2nd Quarter Top 10/Bottom 5

(April, May, June): 173 Movies

Hello and welcome back to Cinema Wellman. I am your host, David, and hard to believe but we are at the halfway point of 2025 already! That means it’s time to break down the Top 10 & Bottom 5 of the 2nd Quarter of the year. We’re talking about April, May, and June, and we’re also talking 173 movies. 

This episode will focus on 15 of those 173 or 8% of what we screened here the past three months.

We will begin as we always do with the bottom. “How many of you enjoyed L’Avventura?”

#5: Mountainhead (2025)

R/108 min/IMDb: 5.4 /directed by Jesse Armstrong

Every once in a while, I get fooled by casting. Actually, it happened TWICE this quarter and BOTH movies made the Bottom 5, so I really got fooled these past few months.

It’s kind of like liking a musical “Super Group.” So there’s one guy from King Crimson, two guys from Yes, and the drummer from ELP, they’re called ‘Asia’ and….they’re really not that good.

I thought of Asia while watching Mountainhead. 

Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, and Ramy Youssef star in this drama about a group of friends reuniting during worldwide economic turmoil.

All four friends are ultra rich business types who don’t care about people at all and just care about making more money no matter who gets hurt.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again;  I hate movies where there’s absolutely no one to root for, and this is a prime example of that. 

I disliked the characters, so I didn’t really care what happened to them or what they were talking about after a while.

The script seemed to disappear after the treatment was written, and I found this to be tedious and without merit. 

Maybe it’s because I don’t have money. 

#4: Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975)

G/100 min/IMDb: 5.4/directed by Michael Anderson

One of the first things I thought of when watching this mess was the actor playing Doc Savage.

My thought was, “Hey, is that Tarzan from the TV show, or was he a game show host?”

And the answer to that, of course, is BOTH!

Ron Ely played Tarzan on TV and later went on to host a “Name That Tune” ripoff game show titled “Face the Music.”

I bring this up because I remember watching both of those back in the day.

Both were awful, and both were better than Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze.

This was supposed to be the first in a series of films based on the popular pulp novels. Have you ever heard of Doc Savage 2? It’s because it never happened. This movie did so poorly at the box office that all of the sequels were abandoned.

IMDb tells us: “Doc and the Amazing Five battle Captain Seas and ‘the green death’ for control of a fabulous resource.”

If that sounds like a comic book, it also looked like a comic book. For an action/adventure/comedy to work you kind of need action, an adventure, or it to be funny.

Nope. Nope. And nope. 

 

#3: Riff Raff (2024)

R/103 min/IMDb: 5.6/directed by Dito Montiel

Here’s the other example of being fooled by a stellar cast and being let down by the final product. 

Pete Davidson, Bill Murray, Gabrielle Union, Jennifer Coolidge, and Ed Harris!!!

How can a movie with a cast like that be so bad?

Was it the script, perhaps? Absolutely!

I also thought it was unbalanced and had problems with pacing.

It reminded me of reading rough drafts written by my 8th graders; wandering stories that never got to the point.

Not a fond memory at all. 

#2: The Comic (1969)

M/94 min/IMDb: 6.4/directed by Carl Reiner

I know he’s considered a national treasure and he’s still performing at the age of 99 (100 in December), but I’ve never been a fan of Dick Van Dyke. 

Mickey Rooney, on the other hand, I loathe. 

So why did I even bother to watch this movie that stars both of them? 

That’s a great question.

The answer is that Carl Reiner directed it, and I trust Carl Reiner. Still do. This wasn’t that egregious an error for me to lose trust in Carl.

I thought The Comic was boring and Van Dyke’s character was beyond redemption. Movies try to do it all the time, and I’m usually not buying it. 

Michelle Lee, as always, was an absolute delight. If you don’t know who that is, see The Love Bug. The original, of course. She’s adorable. 

#1: Havoc (2025)

R/107 min/IMDb: 5.7/directed by Gareth Evans

I always get kind of nervous when a friend says, “Hey, I saw ___________!” and it’s a film I’ve seen and have a strong opinion about. 

I’m obviously hoping my friend shares my opinion and then the conversation can progress into lauding or trashing the movie together.

This happened with my friend Andrew and Havoc at the church before his son Drew’s wedding of all places!

Andrew said, “I saw Havoc the other night.”

“Yes, yes,” I replied with my face.

“It was absolutely AWFUL!”

I was instantly relieved and the trashing commenced. My review contained a few f-bombs, and I didn’t care that I was in a church. No biggie I figured. God’s heard it all before and then some. 

Maybe she’s even seen Havoc.

Andrew and I agreed that the story was very disjointed and the script did nothing to hold it together. 

We both usually enjoy Tom Hardy, but agreed that this performance was pedestrian at best and he was hard to even understand at times. 

Andrew added that the plot was nonexistent and what passes for a plot is really just the linking together of increasingly ridiculous violent scenes. 

Well said for a guy who’s not a movie guy. He nailed this one.

Skip Havoc, and see one of the next 10 movies instead!

Here are the 10 Best movies screened at Cinema Wellman during the 2nd quarter of 2025.

#10: The Women (1939)

AP/133 min/IMDb: 7.7/directed by George Cukor

I think I liked this film so much because I’m such a movie geek, and I absolutely LOVE old movies. 

IMDb: “A study of the lives and romantic entanglements of various interconnected women.”

It sounds like a typical comedy/drama/romance, but what sets this film apart from the others is the cast; it’s one of the most remarkable casts I’ve ever seen in a movie. 

The Women featured 8 of MGM’s top 10 actresses at the time. The cast combined for 16 Oscar nominations (3 wins), 9 Golden Globe nominations, and 2 BAFTA award nominations.

There are 130 members of the cast listed and they are ALL women! No actual men appear anywhere in the film. One man is seen in a magazine picture, and that’s it!

The cast is a veritable Who’s Who of Hollywood royalty; Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine, Mary Boland, and Marjorie Main are all masterfully directed by the great George Cukor.

Aside from a few minor problems about cast order, Cukor ran a peaceful set that all of the actresses remembered fondly in their memoirs. 

There’s a fight sequence featuring Rosalind Russell and Paulette Goddard in which no stunt doubles were used. The script called for Russell to bite Goddard on the calf, which she did.

In something straight out of Old Hollywood, Russell bit hard, leaving a permanent scar, but the two remained lifelong friends in spite of the bite. 

This was a Hays Code Era film, so the censors and morality police were in full force.

At a couple points in the movie women refer to other women disparagingly as a “beezie.” This wasn’t 1930s slang, it was an invented word for the movie because they weren’t allowed to say bitch.

BEEZIE! I love it!

And after the bite scene, a character tells Goddard to check for hydrophobia (rabies) insinuating that Russell is a bitch.

Movies got pretty creative dodging the Hays Code back in the day.

This movie was great fun, especially for this old fan of old Hollywood.

#9: The Black Room (1935)

AP/68 min/IMDb: 6.9/directed by Roy William Neill

With over 200 film and television acting credits spread over a career of five plus decades, chances are you’ve heard of Boris Karloff.

You may know him as the original Frankenstein's monster, the OG Mummy, or even as the narrator and voice of the Grinch.

What you may not know about Boris Karloff, since he ended up making so many low budget horror movies, is that he was actually a very talented actor. 

Here’s what IMDb has to say about The Black Room: “Ignoring an ancient prophecy, evil brother Gregor seeks to maintain his feudal power on his estate by murdering and impersonating his benevolent younger twin.”

The twins are played by Karloff and since this was made in 1935 the scenes where the two appear in the same frame are a bit awkward. In this film’s defense, it seemed to take forever for movies to figure out this effect since that odd line in between the two characters was still around in the 60s and 70s on shows like “Gilligan’s Island” and “Bewitched.”

I enjoyed this short B-movie and also had fun researching Karloff. 

Did you know that his real name was William Henry Pratt?

Did you know that his father was the Deputy Commissioner of Customs Salt and Opium?

Deputy Commissioner of what, you say? What's going on with salt and opium in London back in the day?

Is there a way to segue from a 1935 horror movie to a 2012 Japanese animated movie about a cat in space?

I think I just did that. 

#8: Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space (2012)

NR/92 min/IMDb: 6.3/directed by K./Japan

We’re gonna need IMDb to get this one started: “A cerebral and existential story of Tamala, a kitten from the Planet of Cats, who sets out to solve the mystery of her birth.”

I watched this because it was described as “Hello Kitty meets Blade Runner.”

Yes, please!

This was wildly adorable from start to finish. I immediately fell in love with the animation style and some of the “production design” used in creating the Planet of Cats was absolutely brilliant. 

It’s also kind of trippy in ways that made me wonder exactly what I was watching at times. 

Great fun, especially if you love cats!

And who doesn’t love cats?!

How about unicorns?

#7: Death of a Unicorn (2025)

R/107 min/IMDb: 5.9/directed by Alex Scharfman

IMDb: “A father and daughter accidentally hit and kill a unicorn while headed to a weekend retreat, where his billionaire boss seeks to exploit the creature’s miraculous curative properties.”

If you ask me, there aren’t nearly enough unicorn movies out there. 

The father is played by Paul Rudd, and his daughter is played by Jenna Ortega, so there’s plenty to like already. 

Will Poulter is the billionaire boss out to take advantage of the discovery (of course humans would want to exploit a unicorn!), and Tea Leoni is also in the mix, and we love her.

It’s a combo comedy/fantasy/horror movie that is loyal to unicorn lore while also creating a pretty terrifying unicorn. 

This is director Alex Scharfman’s directorial debut and I found it to be very entertaining. I’m looking forward to seeing what he does next. 

#6: Companion (2025)

R/97 min/IMDb: 6.9/directed by Drew Hancock

I’m sure we’re about to be inundated with movies about AI (or A1 as the United States Secretary of Education Linda McMahon would say) over the course of the next several years.

Or until AI rises up, becomes sentient, and kills us all. 

My Alexa is still on the fence about saving me. Believe me, I’ve asked.

Regardless, Companion is an AI movie that kept me interested and guessing throughout. 

IMDb: “A weekend getaway with friends at a remote cabin turns into chaos after it’s revealed that one of the guests is not what they seem.”

IMDb doesn’t spoil anything about Companion, but the trailer kind of does, which isn’t that big of a deal.

Sophie Thatcher plays Iris who is an AI companion bot. I thought she did an excellent job playing Iris who you absolutely are rooting for to kill every human in which she comes into contact; especially her ‘boyfriend’ Josh, played by Jack Quaid. 

You suck Josh. You suck so much. 

There was one excellent twist that I did NOT see coming, and I always enjoy that. 

If all human beings were as terrible as the ones in Companion, I’d be signing up with those A1 folks right now. 

They make a hell of a steak sauce. 

#5: Curve (2016)

UR/10 min/IMDb: 6.7/directed by Tim Egan/Australia

This 10-minute Australian horror/thriller is as thought provoking as it is harrowing and gut-wrenching. 

IMDb: “Clinging to a smooth, curved surface high above a sentient abyss, a girl tries to cover the few feet back to safety without losing purchase and falling to her death.”

It’s 10 minutes, but it feels like 110 minutes as we root against hope that our protagonist will reach safety.

Curve is a compelling symbolic depiction of depression and evokes feelings of despair and the struggle to just “hold on” in life.

All that in only 10 minutes, which is very impressive.

#4: Levitated Mass (2013)

UR/88 min/IMDb: 6.9/directed by Doug Pray

This is an art documentary, and the “levitated mass” in the title is a gigantic rock. This documentary details the art project from ‘discovery’ to installation. 

Here are some statistics regarding the project that absolutely blew my mind:

*the rock weighs 340 tons and is 21 ½ feet in height and width

*it traveled a circuitous 105 miles through 22 cities and 4 counties

*the trip took 11 nights

*the rock traveled at around 7-8 mph and required a custom-built 206 wheel 294 foot long transporter

*the artist, Michael Heizer, had the idea in 1968 but didn’t find the right boulder until 2006

*the cost of the project was over $10 million, all in private funds

Seeing this project from start to finish was amazing, and the amount of work that went into it was mind boggling.

The transport system itself was an engineering masterpiece. Low bridges needed to be avoided, power lines and traffic lights needed to be temporarily removed, and trees needed to be trimmed.

A true logistical nightmare.

Add to that the towns that politely declined to be part of the route which made for an even more circuitous trip.

I was relieved to hear the money was all from private donors and no tax money was used. I’m a supporter of the arts, but seeing this project move through some poor areas made me think of what that 10 million could have been used for, but you can’t tell people how to spend their money. 

It also brings up the discussion of what constitutes art.

I mean, it’s a 680,000 lb. rock. 

From a debatable piece of rock art to an indisputable piece of artistic magic out of Germany in 1926. 

#3: The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)

NR/80 min/IMDb: 7.8/directed by Lotte Reiniger/Germany

There are so many things about this movie that I loved, including the fact that it is the earliest feature-length animated film to have survived.

This is stop-motion animation bringing cardboard figures to life that was shot on a flat surface lit from below.

Director Lotte Reiniger cut the figures out of black cardboard with scissors, and joined the movable parts with thread in order to animate them. 

Reiniger made over 250,000 frame-by-frame stills from 1923-1926 and 96,000 were used in the film. 

That breaks down to 1,200 still per minute or 20 per second which is why you’d never suspect what you’re watching is black cardboard figures cut out with scissors.

It is a mesmerizing artistic achievement that everyone should see at least a part of.

It needs to be seen to be believed, and you can see it on YouTube. Check out at least part of it.

Just amazing.

Next up, Steven Soderbergh is back in a Cinema Wellman Top 10!

#2: Black Bag (2025)

R/93 min/IMDb: 6.7/directed by Steven Soderbergh

IMDb: “When intelligence agent Kathryn Woodhouse is suspected of betraying the nation, her husband - also a legendary agent - faces the ultimate test of whether to be loyal to his marriage, or his country.”

I’ve talked about Soderbergh before here and I’ve mentioned that he’s usually hit or miss.

Lately he’s been a big hit here at Cinema Wellman.

I recently praised Presence and I also liked Kimi from 2022 and No Sudden Move from 2021.

Black Bag is a lot of fun cloak and dagger stuff and it stars friend of Cinema Wellman Cate Blanchett who agreed to star in this without even reading the script.

Soderbergh is one of those directors.

See this if you can, and it’s only 93 minutes! Soderbergh has done it again!

And that leaves us with just one film left on our best list for the 2nd quarter of the year, and it’s a film documentary. 

#1: Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story (2007)

NR/82 min/IMDb: 7.6/directed by Jeffrey Schwarz

Movies today offer us films in 3D and IMAX, but back when William Castle was in the industry, he offered moviegoers much much more!

Movies in Emergo, Percepto, Illusion-O as well as Ghost Viewers, Punishment Polls, and Fright Breaks were all part of the William Castle Universe. 

Castle also took out “life insurance policies” on audience members in case they died of fright and often had “doctors and nurses” complete with ambulances at screenings of his films in case they were needed. 

This documentary takes a delightful look at William Castle and how his films made an impact on modern cinema.

Among the directors singing the praises of Castle are Roger Corman, Joe Dante, John Waters, and John Landis. Just think of what that quartet of directors has given us over the years, and a good amount of that was inspired by Castle and his films. 

Here are some descriptions of Castle’s gimmicks over the years:

*Emergo was for House on Haunted Hill and featured a plastic skeleton on a wire flying over the audience at the climax of the film. Castle even loved it when the audience laughed and threw things at it since it showed that they were into it. 

*Percepto was for The Tingler and consisted of several theater seats wired with electrical vibrating buzzers that would buzz during key moments of the movie. Castle had teams of electricians wiring theaters across the country. 

*Illusion-O was for 13 Ghosts and all it was is what we consider 3D glasses today. During the film the audience could look through the red filter to see the ghosts and the blue filter to make the ghosts disappear. 

*For his “Punishment Poll,” Castle had audience members fill out cards deciding the fate of the villain. Castle later admitted there was never a second ending to any of the films employing the poll. He just assumed the audience would vote against the villain, so that’s the ending they got.

*The “Fright Break” was an actual 45 second break complete with a ticking clock on the screen offering scared viewers a chance to leave the theater and get a refund because they were too scared to go on. Castle would hire people to walk out during these shows to make it seem more realistic.

My favorite gimmick may have been for his film The Tingler which was a story about a giant bug-like creature that grew on the backs of people who suppressed screams.

DURING PERFORMANCES of The Tingler, an audience plant would cry out in pain and be taken behind a screen which was backlit. A “doctor and nurse” then removed the bug from the back of the patient.

No notes.

Castle wasn’t all gimmicks and silliness. He produced Roman Polanski’s classic horror film Rosemary’s Baby, so the man knew what he was doing. 

Castle’s motto was “It’s not enough to show a movie. You have to put on a show!”

I knew about Castle and had seen many of his films, but after seeing this documentary I wanted to see everything he ever did.

A new one for me was 1961’s Homicidal which had a twist that blindsided me.

Now I have to make yet ANOTHER list to make sure I’ve seen everything William Castle was ever involved with.

Oh well.

Well, that is a wrap from here at Cinema Wellman as we broke down our Top 10 and Bottom 5 of the 2nd quarter of the year.

We hope you join us again soon for another episode of whatever this is. We appreciate you and the fact that you’re interested enough to tune in.

Until then, take care.