The Last Movie Guy

War Machine (2026): Just Another Netflix Flick

I grew up during the height of the video store era. I remember when the first VHS player arrived at my home and how it revolutionized my world. I no longer had to wait months for movies to reach television. I could go to the video store and rent anything I wanted. Luckily for me, I had an uncle who managed a couple of Video Ozama stores. I’m sure the 10-year-old version of me, who used to scan covers and pick movies based on how much action the artwork suggested, would have chosen War Machine without hesitation. Back in the 80s and 90s, a movie like this might have had a moderately successful theatrical run before finding its true profitability on VHS. In today’s digital era, the shelves are virtual, and starting with Netflix, that’s where most films like this now live.

Et Maintenant? (2025): A Reflection on Life and Adversity

Posted on 6 Days Ago by Hugo Pagan Soto

Cinema has always imitated life, and it finds inspiration for the stories that fill the big screen in those ordinary lives. Et Maintenant? (2025) is another example that supports that idea. Written and directed by Jocelyn Forgues, the film opened the 2026 edition of the Ottawa International Film Festival. With this work, the director offers a reflection on life through adversity, drawing inspiration from his own experience.

Send Help (2026): Horror Meets Corporate Ambition

Posted on 12 Days Ago by Hugo Pagan Soto

Since 2009, when he made Drag Me to Hell, Sam Raimi had not stepped so firmly back into the territory of horror. With Send Help (2026), he returns to his roots and crafts a film that uses terror as a vehicle to deliver a harsh critique of the inhuman ferocity of the modern corporate world. As is customary with Raimi, the story is built from very simple premises that require little exposition for the audience to enter the world the protagonists must inhabit.

Harakiri (1962): The Samurai Myth Destroyed

Posted on 16 Days Ago by Hugo Pagan Soto

Literature and cinema created the legend of the samurai, that mythical warrior who, katana in hand, rises as an almost supernatural hero. In the popular imagination, his bushido code, honor, and bravery seem unmatched by anything earthly. Harakiri (1962), directed by Masaki Kobayashi, shatters that myth with the same force a samurai sword cuts through flesh. Far from glorifying the Japanese warrior, Kobayashi cloaks him in tragedy to deliver a sharp critique of the moral code tradition has long exalted.

Perfect Days (2023): The Poetry of Ordinary Life

Posted on 20 Days Ago by Hugo Pagan Soto

Wim Wenders has a special gift for capturing the human soul in images. Perfect Days (2023) is a visual poem that confirms the German director’s unique ability to explore the depths of the human spirit. From the ordinary, he constructs a story that transcends the triviality of endless repetitive days. He paints pauses and silences with eloquence, creating a mirror in which we see our own reflection and are compelled to reflect deeply.