Category: Epic Movie – Rewatch/Blu-Ray

One Battle After Another “Review”

Release date: September 26, 2025 (USA)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Running time: 2h 50m

MPAA rating: R

Cinematography: Paul Thomas Anderson, Michael Bauman

Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures

Intriguing trailer and lots of pre buzz about potential Oscar nominee – Had to check this out 😀

It’s interesting sitting down to right this as to where to start. Looking at the overview from googles search page it’s skipping the beginning of the movie which really gets going fast. Despite personally being the weakest point of the film for me. It does an incredible job setting up the entire movie. For an almost 3 hour long movie. Adding 10 minutes to fully establish / show how the connection was started between General Lockjaw (Played by Sean Penn) & the mother Perfidia Beverly Hills (Played by Teyana Taylor) would have been nice (Unless I totally missed it) (Carveat for this entire “Review” I had people talking 8 seats away from me the ENTIRE movie).

The “intro” or opening of this movie (Which felt like 3 movies in 1 without going into spoilers) had 2 timelines it felt like co-existing as they told this story of resistance and battle against the system (Without getting political within a political movie 😀 – It’s almost showing us the timeline that could occur with the current direction of America). Leonardo DiCaprio playing Bob Ferguson is later forced into a scenario where he single dad raises his daughter Willa (Played by Chase Infiniti).

You know me here at Popped I don’t like getting into spoilers so I’ll keep this groundings here to set the scene and with that One Battle After Another plays out constantly reflecting on the intros story and plagued by those decisions chasing them forth throughout the almost 3 hour long film.

Now I’ve mentioned it twice about this movie being so long, for a crucial point. To me personally, on top of the people constantly talking. Didn’t feel like 3 hours. It’s longer than Nezha 2 and still didn’t feel as long as that. Some scenes lasted more than 30 minutes but felt like mere minutes. Thanks to personally my opinion to the incredible music score. If there’s a category I’d nominate this movie for, would be that score. It impacted the scenes on an entirely different level which without it would have lost some oomph to what’s playing out on screen.

The last hour went by so quick but I honestly loved it. Great characters and impactful touching story. Wish I’d seen / saw the origins of that connection at the start but with how well crafted the entire remaining movie was. It made sense it felt complete and still played off that setup which was so crucial in driving that feeling throughout the movie.

Popped scoring of 9/10. I almost gave it 8.5 but thought of Sinners and put it down to the talking by me. I actually got up and moved seats because of them which ticked me off but I was so into the movie I didn’t want to leave. Going onto my top 10 list of 2025 which means something is getting taken off 😦 which would be Americana. This next 9/10 for 2025 is going to be tough as this is really shaping up my 9s to my 9.5 and maybe even 10 :O. INSANE! But I love movies and I hope you continue to enjoy watching them also.

Appreciate you all coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Let me know what you felt of One Battle After Another in the comments below. I was going to checkout Gabby’s Dollhouse for a joke but decided against it. Still to come later in the week is Elanor the Great.

Next batch will be pretty big next week, we have 3 movies dropping Good Boy, Anemone & The Smashing Machine to kick off October. See you in spooky season :D.

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Honey Don’t!

Release date: August 22, 2025 (USA)

Director: Ethan Coen

Screenplay: Ethan Coen, Tricia Cooke

Producers: Ethan Coen, Tricia Cooke, Eric Fellner, Tim Bevan, Robert Graf

Production companies: Focus Features, Working Title Films

MPAA rating: R

Okay, after watching this movie, I rated Americana to high, by just a smidge. This is taking it’s place. But what’s this! An empty theatre and seeing 50’s outta 100 for IMBd & RT scores :O

Let’s Discuss shall we 😀

The opening was very alluring that’s for sure. The lady coming down the rubble path to investigate a flipped over crashed car and still dripping with blood woman was just the appetizer for what’s to come.

Serious the more we got into this feature the more I questioned Americana. Yea I enjoyed that title but I really enjoyed certain characters. Honey Don’t! I enjoyed ALL the characters and actors.

The trailer even had me thinking it showed too much of the film…yea right! There was plenty of surprises and even more to explore. From a comedy angle that got good from its adult humor to it’s ….. 4th wall but not really 4th wall playing with the audience knowing what we know but knowing the character doesn’t know was a hoot.

Margaret Qualley as our Honey O’Donahue, Aubrey Plaza as the love interested cop MG Falcone. Chris Evans who was in the trailer but I honestly forgot he was in the movie till he popped up and WoW, LOVED! All his scenes 😉 haha as the Reverend Drew Devlin. The fantastic and hilarious Charlie Day as Honey’s other detective “friend?” Marty Metakawich along with so many others. This movie was honestly stacked with enjoyment.

I wont get into spoilers but just know this is a detective story looking into a murder that unravels so much. Adult humor is a packed a full. Mysteries & Comedy colide in this match up and I was all for it.

Sorry Americana but Honey Don’t! Took your lower end top 10 slot with an 8.5/10 I personally loved it despite others seemingly are not.

But hey if Honey Don’t! Isn’t your thing. Ne Zha 2 re-released with an English Dub today opening for this weekend. Check out the best Animated Movie of 2025. It’s solidly the best. You may see KPop Demon Hunters on sale but check that out on Netflix and spend your time at the theatre seeing Ne Zha 2. 😉 I chose my side 😀 Who will stand on the battlefield come the Oscars and choose Ne Zha 2!

With that being said…. Thank you for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Have a wonderful weekend filled with great movies and love to hear your thoughts on what’s keeping people from enjoying this feature in the mid 50’s?

Until next time though, happy movie going!

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F1 “Review”

Release date: June 27, 2025 (USA)

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Producers: Brad Pitt, Joseph Kosinski, Lewis Hamilton, Jerry Bruckheimer, Chad Oman, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner

Production companies: Dawn Apollo Films, Apple Studios, Plan B Entertainment, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Monolith Pictures

Running time: 2h 36m

MPAA rating: PG-13

Excited by Brad pits last Apple TV movie…. before they put Wolfs on digital release. We’re back with F1, a jam packed emotional roller coaster of character growth and insane journey for the APX GP team. So what did I think? Let’s Discuss shall we.

Ruben Carvantes (Played by Javier Bardem) long time friend in this career to Sonny Hayes (Played by Brad Pitt). Has visited Sonny to recruit him to be a partner driver alongside his rookie Joshua Pearce (Played by Damson Idris) for their failing team APX GP. Half way through the season and cant keep their second racer and at risk of loosing their jobs. Sonny Hayes is here to save the day?

There’s great performances from the entire crew. I loved the emotional journey from each of these racers along with the overall team. I wish we had longer with some of the other characters but they managed to have a relationship for Kate (Played by Kerry Condon) in this movie while leaving Jodie (Played by Callie Cooke) to have some scenes but I’d loved to have explored more without going into spoilers.

For someone not into Formula 1, this movie does it right. The action, sound & Music, come together and create a edge of your seat experience where the entire audience was leaned into the theatre screen awaiting outcomes and verdicts. It was such an experience where I was back and forth on 8.5 or 9/10. This is a movie to check out on the biggest screen. Not only filmed in IMAX but just the visuals and shots in F1 were a visual spectacular to behold.

Let me know what you thought of F1 but I’m locking this title in as a weaker 9/10 for Popped. blog score. 😀 What more surprises will we have coming this year? We sure are filling up the top 10 list. Will Smurfs continue this 7+ /10 craze or end the streak to be saved by Fab 4 / Bad Guys 2 ? Only time will have to tell.

Thank you all for coming by Popped. blog for your movie “Reviews”. Happy movie going out there and enjoy your epic weekend of movie releases, M3gan 2.0 & F1 are here but did anyone check out Hot Milk? RT has it at 29% from critics but no general audience yet. Is this a job for Popped? 😀

See you next batch!

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The Life of Chuck

Release date: June 13, 2025 (USA)

Director: Mike Flanagan

Running time: 1h 51m

MPAA rating: R

Genres: Science fiction, Fantasy, Drama

Distributed by: Neon

A Stephen King movie :O The Horrors! The Spooks! The…Fantasy…Science Fiction…Drama… Nani! You sure it’s Stephen King! Nope, you’re right, my bad. Let’s dive in and check this out.. I mean discuss this title because I had no idea how good this movie was going to be prior.

Hype! Hype! Hype! Let’s calm it down now and temper temper temper….Tempered? Alrighty!

Haha I don’t want to inflate an experience but also get across how good this feature is. The ending sentence / line was what got it from a solid great 8 to a 9 for me personally. My friend at work even said he may buy it.

My wife just asked me what’s it about and without wanting to spoil I broke it down to this in a nut shell for y’all to enjoy :D. When globally, humanity is being hit with devastation. Natural disasters, famine, chaos etc. etc. No internet, no cell towers for phones communication etc. (I’d go on but honestly it’s very deep with how they set this title up.) A common character for everyone, despite not knowing him… is Charles Krantz aka Chuck played by Tom Hiddleston.

I wrote down a line from Tom’s prior works 😉 but stating that could be taken as a spoiler if you read into that and up to date with his works. Excellent cast in this feature. Karen Gillan, Mark Hamill, Matthew Lillard among many many more excellent actors. This feature is a must see. Everyone’s going to be affected by this title differently. It depends what you take from it. But honestly if anything. Those last words at the ending is the message that’s so golden.

If you’d like to combine this and the prior “Review” with messages of being on the right side of the coin between Hero & Villain while also making the most of life and making the right decisions within your heart and soul. These are very different titles with great combo watch 😀 With very different styles and genres but hey. That’s cinema for you.

Life of Chuck goes into my top 10 at an 9/10 Popped “Review” and would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Neon at it again against A24 with another excellent title. Will this be the title to battle against The Materialist? I was going to skip it but let’s see what tomorrow brings.

Thank you all for coming to Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Read all of today’s batch? Firstly a massive thank you and appreciate you taking the time to do so. Secondly, don’t forget to subscribe to see movie “Reviews”. The goal for 2025 is 100 movies and we’re certainly on pace to crush it. With June being the middle of the year expect a Popped Date tomorrow with a run through of what’s come and to come for 2025 :D.

See you next batch! Happy movie going everyone!

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Bring Her Back “Review”

Release date: May 30, 2025 (UK)

Starring: Sally Hawkins; Billy Barratt

Directed by: Danny Philippou; Michael Philippou

Producers: Samantha Jennings, Kristina Ceyton

MPAA rating: R

Distributed by: Stage 6 Films

By the creators of Talk to Me, we have their next horror film. Bring her back. Although the hype for Talk to Me disappointed my expectations. This feature, in my opinion, deserves it all. Let’s discuss.

With this being an early “Review” I’m going to keep spoilers away heavily. I’ll set the story up and go into the incredibly actors and some parrels before teasing you with my overall thoughts and score.

After tragically loosing their father and being placed in care of a new foster mother. Andy (Played by Billy Barratt) & Piper (Played by Sora Wong) step brother and sister have 3 months until Andy turns 18 and able to file for guardianship of his sister. Piper is blind which creates more of a protective nature for Andy to be there for his step sister.

Their new foster mother? Laura, (Played by the incredible Sally Hawkins) the person whom I feel is most similar to that of Hugh Grant’s character in Heretic. You never know during this feature if you’re safe or not. When situations can be trusted, and who can be trusted.

Bring Her Back deserves the saying “I was on the edge of my seat”. This title honestly got to me. I was literally cheering for characters, wanting people to die and beside myself on the options characters have within their situation. The actors and all those behind the scenes did an incredible job with the tension of this movie.

I often get asked. Was it scary. Scary is hard to define. For instant. Scary being jumpy? Creeped out? Un Nerved? Short of breath? How does one define someone’s meaning of scary. What I can tell you though. It sure had my feeling a lot of these emotions of scary. I mentioned at the start the hype for Talk To Me disappointed my experience of the movie as it didn’t reach those levels. I honestly hope that Bring Her Back does for you. It’s an easy 8/10 tier and worthy of re-watching if you can stomach it. To place this in at a 9 is pretty impressive for a horror movie. Then I thought. Well, the great horror films of my youth are Blu Ray worthy so why wouldn’t or couldn’t this be…..

Thus the score was settled. Popped gives Bring Her Back a solid 9/10 placing it in my top 10 list. Loved the ending which is where the solid throughout performance and directing of this movie is above that of Heretic. Placing it up there with Black Phone for doing a great job of getting into your psyche.

Want to know more? Then check out Bring Her Back in theatres opening May 30th.

P.S I’ve watched the trailers and even that didn’t prepare me for what unfolds in this feature. Buckle up and enjoy…. If you have the stomach for it.

With that fellow movie goers. Was our Horror feature batch from A24. A solid hit that I dread going back to watch and re-live it but alas I most likely will with my wife at the end of the month.

Thanks for coming by Popped for your movie “Review” of Bring Her Back and I’ll look forward to your thoughts in a couple of weeks time. Until then, come back Thursday with our “Review’s” of Lilo & Stitch along with Mission Impossible 8.

Until next batch, happy watching 😀

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The Surfer “Review”

Release date: May 2, 2025 (USA)

Director: Lorcan Finnegan

Starring: Nicolas Cage; Julian McMahon; Nic Cassim; Miranda Tapsell; Alexander Bertrand; Justin Rosniak

MPAA rating: R

Running time: 1h 43m

Producers: Nicolas Cage, Leonora Darby, Robert Connolly · See more

Solid trailer got me in the theater to check this title out.

The Surfer had me mesmerized throughout. Let’s discuss 😀

Avoid spoilers at all costs, but also, if you were told what goes down in this movie. You probably wouldn’t believe them anyway. This is a good kind of bizarre and weird. The type of weird I’m happy to lose myself within for hours as I navigate the story and what’s going on.

The Surfer, staring Nicolas Cage (In what could be his best movie since 2020? I’ve missed a few since then but this is on another level) as The Surfer :p is a father taking his son to surf on an Australian beach in Cage’s childhood beach. This is until the locals “politely” let them know “Don’t live here, Don’t surf here” before you go on an adventure.

Story wise I’m leaving it here. Go explore. Try not get heat stroke and attempt to stay grounded. Reading some reviews online this is going to be very divided. Again, this is the type of weird and bizarre shit that I’ll shovel into my mouth for breakfast and be cracked out on sugar for the entire day. Loved it!

I’ll need to watch it again to connect more dots and dissect this feature but damn was it a Gooden. Buckle in for a trippy ride and either enjoy it or it seems totally hate it? No middle ground with this one. Socials have it from 45% on Fandango to 87 on RT.

For popped I’m placing this in with last years “Last Stop In Yuma County” with a 9/10 and entering my top 10 list for 2025 thus far.

Fantastic performance all around. Great pacing and tone. Loved the build up and pay offs along the way. Setups and all, loved this title. Can’t wait to watch again with others and discuss.

Speaking of which. Like to discuss this in the comments below I’d be curious your thoughts. Keep spoilers labeled and let’s have fun with it.

Thanks for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews” and we’ll see you next batch Thursday with a couple of interesting ones all going well. Fight in Flight & Clown in the Cornfield.

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Sinners “Review”

Initial release: April 18, 2025

Director: Ryan Coogler

Running time: 2h 17m

MPAA rating: R

Budget: 90 million USD

Producers: Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian

Kudos to Ryan Coogler on creating a trailer that teases what’s to come in this title while also not showing his hand like a few other movies we’ve had this year and prior.

If you know me you’ll know I like to speak code. So let’s speak code on this one to keep those cards sealed and in hand so your enjoyment of this title can be at its fullest.

The time period is 1932 and twin brothers Smoke & Stack being played by the incredible Michael B. Jordan return from Mississippi Delta after years of being away working in Chicago for Al Capone.

Using their $ they purchase a sawmill to start up their new business, a juke joint for the local black community. Their cousin Sammie is introduced as an aspiring guitarist, joining them despite opposition from his pastor father who warns that blues music is supernatural….

Now if you know, you know, and if you don’t, then avoid the trailer and go in blind for a pretty big reveal of this movie and why people are speaking so highly of it. The majority of this title is taking place over a period of a day leading to the events that start this movie with a whammy. (Don’t miss the intro scene, turn up on time).

I thoroughly enjoyed the build up and journey of these characters as the trailer reveals but that alone is a solid good watching experience. Then the aftermath and what comes next is what I’d watch this title again for. Despite how good the setup was. It’s what keeps this going into the 9 tier but sits solidly at 8.5 drawing this title out a little long but totally worth going out and watching this feature at least once.

I just watched this yesterday and looks like my wife wants to check it out today so I’ll be going back already, haha. Socials has this from a 8.2 to 98% so people are thoroughly enjoying Sinners.

Without going into spoilers. You may hear buzz about hope for a sequel. Stick around slightly longer during the credits. You’ll see why. Sinners will display and you can walk out the theatre then but you’ll know when it’s time to leave. Wanting more blues, stick around to the very end for that last scene but nothing story related if you want to save 5minutes.

For those that watched the trailer – Non Spoiler – After Second Watch

Just got out from second watch, OMG it’s incredible. Loved the pacing during second viewing. Go to bathroom before you get to the club otherwise you’re almost locked in or miss some of the best scenes. Music was insanely good and all the characters and actors do incredible! Maybe due to a couple chatting next to me in my first viewing but loved loved loved this second watch. My wife even gave the movie a 10/10 so bumping it to 9/10 and placing it on my top 10 list.

Enjoy 😀

Thanks for coming to Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Did you enjoy Sinners? Want to discuss what could come next? Then let us know in the comments below.

Coming up this week we have The Accountant 2, Legend of Ochi & Until Dawn “Reviews”. Would anyone be interested in me “Reviewing” Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie or randomly On Swift Horses?

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Last Breath “Review”

Release date: February 28, 2025 (USA)

Director: Alex Parkinson

Budget: 22.8 million EUR

Producers: Stewart le Maréchal, Anna Mohr-Pietsch, Paul Brooks · See more

Distributed by: Focus Features, FilmNation Entertainment, Entertainment Film Distributors

Based on: Last Breath; by: Alex Parkinson; Richard da Costa

Missed this during my surgery week, glad I checked this out. WoW! Took my breath away…..

Honestly, maybe it was the intro or a combination of factors, but this movie got me good! From the starting few lines hearing that this is one of the most dangerous jobs and then hit with it’s a true story (Which somehow I missed during the marketing of this feature). I got connected to the characters pretty quickly.

This is an emotional experience so I wont break down the story. Just know that you’re going 1000 FT down into the darkest depths of the ocean for a job. Circumstances change and you must abort mission, when the worst outcome occurs. Your life line is snapped and you’re left alone in complete darkness to survive.

The use of lighting was so impactful in many scenes in the depths of the ocean. You connect with Chris Lemons played by Finn Cole whom does an incredible job alongside his wife in hitting home on those emotions.

Woody Harrelson played Duncan Allcock & Simu Liu plays David Yuasa. They also do a great job in this title. Simu Liu was a little harder to get into due to the hardness of his character however just keep watching.

Not only were these three fantastic in making me shred several streaks of tears down my face ;p but the supporting crew did incredible and were so vital in this mission. Which reminder, is a true story! They even hit you harder with real footage of these characters/people. INSANE!

Maybe the emotion and true story was a factor hear getting it from a 8 great tier into a 9 but honestly this got me good! I’d watch again but place it in the category of Grave of the Fireflies due to making me cry haha. That movie destroys me despite it being so good of a movie, it’s hard every time.

With that being said. Last Breath gets a Popped score of 9/10 and despite looking at overall scores on other websites. It definitely got me harder than others that felt this is just good to great title.

Tomorrow night I’ll finally get to check out Mickey 17 and stay tuned for the remainder of the week where we “Review” the next batch of movies from Looney Tunes, Black Bag & Opus. Thanks for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews” and I’ll see you next batch.

Let me know if this movie got you like it did myself or recommend checking out a title I may have missed from late February early March. Thanks again everyone :D.

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Ne Zha 2 “Review”

Release date: February 14, 2025 (USA)

Director: Jiaozi (Yang Yu)

Budget: $80 million

Based on: Investiture of the Gods by Xu Zhonglin

Distributed by: Beijing Enlight Pictures CMC Pictures (Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canda)

Box Office: US $1.40 Billion

I’m so happy to have watched the 1st feature yesterday and now be apart and won in by this franchise. From streaming in the background to less than half way getting fully engaged and falling in love with a new franchise. Let’s dive into the sequel, with Ne Zha 2.

If you’re coming into this “Review” unaware of this franchise then let’s discuss the over-view rather than the sequel. If you’re coming into this “Review” to read about the sequel knowing and enjoying the first title…. then hear this. The sequel of Ne Zha makes the 1st title look like a okay movie. With 5 times the action, family development, friendship, emotion, lore, world building, epicness, humor, Villians, Heroes, etc, etc 😀 you’re going to love it.

If you read the previous “Review” you’ll know that I’m locking this feature into my 2025 best animated feature Oscar spot. Unless something comes out and totally surprises me. Animated titles for 2025 have an extremely hard battle ahead of them to dethrone this epic cinema master piece.

The Ne Zha franchise is based on a Chinese mythological character, focusing on the story of a young boy named Ne Zha who is born as a demon child. Destined to bring destruction, but fights against his fate to protect his village and defy the established order, often battling powerful deities and challenging the heavens with his supernatural abilities; the narrative explores themes of rebellion, self-determination, and overcoming prejudice against one’s perceived destiny

Anime enjoyers out there could relate to this with Naruto as Ne Zha. Also for the fighting and powers/abilities. Those into Dragon Balls Z and similar animes would get behind this franchise.

The animation is very well done and event improves with the sequel. Will there be a third title? Think, will there be a 4th,5th and 6th haha. The amount of lore and world building established in the sequel is insane where this franchise will take it.

My spoon is ready and my desert is before me 😀 Let’s get to eating good.

I’m super pumped to watch this again including that of the original. Popped Score for Ne Zha 2 is an easy top score of 9/10 going into my #1 spot of 2025 thus far and into my #1 spot for best animated feature.

Thanks for coming by Popped.blog for your newest batch of movie “Reviews”. This is a epic masterpiece and I’m excited to hear from yawl on this title / franchise.

See you back here Sunday night with Nickel Boys and my overall thoughts with the Oscars.

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The Colors Within “Review”

Release date: January 24, 2025 (USA)

Director: Naoko Yamada

Distributed by: Toho Co., Ltd.

Box office: $2.1 million

Japanese: きみの色

Music by: Kensuke Ushio

Other than an Anime Movie and directed by Naoko Yamada who directed A Silent Voice. I had no idea what this title was about. Well, that was short lived because not long into this movie I had met our cast of characters and fallen in love.

Fallen in love you say, that’s pretty strong no? Haha yea it’s strong, BUT TRUE! 😀 I honestly loved all the characters, supporting characters and the title! Colors within is literally our main lead Totsuko Higurashi voiced by Sayu Suzukawa seeing the auras of individuals through color. The use of color with emotions and expressions is beautifully breath taking before they make you fall in love when adding the music to that combination.

Totsuko during her dodge ball?(I believe it was) P.E lesson is caught off guard by the beauty of Kimi Sakunaga (Voiced by Akari Takaishi) during her throw of the ball prior to getting smacked in the face. Kimi leaves school due to (Reasons you’ll have to experience) which sends Totsuko on a search for her through beautiful scenes and exploration.

Did I say how much I enjoyed this title 😀 Well during this exploration we come to a book store (With CATS!) and meet our other lead friend Rui Kagehira voiced by Taisei Kido. It’s here during some light fun conversation that Rui asks if the others are in a band. Thus their band is formed and from here I fell in love.

I needed to use the bathroom SO FREAKING BAD after watching The Brutalist it caught up to me and I was so hooked into The Colors Within I didn’t want to leave and miss anything…..well I missed the last 3 minutes of the film returning during the credits rolling :(. Sadness, I must rewatch this film for that last scene. But it was worth the wait so I could see the performance.

Captivated is under selling it. I fell in love with this title and thus it’s going up on my top 10 list of 2025. Is Better Man a 2024 title? I believe it is right? Sooo does that make The Colors Within my first top 10 movie of 2025? Or my second? 9/10 Popped score. Go check it out and fall in love… or don’t I wont be hurt by that it’s cool and all :P.

Coming up next on this batch of movie “Reviews” the reveal of a secret hidden movie that I was able to check out early…despite writing the review a couple days later :s I’m Sorry!

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