Movies Merica

The year 2025 is the year of adapting Stephen King books, where in one it’s people walking, “The Long Walk” and in another they’re running, this episode’s movie, “The Running Man.” If this movie sounds familiar, Arnold Schwarzenegger was in the first movie, “The Running Man”, made in 1988. In this remake, it’s Glen Powell taking the lead role of Ben Richards. A man who finds himself thrust into a game, called “The Running Man”, where people are hunted down to the death, but if you survive for 30 days you get to live a life of luxury. Of course you have to survive being hunted down by professional killers with endless technology and weapons on their side. Also, any citizen who recognizes you can record and report you or just plain kill you on the spot. Is the game rigged? Can Ben survive? Is it worth a trip to the theater to find out? Check out this episode of Movies Merica to find out! “The Running Man” also stars Jayme Lawson, William H. Macy, Michael Cera, Colman Domingo, Katy O’Brian, David Zayas, Lee Pace, Emilia Jones and Sean Hayes. 

Support the show

Feel free to reach out to me via:
@MoviesMerica on Twitter 
@moviesmerica on Instagram
Movies Merica on Facebook

The first “Predator” movie in 1987 with Arnold Schwarzenegger was a hit, and gave us all our fav Arnold impersonation line, “GET TO THE CHOPPA!” Now we get a new Predator movie, 38 years after that original, called “Predator Badlands.” Is it good enough to “GET TO THE THEATER?!!!” That remains to be seen. The Predator franchise was a Fox product, but now Disney owns Fox and Disney will put its fingerprints on any new Predator entry, including this one. “Predator Badlands” stars Elle Fanning as Thia, who is a synthetic or robot, who is found by Dek, the main predator, played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi. Dek is seen as the weakest by his predator clan, especially his father, and is ferociously driven to take down a big trophy and return with it to show he is a hunter, a killer worthy of the clan. He ends up on a planet to take down that trophy and Thia ends up helping him on his journey. Is it worth a trip to the theater to find out what happens? Check out this episode to find out! “Predator Badlands” also stars Reuben De Jong, Cameron Brown, Ross Duffer, Matt Duffer, Michael Homik, Stefan Grube and Rohinal Nayaran. 

Support the show

Feel free to reach out to me via:
@MoviesMerica on Twitter 
@moviesmerica on Instagram
Movies Merica on Facebook

Director Guillermo Del Toro is a master at bringing gothic horror to the big screen in glorious fashion, which he does for this episode’s movie “Frankenstein”, but only in a small number of theaters. Most people will have to see this on the small screen because Del Toro decided to make his long-awaited “Frankenstein” movie for Netflix, the king of small screen. Nevertheless, it’s fantastic to see a classic movie monster on the screen, with an excellent cast no less. Oscar Isaac plays Dr. Victor Frankenstein, Mia Goth is Elizabeth, Christoph Waltz as Harlander and Charles Dance as Leopold Frankenstein. This version of the classic tale introduces us to Victor Frankenstein as a young boy to begin to explain his mad ambitions, then onto his creation of The Creature  and then the aftermath. We even get to see The Creature’s story from his perspective. Does this all add up to an entertaining movie? Check out this episode to find out! “Frankenstein” also stars Felix Kammerer, David Bradley, Lars Mikkelsen, Christian Convery, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Kyle Gatehouse, Lauren Collins, Sofia Galasso, Ralph Ineson and Burn Gorman. 

Support the show

Feel free to reach out to me via:
@MoviesMerica on Twitter 
@moviesmerica on Instagram
Movies Merica on Facebook

Back in the day when only the wealthy had home computers, came a revolutionary movie called “Tron” from Disney in 1982. The computer generated visual effects in it were so out of this world that the Oscars refused to nominate “Tron” because they thought using computers for visual effects was cheating. Fast forward to 2025, when a stance like that by the Oscars is blatantly moronic and we get the third movie in the “Tron” series, “Tron Ares.” As you would imagine, the visual effects are more than a little better than in 1982, but is the story, are the characters, is the plot pacing? Our main character is Ares, a soldier program, created by the Dillinger Corporation, to be created and used repeatedly by the military and also used to infiltrate the computer systems of rival companies. One of those rival companies is ENCOM, the company introduced in the original “Tron”, and the CEO of ENCOM is looking for something that’ll give them the edge over the Dillinger Corporation. Ares is dispatched by Julian Dillinger, the CEO of the Dillinger Corporation to find out what ENCOM is up to but becomes confused about following his orders the deeper he gets. Is it worth going to the theater to find out what happens next? Check out this episode to find out! “Tron Ares” stars Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Jeff Bridges, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Gillian Anderson, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan and Sarah Desjardins. 

Support the show

Feel free to reach out to me via:
@MoviesMerica on Twitter 
@moviesmerica on Instagram
Movies Merica on Facebook

UFC, or the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the mixed martial arts league, started out small like any new sporting endeavor. However one of the great fighters of that early period was Mark Kerr, played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The need, the craving, is to win no matter what and Kerr took that seriously. The new movie “The Smashing Machine” shows what happened to Mark Kerr because of that. Also, the UFC was very disorganized and a lot of the fighters suffered because of it. Mark did too and he had his girlfriend, Dawn Staples (played by Emily Blunt), there alongside him as he suffered through emotional torment and drug use. Is this a feel-good story in the end and there’s a happy ending for Mark and Dawn? Is it worth going to the theater to find out? Watch this episode to find out. “The Smashing Machine” also stars Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten, Kenny Rice, Jerin Valel, Andre Tricoteux, James McSweeney and Jonathan Corbblah. 

Support the show

Feel free to reach out to me via:
@MoviesMerica on Twitter 
@moviesmerica on Instagram
Movies Merica on Facebook

Hey! Feel like the topic of political violence doesn’t come up near enough nowadays? Have you ever been doom scrolling and thought, “This is cool and totally not rotting my brain, but ya know what would be cool? Putting this up on a movie screen for 2 hours and 41 minutes!” If this is a current and accurate description of you, dear reader, get ready to be happy because boy! Is “One Battle After Another” for you! Leonardo DiCaprio plays Bob who for most of the movie is a broken down, always behind, drugged out criminal who was part of an anti-America militia. Just picture Antifa. They bomb buildings, they rob banks, they break into illegal alien holding facilities and free the illegal aliens. Fast forward and he’s hiding from the authorities with his high school-aged daughter. All along an immigration enforcement figure, named Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw and played by Sean Penn, is after him and his daughter. Will they elude the authorities and continue to break the law consequence free? Is it worth finding out at the theater? Check out this Movies Merica episode to find out! “One Battle After Another” also stars Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Wood Harris, Alana Haim, Chase Infiniti, Shayna McHayle, Paul Grimstad, Dijon Duenas and Brooklyn Demme.

Support the show

Feel free to reach out to me via:
@MoviesMerica on Twitter 
@moviesmerica on Instagram
Movies Merica on Facebook

You may think the American economy stinks now but it’s still not bad enough to warrant the twisted walk that’s portrayed in the movie “The Long Walk.” This movie takes place in a alternative history that resembles the 1950s. There was a great war and most people are in poverty. However there is an annual event called The Long Walk that’s meant to inspire every state in America to work harder to make the country prosper again. A man from each state is chosen to participate in The Long Walk from a pool of men from each state who signed up. If you are the last man remaining at the end, you’re rich and you are granted one wish for whatever you want. The rules? Very simple. If you stop walking long enough, you get shot dead. So lace up your Nikes and try not to have too much fun! The Long Walk is run by a character called The Major who is portrayed to be a malevolent, heartless blowhard so it makes sense he’s played by Mark Hamill. Is it worth checking this movie out at the theater? Check out this episode to find out. “The Long Walk” also stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Jordan Gonzalez, Joshua Odjick, Roman Griffin Davis and Judy Greer. 

Support the show

Feel free to reach out to me via:
@MoviesMerica on Twitter 
@moviesmerica on Instagram
Movies Merica on Facebook

In “The Conjuring: Last Rites”, Ed and Lorraine Warren have worked over a thousand cases as spiritually guided paranormal investigators, helping save people from demonic forces. That doesn’t mean they’ve seen everything and this latest case might be the one that breaks them. This is the real-life Smurl case in suburban Pittsburgh, where the introduction of a possessed mirror into their home, also introduces evil spirits. In addition to that, the evil spirit within the possessed doll, Annabelle, continues to haunt Ed and Lorraine’s daughter. Is it worth going to the theater to find out what happens next? Watch this episode to find out! “The Conjuring: Last Rites” stars Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Mia Tomlinson, Ben Hardy, Rebecca Calder, Elliott Cowan, Kila Lord Cassidy, Beau Gadsdon and Molly Cartwright. 

Support the show

Feel free to reach out to me via:
@MoviesMerica on Twitter 
@moviesmerica on Instagram
Movies Merica on Facebook

Fighter pilots have “Top Gun.” Race car drivers have “F1” and “Days Of Thunder.” What movie did firefighters have up until 1991 to put their heroics on full display? Nothing. Absolutely nothing, until a director, mostly known for making comedies, decided that firefighters finally get their day in the sun. That director was Ron Howard and the movie that helped the aura of firefighters burn so bright is the movie I’m reviewing in this episode of Movies Merica. That movie is “Backdraft.” Kurt Russell and William Baldwin play Stephen and Brian McCaffrey, two brothers who grew up in a family of firefighters in Chicago. To put it mildly, they don’t like each other very much. Stephen is a veteran firefighter and Brian is his younger brother still trying to carve out his niche in life. Brian decides his latest venture is to go into the family biz and fight fire too. Add to the family friction, a series of mysterious deaths due to fires, that may or may not be murder. Many of you have seen this classic, but for you of those who haven’t, is it worth checking out? Watch this episode of Movies Merica to find out! “Backdraft” also stars Robert De Niro, Donald Sutherland, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Scott Glenn, Rebecca De Mornay, Jason Gedrick, J.T. Walsh, Tony Mockus Sr., Cedric Young, Juan Ramirez, Kevin Casey, Jack McGee and Mark Wheeler. 

Support the show

Feel free to reach out to me via:
@MoviesMerica on Twitter 
@moviesmerica on Instagram
Movies Merica on Facebook

In the new Ron Howard movie, “Eden”, a group of disillusioned Europeans settles on a remote, uninhabited island in the Galápagos. They’re inspired by a man, played by Jude Law, who came to the island and supposedly found happiness. They soon discover that their greatest threat isn't the brutal climate or deadly wildlife, but one another. Human nature is what it is after all. Sinful. As tensions spiral and desperation takes hold, a twisted power struggle unfolds, leading to betrayal, violence and death. Is it worth a trip to the theater to find out all that happens? Check out this episode of Movies Merica to find out! “Eden” also stars Ana De Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Daniel Bruhl, Sydney Sweeney, Jonathan Tittel, Felix Kammerer, Toby Wallace, Ignacio Gasparini, Richard Roxburghand Paul Gleeson. 

Support the show

Feel free to reach out to me via:
@MoviesMerica on Twitter 
@moviesmerica on Instagram
Movies Merica on Facebook