Guess who's coming for dessert. A written review of The Invite (2026).

 

The Invite

Cast: Seth Rogan, Olivia Wilde, Penelope Cruz, Edward Norton

Writers: Will McCormack, Rashida Jones, Cesc Jones(original screenplay)

Director Olivia Wilde

**** and a ½ *’s out of Five Stars

 

What happens when a frustrated married couple(Seth Rogan and Olivia Wilde) invites their openly romantic adventures neighbors (Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton) over for dinner.  You get pure comedy gold in this updated version of the Spanish language film, The People Upstairs. But even if you are not familiar with that one, The Invite could be seen as a newer version of Bob & Carol &Ted & Alice meets Carnage.

Supergirl 2026 doesn't soar, she just floats. (written review)

 

Supergirl(2026)

Cast: Milly Alcock, Jason Momoa, Eve Ridley

Writer: Ana Nogueira

Director: Craig Gillespie

***’s out of Five Stars

The only connection I have to this character is from the 1984 movie.  Didn’t read the comics and had little to no interest in the TV show so if you dear reader don’t agree with anything in this review.  Please just say that I’m an old guy who doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Wetiko (Written Review)

 Wetiko

Cast: Juan Daniel Garcia Trevino, Neil Sandilands, Dalia Xiuhcoati

Writer and director: Kerry Mondragon

*** and 1/2 *'s out of Five

Hypnotic (2023) w/ Cam Sully of Jacked Up Review Show.

 

Ever have one of those days where you go to work and then realize you have no controll over what you do. It's like some person is controlling all your actions. Worst yet, all of your friends are under some sort of spell and you can't help because some jerk is able to hypnotize someone with little effort. What do you do?

Well you let film experts like The Vern and his guest Cam Sully of Jacked Up Review Show Podcast to talk about the film, Hypnotic. Directed by Robert Rodriguez & Starring Ben Affleck, William Fichtner, and Alice Brega. 

Diamonds/Diamanti (2026) Written Review

Diamnti (Diamonds)

Cast: Luisa Ranieri, Jasmine Trinica, Vanessa Scalera

Writers: Elisa Casseri, Carlotta Corradi, Ferzan Ozpetek

Director: Ferzan Ozpetek

*** and a 1/2 *'s out of Five

When it comes to fashion I am an absolute dud in that area.  Take a look inside my closet and you will see four pairs of jeans(all plack) and a wide assortment of movie and tv related shirts. I only own two nice suits in brown and black  and while my own taste is indeed daft.  I am in awe whenever I see a truly spellbinding costume in a movie  and I imagine just how much effort in time it went in to create something that will forever be immortalized on the screen.

"Get Over Here" and watch Motral Kombat II (2026) The Vern's Written Review.

Mortal Kombat II

Cast  Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee

Writer: Jeremy Slater,

Director: Simon McQuoid

**** out of Five Stars

The Ballads of Billie Eilish: A written review of Hit Me Hard and Soft(2026)

 Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft

Cast: Billie Eilish

Director: James Cameron, Billie Eilish

*** out of Five Stars

When Kurt Cobain passed away in April of nineteen ninety four.  I remember seeing a lot of news footage of people saying how much his music affected them.  That he alone was the voice of a generation and how his lyrics gave strength to those who felt weak.  The same thing happened for fans of John Lennon and Prince after they died and this got me into thinking about the impact Billie has on her fans.  There is one moment during this concert documentary where people are telling us how much Billie's music speaks to them.  When you see reactions to them crying  and hugging eachother while reciting lyrics to her songs.  It's clear that she has quite an impact on a lot of her fans.  Look, I imagine Miss Eilish will ber here for a very long long time.  She is not addicted to any hard core drugs, is able to deal with mental stress through her music and has great suppourt from her family her friends and certainly her fans. It is just fascinating on how one person can influence and affect millions.

The Travel Companion (Written Review)

 

The Travel Companion 

Cast: Tristan Turner, Anthony Oberbeck, Naomi Asa

Writers: Alex Mallis, Travis Wood, Weston Auburn

Directors: Alex Mallis & Travis Wood

*** and 1/2 *'s  out of Five

I can imagaine it's got to be difficult to make any type of movie no matter the genre. Simon(Tristan Turner) is a strugling young filmmaker who is currently working on a new prjoject that is part travel log and part what looks like a relflection on human connection.  His roommate Bruce(Anthony Oberbeck)  works for an airline company which allows his to pick one person to be his travel companion and Simon gets to have that luxery of traveling for free to most places.

The Bride(2026) is a Future Cult Classic (Video Review)

 

The Bride starring Oscar Winner Jesse Buckley and Christian Bale is very divisive amongst movie fan and The Vern is here to help explain this unique movie from director Maggie Gylllenhaal to you.

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. 2026 (Video Review)

 

Samara Weaving returns and she still has those damn in laws to deal with in Ready or Not 2: Here I come. Joining the cast is Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Elijah Wood and David Cronenberg.

Is this follow up worth a trip to the cinemas or should you wait til streaming?

Shift (2025) Written Review

 

Shift

Cast:  Conner McGill, Sean O'Bryan, Allison McAtee, Angela Alise)

Writer and Director: Max Neace

*** and a 1/2*'s out of Five *'s

When Tom(McGill) takes a job as a late night security gaurd at a storage unit.  He had no idea that he would get inolved with a mysterious blonde (McAtee) and her random affairs.  A boss(O'Bryan) who wants him to stay out of other people's business, a talk show host(Alise) who is interested in his tales of scandal, and than there is Grace but you'll have to see the movie yourself to understand that important character.

Random Thoughts of a Movie Insomniac (February Edition)

 

The Vern retruns to give you his quick thoughts on these recent flicks

Send Help

How to Make a Killing

Sirat

Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Wuthering Heights(2026)

The Moment

A tale of two mommies scorned. ( Written Reviews of Die My Love & If I had Legs I’d Kick You)

 

Die My Love

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, Sissy Spacek

Writer and Director: Lynne Ramsay

**** out of Five Stars

 

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Cast: Rose Byrne, Conan O’Brien, A$AP Rocky

Writer and Director: Mary Bronstein

** and a ½ *’s out of Five

 

I should say this from the start of this article that I am a cis, white, male and have 0 knowledge or experiences when it comes to any aspect of motherhood or raising children for that matter.  These are movies that my sometimes co host of my podcast(who is a mother of three) should evaluate but I’m pretty sure these movies would most likely piss her off if I showed them to her. 

Nouvelle Vague(2025) Video Review

 

The Vern reviews Richard Linklater's docu drama about the making of Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless.  Stay to the end to get updates on the podcast and thank you so much for watching.

Frankenstein(2025) Written Review

 

Frankenstein

Cast: Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elrodi, Mia Goth

Writers: Guillermo del Toro(screenplay) Mary Shelly(novel)

Director: Guillermo del Toro

*** and 1/2 *'s out of 5

Ever since we were shown The fawn in Pan’s Labryrinth or Hellboy from the feature of the same name.  Guillermo del Toro has always been a defender of monsters. His best picture winner, The Shape of Water made that point clear to show that the all American patriot(played by Michael Shannon) was in fact the real monster while the amphibian creature(played by Doug Jones) was our hero at the end.

Now del Toro has set his sights on the most misunderstood monster of all time, Frankenstein.  First introduced as a novel by Mary Shelly and than as a film by director James Whale and starring Boris Karloff as the creature.   Since 1931 there have been way over two hundred different adaptations of the famed creature.  From straight up remakes to homages.  This character has been infused in our pop culture for decades.

One Battle After Another (2025) Written Movie Review

 

One Battle After Another

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor

Writer and Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

**** and a ½ *’s out of 5

 

PTA’s latest is a wonderful thrilling feature that will have your eyes glued to the screen from the first frame. This may be his most widely appealing film since There Will Be Blood and maybe even Boogie Nights

Caught Stealing (2025) Written Review

Caught Stealing

Cast: Austin Butler, Zoe Kravitz, Matt Smith

Writer:Charlie Huston

Director: Darren Aronofsky

*** and a 1/2 *'s out of 5

For those familiar with Darren Aronofsky’s filmography.  Caught Stealing is going to be very different.  There are no rapid fast cuts or hip hop style montages as in Requiem for a Dream and Pi.  There are no camera techniques or use of music and sound effects  that brings attention to itself like in Black Swan and mother!  No docu like style as in The Wrestler and The Whale.  And, most certainly not as much religious allegory as there was in The Fountain, Noah (and yes mother! too).  Ok there is some but only a small smidge.  Nope, Mr. Aronofsky trades all of his usual bells and whistles for a basic crime caper and the results are quite good. Look after years of dark and somewhat depressing dramas.  It’s nice to see a filmmaker try something different and this may be his most experimental film so far. Just like when David Lynch made The Straight Story for Disney.  It's a very different style than he's done before 

Fantastic Four: First Steps(2025) written review

 

Fantastic Four: First Steps

Cast: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn

Writers: Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan

Director: Matt Shakman

 *** out of Five Stars

Four astronauts go up in space, are hit with some sort of gamma rays and are giving yada yada. You’ve heard this before. The Fantastic Four has always been the O.G. of the superhero genre that it’s a bit surprising it’s taken Marvel that long to make a movie about them.  It’s understanding why they started with Iron Man and Thor as their sort of test movies first instead of their well known properties.  They really should have rebooted Howard the Duck first, but that’s a discussion for another article.

Liquor Bank 2025 Short Film - Written Review

 

Liquor Bank

Cast: Antwone Barnes, Sean Alexander James

Writer and Director:Marcellus Cox

**** out of Five *'s

Incredible drama about a young man who relaps into drinking after being sober for a year and the one man who still wants to fight for him.  This is a well shot, tightly edited chamber style drama that takes place in just one setting.  Not an easy feat to pull off but director Marcellus Cox does a great job with the material.

Random Thoughts of a Movie Insomniac: June 2025

 It's been a while since I have done one of these but let's check on a few movies I watched recently.  Im actually reading more and so that is what I spend a lot of my free time doing.  That and listeing to podcasts and watching YouTube reviews and reactions on older movies.  Been working a lot too so I don't get a chance to watch a lot of new things .

The Materialists