Legend of the White Dragon “Review”

Release date: August 28, 2026 (USA)

Running time: 1h 24m

MPAA rating: R

Distributed by: Well Go USA Entertainment

Backed this Kickstarter twice – Successfully backed in May of 2020 – We finally have this on the big screen after a major hurdle, which is the sad passing of Jason David Frank – The Legend of the White Dragon, commonly known for his role in Power Rangers as the White & Green Ranger!

It’s been 6 years of development. It was kickstarted as a series. Got blown up with funding to equate to the epic movie now playing at your (Hopefully Local) theatre. Sorry for anyone who backed the movie who’s not near a theatre playing LotWD.

With this heavy toll of knowing we won’t be seeing Jason in any future projects they may have had/have planned. This movie ended on such a high note. Seriously, I can’t wait for the Blu-Ray to see all the behind-the-scenes and extra goodies packed into the creation of this movie. If you stick around throughout the credits, there’s a mid-credit scene for the film. Then a behind-the-scenes reel plays as they display all the Kickstarter patrons. That was pretty cool :D.

So how’s the movie? Well, understanding all the challenges behind the movie’s creation. I had a really good time. It felt like Power Rangers mashed with Arrowverse (Which I thoroughly love) – Mainly felt this way with some of the script and seeing David Ramsey in his role :D.

The start of the movie felt a little thrown in for the audience, but I enjoy storytelling that goes back and forth, introducing context and story points throughout the movie. The fire effects are pretty cheap, but this doesn’t have a big blockbuster-type budget to go off. Otherwise, the acting is solid. I enjoyed the characters and seeing David with his daughter Jenna Rae Frank in the movie; playing the role of his daughter was so emotional, as it reflected on screen to real life.

Personally, with the attachment and love for all that went into creating this movie and bringing it to the big screen, I’m giving LotWD a Popped score of 8/10. I’ll be following Bat in the Sun to see if anything comes further with this project but will totally be understood if this stays the finale to a legend. Rest in peace Jason Frank & Michael Madsen. Legends never die! So get out there this weekend and watch Legend of the White Dragon 😀 <3.

That’s the finale to this week’s batch, fellow movie-goers! Thanks for taking the time to come by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Next week I may go a little lighter, but if a movie catches my eye. I’ll find a seat with my name on it :D.

Until next time, fellow movie-goers, happy movie-going ❤

August 29, 2026 0

Jackass: Best and Last “Review”

Release date: June 26, 2026 (USA)

Director: Jeff Tremaine

Cinematography: Dimitry Elyashkevich

Distributed by: Paramount Pictures

Executive producers: Pete Chiappetta, Anthony Tittanegro, Greg Iguchi, Andrew Lary, Shanna Newton

Genres: Documentary, Comedy, Adventure

This will have varying weight depending your love/attachment to the series – I thought it was great!

They joke about this being the finale in the movie but it honestly did feel like their last. It was rather touching and insane watching this as it relived unwatched footage from day 1 to the very last. Adding new content and challenges amongst revisiting epic moments. This was a total blast and a hoot! Laughed so much.

With the mixture of entertainment. You may even get further entertainment watching this in the theatre amongst a crowd. I had a guy constantly turning away for the poop content, which even had me going at times. Bad Grandpa has always been my fave and didn’t disappoint seeing him again in the best and last!

Stick around throughout the credits as you get to relive all the moments of a certain sketch throughout each movie 😉 :D. Stick around even further to get a little trolled. Regardless, had a blast with a Popped score of 8/10. This was a great movie, which I can see some scoring into the 9’s and owning on Blu-Ray :D.

This marks 50 movies watched thus far for 2026. With Jackass being the last movie for the first half of the year, 50 is looking pretty good. I appreciate you all for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. We have a few titles to explore for Summer 2026, a pretty major one being Spider-Man 😀 – Minions coming this Wednesday, the 1st of July. Live action Moana, anyone? Followed by The Odyssey before getting to Spider-Man, at the end of July.

Until next batch those fellow movie-goers. Happy movie-going 😀

June 28, 2026 0

Toy Story 5 “Review”

Release date: June 19, 2026 (USA)

Director: Andrew Stanton

Prequel: Toy Story 4

Running time: 1h 42m

MPAA rating: PG

Distributed by: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Solid contender for best animated feature of 2026! Currently has my vote!

I’m calling this a beautiful generational movie. Watched Toy Story 1/2 as a child you’re going to love this. Watched the 3rd/4th coming in a little later you’re going to be attached to some characters if you’re watching the 5th :P. First time watching a Toy Story movie? You’re going to have a good time for sure.

When it comes to loving the characters within this franchise, growing and overcoming new challenges. You’re going to have a great time. So much humor across the board. Personally, having watched these movies since I was a child. I feel like this hits harder for those viewers like myself. I was honestly tearing up and had streaks down my face a good couple of times with all the emotions being felt :D.

Curious note: Why did Disney stop with the shorts before the movie? Did it mess with the short run time of movies? Not sure. Either way. Loved the intro to this movie! Freaking loved it! Stick around during the credits. There’s a mid-credit scene. Nothing is worth staying for to the very end, but there’s a little something if you have time. Mid credit was chef kiss!

What’s Toy Story 5 all about? Well, the gang’s back and beautifully tying in all the previous movies. Even though I disliked 4. The groundwork laid in 4 is moving the story forward into 5. By exploring the introduction of technology. The obsoleteness of older non-tech toys. Who’s going to keep Bonnie safe, introduce her to new friends, and look after her best interests? You’ll have to watch Toy Story 5 at your local theatre to find out. Popped scoring of 9/10. This movie was fantastic. I started off looking for critics, to find myself at a certain point. Loving & crying over this movie.

Planning to see this movie over the weekend? Or just come home from it? Love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Could they make a 6th? Leave it here? Let’s talk in the comments.

Thank you all for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Lots are releasing this week so for the batch to come. Look forward to Girls like Girls, Death of Robin Hood & Leviticus, over this weekend.

Until next time though fellow movie-goers, happy movie-going 😀

June 19, 2026 0

Backrooms “Review”

Release date: May 29, 2026 (USA)

Director: Kane Parsons

Cinematography: Jeremy Cox

Distributed by: A24

Editor: Greg Ng

Executive producers: Kane Parsons, Alayna Glasthal, Jenni DePiero

FNAF type experience? – Let’s Discuss! Shall We 😀

To the Point!?

I really enjoy the Five NIGHTS at Freddy’s. Not so much the made-up movie adaptation storyline outside of the FNAF universe. Same thing with this feature. When the movie opens, it captures that feeling of playing a horror video game. This experience, however, someone else is driving at the helm, so I can’t back away. Then an hour of long, stretched out character story that I couldn’t care less about, before exploring more of the Backrooms. I’m torn between a fine & good one-time watch rating. – 7/10 Popped Score.

The “Deeper” Dive In

Mentioned above. But the sense and atmosphere from the intro captured what I expected this movie to feel and be about. Loved the setup & ending. The middle hour felt extremely long and drawn out, meant to string the audience along with sequels to get the full picture. They could have combined movies 1 & 2 into this for a complete, worthwhile experience.

Sadly, it focused on (For me personally) the wrong things. Leaving many questions unsolved and unanswered to focus on characters and their story, which felt had no impact on the backroom story and lore being dropped. Took me out of the experience each and every time, which made this hour-and-45-minute-long movie a bit of a bore. When there are movies out there like Obsession, coming in 3 minutes longer, it feels much more entertaining and worth your time & money. 7/10, it’s a one-time watch for me personally.

Thank you for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Checking out Backrooms this weekend? Love to know your thoughts in the comments below. Lots of movies releasing this weekend, so let’s see if we’re able to hit 3 or even 4 movies in this week’s batch :D.

Until next time, though, fellow movie-goers, happy movie-going 😀

May 28, 2026 2

2025 Look Back – “Recap.”

Something Popped started in 2025 was an early & mid look into the year. Well, we’re now into the following year of 2026, so let’s look back and “Recap” the year of 2025.

Were my top 10 predictions correct? What surprises occurred? Misses, swings & hits. Let’s get into it!

Let’s start with my top 10 predicted vs officials.

Ouch! Let’s start with my misses! – Love Hurts, seriously hurts to see this on my top 10 list when I gave it a 4.5. Ballerina, sadly, I fell asleep, so I don’t have a review of it, and never re-watched it to catch the middle parts I missed. Jurassic World & Black Phone 2 were fine movies with a mixture of good & bad elements.

The remainder were good to great, with scores ranging from 7.5 to 8.5.

So what’s my actual top 10 for 2025: (Not Actually Listed 1 through 10)

Ranking 2025 – Top 10	Movie Title
1	Ne Zha 2 – 9/10* – #1 Oscar Animated Feature
2	Bring Her Back – 9/10*
3	Sinners – 9/10*
4	Better Man – 9/10*
5	Sarah’s Oil – 9/10
6	Song Sung Blue – 9/10
7	David – 9/10
8	The Life of Chuck – 9/10
9	F1 – 9/10
10	One Battle After Another – 9/10

Ne Zha 2 came out of no where. Like, wasn’t even on my radar and seriously loved this movie and watched the first & second movie over 3 times each. First one probably closer to 5/6.

Same with Bring Her Back – Watched this twice and thoroughly enjoyed it. Was surprised placing a horror movie into my top 10 but then Sinners feels so right in here :D.

Better Man I’ve watched twice and thoroughly loved the nostalgia of the story, setting & music.

True stories were big for 2025 and Sarah’s Oil & Song Sung Blue were incredible. Moved me emotionally and tales I’d re-watch again.

Life of Chuck is one of those movies you’ll sit and ponder. Reflecting and taking in what the movie meant to you individually. A lot can be broken down by this. Love to hear your thoughts.

One Battle After Another vs Sinners are my two best picture plays. Haven’t re-seen OBAA yet but Sinners, I loved even more the second watch.

Dark Horses of 2025:

Minecraft blew up with Chicken Jockey. Captain America came out same time as Ne Zha 2. You can read my thoughts on those in their respected “Reviews”. Mortal Kombat 2 got pushed to 2026 so let’s hope it actually releases this year. Once again in my Dark Horse but I’m backing Street Fighter based on their trailers.

Looney Tunes was a lot of fun but didn’t do great. Hopefully Coyote vs Acme performs this year. Until Dawn & M3gan 2.0 flopped. With Mickey 17 not being my cup of tea but did decent. Fantastic Four faired better than Captain America but I’m hoping Doomsday is worth this recent era of Marvel :S…..hopefully….

Here’s to a solid year of movies for 2026! Looking forward to seeing how wrong I am again :P. Honestly this year has so many good movies I’d be surprised not seeing my predicted list being a little closer than my 2025 list was :D.

Next Popped Date to be end of January when we discuss the Oscar Nominations! Snubs, potential winners & my disappointment for Ne Zha 2 not being nominated based on how it’s going with Critics Choice & Golden Globes.

Until next time though fellow movie-goers – Happy Watching 😀

January 4, 2026 0

Good Boy “Review”

Release date: October 3, 2025 (USA)

Director: Ben Leonberg

Language: English

MPAA rating: PG-13

Genre: Horror

Running time: 1h 13m

Poster had me, hearing it’s from the perspective of Indy, this dog had me intrigued. Let’s discuss shall we.

Stick around for after the movie ends, there’s a behind the scenes with the director and his dog Indy. We find out that Indy didn’t even know they were in a movie and it’s pretty cool the difference between movie scenes and the behind the scenes footage.

Todd (Played by Shane Jensen) has something going on, potentially health risk. He moves into his grand fathers haunted house where he lived prior to passing along with his own dog.

Within this hour and 13-minute movie, you’ll have a good horror movie. Filled with scares and uncomfortable scenes that Indy does an incredible job at, along with the directing of the scenes. (There’s a film style they used (Which I forgot) to play off the audience’s own viewing experience to fill the movement and meanings of how the characters are feeling/portraying.)

I was between a 7 and a 7.5 throughout this feature. Ultimately, going to give a Popped scoring of 7.5 for the story told. There’s potential to rewatch to connect dots, but also to watch along with others’ first viewing. This was a good horror movie done with a unique style that isn’t used often. It’s a mixture of the dog’s POV along with regular movie shots, focusing mostly on the point of view of Indy from outside the eye and within.

Thank you all for coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews” I’ll be back over the weekend with 2 more movies released this week Bone Lake & The Smashing Machine.

However, until next time – It’s time for Critical Role Campaign 4 to start 😀 and also, happy movie-going fellow movie goers :D.

October 2, 2025 0

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.

September 27, 2025 3

The Legend of Hei II “Review”

Release date: September 5, 2025 (USA)

Director: MTJJ

Cast: Shan Xin, Mingyue Liu

Genre: Animation

Production company: Tianjin Maoyan Weiying Media Company Limited

Running time: 1h 59m

Screenplay: MTJJ, Kexin Peng

Glad I was recommended to watch this movie because WOW! I’ve got another series to watch / world to get into, along side that of Nezha :D. Shall we dive in!

I watched the first film, INCLUDING the 40 episode web series leading up to watching the last showing of Legend of hei 2 in theatres. Caught it JUST in time :D. Yes I’ll be purchasing this series along with Nezha 2 once they release. 😉 Guess who’s in this franchise. Freaking the legendary Naza 😀 otherwise known as Nezha hehe.

I can’t say I love the second movie more or less than the first title. It offers something solid with some returns but many new characters to explore. I wouldn’t be lying if I said my enjoyment was hindered by the lack of many characters from the first film and the webseries. But alas the move is still solid with plenty to get hyped about. SPECIALLY for those Naza fans like myself 😀 OMG it gets a .5 just for that alone haha.

So the first film is a prequel to the webseries and really establishes Hei. His master and the setting within the world with spirits and humans. The web series is a fun little series around Hei and his human friends mixed with some spirits and the best animal characters you’ll ever meet in a series. The sequel film continues to explore the world going into the dynamics of the spirits vs human conflict. Both sides live amongst one another. But not everyone’s happy about it.

Thus a war / mystery detective film is our sequels enjoyment. I’m ready for more, mostly to see Naza and some other characters within the guild & Enforcers. Unlike Nezha 2 which takes the scope of his village and expands it to literally worlds, planes of existence and vast vast more. This series takes place solely on earth and explores areas of conflict but mainly centered about a specific conflict rather than a global eye. So lots more to peel back and reveal deeper layers to the lore and character development of Hei.

Check it out and let me know your thoughts. I’d LOVE to have this at a 9/10 having it in my top 10 along with Nezha 2. Sadly though the fact it didn’t tie in those characters from prior installments that got me connected to this series to binge it all in 1 day it sits in a solid 8/10 great movie. For having Naza 😀 8.5/10 and a feature I’d happily watch again.

Any other recommendations? I’d love to hear them. However before this batch wraps up with The Long Walk. I appreciate you coming by Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Demon Slayer Infinity Castle will be up Monday Night / Tuesday so stay tuned for that if you’re interested :D.

Happy movie going fellow movie goers and I’ll see you in the next movie – The Long Walk :D.

September 12, 2025 0

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!

August 21, 2025 0

2025 Mid-Way look “Review”

Welcome fellow movie goers, this Pop Date will go over a look at 2025 thus far and what’s planned to be reviewed. Maybe some hidden secret gems. Some disappointments? We’ll review in 2025 December to see the outcome.

By each month in bold will be movies I’ll lock in a review of, all going well. The Italic number is either a polled or a surprise random movie watch to add to months reviews.

August 2025 – 8 | 3

September 2025 – 4 | 2

October 2025 – 7 | 1

November 2025 – 5

Predator | Running Man | See Me 3 | Wicked | Zootopia 2

December 2025 – 4

Freddy’s 2 | Avatar 3 | SpongeBob | Housemaid

This was using firstshowing.net on August 6th – 100 Movies for 2025 is looking certain!

Currently at 82 with 2 of those movies having caveat – 1 Streamer 1 Released 2024 Christmas going wide in America 2025 January…. Does it count ? :p either way 80 currently with a potential of adding at least 25 movies form the bold minus the re-releases. Yet along bonus movies and surprises along the way :D.

Top 5 thus far from 2025:

Ne Zha 2, F1 & Bring Her Back (Wasn’t even on my radar!) | Sinners | Life of Chuck (Glad I Watched) | (Betterman if allowed)

My hopes of a top 10:

Dark Horse Shoutouts:

Captain America (In a different universe) | Looney Tunes (Still had fun!) | Mickey 17 (Ouch) | Minecraft (HAHAHAHA Dark Horse – slayed) | Until Dawn ( It is what it was) | M3GAN 2.0 (Way to not read the room) | Fantastic Four (Can we switch marvel movies to Thunderbolts :D) | Mortal Kombat 2 (Let’s GO!! There’s still hope!)

Love to hear your thoughts on this list – Anything stick out / Missing from the list?

Lots added to wrap the year up. Podcast R.I.P haha. Happy Watching All ❤

Last shout outs:

Weapons | Long Walk | Predator | Wicked | Avatar 3

My last hopefuls to make the top 10 list of 2025 – Let’s see if there’s any surprises and fails.

Thus far, here’s my personal bottom 5:

1	Screamboat – 2.5/10
2	The Legend of Ochi – 2.5/10
3	A Minecraft Movie – 2.5/10
4	Death of a Unicorn – 2.5/10
5	Hurry Up Tomorrow – 3.0/10

How’s your 2025 looking thus far? In line with your expectations or having surprises along the way like Ne Zha 2 did for myself :D.

August 7, 2025 0