The Death of Robin Hood (2026)

 

I'm going to be completely honest with you. The first 40 minutes of this movie are some of the most brutal and violent moments I've seen on a movie screen this year. And that says a lot because this movie year has been filled with a lot of violent films. The violence in this film is not framed as like you might find in the low rent Tarantino knock off. It is endemic to the times and the character that we are seeing presented on the screen, it is not stylized or elegant, it is graceless and unpleasant to watch.

Robin Hood is a character that I have followed since I first saw the Errol Flynn movie back in the 1970s. There are several versions of the legend that have come about in the meantime and almost all of them have been faithful to the idea that Robin Hood is largely a heroic figure who sometimes acts in ways that are unconventional and maybe even not very praiseworthy. None of those other films however have come out and tried to reinvent Robin Hood as an amoral murderer who's happy to Slit your throat over a few tuppence.

Hugh Jackman is a producer on this film and I'm sure he had a big part in getting it made and choosing to play the lead, I'm just not exactly sure why he would choose to do so. I sound pretty down on the film and in large part that's accurate. In the long run there is some merit to the take that is being presented here. The era in which Robin Hood was supposed to have lived probably was a brutal one, principles are not always followed closely and people would make up their own rules as it was convenient for them. There's an attempt to make this a Redemptive Arc but it doesn't really go very far and I found the resolution less than satisfying. 

If you're looking for a movie with a grim vision of the world, and a hero that you want to sympathize with but can't then this is the movie for you. It's competently put together, and very well made by a director that I have admired in the past, but I would warn you away from this, if you have any doubts about these kinds of reimagining, because this one was completely unnecessary and largely unpleasant.

Singin' in the Rain-Revisit (Paramount Summer Classic Film Series)

 

This is the last full film I saw at the Paramount Theater before it closed.  For the next 11 months it's going to undergo renovation and hopefully be restored to even greater Beauty. It's hard to imagine a more fitting closure then seeing the greatest musical of all time one more time on the big screen.

I love singing in the rain, I can't understand people who don't like musicals, and I'm especially suspicious of anybody who doesn't love this musical. This film has everything, is in hysterical comedy, with terrific dancing and singing numbers, set in the Golden Age of Hollywood, dealing with some of the real problems that came with the Advent of sound, and it stars the great Gene Kelly.

There are so many iconic numbers in this film, that I'm not sure I could get to the mall and it doesn't paragraphs. So I'll just remind everybody the gene Kelly's dancing in the rain, will probably the most visually iconic, is certainly not the only memorable musical sequence in the film. Donald O'Connor steals the movie for 5 minutes with his routine make him laugh. Debbie Reynolds, takes the lead on good morning, and  Cyd Charice doesn't sing she just dances like an angel Moving On A Cloud along with her partner Gene Kelly. 

Of course the biggest thief in the film is Jean Hagen, who plays the movie star with a voice to die for, I'm sorry I meant to voice to die from. Silent screen Stars sometimes didn't make the transition to the talkies for a reason. Instead of making this a tragedy however, Gene Kelly and co-director Stanley donen turn this into a farce. And what a lovely time we all get to have as a result. 

Good luck and for a short time farewell to the Paramount Theater, You Are My Lucky Star.

Raiders of the Lost Ark-Revisit (Paramount Summer Classic Film Series)

 

As Indy himself said, it's not the years it's the miles. Although 45 years does seem like a long time and that's how long it's been since the first Indiana Jones Adventure stormed onto our screens and blew away the movie houses and their audiences.

We're not going to go into depth on this particular post, there are plenty of other entries on the blog then look at the particulars of the film. I'm just happy to see it once again on the big screen and in particular at the Paramount Theater during the summer classic film series. The Paramount Theater is about to close for a year for renovation and remodeling so I have one final week to enjoy the beautiful old theater and then a whole 11 months to wait to get to enjoy the restoration.

I'm not sure there's a better way to go out than with the screening of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. The theater was packed this evening, and I was flying solo, Amanda haven't gone to a conference.  Believe me at the first crack of the whip I was set to enjoy the evening, I wish I had my old Indiana Jones fedora, it either shrink or my head got too big and I lost it long ago. I did have on the right shirt for the evening though and I got a couple of comments about that.

Don't let any may tell you that there's a plot hole that makes Indiana Jones completely irrelevant to the outcome of the film. First of all that short-sighted, the point of the film is to enjoy the adventure, and without Indiana Jones there would be no Adventure. As for solving the puzzle, there are actually two or three spots where Indiana Jones presence is necessary for the plot to proceed. Those nitpickers who are trying to tell you otherwise should just mind their own business.

Seeing Raiders on the big screen immediately invites me to revisit the rest of the films in the series. Although the world is full of people who hate the fourth movie, I'm not one of them. It may be the least of the Indiana Jones films but it's still a heck of a good time. Indiana Jones and the dial of Destiny, the fifth film in the franchise, and the only one not directed by Steven Spielberg, is also quite good, but let's face it the first and the third are the best in the series. So maybe for Father's Day I'll catch up with Last Crusade, but until then I'm just going to enjoy the memory of Indiana Jones swinging out to the biplane, punching Nazis in the face, and falling in love with Marion all over again.

Toy Story 5 (2026)

 

Disclosure Day (2026)

 

007 Video Essay Project-#2 From Russia With Love

 

A second slice of pie for the 007 fans out there. 

Masters of the Universe (2026)

 For this film I am simply going to post the illustrated podcast from the LAMBcast. I worked on it for several days, through computer glitches and household upturns, and I’m proud of the result and too tired to write a review as well.