Fred Topel
Backdraft 2 Movie Review: Chicago Fire
I really like how Universal plumbs its catalog for titles to make direct to video sequels. It’s a good way to give movies that wouldn’t generate theatrical sequels solid follow ups like Hard Target an...
The Crow 25th Anniversary: 1/4 Century Without Brandon Lee
25 years ago I finally got to see Brandon Lee’s final film. He’d died 26 years ago filming The Crow and for a while it was unsure whether the film could or would be finished. I had only just discovere...
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum Review; Franchise Fred Is So Happy
I’ve written before about how I’m less into current movies than I was 20 years ago, theorizing that it was just the natural aging process when you outgrow the target demographic. But if they made ever...
The Hustle Movie Review: 2 Dirty 2 Rotten
Franchise Fred is fine with The Hustle. I don’t expect anything to be as good as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and it doesn’t have to be. It only needs to be also good for me to be happy that there is anoth...
The Mummy 20th Anniversary: Pharaoh Yeah!
When I saw The Mummy I thought it was the second coming of Indiana Jones. It was a pre-30s serial style adventure with sense of humor. The series didn’t end up going that way, leaning heavily into the...
Freditorial: How To Talk About Movies Post-Avengers: Endgame
So we survived the mad rush to get Avengers Endgame tickets and make it to screenings without being spoiled. Now was supposed to be the fun part: sharing it. Only I’ve been talking about Avengers Endg...
Detective Pikachu Movie Review: Forget it, Jake. It’s Pokemon.
Seeing a live-action Detective Pikachu movie will probably be for Pokemon fans what seeing the first Transformers was for me, or seeing Dolph Lundgren as He-Man. Pokemon doesn’t mean that much to me b...
UglyDolls Movie Review: Toy Story Without The Kid
I had never heard of UglyDolls before they made a movie about them, but it’s clear they’re a franchise. UglyDolls is essentially Toy Story without Andy. It’s a world of dolls before they even get to c...
The 100 Season 6: Jason Rothenberg Interview
It’s been five years since we met The 100, the children of a space colony returning to Earth long after it became unlivable. Life on Earth wasn’t easy for The 100 either and The 100 certainly dwindled...