The Housemaid, Mercy, Conan the Barbarian, Cold Storage, Crime 101, Sholay, & Send Help

On the eve of me turning FORTY-FIVE (!) I will catch up on what I’ve seen theatrically since December that hasn’t been mentioned by me yet. First, I’ll mention one from December: Cinemark played the 1975 Indian movie classic Sholay, something I’ve seen before. Cinema in India has a rich history for many decades and many languages-for that to be arguably the most impactful in their history says a lot. The movie is a lot of fun, a version of the Japanese movie The Seven Samurai, best known in the United States for being remade as The Magnificent Seven. Yes, even Indian movies back then had song-and-dance numbers and are very long.

One evening I saw The Housemaid; no, it wasn’t because I wanted to see either Sydney Sweeney and/or Amanda Seyfried on the big screen. Rather, because I knew this was a surprise hit and heard it was like a tawdry trashy movie from the past. Yes, it was trashy fun (although not quite like an 80’s or 90’s sleazy movie) and was ridiculous; seeing Housemaid w/ a crowd helped, as it’s a movie designed to have people hooting and hollering at times, which some people definitely did.

That same night, I saw Mercy. The movie is as lousy and goofy as you probably heard. The idea of an AI legal system isn’t the worst, but the execution was just lacking. Not terrible or unwatchable, but even at home you probably won’t be satisfied unless you have the movie on as background noise. At least it is short.

One night at a Regal, I saw a revival screening of Conan the Barbarian; yes, the 80’s movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger. I’d seen Conan before but never on the big screen. The film is a blast, a classic engrossing tale for adults. Another night I saw Send Help; it being the type of movie that Sam Raimi used to make but hadn’t in decades plus the good reviews intrigued me. It’s a shame that the ending didn’t work for me (among other things, it felt too modern for a movie that otherwise felt retro) as the rest was a blast, the type of movie I wish we got more of.

The same goes for what I saw a few days ago. While flawed themselves, Cold Storage and Crime 101 are also films I prefer to what’s been clogging the cineplexes for many years now. Cold Storage is a silly horror-comedy you don’t want to scrutinize too hard yet was still a fun “killer fungus causes humans to explode” film with an overqualified cast, including Liam Neeson, who thankfully has moved on from his “old man action” movies and instead played an old man w/ a bad back, which of course is realistic.

Crime 101 was styled after a heist film from decades past; it wasn’t quite the same and I wish the dialogue didn’t turn into “F this” and “F that”; it being included in almost every sentence from Barry Keoghan wasn’t to my tastes. Otherwise, the movie was pretty good, echoing the sort of movies from the past I do enjoy… talented (and usually veteran) actors acting not against a green-screen but rather on actual sets and on location in Southern California—the title refers to Highway 101. Chris Hemsworth actually did a nice job. I feel bad the movie is a disappointment at the box office as flaws aside I was happy to support a film like Crime 101 that was made for adults.

I hope to return sometime in the first half of March.

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, Illinois State Redbirds, & Milano Cortina Winter Olympics

My apologies for not doing one of these as soon as I expected; January and February have been quiet in terms of new events or interesting experiences, at least that haven't been mentioned last month by me. There were two things I neglected to mention concerning January until now: how the Chicago Bears lost their playoff game (heartbreaking) and how the Illinois State Redbirds lost the NCAA FCS college football game against Montana State after an improbable run to the title game… it was just brutal and best left forgotten by me.

I have only revisited various spots/restaurants (such as Shake Shack) so nothing new there. I am disappointed to hear that every restaurant in the Bahama Breeze chain will shut down in a matter of days. I always enjoyed hearing there once in a blue moon since moving to Florida oh so many years ago, including not that long ago.

Thus, I’ll mention that I went to Walt Disney World twice, once at Epcot to tackle their annual Festival of the Arts and to Hollywood Studios to ride Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith one last time. It will close at the end of the month as during the summer it’ll be reopen w/ a Muppets theme. Now, while at Hollywood Studios I interacted w/ a rude employee. This is only mentioned in contrast to how much fun I otherwise had. After all, on the Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run ride, one employee (Jo) did a great job in character, going above and beyond as me and the random group I was part of waited to board the ride. A unique experience was waiting in long for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster… a random couple were by me and I was asked about the ride as the woman was concerned about it. She ended up chickening out but that may be for the best if coasters are really not her thing. They were still nice people.

Finally, I’ll mention that the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics have been a fun time and I’m sad they’ll end after Sunday. Nevermind the politics or how they’re broadcast (even on Peacock), it was still nice to see various sports I’m interested in while not spending as much time on others-bobsled, skeleton, and luge in particular are neat. There were nice stories, along with some wild ones; I was entertained.

I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon to finally catch up on all the theatrical movies I’ve seen this year that haven’t been mentioned yet.

Avatar: Fire & Ash, Anaconda, Primate, Shelter, & Catherine O’Hara

This is not all the movies I’ve seen in January; I’ll catch up during my next post, arriving next week. I did not do too much interesting aside from watching various films on the big screen during the first month of 2026, but I can’t complain about my January.

I’ll first mention Catherine O’Hara; her death yesterday was also a shock to me. I best know her for Beetlejuice and Home Alone due to childhood viewings. Just two weekends ago, I saw the 2000 mockumentary Best in Show (a spoof of people that participate in a dog show) and it’s quite funny, including the character she portrayed. RIP

The biggest movie I saw: finally I witnessed Avatar: Fire & Ash. I enjoyed the first two despite their simplistic stories due to the visually stunning picture. Fire & Ash still looked nice (although not as revolutionary as the first two) but the story was a mess which felt like a rehash of the first two pictures and I didn’t like the movie due to that reason. The film also felt like it was approximately 18 hours long! What a disappointment.

I saw Anaconda for a specific reason: as a teen I viewed the original Anaconda movie on the big screen. Expectations weren’t high, and not just because modern “comedy” rarely entertains me & the same goes for Jack Black. Well, it’s a bad, lame movie that only had sporadic laughs. The OG Anaconda was accidentally funnier.

Primate was something I did enjoy quite a bit. It had a simple premise of a pet chimp going bonkers due to rabies but I was greatly entertained as the movie wasn’t pretentious, had gory moments and used practical effects when possible.

The last movie I’ll mention today is Shelter, viewed just yesterday. I never complain about viewing a Jason Statham film-it’s just that his last few haven’t been seen by me. Concerning Shelter, it does feel formulaic and nothing about the story is revolutionary. That said, I was still entertained as the action was exciting and the 12-year-old girl Statham decides to protect while the villains were after them… she wasn’t an irritating character & they had a nice relationship. Shelter wasn’t a turn-off and that made me happy.

To reiterate, I’ll return sometime next week.

Shipley Do-Nuts, Rob Reiner, Crave Cookies and Soda, & The Douillet by Demeure Hotels

Yeah, in this last post of 2025 I’m unable to discuss Avatar: Fire & Ice as that still hasn’t been viewed yet. Next week I should finally have the time to tackle such a long movie and that will be reviewed sometime early in ’26, along with a famous movie (from India) that most likely had never heard of before. I still have a few topics to discuss, including a bit more from my Kansas trip a few weeks ago. After leaving the city of Dallas, I actually stopped at a Buc-ee’s in Denton, to see how it compared to the ones in Florida. Well, it was larger than the ones in Florida. It was where I used booking.com to book a random hotel in Oklahoma City.

The Douillet by Demeure Hotels is a wacky name and to its credit, the cost wasn’t high for a former Sleep Inn in terms of room quality or being clean. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in the best of neighborhoods… if smelling a couple reeking of weed walking in as I went out to bring in my luggage, the doors locked at midnight as if it was prison! Even worse, when I received my key, I had trouble opening the door. Well, it would have been better if the donkey at the front desk would have told me BEFORE that it required almost kicking the door down for it to open instead of making me think that the key wasn’t working, then accuse me of GOING TO THE WRONG FLOOR as if I was a mental incompetent… I didn’t say anything to the donkey although it was deserved.

Instead, I’ll tell everyone NEVER to stay a night at that hotel if you’re ever in Oklahoma City. It wasn’t all bad in Oklahoma City, a city that didn’t leave the best impression-in part, it’s not the easiest city to navigate if you’ve never driven in the area on your own before. The next morning, breakfast was had at a Shipley Do-Nuts. I’d never been to the chain that started in Texas before. Their namesake was quite tasty.

Rob Reiner’s death-and how he and his wife passed away-was tragic. How ironic that right before his passing and I was still in Kansas, the day that I left to return home, there was time to see the Spinal Tap sequel. The original film is of course great; the sequel… decidedly less so. At least back home I got to view The Princess Bride for the first time in way too many years. Yes, that’s still a classic.

Just a few hours ago, I was able to make an unexpected visit to a new spot for both cookies and the now-hip dirty soda phenomenon. Crave Cookies and Soda is a chain I hadn’t partaken in before, full-stop. The cookie and the dirty Dr. Pepper (I had a tropical version) was in fact good. At least the drink aspect makes it different from Crumbl, which they were clearly “inspired” by.

I’ll be back sometime in January. Hopefully everyone had at least an alright 2025 and 2026 is better for everyone.

In-N-Out, Ward’s, Duck Commander, Pops, Golden Chick, Spylt Milk, & More Kansas Vacation Tidbits

As I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, I’ll acknowledge that this is being posted days later than expected-my bad. As is customary, each December I visit my sister in Kansas and her family. Unlike customary, this time I drove a vehicle out there and flew back on Allegiant Airlines. The circumstances as to why won’t be explained here-it’s nothing for anyone to worry about. My sister and her family are doing fine; it’s always nice visiting them, although as always chaotic because all three children are young boys.

The first day I drove to Vicksburg, Mississippi. That was unremarkable aside from more than half the day being ugly & rainy. I did have a late lunch at a Whataburger; the chain isn’t top-tier yet they haven’t had a location in Central Florida in years. Dinner was had at Ward’s, a fast food joint I only recently learned was a Mississippi staple. They did have a tasty burger & fries. The hotel was a Comfort Inn; while the TV picture was comically bad, I otherwise can’t complain about the room-clean and with a microwave/fridge.

The next day, I drove to Oklahoma City, stopping at a few locations. I ran behind the entire day so not as much time was spent in Dallas as expected. Alas… while in Monroe, Louisiana for a meal, I learned that a Duck Commander museum/gift shop was a few miles away. I never watched Duck Dynasty-“reality” TV isn’t for me. However, it did give me something to discuss as a few minutes was spent looking at their small gift shop. The traffic in Louisiana and Texas was quite bad-it’s not just Florida where people’s driving skills have eroded through the years and you experience deranged lunatics.

While in Dallas, a stop at a place I wanted to try for years was made. In-N-Out is a cult favorite with a devoted fanbase so I’ve been curious for ages. Finally, I can say… the fries are good (as long as you don’t let them get cold) and the pink lemonade was tasty… as for the burger, it was very good. If they had a location around Orlando, it’d be a place I’d frequent at least once in awhile. The hotel I stayed at in Oklahoma City wasn’t very good but that will have to be discussed next time-I don’t want this entry to be the length of a novel.

The third day I drove to Wichita, where I spent my time until flying back on Friday the 11^th. On the drive to Wichita, I was on the historic Route 66 for a few miles to visit a fancy gas station known as Pops-they are known for having hundreds of different obscure sodas. I did pick up two to have in Wichita. As for my time in Kansas, one afternoon I returned to the Scheels sporting goods store-but didn’t purchase anything-although a purchase was made at a Duluth Trading Company store. Another afternoon I had fast food chicken at Golden Chick, a regional chain new to me yet judging by their website, they originated in Texas. They had fine food. An unexpected delight was finding cans of a drink known as Spylt Milk (great name), which is caffeinated flavored milk. That was actually very good. Sadly, they don’t sell it anywhere near Florida.

The night I flew back to Florida, it was Allegiant Airlines-meaning that it was no surprise there was a massive delay. At least I didn’t have to spent hours stuck at the airport in Wichita-a late dinner was had at the airport’s River City Brewing location-they actually had good food. Unlike the disaster that was last December when I was stricken with the worst food poisoning of my life and barfed more than once while on the plane, this flight was more normal. The delay lasting so long that I didn’t arrive back at the house until after 3 AM wasn’t delightful but otherwise I can’t complain.

To reiterate, it’s always nice seeing that side of my family at this time of year. I’ll return at the end of 2025 to discuss a few things-by that time I’ll have finally seen Avatar: Fire and Ash. There hasn’t been the right time yet to see that over 3-hour long picture and I hope the crowds aren’t as large for the movie after Christmas.