Month: July 2025

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3 1/2 Stars

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the first MCU entry in some time where prior knowledge of previous films/TV Shows is not entirely needed. 

Admittedly, I was thrown off at the start when I found out the setting was Earth-828, which is not the main earth from the prior MCU films  (that was…let me check…oh right, Earth-616). This is an interesting approach, since the Fantastic Four are, as far as I can tell, behind only Spider-Man and the X-Men when it comes to the most prominent of Marvel characters.

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Mark's 21st Century Movie Milestones

Number 15…

As of now, there have been two times the Oscars have occurred on my birthday during my lifetime.

I have had a few birthday parties on Oscar night (such as the one in 2002, when A Beautiful Mind won Best Picture), but it was exactly two decades later, on my 35th birthday, when it was even more memorable. All people remember from this night, of course, is Will Smith slapping Chris Rock (giving me the ample chance to tell my friends not interested what had transpired), yet even that could not dampen my spirits. I got my highest prediction score to date, getting 21 of 23 (I missed Best Editing and one of the shorts categories). And, of course, the Best Picture award went to my favorite movie of 2021, CODA.

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4 Stars

Superman (2025)

Ever since his 1938 introduction to society, no other fictional character (let alone superhero) has had to put up with society more than Superman. 

It is no wonder there have been comparisons to biblical figures like Moses and Jesus (in the original film, remember the dialogue of “I have sent them you, my only son”). It is not too far fetched to believe that we as humans would not take long to start treating the man of steel as an after thought. Yet still, as portrayed in James Gunn’s Superman, he persists to protect us.

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Mark's 21st Century Movie Milestones

Number 16…

It must be annoying to be a film star and have fans who are foolhardy to ask you to “do” a character of theirs for them. I imagine if anyone were brave enough to ask that to Daniel Day-Lewis, and he were willing, he would say something like “Come back in a year”.

It was Marlon Brando who became the original cinematic method actor, paving the way for the likes of Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Charlize Theron, and Jeremy Strong, just to name a few. Yet Daniel Day-Lewis is almost another breed. The behind the scene stories of him are ghastly: being carried around in between takes of My Left Foot (where his character had cerebral palsy), making his own canoe during The Last of the Mohicans, and even denying specific medical treatment during Gangs of New York because the meds were not around during the time of the film. 

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1 Star

Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025)

A decade after the rather refreshing return to the dino verse with Jurassic World, I’ve finally found the one high point that has occurred: The Lego Jurassic World Video game.

Like all the Lego games based off of IP, the humor is right in my wheel house. The best part by far is unlocking Lego Steven Spielberg and having him hit targets by throwing Oscars. That to me is bliss. On the other end of this spectrum is misery, which is reserved for every one of the sequels that has followed: Fallen Kingdom, Dominion, and, now, Rebirth.

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