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!