Vampire movies, it seems they're back for real now! And I found another good one!

It's not just because the ever-so-talented Jamie Foxx is in it - which is always a plus, but they have a twist. And they have good action scenes. And they get the vampire mannerisms down to the finest detail, and play around with all the clichés we know of. Mirrors, yupp. Fight scene with missing reflection, yupp. Sunlight, yupp. Modern stake varieties, yupp. Red eyes. Fangs - very intricate this bit. Bloodlust. Sensuality. Age.

From the shotgun to the kind to everything inbetween, and that bangin' beautiful wife of his, it's all awesome. Jamie may not have shit covered but he has character, and charisma, and the tenacity required to truly hunt the beasts of moonlight.

The thing about it being a day job instead of a night one, that's a big twist too, and witticism. And they play on it beyond what they'd need to for it to be the title.

Also check out Night Teeth if you haven't. Another good movie. Another creative and so very stylish new take on the vampire genre.

They show the Hollywood sign in the intro too here - as another movie I watched recently did. I thought there were copyright issues with doing that! No longer? Or they pay a hefty fee to feature it?

JJ Pierce btw, Karla Souza, Meagan Good, Dave Franco, Snoop The One And Only D O Double GG - and don't miss the Steve Howey and Scott Adkins sequence! They've got a lot of good names in this. Peter Stormare too. And Oliver Masucci fits his role just perfect.

I love this. Maybe ought give it a full five after all...

 rated 4.5/5: almost awesome

Read on...

Tom Cruise is back. Top Gun is back. And it's a blockbuster, like you haven't seen in a long time.

Wholesome. Quality. Feelgood. Tension. So great. So great. Patriotic yes. Some cliché yes. But I love it all, it feels like it's almost a movie outside the movie. Like Tom's dedication makes it real. Like they break the fourth wall with the authenticity - and not just with his two sideway glances at the initial bar scene.

Authenticity really does take a movie to the next level, but some of these scenes are so authentic that the set seems to slip up at the seams. Like with that guard booth. You see through the cracks.

Some might consider that a flaw in filming but... it's just so cool to see.
To know they hadn't actually planned on that roof blowing off, but that the force of that plane was just that strong. Couldn't help it.

And the major (played by Ed Harris) comes across all the more a bad-ass for legitimately standing his ground.

The flight scenes, and the fight scenes... god damn man. Sometimes feels like this isn't long enough, like they skipped some things they could've added in... but it's so wholesome. Best movie 2022? Just might be.

I need to watch this one again soon... on the big screen preferably. Oughta be all the more special there.

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome

Got a newfound appreciation for cheerleading after this! And a feeling like maybe scary movies that are also FUN are finally coming back in style.

Is it inspired by Scream? Or is it just the right time for a movie like this, in parallel with the one originator of old and ancient; the greatest nation (I mean Scream just rebooted, too)?

Whatever the reason they made this I love it. The blood and gore and all is barely there - could've maybe had a bit bigger budget with that bit, but on the other hand maybe the gruesome is just a distraction, and non-essential for a story like this, which is really all about the dance. And about proving yourself. It's about self-actualization and... motion. The art of.

A bit like Step Up meets scary movies!

Thought it'd be more like John Tucker Must Die. I'm positively surprised.

Kerri Medders sure has a nice smile too. Solid choice for the main girl.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

The girl from Alias, Jennifer Garner? She's got a lead role as bad-ass chick with a thirst for vengeance, and oh boy does she have grit.

You can feel her desperation. You can feel the cold in the world. You appreciate the villain. The action's heavy. The shots are good. This was all I hoped and expected it'd be, and yet it somehow feels oddly inapproachable, like nineties action movies sometimes did.

It plays out well, but they miss a layer. They get the action, they don't get the... not sure what.

I REALLY liked this though. The choreography's great. The action scenes are brutal. The villain's don't compromise either. It's female empowerment done right, though I do wonder how it would've been with a tougher-looking chick, like say Gina Carano. And why this name...

Cold like a mint, hot like pepper? A breath of fresh air? It still doesn't really fit at all. Not serious like the movie.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Friggin' masterpiece.

The details! And how elegantly they repeat certain ones from different angles. You'd better start paying attention from the beginning!

Everything serves a purpose. Everything has a place. The items, the people, the Mona Lisa smile when it's all over...

I did hear positive things about this one before I saw it, and it STILL managed to surprise me.

I wasn't sure what I was in for. I knew it wasn't action. I knew it was different. The title clued me in early on that it was a mystery, and yet I still wasn't prepared for this! They just breathed new life into the genre.

I love EVERYTHING about this.

Hope it sparks a new wave of detective action, and that Daniel Craig lives beyond Bond, and that Bautista is doing blockbusters like this now, Norton is great always, and stuntwoman Zoe? Wasn't expecting to see her here!

This is a treat in so many ways.

I don't think I need say more, just give it a shot if you haven't. You won't be disappointed.

It's movies like this movies were made for. Delighting, surprising, wholesome, dramatic, stylish, FUN. They save no expense, yet they don't go overboard either. What a ride. What a run.

Feels like magic. Cinematic.

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome

DC does it again! They manage to make something so visually amazing... so without a soul, with way too much surplus slow-mo and sound, with a breakneck pace that never lets you rest or truly stretch your senses... and they throw a small but versatile cast at you right off the bat with no prior introduction.

For a while I thought it'd be Harley and the squad again.

Yet it was awesome to see Pierce Brosnan as the wizard, and The Rock as Adam even more so, and the whirlwind sidekick was a breath of fresh air. The Atom Smasher looks a biit like Ant-Man and Deadpool combined hmm? And the villain like one straight out of Hellboy.

The ending was just too predictable... though you do wonder what other superheroes lurk there in the underwater prison.

But enough about them! The Rock.

He's a bit too quick to catch up on catchphrases isn't he? And a bit devoid of personality at times. And he has certain mannerisms that remind you more of the bad than the hero... but for the most part he was hella great.

Loved the early skateboarding music too. Loved the kid, and the mom.

It is a blast, and the visuals really are a treat, yet it's also easily forgettable. It could've been twice as long. No room for characters to grow and settle. No Oscar-worthy emotional outbursts. Too rapidfire and quick witted - leaching off the Marvel formula but not fully managing.

That's what it feels like, to me.

They may have been the originators but this... feels somewhat sub-par.

Once upon a time... they really had this under lock. The perfect formula for a superhero movie.

I also feel like the fall CGI in particular looks off. The angles are messy. The motion's messy. The slow-mo breaks fights, and makes it more of a visual demo. They have a killer cast though, and great engineers with both props and artistry.

They could do so much more with what they have. And the cold-blooded Rhikes is unnecessary to this story.

All that said: Still can't wait for the sequel.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle