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The November edition of #TFINYW includes lame mysteries, naked Oscar bait, and me endorsing a remake!

This Film Is Not Yet Watchable - November 2025 actuallypaid.com/2025/11/07/t...

This Film Is Not Yet Watchable – November 2025

I have to say, as we approach Thanksgiving, there are years where it gets really hard to find anything for which to be thankful, because what the sentiment actually means is an acknowledgement of t…

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November 8, 2025 at 6:21 AM

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#BlueMoon sees Ethan Hawke give one of his best performances as a forgotten hero of the American stage, only to be outshined at times by Andrew Scott as the man who left him behind!

Standing Alone - Blue Moon actuallypaid.com/2025/10/20/s...

Standing Alone – Blue Moon

We’re firmly into Awards Season at this point, and over the course of the remaining weeks of 2025, theatres will be inundated with prestige fare in hopes of garnering hardware. The most blata…

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October 21, 2025 at 3:49 AM

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Condemned by his home country, Jafar Panahi's #ItWasJustAnAccident is a statement on humanity, empathy, and humor that all should embrace!

Prisoner Break - It Was Just an Accident actuallypaid.com/2025/10/19/p...

Prisoner Break – It Was Just an Accident

Filmmaking in Iran is at a crossroads at the moment. Despite the repression of the ruling regime in the Islamic Republic, for years its cinema was a cultural high point, with artists like Asghar Fa…

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October 20, 2025 at 4:48 AM

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The October edition of #TFINYW breaks the record with 22 dubious trailers this month, including lame horror, insipid rom-coms, and shameless Oscar bait!

This Film Is Not Yet Watchable - October 2025 actuallypaid.com/2025/10/04/t...

This Film Is Not Yet Watchable – October 2025

If there’s a positive way to spin the events of this year to date, it would be to consider 2025 to be about facing new challenges and persevering. After 13 months without work, I have today c…

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October 4, 2025 at 8:52 AM

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#OneBattleAfterAnother is an expert mix of dark comedy and poignant political messaging, easily one of the best films of the year!

Hail St. Nick! - One Battle After Another actuallypaid.com/2025/09/28/h...

Hail St. Nick! – One Battle After Another

When I was a kid, I did my best to learn as much as possible about everything I could. My grandmother even had a full set of Encyclopedia Americana that I pored over from time to time. I took the o…

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September 29, 2025 at 5:10 AM

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Trump started the day overjoyed that Bob Woodward died... then he found out it was just the guy who played him, then he got really confused when Vance tried to explain the difference and took an angry nap vowing revenge against Bob and his Discount Furniture.

September 16, 2025 at 10:53 PM

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The Latest #BackRowThoughts column looks at three anime (or anime-inspired) films that may or may not compete for the Animated Feature Oscar next year!

Back Row Thoughts - Ani-Maybe? actuallypaid.com/2025/09/13/b...

Back Row Thoughts – Ani-Maybe?

The annual quest to complete the Animated Feature category before it starts is a goal I’ve come painfully close to achieving for years now. Every time that I’ve attempted the feat, I&#8…

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September 14, 2025 at 5:10 AM

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The latest edition of #TFINYW contains Christian propaganda, lazy horror, and a dystopian thriller retroactively rendered as YA shlock!

This Film Is Not Yet Watchable - September 2025 actuallypaid.com/2025/09/06/t...

This Film Is Not Yet Watchable – September 2025

It’s been a rough one, you guys. With the financial woes and lack of work I’ve suffered over the last year-plus, I’ve had to be very judicious and tight with my funds, so my love …

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September 7, 2025 at 5:27 AM

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The latest #BackRowThoughts column looks at four animated films I took in over a single day as part of my birthday celebrations!

Back Row Thoughts - Wheel of Four Toons actuallypaid.com/2025/08/17/b...

Back Row Thoughts – Wheel of Four Toons

Tomorrow is my birthday, so this weekend I decided I would celebrate a little bit by returning to the multiplex. Despite my financial woes, it is still my goal to stay as far ahead of the potential…

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August 18, 2025 at 7:26 AM

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#TheNakedGun isn't perfect, but as legacy sequels go, it's a worthy continuation of a classic franchise, and surprisingly has something meaningful to say alongside the pure, unadulterated shtick!

Living Up to Leslie - The Naked Gun actuallypaid.com/2025/08/09/l...

Living Up to Leslie – The Naked Gun

I admit to having felt a fair degree of trepidation when The Naked Gun was announced. Legacy sequels are, by and large, unnecessary, unwarranted, unwanted, and underwhelming. I understand the natur…

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August 10, 2025 at 5:11 AM

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#FantasticFourFirstSteps is good as it is, but it would be great if it was a standalone film not bound by MCU formula tropes!

A Retro Fit - The Fantastic Four: First Steps actuallypaid.com/2025/08/03/a...

A Retro Fit – The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Congratulations to Kevin Feige for making the very best Fantastic Four movie ever… by default. Yeah, it’s not hard to improve upon the unreleased 1994 Roger Corman abomination, the crin…

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August 4, 2025 at 4:05 AM

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The August edition of #TFINYW features crap rom-coms, reboots and legacy sequels no one asked for, and a cult horror remake that seems to want an even smaller audience than the original!

This Film Is Not Yet Watchable - August 2025 actuallypaid.com/2025/07/30/t...

This Film Is Not Yet Watchable – August 2025

Two items of business to address right up front. First, my financial/employment situation has not improved, so as you’ve no doubt already noticed, coverage of new movies is down severely at t…

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July 31, 2025 at 5:48 AM

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James Gunn's #Superman will make you believe a man can fly, and that maybe we can as well!

More Human Than Humans - Superman actuallypaid.com/2025/07/15/m...

More Human Than Humans – Superman

Superman is the original comic book hero. Sure, what we consider comics existed in various forms for years before his debut in 1938, but once he came into the cultural zeitgeist with Action Comics …

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July 16, 2025 at 6:26 AM

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One of my favorite events on the annual cinematic calendar - the Animation Program at the Brooklyn Film Festival!

BTRP Media Network @btrpmedia.bsky.social · Jul 8

youtube.com/watch?v=i5pN... @actuallypaid.bsky.social @ericmmcclanahan.bsky.social

Brooklyn Film Festival 2025 Animation Program Reviews

YouTube video by Get Behind the Rabbit

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July 8, 2025 at 10:17 PM

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@actuallypaid.bsky.social

The July edition of #TFINYW features more legacy sequels no one asked for, a promise broken at the earliest opportunity, and yet another goddamn Madea movie!

This Film Is Not Yet Watchable - July 2025 actuallypaid.com/2025/07/01/t...

This Film Is Not Yet Watchable – July 2025

You ever get that feeling that no matter how hard you try, everything not only turns out wrong, but seems designed to make life that much worse by its very existence? That’s what the last sev…

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July 2, 2025 at 7:15 AM

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For failing repeatedly to Smurf from their past mistakes, #Smurfs is undeniably "The Worst Trailer in the World... This Month!"

The Worst Smurfer in the Smurf - July 2025 - Smurfs youtu.be/BGw9UDnITTU?... via @YouTube

The Worst Smurfer in the Smurf - July 2025 - Smurfs

YouTube video by I Actually Paid To See This

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July 1, 2025 at 12:48 AM

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The latest #DownStream column takes a look at three animated films that came out on the various platforms this month!

DownStream - June Toons actuallypaid.com/2025/06/26/d...

DownStream – June Toons

At the beginning of the year, I set a goal for myself to go full completist on potential contenders for next year’s Animated Feature Oscar race. I’ve tried several times to finish the w…

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June 27, 2025 at 7:22 AM

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Reviewing #Elio with 3 Random Words youtu.be/cp7s2rL4it8?... via @YouTube

Reviewing Elio with 3 Random Words

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June 26, 2025 at 12:35 AM

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If you've ever wondered why people are disillusioned with the film industry and the Oscars, the Academy tweeting praise for "White Chicks" today should tell you all you need to know.

June 23, 2025 at 7:47 PM

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Breaking News: M. Night Shyamalan releases another shitty movie, says on social media, "NOW IS THE TIME FOR GOOD STORYTELLING!"

June 22, 2025 at 5:12 AM

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It may not be pantheon-level Pixar, but #Elio is everything that #Lightyear SHOULD have been!

You Are Not Alone - Elio actuallypaid.com/2025/06/21/y...

You Are Not Alone – Elio

There have been a couple of occasions in my life where I have looked up at the stars and openly wept. It wasn’t necessarily because I was sad in the moment, or even hurt by something else goi…

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June 21, 2025 at 11:42 PM

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#Elio features a character named "Melmac" and a museum exhibit on the Voyager spacecraft narrated by Kate Mulgrew. See, everyone but Pixar, sometimes references can actually be clever!

June 20, 2025 at 2:08 AM

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#TheLifeOfChuck falters in the final third (first third?), but the mix of logic and wonder mostly makes for some really good life-affirming escapism!

Doing the Math - The Life of Chuck actuallypaid.com/2025/06/14/d...