You, Me & Tuscany

My View: You, Me & Tuscany  (2026)  PG-13  You, Me & Tuscany follows Anna (Halle Bailey), who finds out that a Tuscan villa is empty all the time, goes to Italy, and is mistaken for the owner’s fiancé, Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor). Anna is about to become tangled in a mess of lies, romance, and a whole lot of trouble. You, Me & Tuscany is a cross between While You Were Sleeping and any Hallmark movie you have seen that doesn’t involve a small American town. Halle Bailey is very cute, and her love interest, Regé-Jean Page, playing Matteo’s brother (sort of), Michael, is very handsome and has a British accent. Like the explanation for why Matteo has a British accent, the rest of the film is built on very flimsy plotlines that ask you not to think about them too much. Now, you get a lot of the Tuscany scenery, but the film was disappointing in its kitchen sequences, where I expected to be dazzled by Anna (who had to quit culinary school when her mother got sick), but got very little flair, and, like the rest of the film, a questionable outcome. I think the other problem was that Page and Bailey didn’t radiate the chemistry we needed to root for them. In fact, there was more chemistry between Anna and her taxi driver/confidant than there was between the two love interests. There are a couple of blooper takes during the credits, where two actresses with minor roles in the film keep yelling out one quip after another. That’s about as much fun as I had through the entire film.  My Rating: Cable  You, Me & Tuscany Website Now playing in theaters nationwide

My View:  Outcome  (2026)  R  Outcome is about Reef Hawk (Keanu Reeves), a major Hollywood star, who is about to make his comeback after disappearing for a few years due to “personal problems”, i.e., a drug habit. His life is upended when a mysterious, potentially career-ending video is threatening to be released. To identify the blackmailer, Reef sets out to make amends with everyone he has wronged. It’s a big list. Co-written and directed by Jonah Hill, this is a comedy? Or maybe it’s a satire? I don’t have any idea. All I know is that it is rarely funny, seems much longer than its brief one hour and twenty-three minutes run time, and has an incredibly miscast, notable nice guy in real life, Keanu Reeves, as a Hollywood pretentious asshole who has pissed off everyone throughout his career as the biggest star in Tinseltown. It took me about 30 minutes in to recognize Jonah Hill as Reef’s egomaniacal lawyer, whom Reef always uses to get him out of trouble. Hill’s character spends too much time on camera, mostly because almost everything he says or does isn’t funny. Reeves isn’t asked to do much in the role. In fact, he does a lot of listening to people tell his character what a jerk he was, then asking for forgiveness, or, with his friends, yelling at them for moral support. The supporting cast is huge, with lots of cameos, the best being Marty Scorsese, who plays Reef’s first manager, discovering Reef when he was just a kid. It’s a fun part as Scorsese plays a man whose office is in a personalized booth at a bowling alley. I wish the rest of the cast had put as much heart into their performances as Scorsese did. Even the blackmail video is a letdown, and the film's resolution is as unfulfilling as the rest of the film.  My Rating: Cable  Outcome Info  Now playing on Apple TV+

Indiefest:  Exit 8  (2025)  PG-13  Exit 8 is about a man (Kazunari Ninomiya) who is having a horrible day when he realizes he is trapped in a subway station with an endless maze of hallways. The “Lost Man” will have to solve the puzzle and identify subtle anomalies if he is ever to escape. I understand that this film is based on a video game, but unlike the Mario Brothers film, it doesn’t feel like one. The film has a few horror elements, but for the most part, it builds tension with every hallway turn our hero takes. The “Lost Man” gets stuck in a maze of subway halls that continue in a loop. If the man doesn’t turn back when he sees an anomaly, the exit count goes back down to 0. This is a problem because you are looking for exit 8. This mystery to solve is fascinating and at times frustrating, because just when you think you have figured out how our hero can solve the maze, something new is thrown in his path. This is a film that will keep you on the edge of your seat and keep you guessing where it’s going. For anyone who has gotten lost in a mall or a parking garage, this is a movie full of nightmares that keep playing over and over with no end in sight. At least not Exit 8.   My Rating: Full Price Exit 8 Website Now playing in select theaters 

Indiefest:  Hamlet  (2025)  Hamlet is based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet but set in contemporary London. Haunted by his father’s ghost, Prince Hamlet (Riz Ahmed) leaves elite London society and descends into the city’s underground, seeking to avenge his father’s murder. If you are someone who loves Shakespeare and can quote multiple plays, then this film isn’t for you. This is like reading an abridged novel, where only the highlights show up, and a lot is left on the editor’s desk. We get all the big scenes, but they are all in a modern setting, with the most unusual being the famous ‘To sleep: perchance to dream' speech given while Hamlet is speeding down a highway in a sports car contemplating suicide. For newcomers to Shakespeare, especially in this day of iPhones and YouTube, this is a perfect way to enjoy Hamlet without having to figure out too much of the dialogue. The film is carried by a brilliant, fiery performance by Riz Ahmed, who puts the film on his back and, through his charisma, makes this very stylized film work. The second half of this film is where the movie takes off, and the dance sequence when the King realizes Hamlet knows he was behind Hamlet’s father’s death is a magical moment in the production. This is not your parents’ or grandparents’ play, but a film that is gritty, bloody, violent, and heartbreaking, as Hamlet grapples with grief and his journey into madness and revenge.  My Rating: Full Price  Hamlet Website  Now playing in theaters

My View: Faces of Death  (2026)  R In Faces of Death, a content moderator, Margot (Barbie Ferreira), is tasked with removing violent content on a website. She discovers a group reenacting murders from the original Faces of Death film. She must determine if the acts are real or staged. Back in the 70s, when every town had a drive-in and Hollywood figured out that there was an audience for cheaply made films that promised a lot of shocking scenes, a very small film called Faces of Death came out, which claimed that it was so shocking, it had been banned in over 40 countries. While yes, some scenes had actual deaths, most involving animals or scenes where it was hard to see exactly what was going on, much of the film was staged, and the deaths were not real. The film was a hit, made a ton of money when VHS tapes hit the scene, and became a staple of many a high school and college overnight party experience. Margot discovers that someone is sending videos to the web content company (think YouTube) that recreates the scenes from the 70s film. The filmmaker uses mannequins to carry out the killing, but Margot is convinced that the person being attacked is really being killed. She breaks her company protocol and finds out who is doing the killing. Little does she know that by doing the sleuthing, she alerts the killer, and the cat-and-mouse chase in on. What makes this film interesting is that Margot has a history of being on YouTube with a horrific accident. So horrible that people recognize her in stores. While not a true horror film, it is horrifying to see how the internet has made us numb to the horrors of the world and how commerce has found a way to profit from showing us those horrors. Faces of Death, for fans of this genre, gives us a lot to think about while also shocking us with a few horrific deaths by a slasher who brings to life what was once fake, and a hero who is flawed but wants to make a difference and is willing to die trying.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Faces of Death Website  Now playing in theaters

My View:  Beast  (2026)  R  Beast is about MMA legend Patton James (Daniel MacPherson), who is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in trouble. Patton reunites with his old coach, Sammy (Russell Crowe), as he commits to fighting the brutal champion Xavier Grau (Bren Foster). This is a run-of-the-mill Rocky-like film (it even has the wife telling Patton to fight after not wanting him to) that is pretty bland and tells a tale that's been told many times before. Fans of Russell Crowe will be disappointed as, even as the co-writer of the script, his part is purely off to the side and doesn’t even show up for the final fight (his character lets his daughter do the training). The fight sequences are well done, but the film has almost no surprises, and Daniel MacPherson struggles when he has to show any emotion other than yelling his grief. And Sammy and Patton have the stupidest mantra that they chant to fire him up. I kept wondering what the heck they were talking about and why they were getting so excited. The final fight is predictable, and you can see the sequence of events coming from a mile away. MMA fans might get some enjoyment out of this film, but for the rest of us, it’s a bit of a slog to get through.  My Rating: Cable  Beast Website  Now playing in theaters

My View: Thrash  (2026) R  Thrash is about a group of people trapped in a coastal town during a Category 5 hurricane. Not only has the town been cut off from any rescue attempts, but the storm surge is bringing more frightening than rising water and crashing waves: hungry sharks. We all know that Sharknado is stupid fun. Thrash is just stupid. Filled with characters you don’t care about, not even to root for the sharks to eat them, and some terrible special effects, you have a movie that just isn’t fun to watch. Instead of being on the edge of my seat, working if the pregnant woman (why are you in this Phoebe Dynevor?) is going to save her just-born baby with a stick, I was thinking how horrible it must have been to be an actor on this film where you were wet and swimming while dodging furniture. There is one glorious Sharknado moment in the film, and unfortunately, it’s near the end of the movie. I just don’t think you want to sit around watching actors play “The Floor is Lava,” jumping on floating breakfast tables while waiting for a shark to show up.  My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again  Trash Website Now playing on the Netflix platform

Forgotten Film: Cannonball!  (1976) This is a perfect example of a 70s drive-in movie. A group of car nuts get in a bunch of exotic cars and go on a race across the country, from L.A. to New York, as cars crash, people get hurt, and cars crash again, all really crashing, sometimes bursting into flames. This was another legendary filmmaker, Roger Corman’s doing, taking the same format and some of the same actors, including David Carradine, from the highly successful Death Race 2000, and this time set in present-day. What makes this film different and worth watching is that not only does the director, Paul Bartel, co-star, but it also features six other directors, including Joe Dante, Roger Corman, and Martin Scorsese. Even Sly Stallone appears uncreated in the film. While not even close to Death Race 2000 or the Ron Howard-starring Eat My Dust, and shouldn't be lumped in with the big budget Hollywood Cannonball Run movies, Cannonball! is a great example of the 70s drive-in movie staple people would go and see on a Saturday night, when not making out or going to the snack bar.  My Rating: Cable  Cannonball! Info  The film is available on Amazon and a few other streaming services

Weird Credits:  From the credits of You, Me & Tuscany:  Crowd Marshall Rome

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: #Skyking  (2026)  #Skyking is a documentary about Richard ‘Beebo’ Russell, a troubled 28-year-old ground service agent with no pilot experience, who made an impulsive decision to hijack and pilot a commercial plane, shocking a nation. I remember thinking when I first saw this on the news, how did this happen? Now, we just might find out.  #Skyking Info   Premiering on the Hulu platform on Tuesday, April 14, 2026.

Until Next Time!

Beast

My View: Beast (2022) R A father (Idris Elba) and his two teenage daughters (Iyana Halley, Leah Sava Jeffries) are in the African Savannah to go on a photo safari. Instead of a fun outing, they encounter a rouge lion determined to show that there is only room for one apex predator. So it’s man vs. beast, or should I say Elba vs. CGI? With some dialogue that seems to be right out of a bad TV soap and a CGI lion that doesn’t always look real, this film is a bit of a disappointment. There are some cool action sequences, but you can’t overlook that the last third of the film feels very contrived and goes to an ending you can see from a Savannah away. I just wanted more thrills and scares from Beast; instead, I got a few roars and a lot of whimpers.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee Beast Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: Look Both Ways (2022)   On the eve of her college graduation, Natalie (Lili Reinhart) discovers she might be pregnant. We follow Natalie’s story as she takes two different paths: she is pregnant and stays in Austin to have the baby, or she isn’t pregnant and moves to LA to pursue her dream job. The reason to watch this film is the performance of Lili Reinhart, who makes Natalie someone you like and can root for. Reinhart has an effortless grace to her, making her performance seem real and fun. This is a strange film that flows back and forth without any warning between the two stories of Natalie’s life. In both cases, it's her choices that keeps the film moving along, whether it’s pining for the man who got away or having to decide on what she wants in life with her job. Look Both Ways could have ground to a halt very easily, but Reinhart keeps us interested in what happens to Natalie, with or without the child.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Look Both Ways Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

My View: Orphan: First Kill (2022) R  Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) has escaped from a psychiatric facility in Estonia. Esther finds her way to America and cons her way into impersonating the missing daughter of a wealthy family. We know what the family doesn’t; she isn’t their daughter and isn’t well. The original 2009 film, Orphan, was a darn good horror movie with a great cast, including Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard as the married couple who has suffered a tragedy and decided to fill the void by adopting. Isabelle Fuhrman made the film work, who scared the crap out of you with a performance so creepy it's downright horrific. But it’s hard to capture magic twice in this prequel to the first film. Not to give too much away, Fuhrman plays Esther again, and despite a plot that tries to tie up a few loose ends from the first film, the film doesn’t deliver. The film isn’t scary, with Esther more of a sadistic killer than a disturbed young girl. The film, after the setup, goes off the rails about halfway through the film and never gets back on track. A disappointing revisit with one of the great horror characters in the history of scary movies. My Rating: Cable  Orphan: First Kill Website  Now playing in select theatres and on the Paramount+ platform.

Indiefest: Spin Me Round (2022)   Amber (Alison Brie) is a manager of a chain Italian restaurant who dreams of a better life. When Amber is selected to travel to Italia and take an immersive cooking course, she thinks her life has turned a corner. Boy, was she wrong. I was disappointed in this film, as it never quite got going, leaving a lot to be desired. The film starts out well with Amber in a dead-end job and no life to speak of; she is given the chance of a lifetime to go to Italy and spend a week learning about the craft of cooking, Italian style. Right off the bat, it's one disappointment after another until she meets the CEO and founder of the company, who begins to whisk Amber off her feet. Soon Amber feels that she is living a dream, but that dream turns into a nightmare. This should have been a better film, with all the heavy hitters in the cast, including Aubrey Plaza, Molly Shannon, and Fred Armisen, to name a few. Instead, we get a plot that tries too hard to make points right and left and a mystery that comes out of left field. I did enjoy the interplay between Brie and Plaza, but even that became a bit tired by the end of the film. I wanted Spin Me Round to be funnier, but instead, the comedy came out a little too al dente.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Spin Me Round Website  Now playing in select theatres. 

Forgotten Film: Central Station (1998)  R  Dora (Fernanda Montenegro) is a former school teacher with a small stand in the rail station where she makes her living writing letters for illiterate people. One day she is asked to write a letter for a mother of a young boy. When the boy’s mother is killed in an accident, the young boy, Josue (Vinicius de Oliveira), finds the only adult that he knows, Dora. This starts a journey that will change Dora's and Josue's lives. Central Station isn’t a feel-good, happy movie, but at its core, it's a film about people finding out that they need each other to survive in this hard, harsh world. To tell you how good this film is, the movie garnered two Academy Award nominations, including one, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Montenegro, a rare thing for a foreign film actor in the 90s. I don't know if you will even like Dora, but I guarantee that you will fall in love with the relationship between a hardened woman and the boy who she decided to help.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again   Central Station Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Spin Me Round: Ballon Tech

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: See How They Run (2022)  R A Hollywood film producer sets out to turn a popular play into a film, but one problem, members of the production are being murdered, one by one. In to solve the mystery and catch the killer are the world-weary Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and his over-enthusiastic rookie Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan). This looks like so much fun, with Ronan possibly stealing the film from a great cast.   See How They Run Info

Until Next Time!

Mr. Malcolm's List

My View: Mr. Malcolm’s List (2022) PG   Mr. Malcolm’s List takes place in 1800s England when a young woman helps her friend to get revenge on a man who has rejected her because she didn’t meet the requirements on his list for a bride. Fans of Jane Austin and Bridgerton will be happy with this romantic comedy, though the film is not quite as witty as Austin’s work or as steamy as the Netflix hit. This is an enjoyable tale of trickery and finding love in the most unexpected places (though you can see what will happen from almost the first frame). The film is helped by a winning cast led by Freida Pinto as Selina, the friend who reluctantly helps her best friend, Miss Thistlewaite (Zawe Ashton), get revenge when Miss Thistlewaite is quickly rejected by England’s most eligible bachelor, Mr. Malcolm (Sope Dirisu). Of course, plans turn into romance and betrayal, as with any period romance of this time. It’s up to fate and maybe a little meddling to help everyone figure out who loves who and achieve that happy ending we all want. While it might not meet all your ‘Bridgerton’ needs, Mr. Malcolm’s List is a fun romp that just might tide you over until the next season appears.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Mr. Malcolm's List Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide

My View: The Forgiven (2021) R  A wealthy London couple (Ralph Fiennes, Jessica Chastain) are on their way in the Moroccan desert to a lavish weekend party when their car strikes and kills a local teenage boy. Consequently, the couple, with the help of their friends, cover up the incident. However, trouble arrives when the boy’s father arrives seeking justice. This is a dark tale about the rich, where they are proud of their lack of morals if only to give them something to do because they are so bored with life. Fiennes and Chastain are a couple that can barely stand each other. She is a failed children’s book writer who hasn’t written a thing in eight years, and he is a doctor whose practice is falling apart due to his alcoholism. They are on their way to a party in a remote location in the desert hosted by a gay couple, Richard (Matt Smith) and Dally (Caleb Landry Jones). Along the way, the doctor and his wife hit and kill a young man with their car. Once the couple finally arrive at the party, with the dead body in their backseat, the story branches off into two stories; the seduction of the doctor’s wife by a wealthy American playboy (Christopher Abbott) and the doctor’s journey to go with the dead boy’s father back to their home to bury his son. This is a story full of people you don’t like, making shallow and self-serving choices, with the only question being, will the father of the dead young man get his revenge, or will somehow the doctor talk/will his way out. I enjoyed the dance of seduction that Chastain and Abbott have, but I got tired of the bashing over the head that the rich are horrible, ugly, and shallow. The ending can be seen from a sand dune away, and the film gives one a bit of a feeling like the aftereffects of a party that didn’t quite meet your expectations.   My Rating; Bargain Matinee   The Forgiven Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: The Princess (2022) R  A young princess (Joey King) refuses to marry a man she does not love and is locked away in her father’s castle. Now the man she spurned is hell-bent on taking her father’s throne, and the Princess must escape and fight back to save the kingdom. They have no idea who they are messing with because she is The Princess. Let me say that I was surprised, almost shocked at the start of this film, when little Joey King, star of The Kissing Booth series, killed 7 or 8 bad guys in very bloody ways in the first five minutes of the film. Kind of a ‘The Raid’ in reverse, The Princess must escape from the very top of the castle and fight her way down to the ground to rescue her family from the evil wanna-be King, played by Dominic Cooper. Little does this man, who is trying to steal a kingdom, know that our heroine has been training her whole life for this occasion. The Princess fights her way, killing and maiming numerous soldiers until she meets her match in the evil wanna-be King’s lead assassin, Moria (Olga Kurylenko), a woman who wields a deadly whip with the best of them. I love sword fights, and this film has plenty of them, with a bit of martial arts thrown in. The action is fast and heavy, and King makes a nimble and fun action hero kicking bad guy butts all over the place. Fans of King will have fun with The Princess as she fights through a gauntlet of bad guys on her way to a showdown that won’t disappoint.   My Rating: Full Price   The Princess Website  Now playing on the Hulu platform.

Indiefest: Doula (2022)   When a couple’s (Troian Bellisario, Arron Shiver) midwife suddenly dies, the couple decide to hire the late midwife’s son, Sascha (Will Greenberg), to replace her. It’s a decision that could change all of their lives. This is a film that explores relationships and how the trials and tribulations of pregnancy can affect them. Deb and Silvio are a couple who found out that Deb was pregnant three weeks into their relationship. Silvio is dealing with an ex-wife and son, while Deb is realizing that her world has quickly changed from being the center of her life to one that will be responsible for another life. Add in that Silvio is pretty spineless when dealing with his ex-wife and tends to forge ahead with plans without consulting Deb. Adding to the tension is Sascha, who seems to just go with the flow, willing to allow Deb to do just about anything she wants, including smoking weed and drinking. Deb is a woman who doesn’t want to give up her very active life, including playing basketball with her friends so close to her delivery date. The film doesn’t always hit the right notes ( there is a bizarre set of scenes where Silvio goes to a party and gets high on mushrooms), but it does a great job of giving us a look at all the emotions and stresses that pregnancy can provide us with, making a mess of things until a certain someone makes an appearance and changes their outlooks forever.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Doula Info Now available on most digital platforms.

Indiefest: Accepted (2021)   Accepted is a documentary about the students of the TM Landry Prep School, a learning institution where a remarkable 100% percent of its students go on to college, most to some of the elite and prominent colleges in the nation. However, an explosive NY Times article exposes the controversial teaching methods of the school and the possible cheating that the school fosters. This is three documentaries in one. The film starts as a documentary about an unlikely success story of how a small school, using unconventional methods, is getting students into college at an astounding success rate. Then the documentary turns when a NY Times report (along with some other red flags) tells a different story of not only the possible fabrication of records but also abuse. When the documentary crew is no longer given access to the school, the filmmakers then turn to the students who were left behind to deal with the mess of a school that begins to fall apart at the seams. This is an exploration of the college admissions scandal from not the rich and privileged side of the story but from those who don’t have the resources or the money to make it into the top schools. This is a film that gives us a look at just how hard it is to get into ‘the best schools’ and how the early success of a small school may have bred a culture of immense pressure to live up to an almost impossible standard to keep. The film is full of heroes and villains, but sometimes it's hard to tell which is which. All we learn from this emotional and powerful film is that the children are the victims.   My Rating: Full Price  Accepted Website   Now playing in select theatres and On-Demand.

Forgotten Film: 28 Weeks Later (2007) R  Six months after a virus that made people into zombies moved across England, the US Army has secured a small area of London to allow people to start living their lives again. Unfortunately, the best-laid plans can’t anticipate the ruthless march of the zombies. Rare is it that a sequel matches the original, but in this case, 28 Weeks Later matches the glory of 28 Days Later (2002). The two films do feel different (Danny Boyle directed the first film with built suspense slowly), as this film, directed by Juan Carlos Frenadillo) right from the start hits you hard with zombies attacking a farmhouse and then doesn’t let up. The film is aided by a great cast, including Jeremy Renner, Imogen Poots, Rose Byrne, and Idris Elba. You can see this film without seeing the first one (though it does help a bit), and the action is both scary and thrilling as the zombies seem to be multiplying in both their population and their determination. However, a warning; this film may create a few nightmares for you.   My Rating: Full Price    28 Weeks Later Info

Weird Credits:  From the credits of The Princess:  Phantom Camera Operator

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Beast  (2022)  R  A father, Dr. Nate Samuels (Idris Elba), and his two daughters (Leah Jeffries, Iyana Halley) are on vacation in Africa. They soon find themselves hunted by a massive lion that has gone rogue and is on a killing spree. Nate and his daughters encounter a lion that is hell-bent on proving that the Savanna has but one apex predator. I think all I need to know is in the trailer. I’m in!  Beast Website