Heretic

My View:  Heretic  (2024)  R   In Heretic, two young Mormon women (Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher) have been spreading the word of God door to door without much success. They knock on Mr. Reed’s (Hugh Grant) door, and he welcomes them in, eager to hear what they have to say. The two girls soon learn that they are captive in the house and are to play a game of cat-and-mouse in the home of a madman. Heretic is a highly inventive horror/suspense film that will test your nerves and even your puzzle-solving skills. Hugh Grant gives one of his best performances in years and against type as a man who invites two young women into his home to test their faith and will to live. Grant, as a man who has lots of questions and few answers, is a delight to watch on the screen, as he pulls out all the stops, including some songs from the past and some trivia from the present. It’s a master class in being charming while also being weird and scary at the same time. Heretic is a film where evil thinks it can out-think good, as Mr. Reed pushes the young Mormon missionaries to question their religious beliefs while also putting them through a torturous puzzle of a house that seems always to have one more door to open. If you're not prepared for the constant questions about faith and religion, Heretic may not be the horror film for you. However, if you wait for Mr. Reed to get down to business, there are some excellent scares in your future. Just know that you may want to take a religion course or two at your local community college after seeing Heretic and being a part of Mr. Reed’s lectures. You might also have a craving for blueberry pie. Then again, probably not.  My Rating: Full Price Heretic Website  Now playing in theaters.

Indiefest:  Small Things Like These  (2024)  PG-13  Small Things Like These takes place in Ireland in 1985, where Bill (Cillian Murphy), a local coal distributor, lives with his wife and five children. While delivering coal, he sees a sight that will change his life: a young woman is screaming while being dragged against her will by two nuns and another woman into the church of the convent he is delivering to. Small Things Like These is about a man who has a troubled past and now is confronted with a situation that constantly brings up that past. Cillian Murphy gives us a performance that is all about the silence that almost encapsulates the character as he ponders his childhood and what to do about the young woman he has seen being mistreated by the nuns. Bill is a man with a good heart. He is a wonderful father to five girls and is married to a wife he adores. However, Bill, like the rest of the town, knows that nuns run a home for unmarried women who have become pregnant. As the film progresses, Bill learns more and more about how these young women are being treated, especially the young woman he saw earlier. Bill has to make a decision whether to stay silent and carry on with his business or take a risky action that could lead to significant consequences. Murphy gives us another Oscar-worthy performance, one where his face, often in shadows and in close-up, gives us all we need to know about what he is feeling. It’s a performance that you will not forget.   My Rating: Full Price  Small Things Like These Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

Indiefest:  Emilia Perez  (2024) R Rita (Zoe Saldaña) is a lawyer who feels that she will never be successful. She gets an anonymous call that tells her if she is willing to meet with someone, she will be richly rewarded. Rita goes to the meeting against her better judgment and discovers that her new client is a cartel kingpin, Juan ‘Manitas’ Del Monte. It's a meeting that will change her and Manitas' lives, for both good and bad. Emilia Perez is a musical in the style of Andrew Lloyd Weber, where much of what the characters think and say is expressed through song. Shot in Mexico by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the film stars Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, and Selena Gomez in a film that takes you on a journey you won’t expect. I loved the performances by all three, especially the opening musical number that Zoe Saldaña does as her character expresses her frustration with being smarter and a better lawyer than her boss. The problem for me was that the musical numbers seemed endless and were often filled with words that didn't quite fit together. The film felt much longer than its two-hour and ten-minute running time, and while the plot certainly gets points for creativity (and makeup), it felt a little too much like watching a very long Telenovela. While I am not enamored with the film, I will tell you that France has submitted it as their official submission for Best International Picture, and it won awards at film festivals across the world, including Cannes. It’s just not my type of film. However, it might be yours. My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Emilia Perez Info   Now playing in select theaters and will be available on Netflix on Wednesday, November 13, 2024. 

Sorry I Missed It (A film that I didn’t see when it was first released but have seen recently)   Juror #2  (2024)  PG-13   In Juror #2, Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult), is serving on a high-profile murder trial. Justin faces a moral dilemma that will undoubtedly impact his entire life. Justin is being forced to reexamine a past event that happened to him that could help determine the case’s verdict. This could be the last film that Clint Eastwood directs, which is sad because the studio only gave it a small amount of screens in a few cities. Eastwood, for the last ten years, has been an up-and-down director with some good work (Richard Jewell, Sully) along with some so-so work (Cry Macho, The 15:17 to Paris). I am happy to say that this time out, Eastwood has given us a solid courtroom drama about a man, played by a low-key Nicholas Hoult, who has a huge moral dilemma. He has information that could change the outcome of the trial, but it could also get him into trouble. The film keeps the tension going soon after Justin is picked to be a juror for the trial, as we are let in on what Justin knows. The film puts you in the shoes of Justin, and we have to decide whether to go along with what Justin does with the information or root against him, this family man with a baby on the way. While not a great film, Juror #2 is a solid work that deserved more theaters and promotion for a four-time Academy Award winner. Sorry Mr. Eastwood, Hollywood is a very fickle town.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Juror #2 Website   Soon will be on streaming services. 

My View:  Blitz  (2024)  PG-13   Blitz is about nine-year-old George (Elliot Heffernan), who is sent by his mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) to the countryside via train to escape World War II in London. Defiant and determined, George leaves the train and sets out to return to his family in a city being attacked by constant bombing. The film takes place when London was under siege by bombing, and going to a makeshift fallout shelter was a nightly activity. Rita works in a factory making bombs, and she wants her son to be safe. So, against his will, she puts him on a train. George shares the same fate as more than a million other children during the war, being sent to the countryside for safety, but without his family. However, George has other ideas and jumps the train, starting a journey to go home again. Blitz is the tale of two people. George, a young, independent boy, will see and do things that he can’t imagine to get back home. And his mother, Rita, who at first is sad that her only child has been sent away. Rita learns her son jumped the train, and no one knows where he is. The production design and the cinematography of this film are outstanding, making you feel as if you, too, are in London dodging bombs and burning houses. The film is anchored by two exceptional performances: Elliot Heffernan as the tough, determined George and Saoirse Ronan as Rita, the single mom trying to raise her son and keep him safe. Heffernan is perfect in the role of George, who seems almost as if he is from a Dickens story. We see the horror of war through Heffernan's eyes as George brings us along for his adventure full of betrayal, close calls, and death. Saoirse Ronan is remarkable as the young mother who is just trying to survive while loving her son with all her heart. It's a performance that will tear at your heart. Writer/director Steve McQueen takes us on an adventure where the world has been torn apart, and we get to experience it from the point of view of a son and a mother who only want to find each other again.  My Rating: Full Price  Blitz Info  Now playing in select theaters and will be streaming the Apple TV+ platform on Friday, November 22, 2024.

My View:  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2024)  PG   In The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Grace (Judy Greer) has been given the reigns of the annual Christmas Pageant. One problem: the Herman kids, the terrors of the neighborhood, are determined to be included in this year’s pageant. Wherever the Herman kids go, mayhem and trouble always follow. Will Christmas survive? I got a very different film than what I was expecting. I thought this would be more of a silly and laugh-out-loud funny film, like A Christmas Story. Instead, we get a wonderful film about acceptance, compassion, and empathy. If you're not looking, you might even get the meaning of Christmas thrown in for good measure. What you see in the trailer is about all the hijinks you get from the Herman kids. This is a film whose message is that the church is for all of us, poor and rich alike. A lovely performance by Judy Greer anchors the film as the mom who takes on the Christmas Pageant and the busy body women who want her to get rid of the Herman kids from appearing in the pageant. Greer works the story with lightness and joy in her performance, making us fall in love with Grace as she is willing to include the kids who everyone else wants gone. The film also has standout performances from Molly Belle Wright as Beth, Grace’s daughter who prays to God to help her mother put on the pageant, and Beatrice Schneider as Imogene, the leader of the Herman kids who is determined that she will play Mary in the pageant. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a film that the whole family will enjoy, and I can see it becoming a permanent part of the yearly Christmas movie-watching experience.   My Rating: Full Price  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Website  Now playing in theaters.

Forgotten Film:  Shade  (2003) R  Vernon (Stewart Townsend) is a card shark, so good that people think it’s magic. Charlie Miller (Gabriel Byrne) and his girlfriend, Tiffany (Thandiwe Newton), see someone they can use to do a con. The man they want to take down is a notorious gambler, Dean Stevens (Sylvester Stallone). It’s going to take a lot to take Dean down. This is a film that has so many twists and turns that it almost makes your head spin. There are some fun performances, including Jamie Foxx and Melanie Griffith. It’s a movie that makes for a good weekend watch, with plenty of surprises to keep you interested.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Shade Info  Available for rent/buy on Amazon.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Heretic:  Breakdown Artist

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  September 5  (2024)  R  During the 1972 Munich Olympics, an American sports broadcasting team finds itself covering a hostage crisis involving Israeli athletes. The trailer looks fantastic, highlighting an event when literally the whole world was watching.  September 5 Website  The film will be in theaters on Friday, November 29, 2024. 

Until Next Time!

Venom: The Last Dance

My View:  Venom: The Last Dance  (2024)  PG-13  In Venom: The Last Dance, Eddie and Venom (Tom Hardy) are on the run, being hunted by both of their worlds, and about to be caught. The duo will have to make a devastating decision that will end their partnership forever. I liked the first two films of the series, especially the second one, which was much darker than the first film. Eddie and Venom's back-and-forth dialogue has always been enjoyable in the Venom series, as they have gradually mastered the kinks of working together to become superheroes. Venom still eats people’s heads, so there’s that. However, I did not enjoy this film as much as the first two. The film is slow to develop, with the duo deciding to ditch Mexico and go to New York. The problem is that they are on the run from the government, with Eddie’s face plastered on TV, and now there is a new evil force looking for them, some super-aliens that want to capture Eddie/Venom. I can appreciate Tom Hardy wanting to have a long goodbye to a character that he cares about (Hardy produced and co-wrote the storyline for the film) and we get lots of scenes of Eddie and Venom having fun as they travel across the country (they don’t get very far due to everyone trying to capture them). The plot looks pretty slim, and the interactions with the bad guys (both human and alien) are a little too few and far between to help move the film along. Juno Temple is wasted as a scientist who wants to understand Venom and his fellow aliens and not kill them. It's a part with a sappy backstory that doesn't fit the overall feel of the film. The ending feels a little rushed and predictable, making the film feel a bit of a letdown from the first two films. I will still miss Eddie and Venom. They were a fun couple of guys to go on adventures with. By the way, there are two bonus scenes in the credits, one in the middle of the credits and one at the very end of the credits that you will want to stay around for.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Venom: The Last Dance Website  Now playing in theaters nationwide.

My View:  Conclave  (2024)  PG  Conclave begins when the Pope has suddenly died, and Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) has been given the task of leading the secretive and ancient voting process of selecting a new Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have convened, Cardinal Lawrence discovers a trail of secrets left in the dead Pope’s wake. These secrets have the potential to destroy the Church. Conclave is a very different film than what I thought I was getting from watching the trailer. It’s not a bad thing; I just had to adjust my thinking a bit as the film went along. It’s still a bit of a mystery film, but it is more about politics and the attempts to grab power by any means necessary. The film is still a thriller, with lots of twists and turns, as things are slowly revealed to Cardinal Lawrence as he tries to guide the conclave to find the right leader for the church. Politics is at the core of the film, as we see how things can quickly change, where one candidate looks like a sure thing but then things are revealed. Conclave is a captivating film that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end.   My Rating: Full Price  Conclave Website  Now playing in theaters.

Indiefest:  My Name is Alfred Hitchcock  (2023)  My Name is Alfred Hitchcock is a documentary where a fictional Alfred Hitchcock (voiced by Alistair McGowan) gives a lesson on filmmaking the Hitchcock way. The film's use of an actor to give voice to the late Alfred Hitchcock takes some time to get used to. However, once you get used to Alfred talking directly to you (and sometimes to sound guy) it becomes a fascinating look at one of the greatest filmmakers in cinema history, giving us example after example of his genius. The film is broken down into six themes that provide insight into how Hitchcock made films and how he used the camera to create the world he wanted us to see and experience. The film demonstrates how Hitchcock mastered the techniques to create the feel and style of a movie. This film is a Hitchcock fan’s dream of a film, as it shows us films from not just his notable Hollywood films but also extensive scenes from his silent and early talkies done in England. It’s fascinating to see how things he used in the 1920s could still be used in films from the 60s, like Psycho. What I have always appreciated about Hitchcock is that even in his lesser films like Marnie or Torn Curtain, there is always something that he amazes you with. That is what this film shows us: Hitchcock was a master filmmaker who knew how he wanted to tell a story in the most amazing and impressive way possible, giving us thrills and chills every time we watched one of his films.  My Rating: Full Price  My Name is Alfred Hitchcock Website Now playing in select theaters.

Indiefest:  Your Monster  (2024)  R   In Your Monster, life has gone from bad to worse for Laura (Melissa Barrera), as she is just getting over cancer surgery, and her boyfriend (Edmund Donovan) has broken up with her and taken the musical they wrote together away from her. Just when things are going horribly wrong, she meets a terrifying but charming monster (Tommy Dewey) living in her closet. Could this be love…with a monster? The film lets Melissa Barrera, who we all loved in the last two Scream movies and as Vanessa in In the Heights, show off both her comedic talents and her singing. Barrera is charming as lovelorn Laura, who can't believe her boyfriend broke up with her and isn't allowing her to participate in his musical she helped develop. Into her life comes Monster, someone who used to hide in her closet or under her bed, which Laura used to be afraid of when she was a little girl. At first, Monster wants Laura to leave the house, hurt that she hasn’t had him around for all these years. They soon become friends and then start falling in love with each other (think Beauty and the Beast), but Laura still has feelings for her old boyfriend, so things then get messy. I must warn you that the ending is very unexpected (24 hours later, I’m still in a little bit of shock over it) and may not be quite what you were thinking when you started watching this film. I will tell you it was a big hit on the film festival circuit. Your Monster is a film that will probably stay with me for a while, and my review of it might change in time. Right now my review is: My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Your Monster Website  Now playing in theaters.

My View:  The Remarkable Life of Ibelin  (2024)  PG-13  The documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is about Mats Steen, a Norwegian gamer who loved the World of WarCraft games. Mats succumbed to a degenerative muscular disease at the age of 25. His parents mourned what they thought had been a lonely life until they started receiving messages from his online friends. It turns out that Mats had been leading a life full of friends and adventure on the internet. Get out your tissue box, a big one, because you are going to need it. However, while you are going to shed a few tears, the story of Mats Steen and his alter-ego Ibelin is a story that will make you proud of his parents and of this remarkable young man. A young man who used a computerized world to make friends and spread warmth, happiness, and understanding to people from around the world. The first thirty minutes is about Mats’ life, and how his parents and sister saw him through the years. It’s a touching story of a young man who never got to do most of the stuff that boys and young men get to do. And then his parents discover that the gaming world that their son spent so much time in was a world where he could be someone without limits and make friends that he never thought he could in the real world. The film does a remarkable job of recapturing the conversations that Masts had as Ibelin in the World of WarCraft game. The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is a stunning and thoughtful portrayal of a life that his parents believed would never materialize. It’s a tale of love gained and lost, of friends made and sometimes betrayed, but mostly, it’s about a young man who found a place where he could be something he always aspired to be. Just a young man without limits.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again The Remarkable Life of Ibelin Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform. 

My View:  Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band  (2024)  The documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the preparations Springsteen and his band made to get ready for their 2023-2024 World Tour. I first saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Drum (RIP the Special Events Center) in Austin, Texas, on December 7, 1978. It is, to this day, the greatest concert I have ever seen. So, you could say I’m a fan. This film was fantastic and gave a glimpse into the process of putting together a tour after 6 years of not being on the road. We get to see rehearsals, both small and large, along with all the work that goes into making a tour happen. What was interesting to me was that Bruce created a set list and stuck to it throughout the tour, something he has never done before. There are some great interviews and a look back at some of the bandmates that have passed. There are lots of songs, and you get a feel for what it was like in both the smaller venues in America and the big, outdoor stadium venues in Europe. The film has some cool scenes from the past, but mostly Road Diary is about this tour and how the band put together a show that was fun, touching and unique. Much like the man himself.  My Rating: Full Price
   Road Diary Website  Now playing on the Hulu platform.

Forgotten Film:  The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea  (1976)  R  Anne (Sara Miles) and her son, Jonathan (Jonathan Kahn), live in a small, English seaside town. Anne lost her husband four years ago, and both the mother and son still mourn his passing. Jonathan has joined a secret society of young boys, ruled with a sadistic hand by a boy named Chief. Into Anne and Jonathan’s lives comes an American sailor named Jim (Kris Kristofferson), who becomes romantically involved with Anne. Jonathan initially sees Jim as a father figure, but things go badly. This was a mild hit in 1976, primarily because of the sex scenes between Miles and Kristofferson and the ending, which is pretty shocking (even by today’s standards). The film is beautifully shot and I always enjoy watching Kris Kristofferson on the silver screen. A word of caution: some later versions of the film released on DVD have been badly edited, cutting out some of the sex scenes and cutting down the ending.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea Info The film is available to rent/buy on screening services. 

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Conclave:  Hair Truck Driver 

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Blitz  (2024)  PG-13  Blitz is about nine-year-old George (Elliot Heffernan), who is sent by his mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) to the countryside via train to escape World War II in London. Defiant and determined, George leaves the train and sets out to return to his family in a city being attacked by constant bombing. The film is from filmmaker Steve McQueen, who won an Academy Award for 12 Years a Slave (2012).  Blitz Info The film will be in select theaters on Friday, November 1, 2024, and streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday, November 22, 2024. 

Until Next Time!