“Michael” Review

Year: 2026, Director: Antoine Fuqua

OP-ROB RATING: STARTER

The King of Pop’s biopic is many things: polished, glitzy, smooth, celebratory, lightly inspirational, and a fair amount of fun. Jaafar Jackson is the spitting image of his uncle, and carries the lead role with incredible grace and physical accuracy. Any scene that involves dancing and music is terrific. There are also many things that “Michael” is not: exploratory, confrontational, illuminating, or particularly honest. This is not “Walk the Line” or “The Doors”. Those who want a more balanced view will need to look elsewhere, and for the sake of entertainment and popular enjoyment that is probably a good thing.

“The Naked Gun” Review

Year: 2025, Director: Akiva Schaffer

OP-ROB RATING: STARTER

I am not an acolyte of the late Leslie Nielsen. The absurd slapstick comedy that he delivered with brilliant deadpan gusto tends to lose me pretty quickly. Liam Neeson takes the helm in this reboot of Nielsen’s “Naked Gun” franchise. While Neeson certainly lives up to the legend, the comedy is equally perishable compared to the originals. Nonetheless, “The Naked Gun” is good for at least 5 or 6 belly-aching, hiccup-inducing, knee-slapping laughs. Those are hard to come by in the comedy wasteland of the 2020s, and just for that, I’d recommend this verifiably goofy movie.

“The Sheep Detectives” Review

Year: 2026, Director: Kyle Balda

OP-ROB RATING: ALL-STAR

Part “Hott Fuzz”, part “Knives Out”, and part “Babe”; Hugh Jackman leads a wonderfully buoyant and thoroughly heart-warming summer flick in “The Sheep Detectives”. Like the very best of “kids movies”, the story’s twists and wide cast of characters have enough wit and depth to reach well beyond the rugrats occupying most of the theater. Maybe low-expectations add an undeserved bump to these types of movies… but here I don’t think that is the case. The same guy behind HBO’s superb “Chernobyl” series, Craig Mazin, is the writer in what is a tonally opposite, but equally smart piece of cinema.

“Over Your Dead Body” Review

Year: 2026, Director: Jorma Taccone

OP-ROB RATING: BUST

Conceptually intriguing, but poorly executed. “Over Your Dead Body” suffers from indecision. It is a weird mish-mash of black comedy, horror, splatter, and romance. There are some scenes that work in each of these clashing categories, but as a whole the film feels entirely misguided. Samara Weaving is compelling in her role as the spurned wife, but Jason Segel looks totally out of his element as the vengeful husband. To add insult to injury, the movie drags on about 20 minutes past any usefulness. It’ll be over my dead body to watch this slop again.

“The Life of Chuck” Review

Year: 2024, Director: Mike Flanagan

OP-ROB RATING: STARTER

An oddball late release in Japan under the title “Thank You, Chuck” (サンキュー、チャック); this three act, reverse chronology exploration of one human life’s meaning in the greater cosmos is imperfect, but thought-provoking. Tom Hiddleston is the de facto lead as the titular Chuck, but he only helms act two. The first act (and the best one) is anchored by Chiwetel Ejiofor, while the last showcases an ensemble including Mia Sara, Mark Hamill, and Jacob Tremblay. The movie is worth it, but I feel the story deserves more runtime; perhaps a limited series would have satisfied some unavoidable depth issues.