Freeze Frame

Freeze Frame: "Lee Cronin's The Mummy" (R), "The Christophers" (R), "Balls Up" (R)

Freeze Frame · Apr 17, 2026 · 2m

The 2 movies

Lee Cronin's The Mummy
The main topic of this episode
The Christophers
The main topic of this episode

Show notes

The grisly body horror flick "Lee Cronin's The Mummy" owes a lot more to "The Exorcist" than Boris Karloff or Brendan Fraser. A little girl goes missing and, eight years later, she's discovered to be alive and possessed by an ancient Egyptian demon. There are some effectively scary moments, but the movie is overlong and over reliant on gruesome makeup effects. Writer/director Lee Cronin had success reviving the “Evil Dead” franchise, but this one should have remained buried. Let's hope it’s a wrap on this version of The Mummy. If you want to see two brilliant actors go toe-to-toe, the sly comedy "The Christophers" is the movie for you. Sir Ian McKellen and Michaela Cole star in the tale of a once famous painter now living as a virtual hermit who makes a little cash doing personalized Cameo videos. The painter’s estranged children hire a woman to pose as his assistant and forge his unfinished paintings so that they can sell them upon his death. James Corden and Jessica Gunning are effectively churlish as the offspring. Director Stephen Soderberg continues to expand his reach with “The Christophers,” a funny, smart and engaging movie. It's good to try to find something positive in even the worst movies, but there's nothing remotely redeeming in the criminally atrocious Amazon Prime comedy, "Balls Up." Mark Wahlberg and Paul Walter Hauser play employees of a condom company who ruin a World Cup soccer game in Brazil and go on the run from angry fans. Not only is it not funny, but it’s also intended to offend. “Balls Up” is certainly successful on that count. Director Peter Farrelly should have his Oscar for "Green Day" revoked.

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