Lee Cronin's The Mummy

My View: Lee Cronin’s The Mummy  (2026)  R   Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is about a young daughter (Natalie Grace) of a journalist who disappears without a trace in the desert. Eight years later, the daughter suddenly appears, but what should be a joyful reunion is quickly shattered by a nightmare that may never end. I liked Cronin’s Evil Dead Rises, calling it ‘one of the better horror / possession films of the past few years.” I can’t say the same thing for a film that I am calling “Evil Dead Rises for Mummies”. And because moms take center stage in this gore fest, you can say mommies, too. The first problem with this film is that it’s incredibly, butt-numbingly long at two hours and thirteen minutes. The second problem is that I didn’t like the parents, who are the most irresponsible pair I have ever seen in a film. They apparently don’t know that their kidnapped daughter, missing for eight years, was found inside a three-thousand-year-old sarcophagus wrapped in ancient wrappings. And while the mom (Lala Costa) is a nurse (I think), they aren’t set up for the 24-hour care that their catatonic, twitchy, old as heck looking daughter, who has a tendency to projectile vomit, spit, and crush hands. Your first clue to their incompetent parenting is dragging the child up what seems like 20 flights of stairs in a wheelchair (which I kept waiting for the child to fall out of). The father (Jack Reynor) was a rising news anchor before the kidnapping, but he misses all the clues that this film hits us over the head with, and takes almost two hours to figure out that something is wrong with his daughter. The film tries to outgross itself at every opportunity, including a toenail-clipping scene that drags on for what seems like ten minutes. I could go on about how stupid this family is, including a grandmother who keeps getting close to the girl, even though every time she does, it seems she gets the crap beaten out of her. Or the Mummy’s two siblings, both of whom, even though the girl is weird as crap, get fooled by the old “cute voice through the door” trick. The tagline for this movie is “Some Things Are Meant To Stay Buried.” I sure wish the script had been one of those things. Well, at least with the director/writer putting his name in the title, we know who to blame for this mess of a film.   My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again  Lee Cronin's The Mummy Website  Now playing in theaters

My View:  Normal  (2025)   R  In Normal, Ulysses (Bob Odenkirk) has come to the sleepy town of Normal, Minnesota, to become the temporary sheriff after the passing of the long-time sheriff in the town. Not only did the sheriff die under suspicious circumstances, but things get really weird after the local bank is robbed, and Ulysses suspects that the town might be hiding a huge secret. I find it very enjoyable that Bob Odenkirk has gotten into the action-hero game, and this film certainly delivers a lot of action. Odenkirk plays a flawed hero who is just passing through as a caretaker for a few weeks and then moving on to the next town. However, this town isn’t what it seems, and it has some very serious connections (which we see right from the start), and Ulysses is in for a mess of a fight. I had fun with this film for a while, but I had trouble keeping up with who had been killed (the kill rate in this film is incredibly high) and how. I did enjoy how Ulysses finds allies in very unexpected places while the whole town is out to kill him. Then the film kind of became more of the same, and I started wanting it to resolve itself (which it does, unconvincingly). I have a feeling critics will compare this film to Fargo (because of the small-town weirdness) and to John Wick (the nonstop violence), and I will admit that, about halfway through, I kept thinking I had seen this film before. Then I realized Odenkirk had just done the Nobody films. But hey, we have plenty of history with action heroes doing the same version of their films over and over, and we have continued to see them. So go ahead, Bob, and become the next Liam Neeson. I won’t mind. Just don’t become the next Steven Seagal. We don’t have the stomach to go through that again.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Normal Website  Now playing in theaters

My View:  Lorne  (2026)  R  Lorne is a documentary about Lorne Michaels, who created Saturday Night Live in 1975 and is still the driving force behind the legendary late-night comedy show. I have been a fan of SNL since it started. I still remember sitting with my dad watching the first episode back in 1975 (yes, I’m that old), when the first host was George Carlin (his first monologue bombed so bad he asked the audience if they had heard the jokes before). So I was excited to see a documentary about the man who created the show. This is a film that, while I really enjoyed at the time, the more I think about it, the less I like it. Award-winning director Morgan Neville, who brought us the Academy Award-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom and the delightful Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, tells us right from the start that this is about a man who not only doesn’t enjoy being interviewed, he also doesn’t like being filmed at all. And that’s the problem. It’s about a man whom even his close friends know little about. So we get a film more about how the show is put together, and we get a ton of highlights on how the show has impacted comedy and the nation with its continued look at what is happening in America at any given time. There are a ton of clips from old shows and even more interviews with cast members (most of the interviews seem to be from casts from the last ten years). Looking back at this documentary, my enjoyment came from watching the vast array of comedy gems the show has given us, along with interviews with (surprise) very funny people who know how to tell a story or deliver a quip. I came away with the idea that this man does have an eye for talent, knows what is funny and what works on TV, but I already knew that. The problem is that this is a film about one man, Loren Michaels, not his show or the sketches, and we learn almost nothing about him. Lorne is like going on a blind date and realizing at the end of the evening, while you had a great time, you did all the talking.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Lorne Website  Now playing in theaters

My View: #Skyking  (2026)   #Skyking is a documentary about Richard ‘Beebo’ Russell, a troubled 28-year-old ground service agent with no pilot experience, whose impulsive decision to hijack and pilot a commercial plane shocked a nation. I vaguely remember a pilot taking a plane out for what I thought was a joyride that went wrong. I don’t remember learning that it wasn’t a joyride but a suicide. Director Patricia E. Gillespie does a masterful job of giving us a look at Beebo and why he did what he did. It’s an amazing story that gives us insight into why someone without any piloting experience would do what he did. The film does a brilliant job of letting us get to know both Beebo and his family and friends, and how shocked they were when he did this. Suicide is always a tricky subject, mostly because a lot of times we don’t know why they felt their only choice was to take their own life. We listen to Beebo’s flight recordings as his friends and family also listen in, many for the first time. It’s a gut-wrenching watch to see how many people cared about him and didn’t know the extent of his hurt. #Skyking gives us the reasoning why Beebo felt that maybe his suicide would make an impact and wake up the company he worked for on how they treated their employees. The film is moving, mostly because Beebo seems like a guy you would want to know. It’s horrible that we will never get that chance.   My Rating: Full Price  #Skyking Info    Now playing on the Hulu platform

Forgotten Film: The Omen (1976) R  An American ambassador (Gregory Peck) to Britain and his wife (Lee Remick) deal with a series of increasingly deadly ‘accidents’ that always seem to happen around their son Damien (Harvey Spencer Stephens). This 70s film distinguished itself from most horror films of the 60s and 70s by the stylish work of its director, Richard Donner, and its cast, which included Academy Award winner Peck and Oscar-nominated Remick. The film has one of the creepiest performances by a child and some shocking deaths, some of which come out of the blue. Even the ending sets this film apart from the run-of-the-mill horror films that came before. By the way, the horror that Lee Remick shows when the car is attacked by baboons (has to be seen to be believed) was real because they had an actual baboon in the car with her.    My Rating: Full Price  The Omen Info  The film is available to rent on Apple TV+ and Fandango

Weird Credits: From the credits of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy: Hurdy Gurdy

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026) PG-13  Miranda (Meryl Streep) is nearing retirement, and the sharks are circling around. In walks Andy (Anne Hathaway) to help Miranda, and is forced to take on her former assistant turned rival: Emily (Emily Blunt). If anyone can pull off a sequel, it’s Meryl.  The Devil Wears Prada 2 Website  Coming to theaters nationwide on Friday, May 1, 2026

Until Next Time!