{"id":14936,"date":"2026-07-19T20:32:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T00:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=14936"},"modified":"2026-07-19T20:32:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T00:32:26","slug":"weekly-movie-roundup-172","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=14936","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Movie Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I watched 6 movies last week:<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0082377\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-2-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Final Conflict\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14931\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-2-196x300.jpg 196w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-2-667x1024.jpg 667w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-2-768x1178.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-2-1001x1536.jpg 1001w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-2.jpg 1121w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt34379307\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-2-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Is God Is\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14932\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-2-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-2-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-2-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-2-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-2-1383x2048.jpg 1383w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2-2-scaled.jpg 1728w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0090930\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3-2-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"Demons 2\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14933\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3-2-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3-2-674x1024.jpg 674w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3-2-768x1166.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3-2-1012x1536.jpg 1012w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3-2-1349x2048.jpg 1349w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3-2-scaled.jpg 1686w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>The sadly departed Sam Neill is easily the best thing in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0082377\/\">The Final Conflict<\/a> (subsequently known as <em>The Omen III<\/em>), but I&#8217;m afraid I can&#8217;t go as far as to say that his performance in it is <em>good<\/em>. There are brief moments in the movie, and in Neill&#8217;s performance, when it feels like maybe something interesting is going to happen, but nothing interesting ever does, and the movie just peters out at the end.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>The violence in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt34379307\/\">Is God Is<\/a> isn&#8217;t <em>cathartic<\/em> in the way you might expect a revenge thriller to be\u2014indeed, as Cortlyn Kelly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/is-god-is-film-review-2026\">of Roger Ebert.com<\/a> put it, &#8220;it looks so warm, playful, and inviting outside, but the air is chilled and urges us to retreat to where we came from.&#8221; And yet the movie is sharp and unflinching, and the performances are really great.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>I had a lot of fun watching <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0090930\/\">Demons 2<\/a>, but that&#8217;s not because it&#8217;s a <em>good<\/em> movie\u2014because it is most decidedly <em>not<\/em>. It&#8217;s deeply silly, though I&#8217;m not sure how much anyone involved in making the movie understood that. I think I had more fun with it than the first movie, which I don&#8217;t remember liking much at all, but really only in the &#8220;so bad it&#8217;s good&#8221; kind of way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt30691214\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4-2-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Forbidden Fruits\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14934\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4-2-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4-2-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4-2-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4-2-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4-2-1382x2048.jpg 1382w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4-2-scaled.jpg 1728w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt37287335\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5-2-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Obsession\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14935\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5-2-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5-2-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5-2-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5-2-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5-2.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0034012\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6-2-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"Penny Serenade\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14937\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6-2-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6-2-681x1024.jpg 681w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6-2-768x1155.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6-2.jpg 936w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt30691214\/\">Forbidden Fruits<\/a> has some genuinely clever and funny bits scattered throughout, and a terrific cast, but it does not come together as anything in the end. There&#8217;s some really great writing here, but also some really bad writing as well.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt37287335\">Obsession<\/a> does exactly what it says on the tin, but it does it in some really unexpected and often uncomfortable ways. By turns darkly funny and deeply disturbing, with a fantastically unsettling performance by relative newcomer Inde Navarrette.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0034012\/\">Penny Serenade<\/a> takes some surprisingly depressing turns, and risks careening off into melodrama, but both Cary Grant and Irene Dunne are very good in it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I also rewatched <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0065088\/\">They Shoot Horses, Don&#8217;t They<\/a>, which is a bleak but fantastic movie, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0055198\/\">Mothra<\/a>, which is fun but, honestly? Could use more Mothra.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I watched 6 movies last week: The sadly departed Sam Neill is easily the best thing in The Final Conflict (subsequently known as The Omen III), but I&#8217;m afraid I can&#8217;t go as far as to say that his performance in it is good. There are brief moments in the movie, and in Neill&#8217;s performance, &#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=14936\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14936"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14938,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14936\/revisions\/14938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}