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Dust Bunny (2025)

13 Friday Nov 2026

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Cognizance is confidence,
And knowledge makes a fellow brave.
But thinking one knows everything
Is the surest path to an early grave.

I know monsters are not real,
But should monstrosities exist,
My believing has no bearing
Once I’m in the monsters’ midst.
____________________

MPA rating: R (for violence but honestly it should be PG-13)

When people complain about there not being any original movies anymore, it’s a sign that they simply aren’t paying attention. While franchises may be Hollywood’s bread and butter, plenty of gems fly under the radar, and Dust Bunny is a prime example. Written and directed by TV maestro Bryan Fuller, the film is hard to categorize, towing the line between action, horror, fantasy, and family film to create a remarkably stylish and confident directorial debut.

Imagine if Roald Dahl wrote a dark fantasy in the John Wick universe. That comes close to describing Dust Bunny, wherein foster kid Aurora (Sophie Sloan) keeps having her families disappear, and she insists they were eaten by a monster under her bed. She eventually turns to her mysterious neighbor (Mads Mikkelsen), a hitman who can surely kill it for her, but they are soon beset by killers from without and a creature from below.

Part of the appeal of this genre mixing is that the characters think they are in different movies, so to speak. Aurora is entirely convinced that monsters that swim through the floorboards like a furry shark are real, while her new friend (known only as Resident 5B or Intriguing Neighbor) is equally convinced that she simply has a wild imagination and that his own wacky and ruthless world of contract killers is the true cause of her family troubles. In time, they bond over their loneliness and seek to protect each other, even as the fantasy and noir clash in deadly chaos, and Mikkelsen and Sloane have a great winking chemistry with each other, both well aware they know more than the other.

Another aspect I love is the production design, which I think was criminally snubbed for an Oscar nomination. The apartment building is an Art Nouveau time capsule from Hungary, and the ornate sets and dynamic wallpapers really give the film a unique and whimsical character. The costumes are also a stand-out, colorful and evocative of 1960s styles without ever specifying a time or place. So much of it is simply fun to look at, and there’s a chicken-butt lamp that made me laugh just seeing it.

In short, Dust Bunny is a strange delight, a showcase of hitmen and monsters and Sigourney Weaver firing guns in her heels. It also feels like a prime candidate for introducing older kids to darker themes; despite its R rating, much of it plays like a family film with zero profanity and little blood, though there are still mature elements like cutting up a body offscreen. With Hannibal and now this film, Mikkelsen and Fuller have a strong partnership, and I certainly hope they can collaborate on more projects like this.

Best line: (Intriguing Neighbor) “Monsters aren’t real.”
(Aurora) “Yes, they are. Don’t pretend.”
(Neighbor) “Grown-ups don’t pretend.”
(Aurora) “Grown-ups pretend not to be afraid, but they are… all the time.”

Rank: List-Worthy

© 2026 S.G. Liput
799 Followers and Counting

Godzilla Minus Zero (2026)

09 Monday Nov 2026

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A shadow once cast isn’t banished so swiftly.
We soak in its horror long after it’s gone.
We wish for a switch that could turn off the terror
As quickly and coldly as it was flipped on.

It clings to our dreams, both in sleep and in waking.
It morphs what we want, who to hurt, who to blame.
Some never can shake it, that leftover burden
Of something they loved that was lost to the pain.

The shadow is sticky, tenacious, undying;
You kick it away, and it always returns.
But battle is better than letting it drown you;
Living’s the vengeance for which the heart yearns.
____________________

MPA rating: R (for violence and death; could pass for PG-13 in my opinion)

Godzilla Minus One took many viewers by surprise, myself included, boasting an affecting human story at the heart of the big destruction sequences and even managing to snag a Visual Effects Oscar. For me, it was a clear outlier of Godzilla media, which had never interested me much before, so it’s gratifying that its sequel Godzilla Minus Zero delivers the same well-rounded human-vs-monster story as its predecessor.

Picking up two years after former kamikaze pilot Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) managed to vanquish Godzilla, the film puts Japan right back into danger as a flying dragon-like creature called Ghidorah begins a new reign of terror. Scientist Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka) leads a bureau specifically meant to handle such disasters, and he regretfully pulls Shikishima back into the monster-killing effort, if only to protect his wife Noriko (Minami Hamabe) and their adopted daughter Akiko (Sae Nagatani). As an unlikely survivor of the first rampage, Noriko is faced with even harder choices when Godzilla also makes a reappearance.

I will say up front that I consider Minus One the better film, if only for its more focused themes and satisfying ending, but Minus Zero carries over a lot of the same strengths. The relationship between Shikishima, Noriko, and Akiko feels heart-tuggingly real, all of them survivors who only wish to survive together, and the aftermath of WW2 continues to haunt the cast, particularly Professor Murakami (Min Tanaka), a biologist who dreams of perpetuating the cycle of revenge. And of course, there are giant monsters, with the ever-evolving Ghidorah wreaking havoc on anything in its way. The effects work is spectacular yet again, proving that Japan can put plenty of Hollywood CGI to shame.

As for the negatives, they mainly revolve around the ending for me. The big battle that pits Godzilla against Ghidorah is awesome, but the scale of it makes it hard to believe any of the humans nearby would survive, and it ends a bit anticlimactically, most likely to leave options open for a third film. It’s hard to say in what direction that third film might go, but writer-director Takashi Yamazaki has me thoroughly invested in this particular iteration of the Godzilla mythos. I still wouldn’t consider myself a general fan of Godzilla like some of my friends are, but I am a fan of good movies, and if a good movie happens to feature Godzilla, then I’m in.

Rank:  List-Worthy (joining Minus One)

© 2026 S.G. Liput
799 Followers and Counting

Damsel (2024)

06 Friday Nov 2026

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Beware the power no man can claim,
The force that puts all others to shame,
The breath of death and fire of fear
To make hearts quake when it is near,
The might igniting years restrained,
No longer collared or contained,
The thing men fear at every age,
The power of…
A woman’s rage!
___________________

MPA rating:  PG-13

Millie Bobby Brown hasn’t aimed especially high since her breakout role in Stranger Things, but her Netflix films are still solidly entertaining, from the playful mysteries of Enola Holmes to the flawed but overly hated The Electric State. Damsel might be her best leading role yet, letting her square off against high fantasy dangers and hold her own.

The daughter of the less-than-wealthy Lord Bayford (Ray Winstone), Elodie (Brown) is summoned to the lavish kingdom of Aurea, where she is to be wed to its Prince Henry (Nick Robinson) at the invite of the reigning Queen Isabelle (Robin Wright). While she wonders at the somewhat strange circumstances, she warms to Henry and accepts for the sake of her and her own kingdom’s future, only to be blindsided by a malign tradition that puts her at the mercy of a bloodthirsty dragon (voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo).

The modernist intention behind Damsel is rather obvious, seeking to subvert the happily-ever-after of fairy tales by betraying the title damsel and turning her into an action hero bent on both survival and revenge. While one could easily just roll their eyes at some of the fantasy Die Hard-like feats Brown pulls off, her conflict with both the dragon and the royals keeps the story engaging. I liked how the film wasn’t pure black-and-white with its characterization, where the actions of the dragon, the evil queen, the reluctant prince, Elodie’s guilt-stricken father, and her surprisingly not evil stepmother (Angela Bassett) feel justifiable to themselves based on what they know.

I also have to give credit to the production design and cinematography that make the fantasy world quite beautiful at times, as well as the excellent effects work on the dragon. Brown herself carries the film handily, and, even if the plot becomes predictable after its central twist, Damsel is one of the better Netflix originals I’ve seen.

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2026 S.G. Liput
799 Followers and Counting

Wildwood (2026)

01 Sunday Nov 2026

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The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
An obstacle of ageless sleep
To those with promises to keep
And fragile lives so brief.

The woods are life and death in turn
From ivy vine to fir and fern.
To sky they grow, to ash they burn,
And seeds are free of grief.

What business have you in the wood
Where trees care not for bad and good?
They’ve seen far more than humans could,
And they shall watch you too.

Good luck whatever road you take,
Whatever bones or hearts shall break,
Whatever sleeping dogs you wake…
You can’t escape their view.
______________________

MPA rating:  PG-13 (for violence and a suicide)

Well, so much for my plans to review some scary movies ahead of Halloween. I’ve still had some issues with writing motivation, so in lieu of National Novel Writing Month, I’ll try to post a review per day in November. No promises, of course, but I’m hoping this will get my creative juices flowing again. And I’m kicking things off with a new release that was one of my most anticipated films of the year.

The trailers alone for Wildwood have given me chills, so I was eagerly awaiting the newest film from stop-motion studio Laika. I have rarely fully connected with Laika’s previous films like Coraline and Missing Link, though I do love Kubo and the Two Strings. Often stop-motion films are technically impressive, but the stories somehow don’t resonate with me, as if they weren’t worth the amount of effort put into them. Yet I could tell Wildwood had a lot of potential, to the point that I read the 2011 novel on which it’s based, written by Colin Meloy of the band The Decemberists, which only heightened my expectations. And after seeing it twice now in the theaters, I am so glad that Wildwood is the masterpiece I wanted it to be.

Set in Meloy’s hometown of Portland, Oregon, the story follows tweens Prue (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) and Curtis (Jacob Tremblay) as they enter a magical world in the nearby woods after Prue’s baby brother Mac is kidnapped by a murder of crows. The two are soon caught in the middle as tensions rise between neighboring nations of the wood, and the deposed Dowager Governess Alexandra (Carey Mulligan) has raised an army and plots destruction on all who stand in her way.

For starters, the animation is absolutely wondrous, a technical achievement that has been universally praised by critics and audiences alike. I consider it the apotheosis of stop-motion animation. The sheer number of locations, characters, costumes, and set pieces that were fashioned by hand are staggering, and stop-motion’s sometimes jerky look that lends itself to the creepy or grotesque is remarkably smooth here, to the point that it’s easy to forget the pain-staking process that went into every second of what is now the longest stop-motion film ever made. The lush forest environments are gorgeous, and the warm colors and cinematography make the miniature world come alive. There’s a huge battle toward the end that has drawn fitting comparison to The Lord of the Rings, and the scale of it is truly a new high in Laika’s chosen art form.

As for the story, that seems to be where at least some viewers are more mixed, finding it perhaps less than original or too stuffed with plot for the characters to stand out. Such observations are not unwarranted, but, having read the book, I think it’s a really masterful adaptation. A lot happens over 500+ pages, and Chris Butler’s screenplay manages to capture most of the story while speeding up the pace, a little gender-swapping, adding some more exciting scenes, recreating others straight from the page, and retaining a remarkable amount of heart at the core of Prue and Alexandra’s conflicting journeys. The film even manages to fix a couple plot points that annoyed me in the original book.

So though Wildwood isn’t immune from some plot weakness and fast pacing, it’s nonetheless a truly special film, one worthy of the amount of time and craft that Laika invested in it. As its deserved PG-13 rating suggests, it’s also much more mature than the typical animated fare, with much death, a suicide, and intense battle scenes (though not overly graphic), which only increased my appreciation for how seriously the filmmakers approached this story that touches on grief and desperation. At this point, I am actively rooting for Wildwood to get a Best Picture nomination at the next Oscars, while also bemoaning its criminally low box office numbers. Something about this film just makes me so glad that it exists, and I suspect that its reputation will only grow in the future.

Rank: Top 100-Worthy

© 2026 S.G. Liput
799 Followers and Counting

Hope (2026)

20 Sunday Sep 2026

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I hope we won’t be spotted.
I hope it’s safe to stay.
With every hour
More we cower,
The more I feel like prey.

I hear the sounds approaching.
I fear their origin,
The smell of death
Upon its breath
As hope is wearing thin.
__________________

MPA rating: R (for violence and language)

I’m torn on whether I should catch up on a pretty deep backlog of films or focus on new releases, so I might as well alternate. One of several Korean imports in recent months, Hope is the latest film from acclaimed director Na Hong-jin, an apocalyptic alien invasion thriller that boasts the highest budget yet for a Korean film. Set in the (surprisingly heavily armed) rural village of Hope Harbor near the DMZ, police chief Ko Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) goes from investigating a mysterious dead cow to fighting for survival against a giant creature wreaking havoc on the town, with bigger implications as the scope of the danger spreads.

Despite an overlong runtime of over 2½ hours, Hope’s pace rarely falters, with the extended sequences of alien carnage being the main attraction. Whether it’s navigating narrow village streets or battling in beautiful green forests, the action is consistently thrilling and shot fluidly to capture the right balance of tension and movement, with echoes of Attack on Titan and Predator. Once seen, the monsters themselves suffer a bit from imperfect CGI, but they have a unique biology and thick hide that make them a particularly dangerous adversary for mere humans. Special mention is deserved by Jung Ho-yeon as a rookie cop with a truly badass introduction and Zo In-sung as a hunter with especially impressive plot armor.

The main drawback for Hope is that it is very obviously incomplete; it might as well be called Hope: Part One for all the closure it gives to… anything. After an exciting chase scene that gets a bit repetitive, something big and catastrophic happens for reasons unknown, and it just ends. There’s a sort of twist in the final moments that indicates the alien perspective will become more important, which could be really interesting in a sequel, which is supposedly already written but yet to be greenlit. But as the film stands now, it offers little beyond the action (admittedly very skillful, intense action) and a suggestion of a larger story that we may never see. One can only hope that a worthy Part Two will come eventually.

Rank:  List Runner-Up

© 2026 S.G. Liput
790 Followers and Counting

Superman (2025)

07 Monday Sep 2026

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Do you believe that a man can fly?
Or do they all fall to the cynical eye?
The worst is more likely, so doubt in the best.
That S on the chest
Is a pie in the sky.

Do you believe we are too far gone,
That the king and the queen have forgotten the pawn?
But someone is fighting, if need be alone,
And every stone thrown
Makes trying feel wrong.

Do you believe we are doomed from the start?
Or can hope be found in the ol’ bleeding heart?
It’s risky, of course, pinning hopes anywhere,
But such is the prayer
Of playing one’s part.
___________________

MPA rating: PG-13

Considering how deep my year-plus backlog of movies is, I wasn’t sure where to start with my return to blogging, but it made sense to begin with my official favorite movie of 2025. I don’t think I’m alone, but I have long been a proponent of Marvel’s cinematic universe over DC’s more scattershot attempts. Except for Wonder Woman and Shazam, I never really connected with most of the Snyderverse, so I had no qualms over James Gunn taking over the DC franchise and giving it a fresh coat of paint. And considering his first film in that rebooted world, I’m fully on board.

Stepping confidently into Christopher Reeve’s shoes and eschewing the more broody Henry Cavill take, David Corenswet plays the new Man of Steel, already an established hero dating Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and defending Metropolis alongside an incipient “Justice Gang” made up of a Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi). Superman ends up a punching bag more often than one might expect, both literally and figuratively, thanks to the machinations of born hater Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), who is intent on taking his nemesis down physically and in the public eye.

It was smart of Gunn to not belabor yet another origin story for an already well-known character, and he wastes no time in dropping us into the new DC universe, complete with Krypto the Superdog, prison pocket dimensions, Fortress of Solitude robots, and existing character dynamics. There’s a lot of comic book geekery on display, yet it manages to serve the story without alienating newcomers. It doesn’t hurt that Gunn borrows some of his own trademarks from Guardians of the Galaxy, like an extended one-shot battle scene set to music that makes Mr. Terrific the unexpected stand-out side character.

No hate to the prior Superman actors, but Corenswet is a natural, boasting excellent chemistry with Brosnahan and a likeable boy-scout earnestness opposite the more cynical heroes. A climactic monologue to Luthor doesn’t quite land as well as intended, but a quieter moment with Lois in his childhood bedroom reinforces how his optimism and goodness are their own form of resistance. I liked how his adoptive parents Ma and Pa Kent are played by lesser-known actors (Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell), as well as his arc of ultimately embracing his earth heritage over his Kryptonian one.

After the comparative drudgery of the Snyderverse, the latest Superman is a breath of fresh air. Action-packed, sincere, perhaps slightly overstuffed, but above all fun, this is how to start a cinematic universe.

Best line: (Lois) “My point is I question everything and everyone. You trust everyone and think everyone you’ve ever met is, like… beautiful.”   (Clark) “Maybe that’s the real punk rock.”

Rank: List-Worthy

© 2026 S.G. Liput
790 Followers and Counting

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)

03 Saturday May 2025

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(I’m catching up after the fact, but for Day 15 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a six-line poem characterized by simple language and enthusiasm, so I focused on the film itself this time.)

I played the games when I was young.
I guess I’ll go watch the movie. Looks fun.
It’s not as if I’ve been waiting for this,
But all my friends saw it. I don’t want to miss
The tragic backstory, Jim Carrey’s full glory, ooh, that scene was peak!
Shut up, I’m no geek….
______________________

MPA rating: PG

It honestly feels like a minor miracle that the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has translated to the big screen as well as it has. It seemed as if it would be a bomb on arrival after the poorly received initial design for the title character, but three live-action movies and a streaming show later, it’s proven to be remarkably fun. In this third outing (did I never review the sequel? Guess not.), a powerful black and red hedgehog called Shadow (Keanu Reeves) is freed from decades-long imprisonment and embarks on a spree of vengeance, leading Sonic (Ben Schwartz), Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), and Knuckles (Idris Elba) to team with the non-shockingly not dead Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) to bring him down.

While the Knuckles series got rather dumb as it dragged out, the movies have found the right secret sauce for Team Sonic, with Sonic’s quippy super-speed antics bouncing well off of Tails’ earnest tech support and Knuckles’ headstrong aggression. Add in a self-serious straight man in the form of Shadow, a villain very much in the mold of Mewtwo from Pokémon, and the film is able to find a surprising balance between silly action and emotional stakes. It also helps that James Marsden and Tika Sumpter as Sonic’s adoptive parents are given more to do this time, while Jim Carrey pulls eccentric double duty as both the returning mad scientist Ivo Robotnik and his even madder grandfather Gerald.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 gives every indication that this franchise has the potential to keep getting better, with yet another character from the games teased at the end for a sequel. One dance scene between the Robotniks will no doubt go down as one of Carrey’s finest and most hilarious moments and well worth his return from retirement. And though there’s nothing revolutionary about the plot or themes, the overall entertainment value makes this a film to please nostalgic nerds and present kids alike.

Best line: (Shadow) “The light shines, even though the star is gone.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2025 S.G. Liput
809 Followers and Counting

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)

27 Sunday Apr 2025

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(For Day 27 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a poem focusing on a detail of a painting, but I think I’ll go off-prompt today and cover a movie I’ve been meaning to review for a while.)

The legends that matter endure through time.
The others are lost with a final breath,
Were not so luck’ly preserved in rhyme,
And died an unremembered death.

What could have saved the tales so lost?
A copied scroll or a memorized line?
What bade a once-loved myth be tossed
Ere passing history’s finish line?

What wonders, horrors, joys, and fears
Have gone extinct with fossils none?
The stories mute for want of ears…
I wish I could read oblivion.
___________________

If you imagine a Venn diagram with anime fandom and Lord of the Rings fandom as the two circles, I would be squarely in the middle of the shared area. Therefore, an anime spin-off film set a couple hundred years before The Fellowship of the Ring was right up my alley from the start. Focusing on one of the legendary tales of the horse-riding nation of Rohan, the story follows Princess Héra (Gaia Wise), daughter of King Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox), as she defends her nation from the invasion of Wulf (Luke Pasqualino), a former friend bent on vengeance.

The most common criticism I heard about War of the Rohirrim was about the choppy animation, and yes, character movement is a bit stilted at times, particularly at the beginning. Even using a 3D rotoscope-like technology, Sola Entertainment as a studio can’t match the butter-smooth animation of MAPPA or Science Saru, so we can only imagine how different the style might have been in the hands of a different studio. But the animation is still good throughout and even excels in the big action moments, and best of all, the style compliments Peter Jackson’s version of Middle-earth with some outstanding backgrounds and scenery. (Besides, the previous standard for LotR animation was Rankin/Bass or Ralph Bakshi, and this is still a cut above those.)

Beyond the animation, I’ve heard all the complaints, from the plot being too long, the characters one-note, the story being basically female-forward fan fiction since Héra isn’t even named in the Tolkien appendices from which the plot was drawn (and the film doesn’t explain why she was supposedly left out of the official history). And yet, I really liked this movie, my inherent love of the franchise winning out over all else. None of those grievances detracted from the experience of being able to visit Middle-earth again, with Howard Shore’s Rohan theme setting the epic mood and some hype-worthy set pieces bringing the action. A friend who saw it with me thought it went too anime at times, with clearly human characters pulling off superhuman feats as if they were elves, but I saw such moments perhaps as embellishments, considering the story is told as a legend of Rohan by the narrating voice of Eowyn (Miranda Otto). I also thought Héra was a good example of a “strong female character,” by simply rising to the challenge set before her rather than harping about gender differences or whatnot, similar to Miyazaki’s Nausicaä, who was cited as an influence by Wise.

All in all, The War of the Rohirrim is an epic story that continues the tradition of Peter Jackson’s world. Even if it was simply an expendable side project so New Line could hold onto the Tolkien rights, that just makes the care and quality that was put into it that much more impressive. It broke my heart then that, whether due to disinterest or poor marketing, the film flopped last December, failing to even earn back its budget. I don’t deny that it had room to be better with smoother animation or more interesting dialogue, but it met my high expectations for a Middle-earth movie and, in my opinion, deserved better.

Rank: List-Worthy

© 2025 S.G. Liput
807 Followers and Counting

The Gorge (2025)

20 Sunday Apr 2025

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(Happy Easter to all! For Day 20 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for “a poem informed by musical phrasing or melody,” with the suggestion of rewriting a song’s lyrics. I’ve done that plenty of times before, so I considered the theme of long-distance relationships and rewrote the irregular lyrics of “Spitting Off the Edge of the World” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Perfume Genius, which was prominently used in this film.)

Distance, not too far
To meet your eyes.
Though I know where you are,
And you likewise,
Must, must wishes on a star
Be squandered on this expanse
That spans our hearts?
I’ll never mind the gap in between
Your heart and mine.
Standing on a cliff,
I see your sign.
I’ll never mind the gap in between
Earth and its star.
Never mind what if;
It’s not so far.

Lover, I wait and watch
With bated breath.
If you shoot, I won’t dodge
A welcome death,
But if you can stand the thirst,
That suffering deserves quite a dance,
Our favorite parts.
I’ll never mind the gap in between
Your heart and mine.
Standing on a cliff,
I see your sign.
I’ll never mind the gap in between
Earth and its star.
Never mind what if;
It’s not so far.
I’ll never mind the gap in between
Souls biding time,
Standing on a cliff
That’s worth the climb.
___________________________

MPA rating: PG-13

It’s unfortunate that films deserving of a theater release can easily be overlooked when only available behind the walls of a particular streaming service. Luckily, Apple TV+ is among my subscriptions, allowing me to watch The Gorge, which caught my interest just from the trailer (which gives way too much away, in my opinion; don’t watch it first). Directed by Scott Derrickson of Sinister and Doctor Strange fame, the film stars Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy as a pair of world-weary snipers, one American and one Lithuanian, who are tasked with guarding remote outposts on either side of a deep and mysterious gorge. Despite the pit between them and orders not to communicate, they gradually develop a relationship, even as the secrets at the bottom of the gorge threaten to emerge.

I’ll say up front, as many critics have complained, that the premise of The Gorge does take a massive amount of suspension of disbelief. The secrecy around the giant hidden trench begs a lot of logistical questions (like how many giant pieces of paper did the eastern side keep in stock?), and the action of the latter half, often putting Derrickson’s horror roots to good use, does strain credulity. Yet this is one of those cases where I just didn’t mind, thanks in large part to Teller and Taylor-Joy, who share a remarkable chemistry and one of the steamiest dance scenes in recent memory (set to that wonderfully atmospheric Yeah Yeah Yeahs song). Taylor-Joy especially has never looked better, so maybe I just have a new celebrity crush. The Gorge is popcorn entertainment sadly relegated to small-screen streaming, a far-fetched but very watchable mashup of genres that I highly recommend.

Best line: (actually quoting T.S. Eliot) “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2025 S.G. Liput
806 Followers and Counting

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

13 Sunday Apr 2025

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(For Day 12 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was a doozy: a multi-section poem drawing from myths and legends featuring rhyme and mixed formal and informal language. So, with this film in mind, I mused on what to do if offered three wishes by a genie.)

Wish 1

To access wishes, surely I
Must be in dire straits myself.
Trapped within a tomb of stone
Or stranded on an icy shelf,
Marooned upon an isle alone
Or chained in jail, condemned to die.

For my first wish, therefore, I must
Escape the fate that brought me here,
Wish myself above the ground
Or make what threatens disappear,
Unstuck, unbound, uncooked, undrowned,
Ideally somewhere I can trust.

Wish 2

My second wish
Depends on much.

Has the djinn at least been kind,
Or left half of me behind?

Am I truly free from harm,
Or acquired a new alarm?

Am I not falling from the sky
With no faculty to fly?

Is my friend in peril somewhere?
Do I like them enough to care?

Does the djinn insist on rules,
Like no death or love or ghouls?

And, unlike the foolish herds,
Am I careful with my words?

If yes to all above,
Then I guess I’ll side with love
For my friend who’s so in need
And ensure they’re also freed.
Aren’t I nice? I am indeed.

Wish 3

Assuming both my prior wishes
Haven’t spiraled far awry,
Now that I’m not about to die,
I have an epic choice ahead.

The world is mine to seize and form.
With but a wish, I’d gain renown,
A merry harem, a sultan’s crown,
A sorcerer or god instead.

In place of a dark lord or queen,
The world will love me and despair!
I’m kidding, no, I wouldn’t dare,
But I have to end this with a bang.

Hypnosis, health, wisdom, wealth?
Would they be subject to some twist?
I wish I knew the perfect wish
To satisfy me… dang.
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MPA rating: Approved (a likely G)

Having grown up with The Wizard of Oz, I’ve loved it from the start, viewing its dated or hokey elements as charming rather than a detraction, and I suspect the same would be true for The Thief of Bagdad, had it been an old childhood favorite as well. Boasting 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, this fantasy adventure draws elements from the One Thousand and One Nights to tell a partially non-linear tale of the betrayed Prince Ahmad of Bagdad (John Justin) and his wily friend/thief Abu (young Indian actor Sabu) as they fight against the evil vizier Jaffar (Conrad Veidt) and save a princess (June Duprez).

It was especially amusing to see how many aspects of Disney’s Aladdin were borrowed directly from this film. Sharing a name with Aladdin’s monkey, Abu flees a crowd with stolen food in an early scene, instantly bringing to mind the opening number from the animated film. In addition, you have a vizier named Jaffar/Jafar, a weak-minded sultan (Miles Malleson) who loves toys and is looking to give his daughter in marriage, a sheltered royal sneaking out of the palace to mingle with the common folk, and a genie and magic carpet aiding the heroes. The Djinn/genie (Rex Ingram) is quite different, though, more malevolent and helping Abu grudgingly, and there are plenty of other differences to set it apart.

Sabu and Justin make an appealing heroic team, while Veidt has an excellent Vincent Price-like coldness that made him a popular villain actor at the time. Of course, it’s a bit odd that most of the main roles (save for Sabu) are clearly white actors surrounded by Middle Eastern extras and settings, but I suppose that’s just due to the time period. The sets and props really add to the world-building, and the film is known for pioneering the first use of bluescreen/greenscreen to place Sabu within the extravagant special effects sequences of the latter half. While The Thief of Bagdad starts off a bit awkwardly before the plot gets rolling, it’s a genre classic that deserves wider appreciation as an entertaining fantasy of Old Hollywood.

Best line: (the Djinn, to Abu) “You’re a clever little man, little master of the universe, but mortals are weak and frail. If their stomach speaks, they forget their brain. If their brain speaks, they forget their heart. And if their heart speaks [laughing], they forget everything.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

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