The Naked Gun (2025)

Jack and I enjoyed whiling away an hour and a half with this silly slapstick reboot full of sight gags and puns, just like its predecessors on screens large and small (on TV it was called Police Squad!). Liam Neeson,  Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, and CCH Pounder are just a few of the dozens of cast members, with cameos by Priscilla Presley and 'Weird Al' Yankovic, both of whom have been in all four movies (1988, 1991, and 1994). This is but one of the many trivia items available. And now that the Academy is beginning to recognize stunts, that huge department should get some love next year.

Akiva Schaffer directs and co-wrote the script with Dan Gregor and Doug Mand. Lorne Balfe's score is streaming on Apple Music as I type.

Neeson was last blogged for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Anderson for The Last Showgirl, Hauser for Cruella, Huston for Big Eyes, Pounder for Rustin, and Balfe for Ticket to Paradise. Presley's biggest credit is 144 episodes of Dallas (1983-88) and Yankovic is best known for his parodies of pop songs. Schaffer wrote on 116 episodes of Saturday Night Live, directed 68, and directed four other features besides this one. Gregor has co-written four other features and Mand three (all with Gregor).

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are shooting higher, at 88%, than its audiences at 73. We rented it on September 6. Be sure to stay in your seat for the end credits, as there are plenty more jokes.

Superman (2025)

We didn't hate this update of the classic superhero movie with David Corenswet in the title role, Rachel Brosnahan as love interest Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as villain Lex Luthor, heading the cast of over a hundred actors, including Bradley Cooper as the voice of Jor-El AKA Superman's father.

Director James Gunn is credited as the screenwriter, based on the characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Siegel and Shuster were Cleveland natives and Jack's and my favorite element was the Ohio locations featured prominently throughout the movie, particularly the Cleveland Arcade, Cleveland Public Square, Cleveland City Hall, and Cincinnati's Museum Center (its former Union Terminal).

David Fleming and John Murphy's score, which can be streamed on Apple Music and elsewhere, includes John Williams' original Superman theme. Reference to that and much more is included in the trivia, which fan-girls and -boys will enjoy combing through.

Cinematographer Henry Braham does good work here, too.

Brosnahan was last blogged for Yearly Departed, Hoult for The Menu, Cooper for Maestro, Gunn for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Fleming for Hillbilly Elegy (co-scored with Hans Zimmer, who scored the last Superman movie), Murphy for Kick-Ass, and Braham for The Legend of Tarzan. We apparently saw Corenswet in Twisters and eleven episodes of The Politician. But his name just makes me think of "corn sweat," the phenomenon contributing to this summer's midwest heat wave.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are steely in their support, averaging 83%, while its audiences are even stronger at 90. We rented it on September 2. Do be sure to keep it running for the bonus in the end credits.