Wicked: For Good

My View: Wicked: For Good  (2025) PG   In Wicked: For Good, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the future Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda (Ariana Grande), the Good Witch of the North, begin to embrace their roles, and a rift begins to develop between the two friends as their lives move down a path of confrontation. Oh, and a certain young woman from Kansas is about to come onto the scene. I love musicals, both in cinema and on the stage, and I loved the first film and felt that the Jonathan Bailey dance sequence in the library was incredible. Does Wicked: For Good capture the magic again? Not quite. First, the second film is much darker than the first, exploring betrayal, sorrow, and lost friendships. So this film doesn’t have the feel-good moments that the first film had. Second, there is a rift between the two friends, Elphaba and Glinda, and what was so much fun and touching was the on-screen chemistry between Erivo and Grande. Unfortunately, the two characters aren’t on the screen together for a good deal of the film, as they have separated, living isolated, opposing lives. Ariana Grande gets a bit of the short straw in the film, as her numbers aren’t as dynamic or memorable as Erivo’s. Erivo has the big power number in the middle of the film to herself, and it’s the highlight of the film. I also think that splitting what should probably have been one 3-hour film into two was a mistake, as the storyline isn’t as strong as the first film’s. There also isn’t a big musical number in this film that rivals that library dance scene in the first one. Wicked: For Good is still a fine, enjoyable film; it’s just not on the level of emotion or spectacle as the first one. And while, yes, a young girl from Kansas does show up, the film makes it very clear that this isn’t her story. I walked out of the screening thinking, I just saw a good film. The problem is that I didn’t see a great one.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee Wicked: For Good Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Rental Family  (2025) PG-13  Rental Family is about an American actor, Phillip (Brendan Fraser), who lives in Japan. His roles have recently dried up, and he takes a job at the Rental Family agency, where Phillip will play ‘stand-in’ roles in other people’s lives. Through this unique experience, Phillip discovers surprising connections and unexpected joys within his new families. Rental Family isn’t a film that explores or answers big questions. However, it does handle how connecting with someone else is essential to mental health and well-being. Brendan Fraser is lovable as an American actor who is having a tough time making a living in Japan and takes on the job of being a rental for people who need a friend, someone to blame, or even someone to stand in for a parent or a loved one. It’s also about trying to understand a different culture other than your own. Rental Family is a predictable film, but I never felt it was too sappy or wasn’t sincere in its portrayal of people who need to feel less lonely or want to experience something important from their past. Rental Family is a feel-good movie, if only to watch Fraser be kind and work his magic on-screen. And sometimes that’s all we need in a film. My Rating: Full Price Rental Family Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Sisu: Road to Revenge  (2025)  R  Sisu: Road to Revenge is about Aatami (Jorma Tommila), “the man who refuses to die,” as he returns to the home where his family was murdered during the war. He dismantles the home and loads it on a truck, intending to rebuild it. When the Red Army commander (Stephen Lang), who killed Aatami’s family, returns, it sets off a cross-country chase where the body count will be high and revenge will be on the mind of Aatami. The first film, Sisu (2022), was a surprise hit, with brutal action, a good guy who seemingly can’t be killed as our hero kills what seems like a thousand Nazis, often in really creative ways. Our hero is back, and all he wants to do is take lumber from his home and bring it back to Finland. This time, our man is battling Russians, led by a sadistic officer who was so bad the Russians even had him in jail, but let him out to hunt down Aatami. I have a feeling that with the success of the first film, the budget was higher because everything from motorcyclists in armor to fight planes to a bomber is after our man and his trusty dog. The action is almost nonstop, and the deaths are gross and spectacular in an outlandish way. I had a great time watching this film and shrieked with glee a couple of times at the incredible kills. Sisu: Road to Revenge isn’t a film for everybody, but man, if you love creative ways to kill a bad guy and want to go on an adventure with Aatami, it’s worth the ride. Just be sure to duck a few times. You might lose your head. My Rating: Full Price   Sisu: Road to Revenge Website   Now playing in theaters.

My View:  Selena Y Los Dinos: A Family Legacy  (2025)  PG  Selena y Los Dinos: A Family Legacy is a documentary that shows Selena Quintanilla’s journey from playing at local events in South Texas to filling stadiums with the family band Selena Y Los Dinos, becoming the ‘Queen of Tejano Music.’ Living in San Antonio, Texas, for a long time, I got to see Selena perform several times live, and they were always so much fun. She and her band always gave a great show, and she was such a charismatic and talented singer. Most people now know Selena through Jennifer Lopez’s career-making performance in the 1997 film of the same name. While that film centered on Selena and the romance between her and her future husband, Chris, this documentary lets the whole family tell the story of the band and what it was like to be a family traveling on an old bus from small town to small town. Through the vast number of interviews Selena did and new interviews with members of her family and her husband, Chris, we get to see how they got started and the slow rise to fame that changed quickly when the band changed the type of music they were performing. One thing I found interesting was that Selena, her brother, and sister spoke very little Spanish when they started performing, and that they received a cool reception when Selena and the band first toured in Mexico, where they were seen as outsiders. Selena y Los Dinos is a fun and fascinating look at a family that loved to perform, and it wasn’t just Selena who had musical talent. Fans of Selena will love revisiting a talented performer who we can only guess would have become a major force in the music industry if her life had not been cut short so soon.  My Rating: Full Price Selena y Los Dinos: A Family Legacy Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform 

My View:  Jay Kelly  (2025) R Jay Kelly (George Clooney) is one of the world’s biggest movie stars, but is starting to reflect on his life and career. He decides to go on a trip with his daughter, Daisy (Grace Edwards), but it’s never simple living the life of Jay Kelly, movie star. Jay Kelly is a film you might think would be picture-perfect for George Clooney, one of our last true Hollywood superstars and someone who has taken over the mantle of the older heartthrob from Cary Grant. The problem is that Clooney is almost always likable on-screen, while Jay Kelly isn’t. In fact, Jay Kelly is a self-righteous jerk who puts his own well-being above everyone else and has no clue he is doing it. Jay is a part that Clooney could literally phone in, and to his credit, he doesn’t. However, the script treats Jay like such a great guy, even though he can’t even take the time to connect with his grown daughter. Writing this review, I kept thinking how the part that Adam Sandler plays, his manager Ron, would have been a better character to center the film around, and let Clooney’s character be in the background. There’s a better story there, and we certainly like Ron more than Jay. It’s not that Ron is a saint; in fact, I think Ron has a lot of baggage to deal with, but it would have made a far more interesting film. By the end of the Jay Kelly, I didn’t want to spend one more minute with Jay, and neither did anyone else in the film.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee Jay Kelly Website  Now in select theaters and on Netflix on Friday, December 5, 2025.

Forgotten Film:  Twenty Bucks  (1993) R  The story follows the journey of a twenty-dollar bill as it interweaves with the lives of different people. The first person to encounter the 20 dollars is Linda Hunt, a street person who is convinced that the 20 bucks will bring her good luck and win the lottery. Others get the twenty, including Brendan Fraser, who receives it as a wedding gift, and a stripper (Melora Walters), who gets it at a bachelor party. Everyone from Christopher Lloyd to Elizabeth Shue (my favorite story) show up in the stories. Some are better than others, but each tells an interesting story about how 20 dollars can change a person’s life, for better or worse. My Rating: Bargain Matinee Twenty Bucks Info  Available on Tubi and Amazon

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Wicked: For Good:  Dance Tutor

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Hamnet  (2025) PG-13  Hamnet is a historical drama that follows the relationship between Agnes (Jessie Buckley) and William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal), and the impact of the death of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet, on their lives. This tragedy ultimately inspires Shakespeare to create his most iconic play, Hamlet. The film is from Chloé Zhao; the filmmaker known for her two-time winning 2020 Academy Award-winning film Nomadland, and is expected to get multiple Academy Award nominations. Hamnet Website   In theaters on Wednesday, November 26, 2025.

Until Next Time!

The Running Man

My View:  The Running Man  (2025)  R  The Running Man follows Ben Richards (Glen Powell), a man in desperate need of money to save his sick daughter. He participates in “The Running Man” TV show as a contestant, where Runners must survive for 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins. The survivors, if there are any, have the chance to win up to one billion dollars. For an action film, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of action. Ben Richards spends a lot of time talking with everyone, including a network executive (played by a very bored Josh Brolin), and doesn’t spend a whole lot of time running. The action sequences are not what I expected from an Edgar Wright film. There is none of the biting humor of Shaun of the Dead or the great chase sequences of Baby Driver. Instead, we get Powell taking on bad guys with minimal style or flair. The Running Man attempts to convey a message about corporations deceiving the public, the high cost of healthcare, and workplaces that prioritize profits over people. Unfortunately, it misses the mark and fails to deliver the fun escape film it could have been, filled with exciting chases and opportunities for Glen Powell to showcase his star power. It feels as though Ben was given a pair of running shoes that are ill-fitting and have slippery treads, resulting in painfully slow split times for both Ben and the man who played him, Glen Powell. My Rating: Cable  The Running Man Website Now playing in theaters nationwide

My View: Now You See Me: Now You Don’t  (2025) PG-13  In Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, the Four Horsemen (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, and Isla Fisher) reunite and recruit three new illusionists to help them in a high-stakes heist involving the theft of a giant diamond from a powerful crime family.  I loved the first film in the series, which kept me guessing and featured some impressive magic tricks that looked like they were actually being performed. I found the second film a bit of a bore, as it seemed as if the actors were going through the motions. Unfortunately, other than a fun villain in Rosamund Pike, who looks like she is relishing playing a bad guy, the cast once again looks bored. Worse yet, almost all the magic tricks don’t seem to be magic tricks at all but simple movie CGI effects, something the first film avoided. The dialogue at times is laughable, and though it’s fun seeing the gang back, the film’s big caper takes way too long to get going and then is more about escaping than creating an impressive final trick. In fact, like watching a bad magician, I figured out how they were going to do the final trick, and for a magic fan like me, that is always disappointing. There is a hint that another film will follow, but I hope that idea disappears in a puff of smoke.  My Rating: Cable   Now You See Me: Now You Don't Website   Now playing in theaters nationwide

My View:  Keeper  (2025) R   Keeper is about a couple, Liz (Tatiana Maslany) and Malcolm (Rossif Sutherland), who head to a secluded cabin for their anniversary. Their happiness is interrupted by a sinister presence that reveals itself, forcing the couple to confront not only their relationship but also the property’s haunting past. It takes so long for anything to happen other than Liz hearing weird noises and a few jump scares because she seems to be losing her mind. Unfortunately, Keeper is quite disappointing in terms of scares, and the eventual payoff doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. You spend a good deal of your time, along with Liz, trying to figure out what the heck is going on, and when you do find out, you wish you didn’t know. I have a feeling that Tatiana Maslany was thinking the same thing when she saw the finished product.  My Rating: Cable  Keeper Website   Now playing in theaters

Indiefest:  Come See Me in the Good Light  (2025)  TV-MA   Come See Me in the Good Light is a documentary that spends a year following Colorado’s Poet Laureate, Andrea Gibson, and their partner, Megan Falley, during Gibson’s fight against cancer. It’s hard to say that a documentary about someone fighting terminal cancer is uplifting, but this remarkable film is. At the heart of the film is a love story, not only between two people who seemed destined to find each other, but also about loving life. Andrea Gibson is a magical person you just want to be around. That magic is evident when she is on stage performing her poems or when she is alone with Megan, just talking about everything from cancer results to laughing about silly phone messages. Gibson has learned to live every day as if it’s her last, and her life story is one of ups/downs and self-doubt about who Andrea was and her place in the world. Come See Me in the Good Light is a documentary full of passion, love, and tears. Mostly though, it is about how to live a life full of love.  My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again   Come See Me in the Good Light Website  In select theaters and on Apple TV+ on Friday, November 14, 2025.

Indiefest:  Left-Handed Girl  (2025)  R   In Left-Handed Girl, Shu-Fen (Janel Tsai), her daughters I-Ann (Shih-Yuan Ma) and I-Jing (Nina Ye) move back to Taipei to make it in the big city on their own. However, life is never simple, and it seems the world is set against them. Left-Handed Girl is an enthralling story about three members of a family, all trying to find their way in a world that moves at an incredible pace and grows more complicated by the second. Shu-Fen is trying to start a new life, juggling running her small noodle shop while raising two daughters, one an out-of-control teen and the other a young child who is just as independent as her sister. We see this all through the eyes of I-Jing, who is convinced that the Devil possesses her left hand and does bad things on its own. All three actresses do brilliant work in this film, especially Janel Tsai, as the young single mom, who isn’t liked by her family and has a checkered past that catches up to her. Left-Handed Girl is a film that follows the three women as they figure out how to survive in the big city, while navigating a world that isn’t always kind. It’s a powerful, moving, and sometimes funny film that makes you root for the three women, even when they make mistakes along the way.  My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again   Left-Handed Girl Website    In select theaters and on Netflix on Friday, November 28, 2025.

Indiefest:  Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk  (2025)  The documentary Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk is about filmmaker Sepideh Farsi, who, through video chats, talked to Fatima Hassouna, a Palestinian woman who shared her life living in Gaza for 200 days under constant threat of bombardment and firefights. Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk is a film that will rip your heart out, but you are glad you got to know such a beautiful person, both inside and out, who made a horrible situation relatable and gave the world an insight into what life in Gaza was really like. Sepideh Farsi, a documentary filmmaker, was trying to make her way into Gaza but was turned away. Through a few contacts, she called Fatima one day and started a conversation that developed not just into a friendship but also into a bond between two people living very different lives. Fatima shows not only bravery but also a love of life and someone who cares about her fellow man. What struck me was how good a photographer Fatima is. She has a great eye and captures on camera what she cannot show in conversation. Those photographs and the conversations that Fatima has with Sepideh give us insight into just how horrible the conditions she was living in were, even though most of the time, you wouldn’t know that she was suffering. Through the conversations, we get to know Fatima, her family, and just how great a person she is, full of humor, strength, bravery, as someone who, no matter how bad things were, was always trying to look to the future. A future she hopes will one day go back to normal.  My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk Website  Now playing in select theaters

Indiefest:  Trifole  (2024)  Trifole is about Dalia (Ydalia Turk), a young woman living in London, who is sent to check on her Italian grandfather, Igor (Umberto Orsini), who lives alone in a remote village with his pet dog, Birba. Dalia learns Igor leads a simple life but has forgotten much about his past. The two will learn about each other and how to survive in this world. Trifole is a bittersweet, melancholy film about a life being forgotten. The movie, for the first two-thirds of the film, moves along like you would expect it to. With Dalia learning about her grandfather and his way of life, and Igor slowly accepting the help that she offers. However, this story doesn’t always go where you expect it to, sometimes with shocking results. I came away from the film thinking the Italian scenery is beautiful, Igor’s dog, Birba, is a star, but the film’s ending left me wondering if the trip was worth it. My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Trifole Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

Indiefest:  The Carpenter’s Son  (2025) R  The Carpenter’s Son tells the story of a family hiding out in Egypt. The son, known as ‘the Boy’ (Noah Jupe), has met another mysterious child and is questioning everything he has learned from his guardian, the Carpenter (Nicolas Cage). As “the Boy” discovers his inherent powers, he grapples with a fate that is beyond his understanding. Nic Cage is always an interesting watch. Sometimes, though he just doesn’t fit the part, and in The Carpenter’s Son, he stands out, though that is saying something when your co-star is FKA twigs as ‘The Mother.” The Carpenter’s Son is part horror film, part drama that never comes out and says Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, but by the first scenes in the movie, you know it’s them. It’s not a bad film, just strange, with overtones of The Wicker Man and a bit of zombie film thrown in. In addition, there is the Devil in the disguise of a young woman (Isla Johnston from The Queen’s Gambit fame) who gets Jesus to question who he is, plus, the big question, who is his real dad. Lucky for you and me, he figures that out by the end of the film. My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Carpenter's Son Website  Now playing in theaters

Indiefest: Natchez (2025)   Natchez is a documentary that visits a small Mississippi town that was once home to the most millionaires in America. Its wealth was based on cotton and slavery. The town continues to celebrate antebellum times with a twice-yearly celebration that deeply divides the community over its past. The film starts with what appears to be a picture-perfect view of a small town whose grandiose homes are open to the public in a celebration of a bygone past. However, we quickly learn that this town is torn about how to celebrate and confront the past, especially its ties to the plantations and the slave trade that, before the Civil War, made so many in the town rich. Now, some continue to celebrate the past, while others in the community are willing to show both sides of the story. Natchez is a fascinating look at a town struggling to survive in changing times while seeking to keep certain ideas and traditions alive. Natchez comes alive in the last fifteen minutes of the documentary, when true feelings and thoughts come to the forefront. Natchez is a documentary that slowly reveals itself to form a picture of a town that, from the outside, is pretty but is hiding quite a bit in its closets.  My Rating: Full Price  Natchez Movie Website  Now playing in select markets. 

Forgotten Film:  The Illusionist (2010)  This is a noteworthy animated film based on a screenplay written by the great French filmmaker Jacques Tati (Mon Oncle, Mr. Hulot’s Holiday). A French magician is out of work and travels to Scotland for a job. There, he encounters a young woman and allows her to travel with him. He takes a fatherly approach to their relationship and tries to provide for the young woman. As in the tradition of Tati’s films, there is almost no dialogue, which allows the picture to tell the story. It’s a loving tribute with the typical bittersweet ending that are in so many of his films.  The Illusionist Info  My Rating:  Full Price  

Weird Credits: From the credits of The Carpenter’s Son: Renderfarm 

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Sisu: Road to Revenge  (2025)  R Sisu: Road to Revenge is about Aatami (Jorma Tommila), “the man who refuses to die,” as he returns to the home where his family was murdered during the war. He dismantles the home and loads it on a truck, intending to rebuild it. When the Red Army commander (Stephen Lang), who killed Aatami’s family, returns, it sets off a cross-country chase where the body count will be high and revenge will be on the mind of Aatami. The film is a sequel to the 2022 surprise box-office hit Sisu.  Sisu: Road to Revenge Website  Coming to theaters on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. 

Until Next Time!