Jon Loder's Reviews
Predictable, major crimes solved in single episode.
Dominant female character who can kick butt.
Forced story lines.
Bad guys are predominately greedy, insecure, white guys.
Created: 09-05-2026
If you like Melissa McCarthy, you'll like this.
The Woke:
Girls kicking butt. Girl boss. Girl mastermind criminal.
The movie:
In short, this movie is a platform for Melissa's wit. She really is a funny lady. If you like her humor, you'll like this. Confession: I probably wouldn't have sat through the whole movie, but my wife is a serious fan of Melissa McCarthy. It's outlandish and silly.
Jason Statham plays a parody of himself. In my opinion, that's the best part of the movie.
Created: 09-05-2026
It's Ryan Reynolds. It's witty and entertaining.
Woke:
There is a minor character who is a lesbian. The movie made it a point that, in the USSR, being a lesbian is a crime. She had to hide from KGB. It was a minor agenda of the movie to depict it as a violation of human rights.
The more significant Woke, in my opinion, is the apologetic view of Communism. Communist governments lie to their people. Our government lies to us. That doesn't make it the same thing. Communism is dangerous and has caused more human suffering than any form of government. In this movie, people living under communism are charitable and kind. That is used to convey the message that communism isn't such a bad thing.
The Movie:
Ryan Reynolds is a spy plane pilot who is shot down over Russia during the Cold War. He's fortunate enough to be found by a Russian man who is obsessed with USA culture. Together, they look for a way to the other side of the Iron Curtain. Ryan is constantly witty in the face of every situation in his usual way. It's an enjoyable movie. There's Deadpool level violence as you would expect.
As enjoyable as this is, I still contend that Communism is a dangerous threat that grows by seducing with deception.
Created: 09-05-2026
Pleasant surprise
I wasn't sure what to expect from this. Most dystopian style movies find some way to blame plastic straws and Styrofoam for the bleak future of rising oceans, poverty and climate change. There's nothing like that here. If there's any woke in this flick, I completely missed it.
The acting and directing are top tier.
The special effects are as good as anything going.
The movie continued to develop the original story in a very interesting direction. It was a little slow moving at times but that works here. At 164 minutes, it still somehow seemed too short. I saw this in the theaters when it first came out. It took watching it a second time to get the full impact of the story. It's not shallow. It's real science fiction. It's rare that a sequel is as good as the original. I would call this a must-see for any fan of the original Blade Runner.
Created: 09-03-2026
Predictable, but enjoyable.
A troubled teen loves music, but is awkward and bullied at school. He discovers that the loud, new tenant in his building is an assumed dead rock star on the run for tax evasion. A little blackmail may get him some guitar lessons. Two damaged souls find what they need in each other.
The story is predictable, but the music is good.
I had to keep pausing to see if the guitar is really a pre-Norlin Les Paul. I think it was. That's a $25k minimum instrument.
Created: 08-25-2026
Hugh Jackman is more than just Wolverine.
Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson are amazing performers. Imitating Neil Diamond is quite an accomplishment. Hugh nailed it. Kate also did an impressive Patsy Cline.
The only wokeness I saw would be what looked like a drag queen in the background during a scene backstage. I expected more, but there was no agenda I could see.
This is a hard-hitting family drama with some great musical performances.
Created: 08-10-2026
Enjoyable story with great acting.
Sally Field is in the number one spot of my personal list of underrated actors. I consider Sybil to be her best role. That's what compelled me to watch what looked like an uninteresting movie. I was wrong about that. It captured my attention within minutes.
The wokeness is limited to an encounter with a homosexual man. It was a necessary part of the story, but there was no agenda. To explain that would be a spoiler.
The movie itself was well acted and directed. The story line got a little predictable, and possibly a bit forced. It is still an enjoyable movie.
Created: 08-10-2026
Predictable, but fun.
P.F. Kluge hated this movie. He's the author of the novel, Eddie and the Cruisers. He called it a talent-free embarrassment. I respectfully disagree. The acting by Michael Pare' was great. The rest, not so much. Like the first Eddie, the music of John Cafferty has a huge presence. The story is somewhat cheesy and predictable, but somehow, that still leaves a fun-to-watch movie about a troubled, thought to be dead, rock star who still desperately wants to accomplish something great. He meets up with an overly ambitious, talented guitar player who needs to learn that music is more than impressive playing. Now I'm feeling cheesy for describing it. Give it a watch and decide for yourself.
Created: 08-08-2026
I would call this a cult classic
I'm a big fan of John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. Their music has a huge presence in this movie. Michael Pare' hit it out of the park with the character acting. I think he's very underrated.
The main theme of the movie is "words and music." When it comes to rock and roll music, Eddie is the best. He meets up with a poet who can play piano, but can't sing. Together, they create something great. The story is told in flashback style. It's 18 years after Eddie's questionable death in 1964. They never found the body. Does Eddie still live? Who's trying to get ahold of the lost recordings? It's a fun story with great music. I have the movie (with the sequel) on BluRay and watch it every couple of years.
Created: 08-08-2026
It's hard to rate this one.
EDIT: AS EXPECTED, A FEW EPISODES IN, THE RACIAL AGENDA STARTED GROWING.
I don't recommend it.
Also, the story is forced and weak. It's just not very well written.
I avoided this one because it looked like it was going to be typical Hollywood bias about the 1960's racial issues. That's not far off, but there's more to it. Michael Franzese, is a YouTuber, ex-mob-boss who reviews movies and television for accuracy to the Mafia culture. He rated this series as accurate, so I gave it a chance.
A woke approach would be "black good/ white bad." In this series, they're all bad. I don't think there's a good guy in the show. There are corrupt cops, rapist blacks, junkies of every ethnicity. At one point, George Wallace was on the TV giving his "segregation now" speech. He was a Democrat governor and presidential candidate. Malcolm X is portrayed as a violent idealist who is hostile to Christianity. Congressman Powell is portrayed as a self serving, philandering, corrupt politician. A woke agenda would've portrayed him as a civil rights hero. There's no "black hero" attitude in this series. If anything, they portray black culture in a very negative way.
I'm only 4 episodes in, so things may change. TV series tend to do that.
Judge this one for yourself. I don't find it particularly entertaining or woke. I do find it to be realistic.
Created: 08-03-2026
