Levi on Film

"Weapons," 2025, directed by Zach Cregger ★★ ½ ☆ ☆ In Ti West’s 2024 slasher “Maxxxine”, the titular character says that she wants to make a “‘B’ movie with ‘A’ ideas,” verbalizing the aspirations of many working and aspiring horror filmmakers in the contemporary era. Off the heels of an unexpected hit and on the road to a big-budget video game adaptation, former comedian Zach Cregger is a big name in the world of young new voices in horror. His 2022 film " Barbarian" was lauded for its unexpected twists and breakneck pace, as well as its similarities to more kitschy low-budget cult films of the past. “Weapons”, Cregger’s new film that he wrote and directed, unfortunately has none of the above. Contrary to West’s proverbial “‘B’ movie with ‘A’ ideas,” “Weapons” is the inverse in the worst way.  The opening moments of “Weapons”, also seen in many of the trailers, are captivating and haunting. In a semi-small town called Maybrook (a stand-in for Anywhere, USA,) a c...

“Superman,” 2025, directed by James Gunn ★★★ ½ ☆ ☆ After nearly 20 years in the modern superhero era — led by the insidiously happy Mickey Mouse and his puppeteer Bob Iger – it’s hard to believe that aggressively earnest, morally affirming filmmaking feels refreshing, but somehow writer-director James Gunn’s “Superman” does. The new version of Superman (a tonally consummate David Corenswet) taps into what has made Superman a sustaining cultural symbol and seeks to teach us about the value and simplicity of a nuanced, steadfast moral compass. This ultimately amounts to what feels like a welcome pendulum swing from billionaire playboy Tony Stark or, even worse, Zack Snyder’s overserious, Christ-burdened version of Superman. Like much of Gunn’s work and franchise filmmaking at large, there’s a level of overstuffing in “Superman” that sometimes weighs down its emotional core, but its successes far outpace its stumbles. Gunn wisely follows a recent trend of forgoing the superhero origin sto...