Minions & Monsters

My View:  Minions & Monsters  (2026) PG Minions & Monsters takes place in the 1920s, when the guys, who have stumbled into stardom, are going to make a monster movie in Hollywood. To make a movie, they need a monster, so the guys decide to summon an actual monster. Not their best idea! I am not a fan of the Minion movies and can’t remember much about them, but I know that my experience with them is that a little of them goes a long way, and they are better suited to supporting roles in the Despicable Me films. This is why I was surprised by how much I was laughing during the first third of Minions & Monsters. Now, some of this is because the Minions find themselves in the middle of Hollywood filmmaking during the silent film period, and I loved all the references to the classic films of the time. In fact, even the opening credits give a nod to the early days of filmmaking when shots of dogs or even elephants were being filmed, and somehow the minions got to join in. Unfortunately, when we get to the main plot of the Minions trying to save their Hollywood careers by creating an actual monster, things slow down. The film is further dragged down by a group of Minions who have abandoned Hollywood and have found an alien robot to follow. The robot subplot serves no purpose in the film other than bringing it to an end. And, at least in this film, Minion talk is a combination of gibberish and Italian, which seems a little off from what they have done in the past. Still, kids will enjoy the Minions' antics, and parents will have fun during the first 30 minutes. While there are some funny moments in the closing credits, you won't miss much if you leave early.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Minions & Monsters Website Now playing in theaters nationwide

My View:  Enola Holmes 3  (2026)  PG-13  Enola Holmes 3 follows Enola (Millie Bobby Brown), the youngest of the Holmes siblings, who is about to marry Lord Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge). However, there is a problem. Enola’s more famous brother, Sherlock (Henry Cavill), has been kidnapped and, of course, Enola is on the case. I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan and will watch anything that involves the brilliant and eccentric sleuth. I have enjoyed the Enola Holmes series as we have watched Enola grow up from a flighty girl to a young woman who is sure of her talent and her ability to gather clues. Millie Bobby Brown is always fun to watch in this role, as a boundless bundle of energy who gets excited by trying to top her older, more established brother. I just wish that this time the mystery was better. The film tends to lag, letting Enola go off to ponder the ocean or watch so many people get shot without doing much about it. As always, the film gets a boost from Helena Bonham Carter playing Enola’s firecracker of a mom, who is, in fact, a loose cannon. The film feels a little too much like Millie Bobby Brown fan fiction, with much of it centered on Enola’s wedding rather than the mystery. Still, I had fun with Enola, talking to us about her clues and desires, and taking down the bad guys with a stiff roundhouse kick. The film feels like it’s the end of the Enola Holmes series, but I wouldn’t mind going on another mystery or two. Just make sure there are more than just a few clues to follow.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Enola Holmes 3 Website  Now playing on the Netflix platfor

Indiefest:  Lockbox  (2026)  R  In Lockbox, after her mother’s death, Ellen (Carla Gugino) moves to a small town with her cousin, Winthrop (Lou Taylor Pucci). Trying to put their lives back together, Ellen soon realizes that something evil is in the house, threatening Winthrop. Ellen will have to risk everything to defend her cousin against an otherworldly entity. The storyline takes so long to develop that you lose interest, sapping any intrigue or scares. Carla Gugino gives the film a bit of a boost just by her presence, but the story takes forever to get going, and then when we find out the stakes, it ends with a bit of a letdown. There isn’t enough suspense in the first half of the film, other than a few jump scares and Winthrop just being creepy. By the time we reach the last third of the film, it loses itself in a complex, overly long final act that feels unworthy of the time we put into it. It’s a frustrating and unsatisfying experience that never finds the momentum that it needs.   My Rating: Cable   Lockbox Info  Now playing in select cities

Forgotten Film: The Conversation (1974) PG   Directed by Francis Ford Coppola at the height of his directorial powers, the film is about a surveillance expert, Harry Caul (Gene Hackman), who uncovers a possible assassination plot, which takes him on a journey of secrecy and paranoia. Harry is a very private man who has devoted his life to electronic surveillance. He is hired to do the impossible: record a conversation between a couple (played by Cindy Williams and Fredrick Forrest) while they walk through the open, noisy Union Square. When Harry hears the woman say, “He’d kill us if he had the chance,” it sets Harry on a mission to stop the killing. Harry’s past affects his actions, as we find out that a past assignment resulted in murder. As the film progresses, Harry and the audience can’t tell whether he is now the object of surveillance, and he begins a path that can only lead to madness. The film uses cutting-edge sound design by Walter Murch, which earned him an Academy Award nomination and hit a nerve with the moviegoing public when wiretaps were at the heart of the Watergate scandal that shook the White House. My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  The Conversation Info  Available on Amazon Prime and for rent on Apple TV+

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Enola Holmes 3: Daftperson

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:
Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass  (2026) R  Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass follows Gail (Zoey Deutch), who is devastated that her fiancé has slept with his “celebrity pass” Jennifer Aniston. She goes to a fortune teller, who tells her that to make things right and go on with the marriage, she must sleep with her own celebrity pass. Gail, along with her best friend, Otto (Mile Gutierrez-Riley), travels to Hollywood to find her own ‘free pass’: Jon Hamm. The film features a large cast of cameos, including “Weird Al” Yankovic, Henry Winkler, Elizabeth Banks, and, of course, Jennifer Aniston and Jon Hamm.  Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass Website The film is in theaters on Friday, July 10, 2026.

Until Next Time!

Kung Fu Panda 4

Familyfaire: Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)  PG  Po (voiced by Jack Black) has been picked to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace, meaning he must find a new Dragon Warrior. Meanwhile, a wicked sorceress plans to re-summon all the master villains Po had vanquished and get her revenge. I’m not a huge fan of the Kung Fu Panda films and this is probably the weakest of the bunch. Po is on his own this time with the exception of a new sidekick, a fox named Zhen (voiced by Awkwafina), who is a thief who tags along with Po on his latest adventure. The kids will enjoy all the colorful action sequences but the adults are going to be very bored by the constant attempt to make a joke or two or three. The pacing seems off and I think the film misses all the Kung Fu masters that Po is used to dealing with. So fans of the big Panda will probably enjoy the film but the rest of us, it’s a miss with that round house kick, even with the ‘skadoosh’ finish. My Rating: Cable   Kung Fu Panda 4 Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide. 

My View: Ricky Stanicky (2024) R   Ricky Stanicky is about three best friends who, when they were kids, invented the imaginary Ricky Stanicky as a handy alibi to get them out of trouble. Now, as adults, the three (Zac Efron, Andrew Santino, and Jermaine Fowler) continue using the nonexistent Ricky anytime they need to get out of immature behavior. Unfortunately, their friends and spouses have grown suspicious of Ricky and demand to meet him. So, the three hire a washed-up actor (John Cena) to play the part of Ricky. What could go wrong? Well, a lot, and I’m not talking about the plot but the overall mess of this film. If you think John Cena dressed as Boy George and singing a song about masturbation is funny, then you will enjoy this film. I don’t, hating this film almost from the first appearance of Cena. John Cena has a talent for comedy, but this film always goes for the low bar, with the easy, crass joke. I also have a problem with three guys always lying to their significant others so they can have a good time without their ‘loved ones.’ I think I laughed once, and it may have been laughing at how many weird little cut-downs on pop culture the film enjoys doing for no reason at all. As expected, the film’s plot goes from stupid to incredibly stupid, where we are asked to believe way too much that would never happen, even in a bad movie. And yes, this is one.   My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See It Again.   Rickey Stanicky Website Now playing on Prime Video. 

My View: Damsel (2024) PG-13   Elodie (Millie Bobby Brown), a young noblewoman, has agreed to marry a handsome prince. Elodie discovers that the marriage has only happened so that she can be sacrificed to repay an ancient debt. Elodie is now trapped in a deep cave with a dragon bent on killing her. She will need all her strength and wits to survive and get out to get her revenge. I have become a fan of Millie Bobby Brown, enjoying her work on Stranger Things and the Enola Holmes films, so I was looking forward to this film of Brown’s character taking on a dragon. After a lengthy setup of how bad Elodie’s kingdom is doing and how the new kingdom she is marrying into is right out of a fairy-tale, the film takes a turn where it's a cat-and-mouse game of Elodie evading the dragon. And keeps evading the dragon. I am guessing half the film is about the trials that Elodie goes through in the caves with the dragon (who talks, by the way). From her work in Enola Holmes and Stranger Things, we know that Brown can hold her own in action sequences, but all she does is a lot of falling, running, and crying out. It’s not until the last 15 minutes of the film that we get Elodie actually taking on the dragon, with an ending that is too quick and too much of a letdown. That revenge I mentioned earlier in the review is over in the blink of an eye. Even if it is still a large dragon eye, it’s still a blink.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Damsel Website   Now playing on the Netflix platform. 

My View: Imaginary (2024) PG-13  Jessica (DeWanda Wise) has returned to her childhood home with her daughters. Jessica is shocked when she discovers that the imaginary friend she left behind is very real and is targeting Jessica’s youngest daughter because he is unhappy that she abandoned him so long ago. Imaginary is a fun, but not any sense, great or even really good horror film. There are too many ‘jump out of the dark’ scares in the film's first half, but the second half makes up for that a bit with some nice twists and turns and a few horrifying moments. Still, it's a fun premise to have an imaginary friend who isn't so friendly when you get to know them better. I am a fan of Betty Buckley, but she is wasted in a role that brings some of the film down with a couple of downright silly plot twists. Imaginary is one of those movies you see just because you're in the mood for a horror film, not because you think it will be great, but because you can have fun with it. I mean, a stuffed bear with a really creepy song that plays when you pull his string has to be a little evil, right?   My Rating: Cable   Imaginary Website  Now playing in theaters. 

Forgotten Film: House of Games (1997) R  A psychologist, Margaret (Lindsay Crouse), wants to help a patient escape a gambling debt. She visits a bar where Mike (Joe Mantegna) runs a poker game. Mike convinces her he will forgive the debt if she helps him look for ‘tells’ in the gamblers to get an edge in the game. What seems to be an easy way out becomes much more complex. House of Games is a film by David Mamet (The Verdict (1983), Glengarry Glen Ross (1993), and Wag the Dog (1998)) about con artists and gamblers. It’s how there is always one more con in the game, and nothing is as it seems. I love the dialogue in this film, and the appearance of one of the greatest magicians/con men of all time in real life, Ricky Jay, as the Vegas man. Jay was also a consultant on the film and helped with staging all the con jobs in the movie. It’s a fascinating film with plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested till the end. My Rating: Full Price  House of Games Info  The film is available on multiple streaming services. 

Weird Credits: From the credits of Ricky Stanicky: Dog/Duck Trainer

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Immaculate (2024) R   Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney) is a woman who believes that God has a plan for her. Cecilia is warmly welcomed to her new convent with open arms. But it becomes clear to Cecilia that the convent is not what it appears to be, harboring dark and horrifying secrets. Sydney Sweeney is having a good run in her career, with her breakout role on The Handmaid’s Tale, getting Emmy nominations for her roles in the TV series The White Lotus and Euphoria, and a hit in the rom-com Anyone But You. Now, let's see what she can do, headlining a horror film.  Immaculate Website  In theaters March 22nd. 

Until Next Time!

Causeway

My View: Causeway (2022) R  Lynsey (Jennifer Lawrence) has done something she said she would never do: return to her hometown of New Orleans. After being injured while fighting in Afghanistan, Lynsey has moved back home to rehabilitate a traumatic brain injury, living with her mother, Gloria (Linda Emond), and finding a job as a pool cleaner. With the help of a new friend in James (Brian Tyree Henry), Lynsey is determined to get back into the army and heck out of New Orleans. There is a reason why Jennifer Lawrence has been nominated four times for an Oscar and has won it once. She is truly one of our finest actors on the silver screen today. This is a beautiful, moving, and powerful performance of a woman haunted by a horrible war incident and also her life before the army. We first meet Lynsey, she is almost an invalid, not able to speak or do much on her own, but we soon learn that Lynsey is a determined person whose goal is to go back to a world that accepted her, where she felt safe, the army, even if it was Afghanistan. Lynsey has her mind set on returning to the army and getting the heck out of New Orleans. Along the way, she meets James (Brian Tyree Henry), a car repair shop owner. Brian Tyree Henry gives us a man who is just as tortured by his past as Lynsey is. James sees someone who needs his help and is more than willing to extend his hand in friendship, but Lynsey isn’t a person who lets people into her life easily. Brian Tyree Henry works off of Lawrence with such an easy, carefree persona. It is a beautiful experience to see this friendship between two hurt people develop before our eyes. I am guessing that Lawrence will get another Oscar nomination for this role, and she will deserve it, but it will be hollow if Brian Tyree Henry doesn’t get a nomination also.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  Causeway Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: Enola Holmes 2 (2022) PG-13   After solving her first case, Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) has decided to be like her famous brother, Sherlock (Henry Cavill), and become a detective-for-hire. After no work, Enola chooses to take a case of a poor match-girl and find the match-girls sister. Little did Enola know that the mystery would involve a deadly conspiracy, and Enola may need help from her brother to get her out of what could be a deadly jam. I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, and I am glad that this series has continued. In fact, I think this is a much better film than the first Enola Holmes feature. Millie Bobby Brown is delightful as the spunky and a little bit stuck-up Enola, who desperately wants to be seen as an equal to her famous brother, Sherlock. I loved the mugging that Enola does to the camera, making this a fun romp as Enola runs, climbs, and fights to solve a mystery that gets more complicated and involved the more Enola starts digging. Cavill holds his own as the pompous Sherlock, who sees his younger sister almost as an annoyance. Along for the ride are two characters from the first film, Helena Bonham Carter as Enola’s trouble-making mother and Louis Partridge as Lord Tewkesbury, Enola’s love interest. Added to the cast as the villain is David Thewlis, who plays a police investigator who is convinced that Enola is a murderer and must be caught. Brown looks to be having a blast in the part and puts a ton of energy and whimsy into a character that is just fun to watch on the screen. Oh, and by the way, the mystery is much better than the first one, and just maybe, someone else from the world of Sherlock shows up to stir the mystery up a bit.   My Rating: Full Price   Enola Holmes 2 Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

My View: Armageddon Time (2022) R   It’s 1980, and Paul (Banks Repeta) is starting sixth grade at a public school. Paul’s best friend is Johnny (Jaylin Webb), a Black student who always gets into more trouble, even when the two are caught doing the same thing. When the two get into trouble again, Paul’s parents ((Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong) decide to send Paul to a private school, and Paul must choose whether or not to disobey his parents and stay friends with Johnny. This is a movie about adolescence and learning that life isn’t always fair or doesn’t go our way just because it should. Paul is a character that you may not like at first. He acts up and always seems to get his way. He is the center of his family, with a mother, played by Anne Hathaway, and a grandfather, played by Anthony Hopkins, who is the apple of their eye. Paul meets a fellow troublemaker at school, Johnny, and they delight in seeing the world as ‘us vs. them. However, Paul soon learns that Johnny’s world is very different from his own. Paul is convinced that his family is rich and powerful and that whatever trouble he gets into, his family will get him out of it. Johnny knows that in the world he lives in, because he is Black, Johnny can only depend on himself to get out of any trouble and that he will always be the first to be blamed. This is a film where Paul learns that the world is a very messy place and that what we say and do can hurt others. I liked this film and the cast, including brilliant performances by both Hathaway and Hopkins, make this a movie to watch. Life is not easy, and we are asked to make tough choices. The film explores those choices and how the characters must live and deal with the results.   My Rating: Full Price    Armageddon Time Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

Indiefest: Good Night Oppy (2022) PG  Documentary about Opportunity, the Mars Exploration Rover, known as Oppy by the scientists at NASA. Oppy was supposed to explore Mars for only 90 days but lasted almost 15 years. Is it too weird for a group of scientists to fall in love with a little robot in outer space? Movies have long figured out that we can fall in love with robots. I mean, look at Star Wars, older sci-fi, and a bunch of Pixar films. But can you fall in love with real robots that are on another planet? Yes, you can. You will fall for the scrappy 5 foot 2-inch twin robots named Opportunity and Spirit. This is an absolutely charming film about a group of scientists who dreamed of exploring Mars to find out if water ever existed on Mars, meaning life could have been present. I was struck by how both the scientists and I got attached to these remarkable little machines and how much I enjoyed their sometimes mundane and, other times, heroic adventures. If surviving an incredible journey, storms that seemed to pop up at the wrong times, exploring an unknown world with temperatures unbearably hot and cold is not heroic, then I don’t know my classic tales. The film does a brilliant job of letting us get to know the scientists and engineers behind the robots and how they dreamed as kids to one day get to work on something so incredible and awe-inspiring. But it's the film’s credit that also lets us think of these two robots as something more than a bunch of gears and computer parts but an almost living thing with a heart and a will to explore. I hope this film inspires more young people to become engineers and scientists. We could sure use the help.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again   Goodnight Oppy Website Now playing in select theatres and on the Amazon Prime platform.

Indiefest: The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlile (2022) R  Decades after Tanya Tucker seemed to disappear from the spotlight, singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile decides to write an entire album with her hero based on Tanya’s extraordinary and sometimes controversial life. Could this be the most incredible comeback in country music history? Tanya Tucker is one of those artist whose career was overshadowed by a rocky personal life. That she hadn’t done an album in 17 years was wrong, and super-fan Brandi Carlile was determined to bring Tanya back into the studio and get the singer back to where she needed to be. The best parts of this film are the interactions between Carlile and Tanya, showing the collaboration that goes on during the album-making. Carlile is the perfect person to bring Tanya back into the studio. Someone who knows what it's like to put your heart and soul into your music. The film goes on a little too long, trying a bit too hard to tug on the heartstrings, but it's worth it for those moments of magic in the studio where you see what a talent Tucker is.   My Rating: Full Price  The Return of Tanya Tucker Website Now playing in select theatres.

Indiefest: Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me (2022) R Selena Gomez wanted to be a star from age four. Just when she reached unimaginable stardom, Selena was sent down a dark journey that took her nearly six years to come back from. However, back she is, and she is here to stay. I have been a fan of Selena Gomez, both the actor and the singer. Still, after seeing this beautiful and powerful documentary, I am an even bigger fan of Selena Gomez, the person. It’s a sometimes raw and moving look at life in the fishbowl of being a celebrity and dealing with not only a disease like Lupus that attacks your body but also mental health problems, all the while being such a focus of the celebrity life. Much like the recent docs on Billie Eilish and Amy Winehouse, this is an intimate look at what it’s like to be a celebrity while also dealing with mental health issues. I applaud Selena for allowing Alek Keshishian into her life and showcasing Selena and her passion for trying to help everyone with mental health issues. In what I am sure started out as a behind-the-scenes look at a tour back in 2016 when it took a turn after Selena had broken up with Justin Bieber and quit her tour midway to get help. The film looks at how one person decides to take control of her life and health while using her influence to help others. I can’t tell you how much I loved this film and admire Selena Gomez for letting us see her struggles and the joys in her life.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again   Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me Info  Now playing on the Apple TV+ platform.

Forgotten Film:  Piranha(1978) R  A government research facility accidentally releases a school of flesh-eating and very hungry piranhas into a summer resort’s river. What happens next is not pretty and really bloody. Directed by Joe Dante (The Howling, Gremlins) and co-written by, wait for it, John Sayles (Eight Men Out, Lone Star), this is a blatant rip-off of Jaws. So much so that Universal was going to sue legendary producer Roger Corman until Steven Spielberg saw the film, fell in love with it, and had them call off the lawyers. Shot at a small water-based amusement park outside of San Antonio called Aquarena Springs (look up Ralph the Swimming Pig), this schlocky horror film is a blast to watch. The film was a big hit and had a sequel (which was really bad). It’s got teenagers, 70’s nudity (not much but enough to get teens to go to the theatre), and lots of fake blood in the water. It’s got a holdover ‘mad scientist’ from the Vietnam War, a government coverup, and, did I mention, lots of blood. The poster is a direct rip-off of Jaws, which you can see why Universal thought about suing. Oh, and one of the film stars is Barbara Steele, one of the great horror film stars of the 60s and 70s.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Piranha Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Causeway: Weather Service

Coming Soon To a Screen Near You: Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)  Sequel to the 2009 film (the biggest box office winner of all-time), Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his family are living on Pandora. When his family and way of life are threatened again, Jake must work with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and the army of the Na’vi to protect their planet. It seems like we have been hearing about this film for ten years, and we have. James Cameron is returning us to a world we fell in love with. With a cast that now includes Kate Winslet (who did all her own underwater stunts) and Michelle Yeoh, shot with a camera invented just for the film(s), the first of who knows how many sequels (at least one more) and a budget over a billion dollars, this is a film that is expected to break all box office records. The question will be, how many of the screens at your local theatres will be showing this film?    Avatar: The Way of Water Website Coming to theatres in mid-December.

Until Next Time!

Godzilla vs. Kong

Note to readers: I currently am not willing to risk my health (I’m 63 and an asthmatic) by visiting a theatre. All films that I have seen for review have been screened in my home. I am not going to tell you whether or not to attend a theatre. Just be aware of the risks, do your research, and follow the instructions to the letter.

My View: Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) PG-13   Just as a squadron embarks on a mission to try to unearth clues to the Titans’ origins, a conspiracy is about to threaten the creatures that could wipe them out forever. Ok, you aren’t going to see this film for its fantastic dialogue or the brilliant acting, though Julian Dennison (Hunt for the Wilderpeople) is a lot of fun as the Millie Bobby Brown sidekick. No, you go to this type of film to see the monster or, in this case, the kings of the monsters, Godzilla and Kong. We want to see Kong and Godzilla duke it out, this time on both land and sea. We want to see Kong with a battle axe in the middle of the earth, a lost land of wonders, screaming out his jungle roar. And we want to see a final battle sequence full of destruction and mayhem with giant bodies flying through the air. Well, you get it in this film. Is it a great film? Heck no, but is it a lot of fun? Yes, yes, it is. I think Kong comes off a little better in this film, aided by the adorable Kaylee Hottle, who plays Jai, an orphan who has been adopted by Dr. Andrews (Rebecca Hall) after Jai’s parents were killed in the Skull Island fight. Jai has a special bond with Kong, and this makes Kong far more relatable than Godzilla, who just seems pissed all the time. Yeah, there is a bad guy, played by Demián Bichir, who wants to…I have no idea; we just know he is a bad guy. The plot is tough to figure out; there are some spaceships that belong in the Star Trek franchise, not this film, and some characters that are just thrown in the movie to make it connect to the other two (I’m looking at you, Kyle Chandler). But hey, you don’t go to see this film for the imaginative plot points or the sparkling dialogue, do you? You go to see Godzilla and Kong destroy a ton of stuff and look good doing it.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Godzilla vs. Kong Website  The film is available on the HBO Max platform and in select theatres. 

Indiefest: 2021 Oscar Nominated Short Films (2021)   The collection of short films that have been nominated for the 2021 Academy Awards. The films are broken up into three categories: Animation, Live Action, and Documentary, as shown in theatres as separate film packages. 

  In the Animation Shorts selection, the two films that stand out are Burrow, a delightful tale about a bunny trying to find the perfect place for his new home, and the heart-wrenching If Anything Happens I Love You, a beautiful film about a couple in mourning over the loss of a child told threw their shadows. The Animation short film collection also has three bonus films, including an incredible production of the classic book, The Snail and the Whale with voice work from Diana Rigg, Sally Hawkins, and Rob Brydon.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See Them Again    2021 Oscar Nominated Short Films Website   Now playing in select theatres including Landmark Midtown Art in Atlanta and is available to rent on participating on-demand services.

  The Live-Action Shorts are an incredibly strong selection this year highlighted by Feeling Through, a remarkable story of a young man looking for a place to sleep and meeting a blind/deaf man who changes his outlook on life and The Letter Room, starring Oscar Isaac, about a corrections officer who becomes involved with trying to reconnect a lost love with a prisoner on death row. I also immensely enjoyed the sci-fi-themed Two Distant Strangers about a man trying to get home to his dog after a one-night stand.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See Them Again   2021 Oscar Nominated Short Films Website    Now playing in select theatres including Landmark Midtown Art in Atlanta and is available to rent on participating on-demand services.

  The Documentary Shorts selection are tougher to see in theatres this year due to their length (total run time is 136 minutes). It is also one of the weakest selections that I have seen in the last ten years in this category. I have seen far better documentary short films at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival than the French doc Colette, about a 90-year-old former resistance fighter that goes to Germany to visit the death camp her brother perished at. The two documentaries that will undoubtedly vie for the Academy Award are Hunger Ward, a crushing, heartbreaking look at hospitals treating malnourished children in war-torn Yemen, and A Concerto is a Conversation, a warm, inspiring look at the love of a grandson, award-winning composer Kris Bowers, has for his grandfather, Horace Bowers, Sr., a man who came from the depths of Jim Crow Florida to own a chain of dry cleaners in the Los Angles area. The film revolves around a concerto piece that Kris wrote for Horace that was performed at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   2021 Oscar Nominated Short Films Website  Now playing in select theatres and is available to rent on participating on-demand services.

Indiefest: French Exit (2020) R    Frances (Michelle Pfeiffer), an aging Manhattan socialite, is used to living the good life. When she finds out that she is about to run out of money, she decides to take her son, Malcolm (Lucas Hedges), out of school and take a trip to Paris to move into a friend's apartment. The reason to see this film is Michelle Pfeiffer, who plays Frances as a controlled, stylish woman on the outside, but inside, we know that she is one pissed-off woman who wants to live her life to the fullest the only way she knows how lavishly. Unfortunately, Pfeiffer’s performance can’t totally save this film from becoming somewhat of a bore. I’m not sure that the director knew what type of film she wanted to make; a comedy (there is a cat that may be the reincarnation of France’s husband) with a cast of strange characters that Frances accumulates throughout the film? A drama doubt a woman who loves her lifestyle more than her life? Or maybe a satire, commenting on the excess of the idle rich? In any case, it fails to find a footing and also a third act (one that is desperately needed). However, if you are a fan of Michele Pfeiffer, then you might enjoy watching her in her exquisite costumes go from one lovely apartment to another with little plot in between.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee   French Exit Website    Now playing in select theatres.

My View: The Unholy (2020) PG-13  Alice (Cricket Brown), a young hard-of-hearing girl, begins healing the sick and impaired after a supposed visitation from the Virgin Mary. As word spreads of her ‘miracles,’ a disgraced journalist (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) heads out to investigate, hoping the story will revive his career. As he begins to uncover the story, he learns that the phenomena may not be the result of the Virgin Mary but of something sinister and evil. This is your run-of-the-mill, ordinary horror film about a demon who uses a girl to try to come to power under the disguise of the Virgin Mary. We all love Jeffery Dean Morgan, who can play in his sleep, the down on his luck, willing to fabricate a story guy but still has some goodness in him to eventually do the right thing. Unfortunately, Jeffrey never really wakes up, sleepwalking through this role as a plot weakly moves along. The scares are your normal ‘jump out of the dark’ variety with a few religious overtones thrown in. I never found the demon scary enough, and the ending seemed too easy to come about. Overall, the film never delivers on what it starts out as a promising premise, never delivering the horror that the film needs and wants.   My Rating: Cable    The Unholy Website   Now playing in select theatres.

Indiefest: WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn (2021)   Behind the scenes look at a company that was worth an incredible amount of paper, almost 47 billion, and then in six weeks lost everything. Was it a great idea gone bad or just a scam with a cult-like following? This is a fascinating documentary that follows the astonishing rise and fall of a company based not on facts and figures but more on the charisma of its founder, Adam Neumann. The film uses footage of not only the many interviews that Adam did over the years but also the company's own videos that were produced to show just how great WeWork was. The idea was to create working environments where instead of everyone is stuck inside offices, everyone is out on a vast floor, with large communal spaces to encourage people to interact and possibly collaborate. The film shows how this clever idea soon became almost a cult, with the company not only offering working space but also living spaces and summer camps. The film interviews both clients and former employees of WeWork, showing how almost blindly they followed Adam, thinking that they would change the world. Unfortunately, the company was grossly overvalued, and Adam, while a master pitchman, was not a great businessman. It is astonishing how many people were fooled by Adam and his cult of personality. By the end of the film, you will wonder; would I have fallen for this too?    My Rating: Full Price  WeWork Movie Website   Now playing on the Hulu platform.

Indiefest:   Shiva Baby (2020)   Danielle (Rachel Sennott) is a floundering college student who is wrangled into going to a Jewish funeral (Shiva) with her parents (Polly Draper, Fred Melamed). There to her horror, not only does Danielle encounter her ex-girlfriend, Maya (Molly Gordon), that no one knows she was involved with, Danielle also is in the same house with all her relatives and her ‘sugar-daddy' (Danny Deferrari). Shiva Baby is a witty, funny comedy about a young woman who is kind of lost in life and must confront both her past and present lovers at the worst possible time, a Jewish funeral. Rachel Sennott is magnificent as the college student who thinks she has it all together but soon discovers that being an adult isn’t all it's cracked up to be. The film follows Danielle around in a house that at times seems too small to hold the amount of people or egos that fill it, making it a land mine at every turn Danielle takes. The film is greatly helped by a deft supporting cast, including Molly Draper, as Danielle’s mom, who is more in tuned than Danielle knows with what is going on in Danielle’s life, and Fred Melamed, who plays the clueless father. I loved the music in this film, done by Ariel Marx, which at times feels more like a horror film score than a comedy, as the wall that Danielle has constructed for herself, keep falling down as the afternoon goes on. Shiva Baby is about a good of a time that you can have at a funeral.   My Rating: Full Price     Shiva Baby Website  The film is available to rent on participating on-demand services.

My View:   Concrete Cowboy (2020) R Cole (Caleb McLaughlin) has just been kicked out of high school. His mother leaves him off on his estranged father’s doorstep in North Philadelphia. Cole discovers that his father, Harp (Idris Elba), is involved in the city’s dynamic urban cowboy subculture. The Fletcher Street Stables has existed for more than 100 years, providing an oasis for the neighborhood despite the poverty, violence, and encroaching gentrification. Cole soon learns about life, responsibility, and how to survive in a harsh world through the ‘cowboy life.’ I really enjoyed this film, and I loved that our first introduction to Idris Elba’s character Harp is when he lets Cole into his apartment, which has a horse living in it. The film does a brilliant job of giving us insight into this unknown world, where the only thing that makes sense sometimes is the bond between a human and their horse. The film's best moments are when these real cowboys are talking about life around the fire in the parking lot. It helps that you have such a wonderful actor in Elba, who makes the moments between Harp and Cole powerful and meaningful. Some of the dialogue is a little too preachy for me, but Concrete Cowboy has heart and soul that more than make up for any weakness in the script.    My Rating: Full Price   Concrete Cowboy Website    Now playing on the Netflix platform. 

Forgotten Film: Sugar & Spice (2001)  PG-13   When head cheerleader Diane (Marley Shelton) is knocked up by the captain of the football team (James Marsden), things get complicated and messy. Diane comes up with a plan to make money; she and her fellow cheerleaders will rob a bank. This is a fun and funny film with some vibrant characters. The girls decide to watch bank robbing movies as research, and since Hannah (Rachel Blanchard) has strict god-fearing parents, she can only watch G-rated films, so she watches the Disney family classic, The Apple Dumpling Gang. The film’s narrator, Lisa (Marla Sokoloff), has a crush on Conan O’Brien and often fantasizes about Conan’s head on the bodies of other actors in the movies that the gang watches. I love how the gang makes it all ok by saying that they will give some of the bank robbery money to charity, like ‘buying one of those starving little kids that Sally Struthers auctions off on TV.’    My Rating: Full Price   Sugar & Spice Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of The Unholy: Bidding Manager

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Holler (2020)   Ruth (Jessica Barden) has gotten a way out of her small, dying Southern Ohio town; she has been accepted to college. She joins a scrap metal crew with her brother, Hank (Austin Amelio), to pay her way to college. The two work the dangerous job of the scrap metal crew during the day and then break into abandoned factories at night to steal valuable metal. Ruth soon finds that the ultimate cost of an education may be more than she bargained for, and she will have to choose between that promising future and the family she will have to leave behind. This film has done well on the film festival circuit, nominated for the Grand Jury Award at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival and winning the Directors to Watch Award at the 2020 Palm Springs International Film Festival.     Holler Info

Enola Holmes

Note to readers: I currently am not willing to risk my health (I’m 62 and an asthmatic) by visiting a theatre. All films that I have seen for review have been screened in my home. I am not going to tell you whether or not to attend a theatre. Just be aware of the risks, do your research, and follow the instructions to the letter.  

My View:   Enola Holmes  (2020) PG-13  Enola Homes (Millie Bobby Brown), the great detective Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill) teen sister, discovers her mother (Helena Bonham Carter) is missing and sets out to find her and discovers a mystery that her famous brother can’t solve. I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, and I am excited to say that this film did not disappoint. Right from the start, the film uses the winning personality of Millie Bobby Brown to its advantage as in the opening scene as she breaks the fourth wall to address the audience directly. Enola has been raised by her mother, played by the always captivating Helena Bonham Carter, in a large manor with few servants and little outside interference. Enola’s famous brothers are both considerably older and have gone on to live their lives in London, leaving Enola to be home-schooled by her widowed mother. To say that Enola’s schooling is unconventional is stating it mildly as Enola is taught how to do hand to hand combat, fire weapons, and read about every subject under the sun. When her mother disappears, Enola, much to her brothers’ dismay, decides to go to London to find why she left with only a few clues behind. The film is fun, doesn’t take itself too seriously, and moves at a rousing pace with lots of chases, escapes, and a few fistfights. Can the plucky Enola make her mother proud and show her brothers that she is just as an accomplished detective as they are? You will have to watch to find out as Enola goes on this rousing adventure.    My Rating: Full Price     Enola Holmes Website     The film is available on the Netflix platform.

Indiefest:  Kajillioaire   (2020) R   Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood) has spent her whole life doing one low-level scam after another with her parents (Debra Winger, Richard Jenkins). Old Dolio’s life is changed when Melanie (Gina Rodriguez) joins the group for a major heist. If you have seen ‘Indie darling’ Miranda July’s films Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) and The Future (2011), you know that July doesn’t make conventional films. Kajillionaire is a film that, if you give it some time, will grow on you. Old Dolio (what a name) and her parents are strange, to say at the very least. Old Dolio and her parents go through life from one scam to another, taking other people’s mail, trying to rig how to win contests, and telling story after to story to people who they owe money to. To say that Old Dolio has grown up to become a strange and quirky adult is putting it mildly. Evan Rachel Wood is the star of the film, and she gives us a character that is a combination of simpleton, one who doesn’t know how to relate to the world, and someone who is desperate for more out of life than what her parents give her. Old Dolio world is changed when by chance, the trio encounters a young woman, Melanie (Gina Rodriguez) who instantly takes to the wacky family and is willing to join them in on their scams. This isn’t a film for everyone, but I think that if you can wait it out until Rodriguez shows up in the plot, you will be rewarded with a movie that quietly will delight you.    My Rating: Full Price     Kajillionaire Website     The film is currently in select theatres. 

Indiefest:  Public Trust  (2020)    America’s Public Lands make up over 640 million acres of the US. The Public Lands make up the last large-scale public asset on the planet, and there are powerful forces that are aligning to attempt to sell off either the land or its mineral/gas/water rights. Men and women from all over the country are gathering to try to stop the largest land grab in modern history. As with a lot of other documentaries being released right before the election, if you are a Trump supporter, you will not enjoy this film. The film gives us a history of the creation of the Public Lands and how, from the beginning, corporations and big business have been trying to buy or exploit those lands. The film highlights what seems like a losing battle of the ordinary man or, in the case of many of the Public Lands, the American Indian tribes against both the government and greedy businesses, wanting to exploit the lands for money and oil/gas. My favorite moment in the film, one that will fill you with rage, is the shot of an Indian tribal leader, who during the Obama administration, won a long-standing battle to save her native lands from destruction from giant mineral companies, to only shake her head when the Trump administration reversed those decisions in the name of making America ‘Great Again.’ As a person who has greatly enjoyed the Public Lands, some of which were created by my favorite President, Teddy Roosevelt, I urge you to see this film and get as mad as I did watching it, and hopefully, will do something to keep these lands where they belong, in the hands of the American public.    My Rating: Full Price     Public Trust Facebook Page    The film is currently in select theatres. 

Indiefest:  Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles  (2020)    Documentary that follows world-renowned Chef Yotam Ottolenghi on his quest to bring the art and decadence of Versailles to life in cake form at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Chef Ottolenghi brings together a group of chefs from around the world, all of them known for creating incredible works of art with food, in an effort to celebrate the palace of Versailles. The film doesn’t spend a lot of time with any one subject, giving us a quick background on both the Chefs and Versailles history. I must say that after building up the Chefs and their astounding work of the past, the film seems to skim over the final results a little too fast, making the film seem a bit of a tease. I have a feeling that the displays the Chefs created were much more impressive in person than on the screen, and I also did not like the way the film ended, where it tried weakly to make some sort of statement about greed and opulence. I think foodies will enjoy this film, especially all the behind-the-scenes work that goes on before for the event, but I felt a little like a meal that I had at a diner last year; it was pleasing but not memorable.    My Rating:  Bargain Matinee     Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles Website     The film is currently in select theatres. 

My View:  Ava  (2020)  R Ava (Jessica Chastain) is an assassin who works for a black ops organization, traveling across the world, specializing in high profile hits. When a job goes sideways, Ava is forced to go on the run and fight for her survival. Ok, the good: Jessica Chastain is, as always, worth watching work on the screen, this as a cold-blooded assassin whose flaw is that she wants to know what her targets did to get themselves killed. The bad: the plot, the dialogue, and a secondary story that is so dreadful that it has to be seen to be believed. I am guess the fact that Chastain produced the film got her the cast that includes John Malkovich, Colin Farrell, and Gena Davis. Malkovich phones in his performance, Farrell, as usual, overacts with scene-chewing gusto and Davis, is in a part that belongs on a prime-time soap. The action sequences are boring, and thirty minutes in you wonder why am I watching this film. Ava ends, none too soon, with a nod to a sequel that I hope never gets made.   My Rating:  Cable     Ava Website     The film is currently in select theatres and available for rent on participating on-demand services.

Forgotten Film:  10 Rillington Place  (1971)  GP    Based on the true story of a serial killer named Christie (Richard Attenborough), who during and after WWII, drugged, raped, and murder at least eight women, all the while living in with a wife and another couple on his property. Christie, wonderfully underplayed by Attenborough, is a soft-spoken older man who is able to frame his boarder (John Hurt), who is uneducated and poor, because the police and Christie’s wife believe that the lodger is the man behind the crimes. I mean, an educated man wouldn’t do such things, would he? The film was shocking at the time of release, especially with Attenborough’s casting, who had before this always played the upright guy and many times the hero. The film is perfectly paced, and both Attenborough and Hurt give brilliant performances. The film concludes a little clumsily at the end, but I think it is because the outcome was so well known at the time.    My Rating: Full Price     10 Rillington Place Info

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Enola Holmes:  Child Licence Coordinator

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Save Yourselves!  (2020) R    A young Brooklyn couple (Sunita Mani, John Reynolds) decide to turn off their computers and cell phones and spend a week in an upstate cabin to unplug and reconnect with each other.  The couple, blissfully unaware, have picked the wrong time to disconnect with the world; a world that has fallen into chaos as aliens invade the planet. The movie looks like a lot of fun, and I am a fan of Sunita Mani from her roles in the TV shows Mr. Robot and GLOW.       Save Yourselves! Website

Until Next Time!