Wuthering Heights

My View: Wuthering Heights  (2026)  R Wuthering Heights is the legendary love story set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors that follows the intense, sometimes destructive relationship between Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) and Catherine (Margot Robbie). Writer/director Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) clarified that she was making a personal version of Wuthering Heights and not a direct adaptation of Emily Brontë’s much-loved novel. Your first clue is a soundtrack mostly composed of songs written and performed by Charli XCX, which gives the film a bit of a modern touch, though not as much as I anticipated. I have a feeling that fans of the book will be disappointed with this rather disjointed telling. The first half, which covers Catherine and Heathcliff’s childhood, is the most interesting part of the film. The dynamic between the two characters as children is interesting and at times riveting. I can’t say the same thing for when Heathcliff and Catherine are adults, especially when Heathcliff leaves for a spell because of Catherine getting married to rich suitor Edgar (Shazad Latif). I didn’t like the chemistry between Robbie and Elordi, as it never gave off the sparks that the film needed. Here’s a clue to this film: anytime it rains, you know Catherine and Heathcliff are going to have sex. And it rains a lot. I also had a hard time understanding Elordi’s dialogue, as he tended to swallow his words, trying to be the illiterate, brooding tough guy. I didn’t like any character in this film, including our two lovers, who seem like spoiled brats, selfish, and unable to keep their hands off each other (especially in the rain). I am surprised the film didn’t end with a rousing remake of “Blame it on the Rain”.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Wuthering Heights Website  Now playing in theaters

My View:  Crime 101  (2026)  R  Crime 101 follows a jewel thief named Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth) whose heists along the 101 freeway have made him a legend and have left the police baffled. Mike has set his sights on the ultimate score and finds out that Sharon Colvin (Halle Berry), an insurance broker, wants in on the deal. Can Mike trust Sharon, or is she setting him up for a fall? I am a big fan of the Michael Connelly Harry Bosch book series, and one thing Connelly does is always talk about the traffic in L.A. Writer/director Bart Layton and Cinematographer Erik Wilson do a great job is capturing the look and feel of L.A. with its long line of cars on the freeway and the homes and hotels of the rich, along with the scenes of the homeless on the street, as our hero Mike figures out his next heist. I had fun with this film and its multiple storylines, which keep intersecting throughout. The film has some nice twists, and I had expected that there would be a romance between Hemsworth and Berry, but that’s not the case. Instead, both characters see each other as a tool to be used to get what they want. In fact, there is more attraction between Berry’s character, a woman who keeps bumping up against the glass ceiling and can’t break through, and Mark Ruffalo’s world-weary but by-the-rules cop, as they both are getting screwed by their bosses. Instead, there is a fun romance between Hemsworth’s character, who has a troubled past, and Monica Barbaro’s character, a woman he meets in a strange ‘meet-cute’ moment. I was amazed by how that relationship turned out. The big heist kept me guessing, and I thoroughly enjoyed Barry Keoghan’s motorcycle heist man, who is way in over his head on everything he does. It must be fun to be Keoghan these days, taking parts where he can go nuts. Crime 101 isn’t a brilliant film (comparing it to LA centric movies like Heat or Beverly Hills Cop), but it’s a fun time with a great cast and a city that is always interesting to be in.  My Rating: Full Price  Crime 101 website  Now playing in theaters 

Familyfaire:  GOAT  (2026)  PG  GOAT is about Will, a small goat with dreams of going pro and playing roar ball, the high-intensity, full-contact sport dominated by the fastest, fiercest animals in the world. Will is determined to prove he belongs and that “smalls can ball!” I don’t know, maybe kids who love basketball or goats will like this movie, but I was bored almost from the start. I didn’t like the animation style, which at times felt soft and at other times too harsh. The plot was too simple, the storyline wasn’t well thought out, and I didn’t care if the team of misfits ever won a game, much less make it to the championship. The film kept throwing ideas at us, as if it had decided to play dodgeball rather than basketball. Steph Curry, who produced the film and voices one of the characters, needs to stick to winning championships and stay out of the animation chair.  My Rating: Cable   GOAT Website Now playing in theaters

Indiefest:  Jimpa  (2025)  Jimpa is about Hannah (Olivia Colman), who, along with her nonbinary teenager, Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde), travels to Amsterdam to visit her gay father Jim (John Lithgow), who goes by the term Jimpa, instead of grandpa. When Frances expresses an interest in staying with her ‘Jimpa’, Hannah is forced to re-examine her parenting and her past. Jimpa is a film with its heart in the right place, but it doesn’t know how to convey that message without hitting us over the head. The film features impressive performances by John Lithgow and Olivia Colman, but it feels like it is filled with meaningless subplots, mostly involving Frances and their quest to find a place in the world. The film never hits the mark with its overabundance of sentimentality. It’s funny that Jimpa is about a filmmaker, Hannah, who is told that her next film project doesn’t have enough conflict to make a good drama. I can say the same thing for Jimpa.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Jimpa Website  Now playing in select theaters

Indiefest:  Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die  (2025)   R   In Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, a “Man From the Future” (Sam Rockwell) shows up at a Los Angeles diner and takes the patrons hostage. He claims he is a time traveler and needs their help in stopping AI from eventually destroying humanity. Sam Rockwell has so much fun in this role as the madman who bullies people into joining him in what he knows is likely a suicide mission. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is a wild ride with outstanding performances from Juno Temple as a mom grieving the son she thought she knew and Haley Lu Richardson as an angry, depressed young woman who seems set on joining the group because she wants to die. The film is incredibly wacky and doesn’t follow any rules, but its message is timely. How many times have you seen people walking into traffic or running into people because they can’t look up from their phones? That’s the core of this film, how the internet and our technology doesn’t care about us, it just wants our full-out attention. So put down your phone, get ready to see some really weird stuff, and join in on the revolution to stop AI from taking over the world and our lives. The “Man from the Future” will show you the way, though you might want not to go first.  My Rating: Full Price  Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die Website  Now playing in theaters

Indiefest:  Cold Storage  (2026)  R  Cold Storage is about two employees, Travis (Joe Keery) and Naomi (Georgina Campbell), who work at a self-storage facility built atop a former military base. Their night becomes a nightmare when a rapidly mutating, parasitic fungus escapes from the base. Their only hope is a grizzled bio-terror operative named Robert Quinn (Liam Neeson). Who would have thought that Academy Award-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave, Oscar-nominated actress Lesley Manville, and Liam Neeson would be in a zombie/fungus taking over the world movie and would have some sizable parts to boot. Keery and Campbell are fun as two security guards tasked with saving the world. The plot is pretty simple, and the zombies are really gross, with lots of splatter going on, including a zombie throwing up on a bunch of bikers to infect them. Neeson looks like he is having a blast in the part, along with a chain-smoking Manville. I assume Vanessa Redgrave is a friend of someone involved in the film, because she is there for comic relief and isn’t really important to the plot. This is one of those films that's perfect for a Saturday night, with lots of popcorn and a few drinks. Just don’t get anything green to drink. My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Cold Storage Website Now playing in theaters

Indiefest:  Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie  (2025) R  Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie takes place when Matt (Matt Johnson) and Jay (Jay McCarroll) try to book a show at the Rivoli, and it goes horribly wrong. So the guys try to create a time machine, like in Back to the Future, and guess what? It works! Only they are now in the year 2008 and can’t get back home. I didn’t know much about the guys or their show, but judging by the enthusiastic and boisterous audience, fans of their work are going to love this film. The duo takes a bit of getting used to, and their harebrained schemes are outlandish, but that’s the charm of these very Canadian guys, who say hello to almost everyone on the street and often ask where people are from, just to be nice. There is a running joke about copyrights that is hilarious, including stealing a whole lot from the earlier-mentioned Back to the Future films. And beware of anyone afraid of heights; a good deal of the plot revolves around the CN Tower, one of the world's tallest free-standing structures. You might need a parachute, or two.  My Rating: Full Price  Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie    Now playing in select theaters 

Forgotten Film: The Strawberry Statement  (1970) R A college student (Bruce Davison) joins a group of campus organizers, not because he is caught up in the politics of the day but because he hears it’s a great way to meet girls. And he does meet a girl (Kim Darby), but he also realizes the issues that they are protesting are meaningful and worthy. He soon learns that the protests can become scary and violent. This is a film that, while dated by being made during the Vietnam protests of the late 60s, still packs a punch and explores  ideals that are still relevant today. The film is enhanced by a great soundtrack featuring songs by Neil Young, John Lennon, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. This is one of the late Bud Cort's first feature films.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Strawberry Statement Info  The film is available to rent on Apple TV+

Weird Credits: From the credits of Wuthering Heights: Candle Wrangler

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Undertone  (2025)  R  A host of a popular paranormal podcast, Evy (Nina Kiri), is sent some mysterious and terrifying audio recordings that somehow become real in Evy’s world. Film critics who have seen the movie are giving it great reviews, and the trailer looks really scary. Plus its from the A24 studio, so you know its going to be a little bit weird.  Undertone Website  In theaters on Friday, March 13, 2026  

Until Next Time!

Mercy

My View: Mercy  (2026)  PG-13  Mercy takes place in the near future, where a system is implemented that, if you are arrested for a capital crime, you go before an A.I. Judge, and you have only 90 minutes to prove your innocence. Detective Raymond (Chris Pratt) wakes up and is accused of killing his wife. He now has 90 minutes to prove his innocence to the A.I. Judge (Rebecca Ferguson). January is usually a dumping ground for films that the studios don’t care about. So, this film, shot in 2024 and now being released, should tell you everything you need to know. Already a candidate for one of the worst films of 2026, Mercy is a dull film that hasn’t figured out AI or the fact that Chris Pratt is not a stage actor. For most of the film (except for doorbell and Alexa video scenes from the past), Pratt is handcuffed to a chair that, if his character doesn’t prove his innocence, will be his execution chair. The film wants to lecture us about a number of things wrong with the justice system, but it does it with an AI judge (played by Rebecca Ferguson) who, at times, gets upset if not called ‘your honor’ but can’t grasp common sense and practical deductions that are used to find clues in criminal investigations. The film wants to be a whodunit, but we already know from the get-go that Raymond is not guilty, and by thirty minutes in, I had figured out who the actual killer was. Too bad that by looking at the countdown clock that was always on screen, I knew we had another 60 minutes for the film to figure that out.  My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again  Mercy Website Now playing in theaters nationwide

My View: Return to Silent Hill  (2026) R  Return to Silent Hill follows James (Jeremy Irvine), who has lost contact with his girlfriend, Mary, until he receives a mysterious letter asking him to come to a town called Silent Hill. He hopes to be reunited, but he discovers a malevolent force has overtaken the town. James is determined to locate his lost love despite the presence of terrifying characters, both familiar and unfamiliar. The film is based on the much-loved video game, and that’s exactly what it feels like when watching it. Except you can push any buttons to move your character to a new scene or have the fun of killing a horrible creature or two. Instead, it feels as if we are being given a tour of the video game. We don’t like James almost from the start, including the ‘meet cute’ between him and Mary, which comes off as an incredibly bad plot point. About two-thirds through this hour-and-forty-five-minute slog of a film, I lost all interest in seeing how this story played out. Someone please put another game in the system; I’m done with this one.  My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again   Return to Silent Hill Website The review will be up on Friday night.

Indiefest: Magellan  (2025)  In Magellan, Ferdinand Magellan (Gael Garcia Bernal) sets out on a voyage with the hopes of conquest and riches. Instead, Magellan will find in the Philippines madness and heartbreak. I think Gael Garcia Bernal gives a good performance in this film, but I am not sure, as almost every shot is a static, distant shot. I don’t think there was a close-up of Magellan in the first twenty minutes. The film is all about showing us the consequences of actions without showing us what the actions were. I think some critics are going to love this film, but I found its two-hour and forty-minute runtime too long, with scenes that just lay there. This film reminded me of the saying “watching paint dry”, though I would say it was like watching the paint dry on a beautiful picture painted by a master.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Magellan Website  Now playing in select theaters.

Indiefest:  H is for Hawk  (2025)  PG-13  In H is for Hawk, Helen (Claire Foy) becomes lost in grief when her father suddenly dies. On a whim, Helen buys a hawk named Mabel. Through this unlikely friendship, Helen learns that life can begin again, even after a loss. Grief hits us in different ways, and with Helen, she basically cuts off almost everyone and everything in her life except for a hawk named Mabel. Most people would look for an animal that can give comfort and love in return, but Helen finds comfort in the bond she develops with Mabel, the hawk. Claire Foy gives a heartfelt, moving performance as a woman who is extremely close to her father, and the only solace she can find is in her connection with a bird that hunts. It doesn't hurt that the always brilliant Brendan Gleeson plays Hellen's father in the flashbacks. Comfort literature has become all the rage, and H is for Hawk is about as close as you will come to a ‘comfort’ film. It’s a film where not much happens, but we see how close Helen becomes to Mabel and how that bond helps her heal.   My Rating: Full Price  H is for Hawk Website   Now playing in select theaters

Forgotten Film: Touched by Love (1980) PG  Lena (Deborah Raffin), a college dropout searching for direction, becomes a nurse’s aide at a school for children with medical problems. Lena is instantly drawn to what the school says is their “problem child”, a young girl named Karen (Diane Lane), who has cerebral palsy. Karen has become unresponsive, staying silent and moody. Lena learns that Karen is an Elvis fan, and they connect. Lena encourages her to write a fan letter, and Elvis replies. Diane Lane shines as Karen, and the strong supporting cast, including Michael Learned, John Amos, and Mary Wickes, adds warmth to this touching movie. My Rating: Full Price  Touched by Love Info

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Mercy: Fixtures Foreperson

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Wuthering Heights  (2026) R  The legendary love story set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors. The intense and sometimes destructive relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine. Written and directed by Academy Award winner Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) and starring three-time Oscar-nominated Margot Robbie as Catharine and newly Oscar-nominated Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein), this is surely going to be one of the must-see films of the year.  Wuthering Heights Website  The film is in theaters on Friday, February 13, 2026  

Until Next Time!

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

My View:  A Big Bold Beautiful Journey  (2025)  R    In A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, David (Colin Farrell) is on a road trip to a wedding when he meets Sarah (Margot Robbie). He convinces her to go on an adventure guided by his GPS. Along the way, the two will discover a magical doorway that allows them revisit the past and explore places and times they thought they knew. I was disappointed in this film, especially after having high hopes for it based on the trailer and the strong cast. While I appreciated watching Farrell and Robbie as they revisited significant points in their lives—both are very attractive and talented actors—I found the overall experience lacking. As a romantic film, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey failed to evoke the warmth and enjoyment that one expects from a story that is supposed to be about finding that one person who you can be comfortable with, willing to spend your life with them. The film loses its way early on and never recovers, with banter between the two characters feeling almost painful to watch. I quickly became bored with their journey, as they repeatedly insisted that they weren’t meant to be together, even though it was clear to me that they would end up as a couple Their big realization moments didn’t hit the mark, and the twists and turns that happened felt unreal and lacked the big emotional moments that we needed to believe that the two were meant for each other. It’s too bad because somewhere in the bones of the script, there is a film that would have worked. Unfortunately, this one just didn’t.  My Rating: Cable  A Big Bold Beautiful Journey Website    Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Him  (2025)  R  Him is about a young up-and-coming football star, Cameron (Tyriqu Withers), who has been invited by his idol, legendary quarterback Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), to train at Isaiah’s isolated compound. It’s a blood-chilling journey that will push Cameron to his limits and beyond to pursue excellence at any cost. IMDB classifies Him as a horror film, and if that is the case, then this movie is, using some football terms, a fumble, an incomplete pass and way offsides. Heck, it might even deserve holding and a personal foul. I was bored by the 20-minute mark and kept looking at my watch to see when this film would end. There are no genuine scares to be found, and Cameron is an idiot. He’s trying to become a number one draft pick, yet allows some shady trainer that he doesn’t know to keep injecting him with god knows what. It never occurs to Cameron that those injections could not only jeopardize his draft status, but he might be kicked out of the league. I kept thinking as I watched Him, that the writers didn’t know much about football and even less about horror films. I felt Marlon Wayans went way over the top with Isaiah’s antics (and there are a lot), and the violence was often done to try to shock us, with little effect. The ending, which took too long to develop, was idiotic and unsatisfying. So, I’m throwing a flag on the play and calling an audible for you to see anything else. My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again Him Website  Now playing in theaters. 

Indiefest:  Happyend  (2024)    Happyend takes place in Tokyo in the near future, where the threat of a catastrophic quake hangs over the heads of its residents. High school students Yuta (Hayato Kurihara) and Kou (Yukito Hidaka) pull a prank on their principal. The prank leads to far-reaching consequences, and the two best friends react to these outcomes in vastly different ways. Happyend is a story of friendship set in a world where things could go wrong very quickly and often do. The two friends’ world becomes increasingly under the control of the school and the government, and we see how they react to the rules and the constant surveillance of their lives. The tension between the two friends grows larger as they attempt to deal with the situation. One takes things seriously, and the other deals with the surveillance and lack of freedom with humor. Despite addressing serious subjects, Happyend incorporates plenty of humor, and it’s fun to follow the two guys as they try to handle what the world is throwing at them.  My Rating: Full Price  Happyend Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

Indiefest:  The History of Sound  (2025)  R   The History of Sound is about two young men, Lionel (Paul Mescal) and David (Josh O’Connor), who bond over the love of music right before WWI. They will meet again and explore their love of music and each other before going back out into the world. I enjoyed the first third of this film, as we get to know the two men who fall in love and are then separated by the war. Lionel goes back to the family farm, and David has been drafted. When David returns from the war, they meet up again and have a wonderful time going around the countryside recording folk music. When their time recording is over, the two men go their separate ways, something that Lionel will always regret. I struggled with the latter part of the film, primarily due to Lionel’s treatment of his later romantic partners. He tends to abandon them, much like he did with his own family. For instance, he leaves his mother to pursue his musical journey with David after his father’s death, which I found difficult to accept. The story also suffers as we watch Lionel go from job to job, as well as from lover to lover, without caring about who he hurts. I would have loved the film to be tighter in the second half; even cutting the last five minutes of the film would have made the ending much more touching and compelling. Mescal and O’Connor both do an outstanding job of making us believe and care about their relationship. Adding to the enjoyment of the film is the wonderful folk music that keeps filling the soundtrack and lets us understand why those songs were created and sung. Overall, I felt that this film would have worked better if the script had just stuck with the men during their college and music-finding years, letting the film and the experience end as the two say goodbye. My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The History of Sound Website    Now playing in theaters. 

Forgotten Film:  Ondine  (2009) PG-13  Syracuse (Colin Farrell) is an Irish fisherman who quit drinking for the sake of his sick daughter. Meanwhile, his ex-wife is still drinking. Day after day, he comes back from fishing with empty nets. Then one day, his net is full, but it’s filled with a beautiful woman, Ondine (Alicja Bachleda). Syracuse’s daughter, Annie (Alison Bary), is convinced that Ondine is a selkie, a magical creature that can shapeshift between seal and human. Even Syracuse begins to realize that maybe his daughter is right and finds that he is falling for Ondine. While not a traditional fairy tale, this is an enchanting movie that keeps you guessing and wondering if there will be a happy ending. Colin Farrell delivers a brilliant performance, and the chemistry between Farrell and Alicja Bachleda creates sparks on the screen.   My Rating: Full Price  Ondine Info  Available to rent/buy on Amazon and some streaming services. 

Weird Credits:  From the credits of A Big Bold Beautiful Journey:  Spray Tan Artist

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: One Battle After Another  (2025) R  In One Battle After Another, a notorious enemy named Steve Lockjaw (Sean Penn) has resurfaced after 16 years, broken into Bob’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) home, and kidnapped his daughter (Chase Infiniti). Bob, a civil rights activist, must team up with an anti-government group to locate and rescue his daughter from an alt-right white supremacist group. The film is by Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread, Licorice Pizza) and is creating a lot of Oscar buzz.  One Battle After Another Website  The film opens in theaters on Friday, September 26, 2025. 

Until Next Time!

Barbie

My View: Barbie (2023) PG-13  Barbie is about living in Barbie Land, which is the perfect place for a perfect person in a perfect world. That is until you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken. I am a big fan of both Margot Robbie and filmmaker Greta Gerwig, so I was looking forward to this film. Plus, this has become one of the most hyped summer films and will be a big box-office draw. I liked the movie but didn’t love it, and I think some people will be disappointed by the fact that Barbie goes back and forth between Barbie Land and the ‘real world.’ It’s partly a musical, and the film has some brilliant numbers, including a wonderful number called ‘I’m Just Ken’ that Ryan Gosling does that just might bring the house down. I found the film funny but not hilarious, though there is one line the narrator (Helen Mirren) says that was on the floor funny. It’s a strange film where the narrator talks to us but also speaks to the characters. The set design of Barbie Land is brilliant, and the opening sequence of letting us see a day in the life of Barbie is one of the film’s highlights. Some of the ‘real world’ scenes disappointed me, and Will Ferrell is a dud as the Mattel CEO, never giving us the laughs we want from him. There are a couple of fun cameos in the film, and Simu-Liu as the rival Ken is a lot of fun. As the often-forgotten Allan (Skipper’s boyfriend), Michael Cera is hilarious as the character that everyone ignores. Margot Robbie has the tough part of playing the perfect Barbie, and she does a nice job, but it’s hard to play someone who has the time and doesn’t have emotions. I enjoyed some of the cast-off Barbie and Ken dolls (all based on real failed Mattel toys) and how they worked them into the film’s plot. Overall, Barbie is fun, and if you owned a Barbie or two (and Ken), you will have a good time seeing them come to life. I had a good time seeing Barbie, but I wanted more in Barbie Land and a lot less of the ‘real world.’ I guess I’ll always be a G.I.Joe (original size) guy.  My Rating; Full Price   Barbie Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: Oppenheimer   (2023) R  The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), who, at the urging of a desperate U.S. government wanting to end WWII, developed the atomic bomb. You will want to find a theatre showing the film in 70 mm film or on IMAX (the film was shot entirely with IMAX cameras) because there are scenes that will only have their full impact on a big screen. Oppenheimer is, behind the Dark Night trilogy, the Christopher Nolan film that will speak to the most people, with still a few Nolan touches (including an interesting sex scene that happens in an unexpected place). Based on the best-selling Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus, this is the story of a man who was driven by solving a problem and couldn’t or wouldn’t see the ramifications of what he was about to unleash until it was too late. Cillian Murphy is brilliant as Oppenheimer, a man who hid behind a mask of almost cool indifference while battling demons inside himself and friends that turned foes. Robert Downey Jr. delivers an exceptional performance as Lewis Strauss, who used Oppenheimer's brilliance to achieve his own goals. I think the Downey Jr. is the front runner with this performance to win the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. The cinematography is fantastic, with incredible shots that will dazzle and, sometimes, horrify you. The film uses black-and-white scenes to up the tension of scenes as we go back and forth in the life of Oppenheimer, a man who was convinced he knew more than anyone else, even if that confidence untimely cost him dearly. I loved Emily Blunt as Kitty, Oppenheimer’s long-suffering wife, and Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, the love of Oppenheimer’s life and a woman he could never totally turn his back on. Oppenheimer is a long film (just over 3 hours), but you get swept up in the story about a man who leads the race to create a bomb so destructive that it would stop a World War and create something even scarier than a mad dictator who wanted to take over the world. So find a theatre with the biggest screen in your area and immerse yourself in a story about a man who stopped a war and created a new demon to deal with. And just a warning, if you see it in 70 mm film or IMAX 70 mm film, know to be on time. There will be little to no trailers shown before the film starts.    My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  Oppenheimer Website Now playing in theatres nationwide, including IMAX and theatres equipped with 70 mm projectors. 

My View: The Deepest Breath (2023) PG   Documentary about the sport of free-diving, focusing on champion free-diver Alessia Zecchini and diving trainer/safety diver Stephen Keenan. The two are destined to be a couple, and the film focuses on their relationship and how such a dangerous sport affects their friends and family. This beautiful, moving film will have you on the edge of your seat for the underwater dives. The Deepest Breath is a story about two people who will meet and fall in love. Alessia is a young woman determined to break barriers and records, no matter the danger. And Stephen, who, at an early age, wanted to explore the world and then found his love for the ocean and diving. The film follows the two, using interviews with family and friends, along with home movies and footage of their diving events. The Deepest Breath shows us how they became who they were when they met, setting up how hard they fell for each other. There is underwater footage that is strikingly beautiful as the divers are seen not only competing but also enjoying the underwater world they seem to want to live in. I will warn you that this is a dangerous sport in which death is not uncommon, and you will need tissues. At its heart, it is a love story about following your dreams, no matter the obstacles life puts in your way. The story tells us you can succeed if you can find that one person to support you and help you learn.   My Rating; Full Price  The Deepest Breath Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

My View: They Cloned Tyrone (2023) R  A series of eerie events pushes an unlikely trio, a drug dealer, Fontaine (John Boyega), a prostitute, Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris), and a pimp, Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx) onto the trail of a government conspiracy that involves illegal cloning. These are three heroes that aren’t cut from the superhero mold, and other than Yo-Yo, they don’t seem to have any idea on how to investigate anything other than go into unknown spaces with guns drawn and, occasionally, a song. The characters in this film would be at home in many Quentin Tarantino films with a splash of 70s Blaxploitation. The three principal actors are fun to watch as John Boyega is the reserved and quick to use his muscle to make his point. Foxx has a blast playing the pimp, who is too cool to do anything but talk a lot until he is pushed too far. And Teyonah Parris as the prostitute who plays the game with everyone she meets. However, we soon see that there is more to her than meets the eye, much like the film her character is in. The storyline is entertaining and progressively absurd, but it may not satisfy the cravings of certain Internet conspiracy theorists. Let’s just say that the three uncover something much bigger than they could ever conceive. And you may never look at grape drink and fried chicken the same way again. So get in the back seat and join this unique Scooby Doo gang and find out what is happening in their small corner of the world. It’s a lot bigger than you think.   My Rating: Full Price  They Cloned Tyrone Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform. 

My View: Cobweb (2023) R   Peter (Woody Norman) is an eight-year-old who starts hearing knocking noises coming from inside the walls of his home. His parents don’t believe him, blaming his imagination. Peter soon learns that his parents are hiding a dark secret; something is in the walls. Cobweb is your ordinary build-up with scary sounds, parents that might not be right, and a voice in the wall. Then it proceeds to do a few jump scares and has an ending that seems much too easy and very unsatisfying. It’s a lot of fuss without much to back it up. My Rating: Bargain Matinee    Cobweb Website Now playing in theatres.

Forgotten Film: War of the Buttons (1994) PG   Set in 1960s Ireland, the children of two neighboring towns engage in battles against each other to capture their opponents and cut off their buttons, shoelaces, and underwear, all in order to get the losers in trouble with their parents. This is a much nicer and funnier film but has roots in Lord of the Flies in that the battles symbolize the troubles going on with the adults in their towns. You will need to turn on the subtitles, as the Irish accents are rather thick and sometimes tricky to understand. Overall, a delightful film based on a classic French story (that has been done a few times in French cinema). My Rating: Full Price  War of the Button Info  The film is available to buy/rent on both Amazon and Apple TV.

Weird Credits: From the credits of Oppenheimer: Train Coordinator

Coming Soon to Screen Near You: Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023) R Based on a single chapter from Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, this is the story of the Russian schooner Demeter, which is chartered to carry a private cargo from Carpathia to London. On board are twenty-four unmarked wooden crates. There is something or someone in one of those crates that means that no one will survive this voyage. The director, André Øvredal, who directed the fabulous Troll Hunter (2010), has described the film as ‘Alien on a ship.’  Last Voyage of the Demeter Website  The film will be in theatres on August 11th.

Until Next Time!

Renfield

My View: Renfield (2023) R Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) has spent centuries doing the bidding of his master and would love to find a way out. After a chance meeting where he saves a feisty, perennially angry traffic cop (Awkwafina), he decides to find a way to escape and live an everyday life. One problem, his master is Dracula (Nicolas Cage). If you are a fan of Nic Cage like I am, this is a film for you. If you aren’t a fan of Mr. Cage (and his non-subtle acting), stay away because this is a full-tilt Cage performance. I loved the opening of this film, where the movie used scenes from the 1931 black-and-white classic Dracula, subbing Cage and Holt into scenes from the film, giving us background on how Renfield became what he is today, the servant of Dracula. Like many of the films in the Dracula films of the 70s/80s, Renfield is campy and has lots of blood pouring out all over the place. Cage, a fan of horror films, is having a blast playing the ultimate narcissist, Dracula, who thinks that the world is his for taking and expects his lackey, Renfield, to bring him a group of nuns or a bus full of cheerleaders for him to feed on. I liked Hoult as the servant of Dracula, who has grown tired of his demanding lifestyle. Renfield happens on a support group of codependents and sees this as a way out from under Dracula’s mighty claws. Along the way, Renfield meets and saves the life of a police officer (played by the always funny Awkwafina), who sees Renfield as a hero and not a monster. The film is fun, a bloody (lots of horrible deaths, some hilarious) play on the horror movie. The film suffers a bit from a relatively weak third act, but hey, Nic Cage in the Dracula cape is all I need. My Rating: Bargain Matinee Renfield Website Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: The Pope’s Exorcist (2023) R Father Gabriele Amorth’s (Russell Crowe) title is officially the Chief Exorcist of the Vatican. Unofficially, Father Gabriele is known as ‘The Pope’s Exorcist.’ Father Gabriele is sent to investigate a young boy’s possible possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy that the Vatican has tried to keep hidden for years. Russell Crowe gives it his all but can’t overcome a clunky script along with very few scares that make this film seem longer than its runtime. Crowe, with a weird Italian accent and an even stranger sense of humor, makes this film at least watchable. However, the film never gets the horror going, and it tries to tie in a rather flimsy plot about the past (wait until you hear that bit) with the grounds of an old Abby being renovated. The ending seems to promise a sequel, but we can only pray to God that it doesn’t happen. My Rating: Cable The Pope's Exorcist Website Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: Mafia Mamma (2023) R Kristin (Toni Collette) has a full life dealing with a son leaving for college, a horrible boss, and a husband she has recently discovered is cheating on her. To add to Kristin’s troubles, she is told that her grandfather has died, and she is requested to attend his funeral in Italy. Her friends convince Kristin to attend the funeral because what could go wrong? How about a near assignation because her grandfather has wished for Kristin, his last living descendant, to take over the family business and become a mafia boss? I am a fan of Toni Collette, but I am sad to report that a film that she personally picked and produced is one of the worst of the year. The film is meant to be a comedy, playing on the tropes of mafia movies (I lost count of how many times The Godfather is mentioned), but it sadly misses with horrible jokes hitting on everything Italian, including their love of pasta and affairs. In what must be one of the weirdest attempts of comedy, at one point, a hit-man is aiming a gun at Kristin, about to assassinate her, but first, he wants to rape her, and she kills him in a bloody and horrible fashion that is supposed to be funny. Collette plays Kristin as a dumb American who leaves her cheating husband and literally gets off the plane and starts up an affair with an Italian man she meets in a cab line. It’s like this film is trying to out-bloody the Italian mob films while also trying to hit our funny bones with jokes about sex and meatballs (sometimes in the same sentence). Mafia Mamma is a film directed by Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke, where it never figures out what kind of film it is other than it’s not funny. My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again Mafia Mamma Website Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: Suzume (2022) A 17-year-old girl named Suzume lives in a small, quiet town when she meets a mysterious man who tells her he needs her help to stop a series of disasters from happening across Japan. Suzume is about to go on an adventure where the two will try to save the world from an evil force that could devastate the land. Suzume is one of the better Japanese animated films of the past few years. The film is an adventure tale of a young woman who goes on a quest to close a series of doors across Japan with the help of a mysterious stranger and a cat who talks. Along the way, Suzume is helped by strangers who go out of their way to keep her trip moving and lend a helping hand. Suzume is a story about courage, love, making peace with the past, and finding goodness in ordinary people, even when it seems hope is fleeting. The animation is breathtaking, and the storyline keeps moving along. Filled with humor, Suzume tells a tale of courage and determination by a young woman whose past has haunted her for her whole life. My Rating: Full Price Suzume Website Now playing in theatres nationwide.

Forgotten Film: Clockwatchers (1997) PG-13 Iris (Toni Collette) is a new temp at an office and is freaked out by office politics and procedures. Iris is shown the ropes by Margaret (Parker Posey), a temp who knows what to do and, better yet, what not to do to survive in this world. Soon, Iris is part of the temp world of workers that includes Jane (Alanna Ubach) and Paula (Lisa Kudrow), a world where no boss knows your name, and if you keep your head down and put everyone who calls on hold, you might survive the day. Things go from bad to weird when someone steals office supplies and personal stuff like pictures. I love this film, and Collette is perfect as the timid Iris, who at the start is so afraid that she waits for hours for someone to get her from reception after being told to wait for a manager. The film was way ahead of its time in pointing out the horrible conditions that people have to work in offices when no one knows your name and, half the time, doesn’t even care if you do anything. Until you didn’t do something, you weren’t told to do. Then it’s your fault, and you’re fired. My Rating: Full Price Clockwatchers info Clockwatchers is available to rent or own on iTunes and Amazon.

Weird Credits: From the credits of Renfield: Drunk Dancers

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Barbie (2023) Living in Barbie Land is the perfect place for a perfect person in a perfect world. That is, until you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken. The film sounded horrible until I found out that it’s from the writing team of Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, and it stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as one of the Ken’s (apparently, there is more than one Ken). The movie has been in development since 2009, with everyone from Diablo Cody, Amy Schumer, Anne Hathaway, and Lady Gaga attached to it at various points. I love the tagline “She everything. He’s just Ken.’ Barbie Info Barbie is expected to be released in theatres in mid-July 2023.

Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody

My View: Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody (2022) PG-13  The story of the life and music of Whitney Houston (Naomi Ackie), who rose from singing backup for her famous mom to becoming one of the greatest female R&B pop vocalists of all time. You will have to be a huge fan of Whitney to enjoy this overlong soap opera of a film. I liked Naomi Ackie as Whitney, but she is lip-syncing to Whitney’s real singing for all the songs, but a couple of times Ackie sings at home to her daughter or to herself. The songs take up about 40 minutes of this two-hour and twenty-six-minute film, making it one of the longest lip-syncing shows of all time. I love Houston’s songs as much as anybody but do we need every hit she ever had sung for almost the whole song? The biggest problem with the film is the plot spends a lot of time bringing up all of the issues in her life without any resolution (other than escaping into drugs), as conflicts in the film are often just dropped and never dealt with. We never really understand Whitney's attraction for Bobby Brown (played cartoonishly by Ashton Sanders) other than she likes ‘bad boys.' I Wanna Dance with Somebody is a bio-pic that feels like watching a greatest hits program without the actual performer.  My Rating: Cable  I Wanna Dance with Somebody Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: Babylon (2022) R  The rise and fall of the people that make the movies in the silent days of Hollywood, including a legendary matinee idol (Brad Pitt), an up-and-coming firebrand of an actress (Margot Robbie), and a man who dreams of making films (Diego Calva). I am a huge fan of silent films, so I was looking forward to this film from Damien Chazelle, the Oscar-winning filmmaker for films such as La La Land (20160 and Whiplash (2014). I wasn’t prepared for the wild ride this film takes you on. The first thirty minutes of this film are some of the most outrageous and outlandish filmed scenes I’ve ever seen. A warning, if you get easily grossed out, you might want to skip this film. Several of the characters are loosely (sometimes very loosely) based on real silent film actors. Brad Pitt’s character, matinee idol Jack Conrad is inspired by John Gilbert, one of the most famous actors in the Hollywood silent period. Margot Robbie’s character Nellie LaRoy is based on the life of Clara Bow, the original ‘It Girl.’ The film takes place when Hollywood was transitioning from the freewheeling days of silent films to the more established studio system that brought in the talking pictures era. This is an overlong and sometimes confusing look at three lives and how they deal with fame, fortune, and power. They also have to deal with how quickly that fame and fortune can slip through your fingers. The film seems to keep adding more and more plot lines just to show us that Chazelle cannot only shock you as he does in the first thirty minutes but also dazzle you with big spectacle filmmaking. The problem is the message is lost in all the spectacle, which is too bad, as there are performances that make the film watchable, including Pitt and Robbie. There’s a lot I would have cut out of this 3 hour-plus movie, including a bizarre sequence with a mob boss played by Tobey Maguire that adds nothing to the plot other than making you feel weird. Instead, you will leave feeling you have seen a dozen films in one night, none of them great.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Babylon Website   Now playing in theatres nationwide.

Familyfaire: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) PG  The years of adventure and being a hero has taken their toll: Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas) learns that he has burned eight of his nine lives. Now Puss in Boots finds the evil Lobo (Wagner Moura) hunting him down and enlists his friends Perro (Harvey Guillen) and Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) to help him find a mythical Last Wish to restore his nine lives. Looking back at my 2011 review, I hated the first Puss in Boots film, but boy, oh boy, I loved this one. The film is packed with humor, I loved the new character in Perro, and the animation of the action sequences are kind of mix of Spider-Verse and Japanese anime. It is very apparent that Bandaras and Hayek loved making this film together, and Bandaras gives a brilliant performance as the ego-centric hero who has become scared of dying. Florence Pugh is a lot of fun as a tough, grownup Goldilocks, leading the Three Bears on crime sprees. The film has a great villain in Lobo, the wolf that is Death incarnate, but it’s the performance of Harvey Guillen as the kind, overly friendly Perro that steals the show. You and your family will fall in love with Puss in Boots, Kitty Softpaws, and especially Perro.  My Rating: Full Price  Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

Indiefest: Corsage (2022)  The account of one year in the life of legendary beauty Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Vicky Krieps), who has just turned forty and wants to maintain her status as a groundbreaking royal. This is a film about a woman who wanted to be her own person and not the person her husband, other royalty, and the public wanted her to be. Vicky Krieps gives a beautiful, moving, and dazzling performance of Elisabeth, a woman who was truly before her time and one whose life, while surrounded by servants, was never happy. This is a gorgeous film to watch, and Krieps gives life to a woman who decided to forge her own path, even if it hurt the people she loved. We watch as Elisabeth’s path blazes along, and Krieps, in any unbelievably moving performance, lets us see Elisabeth is all her unhappiness.  My Rating: Full Price  Corsage Website  Now playing in select theaters.

Indiefest: Wildcat (2022) R Documentary about a young British soldier, Harry, back from Afghanistan who is struggling with depression and PTSD. He finds a second chance in the Amazon rainforest when he meets an American scientist, Samantha, and an orphaned baby ocelot. First, let me tell you that this is not a movie for kids. I know it features an adorable baby ocelot, but the film deals with major adult issues, and there are some rather shocking and brutal scenes to watch. This is a movie about how nature and kindness can help heal people dealing with trauma. Harry is a very troubled young man who escapes to the jungle to disappear but finds a purpose to help raise a tiny baby ocelot and train it to return to the jungle as an adult. Some scenes are raw as Harry deals with a past that haunts him. Sam and the baby ocelot can only do so much to heal Harry, and it’s a difficult journey that he travels, sometimes alone. Wildcat is often a very dark and painful film to watch, but in the end, healing and hard work can succeed, even when letting a wild animal go out into the world on its own.  My Rating: Full Price   Now playing in select theaters.  Wildcat Website Now playing in select theatres and on Amazon Prime on Dec. 30th.

Indiefest: Joyride (2022) A headstrong woman named Joy (Olivia Colman) plan to offload her newborn baby on her sister is derailed when a young teenager, Mully (Charlie Reid), steals the taxi she is asleep in. They are about to go on a journey across Ireland that will change both their lives. I wanted to love this film but only like it, and that’s only because of the chemistry between Colman and Reid. The movie is full of plot holes and relies too much on us instantly liking Colman’s character (which we don’t), but Colman can make any part watchable, and Charlie Reid, in his first film role as the young teen Mully is a lot of fun. The film takes a few strange twists, and Colman’s character thinks she can talk her way out of any situation (which she can’t), which takes away from the performances in the end. Still, I enjoyed watching the two characters interact and grow fond of each other; I just wished the plot was better.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Joyride Info  Now playing is select theatres.

My View: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) PG-13  Famed Southern detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is back and has a new mystery to solve. He has been invited to an exclusive private island to play a murder mystery game hosted by a wealthy tycoon (Edward Norton). Things are going great until a real murder happens. Rian Johnson is back with his Knives Out format, bringing back our favorite pompous detective, Benoit Blanc, this time to solve a murder or two with a cast of strange and wonderful characters. This is such a fun movie to watch, and I had a blast with it. The cast is terrific, with actors such as Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, and Kate Hudson filling out the strange and wonderful group of people that Miles Bron, played Edward Norton, playing a sort of Elon Musk character, has invited to his island. Out of this cast, Janelle Monae stands out, playing a mysterious woman with a grudge, who the rest of the group is surprised has shown up for the festivities. Monae is brilliant in the role, and I think she could get an Academy Award nomination for the performance. The film is funny, filled with incredible sight gags, and has a mystery that isn’t easy to solve. I can’t wait to see the next movie that Johnson and Craig bring us because the world needs more of Benoit Blanc solving mysteries.  My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again.  Glass Onion Website    Now Playing on the Netflix platform. 

Familyfaire: Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical (2022) PG   Matilda (Alisha Weir) is attending a new school and dares to take on the dastardly evil Miss Trunchbull (Emma Thompson). Between parents (Stephen Graham, Andrea Riseborough) that don’t care about her and a school where Miss Trunchbull rules with an iron fist, what’s a girl to do? How about fighting back with her mind? Now, if you don’t know the story, the school can be a little scary for young kids, but they will love the music and the antics that Matilda and the rest of her cast-mates get into. Emma Thompson gives a villain for the ages, one who calls her students maggots and delights in punishing them. Thompson is almost unrecognizable as the ugly and mean-spirited Miss Trunchbill and belts out a song with the best of them. I loved Lashana Lynch as the sweet and kind Miss Honey, the teacher who tries her best to protect her students from Miss Trunchbull. Alisha Weir is a tiny firebrand of a singer/performer who carries the film, appearing in almost every scene and singing most of the songs, which she does with grace and humor. Weir is a delight on screen, making this enjoyable film even more fun. The songs are fun, though I am not sure there are many you will ever hum to. Still, there are some great, rousing songs, including a couple of fantastic big showy numbers, especially the final number following the big battle with Miss Trunchbull. So gather around and go on an adventure with Matilda and her extraordinary mind.   My Rating: Full Price  Matilda the Musical Website  The film is now available on the Netflix platform.

Forgotten Film: The Holiday (2006) PG-13  Two women (Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet) who are both having troubles with their lives decide to swap homes in each other’s countries for the holidays to escape. Both meet a local guy (Jude Law, Jack Black) and fall in love. This is another romance film from Nancy Myers (Baby Boom, Father of the Bride, The Parent Trap) that is just fun to watch, and both Diaz and Winslet don’t disappoint. I love the relationship that develops between Winslet’s character and Eli Wallach, who plays an old writer who wrote some of the Hollywood classics. And by the way, Jack Black is toned down and charming in this film (surprise!).  My Rating: Full Price   The Holiday Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody: Head of Paint

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Saint Omer (2022)  Rama (Kayije Kagame) is a novelist who is researching her next work at the trial of Laurence Coly (Guslagie Malanda), who is accused of drowning her child. Laurence claims she did it because of demons. The film has made the Academy Award International Films shortlist and is getting rave reviews from critics.  Saint Omer Info In select theatres Mid-January.

Until Next Time!