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!

Avatar: Fire and Ash

My View:  Avatar: Fire and Ash  (2025)   PG-13  In Avatar: Fire and Ash, Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) are trying to deal with the aftereffects of Neteyam’s death. Their status in the Metkayina clan is shaky, and Neytiri is openly shunning Spider (Jack Champion) because of Neteyam’s death. A new threat emerges: the Mangkwan clan (Ash people), led by Varang (Oona Chaplin). They ally with Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who promises them weapons if they help him kidnap his son, Spider. Here is a quote from near the end of my review of Avatar: The Way of the Water (2022): “You will have a sense near the film’s end that we have been here before, and you would be right. I hope that for the next Avatar film, James Cameron spends a little more time in the writer’s room and less time in the special effects room.” Well, he didn’t, and it’s more of the same. If you are a fan of the Avatar films, then you will enjoy this film. If, like me, you were disappointed by the plot holes and slow-developing storyline of the second film, then you will also, like me, think, ‘Oh, it’s more of the same.” This is another over 3-hour experience where the visuals are once again stunning, but the storyline is weak, and the film doesn’t really move until the last 30 minutes, when the final battle is going on. For most of the film, I kept thinking, I don’t really care about this family and their fight for survival. I did enjoy the new bad guy in Varang, played with a lot of evil fun by Oona Chaplin, but I grew weary of Spider, the son of Quaritch, who seems to speak only in one-word expletives. I will admit the final battle is engaging, and I finally cared what happened, but, boy, did it take a long time to get there. If James Cameron has grown tired of this world and wants to move on, this film ends on a note that leaves the series feeling complete. However, I have a word of warning. I hear that they have already shot about 40 percent of the next film, and there are a couple of loose ends that could come back in the next one. I kind of hope we are done and Cameron can find another world or characters to thrill us with. Blue was never my color anyway.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Avatar: Fire and Ash Website  Now playing in theaters

My View:  The Housemaid  (2025)  R  In The Housemaid, Millie (Sydney Sweeney) is a young woman with a troubled past who, against her instincts, takes a job as a live-in housemaid for a wealthy couple (Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar) and their young daughter. The seemingly perfect life of the family unravels as Millie discovers dark secrets hidden just below the surface. I like Paul Figg as a director, but his last two films, Jackpot! (2024), which was horrible, and Another Simple Favor (2025), which was nowhere near the first Simple Favor film, were not a lot of fun to watch. I am pleased to say that you can’t say this about The Housemaid. I saw it with an audience filled with fans of the book by Freida McFadden, and we both had a blast watching Amanda Seyfried have the time of her life, going nuts on screen in a role that has to be seen to be believed. I had wondered why Seyfried, who just might get an Oscar nomination for her role in the soon-to-be-released The Testament of Ann Lee, would take this role, but then I saw the film. Seyfried gets to chew up scenery with relish, and it’s a delight to watch someone have so much fun going off the wall crazy. Sydney Sweeney, who seems to be in just about everything, does an admirable job of playing the girl with a troubled past who is just trying to survive in a household where the rules keep changing by the minute. Brandon Skenar, hot off the 1923 TV series, is fine as the handsome put-upon husband, but this is Seyfried’s film, and she is front and center for it. The twists are fun (though I figured one out about a third of the way in), and the film keeps the tension ramped up all the way to the end. I talked to a few of the book club audience members who saw the film with me, and they loved it and were happy with the minor changes the film made from the book. So, make yourself a cocktail, but you might want to down it because you are about to go on a rollercoaster ride on the suburbia crazy train.  My Rating:  Full Price  The Housemaid Website  Now playing in theaters

My View:  Is This Thing On?  (2025)  R   Is This Thing On? follows Alex (Will Arnett), who is going through a rough time with a marriage that is unraveling. He is separating from his wife, Tess (Laura Dern), and their two kids, getting a small apartment in the city. Alex wanders into a comedy club and decides to try his hand at stand-up. It seems that the only place he can feel alive and make sense of his life is doing standup. This is a movie about a marriage that has lost its steam, its momentum, and both partners know it's true. So Alex is looking for something to fill the void, and by chance, he finds stand-up comedy. Now, if you are going to this film hoping for a laugh-out-loud comedy, this isn’t your film. Alex’s comedy is a slow-burn type, delivered with a world-weary tone, where he doesn’t tell jokes; he just offers observations about his life, which is crumbling around him. Arnett and Dern have a chemistry between them that makes this film feel real. We believe that they once loved each other but have grown apart, especially now that their kids aren’t little anymore and don’t need as much attention. This is a story without a bad guy, no one to blame, but about two people trying to be civil with each other during a trying time, while also exploring life without each other. The more I thought about this film, the more I enjoyed the experience of spending time with two adults who cared but knew it was time to move on.   My Rating: Full Price  Is This Thing On? Website Now playing in theaters

Indiefest:  La Grazia  (2025)   R   La Grazia tells the story of the President of Italy, Mariano De Santis (Toni Servillo), a staunch Catholic who faces moral crises over pending euthanasia legislation and, at the same time, considers pardoning two people who killed their partners, all the while grappling with his late wife’s infidelity during his final months in office. Add in the fact that Mariano thinks that his best friend was the person who slept with his wife 40 years ago. This is a fascinating and well-acted character study of a man still grieving for his wife as he confronts the fact that he has grown old and has only six more months in office. This is a man who doesn’t make rash decisions but has been too cautious his whole life and now has to move on. Toni Servillo is perfect in the role of the President who secretly (sort of) loves rap, smokes one cigarette a day (because he only has one lung because of cancer) and his main sounding board and assistant is his daughter, who has devoted her life to her father and wants him to sign the euthanasia legislation that she has worked so hard to get passed. This is a man who values the law above everything and everyone else, but can’t even make a decision when his beloved horse is sick and needs to be put down. The film is full of twists, and the cinematography is beautiful and sometimes inventive. I think you will be surprised at what decisions the President makes by the end of his term. And be sure to stay for a mid-credit scene that is quite a joy to stay for.  My Rating:  Full Price   La Grazia Website Now playing in select cities 

Indiefest: The Secret Agent (2025) R   In 1977, Marcelo (Wagner Moura) lives in Brazil and is a technology expert fleeing a mysterious past. He moves back to his hometown to be near his son, but he soon realizes that the city is far from the refuge he seeks. The Secret Agent is a film you have to stick with, because it is so layered that it takes a while to get to know the people in the story, what Marcelo is up to, and why. Once you learn his story and what he is searching for, you fully understand the stakes of the film and of Marcelo. The film perfectly captures the paranoia of the time in Brazil. It’s a warranted paranoia, and the film ramps up the tension as Marcelo gets closer to the answers he needs, but so do the long tentacles of the regime. Wagner Moura gives a moving and complex performance as a man who knows the long arm of the government is closing in, but he must continue, even if it means his dreams become nightmares. The Secret Agent is a film whose opening sequence becomes more meaningful and menacing as it goes along, and that is rare.  My Rating: Full Price  The Secret Agent Website  Now playing in select theaters

Forgotten Film:  Chicken with Plums  (2011)  PG-13 A violinist in 1950s Tehran loses his love of music and decides to die. Over the next 8 days, we see how he and his family deal with his decision. As the man slowly dies, the film shows how he made this decision through a series of flashbacks that trace the major events of his life. This is a beautiful film, and it’s one that I wasn’t really liking, that is, until the last fifteen minutes, when everything we have seen earlier in the film suddenly fits together. It was then that I fell in love with this film. My Rating: Full Price  Chicken with Plums Website  Available for rent/buy on Amazon

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Avatar: Fire and Ash: Practice Nurses

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Mercy (2026)  PG-13  In the near future, 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).   Mercy Website  The film will be in theaters on Friday, January 23, 2026

Until Next Time!