My View: F1: The Movie (2025) PG-13 In F1: The Movie, Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) is a retired driver who thought he had burned too many bridges to ever return to F1 racing. An owner (Javier Bardem) wants to make a splash in the racing world and brings in Sonny to team with a new hot shot driver, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris). F1: The Movie is a big Hollywood film with a huge, bankable Hollywood star that is about one of the world’s most popular sports and was done not only with the full cooperation of the sports governing body but with the world’s most famous driver (and many time world champion) Lewis Hamilton, as a producer. See this film in the theater, with as big a screen as you can, because the racing scenes are some of the most thrilling auto-racing sequences that have ever been filmed. F1 excels at putting you in the cars with the drivers while they race on tracks around the world. With the full cooperation of F1, the filmmakers were able to shoot some of the film on the actual race circuits, which makes this film feel even more real and thrilling. Pitt is everything you want in a big, charismatic star who makes you believe he isn’t over 60 and that he is one of the great race car drivers in the world. It’s a role that few stars out there could do, and Pitt does it with a flare that makes you believe he could go into F1 and be successful in only a few races. So, those are the pluses of this film: thrilling racing scenes and a star who knows how to be a star. Unfortunately, the power of the film's racing scenes is lost when the storyline gets in the way of making it work. F1: The Movie is a film that runs over two and a half hours, and too much of the film is spent setting up storylines that either don’t work or we don’t care about. I loved the relationship and chemistry between Sonny Hayes, the off-putting over-confident race car driver, and Kate McKenna, the team’s chief engineer (played by the always wonderful Kerry Condon). Sonny asks Kate to create a car that handles differently than most F1 cars, and reluctantly, she buys into what he’s selling. There is some great chemistry between Condon and Pitt, but I kept hoping that the romantic aspect would be put on the back burner and let this working dynamic unfold without the need for them to get together. There are plenty of problems with the plot, including how Sonny plays bumper cars without a serious crash or penalty, a poorly done feud between hot shot driver Joshua and Sonny, and a play for control of the racing team that you see coming from almost the start of the film, that doesn’t resolve itself until the very end. Still, you will have a great time watching a superstar actor in a role that he was made for and racing sequences that are incredibly well done and thrilling. Maybe take a bathroom break or refill that popcorn when the talking starts. My Rating: Bargain Matinee F1: The Movie Website Now playing in theaters nationwide, including IMAX.
My View: M3GAN 2.0 (2025) PG-13 M3GAN 2.0 takes place two years after roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams) created M3GAN, a robot meant to be a companion to Cady (Violet McGraw), a robot that turned into a killing machine. A new military-grade robot, AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno), has been built using M3GAN’s technology and has become self-aware, turning against its creators. It is now attempting an AI takeover and sees Gemma and Cady as targets. Not if the new and improved M3GAN 2.0(Amie Donald, voiced by Jenna Davis) has anything to say about it. Back in 2023, I gave M3GAN, the first film in the series, a terrific review, stating, “Full of humor and some cool special effects, we have a horror star who makes Chucky look like an amateur.” Unfortunately, this time around, instead of returning to the horror/humor style that worked so well, they decided to make M3GAN the next action hero, and it doesn’t work. Instead of horror, we get a robot that is out to take over the world, and our team of robot scientists, including Cady (who in two years has somehow become a world-class Aikido fighter), go into a secret lair bunker, straight out of James Bond movie, to build a new M3GAN. You can almost hear the words being said: “We can make her better than she was. Better, stronger, faster.” While the first film had a lot to say about the state of parenting, this film is all about the evils of AI taking over our lives. The plot is razor thin, and the humor is forced, though there is a magnificent scene where M3GAN serenades her creator Gemma with a rendition of the Kate Bush song ‘This Woman’s Work.’ And yes, M3GAN dances, but it doesn’t have the quirky feel of the original film. And that’s the key issue: this two-hour film is simply not fun. Instead, it’s as if director Gerard Johnstone watched too many of those Cannon films of the 80s as a kid and decided it was time to bring them back. Instead, can we please have M3GAN return be creepy and scary? We already have enough superhero movies. My Rating: Bargain Matinee M3GAN 2.0 Website Now playing in theaters nationwide.
My View: My Mom Jayne (2025) TV-MA My Mom Jane is a documentary by Mariska Hargitay, who was only three years old when her mother, Jayne Mansfield, died in a horrible car accident. Mansfield, at the time, was one of the most famous people in the world due to her films and the constant publicity she generated about her life and appearance. This is a film about the personal journey of a woman who didn’t know or remember her mother but whose shadow always followed her. My Mom Jayne is a captivating exploration of discovery, as Hargitay delves into her mother’s life—including her early marriage and pregnancy, her pursuit of a career driven by sheer determination, and her experiences with multiple marriages while raising four children. We see as Mariska discovers things about her mother that were buried in the past and how, when they come to light, Hargitay gains a better understanding of her mother, including all the trials and tribulations that her brief but prolific life entailed. Mariska keeps peeling back the layers and discovering more about a mother she thought she knew, but she finds there is so much more. Hargitay does a marvelous job of showing us never-before-seen photos and home movies, along with a ton of Mansfield’s TV talk show appearances, that make you feel you are right there along with Hargitay. My Mom Jayne, is an emotional film that keeps surprising you as mysteries are solved, some of which are jaw-dropping revelations. By the end of the movie, you gain a deeper understanding of how misunderstood Mansfield was and how loving a mother she could have been to Mariska if her life hadn’t been cut short. It’s a poignant journey of pain, loss, and love—one that you won’t soon forget. My Rating: Full Price My Mom Jayne Website Now playing on the HBO Max platform. Indiefest: Tatami (2023) Leila (Arienne Mandi), a judo champion in her native Iran, and her coach, Maryam (Zar Amir Ebrahimi), have traveled to the Judo World Championship, intent on bringing home her country’s first gold medal. Midway through the competition, Leila receives an order from the Islamic Republic to fake an injury and withdraw. Will Leila do as she is told or continue competing, putting herself and her family in danger? Part sports movie and part thriller, with political intrigue thrown in, Tatami is a compelling watch that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout. Arienne Mandi gives a powerful performance as a woman who is willing to risk everything to achieve her dreams. Shot in black and white, the film follows Leila and her coach as she competes, and she feels that this is her day, that this is her tournament, and nothing can stop her. However, politics and a regime that prioritizes making a statement over sportsmanship threaten to derail her aspirations.Tatami is an emotionally charged and tense film where strength and courage are not just demonstrated on the mat, but also behind the scenes. It's an emotional rollercoaster, enthralling and complex, that will take you on a journey of unexpected emotions and places. It is a film that, like Leila, keeps fighting the good fight until the end. My Rating: Full Price Tatami Website Now playing in select theaters.
Indiefest: Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore (2025) The documentary Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore focuses on actress and activist Marlee Matlin, who won an Academy Award at the age of 21 for her performance in the film Children of a Lesser God (1986). Marlee has not only been a trailblazer for deaf actors but also a dedicated advocate for increased inclusion and accessibility within the Deaf community. I have been a fan of Marlee Matlin since seeing her heartbreaking and powerful performance in the 1986 film Children of a Lesser God, from which she won an Academy Award. That film propelled her overnight into three things she was not prepared for: becoming a spokesperson for every deaf person on the planet, an acting career based on one role in an industry that had never even considered that deaf people could be star material, and being in a relationship with a man who physically took out his insecurities on someone who loved him. Not Alone Anymore is a profile of a woman who never let people/critics define her by her hearing impairment. It’s a fascinating look at a woman who broke ground with every role she took on. Everyone who has used captioning when watching TV shows or movies should bow down to Matlin, as she was an almost a one-woman crusader for closed captioning. The film allows Matlin to tell her own story, and what a story it is. We discover the origins of her relationship with William Hurt and how it turned into a terrible, physically abusive one. Matlin tackles her drug addiction head-on with us and goes into detail about how she was treated by the press and by the deaf community. What I loved about this film was how it used closed captioning, allowing the hearing-impaired to express themselves without having to wait for an interpreter to catch up to what they were saying. It also shows how hard Matlin had to fight to have a career and how many times she had to hold her ground or fight for a role when studios would rather hire a hearing actor instead of someone with a hearing impairment. I loved the moment in the film when Marlee is with her brothers and sister, and Marlee, even with a family that is used to dealing with a deaf person, is left out of conversations because they aren’t talking to her or where she can see them. At one point, she signs to the camera, “I’m bored.” Watching this film about this amazing activist and actor, you will never make that statement. The film ends with two scenes. One is Matlin enjoying time with her newborn grand-baby, talking to the baby using ASL. And as credits roll, we watch Marlee in a car, signing along with a Billy Joel song as she waits at a red light. I can’t wait to see what Matlin does in her next role because I know it will be like her: powerful, tough, and thoughtful. My Rating: Full Price Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore Website Now playing in select theaters. Forgotten Film: Before Night Falls (2000) R Before Night Falls is the story of Reinaldo Arenas (Javier Bardem), the Cuban novelist and poet who believed that Fidel Castro’s revolution would liberate his life. Instead, he was targeted for his homosexuality and imprisoned for years, where he continued to write. We follow Arenas through his life as he continues to write, as his life becomes harder and harder. Javier Bardem delivers a riveting and touching performance as a man who is repeatedly put down but refuses to be anything but himself. It's a master class in acting, and because of it, Javier Bardem received an Academy Award nomination for his performance. Of note is that Johnny Depp has a dual role in the film, one as a military officer who takes advantage of Reinaldo’s incarceration and as “Bon Bon’, a fellow inmate who is a crossdresser who helps Reinaldo smuggle out his writings. My Rating: Full Price Before Night Falls Info Available to rent/buy on Amazon
Weird Credits: From the credits of F1: The Movie: Bolero Technician
Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) PG-13 Forced to balance the life of a family with being superheroes, the Fantastic Four must defend Earth from an evil space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his Herald, the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). The Fantastic Four comprises Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). The Fantastic Four: First Steps Website The film opens nationwide on Friday, July 25, 2025.