Month: August 2023

Gran Turismo (2023)

As a kid, my interest in the Gran Turismo games reflected that of my interest in motor racing in general, which is to say there was very little interest at all (unless said races featured a mascot plumber and his friends shooting turtle shells).

It seems as though director Neill Blomkamp (District 9) and the others behind the film Gran Turismo knew that there would be a good junk of us that know virtually little about the sport of motor racing, so they put together the old formula of a “feel good sports film” together. Anyone who has seen the trailer will be laps ahead of the cliches.

Tags 2023, Archie Madekwe, Based on a True Story, David Harbour, Djimon Hounsou, Gran Turismo, Neill Blomkamp, Orlando Bloom, PG-13, Rated PG-13, Video Games

3 1/2 Stars

Blue Beetle (2023)

Sometimes, it is hard for us to remember what it was like seeing a superhero movie where we knew very little about them going into it.

When this happens, it makes the film more intriguing, such as the original Iron Man (2008) and first Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), films that were massive successes regardless if you knew the source material or not. It also helped that (at the time of release) the characters were not entirely in the first class for their creator’s. In the case of Blue Beetle, the DC character is barely in the third class of characters, but that is not entirely a bad thing.

3 1/2 Stars Movies

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date August 13, 2023
1 Comment on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

My five year old self is dancing in his shell right now.

There is no denying my childhood was impacted by the shelled heroes in green, and I won’t be able to complete this review without reminiscing. They were on at 6:30 in the morning every day before my dad would drive me to day care. Somewhere out in the ether is a photo of me as Leonardo for Halloween (I vaguely remember being upset the swords were not real). I remember countless time playing the arcade game (still one of the greatest arcade games ever made), and watching the live action films (even the third one, which was bad even when I was a kid.)