SM - SP
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Small Soldiers [1998] Snake Eyes [1998] Sniper [1993]
The Snowman [2017] Snowpiercer [2013] The Snowtown Murders [2011]
Soldier [1998] Soldiers of Fortune [2012] Solis [2018]
Solo: A Star Wars Story [2018] Somebody Help Me [2007] Something in the Dirt [2022]
Son [2021]
Sorcerer [1977] Southbound [2015] Spider-Man: Far from Home [2019]
Spider-Man: Homecoming [2017] Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse [2018] Spider-Man: No Way Home [2021]
Spiderhead [2022] Spies in Disguise [2019] Spinning Man [2018]
Spiral: From the Book of Saw [2021] Spiritwalker [2020] Splatter Farm [1987]
Split [2016] Spring [2014] Spy Game [2001]
Something in the Dirt [2022]

            
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2 tenants begin documenting cosmic events in one of the apartments. Moorhead and Benson, known for their low budget cosmic thrillers (The Endless) treat us to another similar film. The film firmly held my interest with its weirdness but is far more a character study of how these two guys - one who is not nearly as smart as he thinks and the other, far wiser than either give him credit for - deal with the events and each other. Unfortunately, that's all it really dealt with. It's good but spending 2 hours with these characters with little payoff left me less than fulfilled.
Spiderhead [2022]

            

Convicts volunteer to participate in a drug study to get out of general population ...and things get wacko. This film was ok and the acting is good but they missed the mark as far as substance. There's no world building... mostly just a control room watching participants as they're fed drugs intermixed with the head guy constantly manipulating them while endlessly preaching justifications for his actions. All this filler could have been used to show us more of the clinic and the people in it. Last 30 mins rocked but this could have been so much better.
Snake Eyes [1998]

            

A shady detective and his friend, a military security specialist, get embroiled in an assassination at a boxing match. Direction, dialog and acting are tight and precise with enough twists and turns to make for a very compelling film. That being said, the film seems to lose its energy towards a very weak ending. I just watched an alternate ending that blew me away and it's hard for me to believe that they spent that much money on a thrilling climax, that they've been alluding to throughout, and then just dumped it. What a tragically awful decision. I'm so disappointed.
Spies in Disguise [2019]

            

The relationship between the world's greatest spy and a super-intelligent nerd that invents gadgets becomes strained when the spy is turned into a pigeon while a super-villain is trying kill a thousand spies. Awesome animation highlights this very funny catastrophe of silliness with some very imaginative ideas. As far as story or originality, there nothing new here with no subplots to speak of but it is thoroughly entertaining with some really hilarious gags. If you're just looking for something fun the whole family can watch for an evening, this will fill the bill nicely.
Somebody Help Me [2007]

        


A story about incredibly stupid people doing incredibly stupid things. Even the officials, the psychos, and the trailer (which is no longer on YouTube) are stupid. The only thing not stupid was the little girl when she tells them they're all going to die ...obviously referring to their careers in this stupid movie! ...and they made a sequel!! (walks away shaking his head)
Soldier [1998]

            

An early Paul Anderson effort (Event Horizon, Resident Evil, Death Race), a man who's been raised as a supreme killing machine since birth and is now replaced and discarded by new, genetically enhanced soldiers. The first half, where the soldier is trying to grasp what it means to be human while living in a settlement, goes on for far too long. Once things get moving, it picks up but the action is just a couple notches above mediocre. Credit to Kurt Russell for going through the entire film without once changing his expression.
Sorcerer [1977]

            
  
4 men, with nothing to lose, agree to drive two trucks with 6 crates of nitroglycerin soaked TNT through 218 miles of jungle. Having nothing to do with sorcery, the title refers to the name of one of the trucks. An old favorite, I hadn't seen in some time, still grabs ones attention in the first 2 minutes and never lets go. Extremely tense throughout, the photography and practical effects are awesome ...including the 'trucks on the river bridge in a storm' sequence which is still one of the most nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat thrill rides you'll ever see in your life! Super!!
Snowpiercer [2013]

            
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Mankind has turned the earth into a giant snowball and the last of humanity is stuck in a train that never stops ...and the poverty stricken people in the back decide it's time to move to the front. Stunning, violent action, surreal and bizarre characters, intriguing social dynamics, and a philosophy about man's place in the order of things (revealed at the end) that is intrinsically disturbing yet wholly necessary. Fantastic film!!
Solo: A Star Wars Story [2018]

            

The origins of Han Solo depicts his escape from a slave world and establishing his life as a pirate. Tens of millions of dollars spent to visually create the stunning Star Wars universe we've come to love and appreciate and someone forgot to turn on a light! 80% of this film is just simply dark ...hard to see any details at all. Beyond that, much more character driven (way beyond what's necessary) and far less spectacle. I didn't like the ending, either. The train heist was the high point, the rest was unoriginal and entertainingly ho hum.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse [2018]

            

Miles Morales, student and graffiti artist, gets caught up in a battle involving Spider-man, Kingpin and a rip in space-time resulting in Spider-man-like heroes from several parallel universes ...and Miles must save the day. Truly outstanding fun and exciting animated feature with some genuine laugh-out-loud moments. They did a wonderful job of making the characters very human and totally outrageous at the same time. The extended battle around the collider was a bit much, making my wife and I a little nauseous, but otherwise, no complaints.
Southbound [2015]

            

An anthology of overlapping stories presented as a series of bizarre, supernatural events along a remote desert highway (presumed to represent purgatory) over a 24 hour period. This one plays out fairly well with excellent pacing and some very creepy stuff ...especially the creatures. I have no idea what these reaper-like things are supposed to represent but they were very cool! Fitting quite snuggly somewhere between The Twilight Zone and the V/H/S series, there was something quite primal and disturbing about this twisted experience. Nice ending, too!
Spider-Man: Homecoming [2017]

            
  
After the events of the Avenger Civil War, Spider-Man has been relegated to protecting his own neighborhood. As he tries to balance school life and being a hero, he discovers an underground arms manufacturer who's developing monstrous and deadly weapons using alien technology. Excellent characters and story, and, of course, state-of-the art spec fx and action. My only real gripe is some of the action is shot up-close with a shaky camera ...couldn't tell what was happening much of the time. Michael Keaton was perfectly cast as the Vulture.
Split [2016]

            
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A man with 23 personalities kidnaps 3 girls that he believes he must give to 'the beast'. Once again, M. Night Shyamalan, has underwhelmed me. I keep hoping for another piece of brilliance like The Sixth Sense but it has yet to happen. Although interesting as a character study and exceptional acting, it's ponderously slow and the events are forced upon you in order to make the story work ...I was constantly questioning what would logically happen and then realized it wouldn't fit the script.
Spider-Man: Far from Home [2019]

            
  
On a school trip to Europe, Peter Parker is reluctantly forced into his Spider-man role as he finds himself in a war between Mysterio and the Elementals ...and all he wants to do is woo a classmate. Taking place after Endgame, this one centers on Peter's character and his circle of acquaintances far too much, imo. Although certainly likable and fun, it didn't leave as much room for an overly simple story as MCU films go. However, it was, humorous, exciting, full of action, eye candy and colorful characters, introduces the 'Peter-tingle', and is quite enjoyable.
Spider-Man: No Way Home [2021]

            
  
Tom Holland (Peter Parker 1) is solely responsible for this film being made as he went to Sony and Marvel and told them to get their asses back to the table and work out a deal ...much to our benefit. After Spider-Man's identity is revealed and he's accused of murder and mayhem, Parker asks Dr Strange to cast a spell to make everyone forget. This rips a hole into the multi-verse and many of the characters from pre-MCU Spider-Man films show up making this film as nostalgic as it is exciting, action packed and providing countless story branches to pursue.
Spy Game [2001]

            

A retiring CIA handler has to plead his case on rescuing an operative captured by the Chinese. Very intriguing and well written spy thriller with an excellent performance by Robert Redford as a handler who knows exactly what he's doing against all odds. Both my wife and myself found the film very compelling and, now that we know what happens, certainly worth a second watch to spot all the tricks. Good fun!
The Snowman [2017]

            

An alcoholic investigator and a newcomer to the department investigate a number of disappearances; all of which have a snowman on site. Once again, far too much time spent on the people in the story and far too little time spent on the actual crimes. Add the fact that the movie's plot is disjointed, wastes time on characters and subplots that make no difference to the story and I didn't understand anyone's motivation for the things they do. The ending was just silly. Too bad the movie is nowhere close to what the trailer presents.
Solis [2018]

            
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An engineer is stuck in a mining pod headed straight for the sun after an explosion while a command ship tries to catch up and save him. Boy, this film was cruel and agonizing to both the central character and me, the viewer. It's just him and a voice on the radio for the whole film while he goes about trying to find ways to stay alive and that gets pretty trying after a while. The guy's a pessimistic jerk at first and then, when they finally did make me care about him, they slap an ending on it that just ticked me off. What a pathetically downbeat film.
Spring [2014]

            
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After the death of his mother, a guy goes to Italy and becomes involved with a woman who's a bit different. It was really hard to get through the first 40 mins due to a very similar family loss followed by guys being about as obnoxious as possible. The rest is a romance story where the relationship has problems with her peculiar regeneration issues. They were likable but not particularly interesting. I don't know what significance the farmer had in all this. Seemed important, but why? Wasn't bad, but I kept waiting for something remarkable to happen. Nope!
Son [2021]

            
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8 years after escaping a cult with her new born son, a woman finds that said son is developing some rather peculiar eating habits. A slow paced but highly unsettling story of a woman who will do anything for her son regardless of the consequences. The characters were real and personal forcing the viewer to genuinely care about them despite knowing that there's no way this will end well. Excellent acting, well written and a twist ending that I kinda sorta thought was coming but still quite effective, nonetheless. Had a few good gore moments, as well. Nicely done.
Spiritwalker [2020]

            
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A man, whose spirit is jumping around from one person to another every 12 hours, is trying to find out who he is, what's going on and how to save his girlfriend. Likable characters, good pacing and great action highlight this incredibly intriguing story that leaves one wondering what's going to happen next. It is a bit confusing at times, they did sort of lose me on a couple points, but once the reveal is made, things gelled together quite well and the John Wickish climax was a real treat. Good exciting fun well worth a bag a popcorn and a hot dog.
Small Soldiers [1998]

            
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A toymaker implants a military A.I. chip into soldier and alien toys and the toys proceed to go to war. It took awhile for this film to get going and I didn't think I was going to like it much. When it did get going, it turned out to be incredibly fun full of highly imaginative gags and a multitude of laugh-out-loud moments. Like Director Joe Dante's previous film, Gremlins, he managed to give all the toys fully developed personalities and traits that made them as endearing as they were threatening. All the humans were excellent, too. Fun for the whole family.
Splatter Farm [1987]

         

Worse than a lot of home movies I've seen, this no-budget, direct-to-video, gore, z-film, made by and staring teenage twin brothers and a friend, is about the most vile thing I've seen for some time. With a less than amateurish effort that is quite stunning, the kids managed to throw every disgusting thing they could imagine right in our face while equally making us cringe at the bad acting, horrible dialog and editing clearly done with a butter knife. Gave them some credits for the audacity to release this to the public and the surprisingly high ratings considering.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw [2021]

            

An honest detective, constantly under derision from his fellow officers for busting a bad cop, becomes the lead detective in a case of cops being forced to "play a game" with a Jigsaw copycat. Up to this point, all the Saw films are interconnected and an integral part of the overall story. This film is solidly a stand-alone with a copycat ...but a good one. I figured out who the bad guy was so that wasn't a surprise but the twisted way it played out was great and brought together all those clues that just fly right by you without notice. Chris Rock was awesome!
The Snowtown Murders [2011]
aka Snowtown
            
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Based on real events in the 90's centering around John Bunting, one of Australia's most notorious serial killers, and his unquestioning control and dominance of those around him. Filmed amidst the poverty and squalor of Snowtown, this dark, disturbing, and depressing film is shot in an unnerving documentary style that makes you feel like you're a party to all of this. Well made and effective, my personal score is wholly subjective as it's slow pacing and nearly total focus on horrible people (with little emphasis on the crimes) left me feeling lousy.
Spinning Man [2018]

            
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A girl goes missing and a dedicated detective believes a somewhat absent-minded professor is responsible. The film does an excellent job at never making it clear if the professor is guilty or not while presenting an excellent and seriously intense character study of all those involved. Unfortunately, it becomes a one-trick pony as that's all it does until the resolution ...which is, um, strange. The film never clearly defines many issues it brings up. Add an ambiguous ending and this viewer was left with a lot of questions.
Soldiers of Fortune [2012]

            
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A bunch of ultra-rich men supply arms to an island resistance group in exchange for being part of the action. Lot of familiar faces in this one and they all do an adequate job. Nothing new or remarkable about the film. It's enjoyable (certainly better than the ratings seem to indicate if you aren't too critical) but pretty much everything about it is average.
Sniper [1993]

            
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A sniper and a rookie (who's 'in charge') are sent into Panama to take out a General. This is a good entertaining movie that I enjoyed watching. That being said, this world would only exist in a script. Billy Zane's character made absolutely no sense whatsoever. He's hand-picked to carry out this 'critical' mission when it's obvious he's clueless. Most of the time he spends being either a buffoon or a wimp. He whines constantly, wants to go home, and then when he does step up, he goes whako. It was still fun despite making this poor guy a script slave.
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