Month: December 2025

Wildcat

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★★★½
“She’s got claws.”

I was quite startled to read some of the scathing reviews this received. For I genuinely enjoyed it, to the point it likely came one element (which I’ll get to) from a seal of approval. Sure, it’s nothing particularly new overall. However, I found it consistently enjoyable, to the level I felt no desire to look at my phone at any point. These days, that’s high praise indeed. It takes place in a slightly alternate London, where gang bosses Frasier Mahoney (Charles Dance) and Mrs. Christina Vine (Krige) are on the edge of a war for control of the city. There’s also a rogue element, in the Mushka Gang, who have turned an East End estate into a no-go area.

Ada (Beckinsale) doesn’t have much to do with this, until her brother Edward (Hardiker) gets deep in debt to Mahoney. He kidnaps her daughter to ensure the money gets paid back. This forces Ada to carry out a heist on a jewellery store run by Vine, which is only the start in a series of problems. She does have assistance, in the shape of former lover Roman (Tan), who can help fence the product. Meanwhile, Ada is trying to get Mahoney blamed for the robbery, to start an inter-factional war that can cover their escape. Meanwhile meanwhile, we discover Ada and Edward’s past, and encounter a number of colourful characters, such as the foul-mouthed Galloway (Tom Bennett, channeling Budget Nick Frost).

There are a lot of moving parts, but Nunn keeps things clear. He has plenty of action experience, including the wonderful Scott Adkins vehicle One Shot, which was my favourite movie of 2021. This isn’t quite as relentlessly kinetic, yet keeps a good pace throughout. Tan actually gets as many action scenes as Beckinsale, and this brings me to the issue mentioned above. While she still looks the part – and very good for 52 – there’s an awful lot of shots from behind, strongly suggesting heavy stunt doubling. And it’s not subtly done. They might as well just have hired Laura Vörtler, Beckinsale’s stunt double, to play the part and been done with it. Still, despite clearly more limited resources, I preferred this to her last couple of actioners, Canary Black and Jolt.

It helps to have the likes of Krige and Dance in the supporting cast. The latter is barely seen until the end, though makes up for lost time with a blistering anecdote about his late wife. I really enjoyed Krige, whose character can go from comforting a grandchild troubled by bad dreams, to torturing an employee for information, without more than a blink. There are some elements which feel underdeveloped, such as a weird club which seems little more than a flimsy excuse to tie Beckinsale up. But overall, I enjoyed this, and particularly appreciated the bone-dry British humour peppered throughout. Although the lead may not have many more action films in her, Nunn continues to prove his credentials. 

Dir: James Nunn
Star: Kate Beckinsale, Lewis Tan, Rasmus Hardiker, Alice Krige

Paradox Effect

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★★½
“Not much effect on me.”

I’m always down for an Olga Kurylenko film. She’s been in some good entries on the site previously, including Sentinelle and High Heat. Her track record gets her the benefit of the doubt, for an entry like this, which might be a bit marginal if it starred another actress. Though American, it takes place in Bari, Italy where recovering junkie Karina (Kurylenko) is putting her life back together, and looking forward to the arrival of her young daughter, Lucy (Astons).  However, on the way home from a late-night shift at the bakery where she works, she stumbles into a murder commited by mob courier Covek (Trevena), which becomes a car-chase, ending in a fiery crash.

The problem is, this  burned up the drugs Covek was supposed to be delivering to Silvio (Keitel). He “recruits” – quotes used advisedly – Karina to acquire a replacement stash, a process which drags them both through the Italian underworld over the course of the night. Matters are not helped by a couple of factors. Silvio has Covek’s son as a hostage, so noncompliance is not an option. Oh, and did I mention that Covek is actually an Interpol agent, who will go to any lengths to make sure Silvio faces justice? On the other side, Karina will go to any lengths to make sure her own daughter is not harmed. But the trail of destruction being left in the wake of her and Covek’s hunt for heroin is not exactly subtle. 

I wanted to like this more than I ended up doing. It feels as if Karina needs to be more central than she is. She ends up spending too much time either doing Covek’s bidding, or following him around, and that’s not what I wanted to see. Kurylenko > Trevena, except the film doesn’t seem to realize it.  Keitel, another actor I like, is also underused. To the point where, up until the very end, I half-wondered if he filmed all his scenes somewhere else, and was then spliced into the movie during the editing stage. That turns out not to be the case. But the mere fact it seems possible is another illustration of the wobbly execution. 

Even basic stuff like the film’s title, which is both strikingly generic and never explained, is maddening. Opening with a quote from Nietzche sets intellectual aspirations the rest of the movie isn’t able to sustain. I will say, it is technically decent: I appreciated little things, like them deciding to blow up a genuine car, rather than faking it with CGI. When given the chance, Kurylenko does well in the action, though quite why Karina has these skills is never explained. It would have been improved by being the film depicted in the poster (I must have missed Kurylenko’s pleather suit), simply having Karina trying to get the replacement drugs herself. In that scenario, Covek becomes surplus to the film’s requirements. A win-win, I’d say. 

Dir: Scott Weintrob
Star: Olga Kurylenko, Oliver Trevena, Harvey Keitel, Alice Astons

Compulsion

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★★★
“Rated R, for raunchy and rough.”

The “erotic thriller” now seems almost as quaint a part of cinema history as beach party films. It feels partly as if the Harvey Weinstein scandal made nudity and sexuality taboo in Hollywood. The rise of the Internet also provides easy access to all the naked flesh anyone could possibly want. Regardless of the cause, there are no longer big budget films like Basic Instinct or Wild Things being made, let alone being #6 at the North American box-office for the year, as Instinct managed [that said, United Artists paid $2 million for the reboot rights earlier this year. We’ll see; I’m not optimistic]. So in some ways, this feels like a throwback, drawing influence from Brian de Palma and Paul Verhoeven.

It’s the fourth, and supposedly final, collaboration between director Marshall and his wife/star Kirk. Two of the previous ones have been covered here, in The Lair and Duchess; I haven’t yet seen the other, witchcraft film The Reckoning. But there can’t be many directors who have worked so often with their spouses. Maybe Paul W.S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich? The results for this couple have certainly fallen short of peak Marshall, such as The Descent, or even Doomsday, both commercially and critically. While this likely won’t change the narrative, I’m not averse to a nostalgic combo of gratuitous nudity and graphic violence. I’ll leave Mr. and Mrs. Marshall to figure out what it means for the relationship, in their couples’ therapy sessions. 

It takes place in Malta where a shapely cat-suit clad serial killer is committing some particularly brutal murders. Investigating the case is local detective Claudia Cavara (Gorietti), with the two main suspects Diana (Kirk), a bisexual thief with a hot boyfriend (McGowan), and her lesbian neighbour, Evie (Sieklucka). Will there be steamy trysts, voyeurism, and a Euro-pudding of accents, from Poland to Yorkshire? Yes, of course! Sieklucka was in those 365 Days films on Netflix, after all. You will also experience what may well be the stabbiest scene in film history, making Psycho look like a Sunday School play. While I felt the victim was certainly deserving (I hated his hair), it showed Marshall has clearly taken influence from Italian giallo films, with their masked killers and hyperviolence. 

It is, however, nowhere near as good as Basic Instinct. Kirk isn’t fit to hold Sharon Stone’s ice-pick, and the whole police side of things is embarrassingly half-baked. It also feels as if Marshall was more into the violence than the sex, and there was a point, probably about two-thirds in, where I realized I didn’t particularly care about anyone. The decision to make it a whodunnit backfires too, because there are an extremely limited number of possible suspects. The end result is therefore quite a mess, and I can understand the critical disdain. However, it’s a mess which had its moments, and was definitely among the most R-rated of movies I saw this year. More of those will always be welcome. 

Dir: Neil Marshall
Star: Charlotte Kirk, Anna-Maria Sieklucka, Zach McGowan, Giulia Gorietti

Girls With Guns Calendars 2026

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Welcome to our sixteenth annual round-up of girls with guns calendars. Dear lord, I have grandchildren younger than this feature. :) Not an enormous amount has changed since last time. Plans to move appear to have gone on the back burner for now. In part because our son has moved back in with us. I was assured, by a variety of sit-coms, that hilarity would ensue from this scenario. But it appears to have led purely to significantly increased Internet usage, and dishes being “left to soak” in the sink. Though our daughter is getting married on New Year’s Eve. Let’s hope it sticks this time, because we are not funding another wedding…

On the calendar front, all of the top contenders seem to be back for 2026, led – as ever! – by Tac Girls, who seem to have been doing this for longer than I have! A couple of no-shows at the bottom end of the pile, but I did find a couple of ptenti

Below, you’ll find prices (generally excluding shipping), sample images and links to purchase for all the calendars we could find. We’ll add more if we see them, feel free to email us if you know of any others. 

TAC GIRLS

Amazon link – $19.95 [though you may be able to find some coupons on TacGirls.com]

The Tactical Girls 2026 Bikini Gun Calendar has 13 months (1/26-1/27) of Beautiful Girls and Exotic Weaponry! Every Calendar includes a 12×24″ pull out mini-poster of cover model Natasha – slides out, no perforations to tear or staples to pull.

The 2026 Tactical Girls Calendar brings you 13 months of gorgeous pinup models with some of the world’s most exotic weaponry in realistic tactical settings. Includes the EAA MC14TX an AK-74 and an AR Pistol from Black Rain Ordnance. You’ll find sexy zombie hunters, secret agents, army girls and tributes to your favorite female action movie heroines cradling AR-15 carbines, battle rifles, machine guns, tactical pistols, and sniper rifles, 12 x 24 inches open!

Includes over 100 trivia dates from military, law enforcement and firearms history like The Battle of the Bulge, The Gunfight at the OK Corral and Samuel Colt’s birthday. Each month has detailed specs and notes about the weapon and the Tactical Girl’s Mission. Makes perfect Holiday gift for the Marine, Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Police Officer, Shooting Enthusiast, Hunter, Airsoft Player or History buff on your list. Fill that 2 foot square empty space on your Man Cave, garage, shop, barracks, armory or tent wall with 13 months of Girls and Guns. 100% produced and printed in the U.S.A. 10% of the print run of these calendars are donated to deployed soldiers and organizations that support them, notably AmericanSnipers.org.

WEAPON OUTFITTERS

WeaponOutfitters.com – $39.95

As last year, they have three different versions available: one (below) is PG-13 rated, while the other two are R-rated. “Carrying on the fine tradition of beautiful women with cool weaponry in calendars into the modern era, the Weapon Outfitters calendars have been a mainstay of the firearms world for over a decade, and we continue this fine tradition with the 2026 calendars. With 12 months of high resolution, studio and natural light photography of models with guns, this would make an excellent addition to any gun room, garage, or office if your HR department is REALLY cool.” Full disclosure: I was sent copies of all three. I am very happy. :) 

GUNS AND GIRLS

Ebay.com – $15.32

The 2026 Guns & Girls Deluxe Wall Calendar is a must-have for enthusiasts of firearms and beautiful women. This high-quality calendar features stunning photographs of gorgeous models posing with various guns, from classic revolvers to modern assault rifles. Each month showcases a different theme, ensuring a year-round celebration of these two iconic American passions. With its large 16″ x 24″ size , the vibrant images are sure to captivate your attention. As an added bonus, this deluxe edition includes a free poster, perfect for adorning your wall or workspace. Indulge in the perfect blend of power and beauty with the 2025 Guns & Girls Deluxe Wall Calendar.

DILLON PRECISION

DillonPrecision.com – $24.95

I’m going to recycle last year’s joke about Dillon Precision, who limit the information regarding their product to: “Dimensions: 13.5 X 26.5”. They clearly believe a picture is worth a thousand words…

ZAHAL GIRLS

zahal.org – $35.00

We are proud to unveil the ZAHAL Girls 2026 Calendar – our most exclusive edition yet, printed on premium glossy paper with an all-new, refined design. This stunning calendar combines the unmatched authenticity of former IDF women with cutting-edge tactical gear, captured in bold, contemporary settings. No gimmicks. No gun bunnies – only true IDF veterans. Exclusive Bonus: Every order ships FREE worldwide – no minimums, no codes. Each month presents a meticulously crafted portrait showcasing not only the individuality and strength of these remarkable women but also the spirit and ethos of the IDF. With its artistic blend of tactical aesthetics, evocative backdrops and first-class print quality, the 2026 Calendar is both a tribute and a collector’s piece. Whether displayed in your home, office or training space, this calendar offers 12 months of inspiration, empowerment and exclusivity – a celebration of courage, dedication and style.

WILD DAKOTA GIRLS

wilddakotagirls.com – $18.00

As with last year, the cover doesn’t include any armament. But the promotional videos definitely include some firearms, so that works.

THE JOY OF SHOOTING

JoyOfShooting.com – $27.99, also available in an autographed edition.

As with last year, this one is uncertain. The 2025 calendars only arrived on the site on December 7, so I am currently holding out hope that a 2026 edition will show up there in the next week or two. Below is the 2025 cover, which managed to get ahead of the curve and beat Ballerina to the punch by using a frickin’ flamethrower. 

HOT CHICKS COLD STEEL

Amazon – $14.39

  • Photography – Enjoy stunning, full-color photographs or artwork every single month
  • Durable Construction – Sturdy, high-quality paper resists curling and ink bleed-through, and durable binding ensures longevity throughout the year
  • Use Right Away – 16-month calendar is comprised of 12 full monthly pages preceded by a bonus image accompanying the last four months of the previous year
  • Large, Roomy Day Blocks – All major holidays and moon phases listed, with plenty of room for writing notes and appointments
  • Specifications – 16 months (January–December 2026) monthly two-page layouts plus a four month BONUS IMAGE including September–December 2025 mini grids; 12″ x 12″ (closed); 12″ x 24″ (opened); 28 pages

AMAZON

Finally, here are a couple I found on Amazon: I’m not certain if they are actually calendars, since the descriptions seem potentially rather more like a book. On another product, I found a customer review which said that was exactly what it was. So, buyer beware with regard to these, and I’m including them solely for the purpose of completeness, with no warranty given or implied…