A Working Man

My View:  A Working Man  (2025)  R   A Working Man is about Levon Cade (Jason Statham), who left his former profession to work a simple construction job and care for his daughter. Levon uses his skills as a former legendary figure in the world of black ops when his boss’s teenage daughter, Jenny (Arianna Rivas), disappears. Levon discovers his search for the missing college student will lead him to a sinister criminal conspiracy. So why, if you do, do you go to Jason Statham films? It’s for the body count and the action sequences where Jason does what he does so well. Beat the crap out of bad people who deserve what Jason deals out. While not as much fun as Statham’s last film, The Bee Keeper (2024), the film still has plenty of fight sequences where Jason, as the former special ops Levon, fights what is an amazing amount of tough guys, along with a few women as well (he is an equal opportunity fighter). Sylvester Stallone co-wrote the film, and it has Sly’s ham-fisted paws all over it, including the Russian mob (including two brothers in matching tracksuits), a biker gang drug dealer who sits on a motorcycle throne, a millionaire who gets his outfits at a theatrical costume rental place, and a couple who I never could figure out if they were brother and sister or married. Add in a plot that involves kidnapping young women so rich guys can have their fun with them and a couple of cops on the take, and you have everyone for Levon to beat up or kill. Oh, yeah, and add in an ex-soldier buddy (played with gusto by Harbour), who, while blind (he was rescued in a battle by Levon), has a stockpile of weapons and military gear. While we are at it, the plot also involves Levon being a single dad battling for custody of his little girl (Isla Gie) with his late wife’s father and this one bad guy he can’t beat up because of, darn it, lawyers. I really enjoyed the idea that the kidnapped daughter, Jenny, isn't just a woman who needs to be rescued. Jenny, played with a bit of bravado by Arianna Rivas, is a Renaissance woman who can play the piano but also knows karate and fights back at every chance. The final fight sequence has to be seen to be believed (think Stallone throwing the kitchen sink of bad guys at the script he was writing), and just when you think it’s over, more stuff happens, and Levon’s kill count goes on and on. A Working Man ends with a few loose ends, with a few bad guys ploting revend, so a sequel is probably in the works. I would love to see Rivas and Statham team up in A Working Man 2, with Levon taking on Jenny as a sidekick to take on more of the world’s Russian mobs and biker gangs. Maybe Sly can write a part for himself in the next one. How about a retired Marion Cobretti from Cobra or Ray Quick from The Specialist? I’m game if you are Sly.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  A Working Man Website Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  The Woman in the Yard  (2025)  PG-13  In The Woman in the Yard, a mysterious woman dressed in black repeatedly appears in Ramona’s (Danielle Deadwyler) yard. No one knows who she is, but when confronted, she has a chilling message for the inhabitants of the house. One of the rules (at least in my mind) in horror films is that you have to have somebody to root for, even if it's the bad guy. The Woman in the Yard is a film that I didn't want anyone to win. I disliked Ramona, her kids, and the stupid woman sitting in black in the yard. We are supposed to feel sorry for Ramona because she is getting over the loss of her husband in a car accident. However, she treats her kids horribly, especially her teenage son, who is keeping the house going while Ramona can barely function. Don't get me started on how she treats the dog when the house is under threat. I loved how her character can barely move around with crutches because of some sort of knee surgery, but later on in the film, she is able to get around fine without the crutches. The film never finds a pace that creates any tension, except for the tension Ramona creates between herself and her kids. The film moves at a snail's pace, and what few scares are mostly in the final act, which is incredibly disappointing in its attempt to scare us. The Woman in the Yard should have just stayed there, or maybe next time, she should bring a few friends to help scare up a few more frights.  My Rating: Cable   A Woman in the Yard Website Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Death of a Unicorn  (2025)  R  Death of a Unicorn is about a father (Paul Rudd), along with his daughter (Jenna Ortega) who visit his billionaire boss on a retreat which is on a wildlife preserve. During their stay, they come across a sight they never imagined was alive: a unicorn. At the retreat, there are those who wish to destroy it and those who wish to preserve it. No one knows how much danger each one of them is in. Death of a Unicorn is a horror/comedy that never quite works as a comedy, a horror film, or a satire of the rich, despite its impressive and game for anything cast. I did like the father/daughter dynamic between Rudd and Ortega. They have a nice chemistry between them. Rudd plays a dad who is desperate to impress an ultra-wealthy family so that he can ensure his financial success, and he is willing to go along with just about everything the family wants him to. Ortega portrays the rebellious teen who doesn't want to be used as a prop by her father for the wealthy's approval. Ortega, playing the only character who not only has a conscience but also is aware that they are in danger, gives her all in the role. The rest of the cast isn’t given enough leeway to make the film broader in the satire aspect, making the film never reach any level of humor or parody that the movie desperately needs. There are a few funny scenes, mainly involving some rather gruesome deaths, but the film feels much longer than its hour and forty-five-minute run time. Death of a Unicorn asks if you believe in unicorns. What it really should have asked for was a better script.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Death of a Unicorn Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Holland  (2025)  R  In Holland, Nancy Vandergroot (Nicole Kidman) is living a perfect life in Holland, Michigan, with her husband Fred (Matthew Macfadyen) and son, Harry (Jude Hill). However, Nancy suspects something is wrong in Holland and that it might be her husband. To say that this film is strange is putting it mildly. As always, Nicole Kidman is fun to watch as a housewife who thinks she is living in a perfect world until she suspects her husband is cheating. With the help of her best friend and fellow schoolteacher, Dave (Gael Garcia Bernal), Nancy starts playing detective, trying to find evidence her husband is a cheater. The plot tries to be a satire of small-town idealistic life, but other than a somewhat creepy husband, the story never delivers the biting wit it needs. Instead, it’s about as bland as the meals that the family shares or the sex that Nancy and Fred have. For about the first third of the film, it’s fun watching Kidman play the mousey wife, but the story becomes boring with a twist that you see coming from a mile away. The ending is unsatisfying, and it takes an incredibly long time for anything to happen, and when it does, it’s almost a relief. That is until you realize that the film has ended without a whole lot of explanation. Holland comes off as a rather boring suspense film, much like life in the small American town of Holland itself. My Rating: Cable   Holland Website  Now playing on the Amazon Prime platform. 

My View:  The Penguin Lessons  (2024)  PG-13   The Penguin Lessons is about Tom (Steve Coogan), a British man teaching English to privileged teen boys in 1976 Buenos Aires while a military coup is happening. Tom reluctantly rescues a Magellanic penguin stranded on a beach because of an oil slick. Little does Tom know that the penguin is going to change his life. The Penguin Lessons is a funny and touching film about a man who is aloof and seemingly uncaring who teaches English to rich kids who don’t respect him. Tom is a man who seems to be trying to get as far away from England as he possibly can. He is there to do a job; if the students don’t want to pay attention, so be it. When a military coup takes over the country, Tom goes to Uruguay to ‘drink, meet a couple of girls, and go dancing.’ What Tom meets is a penguin that he can’t get rid of, no matter how he tries and takes him back to the prep school. Slowly, Tom becomes attached to not only the penguin but also the people he works with. The film works because Coogan is so good at being the aloof and cool man who puts up a front but his facade is slowly brought down by a penguin, who everyone falls in love with. The Penguin Lessons is a film that slowly lets us understand Tom as he lets his guard down bit by bit. While the film suffers a bit when it tries to be too serious, but overall it’s a warm and funny film where we keep going back to the cute penguin and his ability to make anyone, including Tom, let their guard down. And by the way, this is based on a remarkable true story, with footage at the end of the film to prove it.  My Rating: Full Price  The Penguin Lessons Website     Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  The Life List  (2025) PG-13  The Life List is about Alex (Sofia Carson), whose mother (Connie Britton) has just died and, in a last wish on a DVD, has given Alex a list that Alex made of life goals when she was a teenager. Whenever Alex completes a task on her list, she is given another DVD with a message from her mother, by a rather cute lawyer (Kyle Allen). It’s a journey where lifelong dreams take Alex to unexpected places. The Life List is an enjoyable romance film that follows the usual rules for this type of film. Alex has lost her way, and her mother, sensing that Alex would continue to drift in life, has decided that Alex has to get out and explore the world. The film works as well as it does because Sofia Carson is a joy to watch on screen, and it doesn’t hurt to have Connie Britton show up from time to time as her concerned mom with videos she recorded before she died. ‘The other guy’ shows up and starts dating Alex, played by a sort of boring Sebastian De Souza, but since we know the rules of romance films, Alex won’t end up with him. The Life List is a type of film that you can have fun with on a Sunday afternoon, as it feels like a warm blanket on a cold day. So, go on a journey of fun and discovery with Alex. She is a lot of fun and won’t mind you tagging along.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Life List Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform. 

Forgotten Film:  24 Hour Party People  (2002)  R  In 1976, a Cambridge-educated man named Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan) went to a sparsely attended concert and saw The Sex Pistols perform, and the music business wasn’t the same (at least for a few years). Wilson and a few friends decided to start a record label, Factory Records, and along with a weekly TV show Wilson hosted, started the Punk movement that took over England with bands like Joy Division (soon to be New Order), Happy Mondays, and The Durutti Column. Like the music that it features, this film is irreverent, doesn’t mind breaking the fourth wall, and makes up a few things along the way. Steve Coogan is hilarious as the man who had a vision and didn’t mind that it all fell apart in the end. The film has a bunch of concert footage that gives you an idea of what it was like during those times with bands that didn’t always play great music but always had attitudes that didn’t care. 24 Hour Party People is a joyous and funny look at a time when England’s established music industry was stuck in a rut and Wilson went around it to create a music and an attitude that didn’t give a damn.   My Rating: Full Price  24 Hour Party People Info  The film is available to rent/buy on Amazon/Apple TV/Google Play. 

Weird Credits:  From the credits of A Working Man:  Child Licenses

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  The Accountant 2  (2025)  R  Our favorite math wizard is back in The Accountant 2. Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is a math savant who gets along better with numbers than people. He works as a freelance accountant for some of the world’s most dangerous criminal organizations. This time, Christian is using his unique mind and a few illegal methods to find out who killed an old acquaintance. It’s going to get messy, so Christian has called in someone he hasn’t worked with in a long time, his brother Brax (Jon Bernthal). That’s if Brax takes his phone call. This is a sequel to the 2016 film The Accountant, which I thoroughly enjoyed because Affleck’s character is so strange.   The Accountant 2 Info  The film will be in theaters nationwide on Friday, April 25, 2025.

Until Next Time!

Selah and the Spades

My View: Selah and the Spades (2019) R  At a prestigious east coast boarding school, five factions run the underground life of the school. At the head of the most dominant faction, The Spades is Selah Summers (Love Simone). During her senior year, Selah is challenged by a protege, Paloma (Celeste O’Connor), and must fight for control of The Spades. Selah and the Spades is a stylish high school drama where power is what everyone wants. Selah is bound and determined to keep her control over the boarding school with an iron hand. This isn’t a ‘90210’ style film where everyone is hooking up, this is all about how the boarding school is decided into factions, and everyone is out to keep their interests going, even if it means stabbing someone in the back to do it. Love Simone gives a powerful performance that doesn’t always make us like her, but you have to respect her character’s win at any cost attitude. Selah and the Spades gives us a fascinating look at a school where the inmates defiantly run the asylum.   My Rating: Full Price    Selah and the Spades Website   Currently available on Amazon Prime.

Indiefest: Saint Frances (2019)   A young woman, Bridget (Kelly O’Sullivan) life is falling apart, and she decides to take a new approach, she becomes a nanny to a six-year-old girl who will change her life. O’Sullivan wrote and stars in this delightful story of a woman who feels life has passed her by. Bridget kind of falls into a nanny job for a lesbian couple, taking care of their 6-year old girl, Frances (Ramona Edith-Williams), while Frances’ mom, Maya (Charin Alvarez0 takes care of Frances’ newborn baby brother. What I found amusing in this film was that the relationship between Bridget and Frances isn’t perfect. In fact, both are kind of misfits. Bridget isn’t the best of nanny’s (she loses Frances at one point), and Frances is a pretty horrible acting kid, but by the end of the film, both have become best buds and are better off for knowing each other. Bridget is also bad in relationships with men, and we see her continually make mistakes in her personal life. This is a film that isn’t always warm and fuzzy, but you will fall in love with Bridget and ‘Saint Frances.’   My Rating: Full Price    Saint Francis Website    Available for rent on participating on-demand services.

Indiefest: Chichinette: The Accidental Spy (2019)   Documentary about Marthe Cohn, a French-Jewish woman who during World War II, was a spy in Nazi Germany. Now 98, Marthe has decided after years of silence, to tell the world her story. You will fall in love with this little fireball of a woman who single handily saved thousands of Allied lives delivering intelligence on the whereabouts of the Nazi army hiding in the Black Forest. The Allied army was able to avoid the trap the Nazis had set, and the war against Germany ended earlier due to her heroics. As we slowly learn Marthe’s story, we follow her and her husband, Major, on a speaking tour in Europe. What I enjoyed about this film, besides Marthe’s unbelievable story, is the relationship between Marthe and her husband, who is always by her side (almost always holding hands) and letting his wife take the spotlight (which he proudly does). Watch this beautiful documentary and wonder how someone hasn’t made this into a narrative feature film.   My Rating: Full Price    Chichinette: The Accidental Spy Website   The film is available on the Kino Now platform and available for rent on iTunes, Vudu and other TOVD platforms.

Forgotten Film: The Man from Snowy River (1983) PG   In the rugged, often harsh country of 1880s Australia, a young cowboy, Jim (Tom Burlinson) inherits his father’s ranch and only the young woman, Jessica (Sigrid Thornton) who falls in love with Jim thinks he can handle running the ranch. To complicate matters, Jessica’s father, Harrison (Kirk Douglas), will do anything to not only break up the relationship, but he is also hell-bent on taking Jim’s land. While the storyline is predictable and Kirk Douglas, in a dual role of also playing Harrison’s wacky brother, chews a little too much scenery, the landscape and cinematography is gorgeous and Jim’s relationship with a wild horse is moving, making this an enjoyable film to sit on the couch and watch on a rainy afternoon.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee    The Man from Snowy River Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Selah and the Spades: Taylor

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You: A Trip to Greece (2020)   The fourth and possibly final movie of the ‘Trip’ series with actor Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan as they follow the footsteps of the Odysseus. This is sure to hit the funny bone as the other three films did.    A Trip to Greece Info  

Until Next Time!

Frozen

Family Faire:  Frozen  (2013)  PG   In the kingdom of Arendelle, there are two Princesses: Elsa (Idina Menzel), who is soon to be Queen and who has the strange ability to make snow and ice out of nothing, and her sister, Anna (Kristen Bell). When Elsa lets her emotions get the better of her, she accidentally triggers a magical winter that freezes the entire kingdom. Elsa, known now as the “Snow Queen,” goes into hiding, and Anna must set out on a journey with a mountain man named, Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), and a reindeer sidekick named, Sven, to find her sister and save the kingdom.  This the best Disney film in years with great songs, fun sidekicks and a winning cast.  Both Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel have beautiful singing voices, and several of the songs in the film are breakout hits.  The storyline has plenty of twists and turns, and the animation is eye-popping.  The film is worth seeing in 3-D if just for the opening animated short that is one of the best uses of 3-D animation that I have ever seen.  My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again

Indiefest:  Philomena  (2013)  PG-13   In an effort to resurrect his journalistic career, Martin (Steve Coogan) agrees to do a human interest story on Philomena (Judi Dench), a woman who is searching for her son and whom she gave up for adoption almost 50 years ago. Judi Dench is amazing in this touching, and, at times, funny film.  Her portrayal of Philomena, a kind-hearted, religious woman who is determined to find her long lost son, is worthy of an Oscar.  She plays her part perfectly and matches up well with Coogan, who plays a hard-hearted journalist who is very full of himself and really thinks her sob story is beneath his talents.  As the film develops, Philomena’s charm works over Martin, and he comes to truly enjoy his time with her.  But, it’s Dench who is the film's star, and she carries it off beautifully.  My Rating:  I Would Pay to See it Again  Philomena Website

Indiefest:  Nebraska  (2013)  R  Woody (Bruce Dern) is convinced that he has won a million dollars and wants to travel from Montana, where he lives, to Nebraska to collect the winnings. Against the wishes of Woody’s wife, Kate (June Squibb), and brother, Ross (Bob Odenkirk), David (Will Forte), Woody’s youngest son, decides to take his father cross-country to the company that has issued the ticket.  This is a brilliant film and my favorite at this year’s Austin Film Festival.  Dern gives a performance of a lifetime as the broken down, alcoholic Woody.  We never really know what Woody is thinking as Dern plays him as a man of very little words.  Forte does a nice job playing the son who desperately wants to reconnect with his father.  June Squibb steals the film as Woody’s opinionated, speak-her-mind wife.  The film is a road trip film where the people don’t seem to ever move.  My Rating:  I Would Pay to See it Again   Nebraska Website

My View:  Black Nativity  (2013)  PG  After Langston (Jacob Latimore) and his mom (Jennifer Hudson) have been evicted from their apartment, he is sent to New York City to spend the holidays with the Reverend Cornell Cobbs (Forest Whitaker) and his family. There Langston discovers the strength of family and friends.  This musical works much better when the cast is singing as both the dialouge and the storyline are very weak.  I did enjoy the songs, especially when Jennifer Hudson sang but that doesn't make up for the very predictable story.  My Rating:  Bargain Matinee  Black Nativity Website

Forgotten Film:  Citizen Ruth  (1997) R  Ruth (Laura Dern) is an unlikely poster child for the “Right to Life” movement.  She is a drug-sniffing addict who has had four children taken away from her, and the cops know her by name.  When she is arrested again, and a judge finds out that she is pregnant, he orders her to have an abortion.  A group called “Baby Savers” finds out about the judge’s order and they take up her cause.  She then becomes a pawn in the game between the Baby Savers and a pro-choice group.  This is a smart, and, at times, a very funny satire directed by Alexander Payne (The Descendants) that makes fun of both sides of the abortion battle.  Dern is brilliant as Ruth, who really doesn’t care about anything other than her next high.  The film is full of amazing performances and interesting characters who make this a fun film to watch.  My Rating:  Full Price  Citizen Ruth Info

Weird Credits:  From the film Philomena:  Snow effects floor supervisor

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You:  Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues  (2013)  Just in time for Christmas, the further adventures of our favorite TV anchorman (Will Ferrell) who takes the gang to New York to be on a 24 hour news channel.  The big question:  Will we be quoting lines from this film as much as we do from the first?  Anchorman 2 Website

Until Next Time!