354) BUDDY(2026 dir. Casper Kelly) Date Seen: August 31 2026Undeniably amusing + I admired its total commitment to the conceit of being an authentic VHS artifact. Casper Kelly's become something of a legend in the world of short-form absurdism (see also Todd Rohal & Nick DenBoer) & his recent segment “Fun Size” was easily the highlight of last year's V/H/S HALLOWEEN. What are people colloquially referring to this cutesified sub-genre of nostalgia horror as? Kindertrauma? maybe Analog mascot? Whatever it's getting coined, I think this movie's probably a better example of it than something like MR. CROCKET or even Vigalondo’s surprisingly dull POOKA (though I personally worry this aesthetic may have peaked already with that “Clown Café” number in TERRIFIER 2).. Unfortunately, BUDDY has a short film’s worth of material stretched to feature length. The conceit is good, it just went on so long and I kinda wanted it to hurry things up.
353) THE PUNISHER:
ONE LAST KILL
(2026 dir. Reinaldo Marcus Green) Date Seen: August 31 2026With the exception of one surprisingly moving visual passage —inventive first-person shots of Punisher’s departed family within his inner despair —loads of this movie's melodrama is just too overwrought. I know I was supposed to feel his sadness but there were lots of times where I held back giggles. Reinaldo Marcus Green (who normally does drama) got decent at staging action out of the blue & this movie's finale is pretty fun when all the fury finally boils over. The rampage Castle goes on during the climax has got physicality & a gratifying sense of impact to it, I just wish it didn't take forever to get there & maybe had some dramatic weight behind it. Honestly if you remove its ending & all the little umbilical cords attaching it to the larger Marvel universe, ONE LAST KILL's essentially a lesser DEATH WISH entry. + there's some astonishingly sloppy editing in dialogue scenes; parts that don't flow as much as clunk into each other.
ALSO,
this isn't really a gripe against the actual film
but just more of a baby bitch rant:
I wish someone would finally let Punisher wear his true costume! Must he always look like a hungover dude returning a lawn mower to Home Depot.. spare me the lecture about how the classic flamboyant costume would be “too comic-book” for his gritty universe, 'cause this world's got a green giant & a witch thumping around down the street. The horse of realism bolted from its stable years ago, so there's no reason he can't chase after it wearing them white gloves, boots, & teeth belt.
For a live theatre person, Marianne Elliott's got a surprisingly voluptuous eye for the camera. I was completely carried along by these two & the chaotic little journey they were on --and then it just sort of evaporates into nothing in its last stretch. Maybe that’s how the book also ends or maybe there was some deep existential point I completely missed?.. 2026 is shaping up to be a great year for Gillian Anderson.
Normally Jake Johnson is Joe Swanberg's secret weapon, but this time it's Dakota Fanning who's his saving grace. It's some of the most thoughtful & believable work she's ever done i.m.o. & I wish it wasn't stuck in such a mid-tier Swanberg film. He's not formally as bad as he used to be in the early days, but Jesus Christ, could someone remind him films are usually a visual medium.. As a youngster when one of his movies didn't work for me I'd always say he was like if Éric Rohmer had been a bad dramatist. Now when he plops his work just feels like forgettable "prestige tv" filler (+ pile on the wasted performances).
