Tag: movies

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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Christy “Review”

Initial release: September 5, 2025

Director: David Michôd

Starring: Sydney Sweeney; Ben Foster; Merritt Wever; Katy O’Brian

Producers: Sydney Sweeney, David Michôd, Teddy Schwarzman, Justin Lothrop, Kerry Kohansky Roberts, Brent Stiefel

Running time: 2h 15m

MPAA rating: R

This may be wild in comparison to other “reviews” out there, but I felt it, so it’s true to me.

First off, I didn’t know this was based on a true story until the very last scene. Secondly, after watching Smashing Machine, I had these two in comparison to one another, which was set in the ring after seeing it’s also based on a true story.

While watching this film I was an hour in when checking my watch having felt like I’d watched the movie and wondering if the ending is coming. I wasn’t bored. I was curious how this movie was going to wrap up. The next hour and 10 minutes blew my freaking mind. I wasn’t expecting what was to come. Absolutely insane, honestly, the content is such a spoiler it’ll be hard to discuss without spoilers, so let’s do this.

It’s not enough to bump off last breath from my top 10 list, but it gets the true story bonus from the 8’s to a 9 for me. Honestly, I cried. When that moment occurred, so many factors completed the puzzle in my mind of this movie experience.

Sydney Sweeney did such an incredible job with her acting that I was fully committed and into the character. Media about the movie may be displaying negative headlines on the worst opening, but honestly. This movie, along with Americana has shown me that Sydney Sweeney has so much range as an actress. She’s come a long way from Madame Web, and I’m super excited for The Housemaid coming up next month.

Acting in Christy was incredible from all the actors. Even in the most uncomfortable moments. I had story issues with character decisions….Then I found out it was based on a true story, and it hit me that this freaking happened! How can I have an issue with character decisions if it’s true? So my weak points were removed when looking at this film as a whole at the end of the story.

I won’t be swayed by seeing the reviews after giving it my Popped score. I’m going with a 9/10, and maybe that’ll be a miss for many. But it’s the experience I had come to the end of Christy.

Very curious to hear your thoughts on Christy after experiencing this story. Let us know in the comments below. Another potential miss is coming up with Die My Love. Let’s get into it :D.

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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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