Ghoulish Grin Films

 Joseph Kosinski has quickly become a blockbuster director on the rise. Whether it's with the underrated "Tron: Legacy" or with the box office smash "Top Gun: Maverick," he is making movies that the general audience is flocking to see and he's making films with respected stars who trust his hand. After the massive success of "Top Gun: Maverick," many filmgoers (including myself) were eagerly awaiting his new entry, "F1 the Movie," which would star international star Brad Pitt as the lead character. An absolute no brainer.  After seeing the film, which I had a great time seeing, I still acknowledge that it's a basic, by-the-books story of race car driving, much like it's spiritual predecessor, 1990's "Days Of Thunder" ("F1" even uses Hans Zimmer for the score). People going to see this film won't be surprised by how this film unfolds and may even see its twists and turns ahead of them actually happening....

 I thought the original "John Wick" film was an instant classic. It was a very simple premise. A man takes revenge on a group of very dangerous men who killed his dog, and these men realized very quickly that they messed with the wrong guy. The action sequences were absolutely brilliant. The single shots panning the action (which was dubbed 'gun fu') as the choreography played out. It was so well executed that the film became a hit and expanded into a whole new cinematic universe. Now I didn't really think it should've expanded beyond that first film, but anyone who knows a bit about Hollywood knows that if they have a hit on their hands, they will capitalize on it and beat it to death until the moviegoing audience doesn't want it anymore. But so far, the World of John Wick has become quite profitable. So why not five follow up films, one television series, and potential new film on the way? Having said all of that, my thoughts on this new John Wick spin-o...

 When I saw the soft reboot of "The Karate Kid" back in 2010, I figured like 1994's "The Next Karate Kid" it would be a film that would be part of the overall lore, but mostly forgotten. I have a passing memory of liking the film, but honestly it never had the iconic moments of the first two films. The original is an honest to goodness '80's classic, as is the second part, which continues the story without being a derivative copy of the original. The third film may not have been up to the level of the first two films, but it's a nice capping of the original trilogy.  I'm very fond of the franchise as a whole though, so when I saw that there would be a crossover film with Jackie Chan's Mr. Han and the original films protagonist Ralph Macchio's Daniel LaRusso, I was quite intrigued and very excited.  Going into the film and seeing the way the film connects the original film's Mr. Miyagi and the reboot's Mr. Han, I was very happy to ...