In a general sense, 2025 sucked. The United States seems to have been transformed into a foul combination of kakistocracy and plutocracy, while sliding pell mell into fascism. Innocent people are being arrested and disappeared to God knows where. Real Christianity feels further away than ever, while gleeful cruelty feels like the law of the […]

You likely know that, alongside his wife Michele Singer Reiner,* Rob Reiner died violently on December 14 of this year. He left behind a shattered family, a battalion of whys, and a legacy that ended in tragedy. As time goes on, we won’t want the details of the murders, but we’ll get them anyway.  Right […]

When I first started as a film critic, I had close to zero problems writing a bad review. My calculus was simple; if you make a film and release it for public consumption, you should be prepared for positive and negative reactions. You worked really hard on a project and people don’t like it? Hey, […]

If you’re reading this review, you likely fall into one of two groups. Either you’re the kind of person who will enthusiastically check out a movie entitled Time Travel Is Dangerous, or you’re the kind of person who needs some persuading. Presuming you’re the first kind of person, trust me when I tell you it’s […]

I don’t care about mainstream sports. Football doesn’t matter, basketball is a nonissue, and baseball is met with a shrug.* Despite my father’s repeated attempts to raise an all-American son who loved to toss around the ol’ pigskin and would cheer lustily for the home team, what he got was someone who could talk at […]

Back in the day, whodunits appeared with great regularity on both televisions and movie screens. With the cinema, audiences ate up mysteries such as Chinatown, Basic Instinct, Gosford Park, The Gift, and In the Heat of the Night. These films didn’t need massive explosions, death-defying stunts, or even high-wattage movie stars. All they needed were […]

You might not be a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s films. You might not be into his ludicrous musculature, his puns, or his movies that so often feature him shooting, stabbing, crushing, and exploding a wide variety of luckless goons. You might turn your back haughtily on all of that, but one thing you can’t do […]

What is the government for, anyway? What is it supposed to do? If you’re a libertarian or an old school Republican, you think its function should be minimal. Government should safeguard the rights of citizens, and otherwise butt out of everyday life.. If you’re a liberal, you believe its function should be more active. You […]

Trigger warning: This review and the film itself deal extensively with suicidal ideation. If you’re like me and need a regular blast of positivity to get through the horrors of life in 2025, do yourself a favor and subscribe to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Pump Club email newsletter.* Monday through Friday, Arnold and his team offer fitness […]

I’ve said for as long as I can remember that there’s no such thing as a bad year for movies. To be sure, there are some years, such as 1999, that are positively crammed full of classics. To be also sure, there are other years where the number of quality films is…uh…a little reduced! But […]