The Roundup with Jeff Stockton (Season 10 Round 5)

We're now halfway through Last Resort Films' historic tenth season, but this was definitely not its finest round (which made the Top Three difficult, and the Bottom Three too easy, but more on that later...) so let's get on with The Roundup....

3. Extended DC Comics Universe
I'm very intrigued with where the MBWA DC Comics Universe (or as I'm calling it, the Extended DC Comics Universe) films are headed. Clearly it's a much different vision than the films from APJ, D.R. Cobb and Chad Taylor, which is exciting. The Marvel films Disney produces tend to be pretty similar to each other in look and feel, but LRF's DC Comics Universe is successfully building a world of all kinds of different tones and feels (yet, they can still co-exist).

2. Metamorpho
Metamorpho was a bit uneven, but that didn't take away from it too much. The film was had some great high adventure moments, and a fun, light tone. If anything, it reminded me a bit of the Brendan Fraser-led Mummy films, and I mean that as a compliment.

1. Edgar Ramirez
Jon Hamm was not very good as Captain Atom. There, I said it. He was boring. There is never a boring moment in Edgar Ramirez's performance as Rex Mason aka Metamorpho. He seems to understand get the fun and silliness of it all.

3. A Little Life
What a depressing story... There isn't an ounce of levity in this film. I generally don't have a problem with dark, depressing stories, but this one just didn't have anything to redeem it. Usually with films like this you can find a top-notch performance or something, but the cast struggles through most of the scenes - with some seriously questionable casting decisions (*cough* Alan Cumming *cough* Tituss Burgess *cough*).

2. Story of Sade
Why are all these girls living together? This is never explained. It almost feels like a sorority house situation, but without the school ties. Now that I think about it, that probably would have been a way to make the film work - you could keep the character traits, and really 99% of the same story, but it would actually make sense. As it stands now, there's no set-up, no explanation, just a bunch of young women (and yes, I found the age difference between Haddish and the others distracting as well) with no common interests inexplicably sharing bedrooms with one another.


1. Tiffany Haddish
Oooof! This film was already a struggle, but it was made even more so by Tiffany Haddish and her aggressively unlikable title character. Sure, the character's intentions are noble, but man, was her presence annoying. There was not much that was bothersome about that character.