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PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
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@jon-mcbrine-author
If you’re in the DFW area in July and you like sci-fi, superheroes, and reading, then come see me at the Cowtown Comic Con in Waxahachie!
The Cowtown Comic Con is July 18 and 19, 2026 at the Waxahachie Civic Center in Waxahachie, Texas. I’ll have my table set up and will be ready to meet all the amazing people.
2000 Civic Center Ln. Waxahachie, TX 75165
I hope to see you there! In the meantime, welcome aboard if you’re new and don’t look down - unless you’re reading, that is.
Life is short. Watch Timecop.
“They appear in a kid’s bedroom like in Monsters, Inc. (2001), except these woodland creatures are way scarier. Spielberg made the computer animation of dinosaurs look real in Jurassic Park (1993)…”
I’m feeling the not so special effects of Disclosure Day in the latest Def Rec blog
Disappointing Day: Definitely Do Not Recommend (In the Theater)
Is Spielberg Washed?
My full review of Disclosure Day in the latest Def Rec blog
Disappointing Day: Definitely Do Not Recommend (In the Theater)
Is Spielberg Washed? Has he joined the league of former greats who now need to retire? He’d be in good company along with Ridley Scott and Francis Ford Coppola. Unless Gladiator II (2024) and Megalopolis (2024) are considered peak cinema and I didn’t get the memo. Scorsese, you aren’t far behind. We didn’t forget about The Irishman (2019).
As hard as it is to say, Steven Spielberg might actually be washed up. The brilliantly gifted, technically skilled, ludicrously talented, iconic, legendary, visionary genius that is Steven Spielberg might be past his prime.
After watching Disclosure Day (2026), I think it may be time for the massively famous, popular, influential, accomplished, and crazy profitable director to hang it up. He’s still a master of technique - each shot and every scene is crafted with expert precision. The stylistic and creative choices for storytelling? Well, some things aren’t Always (1989) going to stay the same.
Def Rec is, of course, ultimately about movie and television recommendations but not necessarily a review blog. After my screening of Spielberg’s latest film about propaganda and worldwide secrecy, I made the unfortunate decision to publicly declare that I do not advise watching Disclosure Day… in the theater. This is a “wait for streaming” situation.
Since I do think the movie is worth watching at least once, I will keep spoilers to a minimum (more on those later).
Like many other moviegoers, the prospect of Spielberg revisiting sci-fi was exceptionally intriguing. The movie’s marketing kept the story’s details on a need-to-know basis, adding to the fascination. The ad campaign’s subterfuge worked on me and I was sold and seated. Leading to my viewing, I tried to avoid any spoilers or learn any additional aspects beyond the little I already knew. Still, I caught glimpses of comments and headlines proclaiming Day to, well, be a bit of a letdown. Despite my determination to not let any outside opinions sway my experience with the Emily Blunt-starring spectacle, I entered my local theater of choice with a hint of apprehension. I didn’t want someone else’s evaluation to make my decision for me about how I felt. That twinge of worry, though, was like “Bruce” the shark from Jaws (1975) in its pursuit of devouring my joy.
To the naysayers of this motion picture, I must acquiesce and confirm that the lackluster is real. Long story short, this story was too long. You’re sitting through the entire picture waiting for the big result of the reveal. The final ten or so minutes of the runtime is basically where the movie should’ve started. The buildup hinges on what happens when the top-secret deets get broadcast across the planet. The footage and info presented in super dramatic fashion does indeed shake up the global status quo. But this is where the adventure ends. Well, it ends with a fairly corny message. Scratch that - this film is downright preachy. The fallout of the mass reporting is basically the promise of the premise yet it serves as the climax instead. The main meat of Day feels like a prequel that isn’t entirely crucial but nice to have for those who want it.
Here’s where I’ll delve into a tad more spoilers:
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So, it’s aliens. Josh O’Connor plays Dr. Daniel Kellner who managed to steal nearly a century’s worth of confidential UFO-related content from a clandestine organization. How did this data-driven dude walk out the door with a backpack full of precious thumb drives and alien artifacts? Well, he can speak “math,” so… In other words, I don’t know. There’s a lot about this movie I didn’t care for but I do admit that its opening sequence where Kellner attends (under duress) a pro wrestling match immediately qualifies it to become one of the greatest feature films of all time. The other movie that started out with grapplers in the squared circle? Highlander (1986) - it is because of this similarity I can’t be a total hater.
Kellner and his ex-nun girlfriend Jane Blankenship (Eve Hewson) rather easily dodge the super secret agency troopers while the evil leader Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth) hunts them down using dangerous alien mind control tech. Meanwhile, the, er, interestingly named Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), a local Kansas City weather reporter, can speak any (and I mean any) language as well as subdue anyone by appearing as a loved one or sharing some private secret that no one else would know. Kellner and Fairchild are linked because they were both abducted together as children and experimented on by the aliens. I’m glad probing was not brought up.
The CGI for the aliens is atrocious. The way the grays “present” as animals looks comically fake. The projection as wildlife is said to put kids at ease. They appear in a kid’s bedroom like in Monsters, Inc. (2001), except these woodland creatures are way scarier. Spielberg made the computer animation of dinosaurs look real in Jurassic Park (1993) but a little Area 51 extraterrestrial looked like a cheap cartoon here. What does the badly rendered fox say? Probably “kill me…”
Despite the story details I have already disclosed, I’ll refrain from providing a full breakdown because I really do suggest you give it a stream eventually. Still, you ought to know going in that the messaging and imagery used in this film is annoying. In the aforementioned wrestling sequence that kicks off the film, the nefarious gatekeepers of the alien footage use the wrestling match’s raucous public setting to proceed with an exchange. Kellner returns the stolen data and otherworldly materials and he gets his boo back. The henchmen and women pressuring Kellner are dressed so you’ll know they aren’t trustworthy. One woman wears a red ball cap with an American flag on it. Call me a conspiracy theorist who is watching a movie about cover ups, but I think that if you put someone in a red hat in this manner, you know what you’re doing. Maybe I just find any overtly political insertion in fiction to be obnoxious.
I’ll say a positive thing of this Day - it could’ve really leaned in harder on religion but it chose to be way more polite than I was expecting.
The final sequence of the film has a poorly animated alien (who really should’ve been E.T.) whisper some arithmetic-laden gibberish to Kellner who translates the message to Fairchild. The weather lady-turned-news anchor states the one-word communication to the world: “Listen.” It is a cringe-inducing, not-so-subtle plea from the “Hollywood Elites™️” to get us Joe Schmoes to be empathetic and play nice with each other. Keep in mind, we don’t know much about the alien visitors/prisoners other than I guess they “bring us love” not unlike Mr. Burns’ inebriated message from The Simpsons episode “The Springfield Files” (1997).
The way the aliens speak in this film is utterly ridiculous. In an early trailer, a moment that is supposed to give us goosebumps instead gave me the giggles. Blunt regurgitates what is intended to be alien talk in a series of clicks, guttural belches, and scatting. I knew as soon as I heard it that there was going to be trouble. My curiosity got the better of me so I braved the Seinfeld theme song beatboxing and endured adequacy at its finest. If we’re being honest, the Spielberg warning signs have been there long before he officially became a boomer.
War of the Worlds (2005), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), The Fabelmans (2022), and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) - when Spielberg wins, he wins so big it changes culture and society itself. But, as indicated by this list of misses, when Spielberg strikes out, it’s a big disappointment.
The *other* Disclosure Day screenwriter David Koepp scribed such big picture classics like Mission: Impossible (1996), Spider-Man (2002), Snake Eyes (1998), and Jurassic Park. But he is also credited with The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park: Rebirth (2025), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The real message here is they all can’t be winners, but the hit/miss ratio is also nothing new.
Disclosure Day is ultimately a “what could have been” indulgence, but more importantly, it’s a sign that this should be Spielberg’s last close encounter.
Def Rec Podcast coming soon!
New holographic stickers for my vendor booth!
If you’re in the DFW area in July and you like sci-fi, superheroes, and reading, then come see me at the Cowtown Comic Con in Waxahachie!
The Cowtown Comic Con is July 18 and 19, 2026 at the Waxahachie Civic Center in Waxahachie, Texas. I’ll have my table set up and will be ready to meet all the amazing people.
2000 Civic Center Ln. Waxahachie, TX 75165
I hope to see you there! In the meantime, welcome aboard if you’re new and don’t look down - unless you’re reading, that is.
If you’re in the DFW area in July and you like sci-fi, superheroes, and reading, then come see me at the Cowtown Comic Con in Waxahachie!
The Cowtown Comic Con is July 18 and 19, 2026 at the Waxahachie Civic Center in Waxahachie, Texas. I’ll have my table set up and will be ready to meet all the amazing people.
2000 Civic Center Ln. Waxahachie, TX 75165
I hope to see you there! In the meantime, welcome aboard if you’re new and don’t look down - unless you’re reading, that is.
Updated social links table stand for my vendor booth!
If you’re in the DFW area in July and you like sci-fi, superheroes, and reading, then come see me at the Cowtown Comic Con in Waxahachie!
The Cowtown Comic Con is July 18 and 19, 2026 at the Waxahachie Civic Center in Waxahachie, Texas. I’ll have my table set up and will be ready to meet all the amazing people.
2000 Civic Center Ln. Waxahachie, TX 75165
I hope to see you there! In the meantime, welcome aboard if you’re new and don’t look down - unless you’re reading, that is.
Me telling my friends to wait for streaming to watch Disclosure Day
In an alternate universe, there’s a DC version of Breaking Bad where Walt and Jesse fuse together to form Firestorm
*Methstorm
One year in the making! I had the fortunate opportunity to return to talk to The Wandering Scribe podcast at YouTube!
Listen now for the interview’s insight on the creative phenomena of writing, and the art of being an authentic oddball
The Social Reckoning 🤝 Spider-Man
The secret of Disclosure Day
The the formatting and editing of the anthology is going well
It’s hot, y’all 🥵
Don’t tease me, bro!
Krypto Fried Chicken
KFC’s Supergirl tie-in promotion shows how nothing is more appetizing than thinking about a dog in your food