The Last Unknown Boozers - Motion Comic Series on Challenges of Substance Abuse Recovery

No matter where you grew up or what your upbringing was like, chances are that you have some personal experience with substance abuse. It could have been someone you barely knew, but it could have also been a family member. In fact, it could have been - or still is - even you. In our modern world, substances like alcohol and narcotics are seemingly more present and widespread than ever, causing this issue to become more prevalent.  

At the same time, the fallout of their vicious addiction all too often reaches beyond the affected individuals. Instead, it impacts families, neighborhoods, and entire communities. That is why The Last Unknown Boozers: We don't drink, no matter what - not even a zombie apocalypse is such an important piece of contemporary art. This motion comic series deals with the problems one faces on the hard road of substance abuse recovery, but does it in a really unusual, novel, and interesting way. Check out the full first episode right here:

The series, written by Mike Zee, was produced with the help of Sober Mic and focuses squarely on the idea of the 12-step program to recovery. However, the series also starts with a zombie apocalypse. Here, a newcomer to the program meets two young men who have been sober for a while. In these extremely unusual circumstances, the ideas of sobriety, danger, addiction, and the everlasting desire to change for the better clash in front of the viewers.

The series is well-written and produced as a form of a moving comic book. Here, visually, the characters and their out-of-this-world zombie setting provide a great backdrop to the emotional and spiritual demons of addiction and self-destruction. Throughout the length of the series, which is available in its entirety on YouTube, this dynamic plays out as the 12 steps take place as well. 

If you're interested in sobriety and how one reaches it, check out the entire series on this YouTube playlist right now. It very well might be one of the most important things you discover on your road to becoming someone else.

Film Review: The Rip (2026)

If anyone is making a film about potentially corrupt police officers working in a huge US city, the shadow that Training Day casts on the same genre remains incredibly long. Even two plus decades since its release, that film is to the police crime thriller what Saving Private Ryan is to the war films. That’s why the director of The Rip, Joe Carnahan, didn’t have an easy job in front of him.

In his case, the unity under scrutiny is a narcotics team working in Miami. The same crew is suddenly placed in a tight spot after it raids a property where millions of US dollars are stashed, which are most likely directly connected to a narco cartel. In the night that follows, all bets are off as each of the team’s officers has someone to suspect.  

From the get-go, it’s clear that the biggest center of gravity in the film is the relationship between Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The duo has been writing modern Hollywood history since the late 1990s, and they can still click together. But the same gravitational pull is also pushing everyone to the other rims of that star-studded solar system. That includes the very important Steven Yeun, but also a number of female characters that almost disappear in the last third of the film. 

Here’s where the biggest flaw of The Rip lies. Carnahan apparently didn’t fully decide if there’s too little or too much Damon & Affleck in his film. That’s why it ends up feeling somewhat under-cooked at its end, with several phases of the film that never completely deliver. That doesn’t make The Rip ultimately bad or unentertaining, but it does make it far away in terms of enduring quality from films like Training Day. The comparison might be unfair; however, it is still unavoidable. 

Film Review: One Battle After Another (2025)

 

The latest and biggest film from Paul Thomas Anderson has that very rare characteristic of modern cinema - it gets better as time passes. Initially, the story of several members of French 75, a fictitious rebellious militant organization in the early 2000s, seems incredibly shaky. The visuals are there, but the essence of its violent actions, undertaken by a motley crew of insanely colorful characters, fails to build in any clear direction. 

It does, however, offer a glimpse into the main characters on both sides of the law, played well by Teyana Taylor, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Sean Penn. The problem is that it does it in a confused, insecure way that is neither fun nor disturbing. Instead, it presents some odd form of an alternative present that is mostly goofy and corny, even though it clearly resonates with the actual US political divide.

However, when the film moves to the present day, it kicks up a gear, mainly through the introduction of the revolutionary child of Charlene, played exceedingly well by Chase Infiniti. In the following mayhem, One Battle After Another becomes not just fun to watch, but also very moving. Here, the starting oddness combines well with the rest of the plot and delivers thrills just as much as great character development. In the end, both Anderson and his movie manage to win their final battle.