I supplied some of my cinematicfbombs.com clips to Saveydro at Sights Obscene for his video on PG-13 f-bombs a year ago and he’s currently readying a sequel to his PG f-bombs video now to put a more definitive piece out on that particular subject. So, in the course of collecting some of the ones I already had and assisting him in finding others, I realized I’ve been stockpiling way too many unclipped movies.

With 150+ titles taking up space on my hard drive, I took the past week to go through them, clip each f-bomb scene, and delete the original files. As a result, my drive is now 200gb lighter (with more to go) and I have 100+ movies ready to add to my database. And since I know for sure these titles have an f-bomb (sometimes I download subtitle files that say one exists only to discover it doesn’t once I finally get my hands on a copy of the film to check), I added them to my index early so people know they’re on the way before reaching out to let me know I missed one of their faves. (Many thanks to those who do reach out with suggestions.)

Some interesting tidbits found while clipping these files:

• William Friedkin’s Sorcerer has two instances despite a PG rating in the 70s—probably should be an R-rated film even without them.
• Jeremiah S. Chechik’s The Avengers added their one f-bomb via ADR because the studio wanted to increase the rating to PG-13 due to fears a PG would keep fans of the original TV show away.
• European Vacation dubbed over Chevy Chase’s f-bomb during a car chase at the end of the movie because they already had another one in a French subtitle gag at the start. Shows how different things are now than in the 80s. Nudity was better than language then. Now you can have as much language and violence in a PG-13 film as you want as long as no one sees a nipple.
• Hackers dubbed over a much better f-bomb while keeping a lesser one instead of fighting to retain both—probably because the first was sexualized and the second wasn’t.
• Swimfan gets five instances because it uses a song in the background of a scene that seems to have one included in every single lyric.

I recommend watching Saveydro’s videos to really get a sense of the history of the word in cinema and the evolving censorship criteria surrounding it because it’s truly wild and often arbitrary. And beyond that specific word, it’s fascinating to see the series of events that led to the PG-13 even being a rating at all.

What I Watched:

BIRDSONG

(Cinequest Film Festival)

“Amariz is touching on mankind's penchant for allowing itself to be held captive by love, longing, and desire. The result is a quiet and thoughtful enterprise.”

– Full thoughts at jaredmobarak.com.

THE HEIRLOOM

(limited theaters)

Allie (Grace Glowicki) watches home movies to better remember the moments from her life that she cherishes the most. Eric (Ben Petrie) lives his life as though it can be perfectly executed as a film he can experience for the first time only after it's complete. You'd like to say their relationship epitomizes the "opposites attract" philosophy, yet you can't help bracing yourself for the wheels to finally come off. Thankfully, rather than test the integrity of their union with a baby, Allie and Eric take the more reasonable approach of adopting a dog. Milly the Whippet still creates the same crisis point of responsibility and commitment, but with greatly reduced stakes.

Written and directed by Petrie (from a story by himself and real-life partner Glowicki), The Heirloom throws us into the deep end with Allie stomping up the stairs to barge into Eric's office just after he hastily buckles his belt to ensure it looks like he's working on his script and not masturbating. Her excitement stems from hearing back from an "ethical" dog breeder that they can get their names on the reservation list of an impending litter. She's been emailing countless shelters with zero response and thus took the leap to secure a puppy before COVID lockdown makes getting any pet impossible. Eric feels blindsided because his one stipulation for agreeing to the dog was that it be a rescue.

Everything seems normal so far. Allie really wants this and cannot contain her emotions en route to perhaps jumping the gun out of a false sense of immediacy. Eric wants her to be happy, but his lack of interest in caring for the dog has him focusing on assuaging any guilt that purchasing one might make him complicit in a system of suffering. Yes, both sides are hyperbolic for the comedy, but we get where they're coming from. And the fact that Petrie skews even further from sanitized fantasies of utopian love to let these characters go through the self-admitted, asinine process of Allie emailing Eric—while in the same room—to "book time" to discuss next steps only endears us to the scenario more.

That's when things start to go off the rails. Eric, needing to be in control and letting his inner director out, gets very into learning everything he can to be the perfect dog owner raising the perfect dog. He tells Allie how to act despite her catalyzing this whole endeavor. She's not only not allowed to show emotion. She must be devoid of it. Because it's not enough to simply look calm (according to his book-on-tape), you must be calm when asserting your "quiet dominance" over the creature. Suddenly this fun new chapter in their lives becomes a regimented to-do list of chores. And since Eric is the one dictating it—not to mention failing at his rules—any mistake ultimately puts the blame upon his shoulders.

It therefore makes sense that his existential crisis, stemming from the knee-jerk necessity to reconcile his father's devotion to work and his mother's devotion to family, threatens to turn an already delicate situation more tenuous. Rather than allow himself to live with the woman he loves and the dog they've adopted while also working towards his career goal of becoming a filmmaker, he decides those two things must merge to receive his full attention. But, as the distinction I laid out in the opening paragraph reveals, the simple act of doing this means they are not equal. Allie sees through the ruse straight away but hopes things will work out. We, however, witness as Eric turns his life into a project so his brain can wrap itself around allowing it to possess meaning.

The result is formally intriguing with Petrie leaning into this duality. He blurs the line between reality and fiction in such a way that we cannot tell which is which. We know Eric is recreating moments to set-up how they acquired Milly—Allie plays along in intentionally over-the-top, silly fashion—but he's also running through multiple takes of new experiences. Does that mean he's pausing authentic reactions to events so he can play with the responses? Or is he merely doing so in his head because he's only currently able to process reality through the practice of filmmaking? Add the fact that the fiction's reality of Eric and Allie is itself a fiction to the reality of Ben and Grace and it shouldn't shock you when a boom operator walks across the screen or a drone shot loses the score so the whir of its engine can dominate.

I enjoyed this aspect of the film a lot (including its commentary on the pandemic's isolation and heightened anxiety) and also invested in the Milly of it all considering her mannerisms are identical to how our Greyhound acted throughout his life, but the big draw is Glowicki's performance during the second act once Eric fully spirals out of control. Allie, thankfully, gets real very quickly. She processes what's happening as we are and harbors no illusions as far as what Eric is becoming (or finally revealing to her). I love the contrast of how level-headed and honest she is while he continues to lie and obfuscate the truth to maintain a semblance of control. Whether they stay together or part ways proves inconsequential to Allie's epiphany that something must change either way.

- 7/10

MCVEIGH

(limited theaters & VOD)

I won't deny that the time for a Timothy McVeigh movie is now. This was an ex-army, white supremacist, 2A-nut who decided to strike back against the American government for what he and his like-minded brethren saw as governmental over-reach during the Branch Davidians siege in Waco, TX. That event—and the Ruby Ridge standoff, another incident involving a search warrant for suspected weapons stockpiling—combine to serve as the basis for the modern-day militia epidemic running rampant across the country (and currently unofficially sanctioned by the Trump administration via dog whistles to deflect culpability). The Oklahoma City bombing was the first strike of a movement that ultimately led to an insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021.

To go back to 1995 is therefore a timely pursuit. Especially if you're drawing lines to where we were and where we are now. We've gone from domestic terrorist attacks to an increase in hate crimes to literal Nazis marching in the streets with police protection to a "more civilized" contingent of "disruptors" weaponizing their political power to strike back against the so-called "Deep State" by infiltrating the very government they accused of over-reach to actually over-reach and dismantle it from the inside. Just as US Senators and cabinet members start to say the quiet part out loud about apartheid and Hitler, I don't think it would be a stretch to poll certain elected officials on whether they view McVeigh as a hero. Hell, my own aunt just posted on Facebook that sending tattooed Venezuelans legally seeking asylum to an El Salvadoran labor camp (without due process) was "six million dollars well-spent."

So, it was nothing short of disappointing to discover director Mike Ott and co-writer Alex Gioulakis decided not to mine deeper than the isolated surface of one man's actions with McVeigh. At worst, they even seem to be trying to absolve those who helped Tim (Alfie Allen) by paying particular care to ensuring it was his idea and his alone. French-Canadian neo-Nazi Frédéric (Anthony Carrigan) is desperate to get in on the game, but McVeigh shuts him out. Nichols (Brett Gelman) is so scared throughout his aiding and abetting that he leaves without warning the morning of the attack. The only person Ott allows to be a firm push towards infamy is Timmy's death row mentor Richard (Tracy Letts) goading him to finish what he himself failed to do a decade prior.

All these external forces (including a potential love interest in Ashley Benson's Cindy, who he shoves away for daring to go into his room and earnestly wonders why she hates him afterwards) prove to just be noise. They simultaneously tether Tim to reality and coax him over the edge to satisfy his extremist desires. We aren't therefore watching a conflicted monster (thank goodness), but a conflicted life that poses no threat to his singular goal. In that respect, Ott is at least pulling no punches as far as not allowing sympathy for McVeigh, but he doesn't supply an alternative target for us to care about and thus invest in the narrative. You can't expect there to be suspense in a true-events film that focuses on the villain doing villainous things. No investigators trying to catch him or even a look at the victims he's about to kill.

File the whole under the nihilism label instead. It's almost daring us to revel in the violence because that's the endgame and there's nothing else to look along the way. That it's all so methodical and minimalist doesn't help matters since the progression becomes rote. Tim needs ammonium nitrate? He only needs to pose as Nichols' nephew to get it. He needs other materials? He can steal them without incident and drop a name to buy more from dangerous people without batting an eye. Maybe that's the real terror? That there were zero roadblocks to what he ultimately accomplished? Yeah, I guess that's a scary thought—especially now that America is disappearing its citizens and threatening to impeach judges for refusing to toe a party line of autocracy.

McVeigh is a well-made piece, but its lack of proving its worth as a version of this story to tell (either as prescient or cautionary) sinks it. Gelman (a slow-witted lackey susceptible to peer pressure), Carrigan (a charismatic evil relishing the knowledge that McVeigh is doing "God's work" from afar and salivating at the chance to help), and Letts (a determined zealot of hate slipped beneath a mask of intellect to falsely justify his actions) are very good in supporting roles and Allen's robotic nature and stoic peacocking when threatened (perfectly contrasted by his little boy insecurities around the opposite sex) really brings the titular character's clichéd psyche profile to life. We just aren't learning anything. McVeigh is an exact replica of so many who came before and after him. We need more than his readily available and presumed process. We watch the news.

- 5/10

Cinematic F-Bombs:

This week saw The Gorge (2025) added to the archive (cinematicfbombs.com).

Miles Teller dropping an f-bomb in The Gorge.

New Releases This Week:

(Review links where applicable)

Opening Buffalo-area theaters 3/21/25 -

• The Alto Knights at Dipson Flix, Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge, Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria, Quaker

• Ash at Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria, Quaker

• The Assessment at Regal Galleria, Quaker

  “Regardless of whether THE ASSESSMENT bit off more than it could chew, I did still enjoy it. The themes are sound, if also somewhat overt. The production design is amazing. And the acting keeps us engaged throughout.” – Full thoughts at The Film Stage.

• Disney’s Snow White at Dipson Flix, Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge, Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria, Quaker

• Locked at Dipson Capitol; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria, Quaker

• Magazine Dreams at AMC Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Galleria

  “Elijah Bynum's MAGAZINE DREAMS is a case where there are so many great things happening that are ultimately let down by execution.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.

• Pintu Ki Pappi at Regal Elmwood

Streaming from 3/21/25 -

• Bloody Axe Wound – Shudder on 3/21

• Little Siberia – Netflix on 3/21

• Revelations – Netflix on 3/21

• Sing Sing – Max on 3/21

  “The film is never better than when [Maclin and Domingo] are together because you really get a sense of how fine the line separating us is. No matter our pasts or actions, a shared humanity remains.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.

• Wicked – Peacock on 3/21

  Quick thoughts at jaredmobarak.com.

• The Fire Inside – MGM+ on 3/24

  “In the end, THE FIRE INSIDE is a sports biography with all the trappings you'd expect. It's a solid debut for Morrison and a star-making turn for Destiny with a message for girls and boys to know their worth and never settle.” – Full thoughts at The Film Stage.

• Mufasa: The Lion King – Disney+ on 3/26

• A Complete Unknown – Hulu on 3/27

  Quick thoughts at jaredmobarak.com.

• Holland – Prime on 3/27

Now on VOD/Digital HD -

• Tokyo Cowboy (3/17)

• The Dead Thing (3/18)

  “It's an effective thriller that lets its themes exist beneath the surface so that those uninterested in delving deeper can simply enjoy the ghost story turned quasi-slasher on its own merits.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.

• Devils Stay (3/18)

• Director’s Cut (3/18)

• High Ground (3/18)

• Last Breath (3/18)

• My Dead Friend Zoe (3/18)

• Armand (3/20)

  “Armand is distilling mankind’s penchant for baseless attacks and fear-mongering down into the interaction of three distinct entities in a familiarly simple scenario.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.

• Cleaner (3/20)

  “The filmmakers might as well have just delivered their Die Hard retread without jumping through hoops they so readily erase whenever finding themselves flirting with taking an actual stand.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.

• Hood Witch (3/20)

• McVeigh (3/20)

  Thoughts are above.

• Popeye the Slayer Man (3/20)

• Riff Raff (3/20)

  “It feels like Pollono wanted a full-blown comical farce and Montiel didn't get the joke because everything is way too absurd to be delivered so seriously.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.

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