Lass Is More With Josh Lasser

Some movies don't work.  They feel both ill-conceived and ill-executed.  After a great start to the franchise and then even a promising opening of this particular trilogy within it, watching the (currently) final film, "Jurassic World: Dominion," feels like a chore.  Ascribing motivation is tough, but we have plenty of thoughts about what went on here.

Pixar's "Lightyear" is now out on streaming and will arrive on DVD and Blu-ray in September.  As the canon goes, this is meant to be the movie Andy saw that caused him to want a Buzz Lightyear doll in "Toy Story." Andy must have been very undemanding because the characters in "Lightyear" are pretty dim bulbs.

Starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, the new film "The Lost City" is rather reminiscent of "Jewel of the Nile," but maybe that's only because we've seen "Jewel of the Nile."  Maybe there are a half-dozen (or more) other movies which it echoes... maybe there are a half-dozen (or more) books which it echoes.  What do we find when we go in to watch "The Lost City?"  Let's discuss.

For a long time we've wondered about how exactly it might hit someone if they dropped into an existing franchise in the middle.  Although this has regularly been our rumination with the MCU, the existence of this movie, which is based on the long-running FOX sitcom, gave Josh the opportunity to play guinea pig for our own ideas.

Some things are obligations, but that doesn't mean that they have to feel that way.  For instance, Josh may have Covid currently, but that doesn't remove his need to talk to you about the new "Downton Abbey" movie.  So, despite a halting voice, he has given it his all this week.  On the other hand, he's not convinced that the minds behind "A New Era" did the same when putting this second film together.

With "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" out on digital now and Blu-ray at the end of the month, we have finally hit the moment where we must talk about the film.  As with all things MCU, however, it doesn't exist by itself.  No, it exists in conversation with a myriad of other projects.  How then are we to understand this movie and the series and the larger universe?

After sinking an incredible number of hours into the game "Elden Ring," Josh's adventure with the title has come to a close.  As much as he loved the game--and he did--he is sad for it to be done.  Where does that leave him?  Why does he not wish to just play it again?  What is next on his plate?

Out this week on Blu-ray is Michael Bay's "Ambulance."  It is almost the perfect distillation of what we consider to be a Michael Bay film -- it is one big action chase sequence.  At the same time though, we are considered about the future of the car chase film... or are we?

There are a group of individuals out there who will tell you that "Grease 2" is the better of the films in the "Grease" series.  Those people may be very nice and are certainly entitled to their opinion.  They are also, we believe, not correct.  Let's discuss.

Brian De Palma's absolutely crackerjack movie "The Untouchables" is now out on 4K.  That makes today the perfect day to take a glance at it, talk about what makes it great, and examine it in relation to some of the other ideas we've been looking at recently.

Out now on 4K UHD is the classic revisionist western "The Man who Shot Liberty Valance" and the reception for the film didn't go over in Josh's house as he may have hoped.  Let's discuss just why members of his family were wrong.

Although Josh may have written fewer reviews of late, the number of films he has watched hasn't dropped and his enjoyment may have increased.  Just what does that mean?  Where does he go from here?  What sort of multiverse of madness is he in?

The brilliant "Turning Red" is now available on Blu-ray and streaming and that makes this the perfect opportunity to talk about one of the absolute dummest controversies to come up in a long time.   Guess what?  You don't like the content of a PG movie?  Well, in the case of this one, not only are you wrong, but you're not actually obligated to watch.

Our initial reactions to things aren't always right.  You can't necessarily control said reaction, but you can pause and adjust your thinking.  This week, Josh does just that as he contemplates the new "West Side Story."

Starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson, the stakes in "Marry Me" never prove terribly high, even if Lopez's character lives in the spotlight and the whole thing is about love, but there's an affability to the tale that works.

Kenneth Branagh's second Hercule Poirot movie, "Death on the Nile," is now out on Blu-ray and streaming and that makes this the perfect moment to discuss just how wonderful the films are.

Josh has some very complicated feelings surroudning Robert Redford's "Ordinary People."  Brewing for decades, they are things he has grappled with more than once.  With the new Blu-ray release, he has sat down to watch the film again and, while he's not sure it's better, he has decided that maybe the problems don't lie where he initially thought.

We are not going to lie and say that we loved everything about Guillermo del Toro's update to "Nightmare Alley."  What we are confident in telling you, however, is that del Toro's films, this one included, are beautiful.  Simply beautiful.  As for what didn't work for us here?  Take a listen and see.

The third movie in the "Kingsman" franchise is now out on Blu-ray and digital.  It's a prequel, and one that almost seems to be content keeping things afloat until a fourth film can be made.  That kind of makes us--ME--the problem, doesn't it?

You know those episodes where Josh gets a little excited and talks too fast?  The one's where he's uber-engaged and gets angry about something and rather than yelling speeds up?   Well, that's what happens today with "Resident Evil:  Welcome to Raccoon City," a movie which he likes but still manages to get angry about anyway.  Take a listen.