Casey Chong

James Ashcroft’s serial-killer thriller follows a grieving father and his son after they move to Featherbank, where child abductions linked to the imprisoned killer Frank Carter begin again. The investigation reunites the father with Detective Peter Willis and Detective Amanda Beck, while exploring abused children, damaged parent-child relationships, and generational trauma. Despite a strong cast including Adam Scott, Robert De Niro, Michael Keaton, and Michelle Monaghan, the film is criticized for its slow pacing, limited suspects, implausible twists, weak urgency, and anticlimactic conclusion. Michael Keaton’s performance is the main bright spot, but the review gives the film two out of five stars.

McFarlane Toys has announced a new wave of DC Multiverse Green Lantern Corps action figures featuring Kyle Rayner, Naut Ke Loi, Medphyll, and Ghr'll. Each 7-inch figure includes extensive articulation, character-specific accessories, a base, and a collectible art card, and is available for pre-order at $26.99. The accompanying descriptions outline each character’s origins, abilities, and role within the Green Lantern Corps.

Spider One's Big Baby follows screenwriter Adam, whose writer's block, alcohol use, and sensitivity to criticism blur the boundaries between his life and a horror screenplay featuring a masked killer. The review praises Brandon Scott's nervous, compelling performance and Krsy Fox's support, particularly in scenes examining the couple's strained relationship. Although the film's satirical meta-horror piles on ideas and becomes less focused toward a forced-feeling finale, it is ultimately regarded as an intelligent, disturbing, and entertaining exploration of the pressures and vulnerability involved in bringing creative work into the public sphere.

Hot Toys has unveiled a limited-edition sixth-scale Jetpack Trooper figure based on Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. The collectible includes a weathered armored design, interchangeable hands, an E-11 blaster rifle, an attachable jetpack with translucent exhaust effects, a thermal detonator, breathing-device tubes and a themed display stand. Only 2,000 units will be available in selected markets, and pre-orders are open.

The piece proposes ten Star Wars characters for potential Disney+ spin-off series: Qi’ra, Asajj Ventress, Doctor Aphra, Captain Rex, Plo Koon, Quinlan Vos, Hondo Ohnaka, the Grand Inquisitor, Sabine Wren and Baylan Skoll. It argues that the franchise is strongest when it moves beyond chosen ones and the Skywalker saga to explore criminals, soldiers, outsiders and disillusioned survivors through genres including crime thriller, noir, comedy, horror and political espionage. The central recommendation is that Disney should continue expanding the universe by selecting distinctive characters with untapped dramatic potential.

LEGO has unveiled the 6,130-piece Ultimate Collector Series Executor Super Star Destroyer from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The 53.5-inch model includes a display stand, a scale Star Destroyer, the Executor’s bridge, and seven minifigures featuring Darth Vader and all six bounty hunters from the film. It is available for pre-order ahead of an October 1 release, priced at $799.99 in the United States and £614.99 in the United Kingdom.

Robert Kojder gives Just Play Dead two stars, arguing that its premise—a wealthy couple on a tropical island plotting to fake or commit murder for financial gain—could have produced an enjoyable dark comedy but instead becomes a slow, lifeless thriller. The review criticizes the nonlinear structure, lack of chemistry and suspense, bland treatment of Eva Green and Samuel L. Jackson, and a prolonged buildup that makes the film feel far longer than its runtime. Although the final fifteen minutes introduce an outrageous twist that hints at the trashy entertainment the film might have offered, the overall verdict is strongly negative.

Alicia MacDonald’s romantic comedy follows Owen, a lovesick musician who teams up with jaded psychology student Emily Raine to locate another Emily after receiving an incomplete phone number. The film interrogates romantic-comedy conventions and questions around consent, safety, attraction, and public perception, while balancing those themes with music, humor, and romance. Spike Fearn and Angourie Rice are praised for their chemistry and performances, although the numerous supporting characters are seen as underdeveloped. Despite an implausible setup and some structural weaknesses, the film is characterized as breezy, emotionally engaging, socially observant, and highly entertaining.

The piece highlights ten movie dogs that survive extraordinary threats across horror, action, science fiction, thriller, and drama films. Examples include Boomer escaping an alien attack in Independence Day, Chips crossing a zombie-infested street in Dawn of the Dead, Arthur enduring a dangerous race in Arthur the King, Sugar surviving a hurricane and alligators in Crawl, and sled dogs enduring months alone in Antarctica in Eight Below. Other featured dogs act as heroes, protectors, or unlikely protagonists, including Milo, Beast, Thor, Jerry Lee, and Indy, with the article emphasizing their loyalty, resilience, and memorable contributions to their films.

Six 1991 films—Sleeping with the Enemy, Mortal Thoughts, Cape Fear, Not Without My Daughter, The People Under the Stairs, and Deceived—are highlighted for depicting danger and instability within marriages, families, and homes. The selections emphasize domestic abuse, coercive control, murder, captivity, stalking, and hidden identities, while praising performances by actors including Julia Roberts, Demi Moore, Robert De Niro, Sally Field, and Goldie Hawn. The discussion also notes the films’ varied approaches, from psychological suspense and unreliable narration to social allegory and dark satire, while criticizing Not Without My Daughter for its stereotypical portrayal of Iranian culture and Mortal Thoughts for its weak ending.