Reminders of Him

My View:  Reminders of Him  (2026) PG-13  Reminders of Him is about Kenna (Maika Monroe), who, after a perfect date, makes an unbearable mistake that lands her in prison for 7 years. She has returned to her hometown, hoping to rebuild her life and reunite with her young daughter. It’s a reunion that may never happen because of her past. I am a fan of Maika Monroe (who has a bit of a resume as a ‘Scream Queen’ in It Follows and Longlegs), but she is let down by a script that tries to tug the heartstrings at every turn but fails each time. Throughout the film, we are led to believe that Kenna has done something horrible to cause the death of her boyfriend, Scotty (Rudy Pankow). When it is revealed, I said to myself, “That’s it?” Kenna gets involved with a former pro football player, Ledger (Tyriq Withers), who owns a bar that she wanders into one night. We find out that Ledger was Scotty’s best friend forever, but Ledger never met Kenna. I guess being a football player means you don’t go to your friend’s funeral or her killer’s trial. That’s what the entire film feels like one setup after another, just there to create emotional pull. Reminders of Him is all about second chances, but I don’t think I’ll give the film that second chance look.  My Rating: Cable  Reminders of Him Website    Now playing in theaters

My View:  undertone  (2025) R   undertone follows the host of a popular paranormal podcast, Evy (Nina Kiri), who is sent a series of mysterious and terrifying audio recordings that somehow become real in Evy’s world. I thought the trailer for this film was amazing, making me want to see this film, ready for a frightful experience. Instead, I got a lot of buildup that never delivered any scares until the very end. This is a very frustrating film to watch, as the camera shot placement and often panning to open spaces imply that we are about to see something. Instead, all you get are empty spaces, except for one very predictable jump scare. The buildup at the start is well done, and we are all in for listening to scary recordings, but most aren’t all that scary, and to say the ending is incredibly disappointing would be an understatement. I won’t get into some of the very strange plot devices that stand out like a sore thumb. It’s fine to create tension in a film, but at some point, you have to reveal the creation of that tension, and this film never does. Instead, we get a mishmash of earlier scenes that are a complete letdown. If I were a listener of this podcast, I would have turned it off after just a few minutes. Instead, I was stuck in the theatre for an hour and a half.   My Rating: Cable undertone website Now playing in theaters

My View:  Slanted  (2025)  R Slanted follows Joan (Shirley Chen), an insecure Chinese-American high school student, who, hoping to be voted prom queen, undergoes ‘ethnic modification surgery’ to appear white. Life will not become what Joan had hoped it would be.    Slanted Website The review will be up on Friday night Now playing in theaters

Indiefest:  Scared to Death  (2025)    In Scared to Death, a movie crew and its actors decide to enhance their upcoming horror film by experiencing a real seance. They chose a 70-year-old abandoned children’s shelter to conduct the seance, and they become trapped by the murdered orphans who were found ‘scared to death’ in 1942. This is a campy horror film with a few intentional laughs thrown in that is low on scares but is more a tribute to low budget horror films than anything else. I think fans of low budget horror will enjoy it, especially with legendary scream queen Lin Sheye playing it up as a ego maniac film director that gets processed early on in the film. The effects are pretty weak and some of the acting is a little too campy for my taste but it would do nicely at a midnight showing at a horror film festival.  My Rating: Cable   Scared to Death Website    Now playing in select theaters

Forgotten Film: The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe  (1972) PG  In this French farce, an orchestra musician (Pierre Richard) is picked out in an airport to be an unwitting pawn decoy by the French Secret Service, all because he has (because of a prank) one brown shoe and one black one. The man has no idea what is happening, just that things keep happening to him, like being seduced by a beautiful woman, and people being shot near him. Fans of Jacque Tati and Buster Keaton will love this film. And please, do not check out the 80s English language remake The Man With One Red Shoe, which is one of the worst movies Tom Hanks ever made.  The Blond Man with One Black Shoe Info  My Rating: Full Price  The film is available to rent/buy on Amazon

Weird Credits: From the credits of Reminders of Him: Miniature pigeons by

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Michael  (2026) PG-13  The story of Michael Jackson, from child star of the Jackson Five to the “King of Pop”. The film is directed by Antoine Fuqua, known for his films Training Day, The Replacement Killers, Brooklyn’s Finest, Olympus Has Fallen, and The Equalizer. I have high hopes for this film because Fuqua got his training in directing music videos for Usher, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Toni Braxton, and Coolio.  The film will be released in theaters and IMAX on Friday, April 24, 2026

Until Next Time!