Deathstalker (2025)
Directed & Written by Steven Kostanski
Starring Daniel Bernhardt, Patton Oswalt, Christina Orjalo, Paul Lazenby, Nina Bergman, Nicholas Rice, Conor Sweeney
Studio: Hangar 18 Media
Distributed by: Shout! Studios, Raven Banner Entertainment
Rated R; Runtime: 99 minutes
Release date: October 10, 2025

I didn’t know reboots of cheesy ’80s sword & sorcery B-movies were what I needed this year, but after recently seeing the new Red Sonja and now Deathstalker, it’s clear that they absolutely are. The new Deathstalker enhances the fantastical elements of the 1983 original film, while lovingly and knowingly winking through its sillier aspects.

You don’t need to have seen the Roger Corman–produced original Deathstalker to enjoy this reboot, though if you have, you’ll definitely appreciate the new effort even more.

Good Boy (2025)
Directed by Ben Leonberg
Written by Ben Leonberg & Alex Cannon
Starring Indy, Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman, Larry Fessenden
IFC Films | Shudder
Release date: October 3, 2025

Dave3 and I just saw the new film Good Boy last night and here are my immediate thoughts about it. FYI – LOVED IT!!! If you’re able to, get out to see it in theaters and support indie horror.

Good Boy is a fantastic new indie horror movie filmed from the perspective of a dog. The movie follows Indy (played by Indy), a Nova Scotia Duck Toller Retriever, whose sickly owner Todd (Shane Jensen) moves them from his New York City apartment into his family’s rundown haunted rural home in a secluded woods. Once there, Indy not only witnesses the physical and mental deterioration of his beloved owner, but is also directly subjected to the menacing supernatural forces of the house.

But, “IS THE DOG OK?!?!?”, you ask. The answer is YES!!!!!!!

The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Directed by Matt Shakman
Starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, Ralph Ineson
Marvel Studios
Release date: July 25, 2025

Non-spoiler first thoughts (mostly written in the car on the way home from the movie theater) on The Fantastic Four: First Steps:

Marvel Studios churned out an enjoyable film that does justice to these classic characters, making them all likable and competent. I love the film’s retro-futuristic look (not a cell phone in sight) and color scheme. While this is the “first steps,” it’s not an origin story, with the groups’ superpowered circumstances summed up quickly at the start on the team’s anniversary. This allows the danger to present right away and the action to get going fast.

Well folks, we did it. One more year has passed and things continue to move towards getting back to normal. Although the meaning of normal is still up for debate. For me, normal is a year full of movies that I got to enjoy in the theaters, and more than a few that I wished I had seen in a dark theater instead of my TV. 2021 was the year I hit 53 new movies watched, and I am happy to report that I doubled that in 2022, as I ended up with 112 new movies watched. And just for a quick reminder, any movie I see for the first time, no matter in theaters or on my TV, counts towards that total. If you follow my social media, you know locking in that #10 spot was a very tough decision. And as I was first writing this out, I ended up switching movies once more. Therefore, before we get to my Top 10 movies of 2022, I’d like to highlight a few honorable mentions that just missed making the main list.

We did it folks! We survived another crazy year, that had a few high moments as well as a few not so great moments. We were back in theaters (sort of), and then Omnicron variant hit, and we are still in theaters, although perhaps with a little hesitation. With my handy A-List status at my local AMC theater, I was able to increase the number of new movies I saw in 2021 to 53 (I hit 42 in 2020). What did I learn this year? Well, I missed the theater experience, thankfully I had a great experience with one of the movies in my top ten list. Streaming continues to be a dominant force; some movies don’t necessarily need to be seen on a big screen, but still plenty new releases were enhanced by going to the theaters again. For 2020, I got a little crazy and added a +1 to my Top Ten list, because I had a hard time with picking the movie to grab that #10 spot. It did happen again this year, so I just wanted to give a quick shout-out to my honorable mention, Mortal Kombat. It finally gave us the R-rated version with all of the violence and gore, with a story that was lacking at many angles, but not all movies need to be Oscar winners. So with no further delay, let’s get to my Top Ten Movies of 2021.