Jon Loder's Reviews
Meh.
Years ago, I had a friend from the Laplands. He told me about his career in hockey. He couldn't play the game. His role was a Goon. He was about 5'6" and very stout. If it wasn't for him, I would think this movie was BS. I'm only a hockey fan during the Olympics (USA-Gold!!!). It's hard to accept that the role of Goon actually exists. Spoiler... it does.
The movie is a fictionalized biography based on a book that I now intend to read. ($20 Kindle) I may edit my review after that.
The basic plot:
- Simple minded bouncer has a chance encounter with a losing hockey team manager resulting in a "tryout."
- Bouncer is now a Goon who can barely skate but scares the daylights out of all opponents. Also, meets girl. Team starts winning.
- Big lead up to the final, big game where he must meet the about-to-retire goon of goons legend.
It's pretty predictable from there. It's raunchy with language, violence and a few R-rated scenes.
The Woke is due to his homosexual brother who plays a very minor role. There's no agenda that I could see. The man-on-man kiss near the beginning was a fleeting one and done. I think they just checked the DEI box with that one to get the movie released.
Created: 02-23-2026
Great over-the-top violent, action mixed with humor.
Given the cast, I was expecting DEI-fest. I was pleasantly surprised. The "kill-the-bad-guys" action was John Wick level. Bautista and Mamoa worked great together. With all the fight scenes, there wasn't a single female performing bad-assery that ruins action movies and TV. Morena Baccarin did do some Ken Block level driving, but it worked. That was mostly CGI anyway. Perhaps Hollywood is getting the idea. (go-woke, go broke)
Created: 02-23-2026
Woke! with LGBT+, the rest of the alphabet and then some.
What can you say about Toni Collette? Brilliant actor? yes. Extreme activist who influenced her own children to be gender-confused for her own political confirmations? Absolutely.
Toni played these characters to perfection. It's a diverse group of personalities in one woman. The great acting is undeniable. If it wasn't for the LGBT+ agenda, this would be a great series.
The son is a homosexual. The response from dad when he tells him: "good for you." A lot of the plot is about him and his "self-discovery" in a strong agenda.
The story and acting is great. The agenda is overpowering. What a waste.
Created: 02-21-2026
Watchable series with an abrupt ending
The first year was a short season. I think that was from the writers' strike.
The second season was 23 episodes. It was the highest rated series on the network.
The third season went 10 episodes and ended. No cliffhanger, no resolution of story lines. Supposedly, the first two episodes had very bad ratings. There was some kind of extra episode published on the DVD set that resolved the outstanding plots. I haven't seen that.
The series had TV-level acting, directing and writing. I isn't outstanding, but it is entertaining. We enjoyed it and were annoyed by the abrupt end.
Wokeness: none. There's no agenda.
(possible spoilers)
Kyle wasn't born. He escaped a facility where he was genetically engineered. He's good-natured and kind with superhuman abilities learning to be human. Another one, Jessi, escaped later on. She's not so good-natured. She also had superhuman abilities, but without discretion. She could beat up (or kill) any man. I don't think that's woke. It's just part of the story. The series sort of morphed into a love-triangle between Kyle, the girl next door, and Jessi. It got a little over-the-top with the relationships in my opinion.
Worth watching? yes.
Must-see? not so much.
Created: 02-20-2026
Tries to portray a violent criminal as a hero with a rightous purpose.
It has been years since I've seen this movie, but...
Transplant lists are larger than transplant supplies. It's a fact of life.
Younger patients are at the top of the list. There's more potential use of the organs.
Economic status is not a consideration for transplant committees.
This is all heartbreaking, but true. (You may want to update your Organ Donor Status.)
That said, the one line I remember in the movie: "You just tried to shoot an innocent man on live TV." or something to that effect. This was after a sniper took a shot at John Q. who was holding several people hostage. That's hardly innocent. He was using the threat of violence for his purpose.
The desperation is understandable by any parent. That doesn't justify the actions here.
The movie was hard for me to watch because the underlying agenda was overwhelming.
Created: 02-20-2026
This is another "should have been a mini-series" crammed into 150 minutes.
The story of the 1966 24h-LeMans, and the events leading up to it, is legendary. They did a good job of rendering it down to the most significant points. This movie condensed a lot of information by tweaking the facts. The main points stand. The order for Miles to lift and wait for the teammates for a dramatic end is true. The attempt by Ford to buy Ferrari is mostly true. I would recommend enjoying this movie, and, if interested in the history, read about the true events. You'll see what I mean.
Matt Damon played a great Shelby. The character was whitewashed, but that's understandable. The real Shelby was a bit unsavory in his personal life.
The best part was, by far, Bales. He nailed it as Ken Miles. He spent some time at Bondurant's school of high performance driving in preparation for the role. Bob Bondurant was still alive and active then(Died in 2021). He was a driver with Shelby's Cobra project. He was good friends with Ken Miles.
There are so many stories about racing in this era. I hope this starts a trend. the next one probably should be about Penske or Smokey Yuneck.
Created: 02-05-2026
Very accurate telling of an interesting, true story.
I love football, and sports movies. I appreciate good acting and accuracy in biographical movies. This one is all that.
Zach and Anna played their parts to perfection. Direction and production are top tier.
As unlikely as it may seem, they didn't embellish or white-wash this story. Anna seemed kind of butch, but I remember seeing Brenda Warner in interviews. If anything, Anna didn't reach far enough into the she-Marine persona. The only inaccuracy, if you want to call it that, was Kurt's time in the European NFL Farm League during his first year with the Rams. They skipped that part and took him directly from the Arena Football League to his winning season with the Rams. If this was a mini-series instead of a 90 minute movie, they might have covered that part.
Since this is the true story of the Rams 1999, Super Bowl winning season, there's no spoiler in saying that the victory at the end was dramatic. The way they morphed into the real footage of Kurt's Super Bowl win followed by his celebration with his team and trophy was great cinema.
Created: 02-01-2026
One of the best sitcoms. No agenda other than presumptions.
The chemistry between actors is some of the best ever on TV. There is some raunch and innuendo. There's sexual overtones in pretty much every episode. As far as wokeness goes, I have watched every episode and can't think of any time that an agenda was being promoted. If I'm wrong about that, leave a comment.
The women are generally bossy and strong willed while the men are mostly spineless wimps. Sheldon's mother professes Christianity but is portrayed as a shallow-minded simpleton. She's only in a few episodes. Penny's ex-boyfriend shows up a couple of times. He's stereo-typically stupid. There's some wokeness, but for me, it's at a tolerable level.
Created: 01-31-2026
Worth watching. Not a must-see.
It's entertaining. I'm a fan of real (non-CGI) stunt driving. There's a little, but it's overshadowed by the split-second scenes. There are some Ken Block style maneuvers. I wish they would've shown full sequences without bouncing between cameras every 10th of a second. Jeremy Fry was the stunt driver for most of it. His work is great.
The story is pretty good. The acting is top notch. The bad guys are excellent. You love to hate them.
Created: 01-31-2026
No agenda. A little dark.
Woke: None. That is, unless you consider the existence of a privileged, female, corporate executive to be woke.
The "twist" was predictable. The acting was top-notch. Most of the characters were unlikable by design. That's good acting. Overall the movie just made me feel gloomy. That was also by design. That's good directing.
I didn't recognize Jesse Plemens at first. When I saw El Camino, I notice that he put on a lot of weight. In this movie, he lost all that and more.
As predictable as the twist was, it was still intense.
Created: 01-22-2026
