The Bondsman

Hub Halloran (Kevin Bacon) arrived at an abandoned motel to catch one of the Earl brothers.  It turned out that the brothers knew he was coming and set a trap.  They killed him!  To his great surprise, he awoke with a slit throat.  Why wasn't he dead?  Then the phone calls started from Pot O' Gold.  He was back from the dead for a purpose: he was now a bounty hunter in the employ of the devil.  His Pot O' Gold supervisor, Midge (Jolene Purdy), explained that Hell is basically a prison and sometimes there are escapes.  Escapees possess humans.  The only way to send them back is to kill the human they have possessed.

Hub isn't a lone wolf in his efforts.  His mother (Beth Grant) is his boss and she finds out about his new job when he does.  Of course, his mom is more interested in why he went to Hell rather than his new job of demonslaying.  Hub is coy on that subject, declaring it a mistake.  Hub's ex-wife, Maryanne (Jennifer Nettles), stumbles upon him in action against a demon and joins his efforts.  He roped his teenaged son, Cade (Maxwell Jenkins), into serving as a lookout on another instance.  Ex-con and Maryanne's boyfriend, Lucky (Damon Herriman), knows something dark is happening and wants to protect Maryanne and Cade, whatever measures that might require.

Though Hub accepts his new role, he thinks there must be a loophole, a way to get out from under his misdeeds.  He spends a lot of time plotting against Lucky rather than hunting demons that are clearly working as part of a greater plan.  His mother tells him that pride is what led him to Hell and he still hasn't mended that.

The series is available on Amazon.  It is only 8 episodes long and each episode is only 30 minutes.  Yeah, this is easy to binge in a single sitting.  The gruesome deaths of demons and their victims is often over the top, reminding me of Death of a Unicorn.  Good popcorn fun!

The Woman in the Yard (2025)

Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler) lives on a farm with her two children, Taylor and Annie. The family is recovering from a tragedy; David (Russell Hornsby), Ramona's husband, died in a car crash. Ramona is still wearing a brace on her leg and uses crutches to navigate the house and yard. On this particular day, Taylor reported that the power was out. Worse, her phone is dead. To add to their troubles, there is a strange woman (Okwui Okpokwasili) in the yard. She is veiled and dressed entirely in black. She even had a chair to sit on. Curious, Ramona confronts the woman.

"Today's the day," the woman stated. She even said that Ramona had called her and she had now come.

Rattled, Ramona returned to the house and locked all the doors. However, as the day wore on, the woman came closer to the house despite never seeming to move. Her shadow cast farther than it should and in directions it shouldn't. The explanations for the woman and the background of the family are revealed as the story unfolds.

The initial reaction to the strange woman in the yard was inexplicable. Taylor is a teenager who is both taller than and more mobile than his mother, but she sequesters him in the house like he was a toddler even before a threat is revealed. The family has 2 cars, one that was wrecked and the other won't start. How have the kids been going to school since the accident? Do they go to school? Is it a weekend? Is it summer break? The powers of the woman are related to her shadow. Somehow, Ramona knows this. How? Ramona is an artist, though she hasn't been doing much painting since moving from the city.

Though it has several jump scares and a few hair-raising instances of terror, the movie proved to be merely so-so. Skip this one.

Deepwater Horizon (2016)

In 2010, Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg) and his wife, Felicia (Kate Hudson), drove together to the heliport.  He was leaving for a 3-week stint on the Deepwater Horizon.  At the heliport, he met James "Mr. Jimmy" Harrell (Kurt Russell) and Andrea Fleytas (Gina Rodriguez), who were also going to the Deepwater Horizon.  A pair of BP executives were included as well.  As the helicopter hove into view, Mr. Jimmy was surprised to see a ship near the platform.  That generally indicated that the well was ready and the platform would travel to a new site shortly.  When the helicopter landed, he briefly conferred with a test team who did not give satisfactory answers to Mr. Jimmy.  What was the situation?

Mike and Mr. Jimmy found Don Vidrine (John Malkovich), a BP Executive, in a good mood.  This particular site had been running over cost and beyond schedule, but he was now certain that the well was ready to hand off to an oil extraction platform.  They could move to a new site.  Mr. Jimmy was doubtful and wanted a test.  The test was inconclusive, but Vidrine was confident.  Though the Deepwater Horizon was owned by Transocean, it was currently leased to BP.  Jimmy deferred to BP's decision.

As it turns out, the well was not hunky dory.  In fact, it was a timebomb that exploded, sending pressure and oil into the platform with destructive force.  The oil soon caught fire and more explosions wracked the doomed platform.  Could they cap the well?  Could they even escape the platform?

The movie opens and closes with the testimony of the actual crew, including Mike and Mr. Jimmy, neither of whom look much like Wahlberg or Russell.  As with the investigation that followed the explosions, the movie pins the blame on BP.

Though true, this is a disaster movie right out of the 1970s.  I was reminded of The Towering Inferno as everything exploded and everyone fled the spreading fire.  Mike proves to be the central character who ties the story into a clean narrative.  Wahlberg does a great job.  Russell is excellent as Mr. Jimmy and Malkovich is terrific as the supercilious executive who is humbled when his claims are proved wrong.

Mostly good popcorn fun, but the conclusion is mostly a downer.  Is this a movie for entertainment or is it a documentary?

Signalgate

The Atlantic journalist Jeffery Goldberg somehow found himself included in a Signal chat among high-ranking officials of the Trump Administration.  As such, he gleaned information about an attack on Houthi rebels that would take place shortly thereafter.  Clearly, this is a serious data breach, a security failure, a clear case of 'loose lips sink ships.'  So, how did the attack go?  Without a hitch.  Whew.  Dodged that bullet.  Now, let's make sure we don't invite reporters to the next chat.  That is not how the press is playing it.

No, Trump needs to fire Secretary Hegseth for using Signal to communication.  He needs to fire Mike Waltz for adding Goldberg to the chat.  Someone needs to be fired for this incident that resulted in no negative consequences other than embarrassment to the 2-month-old administration.  By contrast, when 13 Americans were killed during the Afghan withdrawal, billions in military equipment abandoned, and allied Afghans fell to their deaths from departing aircraft, these same folks didn't call for Secretary Lloyd Austin or Joint Chief Chairman Milley to be fired.  Interesting.

By and large, the press is a wing of the Democratic Party and will spin any story to best favor the Democrats.  That such a big deal is being made of Signalgate shows how effective the Trump Administration is so far.

Due Process for Illegal Immigrants

In response to Trump's wholesale expulsion and deportation of illegal immigrants, the democrats are crying out for due process.  Apparently, these illegal entrants should be allowed to stay - at our expense - until we can give them a court date.  And what is going to happen at that court date?

Judge: Are you a US Citizen?

Immigrant: No

Judge: Do you have a green card or visa?

Immigrant: No

Judge: Clearly, you do not have a legal right or permission to be in the US.  Deportation order is hereby upheld.

What a waste of time and money to go through this.  Once someone crosses the border, the US is now obligated to pay for a public defender and a court date to shove them back to the other side?  Imagine if someone moved into your backyard and you couldn't just kick them out.  Nope, you need to wait on a court date and let a judge permit you to kick them out.  Ludicrous.  Asinine.  Of course, even in the above example, there will be demands for appeal.  Craziness.  This is a strategy that will lead to bankruptcy just trying to get the trespassers out of the country, and that is the point.  The other side wants to make it as expensive as possible to return illegal aliens to their home countries.  Why are they so keen on keeping illegals in the US at the expense of the American taxpayer?

Death of a Unicorn (2025)

Ridley (Jenna Ortega) and her father, Elliot (Paul Rudd), drove through pristine mountains en route to a lodge.  They were to spend the weekend with the Leopolds.  During the drive, Elliot was distracted and struck an animal on the road.  To their shock and amazement, the animal proved to be a unicorn!  It was not dead.  When the horn began to glow, Ridley touched it.  She had a vision of creation.  Oh, the wonders!  She snapped out of it when blood hit her face and her father beat the unicorn to death with a tire iron.  "You were having a seizure," he explained.  Though Elliot sought to hide the incident from the Leopolds - his employers, it was soon revealed.  Moreover, the unicorn blood appeared to have healing properties.  Odell Leopold (Richard E Grant) owned a pharmaceutical company; the unicorn is a godsend.  His wife, Belinda (Tea Leoni), and son, Shepard (Will Poulter), are likewise ecstatic.  Researchers arrived within the hour.  Ridley had seen tapestries at the Cloisters in New York which told the story of unicorns.  By the very discovery of a unicorn, that story took on new meaning.  She interpreted it very darkly.

This is a campy horror film.  Despite their equine figure, they have teeth like a wolf.  These are carnivores, not herbivores.  Though traditionally white, these unicorns change color depending on mood; their hide is very dark when hunting for humans but quite bright when dashing along in the sunlight.  Rather than work with horses, the unicorns are mostly - possibly entirely - CGI creations.  As their blood has magical healing properties, they are understandably hard to kill.

Ridley had a mark against her with that nose ring and made things worse when she broke out the vape.  Though the heroine of the movie, she comes across more as a scold than the voice of reason.  Paul Rudd is stuck with a bland and barely likeable character.  He's a coward through most of the movie and generally a pushover.  Richard E. Grant plays Richard E. Grant, which is quite fun.  If he was drawn as a cartoon character, Odell would have dollar signs for pupils.  Tea Leoni matches Grant's greedy nature, but is generally uninspiring in her role.  Will Poulter is over the top as the rich son with a history of drug use; his experimentation with unicorn parts is hilarious. Grind down horn to snort like cocaine, smoke like tobacco, or use as an additive to whatever he is drinking.

Not a great horror film, but still entertaining.

Baffled (1972)

Racecar driver Tom Kovack (Leonard Nimoy) was well in the lead when he suddenly had a vision.  He saw a manor house in England and a screaming woman.  The vision ruins his concentration on the racetrack.  He spun out and crashed.  Luckily, he was not injured.  Later, during an interview, he detailed the vision to the reporter.  Michelle Brent (Susan Hampshire) was watching and she quickly realized that Tom had psychic powers.  She asked him to travel to England and save the screaming woman.  He viewed that as ludicrous.  However, when he had another vision which saw him falling from a cliff into the sea, he reconsidered, especially since he awoke on the floor covered in sea water.

Actress Andrea Glenn (Vera Miles) traveled to England with her daughter, Jennifer.  They planned to meet her long estranged husband at a manor house owned by Mrs. Farraday (Rachel Roberts).  Much to Jennifer's disappointment, he was not there.  Or is he?  Jennifer begins to act strangely and Andrea becomes deathly ill.  Worse still, efforts were made to kill both Tom and Michelle.  As Tom and Michelle investigate - often with Tom's clairvoyant talents, they discovered that occultism and psychic powers are being wielded against Andrea, her daughter, and themselves.  Can they counter this hidden villain before one of them is killed?

This was made as a pilot for a potential series and even ended with Tom having a vision that required them to travel to Paris next.  Much as I like Leonard Nimoy, he was not the best choice for the role.  Perhaps that is because I've typecast him as Spock.  Susan Hampshire plays both love interest and sage of psychic powers.  If this had launched into a series, how long would her schtick of explaining clairvoyance and the occult have been valuable?  The series would doom Tom to being an eternal noob with regards to powers that he had and she did not.  The villain (Mike Murray) had a small role but managed to be both slimy, creepy, and scary.  He looked like an evil version of Michael Palin.

Just okay.