You're Cordially Invited

My View: You’re Cordially Invited  (2025)  R  In You’re Cordially Invited, Margot (Reese Witherspoon) is planning her sister’s wedding, and Jim (Will Ferrell) is the father of another bride-to-be. They discover their destination weddings are double-booked, so they decide to share the venue. What could go wrong? How about everything? You’re Cordially Invited is a film that, with the cast it has, should be much funnier and happier than it ends up being. The story is about two miserable people who expect too much from others to be happy in the moment. This is more of a raunchy comedy than a rom-com, though it tries very hard to put Ferrell and Witherspoon into the romantic side by the end of the film, but it feels like the film is vastly overstepping that outcome. Most of the comedy falls flat, and the much-anticipated alligator scene (see the poster) is incredibly forced into really bad slapstick. There were too many times in this film that I wanted to go ‘don’t go there’ to director/writer Nicholas Stoller, but he kept pushing the film along with one cringy scene after another. Let’s put it this way, I never want to hear the old Dolly Parton/Kenny Rogers song “Islands in the Stream" ever again. By the way, you can stay and listen to Ferrell/Witherspoon and the rest of the cast sing the song again and again during the credits. I wanted to scream 'Please stop singing!"  My Rating: Cable  You're Cordially Invited Info  Now playing on Prime Video. 

My View:  Companion  (2025)  R  In Companion, Iris (Sophie Thatcher) meets a dashing young man named Josh (Jack Quaid) at a grocery store. Josh talks Iris into a weekend getaway on his country estate, but there she learns an extraordinary thing: she is a sophisticated human companionship doll at Josh’s command. If it’s up to Iris, it won’t be for long. I had no idea what I was getting into, other than (spoiler alert, not really, it’s in the trailer) that Iris is a companion robot. I immediately figured out the first twist, but the rest took me for a fun ride. Companion is a suspense film with murder and mayhem, along with a dash of romance. The film paints itself into a corner that it has trouble getting out of, but it’s a twisted, fun story that gets a little bloody along the way. Sophie Thatcher has a blast playing Iris, someone we can root for, while also having a few laughs and a lot of shocks along the way. Just a warning: this film might change how you look at the ‘meet cute’ scenes in movies.   My Rating: Fulll Price   Companion Website    Now playing in theaters. 

Indiefest:  Love Me  (2024) R    Love Me is a post-apocalyptic romance in which a buoy and a satellite start communicating with each other and decide to explore what it would be like to be human. They both pick human forms (Kristen Stewart and Steven Yuen) and find that they are falling for each other. Love Me is a very strange love story that occasionally works, but most of the time, it seems to be a film that can’t find where it wants to go. Part sci-fi film, part romance with characters played first by a buoy and a satellite, then animated characters, and finally by human forms. The film explores the question of how we love, laugh, and experience life. The problem for our two characters is that they only have what was on the internet to help them figure out how to become a couple. I found the first 30 minutes to be the most interesting, as the two machines slowly develop a relationship. Once the two become animated in a weird world where they recreate a date over and over, the film slows down too much. When the two separate and explore how they see life and love on their own, the final third of the movie suffers. The ideas that the characters explore are probably too complex for two machines to find the answers to. By the end of the movie, I was uninterested in what happened to the two characters as I had lost interest in their attempts to become human long before they did.    My Rating: Cable  Love Me Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Valiant One  (2024) R  In Valiant One, a mission goes bad when a U.S. Army helicopter crashes in North Korean territory.  Now, a team of non-combat specialists must try to make it back to the South Korean side before being caught. The team is led by Captain Brockman (Chase Stokes) who isn’t too pleased to be taken off his desk duty to lead a bunch of reservists to fix a monitoring device placed near the DMZ. After their helicopter crashes, the team comes to the realization that they are in enemy territory and that no one will rescue them. It’s up to Brockman and his team to find a way back to the border before the North Koreans can find them. The cast is forgettable, with the exception of Lana Condor, who plays Specialist Selby, who becomes the sounding board for Brockman and is a kind of jack-of-all-trades type of soldier. Condor gives the film a badly needed spark when she is on screen. The film is more of your typical escape from the bad guys while dealing with the inner turmoil of a crew that didn’t think they would ever be in danger.   My Rating; Bargain Matinee  Valiant One Website    Now playing in theaters. 

Familyfaire:  Dog Man  (2025)  PG  Dog Man takes place when a human police officer named Knight and his dog partner Greg are injured together in an accident. A life-saving surgery puts Greg’s head on top of Knight’s body, and Dog Man is born. The film is based on the beloved and popular graphic novel series by Dav Pilkey and is directed by Peter Hastings, best known for writing over 70 episodes of the animated TV show Animaniacs. While not as over the top as Animaniacs was, this is an irreverent animated comedy that fans of the books will love, and parents will find some of the jokes funny, too. I loved the animation, which was lively and colorful. The characters are fun, with Lil Rel Howery’s Chief stealing every scene he is in. The film is fast-paced and features a lot of action sequences to keep small children engaged. Overall, Dog Man is an enjoyable film that kids will love, and parents won’t be too bored. There is a short The Bad Guys film at the beginning of Dog Man which doesn’t do a lot, but is harmless fun. My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Dog Man Website  The film is now in theaters.

Forgotten Film: Into the Wild  (2007)  R Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) graduates from college as an honor student. He gives away all his possessions and money and takes off for the West Coast, then heads up to Alaska, armed with a sleeping bag and a few books on how to survive in the wilderness. Along the way, he meets people who impact his life. Directed by Sean Penn and based on a true story, this is a strange film that, while it has some fantastic performances, doesn’t quite tell the story in a way that makes the impact the ending should make. Still, there are some brilliant performances of the people that Christopher meets on his travels, including Hal Holbrook, Kristen Stewart, and Vince Vaughn.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee The film is available to buy/rent on most streaming services.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Companion: Facial Hair Fabricator 

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Mickey 17  (2025)  R  Mickey (Robert Pattinson) is unhappy with his life, so he signs up to be an ‘expendable’, a disposable crew member on a space mission. As an expendable, Mickey is given dangerous tasks because he can be ‘renewed’ if he dies. Two problems: He renews with his memories intact, and something has gone wrong, and now there are two Mickeys. From Academy Award winner Bong Joon-ho (Parasite).  Mickey 17 Website The film will be in theaters on Friday, March 7, 2025.

Until Next Time! 

Presence

My View:  Presence (2024) R    Presence is about husband Chris (Chris Sullivan), his wife Rebecca (Lucy Liu), and their siblings Ty (Eddy Maday) and Chloe (Callina Liang), who are moving into a 100-year-old house. From the very first moments in the house, the family is convinced that they are not alone, nor is everything alright with this family. Presence, directed and shot by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, is shown to us through the eyes of the 'presence', a ghost or entity that inhabits the house. The film takes place entirely from inside the house, as we see what the ‘presence’ sees, experience only the conversations they are in the room for, or when the action takes place outside, through the home’s windows. The film opens with the house empty and the ‘presence’ going through the house, room by room. Soon, we are visited by a real estate agent and a family of four. Right from the start, we feel the tension coming from the family members, from the father, who has reservations about buying the house, but his wife demands they make a bid on it right then, to the brother and sister, who apparently have no choice in the matter. Presence is a film where we get bits and pieces of the family’s life, and we discover that this family has a lot of problems, so much so that it could break the family up. Chloe is the only family member at the beginning who senses a ‘presence’ in the house, and we see that the ‘presence’ has also taken an interest in her. While a ghost story, this is more of a mystery film, where we have to put things together by observing and listening to the family as they go about living in the home. The question is, can you put all the pieces together before the family does, and will the ‘presence’ have a role in that? I loved this film and enjoyed trying to figure out where it was going to go. I want to warn you that some moviegoers had a difficult time watching the movie due to the unnerving way it was shot. I found it riveting.  My Rating: Full Price  Presence Website    Now playing in select theaters. 

My View:  Flight Risk (2025) R   In Flight Risk, a small plane pilot (Mark Wahlberg) is transporting an Air Marshal (Michelle Dockery) accompanying a fugitive (Topher Grace) to trial. As the flight traverses the Alaskan wilderness, tensions rise, and it becomes clear that everyone on board is not who they seem. So I saw the ads for this film, and they stated, “From the director of Brave Heart.” Uh, they don’t mention the name in the ad, but that would be Academy Award winner Mel Gibson. Now, please take a look at the poster for the film. Our star, Mark Wahlberg, looks all tough and hunky in that picture. However, he’s the bad guy of the film and isn’t close to being hunky. A gum-chewing loudmouth who is anything but hunky. He has a giant bald spot and seems to have cut himself a couple of times. Flight Risk could have been something, but the dialogue spells everything out for you, the camera work, full of closeups to give us tension that never develops, and a heroine who is one of the worst marshals the movies have ever seen make this film seem much longer than a 90-minute flight. The film is so sloppy that every cut-away to the plane flying over the Alaskan mountains, the aircraft is either banking on a turn or descending. That's a problem when they make sure we know the plane in all those cut-aways is on auto-pilot, meaning it's flying straight and level. The ending attempts to be dramatic and offer our hero, the marshal, a chance to redeem themselves, but it's too late. By then, I wished they had crashed into the seemingly endless mountains they had kept crossing.  My Rating: Cable  Flight Risk Website  Now playing in theaters. 

Indiefest: Inheritance (2025)  R   Inheritance is about Maya (Phoebe Dynevor), who has endured a rough year that includes the loss of her mother. Her estranged father, Sam (Rhys Ifans), arrives and proposes a trip to Egypt, which she accepts. Little does she know her father was once a spy and has given her a key to an international conspiracy everyone wants. Maya becomes a target and must quickly learn her father’s skills, or she will not survive. Inheritance is a film where our heroine travels from country to country, trying to find a way to help her father, while not knowing who to trust, including the father she is trying to save. The film was shot on an iPhone and on location in countries around the world. Interestingly, the film follows Maya as she travels, including scenes in stores and on streets, where everyone but Dynevor and the small crew were not in on that a movie was being made. The plot may be flimsy, but Dynevor is engaging as Maya, a young woman who relies on her wits and instincts to survive. Dynevor commands our attention and we root for Maya almost from the start of the film. The action sequences are well done, especially a motorcycle chase down some very narrow and busy streets. The intriguing camera work and Phoebe Dynevor's performance make Inheritance worth watching. Just try not to think too much about some of the plot holes that keep popping up. The scenery will change soon to keep your mind off of it.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Inheritance Website  Now playing in theaters.

My View:  Star Trek: Section 31 (2025)  PG-13    Star Trek: Section 31 starts when there is a threat unlike anything Star Fleet has seen suddenly appears. Who do they turn to in saving the galaxy, giving them a command of a black ops crew? Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh). I am a big fan of Michelle Yeoh, and I enjoyed her role as Georgiou on the TV series Star Trek: Discovery, as we never knew what her character was going to do or say. We knew that most of the time, whatever Georgiou had up her sleeve, it was putting herself first before anyone else. As a Star Trek fan, I was excited that they were going to let Georgiou be the center of a film. Boy, was I let down by this film. I think the biggest problem with this film is that it goes against every other Star Trek movie/series that has come before it. The core of Star Trek has always been to strive for excellence, follow the rules, and assist as many people as possible while exploring the vastness of space. Section 31 is a ragtag group of misfits allowed to break all the rules because if they get caught, Starfleet will not acknowledge them. Add to that the idea that, except for Georgiou, we have no idea who any of the crew members are or what their capabilities are from the start. We get thrown into the mix, and before we can get to know the characters, fights break out, explosions happen, and we spend a lot of time watching the crew fight both bad guys and among themselves. The film seems to think that bigger explosions and lots of fights are better than what Star Trek fans love about the series. Star Trek has always been about characters who are people (of all races and kinds) who we can relate to and care about. I didn’t care about any of these characters except for Georgiou and she never seemed to figure out what she wanted either.   My Rating: Cable  Star Trek: Section 31 Website   Now playing on the Paramount+ platform. 

Forgotten Film: The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden (2013)   In the 1930s, a Berlin doctor moved to the Galapagos Islands to escape the world and its ongoing problems. The issue is that other couples followed suit a few years later, and they did not get along. This is a tale of sex, bad behavior, and possible murder. The film uses extensive footage that was shot by the couples, along with letters and books that they wrote. The film also interviews people who live on the island, letting us into a world that seems all too strange. There is even a silent film that was shot on the island, using the people who were living there at the time as actors. The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden is a fascinating documentary that provides few answers. However, in this day and age of crime podcasts and streaming documentaries on murderers that come out every week, this is a perfect documentary to watch and try to piece together what happened. My Rating: Full Price  The Galapagos Affair Info  Available to buy/rent on Amazon and Apple TV+.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Inheritance: Audio Description Narrator

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  I’m Still Here  (2024)  PG-13  In 1971, Rubens Paiva, a former congressman and critic of the Brazilian military dictatorship, is taken from his home by government officials, never to be heard of again. His wife, Eunice (Fernanda Torres), seeks to find out what happened to her husband while trying to keep her family going. Based on a true story, the film has three Academy Award nominations: Best International Feature Film, Best Motion Picture of the Year, and Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in Fernanda Torres.  I'm Still Here Website   The film will be in theaters on Friday, February 7, 2025.

Until Next Time!

Wolf Man

My View:  Wolf Man  (2025) R  In Wolf Man, Blake’s (Christopher Abbott) and his wife Charlotte’s (Julia Garner) marriage is falling apart. Blake inherits his childhood home, a remote house in rural Oregon, after his father disappears and is presumed dead. Blake takes the family, including his young daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth), to his father’s home to get away from it all. An unseen animal attacks Blake, and as the night progresses, he transforms into something unimaginable. So we all know the lore of what happens when a wolfman bites you…you turn into one. So when Blake, at the time a candidate for father of the year, gets bitten by a creature, we all know what is coming. The problem with this film is that we also know what is coming after that turn, and that’s the problem with this film. It takes a creative bit of writing and turns it into a normal and not too scary horror film. I enjoyed they used primarily practical effects, such as going old school in the transformation. I was never scared during the film, even during its opening sequence, when we see Blake as a kid with his father having to deal with their own wolfman while out deer hunting. It’s too bad because I had high hopes for this film since it is from Leigh Whannell, who gave us the very creative 2020 film The Invisible Man. Wolf Man spent a lot of time building up the monster but never delivered the goods, much like when the wolf man gave out a cry into the night that was more of a yip that a mighty howl.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Wolf Man Movie Now playing in theaters. 

The Brutalist (2024)  R   The Brutalist begins in the aftermath of WWII when visionary architect László Toth (Adrien Brody) and his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) flee post-war Europe to restart their lives. When László begins working for a wealthy client, Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce), he little realizes how much his life will change. Director Brady Corbet brings us a tale of greed, art, and sacrifice. It’s a story where artistic vision clashes with new world money, with both sides unwilling to back down. László Toth is an architect who left his wife behind to find freedom and maybe even fame in America. He is an artist who sculpts with buildings, creating incredible structures that dazzle the heart and mind. Harrison Van Buren is a wealthy man who wants to build a tribute to himself in his hometown. It’s a monument to a man whose ego is almost as big as László’s, but the difference is that László has talent. Harrison only has money to back up his ego. This is a film that spans years, as we follow László through some tough times until he is given what becomes his cross to bear, Harrison’s massive building. László is not a perfect man. His and his wife's experiences in the Holocaust haunt him, causing him to develop a heroin addiction to numb the past. Adrien Brody gives us a powerful performance of a man tortured by both the past and the present as Harrison keeps changing the plans for the building, cutting costs. Brody's performance is extraordinary, full of fire and wonder, but also filled with heartbreak and sorrow. He is a man consumed by his work and nothing else. Brody is matched by Guy Pearce, who portrays Harrison, a man who is certain that his vision for greatness is always right, no matter what the facts tell him. Pearce gives us a man who likes to push people to the edge and has no problem with those people if they fall off that ledge as long as he gets his way. Their scenes together are a master class in acting, chess-like, with one making a move that is countered by the other. Brady Corbet has given us an epic film following a man on a journey to achieve what only he can imagine and who will do anything to make it come true.  Note: This film is 3 hours and thirty-five minutes long, not including the 15-minute intermission at around the two-hour mark. I have seen a host of films that have been extremely long in 2024, and many have felt their length. This film never felt long while I was watching it in a theater. It is that captivating.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  The Brutalist Website Now playing in select theaters. 

Indiefest:  The Room Next Door (2024)  PG-13  The Room Next Door is about two women, Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha (Tilda Swinton), who were best friends when they were younger. Having lost touch, Ingrid is surprised when Martha reaches out to meet her. It seems Martha has something she wants to ask Ingrid to help her do. That something is to go on a trip that Martha plans on not returning from forever. The Room Next Door is the first English language film from the acclaimed Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, known for such films as Pain and Glory (2019), The Skin I Live in (2011), Volver (2006), Talk to Her (2002) and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down (1989). What would you do if an old friend from the past, someone you haven’t seen in a while, wanted you to be there when they died? And the death would not be a natural one. That is the dilemma that Ingrid has when Martha asks her to come to a remote rental home and stay with her until she takes a pill that will cause her death. The Room Next Door is a film that allows two gifted actors to carry a dialogue throughout the film as they discuss life, past loves, and, of course, death. It’s almost a dance between the two characters, one who is determined to go out on her own terms and the other who knows that the inevitable is coming but keeps on hoping for one more day to spend talking with and soaking up all that she can from a friend that has lived a glorious life. I think The Room Next Door is a film that will have the audience leave in silence, inclosed in their thoughts. I know I was.  My Rating: Full Price  The Room Next Door Website  Now playing in theaters.

My View:  Back in Action  (2025)  PG-13   In Back in Action, Matt (Jamie Foxx) and Emily (Cameron Diaz) have been living the quiet suburban life with their daughter, Alice (McKenna Roberts), and young son Leo (Rylan Jackson). However, Matt and Emily have a secret, and it has just come out, which will endanger all their lives. They are former CIA spies that made a lot of enemies. It’s fun seeing Cameron Diaz back on the screen, and she has great chemistry with Jamie Foxx. However, the film feels like a retread of a 90s action comedy, heavy on the big action sequences but light on plot and witty dialogue. I enjoyed seeing Cameron doing some hand-to-hand combat, as a sort of flashback to her Charlie’s Angels days, but the plot is incredibly weak, and much of the humor is forced. Add in a weird appearance of Glenn Close, as Emily’s British mom and this film just doesn’t work. It’s too bad because there might have been something there with Foxx and Diaz. We just didn’t need all the mommy/daddy time with the kids. My Rating: Cable  Back in Action Website Now playing on Netflix. 

My View:  Unstoppable  (2024)  PG-13  Unstoppable centers around the life of Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome), who was born with one leg but didn’t let him stop him from reaching his dream of becoming a wrestler at the collegiate level. We all love a Rocky-type story, but when the film keeps harking back to Rocky (twice Robles visits the Rocky steps in Philly), you want to say enough. Jharrel Jerome gives a wonderful performance that gets lost in a script that hits over the head with plot points out of every underdog movie out there. Crappy father figure? Check. Great mom whose only flaw is she keeps going back to crappy father figure? Check. A hero who won’t take no for an answer, always going the hard route (even when he turns down a full-ride scholarship)? Check. An invincible opponent who seemingly can’t be beaten? Check. And on it goes, for over two hours. I am a wrestling fan (having even gone to some of the Olympic events back in 96), and I was clueless about what was happening in the big wrestling scenes (so you might have some trouble, too). Even the strong supporting cast, including Jennifer Lopez as the mom, Michael Pena as Anthony’s high school coach, Mykelti Williamson as Anthony’s boss at his part-time job, and Don Cheadle as Anthony’s college coach, can’t help overcome a script that never finds its footing. Add in Bobby Cannavale, who plays Anthony’s stepdad, who pulls every bad dad trick in the book to make it look like Anthony will never succeed. It’s a film written using the old underdog rules. But, with this type of film, we know he will. I mean, even Rocky got a second shot at the title.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Unstoppable Info The film is now playing on Amazon Prime. 

Indiefest:  Black Box Diaries  (2024) Black Box Diaries is a documentary following Japanese journalist Shiori Itô, who has been sexually assaulted by a high-profile broadcaster. Her case has been dropped almost from the beginning because of the broadcaster’s job and his close ties to the Japanese government. Ito’s assault was back in 2015, and she was a 22-year-old grad student who thought she was interviewing for a job at a network. Instead, she was drugged and raped, but because of incredibly outdated rape laws, it was almost impossible to bring charges against the man through the Japanese judicial system. Ito, using her journalistic training, goes on a quest to bring justice and to change the laws of a system that makes it so that only 4% of rape cases are ever brought to trial. Black Box Diaries is a heartbreaking story, told by Ito through the use of video diaries and making a trail of audio and video recordings as she finds her way through the legal system, one that was designed to defeat her. It's a story that takes years to have an outcome and you wonder the toll it took on her to make this journey. Ito warns us at the film’s start that the experience of watching this tough documentary could trigger survivors, telling us that if it gets too much, we should close our eyes and breathe. What Shiori Ito found in making this film was that while she felt alone at the start of her journey, by the end, she was supported by a movement that gave her hope for her future. My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  Black Box Diaries Website  Now playing on the Paramount+/Showtime platform. 

My View:  September 5  (2024)  R    September 5 takes place during the 1972 Munich Olympics, as an American sports broadcasting team finds itself covering a hostage crisis involving Israeli athletes. The 1972 Olympics were groundbreaking for a couple of reasons. It was the first Olympics that was broadcast live around the world. It was also the first Olympics that Germany had hosted since the days of Hitler’s reign over the 1936 Olympics. This made a perfect setting for a terrorist attack, where a group of Palestinian militants held ten Israeli Olympic team members hostage while the entire world watched. The film centers on the ABC broadcasting crew, working under the sports section of ABC, who were put into action in the early morning hours in a situation they were unprepared for but would make history in their coverage of the events that unfolded. The story is told through the men and women who worked tirelessly to cover a breaking story that shocked the world. In the mix was a network executive, Roone Arledge, played skillfully by Peter Sarsgaard, who decided to keep the coverage in the sports department there on the grounds (literally right across the area where the hostages were being held) instead of giving the story off to the news department in New York. The second in command and the person who drives the plot is producer Geoffery Mason, played by John Magaro. Margaro does an outstanding job of showing us a man who has to rally his team to cover the crisis while dealing with network bosses and buying satellite time to keep the coverage going. September 5 is a powerful movie that tells the story of a group of people who banded together to show the world what was happening while doing something that had never been done before. Show a hostage crisis in real time to a worldwide audience. Even if you know the outcome, September 5 will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout, with an ending that has such an impact. So go back in time and witness, through this impressive film, the guts and courage of a group of people making history.  My Rating: Full Price   September 5 Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

Forgotten Film: The Elephant Man  (1980) PG  In Victorian London, a surgeon, Dr. Treves (Anthony Hopkins), comes across at a ‘freak show’, a person called ‘The Elephant Man” because of his oversized and disfigured skull along with other bodily deformities. The man on display is 21-year-old Joseph Merrick (John Hurt), who makes a living in the sideshow. Dr. Treves rescues Merrick and brings him to a hospital, where he discovers Merrick prefers to be called John and is a well-read and articulate man. Back in 1979, when it was announced that David Lynch was going to direct a film called The Elephant Man, myself and others at my film school thought we would be getting a bizarre and weird horror film, much like Lynch’s first film Eraserhead (1977), a midnight movie screening staple, which is a film that is so weird and mind-blowing, it has to been seen. Little did we know we would get a film that tells the tale of a man who was labeled a freak but was thoughtful, kind, and creative. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Picture. While it did not win any Oscars, it put Lynch at the forefront of hot directors, which he would use to make Dune. Shot in glorious black and white by Freddie Francis, the film is a brilliant look at how we see and judge people by their appearance first before ever getting to know someone. And by the way, the man who was the driving force behind getting the film made, including shot in black and white, was the great Mel Brooks.  My Rating I Would Pay to See it Again  The Elephant Man Info The film is available to buy on DVD and is streaming on Kanopy. RIP David Lynch (1946-2025).

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Wolf Man:  Pattern Maker

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Companion  (2025) R Iris (Sophie Thatcher) meets a dashing young man named Josh (Jack Quaid) at a grocery store. Josh talks Iris into a weekend getaway on his country estate, but there she learns a very strange thing: she is a sophisticated human companionship doll at Josh’s command. If it’s up to Iris, it won’t be for long. Just to show what kind of film this will be, the film’s producer is Zach Cregger, who gave us the wild horror film Barbarian (2022). Companion Website In theaters on Friday, January 31, 2025. 

Until Next Time!

Better Man

My View:  Better Man  (2024) R    Better Man tells the true story of Robbie Williams, who dreamed at a young age that he would become a world-famous pop star. We follow Robbie as his meteoric rise, dramatic fall, and then dramatic resurgence as a British pop superstar plays out before our eyes. So, looking at the poster from the film, you can see that Robbie Williams is portrayed by a chimpanzee, done with CGI and using actor Jonno Davies in the role, including speaking the lines, with Williams doing most of the voice-over narration. Yes, it takes a few minutes to get used to this take on a musical (humans portray all the other characters), but I enjoyed it after a while. It helped with Robbie becoming part of a boy band, and I didn’t have to keep searching for him among all the other guys that looked like him. There are a couple of breathtaking songs in the film, including a spectacular musical number that takes place on Regent Street, one of the most famous streets in all of England. The film was problematic for me in two ways. One is here in the States; Williams isn’t very well known, except for his song Millennium (the video was a take-off of James Bond films); he never became the big star that he is in England and Europe. So, I never knew if a song was an original song made for the film or if it was one of his hits. Secondly, the film becomes overindulgent, with Robbie constantly fighting himself and always being confronted by images of himself telling him that he is not good enough to be a star. Better Man all comes to a head near the end of the film, in a sequence that should have been the big triumphant scene, but instead, Robbie fights all his past selves. It takes a long time to get to that point, and you would think that would be the end, but instead, we get a last song that, while fans of Willams will know is part of his repertoire; it just doesn’t fit the rest of the film. Better Man is a film that starts with a gimmick that you forget is there for a bit but keeps hitting you over the head with it, and that is just too much for someone who isn’t a Robbie Williams fan like me.  My Rating; Bargain Matinee  Better Man Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  The Last Showgirl  (2024)  R   In The Last Showgirl, Shelly (Pamela Anderson) has been a part of a Las Vegas revue show for over 20 years. Shelly has given up everything to be a part of the show; it is part of her life, and suddenly, she is told that in two weeks, the show will close forever. Director Gia Coppola knew what she had in Pamela Anderson, someone we all love but who has a limited dramatic range. So Coppola went out and got a powerful supporting cast, including Dave Bautista, as the stage manager and former lover of Shelly, Brenda Strong, and Kiernan Shipka as two of Shelly’s showgirl pals, Billie Lourd as Shelly’s daughter, and Jamie Lee Curtis as an over the hill showgirl, now waitress, who is Shelly’s best friend. Coppola often lets the supporting cast do the heavy lifting in scenes and lets Anderson sit back and react. The Last Showgirl is a movie that probably would have been a successful short film because the storyline is incredibly weak and has a hard time even filling its short 85-minute run time. We get a lot of scenes of Anderson on Vegas casino rooftops looking out over the Las Vegas skyline or practicing her dance moves for her attempt to get a job in another Vegas show. Every scene where Anderson is asked to create emotion on screen seems forced. It’s telling that the scene that I came away remembering the most from this film was when Jamie Lee Curtis decides to quit another waitress job and dance on the casino floor for herself and no one else. Jamie Lee gives us a magical and memorable scene. It’s too bad it wasn’t Anderson doing the scene.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Last Showgirl Website  Now playing in the theaters. 

Indiefest:  Nickel Boys  (2024) PG-13   Nickel Boys tells the story of Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson), two Black teenagers sent to the Nickel Academy in Florida after being accused of crimes they did not commit. To survive the horrors of school in the Jim Crow era South, the boys will need to rely on their friendship. Nickel Boys is an amazing film where we see the world through the eyes of Elwood in the first half of the film. The camera shows us what he is seeing, whether it is the curtains that Elwood’s grandmother is ironing, seen from the floor up as Elwood is under the ironing board, or as an adult when Elwood hitches a ride in a car that turns out is stolen. Elwood is sent to Nickel Academy deep in the Jim Crow South, where his life will depend on his wits and the friend that he makes in Turner, a fellow teen stuck in this horrible place like Elwood. For some, this film will confound you with its point of view, camera work, and editing, where we go back and forth to different time periods in Elwood’s life, often making you feel unsettled. About halfway through the film, this point of view shifts, but I won’t ruin the reason for you. It’s an amazing part in the film and makes the second half take off. Part thriller, part mystery, Nickel Boys is a groundbreaking film that creates a unique look at how to tell a story. If you can make it through the first 30 minutes of the film and feel comfortable going on, you will be rewarded with a film that will make you wonder how director RaMell Ross was able to create such a powerful and moving film that breaks a lot of conventional filmmaking rules.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  Nickel Boys Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

Indiefest:  Hard Truths  (2024) R  Hard Truths is about Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a woman who is depressed and angry at the world. Pansy finds offense in almost every situation and is always on the verge of flying off the handle. She has alienated her husband Curtley (David Webber) and her adult son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett), who don’t dare say anything to her for fear of her reacting with rage. Pansy’s only person she can talk to is her sister, Chantal (Michele Austin), a person who sees good in everyone. However, even Chantal has a breaking point, and Pansy may find herself alone in dealing with the world. The film is centered on the performance of Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who portrays Pansy as a woman who is mad at the world and would rather spend her time in bed than be out in the world surrounded by fools. However, while Pansy might hate the world, she needs to feel loved, which is a key to her character that we see develop throughout the film. Hard Truths is a film where a performance transcends the storyline. It’s not an easy film to watch because Pansy is not an easy person to be around. Marianne Jean-Baptiste is a fireball on the screen, giving us a woman who has an opinion on everything and everybody, and who sees a world that is out to get her, so she fights back at every turn. I can’t imagine the energy that it took to do this performance, but it’s to Jean-Baptiste’s credit that we stick with the film until the end when everything comes to a head. Marianne Jean-Baptiste's full range is seen in a scene near the end of the film, and it's a marvel to experience.   My Rating: Full Price  Hard Truths Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

Forgotten Film:  Shaft in Africa  (1973)  R  P.I. John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) is recruited to go to Africa and infiltrate a modern slavery ring that is sending young Africans to work on chain gangs in Europe. Shaft came out in 1971 and was an enormous hit. Now Shaft has one of the greatest opening title sequences with that incredible song by Isaac Hayes, but its plot is pretty weak, depending mostly on the star power of Roundtree to carry it off, with a lot of talking and minimal action. I think Shaft in Africa is the best of the three Shaft films of the early 70s. I love how they made Shaft a James Bond-like character, with even a few cool Bond-like gadgets. The film has a ton of action scenes and some cool hand-to-hand fights, plus a plot that moves pretty quickly once Shaft gets to Africa. The film's Ethiopian setting is utilized to its fullest potential, and Roundtree still possesses that star power.  My Rating: Full Price  Shaft in Africa Info The film is available to rent/buy on Amazon and Apple TV.

Weird Credits: From the credits of Better Man:  Rushes Runner

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Captain America: Brave New World  (2025)  Following the election of Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) as President of the United States, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), who now holds the mantle of Captain America, finds himself at the center of an international incident and must work to stop the true masterminds behind it. This film is part of the Phase Five of the MCU.  Captain America: Brave New World Website   The film is in theaters on Friday, February 14, 2025.

Until Next Time!

The Damned

My View: The Damned  (2024)  R  The Damned takes place in 19th-century Iceland, where Eva (Odessa Young), a widow, runs a fishing station in a remote village. Eva and her fellow villagers see a ship sinking offshore in icy waters. Should they risk their lives in horrible weather and bring back survivors to share their last remaining food for the winter or let nature take its course? Whatever they do, their lives will forever be changed. People have often gone mad in insolation, especially in an unrelenting winter. Add in the lack of food, a demanding and physical job that isn’t paying off with the lack of fish being caught, and a culture where ghost stories are told around the table at night and folktales of ghosts and the dead are believed, and you get a situation ripe for horror. Director Thordur Palsson gives us a story of a group of men led by widow Eva, who are struggling to survive in harsh conditions, having such a bad time at fishing that they have to eat their bait. Odessa Young is the center of the film and plays Eva as a person with a big heart but who has the welfare of her men to consider with every decision she makes. Eva, when we meet her, is a person who is a damaged person suffering from the loss of her husband, and we see just how damaged she is when someone tells a ghost story around the dining table, and she is affected by the story to the core. With her, we see all that goes on in this story, where the tension continually builds as mysterious things happen in the group. Palsson does a spectacular job of setting up this scary story of a group of people who become under the spell of folklore combined with guilt to create a tale of scares and horror.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Damned Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever  (2024)  In the documentary Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever, we follow tech millionaire Bryan Johnson, who is willing and able to do anything to slow down the aging process and extend his life beyond all the known medical limits. This is a fascinating look at what one person who has the money, resources, and time can do if they devote their entire life to extending it. To say that any of us would do this just to live longer is asking a lot. Bryan doesn’t have a life other than interacting with his assistant (given the title of Social Media Officer) and his soon-to-be college son. Bryan is relentless in his daily life, taking a mountain of pills, working out, eating vegetarian, and undergoing procedures that most doctors feel are either unnecessary or dangerous. I lost count of how many times a procedure was brought up that was tested on mice/rats but hasn’t been tested on humans. Bryan even flies to Honduras to get gene therapy. This is a therapy that has a ‘kill switch’ that can ‘shut down the gene’ if things go wrong. Isn’t this almost what every villain has done in comic books since the ‘60s? There is an interesting underlying factor in all this: Bryan was brought up Mormon and has cut ties with most of his family because of leaving the religion. Bryan hints he was an unhappy child/adult and seems to point to his religious upbringing and beliefs (he has kids and an ex-wife that he hasn’t seen since he left the church). Second is Bryan’s relationship with his son (who is about to go to college). While I love he has grown close to his son and wants to make up for lost time, I didn’t like that he allowed his young high school senior to do a bunch of Bryan’s lifestyle choices, including plasma trading. While you may learn a thing or two about aging and lifestyle, and it’s no accident that Netflix premiered this on New Year’s Day, a day when people try to go on self-improvement regimens, you may be like me and be a little creeped out by a man who wants to live as long as he can while not living a life.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Don't Die Website  Now playing on Netflix

Indiefest:  The Girl with the Needle  (2024)  R   In The Girl with the Needle, Karoline (Vic Carmen Sonne) hasn’t heard from her husband in years after he left to join the fight in WWI. She becomes desperate and homeless, but all is not lost when she meets a woman named Dagmar (Trine Dyrholm), who promises to help her if Karoline does something illegal and possibly dangerous. Karoline is a lost soul, just trying to survive in 1919 Copenhagen, and she keeps getting knocked down. Whenever things seem to be going her way, she gets knocked down again. Vic Carmen Sonne’s performance is both gritty and bold, giving Karoline a backbone that prevents her from completely succumbing to the misery. Shot in absolutely stunning black and white, the world that director/co-writer Magnus von Horn and cinematographer Michal Dymek have created is a stark one, where every corner seems to decay right before our eyes. Each scene creates a feeling of despair and growing suspense, as we sense something is not right but can’t put our finger on it. Karoline’s survival is the focus of the first half of this film. The film’s second half becomes more of a Gothic tale of suspense and mystery. In the end, it transforms into something entirely unexpected and shocking. The Girl with the Needle is a film that will have you on the edge of your seat, with an ending that will stun you. Be aware that this is a tough watch, not suitable for the weak-willed. Like Karoline, you will have to face tough times to reach the end of the journey.  My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  The Girl with the Needle Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

Indiefest:  The Seed of the Sacred Fig  (2024)  PG-13  The Seed of the Sacred Fig focuses on a family thrust into turmoil when Iman is appointed as an investigating judge in a high-profile case in Tehran. As political unrest erupts in the streets, Iman (Missagh Zareh) realizes that his job has put himself and his family in danger. Shot in secret by Mohammad Rasoulof, this is a film that shows us the growing anti-Iranian government movement (via actual YouTube videos) while centering on a family that slowly destroys itself. Iman has been given a job that could lead to financial success for his family, but he soon learns that the job is asking him to do things to protect the ruling government and throw away any chance of justice. Iman is given a gun to defend himself and his family from anyone who finds out about the rulings that he has made. That gun goes missing in the family home, and now Iman must find out who the traitor is in his own family, even if it means destroying it. The film plays out like a mystery thriller, as we follow the family as they try to stay together even though the world around them is falling apart. However, they can’t survive if their father has become judge and jury with his own children. The Seed of the Sacred Fig is a scary tale that is full of lies, accusations, and possible betrayals; all the while, the rights of women are being taken away right by the government, as seen on social media. It’s a remarkable film that, while it takes too long for the final act to come to a conclusion, is a moving portrait of both a country and a family that is being fractured by an iron fist. Where innocence/guilt is judged before even the facts can be determined.  My Rating: Full Price  The Seed of a Sacred Fig Website Now playing in select theaters. 

Indiefest:  Porcelain War  (2024)  R In the documentary Porcelain War we follow three people as they deal with daily life in Ukraine as the war with Russia rages on.  Slava Leontyev, his wife Anya Stasenko, and their friend Andrey Stefanov were forced to flee their homes in Crimea during the Russian invasion. They now live in a town in Ukraine near the border with Russia, which is regularly bombed. Before the war, Salva and Anya created porcelain figures, which Salva created, and Anya painted, and Andrey was a cinematographer. Slava and Andrey joined the army when the war started with Russia, wanting to defend the country that they love. Anya has stayed behind to keep the home fires burning (literally) and continues to paint her figurines. This documentary gives us two sides to living in Ukraine. We witness stunning images of pristine forests and pools where they swim, striving to find some peace in a world that has gone crazy. Always by Slava and Anya is a small dog named Frodo. These scenes are contrasted with scenes of bombings, firefights, and searching for mines. We often witness the soldiers fighting the enemy in horrific battle sequences out in the field. Throughout the film, we hear an incredible soundtrack from a band called DakhaBrakha that blends folk songs with the sounds of animals from the forest. Many times, one of the three will talk about their life, both past and present, as we see Anya’s work on the porcelain figurines come to life, illustrating scenes of what is going on in their country and their lives. We get to see how real people deal with a war up close and the spirit they show to continue the fight. Porcelain War is a film that explores the struggle to survive, utilizing art, love, and laughter to overcome hardship. Buildings can be destroyed, but the heart and soul of a people is a much harder thing to kill. As Slava says near the end of the film, ‘Ukraine is like porcelain, easy to break but impossible to destroy.’ My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  Porcelain War Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

Forgotten Film:  The Landlord  (1970) PG  Elgar Enders (Beau Bridges) is a 29-year-old rich kid who still lives with his very wealthy parents (Lee Grant and Walter Brooke). Enders decides it’s time to go out into the world and make something for himself. So what’s a rich kid going to do but buy an inner-city apartment building in Brooklyn, with the intent of tearing it down and building something that his parents will be proud of? However, Elgar makes the mistake of getting to know his tenants, including a hairdresser, Fanny (Diane Sands), her husband, Coppee (Lou Gossett), who wants to overturn the government,  and a fortune teller, Marge (Pearl Bailey), who convinces Elgar not to kick everyone out. The first half of this film is your standard ‘fish out of water’ comedy, but it makes a turn about halfway through, as we find out that Elgar isn’t a good guy. In fact, he is a self-centered jerk. The film was directed by Hal Ashby (Oscar-winning writer of In the Heat of the Night (1967) and director of Harold and Maude (1971), The Last Detail (1973, Being There (1979), and Coming Home (1979), and it has some outstanding performances, including Lee Grant as Elgar’s stuck up mom, and Pearl Bailey, who is a delight in every scene she is in. The Landlord is a film that, while made in 1970, deals with racial disharmony, gentrification, and income inequality, making this a film that is still powerful today. My Rating: Full Price  Tne Landlord Info The film is available to buy on Amazon. 

Weird Credits: From the credits of The Girl with the Needle:  Stunt Horse

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Love Me (2024) R  Here is the IMDB description of this movie “A post-apocalyptic romance in which a buoy and a satellite meet online and fall in love after the end of human civilization.” It just makes you want to watch this, doesn’t it? So what if I tell you that the buoy meets a satellite over the airwaves, starts communicating with each other, and decides to explore what it would be like to be human? The buoy picks Kristen Stewart as her avatar, and the satellite picks Steven Yeun. Better? And by the way, the film won the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.  Love Me Website The film is in theaters on Friday, January 31, 2025. 

Until Next Time!