Jake Ross

🎬 Making you see movies in a whole new light.
🍿 Creator & Host of Breakdowns & Blockbusters.
💬 Got a movie question? Start with “Hey Jake…”

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

How much better would STAR TREK: NEMESIS have been if Patrick Stewart had played Shinzon himself? Imagine Stewart vs. Stewart, with one of them chewing the scenery as a gloriously hammy Shakespearean villain.

The movie bombed at the box office, but I guarantee you Stewart facing off against an evil version of himself would’ve sold a hell of a lot more tickets. And been infinitely more fun to watch!

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

With news of LANTERNS Season 2 being cancelled, two huge mistakes stand out: making it a series instead of a movie, and killing off Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan, who was easily the most fun, funny, and exciting character DC had. He was almost Downey-esque. Instead, they killed him off and replaced him with Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart, who’s about as exciting as watching paint dry.

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

James Gunn’s DCU release strategy would be the equivalent of Marvel launching the MCU with Iron Man, following it up with an Ironheart movie, relegating Captain America to a streaming series, and then releasing a standalone body-horror movie about the Abomination.

And while Supergirl was the only outright bomb, the rest of his slate hardly set the world on fire or built the kind of momentum a fledgling cinematic universe desperately needs.

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

The hierarchy of power in the DC universe is about to change… again

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

@imPatrickT @AlsikkanTV Some of these 4K remasters also use AI to upscale and smooth out grain so you get actors looking like wax figures. Cameron is the worst offender of this

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

Wow! What an absolute failure. James Gunn and Peter Safran were brought in to give DC a unified creative vision and some much needed stability. Four years later, they’re already stepping down, and the DCU has barely gotten off the ground. Just when it seemed DC finally had a plan, it looks like it’s back to formula.

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

Nolan's use of practical effects in THE ODYSSEY is extraordinary. The Cyclops, the use of actors of wildly different heights to create the giant Laestrygonians, Circe turning men into pigs. It all looks spectacular. And then that godawful tentacle monster, Scylla, shows up and sticks out like a sore thumb. Here's a film full of incredible practical effects and then you get this fully CGI monstrosity that feels like it wandered in from an early-2000s movie. And what's especially frustrating is that Nolan actually rigged the actors to be physically yanked off the ship, only to surround them with this horrible-looking CGI creature. It's the one sequence that breaks the illusion in a movie otherwise full of cinematic magic.

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

Nolan has essentially replaced Spielberg as Hollywood’s go-to event filmmaker. But when it comes to how they use the camera, Nolan couldn’t lace Spielberg’s boots. Spielberg is the GOAT at blocking a scene and moving the camera to tell a story. Even when his movies disappoint me, I can still take enormous pleasure in simply watching him work.

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

Growing up in Toronto, Canada Square was the old, stuffy theatre where movies for older audiences played while everyone else went to the shiny multiplex across the street to watch the latest blockbusters.

For the last 15 years, Spielberg has been making Canada Square movies. Perfectly enjoyable, well-made 7/10s that are instantly forgettable and, frankly, beneath his talents.

He’s obviously earned the right to make whatever he wants. I just miss the Spielberg who made movies I couldn’t wait to see.

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

@m4rket_ Jealous

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

The screenplay for ROCKY is brilliant. In most movies, Rocky would get his shot at the title around the 11-minute mark. But Stallone waits over 30 minutes, spending that time showing us what a bum Rocky is and how little he has going for him. So when he finally gets the opportunity of a lifetime, our reaction isn’t “Hell yeah!” It’s “THAT guy?!”

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

@m4rket_ Not yet!

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

Nobody said “HOO-AH!” better than Joe Pantoliano, and nobody has ever said “F*CK!” better than Dennis Farina.

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

And at its core, ROCKY is a love story. Rocky is only able to go the distance with Apollo because he falls in love with Adrian. Which is why I love that final scene. Apollo is declared the winner, but we can barely hear it. Instead, the camera stays on Rocky and Adrian as they embrace and tell each other “I love you.” Because Rocky doesn’t care who won the fight. All he wanted was to go the distance, to prove he wasn’t just another bum. And thanks to Adrian, he finally believed he could.

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

This reappraisal of Michael Mann’s MIAMI VICE has to stop. It looks like it was shot on a camcorder, Farrell and Foxx have zero chemistry, there isn’t a pastel in sight or a Jan Hammer tune to be heard, and the dialogue tries way too hard to sound cool with lines like “Do you know the meaning of the word foreboding? It means badness is happening right now.”

It sucked then and it sucks now and it marked the end of Michael Mann’s prime.

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

@imPatrickT @screentime Haha I love how out of context that quote attribution is if somebody reading it doesn’t know who you are. “Said Patrick” 😂

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

TENET is basically INCEPTION without the emotional core of DiCaprio desperately trying to get back to his kids. Instead, we're given a protagonist with no backstory, no real emotional arc, and no personal stakes to make us invested in his journey. And while John David Washington is clearly supposed to be a mysterious, James Bond-type character, he lacks the effortless charisma and screen presence of a Sean Connery or Pierce Brosnan to make that work.

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

Spider-Man: Brand New Day broke the all-time domestic box office record, and its trailer didn't even use a villain as the hook. I think that says a lot about how much audiences love these characters. Marvel didn't need some massive threat or elaborate gimmick to help sell the movie. Audiences just wanted to see these characters again.

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

Guess you guys weren't ready for that one... but your kids are gonna love it

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

I genuinely believe that if Conrad Hall had lived a little longer, people would be talking about him the way they talk about Roger Deakins today. As far as I’m concerned, Hall is the GOAT.

[Jake Ross @HeyJakeRoss]

Resident Evil might be the closest a movie has ever come to capturing the feeling of actually playing a video game, except someone else has the controller. I spent the entire movie mentally checking our inventory, conserving ammo, and wondering when the hell we were going to stop and save our progress.