APEX is a solid made-for-Netflix picture – nice looking, to-the-point, occasionally surprising, and a good showcase for its star, who happens to be one of my favorites. When I revisited ÆON FLUX recently I mentioned how ever since that movie I’ve thought of Charlize Theron as one of those rare actors who’s exactly as serious about the physical performance as the emotional, and excels at both. So, you know, she wins an Oscar for throwing herself into MONSTER and then when she does ATOMIC BLONDE she goes just as hard at fight training and stunt work as she did at portraying the inner life of a serial killer. Here she says you know what? I’m gonna learn how to climb rocks. I’m gonna climb so many rocks in this movie.
Not that that’s the entire topic. Her character Sasha enjoys extreme sports. In the opening she and her husband Tommy (the motherfuckin HULK Eric Bana!) are tandem climbing the Troll Wall in Norway. You know, climbing until they get tired, hanging a tent from the side at night, it’s fucking terrifying, who does that? Sasha and Tommy, that’s who. Though Tommy is getting wary that maybe he’s past his prime. (read the rest of this shit…)
THE CHRISTOPHERS is the latest Steven Soderbergh/Ed Solomon collaboration (after the mini-series’ Mosaic and Full Circle and the movie 
I’ve been dipping into the occasional anime lately, and whenever I do one or more of you seems to recommend REDLINE (2009). I’ve been sold for a while, but every time I’ve thought to rent it it’s been checked out. Then I saw that it was playing in a series of anime screenings at my favorite Seattle theater (SIFF Cinema Downtown, f.k.a. Cinerama). I knew the visuals would be better on the big screen, but it didn’t occur to me the that sound would be the most important part until the bass from (music by James Shimoji, SURVIVE STYLE 5+) started thumping in my chest. It’s a racing movie, so the roaring engines are crucial as well, but that danceable techno beat is the key. I definitely wouldn’t have enjoyed this as much turning the volume down out or respect for the neighbors.
NIGHT PATROL is a movie released by Shudder (first in theaters, now on their service) that has a promising premise. It’s kinda like TRAINING DAY but the corrupt cops are also vampires. In fact, I didn’t catch it until reading the credits but the main character’s name is “Ethan Hawkins.” The tagline is “Defang the police.” That’s good. I like that.
Last week I asked Mrs. Vern if she’d want to see the new Bob Odenkirk action movie from the same writer as 
HUMINT (as in “human intelligence”) is a 2026 South Korean thriller from writer/director Ryoo Seung-wan (THE CITY OF VIOLENCE, ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU). It stars Zo In-sung (THE GREAT BATTLE) as Manager Zo, an agent for South Korea’s National Intelligence Service who goes undercover to bust human traffickers.
As you may have seen I’ve been dabbling in a little anime lately, trying to find interesting ones that speak to me. I can’t remember what tipped me off to A TREE OF PALME (2002), but it’s one I found interesting, first because it has an unusual style and transports us to a distinctly strange fantasy world, then because it has a complex mix of tones and emotions that speak to the experience of being human and what not. Two things I enjoy in cinema.
SPACE SWEEPERS is a South Korean movie from 2021 that I first watched in February of 2022. I know that because when I went to save this document I discovered the partial review I wrote back then, but got too busy to finish. Recently I was thinking about the movie, watched it again, and I’m excited to share it with anyone who missed it. (It’s on Netflix.)
