

I re-watched Wicked Part 1 on Sunday. Monday, I re-watched the original Wizard of Oz. Tonight I got to see Wicked For Good. It’s not like I’m remembering part 1 from last year or some time ago. Watching Wicked, then Wicked For Good, you’d think I’d be ready and connected to all the characters…. so why did the feeling feel off for almost an hour?

The intro felt like an action movie. Felt disjointed and rough. I loved the grand sets and musical performances in part 1 so much that I’ve watched it 3 times and love it. The quality didn’t feel as grand across each musical number this time around. For some, yes. But not for quite some time.

(Stopped to re-read my Part 1 “Review”) – WoW, it had that impactful experience which can be felt in the words. Anywho. Let’s get back to Part 2.

Let’s get to the point of my concerns, shall we? The pacing felt off. Where moments could have been elaborated or enjoyed being in the moment a little more. You’re whisked away to the next scene. Next setup or attempting to contain this part 2 within a certain time to contain the remainder story.

I’d loved to have had 20-30 more minutes. Let’s chat in the comments, spoilers if you want to know where and why. Tin Man was done right, but the others. Well, you saw the majority of the lion scenes in the trailer… I’m not going to rant about the other. Solid human performance and that’s that.

Would you watch a remake of The Wizard of Oz? Because honestly, it mostly lives up still. But part 2 is going to miss a massive freaking story plot off camera! There’s room for it to be done. Maybe then Part 3? It would fix the pacing and story as a whole. But they could have just added those scenes into Part 2. It’s a real shame, but watching part 2 tonight, I kept hoping to get out of the 8’s. I’d love to re-watch this title…..but it doesn’t get a 9 for me personally, and that pains me.

Popped score of 8.5/10 for Wicked For Good…. as much as it pains me, this just felt off in too many areas. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, and I’ll be watching out over this weekend if I’m alone or others feel like this didn’t live up to / hit the same bar as Part 1 did.

Oscars will be a hard decision in so many categories. If K-pop Demon Hunters take music? Ne Zha 2 Animated. I can see Cynthia Erivo as my best actress & Ariana Grande as Supporting Actress?

Have you started thinking of your choices yet?

With that though everyone, as this gets rather long. Thank you all for coming to Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Even when tough choices need to be made. You can rely on Popped to make those hard decisions and go off my personal viewing experiences. To give you those #’s :D. Painful or not. Hits & Misses. I’ll be doing this next year and going deeper yet.

Thank you all again! Happy Movie Going. Fellow Movie Goers :D.

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Keeper “Review”

Release date: November 14, 2025 (USA)

Director: Osgood Perkins

Genre: Horror

Producers: Jesse Savath, Chris Ferguson

Running time: 1h 39m

MPAA rating: R

Loved Tatiana Maslany in Orphan Black and went in expecting something along that…WTF!

I’ll come right out with this one. Someone asked what this movie is about. The question stumped me as I didn’t want to spoil anything. Seriously. This movie summed up is a total WTF experience. It’ll be a solid top-notch streamer late at night. Popped score of 6.5/10. The second half was good, but that first hour had me split.

Liz (Played by Tatiana Maslany) & her partner Malcom (Played by Rossif Sutherland) have an interesting chemistry at first, which I wish I saw a quick connection point between the two before the uncertainty and skepticism.

The film setup this feature beautifully. Establishing the trend and revealing slightly the WTF nature of what’s to come without fully revealing literally anything.

This is what kept me in suspense. Wanting more. Wanting to see what the literal fuck is going on in this title. Maybe that’s why my rating is slightly higher than others, with 6/10 on IMDb being the highest thus far.

Out of all three features in this batch, I would love to know your thoughts on Keeper. Maybe I’ve teased you to check it out, maybe you’re turned away. Either way, this is a fine, almost good movie with 6.5/10. The second half was what almost got this to a 7, but ultimately, without going into spoilers, was the reason why it stayed in the 6’s.

With that, we have our trilogy of movies this week, and I appreciate you all coming by Popped for those movie “Reviews. With Keepers that puts our total movie count at ……. 127 if I counted my posts correctly…. WOW, speak about losing track.

Goal was 100 – Maybe we can hit 150 by the end of December? Let me know your predictions in the comments below, and how many movies you’re currently up to for watch count.

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The Running Man “Review”

Release date: November 14, 2025 (USA)

Director: Edgar Wright

Producers: Edgar Wright, Simon Kinberg, Nira Park, Audrey Chon

Cinematography: Chung-hoon Chung

Running time: 2h 13m

MPAA rating: R

Maybe coming off the previous movie I needed more entertainment but I’m the highest yet..

To what end would you go to save your family when met with the impossible choice?

Live your life with your wife and know your child will eventually pass painfully. Or put your life on the line so your loved ones can live a better tomorrow, even if you’re not there.

Glen Powell plays Ben Richards in this newest take of The Running Man ( Which I’ve never seen the originals or original media before watching the 2025 version ). Entering a television network to make some money, Richards is assigned the game show The Running Man.

30 days to survive against the people of this country and 5 Hunters. I won’t get into spoilers. Some people out there don’t watch trailers. Lucky pups! They spoil so much, but anyway. I was thoroughly entertained with this title. Only qualm is it did get a little long, but I’d totally re-watch this and my wife even said she’d re-watch this feature (Which she rarely watches movies, let alone re-watches).

With that, the Popped score for the Running Man goes to a great 8/10. Which is the highest I’ve seen on other platforms. 6.8 IMDb 64% RT & 3.3/5 letterboxd. So love to hear your thoughts on this. Is that due to those who watched the original? Or did this movie get me in the right place during my watching experience?

2nd movie of our batch this week, but alas we have 1 final addition…. something truly summed up to as WTF :D.

See you there, fellow movie goers!

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Now You See Me: Now You Don’t “Review”

Release date: November 14, 2025 (USA)

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Prequel: Now You See Me 2

Running time: 1h 52m

MPAA rating: PG-13

Distributed by: Starz Entertainment, Lionsgate Films, Paris Filmes

Well, that’s new – Prequel: Is Now You See Me 2… because dropping the 3 made this complex?

It’s the third movie of this franchise. This time, with the entire gang and some newcomers…but it’s not over yet ;). Not going to lie. I did see the critic score prior to watching which may have influenced my score but it feels in the right place.

It’s got some good to it, but mostly it’s a fine movie. Takes the magic from previous installments and throws in an ocean’s elven / James Bond ness to it with way more action than I’d expected.

Had a good time being with these characters once more after 9 years being away. Yea! Insane right. The previous movie dropped in 2016, believe it or not.

With a Popped score of 6.5 or a very low 7. We’re going with it’s fine. Almost a good movie. But love to hear your thoughts on this one as it’s going up against the next movie in this week’s batch. The Running Man.

Missed my PoGo event today due to years worth of rain in a day…. but tomorrow is another chance… right ? 😀

Thanks for coming by, Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Let’s jump into The Running Man :D.

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Nobody: The Little Demon of Lang Lang Mountain “Review”

Release date: November 7, 2025 (USA)

Director: Shui Yu

Writers: Jia Liu, Shui Yu

Stars: Ziping ChenPig Demon(voice)

Yang LuToad demon(voice)

Wenliang DongWeasel demon(voice)

Cong LiuGorilla demon(voice)

Producers: Liaoyu Chen executive producer

Wang Jun producer

Art Department: Qian Kuan

Lead Background Artist

Running time: 1h 58m

Intrigued by people around me stating Ghibli esc & Funny – I had to give this feature a whirl.

Ever since Ne Zha caught my attention and loving learning about his lore. Similarly, learning about Journey to the West and The Monkey King from Black Myth Wukong etc. I’ve been seeking out opportunities to watch and learn all about this lore and Chinese Folklore.

This title is about our 4 demon creatures, Toad, Pig, Gorilla & Weasel as they band together through a fun story starting their journey to the west. As mentioned above. There maybe another group of similar characters and names that our group is taking on which adds a lot of fun playing off the two within this tale.

The movie is and was beautiful. Loved the characters and imagery on screen. It was a good movie, the majority of the time, a 7. But I’m torn between giving this a 7 or 7.5 as the last 30 minutes was an awesome 8/10 great movie where characters had shown their growth. The story came together. Action was insane. It was a blast. So you decide. Go watch Nobody – The animated Mandarin film not the American live action 😀 let me know what you think in the comments below.

Thanks again fellow movie goers for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. It’s now time we depart the world of movies and enter the gaming sphere of Dispatch the conclude the epic tale that has been told thus far :D.

Until next time, everyone. Happy Movie Going!

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Sarah’s Oil “Review”

Release date: November 7, 2025 (USA)

Director: Cyrus Nowrasteh

Producers: Zachary Levi, Cyrus Nowrasteh, Jon Erwin · See more

Production companies: Kingdom Story Company, Wonder Project

Distributed by: Amazon MGM Studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Running time: 1h 44m

Another true story inspired movie ready to affect my heartstrings – Where do I sign up? 😀

Honestly, I wasn’t sure if checking out this title was going to be possible this week. Seeing that 98% on Fandango, I couldn’t pass that opportunity up.

Sarah’s Oil is an incredible story about the young girl in the poster (Sarah Rector – Played by Naya Desir-Johnson) who is given an allotted land within Indian Territory back in the early 1900’s. Sarah comes to find, through God, that there’s oil in this land which sets her on an extremely difficult path to maintain control of this land and oil.

2025 really was the year of true story-inspired/based movies, and this one may actually be the best yet…or close to Last Breath, which is my current #1. Need to rewatch and see who gets it.

Zachary Levi tapped into his Chuck persona, which is the side of him I fell in love with (Playing Bert Smith). This got me in the feels for sure. Maybe didn’t shed tears like Christy. But held bigger emotional punches throughout that had me rooting for Sarah & her family.

Incredible performances throughout, and honestly, a beautifully envisioned and shot movie.

This will knock off Colors within from my top 10, and with that, Popped score of 9/10.

Thanks for coming by, Popped everyone for your movie “Reviews”. We have Nobody coming up next, but not the Nobody you may be thinking of 😀 Which makes it hard to find the breakdown of director, etc., but I’ll do my best to pull accurate info for the next “Review”.

Coming up this weekend, we have a triple whammy – Keeper, Now You See Me & Running Man.

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Die My Love “Review”

Release date: November 7, 2025 (USA)

Director: Lynne Ramsay

Producers: Jennifer Lawrence, Martin Scorsese · See more

Running time: 1h 58m

MPAA rating: R

Distributed by: Mubi

I heard it’s weird, starred Jennifer Lawrence & Robert Pattinson, so I had to check it out.

Let’s get to the punches and to the point on Die, My Love.

It’s an incredibly heavy story to view and experience. But a story for those with the heart and stomach can admire, appreciate, and honestly maybe even learn from seeing behind the curtain.

Jennifer Lawrence plays Grace. Together with her partner Jackson, played by Robert Pattinson. Move into this little old house in Montana, where they conceive a child.

Did I mention this was distributed by Mubi… the very same that brought us Substance last year. (Go read my review on that – Maybe give you insight into my connection with this studio).

Die, My Love takes you through the very real and commonly occurring side effects of having a child. Grace develops postpartum depression. The movie doesn’t shy away from telling this story and it’s not going to be for everyone. But I appreciate everyone that had a hand in creating this movie.

It’s super well-crafted and a good watch. It’s just a hard watch. It’s not for everyone, but it should be seen and learnt if you’re not aware. I was totally thrown and wasn’t expecting this going in, so maybe my experience was impacted by that.

Mubi, please keep on distributing and finding these movies that offer very unique viewing experiences that aren’t being offered elsewhere. Popped review of 7/10. I almost gave it within the 6’s, but as a whole, it told this very heavy, complex story that I’m glad I checked out.

Thank you all for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Let me know your thoughts on this week’s most recent batch in the comments below.

Coming up tomorrow/Wednesday will be Sarah’s Oil & Nobody (Mandarin). Before we dive into the week that separates us from now and Wicked: For Good :D. Something is going to be bumped from my top 10 by the end of November… what’s it going to be :O? By the end of the year, my top 10 list will be changing, and something’s got to go.

This is the current standings. – The Colors Within is most likely going to be dropped. Then it gets tough. Possibly The Surfer from there and then between Last Breath / Life of Check is what I’m thinking. Looks like some repeat viewing is going to happen to refine my top 10 list.

Ranking 2025 – Top 10Movie Title
1Ne Zha 2 – 9/10* – #1 Oscar Animated Feature
2Bring Her Back – 9/10*
3Sinners – 9/10*
4Better Man – 9/10*
5The Colors Within – 9/10
6Last Breath – 9/10
7The Surfer – 9/10
8The Life of Chuck – 9/10
9F1 – 9/10
10One Battle After Another – 9/10
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