Well, this is bleak. Netflix shelved Zach Cregger's "The Flood" rather than give it a proper theatrical release. www.thewrap.com/zach-cregger...

I watched 218 episodes of a show for an excuse to read a book. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. @darrenmooney.bsky.social

"Predator: Badlands" is on par to gross as much as "TRON: Ares" in its opening weekend, despite costing half as much. It is perhaps proof that the best strategy with these films to make good films and let critics see them, as opposed to relying on influencers to sell them.

I think about this every time I see a Minion, because they made it VERY clear that if the Minions weren’t trapped in a cave in the 1940s, they would have been working for the Nazis. And people just… let that slide.

“Pluribus” is Vince Gilligan’s “The Leftovers.” Bleakly comic, deeply moving, profoundly sad. It’s a meditation on the loneliness - and perhaps the selfishness - of grief. It had me in pieces. Incredible stuff.

Every once in a while, I think about how careful the “Minions” movie was to clarify that the Minions weren’t doing anything - anything at all, why would you ask? - during the 1940s.

Just updating my rough draft of a list of the best films of 2025, and for a year with a so-so summer blockbuster slate and a fairly weak awards slate, it's actually been a pretty great year for movies overall.

Goodness, you know what's great? The second season of Chris Carter's "Millennium."

I really enjoyed "Death by Lightning", the new miniseries on Netflix about two men forgotten by history: President Garfield and the man who killed him. It feels, like a lot of recent historical biopics, like a work in conversation with the "Great Man" logic of such stories.

I wrote about Glen Powell’s “Chad Powers” for @SecondWindGroup.com, a fairly generic middle-of-the-road sitcom that takes a huge, bold swing in its final ten minutes. Becoming a timely interrogation of familiar redemption narratives. READ: www.patreon.com/posts/column...

Revisiting “Alien: Earth” and really enjoying Timothy Olyphant playing Kersch as a perpetually exhausted babysitter.

Honestly, really thrilled that it was ultimately Elle Fanning who managed to bring that unhinged “The Great” energy into blockbuster cinema this year. She great in “Badlands”, in a role that that has to do *a lot*, while still being one of the most fun performances of the year.

I really enjoyed Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia”, a film that asks, “Is that an alien or are you just alienated?” Some quick thoughts about the film on the bus ride home. boxd.it/bC6y6z

#NowWatching #Bugonia

I really love that "Alien: Earth" never explains what Teng's deal is. Is he a secret synth? Is he just a creepy dude? Maybe.

Is Hollywood ready for a new generation of YouTube filmmakers? The latest episode of The Backdrop is available now from @darrenmooney.bsky.social.

In about 40 minutes... Marty is away so @darrenmooney.bsky.social and I will PLAY!!! And by "play" I mean Darren and I will talk about Star Trek Deep Space 9 for two hours. YAY! Watch Here:

For @SecondWindGroup.com, I discussed the arrival of YouTubers like the Philippous, Chris Stuckmann and Kogonada into mainstream filmmaking. What happens when directors arrive from new media? What does Hollywood want from them? What do they want from it? WATCH: youtu.be/h5sFC7m4KoE?...

Rewatched “Oppenheimer” over the weekend, and can’t believe I only noticed this time that literally the last thing we see Oppenheimer do is to close his eyes. Our final impression of Oppenheimer is him looking away from the world he ushered into being.

Logged on to Prime Video and it is so weird that as you type “H-E-D-D”, it doesn’t give you results starting with those letters. I have to complete the word “Hedda”, or click on the word from my search history, to find “Hedda”, the new movie released today directed by Nia DaCosta.

I do love that the Irish film classification office is like, “Predator: Badlands features disembowelings, decapitations, dismemberments, buckets of blood: 15A.” Whereas the MPAA in the States is like, “Yeah, but none of that is red. Eh, PG-13.”

I had a very good time with #PredatorBadlands, one of the year’s better franchise films. On top of Trachtenberg’s usual firm grasp of story and theme, I really appreciated how it felt so narratively and tonally distinct from “Prey”, while still very much being a “Predator” film.

Quite enjoying “Imperial”, even if it feels hypercompressed and like it should be extended, as a continuation of Jonathan Hickman’s meditation on the disastrous folly of those who would put themselves above others. (Imperial #4.)

I think fandom romanticises low budgets too much.

#NowWatching “The Choral”

I am absolutely certain that “Doctor Who” fandom is not overreacting to this and is taking this news in its proper context. The only live action Disney+ originals or co-productions to broadcast more than two seasons since launch are “High School Musical” and “The Mandalorian.”

I’m sure this is fine. www.wired.com/story/chatgp...

#NowWatching “Dust Bunny” at @horrorthon-fest.bsky.social.

I wrote at @SecondWindGroup.com about the broken systems of Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite.” It’s film about the decline of the delicate systems that have maintained American (and global equilibrium) since the end of the Second World War. READ: www.patreon.com/posts/column...

Really great interview between @riteshwriter.bsky.social and Ram V. One of the best writers of comics talking to one of the best writers about comics. www.tcj.com/you-have-to-...

Had a really good time with #Primate at @horrorthon-fest.bsky.social. More movies starring an Academy Award winner as a workaholic widower who needs to reconnect with his daughters should feature a killer chimp.

#NowWatching The Surprise Film at @horrorthon-fest.bsky.social.

Really appreciated “House of Dynamite.” I do get the sense this is going to be one of those weird “Atlantic Divide” movies, where American critics are somewhat less in tune with it than international audiences.

Incredible energy at last night's IFI @horrorthon-fest.bsky.social's 1st Irish screening of The Descent 4k remaster 🕳️💀🧗‍♀️ Catch terrific horror classics from tonight's late night double bills, the Vampire's Ball tomorrow & our French Extremity strand Delve into the depths with us: ifi.ie/horrorthon/

Revisiting “The Descent” in 4K at @irishfilminstitute.bsky.social. Shoutout to @ohdeerdiner.bsky.social for pointing out that despite being set in dark caves, the film is still lit beautifully and strongly without ever being overlit. A gorgeous restoration of a stunning (and gnarly) horror classic.

#NowWatching “The Descent”

#NowWatching “Shelby Oaks.”

This is the bleak future of Hollywood.

Oh, I was deeply mixed on "IT: Welcome to Derry." Directorially, it's great validation for Andy Muschietti, with some unsettling, effective, playful sequences. But narratively, it suffers far too much from what might be called "franchitis": A lot of mythology, exposition, clutter.

There was a really good piece from Spencer Kornhaber at The Atlantic on the weird performative capitulation fandom seems to desperately want from critics - and what infuriates them when principled critics refuse to give it to them. This feels very true. www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

Slightly offended that the YouTube algorithm picked up my reference to “future Tom Cruise protégé Glen Powell”, but not “veteran character actor Brent Briscoe.”

Really interesting piece here on the return of "the Lavender Marriage." Which also perhaps taps more broadly into the sense of a cultural retrenchment happening, the idea that queerness is being rendered "less visible" in this reactionary moment. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I am so lucky to get to do what I do, with the people I get to do it with.

Phenomenal work here by @Darren_Mooney on the strange emptiness of modern blockbusters embodied by the even stranger cult actor Jared Leto's attempt to make Tron a thing....again

I had a really good time with “Good Fortune”, a charming update to those angel movies of the forties with a wry millennial twist. Clever, funny, thoughtful and well-observed, with a very deft balancing of tone.

This video essay does SUCH a good job of explaining why I loved Thunderbolts* so much (and why so many blockbusters are empty soulless spectacle). You should watch it (and give @secondwindgroup.com your money)

#NowWatching “Good Fortune”

I'm live on @secondwindgroup.com in few with Jack and Marty! WATCH: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cqu...

In about an hour Marty, @darrenmooney.bsky.social, and I will be talking Spoopy Movies. Specifically, spoopy movies that we want at Spoopy Parties... which is VERY DIFFERENT than just plain old "Good Spoopy" Movies. Watch/Listen Here:

Darren has been utterly crushing it with The Backdrop. I’m 100% biased, but if you like film / media criticism and are not watching his stuff you’re doing yourself a disservice!