Monday’s “Screen Unseen” at AMC Theaters opened with Motor City, directed by Ponsi Ponciroli and written by Chad St. John. The film feels simultaneously like a film from the past and a tribute to them, and for good reason. The film was originally listed in 2009’s Black List, taking until 2025 to have its first cut screened following years of recasts, restructuring, and rescheduling. Starring Alan Ritchson in the lead role of John Miller, the character is framed and has his life stolen from him following the revenge of Reynolds (Ben Foster), a gangster from his past. The glow of 1970s Detroit night life takes center stage as Miller runs through the city he calls home to fight for his life, in more ways than one.

The most distinct quality of the film is its lack of dialogue throughout the majority of its runtime. The writing expenses words where applicable, but the story is by and large told through the body language and facial expressions of its characters. The extent to which this is utilized is one of the strongest parts of the movie for me, and I love how it in turn allowed for the sound design to shine in every sequence.

The film does feel stuck in the past in a few ways that don’t necessarily help add to its nature as a period piece or one a long time in the making. A few plot beats between the first and second acts didn’t necessarily make sense to me from a pacing or narrative perspective. I didn’t understand much of what the police detective’s significance was in the film, and his plotline didn’t affect any of what happened in the film’s third act or its resolution.

I wasn’t immediately hooked by the energy of the film—I would argue its first act was my least favorite—but the good news there is that I only found myself getting more invested as the film continued. Even still, I was torn between loving its points of inspiration and waiting for some elements to develop in a more interesting way, and some just never did. The protagonist’s girlfriend Sophia (Shailene Woodley) was beginning to gain a fascinating dynamic in the film’s narrative, but her character ended up in the exact predictable plot trap I was really hoping she wouldn’t.

Overall, I thought Motor City was a worthwhile action thriller with lots of fun throwback elements of the genre, loving tributes, and some spots worth improving upon in the pacing and beats.

Motor City is available in theaters this Friday, July 24th. In the mood for more action thrillers until then? Check out Better Criminal on our sister site, Galxy!

This month on our sister site Galxy, we’ve got a brand new slate of movies for all our readers (and viewers) to check out, spotlighted from July 1st. Stories of independence told in the titular Independents’ Day and The Cosmic Hoax, as well as the whole Transmorphers trilogy. Take a look at what we’ve got lined up!

Independents’ Day

Independents’ Day is a mockbuster based on the works of Steven Spielberg, zooming onto Galxy just in time for the director’s new film! When aliens visit an Earth they believe to be rife with violent inhabitants, they capture civilians who they believe to be in need of their help. While their efforts take shape, the military on Earth makes arrangements to take back their people.

The Cosmic Hoax: An Exposé

A documentary directed and written by Michael Mazzola, The Cosmic Hoax explores the truth and history behind UAP sightings and stories. The film stars Dr. Steven Greer, a veteran ufologist with many stories of his own to recount.

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln is the 1930 biography of the 16th President of the United States. Starring Walter Huston as Abraham Lincoln, the film documents the life and times of Mr. Lincoln in extensive detail, including some of the lesser-known aspects of his life you won’t often find in the history books.

Transmorphers

An alien mockbuster like Independents’ Day, Transmorphers is based on both the Transformers and Terminator film series. When extraterrestrial robots land on Earth with an objective to conquer, they force civilization underground for hundreds of years. It’s up to a small group of driven underground humans to take back their planet.

Transmorphers: Fall of Man

In the prequel to the above film, Transmorphers: Fall of Man shows the exact moment things went from bad to worse. Another group of resistant humans do their best to save their species from the incoming robo-extraterrestrial threat on the horizon.

Transmorphers: Mech Beasts

Mech Beasts is the official sequel to the original Transmorphers, released over 15 years later and taking place 20 years in the future. Living their new normal following the previous film, yet another threat descends from space threatening to take over the planet once again and wipe out all surface life.

These spotlighted films for the month of July and more can all be viewed now on Galxy. Safe travels!

We were always going to get another Toy Story movie. It’s one of Pixar’s moneymakers, and Disney loves to make said money. I’m not opposed to new entries in any film series so long as they prove themselves to be worthy of existing, to tell a story that needs to be told. Toy Story 5 does explore a fascinating new angle for the franchise, but at times it does feel like too little too late.

Toy Story 5 explores the dichotomy of how toys clash and play along with the one-size-fits-all daily life technology that seems to be incorporated in just about every household. This keeps the film grounded in reality to an extent, but I did still feel its presence lacking in a few areas. Sure, the seven-year gap between this and Toy Story 4 was not nearly as long as the eleven-year gap between Toy Story 2 and 3, but I feel like the passage of time needs to be explored a bit more than it has been with Bonnie’s storyline.

In the first three films, we watch Andy grow and change and how his toys adapt and shift in regards to that. Bonnie comparatively has felt a bit more one-note to me, however old she’s been in any of her three films just kind of blends together for me. I do think this new film marks the biggest shift in her personality and priorities throughout those three films, and Toy Story is, in fairness, supposed to follow the growth of the toys themselves while the kid who plays with them usually complements that. I think I just wished they did more with the passage of time like what was done between Toy Story 2 and 3.

My main problem with the toys’ narrative itself stems from how much some of these characters feel they can still develop. Jessie’s entire storyline in this movie was fantastic. Joan Cusack nailed the role as always, and the revelation the cowgirl comes to about her first owner moved me in the same way every Toy Story manages to. While it’s a new perspective for her to explore on an old piece of her history, I felt like most of the other protagonists the film followed lacked that kind of depth in their storylines. It’s cool Buzz and Jessie finally kissed, but it didn’t feel like there was a steady rhythm or buildup to Buzz’s confession throughout the film other than stumbling over his words, almost saying how he feels, then bailing. Rinse and repeat.

I guess I’m obligated to mention the filmmakers seem aware of this with Woody at least. Acknowledging his age and addressing his dissonance with the shifting world around him, it’s a cute enough way of reiterating his newfound purpose as of Toy Story 4 and shift in priorities as his own character. His exit in the film, though, felt unceremonious at best. In the fourth film it did leave this genuine feeling that we’d be leaving Woody behind to start a new chapter. Not only does he show up here like nothing happened and like they’d have no issue tracking him down so far from Bonnie’s home, but he drives away with Bo Peep like it’s just another day and we’ll see them again before we know it. This is not the tone Toy Story 3 and 4 set with their endings, but in fairness this may just be for the best if and when Toy Story 6 shows itself. I think if this movie ended on that note and then we saw everyone together again, again, again, AGAIN, I’d completely lose faith in wherever they’re taking this story.

Why can’t Randy Newman score more Pixar movies? Like, as many of them as he used to? If I had to pick a consistent factor in the franchise’s success, it’s the composition he brings with every note. I rewatched the first two movies going into this, and even when I was EXPECTING them to bring in the “When She Loved Me” motif it moved me just as much as when I first heard it.

I know this review is all over the place, but it’s fitting enough for what kind of tone this installment has. After five films, over thirty years, it does start to get a little tiring. It’s really obvious when a character both runs out of things to do and yet has to do something in the plot, no matter how pointless or unimportant by comparison to those who actually warrant exploration. At the same time, the film looks great, the new character designs shine like they always have, and the soundscape is dazzling. It’s a good Toy Story movie, but I feel like that’s exactly what I thought about the last Toy Story. I want to walk away from a film in this series knowing what it meant to me, that it was a movie unlike any I’ve seen before, including previous installments in the series. This one didn’t quite do that, but it was still good. Just good.

Toy Story 5 is now playing in theaters worldwide. If you’re in the mood for more animation, check out K-9 World Cup on our sister site, Galxy!

Supergirl released Friday as the second theatrical release of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s rebooted DCU initiative, between last July’s Superman and this coming October’s Clayface. Among its lower box office returns in its first week, the film has garnered more of a mixed reception compared to the DCU’s first installation. While I can see where some of the audience feedback is coming from, I do firmly believe Supergirl is not nearly as messy as the punishment it’s been receiving would suggest.

For me personally, I don’t feel like the film attempts a resonant story on the same level as Superman. This does make sense on something of a meta level—throughout the film, Kara (Milly Alcock) makes it clear multiple times how and why she differs from her cousin in so many ways, so it would be strange if it just felt like Superman again. What I felt the two needed to share was the same balance of a character-driven and self-exploratory narrative. While Clark’s story was one of belonging and finding new purpose, Kara’s should have focused more on her displacement from Krypton and subsequent struggle to find that spark anywhere else. Supergirl does show Kara’s planet-hopping efforts to regain a sense of normalcy following her dog Krypto’s poisoning at the hands of Krem, but that’s often just how her own narrative feels. I don’t get enough of a sense of her personal struggle finding her place in the universe, as much as the film tries to loop that into the grander story.

When the film did feel a bit too similar to a previous film, it honestly felt a bit more like a Marvel movie, not in a great way. Quippy lines can have their place in a superhero movie, it’s based on comic books after all, but before every single fight scene? I want to put my faith in someone who takes their motive seriously, and with how grave Krypto’s condition was, I was expecting a bit more urgency from Kara on that front. Especially when none of the planets she fought for Krypto on had red suns!

With all that being said, I really enjoyed the costume design, performances, and dynamics between the characters. I found a lot of the locations in the film to blend together, so it was great to contrast that with a cast that bounced off each other really well. Superman feels bloated at times with how many characters and concepts from the larger DC canon it tries to squeeze in, so Supergirl taking a step back and focusing on its base story with a smaller cast and scope does feel refreshing. Keeping contrast in mind, the appearances of each character popped against the settings of each shot just right. And, of course, I gotta give it to Jason Momoa as Lobo. Was he necessary to this story? Not at all, but he seems like he was having a great time with the character and I’m happier seeing him here than not at all.

Supergirl is now available in theaters worldwide. For more red-clad action films, check out Yoga Hosers on our sister site, Galxy!

Our next Galxy movie spotlight for this month is Baseball and the Ballerina, also known as A Little Inside, a 1999 sports family drama written and directed by Kara Harshbarger. Following the death of his wife, professional baseball player Ed Mills (Benjamin King) finds himself struggling to raise his daughter Abby (Hallie Eisenberg) alone. As she struggles with baseball practice, his daughter expresses interest in what she believes is her true calling, ballet. Will King sway towards his own passion, or let his daughter explore her own?

No matter what you call it, this is an overall heartwarming story that really emphasizes the importance of family over personal biases. As supportive and preferential as Ed seems to be for Abby’s baseball career, it’s hard not to be equally as or more supportive when your child finds their true calling, what makes them the happiest they’ve routinely been when practicing.

The sheer amount of alternate titles for this film was always what stuck out to me in my research. The title I was first introduced to it as was Daddy’s Little Ballerina. This became Baseball and the Ballerina and then A Little Inside, and I’ve even found another title Me and Dad on a Netherlands film website while writing this article. Every title in each territory describes the film in its own way, though never an inaccurate one. As the film continues, each plot beat furthering Ed and Abby’s bond justifies any name you could know the film by.

Baseball and the Ballerina is now available to stream on Galxy.

Today’s Galxy movie spotlight is Dementia 13, a classic horror thriller from 1963. This film marked the feature directorial debut of Francis Ford Coppola, the legendary filmmaker who would go on to direct The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now, and American Graffiti. When widow Louise Haloran (Luana Anders) fears her late husband John (Peter Read) may not leave her a fortune in the will, she begins plotting on his own plot of land. However, Louise is far from alone, as an axe murderer soon makes themself known on the premises.

It’s fascinating to watch a film like this produced so early on in such a visionary filmmaker’s career. When going back to a director’s earliest works, you can find inklings of what they’d later become and their own developed style even from the beginning. Coppola makes a meal out of the low budget he’s given for this first of his projects; the visual pop against the grain of the black and white film.

Luana Anders was the perfect actress for this role. The emotions on display throughout the film are complex, balancing the grief of a lost loved one and the sudden terror of an axe murderer run wild on the premises. It’s a tense, disturbing, and most of all thrilling movie that marked the start of a generational director.

Dementia 13 is now available to stream on Galxy.