Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Cameos, assemble! The eyeroll quotient is extremely high here, and a lot of the interest-generation in this outing comes from seeing who shows up where. For all the wizard flash in the title and feature scenes, this flick is at least as much Elizabeth Olsen's movie, which is a good thing, especially as her appearances in the Scarlet Witch outfit (both the official uniform and the Halloween costume) were the best parts of WandaVision. As for the overall story here? The whole thing ultimately plays out like a grandiose extra, final episode of the aforementioned TV series, and barely anything more than that. More and more, I see the superhero genre approaching its end-of-shelf-life--especially if all of the upcoming works are going to hit us again and again with the same characters, struggling for the same stakes, and leaving the viewer with the same sense that we’ve been here before. At least, if you’re a subscriber, you can say you didn’t directly pay for this one. Certainly, only a fool would buy a ticket for this franchise at this point. Let’s see the Mouse wizard its way out of that scenario.

Oz the Great and Powerful

The crux of the matter here lies with the source material. To wit: are we seeing a faithful representation of Baum’s work, or is this a Disneyfied version of the extended world of Oz? Having only read one of the Oz works--that one--I can’t say for sure; maybe the weaknesses are Baum’s and not those of the Disney people or director Sam Raimi. Even with a certain obviousness to the story--it’s a tale that practically wallows in stereotypes--you can still get a good, old-fashioned movie-viewing experience out of this film. It all depends on how high your critical threshold is; demanding types, stay away, but those more open will probably have a decent time.

Evil Dead 2

As a straightforward horror flick, this would just be another bad movie. But the genius stroke of remaking the original (a low key success in its own right, in its much more straightforward way) as a horror-comedy--with wry, almost perverse humor and a gleeful use of gore--elevates these proceedings considerably. No wonder these guys (a couple of them, at least) went on to bigger and better things.

The Man With the Screaming Brain

A TV movie, but one starring camp king Bruce Campbell, so it must be worth a look, right? Right? (sigh) Maybe not. Sadly, it looks like Campbell has run his course. This one--which he wrote, starred in, and directed--is a mess: stupid, senseless, and cheesy, with only a few good moments mixed in with the muck. This makes two bombs in a row for Bruce, and this time the shrapnel may have hit something vital.

Bubba Ho-Tep

The best things about this movie? Its title and Bruce Campbell. The biggest problems with this movie? The title and Bruce Campbell. That tongue-obviously-in-cheek name, along with the presence of the current King of Camp, makes it hard to know if you're supposed to take this flick at all seriously. Almost certainly the answer to that question is "No," but you are sometimes left to wonder. There are a lot of laughs here--mostly from Campbell's Elvis schtick, though the titular beastie is himself good for a few laughs. The strengths more than make up for the weaknesses (lame set-up, some bland and bad writing, and Ossie Davis's unconvincing performance).