Category: Great Movie!

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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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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Predator: Badlands “Review”

Release date: November 7, 2025 (USA)

Director: Dan Trachtenberg

Starring: Elle Fanning; Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi

MPAA rating: PG-13

Running time: 1h 47m

Distributed by: 20th Century Studios

From Danny TRS to the incredible Director of the Predator franchise – Loving all his work!

The quick on Predator Badlands – I thoroughly had a great time. Solid 8/10 movie. Looking forward to watching again. Fantastic intro. Beautifully shot, love the majority of the characters and the story told.

Not going to touch spoilers -This is a solid popcorn movie. Action to the max and solid throughout. My caveat – Yeah, I got tired when the talking got going and a certain character was introduced. I didn’t like them, so I may have totally missed a connector piece. But outside of that, I totally loved the beginning and end of this title. Looking forward to checking it out again, and repeat viewings will be a blast.

This time, we’re seeing the story through the journey of the predator himself. A young and considered weakling of his people, Dek (Played by Dimitrius Koloamatangi). The only one who believed in him was his older brother Kwei (Played by Mike Homik). Dek heads out to prove to his father Njohrr, and honor Kwei, to bring back the trophy head of an enemy that even Njohrr is afraid of.

Elle Fanning plays Thia, which adds a buddy duo to Dek’s mission; you need to watch the scene to see how cool Dan Trachtenberg has shot this movie.

It’s mentioned at the top – Solid great movie of 8/10 – May go up on a repeat viewing but locking it in with the great movie tier for Popped.

I honestly need to rest but been busy between projects at work and life so eventually I’ll slow down haha. Main reason why these “Reviews” come out later in the weekend / week.

Holidays are upon us, so life’s only going to get busier from here. In the meantime, fellow moviegoers. We have plenty more solid movies to come. The next one, for sure, caught me off guard. 2 more remain in this batch. 2 More to come before the next week of movie releases.

Appreciate you all for coming by Popped, let’s continue on with…. Christy :D.

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Stitch Head “Review”

Release date: October 29, 2025 (USA)

Director: Steve Hudson

Producers: Sonja Ewers, Mark Mertens

Production companies: Wild Bunch, Gringo Films · See more

Distributed by: Wild Bunch, Briarcliff Entertainment

MPAA rating: PG

I’m often asked why I watch so many movies. My reply? – “You never know when you’ll find a hidden gem”. So how’s Stitch Head? – One of those hidden gems ;D.

When a freakish carnival group comes rolling through town in attempts to make some money. They find themselves dissapointed that their competition is that of the actual monsters living in the castle up on the hill.

Mean while within that castle. A mad scientist is creating his newest creation. “Creature” – Stitch Head never knowing love and longing for a place to be loved by. Finds himself having unknowingly created a family with the monsters. While finding his place with a different group of humans – The Carnival crew!

Is Stitch head truly safe? Will Creature be the best-est best friend to find a way to save Stitch Head from the humans? Come on down and buy yourself a ticket to a hidden gem of a cute full of heart movie.

I’d honestly love to watch again. Seeing that there are 6 books in this series, I’m ready for a sequel with these characters. Popped score of 8/10, honestly, I had a fun time. Maybe most would be in the 7s, but I loved Stitch Head & Creature. Some laugh-out-loud moments are worth checking out.

What a fun surprise watch I found myself in :D. Thank you all for taking the time to come by Popped for this “Review”. We had quite a few new followers join us this week and I greatly appreciate you for following Popped.

Checked out or curious about Stitch Head? Let us know in the comments below :D. Thanks again, everyone. Until next batch though, – Happy Movie Going Everyone!

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Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc “Review”

Release date: October 24, 2025 (USA)

Director: Tatsuya Yoshihara

MPAA rating: R

Running time: 1h 40m

Story by: Tatsuki Fujimoto

Adapted from: Chainsaw Man

Waited to watch with my wife, but as she’s busy went to check it out tonight!

It’s been a while since I’ve seen season 1. That being said, I loved the intro and was solidly back in with Denji and the crew. This includes some new faces also. Yea the trailer showed off the enemy so my rage goes on against trailers! We only need 1 at this rate studios. Why reveal so much in your trailers!

Anywho, that aside. Loved the relationship between Denji and this new cutie! Fan of the show – You’re going to watch this, I’m sure. But for those with little ones. This is R-rated. There’s a lot of adult material in this one. Demon Slayer may go with blood and demons. This is raunchy AF. As a heads up ;).

Combat was cool, but I was falling asleep by this point and missed a few lines. So another viewing is in order with my wife at some point before season 2 drops. (Yeah, I need to rest and stop watching so many movies haha. I also have to re-watch episodes for the same reason of falling asleep while watching at night).

It’s a pretty short movie at an hour and 40minutes. Had a lot of fun and going with the 8/10 great movie for Chainsaw Man. Love the 9’s on social media but this isn’t as good as Demon Slayer. Sorry Denji.

Stick around for a cute end scene of him though, after the credits roll have wrapped up.

Thanks for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Played catch up a bit on this weeks batch. However next week is looking mighty promising. Christy & Predator: Badlands should do well with some supporting movies I’m going in blind – Die My Love | Sarah’s Oil (Saw Trailer) | Unexpected Christmas | Maybe… Nuremberg.

Week after has Keepers | Now You See Me: Now You Don’t | The Running Man.

Then the 2 week double whammy – Wicked for Good & Zootopia. Supported by Rental Family | Sisu 2 & Eternity.

See you all there in the next batch as we enter the two final months and prepare for Oscar Nominations of 2025 :O.

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Kiss of the Spider Woman “Review”

Release date: October 10, 2025 (USA)

Director: Bill Condon

Story by: Manuel Puig, Fred Ebb, Terrence McNally

Producers: Tom Kirdahy, Barry Josephson, Greg Yolen

Adapted from: Kiss of the Spider Woman

Running time: 2h 8m

Went in giving it a chance as a musical – Came out pleasantly surprised – Let’s discuss!

Maybe it’s the lower expectation of an older style looking musical, but I went in thinking LA LA Land, which I loved. When I discuss musicals, I often get told I enjoy new musicals over older ones. I just enjoy a musical that the song drives the plot of, tells a story, and it’s just a random scene to sing. Maybe I came to appreciate them more as an adult, but Sweeney Todd is probably my first musical that I thoroughly loved.

All that to say is…this is a musical. But there’s way less singing than I imagined. Even when the songs are being beautifully played out, I loved the scenes. They kind of reminded me of Wicked.

So what’s Kiss of the Spider Woman about? The movie is centered around a gay man, Luis Molina (Tonatiuh), and a political prisoner, Valentín Arregui (Diego Luna), who are cellmates. While in prison, Molina discusses a fictional movie star, Ingrid Luna (Played by Jennifer Lopez), who plays in the movie (Kiss of the Spider Woman), which also happens to have her play a Spider Woman character. Through these interactions, the two men form an unlikely bond.

I loved how they weaved the story from the Prison to the movie while having fun interactive settings to include Tonatiuh & Diego Luna within the play, which was a beautiful symmetry displayed between the two stories.

This movie was based on the 1976 novel by Manuel Puig. It was also originally an adapted movie back in 1985. The movie takes place in 1983 Argentina during a period of resistance. I won’t get into spoilers and let you enjoy from here :D.

Using Better Man as my 9, I was back and forth for a Popped score, ultimately going with an 8.5/10. I was extremely entertained. Love the story. The music and the actors. Didn’t quite get to my heart strings like a Better Man did earlier this year, all the way back in January, believe it or not :D.

Going to give this feature a go? Or checked it out? Let us know in the comments below. Love to hear your thoughts on this one. Thank you as always for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Let me know if I should check out Soul on Fire? Otherwise, stay tuned for the next batch next week with 3 upcoming movies :D.

Until then, happy movie-going going everyone! 😀

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Bone Lake “Review”

Release date: October 3, 2025 (USA)

Director: Mercedes Bryce Morgan

MPAA rating: R

Running time: 1h 34m

Distributed by: Bleecker Street

Production company: LD Entertainment

For a title that came out of nowhere – This was an experience 😀 Let’s Discuss!

Bone Lake starts and end strong. Doesn’t hold back on its R rating and is very expressive with it’s storytelling and adult material. This isn’t for you if you’re not into heavy adult material & gore as it’s jam packed.

Think Barbarian meets Ready or Not. Bone Lake takes two couples booking the same Airbnb on this beautiful lake that just so happens to have a ton of skulls lying at the bottom of it…supposedly…

There’s plenty of intrigue and mystery with solid casting. Sage & Diego (Played by Maddie Hasson & Marco Pigossi) are our first focus couple after the solid hook of an intro. Cin & Will ( Played by Andra Nechita & Alex Roe) are our double booked Airbnb couple that joins us moments later.

How will this affect their stay? Well, without getting into spoilers, but casting an overall plot. Bone Lake is a movie to test your relationship. Testing the trust between couples & against temptations. Will the mystery of their stay be able to stand the test that’s to come their way?

Solid movie which I look forward to re-watching with my wife. Popped score of 8/10. Pleasantly surprised to see it come from nowhere and looking forward to another Bleecker Street movie to come in December – Fackham Hall.

Thanks for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Posting this one a little late but should finish this weeks batch on Monday with The Smashing Machine :D.

Let me know what you think of Bone Lake in the comments or if you plan to check it out.

Until next time, though, happy movie-going going everyone.

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Eleanor the Great “Review”

Release date: September 26, 2025 (USA)

Director: Scarlett Johansson

Producers: Scarlett Johansson, Keenan Flynn, Jessamine Burgum · See more

Production companies: Wayfarer Studios, These Pictures, Pinky Promise, Dauphin Films, Maven Screen Media

Executive producers: Justin Baldoni, Steve Sarowitz, Jamey Heath · See more

Running time: 1h 38m

loved June Squibb in Thelma and had heard this was maybe Oscar-worthy, let’s discuss!

Eleanor spends 70 odd years with her best friend Bessie, who’s a holocaust survivor. After setting us up with a beautiful connection the film moves Eleanor to New York City to live with her grandson and daughter. Here Eleanor is alone and without a friend which her daughter sets Eleanor up in a group activity putting her on a path to finding new friendship and connection within a holocaust survivor support group.

I’ll leave story points to the above and let you experience and pulled back the veil of story that’s to be told. Through deep connections, personal stories that could very well be based on true events. This film will take you on a ride that could vary your experience depending on those connections.

The friendship that blooms between Eleanor (Played by June Squibb) & Nina (Played by Erin Kellyman) is a total joy. I also very much loved the performance of Bessie (Played by Rita Zohar), which could be in my supporting actress nominee for the 2025 Oscars.

Within this hour and 38 minute feature you’ll experience and learn about handling loss, grief and how to build connection when feeling alone.

Popped scoring of 8.5/9 out of 10. A feature I very much enjoyed, loved spending time with these characters.

Campaign 4 of Critical Role starts soonish so going to rapid fire this weeks batch. Thank you all for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Stay tuned for Anemone & Good Boy coming up next :D.

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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba The Movie: Infinity Castle “Review”

Release date: September 12, 2025 (USA)

Director: Haruo Sotozaki

Running time: 2h 35m

Language: Japanese

Film series: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

MPAA rating: R

Loved this movie but there’s a but 😀 Let’s discuss shall we – Mostly in spoiler section!

We’re entering the final battle of this series so I wont go into what this movie is about. If you’re jumping in here……go watch the series and come back in the potentially 2 year gap before part 2 of this 3 part movie trilogy. YEA! 2029 could be when this conclusion wraps up. I think a whole bunch of people will be checking out this manga in that time span. (It’s very short series) Which is insane it’ll take so long.

I’ll save my rant in the spoiler section about that last comment above.

Let’s discuss non spoiler quick and then elaborate. By the by, speaking with my wife. We are two different fans of this property which I’m sure will be a challenge for the creator to please us both in the next 2 parts….. love to hear your thoughts on that one.

What I enjoyed!

Loved the action scenes, the quality of the imagery & the epic music! The film finished & started extremely strong. I’m pumped for the second part and may even re-read the manga once more.

What I didn’t enjoy!

The move felt long due to a foot on & off the pedal / gas pacing. From memory of watching this feature. All the scenes that weren’t present within the battle / (Spoiler) were in TV quality it felt like over the quality that was being shown during the battles. It did feel off and the cut to black felt like this is where the “episode” ended before continuing.

Why there’s a rant?

Because I love this series and I thoroughly enjoyed a lot of this movie. But the elephant in the room for me personally. Nezha 2. It’s my #1 animated movie for this year. I want Demon Slayer to destroy it or at least be held on that level…… for my personally. Due to spoiler talk. It just misses it. I’d love an edited version that shortens the movie and keeps to the battles / ending. But then that’s where my wife’s & I’s experience differ.

Shall we transition!

This is the final battle. It’s a trilogy of movies to finish this franchise. If you’re watching this movie. You most likely know what you’re getting into. Or have friends / family that have clued you in so you can enjoy this movie without or with little confusion.

So with that said and before we jump into spoilers. I’m giving the Infinity Castle Demon Slayer movie a very strong great 8.5/10 which I’d love to have had been a 9. Maybe it’s a 9 and Nezha 2 a 9.5 but seriously let’s get into why.

Wrap before the spoiler talk

Appreciate you for taking the time to come by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. This is an interesting one to discuss. With it being the finale of a series rather than a stand alone movie or earlier part of a series like the first movie which felt perfect as apart of the series while also stand alone.

Lots to discuss further more within the spoiler talk that not even I mentioned. So if you’re interested. I’d love to hear from you in the comments or soon to be our specific social media pages that I’ll eventually create by year 3 of this platform haha.

Until next time though – Happy movie going everyone ❤

Spoiler Talk

The battles were freaking awesome. The music and scores could rival that of KPop Demon Hunter which are Oscar worthy. But every time the battle got going you’d be taken out of the moment to have flash backs. You’ll have a recap or moment to build up and explain how we’re going to have the ability to defeat or fight further the opponent in front of us. (Reading the manga felt very quick and maybe it works in this media) But the movie having this took me out of the experience constantly in those first 2 fights.

Now with this said, this was my personal experience. My wife loved those parts while not enjoying the backstory of the last fight which I personally loved and hope it executed in the next feature in part 2.

Which brings me to the potential 2 year gap between sequels. I read it’s to improve the quality of the film….So why did those flash backs feel like quality TV episodes rather than feel like the movie playing around it? I hope this is what they mean by improving the quality but who’s to know other than the creators.

That ending had me hyped as it lead perfectly into the second part. I’m ready for more. I’ll have to re-watch the movie once more and see if that 8.5 gets to a 9. (Sinners did it but mainly due to a couple next to me talking).

Love to hear your thoughts in the comments on your experience. The movie was epic! Let’s agree there. But did you find it long due to reasons mentioned above? Did you get taken out of the fights due to the same reasons or another? Let me know below. I’m personally hoping part 2 is like the last fight. Nezha 2 had an incredible last 40 minutes that offered so much emotion while feeling epic and connected. For those that watched it and get what I mean let me know your thoughts also on the two experiences.

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