Power Ballad

My View: Power Ballad  (2026)   R  In Power Ballad, Rick Power (Paul Rudd) is a past-his-prime musician singing in an Irish wedding band. Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas), a former boy band star who is desperate to put his old image behind him, joins Rick and his band on stage at a wedding for one song. The two musicians bond, get drunk, and spend the night jamming. Months later, Rick discovers that a song he wrote has been stolen by Danny and has become his breakout hit. Rick is about to go on a quest to reclaim his song and restore his reputation. This film is from John Carney, the Irish writer-director behind Sing Street, one of my favorite films of the past 15 years. This time, instead of a romance, we get a bit of a bromance, with Rick and Danny having a great time late at night playing and discussing music. The film does a brilliant job of giving us two characters who love music: Rick, who left a big-time music career because he fell in love, and Danny, a man desperate to prove he isn’t just a boy band member but a true musician. When Rick shares a song he wrote long ago, it’s the song that Danny has been looking for to make his solo career take off. The problem is that Danny stole the song from Rick, and now Rick wants Danny to admit it. This is a funny, fun look at how music can change lives and mean so much to so many people. It’s also about how personal songs can be, and how sometimes the music world isn’t fair or just. Paul Rudd gives a winning performance as the wedding singer who loves playing music but also loves his family life. We want Rick to win in this war between a small-time player and the big music machine that Danny is a part of. Rudd carries the film as its heart and soul, though Nick Jonas does a fine job as Danny, a man who wants to be a big star on his own and is willing to screw someone to get it. The film has a terrific soundtrack, and the song that Danny steals is incredibly moving and catchy. My only quibble is that I wanted more original songs, but I guess when your main character is a wedding singer, he’s kind of stuck singing the old standards. Power Ballad is an incredibly enjoyable film that will leave you with a song or two stuck in your head. And in this case, it’s a good thing. My Rating: Full Price  Power Ballad Website  Now playing in select theaters and releases everywhere nationwide on June 5, 2026

My View: Tuner  (2025) R Tuner is about Niki (Leo Woodall), an apprentice to master piano tuner Henry (Dustin Hoffman). Niki has a hearing condition that allows him to hear incredibly well. When Henry has huge medical bills to pay, Niki starts working for a mob boss (Lior Raz) who uses Niki’s talent to hear the mechanisms inside a safe, allowing him to open almost anything. But crossing into this dangerous world soon puts everything Niki values at risk. Leo Woodall gives a mesmerizing performance in this film that artfully blends the conventions of a buddy movie, a romance, and a crime thriller. Woodall is perfect as Niki, a man who was a talented pianist but then developed a condition in which his hearing is incredibly sensitive; he constantly wears earplugs to function, but his hearing has perfect pitch, allowing him to master the job of piano tuner. The chemistry between Dustin Hoffman and Woodall is so much fun to watch as they have a grandfather/grandson type of back and forth that allows Hoffman’s character to tell stories and sleep while Niki does all the heavy lifting in the piano tuning business. The strongest scenes are the ones with Hoffman and Woodall as the two go from job to job, with a running joke that they get asked to do things like fix a toilet while tuning a piano. Niki soon discovers by accident that he has a talent for safe-cracking and is soon involved with a mobster, Uri (Lior Raz), who uses Niki to crack safes in rich homes. Along the way, Niki meets student composer Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), and soon they are in the midst of a romance. The film does an artful job of mixing the new romance with the crime heists, as Niki makes money to pay for Henry’s hospital bills. The film develops into a thriller when Niki realizes he needs to sever his ties with Uri, but we know Uri isn’t going to give up his cash cow without a fight. This storyline keeps you wanting more and engaged in the lives of Niki, Henry, and Ruthie as we worry about how things will turn out. The ending may surprise you. My Rating: Full Price  Tuner Website   Now playing in theaters

My View:  Backrooms  (2026)  R  Backrooms follows Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a furniture store owner who discovers that his store has an otherworldly dimension full of rooms that seem to go on forever. When Clark goes missing, his therapist, Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve), sets out to find him. The first two-thirds of this film, directed by YouTuber and first-time director Kane Parsons, are scary as heck. Clark isn’t a character that we like (he has a lot of problems, anger being one of them), and we can see why he is seeing Dr. Kline. However, once Clark discovers the secret world inside his store, with endless rooms filled with stop signs and chairs that seem to be stuck in the floor, the tension builds and doesn’t let up. Parsons has an eye for creating a world in which each room Clark explores becomes more puzzling and, at times, menacing.  Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve are both compelling in their roles, with Ejiofor shifting back and forth between wonder and fright, and Reinsve as the curious, headstrong woman who soon realizes that Clark wasn’t lying or imagining this bizarre world.  This is an unnerving film that keeps throwing more and more at you, without ever explaining anything. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t sustain the tension, and the final third lets us down. It’s as if Parsons didn’t know how his film would turn out, making it feel unresolved and flat. Which is a shame because the first two-thirds of Backrooms is scary. Maybe it was just one too many rooms to go into.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Backrooms Website  Now playing in theaters

My View: Pressure  (2026)  PG-13   Pressure takes place 72 hours before D-Day, with the invasion of Europe days away, General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) has to decide whether to launch the largest and most dangerous seaborne invasion in history. Eisenhower calls in meteorologist James Stagg (Andrew Scott) to deliver a forecast that could win or lose the war. The film tries very hard to keep the tension going throughout, though, spoiler alert, we know that the weather broke and the invasion went on the 6th of June. I liked Scott, the British meteorologist who went against almost everyone else on his team, telling Eisenhower that the weather would be too severe to mount the invasion successfully. Fraser is fine as Eisenhower, but isn’t given much to do beyond showing up and demanding answers. Kerry Condon puts some life into the film as Kay Summersby, Eisenhower’s right-hand woman who keeps everyone on track. The film feels rather slow and spends significant time explaining weather maps to both Eisenhower and us. Ultimately, since most of the action is confined to a single room, the story’s tension and character driven focus seem better suited to the intimacy and immediacy of stage performance than to film. Though I will admit, it is fun to hear Ike talk about kicking some Nazi ass.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee Pressure Website Now in theaters

My View: The Breadwinner  (2026)   PG  The Breadwinner takes place when Nate’s (Nate Bargatze) wife, Katie (Mandy Moore), lands a Shark Tank deal, but only after Nate stumbles into an agreement on national TV to switch roles with her and become a stay-at-home dad to their three daughters. What could go wrong for the month his wife is on a business trip? The movies have a tradition (TV too) of putting stand-up comics in situations they have talked about in their comedy. This idea has been done before, with Michael Keaton giving a hilarious performance in Mr. Mom. So, they throw Nate into this mix. They tried to help Nate out by surrounding him with some comic talent in Colin Jost as another stay-at-home dad, Kumail Nanjiani as a car salesman rival, and Will Forte as a bumbling roofer, but they stumble badly due to such a poor script and Nate’s constant deadpan delivery.  In fact, Nanjiani looks incredibly uncomfortable in his role as a trying-too-hard, jealous salesman. The storyline just keeps adding on how badly Nate is handling everything to the point where you just want it to stop. I mean, the man never tried to Google a damn thing on how to do anything. The kids aren’t funny at all, and the situations that they put them in are so predictable that you know what is going to happen before it does. I looked at my watch, thinking I had about 30 minutes left in the 90-minute film, and instead I had an hour to go. And if you are a fan of Nate’s standup, no need to see this film, since during the credits they show him doing his standup, and a bunch of the stuff in the movie he talks about in his comedy. Let’s put it this way: Nate is no Michael Keaton, Moore can’t compare to Terri Garr, and Nate and fellow screenwriter Dan Lagana don’t have John Hughes wit and heart.  My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again The Breadwinner Website  Now in theaters nationwide

My View:  Miss You, Love You  (2026)  Miss You, Love You follows Diane (Allison Janney), a grieving widow who is forced to plan her husband’s funeral with a total stranger, her estranged son’s assistant (Andrew Rannells), who has been sent in place of the son. This collaboration will reveal old family secrets and long-buried resentments.   Miss You, Love You Info Review will be up Friday night Now playing on HBO Max

Forgotten Film: Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972) I hadn’t seen this movie since I saw it at a midnight screening while in college. While I remembered that the film was incredibly violent, with blood spurting out with abandon and limbs being whacked off, I had forgotten about the nudity and the sex scene. Lots of women’s breasts, which I am sure got a hearty R rating in Japan (probably wasn’t rated in the States since it was mostly shown in art houses and college campuses. What makes this work is that the samurai is a savage killer, but he loves his wife and son. One of the best scenes in the film is when he asks his one-year-old to choose between a samurai’s life and being killed to be with his mother, having to choose between a sword and a colorful ball. The fight sequences are fun and action-packed, and watching the Lone Wolf outsmart everyone is a blast. The film is a must for any exploitation film fan.   My Rating: Full Price   Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengance Info  Available to rent on Amazon Prime and Apple TV+

Weird Credits: From the credits of Tuner:  Stunt Pre-Visualization

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Office Romance  (2026) R Office Romance follows Jackie Cruz (Jennifer Lopez), a high-powered, no-nonsense CEO of an airline, known for its rigid anti-fraternization policy for all employees. When lawyer Daniel Blanchflower (Brett Goldstein) is hired, suddenly sparks are flying between Jackie and this new, hot-shot hire. Will Jackie risk losing everything she’s built and drag Daniel down with her in pursuit of love? The film was written by Brett Goldstein and Joe Kelly while both were working on the Ted Lasso TV series, specifically for Jennifer Lopez.  Office Romance Website  Premieres on Netflix on Friday, June 5, 2026

Until Next Time!