Digger

My View: Digger  (2026) R  Digger follows Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise), an eccentric oil tycoon who accidentally triggers a catastrophic global ecological disaster. He then embarks on a mission to save the planet and become Earth’s hero. I’ll tell you right off the start that some people will not like this movie. In fact, some people won't even understand this movie. This is a film that, after an hour (we still had more than an hour to go), I would've left if I wasn't reviewing it. I guess it’s a satire, but I’m not even sure of that. I do know that it’s a mess, and except for a couple of quick scenes, it’s not funny or witty. Instead, it's a mess that tries to tell us the message that we are doomed. Thanks, but I already get that from the internet. Before the movie came out, there were thoughts that Tom Cruise might be nominated for an Oscar for this part. Not happening, Tom. In fact, I think it was really easy for Tom to do this part, as he overacts and rebels on and on. And a lot was made about the 6 hours it took to turn Tom into Digger, but he still looked like Tom Cruise, just with a pouch and some grey hair. The only bright spot in this film is John Goodman, who plays the President, a man willing to throw anybody and any country under the rug so that the blame doesn’t come back on him. There is a big twist in this movie, but it's so badly revealed that it took me about five minutes after it happened to figure out what the twist was. Sadly, the most interesting thing I found to watch in this movie was some extras acting during the credit scenes at the end of the film.  My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again  Digger Website  Now playing in theaters

My View:  Verity  (2026)  R   In Verity, Lowen (Dakota Johnson) is a writer desperate for work when she is contacted by bestselling author Verity Crawford’s husband (Josh Hartnett). After a mysterious accident leaves Verity (Anne Hathaway) incapacitated and comatose, Lowen is hired to ghostwrite the final books in Verity’s bestselling series. Lowen discovers a manuscript containing disturbing confessions, making her wonder who to believe and whether she is safe in the house. This is a stupid, fun movie with a few chills and lots of plot twists, but it's sunk by an ending that seems crafted by someone who hasn’t read the rest of the script. Hathaway looks to be having a blast as a writer who crafts books about people doing nasty, evil things and then turns out she does them in real life too. I have become a big fan of Dakota Johnson, but this is not her best work. Her mopey character has almost no charisma and makes it hard for us to root for her, which isn’t great when she is playing the other woman in this weird relationship. The ending is what makes this film fall apart; I wanted to yell at the screen, “But what about…”. Instead, we are asked just to accept it. I will say this: the movie is worth the price of admission to see the house they live in, but like the rest of the movie, it never explains how this strange house came about or why it has giant rocks in the hallways. Maybe the book the film is based on gives us more clues and a better ending.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Verity Website  Now playing in theaters

Indiefest: Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother   (2026)  R Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother follows Latif (Mahershala Ali), a devout Muslim hitman, as he deals with his wife’s unexpected death. He must juggle raising three children, including a newborn who needs breast milk, while he has just been given a contract to kill a local religious leader. Mahershala Ali is brilliant in this film, which is part family drama and part 70s gangster film. This is an action film where people are getting brutally killed or beaten up, all the while our hero cares deeply about his family, and for half the film, he has a baby that he is carrying around. Mahershala Ali trained for almost a year to star in a reboot of Blade, but it fell through, so he put those skills to good use in this film, including some swordplay. Ali goes from killing someone to, in the next scene, talking to his son about proper manners. This is a film where we root for someone who kills for a living but is not over the death of his wife and is struggling to find formula for his baby. Your Mother is a film where the main character has to keep making choices and deciding what is good for his family or for his livelihood. The one thing you don’t want to do with Latif is push him into a corner. The results can be deadly for the people he is dealing with, but they can also make for great action scenes for us.  My Rating: Full Price  Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother Info    Now playing in select theaters

My View: Unabomber  (2026)  R   Unabomber centers on Ted Kaczynski (Jacob Tremblay), who was once a promising student at Harvard University and became the terrorist known as the Unabomber, who terrorized the United States for almost 20 years. This is such a strange movie that doesn’t go anywhere. It jumps back and forth between Kaczynski’s time at Harvard when he was just 16 and the mid-90s, when the FBI was trying to find the Unabomber. The movie shows how isolated Ted was in college and how he was used as part of a psychological experiment (at the behest of the CIA). At Harvard, Ted thinks in the experiment, one of his professors (Russell Crowe) picks him because he is so good at debating. Instead, the experiment aims to break Ted’s will. In the 90s section, Shailene Woodley plays an FBI agent on the trail of the Unabomber who can’t convince anyone the FBI is looking in the wrong places. So she goes out on her own to follow leads. The film feels like it is just going down a list and checking off items it needs to cover. Ted’s smart. Check. Ted has social issues. Check. The professor is tricking him. Check. There isn’t much drama, even when Woodley’s character closes in. In the end, I never cared about Ted, and the movie seems to put the blame for all the people that he hurt and killed on the Harvard experiments. I have a feeling that this format would have worked better as a documentary. As a work of drama, the film takes us down a path that we never feel invested in.  My Rating: Cable  Unabomber Website    Now playing on Netflix

Forgotten Film:  Sparrows  (1926)   Sparrows shows why Pickford was such a star. She is brilliant and funny as a young woman caring for many children while an evil man keeps them locked up on a small plot of land in the middle of a swamp. We see how evil the man is early in the film when he gets a letter from a mother hoping he is taking care of her child. He takes the doll she has sent her child, crushes its head, and then watches it as it is dropped into the muddy swamp and devoured by the mud. There is some comedy, with Pickford charming the audience as she tries to keep the kids and herself out of trouble, but it isn’t easy, as the evil man’s son is also cruel and makes it his pastime to harass both Pickford and the kids. The cinematography is striking, and the last third of the film is a brilliant piece of cinema, with Pickford’s character leading her kids to safety through a swamp full of rivers, mud, and alligators. And Jesus even shows up. This film still holds up, and I have to believe audiences went wild for it in 1926.  My Rating: Full Price  Sparrows Info   The film is available on most streaming services

Weird Credits: From the credits of Digger:  Special Effects Teeth

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Other Mommy  (2026) R   In Other Mommy, Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark) is living in a home where her parents (Jessica Chastain, Jay Duplass) are barely getting along. One day, a supernatural doppelgänger that looks just like Bella’s mother emerges, which Bela calls “Other Mommy”. This Other Mommy is about to threaten the safety of the family by manipulating Bela against her actual parents. The film is based on Josh Malerman’s 2024 bestselling novel "Incidents Around the House."  Other Mommy Website  In theaters nationwide on Friday, October 9, 2026.

Until Next Time!

Heart of the Beast

My View: Heart of the Beast  (2026)  PG-13   Heart of the Beast follows James (Brad Pitt), a former Special Forces soldier who is suffering from residual trauma and has some personal demons. On a flight in his single-engine plane, James and his only companion, Odin, his loyal and retired combat German Shepherd, crash in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. Battling a brutal environment, James promises Odin he will get him home if it’s the last thing he does. This film is about perseverance, loyalty, and two kindred souls who have been through hell and back and are there for each other. This is a story of survival, but it’s also a story of two beings in tune and working together as a team. We all know that Brad Pitt is an excellent actor, but his screen partner, Uber (who plays Odin), overshadows him. One of my critic groups used to have an award for Best Dog. If we still had it, Uber would win hands down. In relationship-based films, critics talk a lot about on-screen chemistry. The scenes between Odin and James are amazing and incredibly touching. Heart of the Beast just gives us brief glimpses of the trauma the two share, and instead we see that both the man and dog suffer from PTSD. The action sequences are well done, and the plane crash is rather scary. So go on an adventure with James and Odin; don’t forget Odin's treats. My Rating: Full Price  Heart of the Beast Website Now playing in theaters

My View:  Primetime  (2026)   R  In Primetime, reporter Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson) is at the top of the TV world with a top-ten-rated show, Dateline’s To Catch a Predator. His producer, Andie (Merritt Wever), will do anything to keep the show’s ratings up. Everything is great until the line between reality and ratings brings it all crashing down. Anchored (no pun intended) by outstanding performances by Robert Pattinson as Chris Hansen, Merritt Wever as his producer, who ties her future to his rising star, and Skyler Gisondo as an actor who takes the job only to get his SAG card and has the job as one of the actors who lures the men to be caught, the film gives us a look at just how far a TV show would go to get ratings. Pattinson is perfect as a man so caught up in getting famous that he even answers a phone call from his wife with “Chris Hansen, Dateline.” The film shows a man who lures men into a setup where their lives are ruined, and America gets to watch it happen. I loved Merritt Wever’s producer,, who loves being in charge and making the calls, all while dealing with the diva that Hansen is. She can’t see the train wreck that is about to happen because she is convinced that this job will get her all the awards and recognition. Skyler Gisondo, as the actor hired and literally thrown into the production, gives us someone we can root for (for a while). Still, even Skyler falls under the spell of being on TV and, at one point, when Hansen has one of his meltdowns, takes over as the host of the show. My problem with the film is that I never felt an emotional pull from it. The ending feels shallow and a letdown, without the shock and horror that the situation should have brought. Having read a lot about this true story, including the 2007 Esquire article the film is loosely based on, I know many people who worked on To Catch a Predator were scared by the experience, especially the actors who lured the men into being caught. We never get that from the film, and that’s a shame. We see what causes the downfall, but not what happens afterward.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Primetime Website Now playing in theaters nationwide

Familyfaire:  Forgotten Island (2026)   PG    Forgotten Island is set in the Philippines, where two childhood friends are at a crossroads after graduating high school. Raissa is about to move to the United States for college, while Jo is trying to persuade her to stay. The two best friends are suddenly transported through a portal to the fantastic island of Nakali. It’s a place where memories gradually fade the longer one remains. I had so much fun with this film. Forgotten Island definitely takes some pointers from Japanese animation, especially whenever the two friends show emotion or excitement; their faces almost explode. The monsters are creative and fun, and the back-and-forth banter between Raissa and Jo is funny and lively. The film is creative and daring, with some great characters that show how important memories are in relationships and life. The animation is colorful and at times explosive, creating a cavalcade of action sequences that bombard you with fun sequences. I loved how the filmmakers included the Filipino mythology, showing how the ‘monsters’ are rooted in their traditions and mores. This is a blast to watch, though I think it may be a little too complicated and scary for very young kids. And while you're watching, don’t let a certain monster steal a memory or two. My Rating: Full Price  Forgotten Island Website Now playing in theaters

Indiefest:  You Had to Be There  (2025)   You Had to Be There is a documentary about the 1972 Toronto production of the stage musical Godspell, from which many cast members would soon make their mark on comedy through projects such as The Second City, Saturday Night Live, and SCTV. This is a funny, delightful look at a time in history when so many future comedy greats were on stage in Toronto at the same time. The cast included Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, Andrea Martin, and Jayne Eastwood, with Paul Shaffer serving as musical director. Everyone but, of course, the late Gilda Radner, was interviewed extensively and, as you would expect, they tell some amazing stories. Even Gilda shows up in audio recordings because Martin Short, barely in his twenties, had a tape recorder he took everywhere. Since there aren’t any video recordings of the production, the film uses animation to show what the interviewees are talking about. The stories are wild; the film keeps revealing more and more stories, and everyone interviewed has a great time. What a brilliant job of casting they did in 1972, and it launched a slew of comedy geniuses who continue to delight and entertain us to this day. What I loved most about this film is that the friendships that started in 1972 are still ongoing, and we see that when, near the end of the film, they throw a party, and the cast sings songs from the production to our delight. And, to top it off, there is a special surprise near the end of the film that brings everyone such joy.  My Rating: Full Price  You Had to Be There Website    Now playing in select theaters

My View:  Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!  (2026) R  In Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!, Haru (Rinko Kikuchi) loves competing in Tokyo’s ballroom dancing competitions with her Mexican husband Luis (Alejandro Edda). After Luis suddenly dies of a heart attack during a competition, Haru goes into a deep depression. Her sister coaxes Haru back into the dance studio, where she meets a new instructor named Fedir (Alberto Guerra). Life suddenly comes alive again for Haru. I am not a big fan of ballroom dancing or Dancing with the Stars, and this film has a lot of dancing. A lot. Ha-Chan: Shake Your Booty! is a story about grief first and  a dance movie second. Haru deals with grief in two ways: she flirts with the dance instructor, and she still interacts with the ghost of her dead husband, who first keeps starting up a record player in the home and then shows up dressed in a giant crow outfit. The film keeps shifting in tone, moving between dance movie, comedy, dark drama, and romance. Rinko Kikuchi is wonderful in the part, sexy, funny, and full of grief and loneliness. The film has some impressive moments, including a dance sequence that goes from a fight to a line dance, but Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! in the end doesn’t get anywhere close to a 10 on my card.  My Rating: Bargain  Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! Website Matinee  Now playing in select theaters

Forgotten Film: Treasure Planet (2002) PG Teenager Jim Hawkins finds a treasure map promising “the loot of a thousand worlds.” He joins a space galleon, led by the valiant Captain Amelia, to find the treasure. However, someone on board has plans for the treasure and is willing to destroy anyone who gets in their way: the cyborg cook John Silver. This is a long-forgotten Disney film that, along with 2001's Atlantis: The Lost Empire, cost Disney a lot of money. In this film, Disney blended hand-drawn 2-D animation with 3D computer-generated scenes that make it look amazing. Trying to catch on with the Steampunk style that was all the rage, the film mixes 19th-century nautical ships with sci-fi elements. The voice cast is outstanding, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jim, Emma Thompson as Captain Amelia, and Brian Murray as John Silver. The film is based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island but adds new, exciting scenes and storylines to the classic story. I mean, who wouldn’t want a robot pal voiced by Martin Short?  My Rating: Full Price  Treasure Planet Info The film is available on most streaming services

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Primetime:  Suit FX Artists

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Digger  (2026) R   Digger follows Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise), an eccentric oil tycoon who accidentally triggers a catastrophic global ecological disaster. He then embarks on a mission to save the planet and become Earth’s hero. Four-time Oscar winner Alejandro González Iñárritu co-wrote and directs Digger, his first English-language feature since The Revenant (2015).   Digger Website The film opens nationwide on Friday, October 2 2026.

Until Next Time!

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning

My View:  Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning  (2025)  PG-13  In Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), an IMF agent and leader of a team of operatives, is on the hunt for Gabriel (Esai Morales), a rogue operative who’s after control of a powerful AI entity that can destabilize the globe. Ethan’s strength has always been his loyalty to his team. This time, it may be his downfall. I am a fan of the Mission Impossible franchise (with the exception of the first film, which I have problems with), and it’s always fun to see what incredible and dangerous stunts Tom has decided he can survive. This may be the final installment of Ethan Hunt’s missions (though, like soap operas, no one is ever truly dead or retires in the MI world), and that’s a blessing and a curse. The film is too long (pack a lunch because the running time is 2 hours and forty-nine minutes), has way too much exposition for its own good, and has a diving sequence that seems to take 30 minutes. Plus, the film’s bad guy is probably the weakest of the film’s series. The film has plenty of callbacks from previous films, especially the last film, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One since it’s only been a couple of months in the timeline since the end of Part One. Having said all that, I had fun with this film with all the stunts and the fact that, once again, the film’s core is that it's not Ethan’s mission but his team’s mission. Watching Simon Pegg portray the stressed Benji is always enjoyable, and the chemistry between Hayley Atwell and Cruise is fantastic. In fact, if they want to keep doing MI's and Mr. Cruise decides to hang it up, I wouldn’t mind going on a mission for two with Grace’s Hayley Atwell. The last twenty minutes of this film are worth the price of admission alone as Cruise does his best to die climbing on and over not one but two bi-planes (Howard Hughes would be so proud). It’s a feat of thrilling stunt work that has you on the edge of your seat. You can’t deny that Tom Cruise is one of the best action heroes we have ever had (possibly the best), and this film is an excellent testament to that fact. So grab a big tub of popcorn, go light with the drinks, and watch a man do everything he can to entertain you.  My Rating: Full Price  Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning Website  Now playing in theaters nationwide. 

Familyfaire: Lilo & Stitch  (2025) PG   Lilo & Stitch is about Lilo (Mala Kealoha), a rebellious six-year-old orphan who has recently lost her parents and is being raised by her older sister, Nani (Sydney Elizabeth Augdong). Lilo finds and befriends a strange-looking ‘dog,’ who she names Stitch. What Lilo doesn’t know is that ‘Stitch’ is a genetically engineered extraterrestrial creature designed to cause chaos and destruction and is being hunted by the alien United Galactic Federation. Disney hasn’t had the greatest success with live-action remakes of their animated films. Remember Aladdin with Will Smith (shudder) or the Tom Hanks’ dreadful Pinocchio? I am happy to say that the newest adaptation, while not quite up to the standards of the original animated film, is still a good film that, while there are a few changes made to the plot, captures the spirit and the fun times of the original. A lot of the credit goes to the two leads in Maia Kealoha as the spirited and independent little girl Lilo and Sydney Elizebeth Agudong as the sister Nani, who is in way over her head trying to raise Lilo and keep social services from taking Lilo away. In crashes Stitch (voiced again by Chris Sanders), who we all love as the rascally alien who loves to create mayhem and mischief. What I like about this film is while the beginning is all CGI aliens, once we get to Hawaii, other than Stitch, everything else is pretty much live-action, including the two aliens assigned to bring Stitch back, Jumba, the mad scientist (Zach Galifianakis) and Pleakley, the ‘Earth expert” (Billy Magnussen, for the most part are in human form, which helps with keep the film based in the human world. The film works because of Maia Kealoha, who is such a force of good-hearted nature on screen that she makes us believe Stitch is real and right there by her side. Kealoha is a joy to watch on screen, making you root for this weird little family that battles the odds to try to stay together. The film does a fantastic job of keeping the message of the animated film alive. I loved how much the Hawaiian traditions are incorporated into the film, and how the themes of love and belonging form the basis of the film's message. Lilo & Stitch is a heartwarming and touching film with some great laughs and performances by the two leads that make this film work as well as it does. So put on a grass skirt and get ready to do a hula or two. Just duck when Stitch gets that soda gun.      My Rating: Full Price Lilo & Stitch Website  Now playing in theaters nationwide.

My View: Fear Street: Prom Queen  (2025)  R   Set in 1988, Fear Street: Prom Queen takes place as students at Shadyside prepare for the prom, and the ‘it’ girls are fighting to get support to be voted Prom Queen. An unusual candidate, Lori Granger (India Fowler), joins the race. Suddenly, some candidates go missing one by one, and Lori could be next. I enjoyed the Fear Street trilogy that came out back in 2021, including the excellent Fear Street Part One: 1994, which did a great job of making us care about the characters and had plenty of twists and turns to make the horror film fun. I'm disappointed that I can't say the same about this Fear Street movie, which starts out as interesting but then turns into an unimaginative and tedious killing spree. Lori is an outsider whose mother murdered her father when they were both in high school. Lori's best friend is Megan (Suzanna Son), who is a fan of horror films and gives off the vibe that she might be in love with Lori. The killings are run-of-the-mill slasher-style film killings, full of blood and minimal scares. The film gives us some significant clues that make it very easy to figure out who the killer is, and the ending is one big mess with the reason why the killings are going on, which is incredibly stupid and poorly done. Skip this mess of a film and go back to 1994 for a better time.   My Rating: Cable  Fear Street: Prom Queen Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform. 

Indiefest:  Jane Austen Wrecked My Life  (2024)  R   In Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, Agathe (Camille Rutherford) is a Jane Austen fanatic who works at the world-famous Paris bookstore Shakespeare & Co. Agathe is lonely and unlucky in love, always complaining about her lack of love life. When Agathe suddenly receives a Jane Austen writing residency, she meets the son of the husband and wife who run the residency (Charlie Anson) and now must choose between a writing career or her love life. I am a big fan of the Jane Austen film adaptations (I just saw the 20th anniversary showing in theaters of the 2005 Pride & Prejudice), so I was looking forward to this film and was not disappointed. Agathe is a woman with a troubled past and hopes to be a writer like Jane Austen, but she lacks the self-assurance to act on it. Her best friend, Felix (Pablo Pauly), sends a chapter that she has written, and Agathe gets an invitation to a writing residency to work on her book. However, it's not just any residency; it's named after her favorite writer, Jane Austen. Agathe feels she is living in the wrong time period, feeling she would have everything she desired in the world that Jane Austen profiled in her books. Taking a big leap, she goes to the residency, and there she meets a distant nephew of Jane Austen, Oliver (Charlie Anson). Oliver doesn’t make a great first or even second impression, as he seems rather snobbish, standoffish and thinks Austen is overrated. Anson has that English wit and style where he can be charming and a jerk at the same time. As with Jane’s work, we know Oliver is the man that Agathe will fall in love with, and of course, like in an Austen novel, there will be obstacles to overcome, tears will be shed, and our heroine will have doubts about her work and her love life. Camille Rutherford is perfect as a headstrong but constantly messing up Agathe. Rutherford is adept at both the romantic side of Agathe but also shows a flair for comedy, as Agathe seems to always making a fool of herself just as Oliver shows up. It’s a role that Rutherford excels in, making us like Agathe and root for her even when Agathe doubts herself and her writing, we feel she can overcome anything to succeed. And on the way, much like Jane Austin's stories, maybe Agathe can find love in an unexpected place with a man who resembles a bit of Mr. Darcy.   My Rating: Full Price  Jane Austen Wrecked My Life Website   Now playing in selected theaters. 

Indiefest: Sister Midnight  (2024)   Sister Midnight tells the story of Uma (Radhika Apte), who is a newlywed in an arranged marriage to Gopal (Ashok Pathak), a husband who ignores her, even in bed. Uma, frustrated at being a housewife and disillusioned with her life, begins exploring the world at night, which will land her in unlikely situations. Uma is not the typical Indian bride that we are used to seeing in Bollywood musicals. She is foul-mouthed, doesn’t have a clue how to cook (even rice), and is not happy with either her husband (who mostly ignores her) or where she is living (trash is everywhere in this Mumbai slum). She is miserable, and to show her independence, she gets a cleaning job at night. Uma explores the nighttime and soon discovers that she might differ from most housewives. She might be a vampire. Sister Midnight is a film that, almost from the beginning, takes tons of hilarious twists that you're not expecting. It’s not a film where you are always going to know what is going on, but you will have fun watching where it goes and how Uma, played by the magical Radhika Apte, adapts to her new way of life. It was a delight to watch, never knowing what was going to happen next but always knowing that Uma was going to react with a cuss word or two and keep going as her world gets weirder and weirder, and we are right there along with her, waiting to see what the heck is going to happen next.  My Rating: Full Price  Sister Midnight Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

My View:  Fountain of Youth  (2025) PG-13  A treasure-hunting mastermind, Luke (John Krasinski), who has stolen art and other artifacts for a living, is about to go on a quest to find what could be the secret to immortality. He will need all his skills and wits to accomplish his goal, but he also needs the help of someone even smarter than him: his estranged sister, Charlotte (Natalie Portman). When you think of fun, adventure films chasing lost artifacts, you think of the Indiana Jones series, the Brendan Fraser film The Mummy, the 50s classic King Solomon’s Mines, the goofiness of National Treasure, and the rom-com adventure Romancing the Stone. Fountain of Youth will never make that list. A wasted cast that includes Krasinski, Portman, Domhnall Gleeson, Eiza González, and even a bit part for Stanley Tucci (surely shot either during his Italian travel series or The Conclave) and a plot that becomes so incredibly complicated as it goes along, and a hero in Luke who thinks he can get away with anything by being smug and saying very unfunny quips and you get a mess of a film. Other than a fun open with Luke on a motorbike being chased across busy city streets, the film is a lot of people pondering clues while looking at artifacts and paintings. Portman seems uncomfortable in the role of the sister who disapproves of her brothers stealing art but secretly wants to join in. We are constantly reminded that Luke and Charlotte’s father was a respected archeologist, primarily because of the constant dreams that Luke has dealing with his father finding a lost golden plate. The only cast member who looks like they are having fun in this film is Eliza Gonzalez, who is chasing Luke across the globe, having to beat up a ton of people, including Luke (even though he is always eluding her by trickery, right after hitting on her). Fountain of Youth’s end concludes too easily and with little fanfare, other than a very elaborate set that would make a Lego master drool and a firefight that apparently has no consequences in one of the wonders of the world. That Apple decided that this Guy Ritchie directed film would stay on the streaming platform and not play in theaters tells you just about everything, including that you can watch it while folding clothes or surfing the internet on your phone. Or better yet, watch one of the films I mentioned earlier. Any of those will keep you from constantly checking your email. My Rating: Cable   Fountain of Youth Info  Now playing on the Apple TV+ platform. 

Forgotten Film:  The Quick and the Dead  (1995) R  A female gunslinger called The Lady (Sharon Stone) rides into town with revenge on her mind. Her arrival in town coincides with the start of a dueling competition for gunslingers hosted by John Herod (Gene Hackman), the richest man in the town and who wields power with an iron fist. It’s interesting to see director Sam Raimi’s ode to the Spaghetti Westerns of the 60s and 70s. This was Russel Crowe's first major Hollywood role, playing a former gunslinger who quit to become a preacher. Sharon Stone hand-picked Raimi to direct from a script that was won by TriStar in a bidding war when Westerns had a small revival in Hollywood. Leo DiCaprio looks like he is ten in the role as The Kid, the son of Herod. Leo’s The Kid is a brash young man who thinks he is the fastest gun in the West and enters the competition to get the respect from his father that he has never gotten. Hackman is the man in this film, playing a bad guy who wants everyone to join in his pain. I love the ending of this film with a gunfight, including explosions that are right out of the Sergio Leone playbook (A Fistful of Dollars, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly). Stone riding off into the sunset, or is it sunrise, after causing as much mayhem as she could, is an ode to all the great westerns of the past when the hero left after completing their mission.  My Rating: Full Price  The Quick and the Dead Info  The film is available to rent/buy on Amazon. 

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Lilo & Stitch:  Stitch Visualization 

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  F1  (2025) PG-13  Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) is a retired driver who thought he had burned too many bridges to ever return to F1 racing. An owner (Javier Bardem) wants to make a splash in the racing world and brings in Sonny to team with a new hot shot driver, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris). Joseph Kosinski, known for ‘Top Gun: Maverick"‘ directs the film. The movie is backed by the F1 association, and portions were shot around some of the F1 races, and many of the current drivers of F1 are in the film.  F1 Website  The film will be in theaters nationwide on Friday, June 27, 2025. 

Until Next Time!

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

My View: Ghostbuster: Frozen Empire (2024) PG-13 The Spengler family returns to the iconic New York City firehouse, where it all began to team up with some of the original Ghostbusters. Their mission is to stop an evil force unleashed by an ancient artifact that threatens to turn the world into a second Ice Age. I am a big fan of the original 1984 Ghostbusters film directed by Ivan Reitman. Made at the height of Bill Murray’s appeal as a comedic leading man, and with a fun and original storyline, the film took the world by storm. In my review I let you know that wasn’t a big fan of the Ghostbusters: Afterlife film that came out in 2021, feeling that it was stealing a lot from the original movie, and Paul Rudd isn’t even close to filling Bill Murray’s shoes. I had some hope for this film since they were returning to NYC, where it all began, and some of the original cast would be in it. I liked this film more than the 2021 one, but not by a lot. I am not a huge fan of Dan Aykroyd, and he has a lot of screen time in this film. Aykroyd always delivers lines like he is also passing a kidney stone at the same time. The film tries to capture some of the old magic by bringing back a bunch of the characters from the original, including a few favorite ghosts (I do love the antics of the little stay puff guys), but it seems like they are trying too hard. I was glad they made the setting NYC, where the series belongs, making the city part of the cast. I remember being wowed by the 1984 special effects, but this time, it seemed the effects were on the cheap, as I was never scared by the big evil guy, probably the worst villain ever in the Ghostbuster series. And yes, Bill Murray shows up, but they don’t give him much to do. Way to waste a talent there. There is a funny scene after the first bit of end credits that is worth staying for.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Website Now playing in theaters.

My View: Immaculate (2024) R  Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney) is a woman who believes God has a plan for her. She 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 loved the story idea so much that she found a screenwriter, produced the film, and found a studio to buy it. I am a fan of Sweeney, but maybe she should find someone else to find her material. The film is full of empty jump scares, a plot that holds no mystery, and not a lot of horror. It’s a storyline that is easy to figure out with the church leaders doing something terrible, and our girl Cecilia is a little slow in picking up the signs that something is wrong. The film is incredibly slow, with a lot of Cecilia going around the convent at night with just a candle. I did enjoy the inventive ending, but it takes a long time to get there. My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Immaculate Website It is now playing in theaters.

My View: Roadhouse (2024) R  A down on his luck, former UFC fighter Elwood Dalton (Jake Gyllenhaal) ends up working at a ‘Road House,’ a rowdy bar in the Florida Keys. Hired to clean up the troublemakers in the bar, it turns out the job is a lot more complicated than that. One key thing, don’t piss Dalton off. So the original 1989 movie became a hit, not because of a big box office (it did ok) but because it played on cable stations almost non-stop and had a winning cast in Patrick Swayze, Sam Elliot, and Kelly Lynch as the love interest. There are some considerable differences between this film and that beloved original. The first is that while Gyllenhaal is a better actor than Swayze, Patrick had a likability as an on-screen presence that made you want to root for his character. Gyllenhaal tries to be the kooky, nice guy, but it doesn’t quite work. Second, there isn’t a Sam Elliot character in the film, so there is no one to play off Gyllenhaal or give us the reason Dalton goes rogue at the end of the film. The fight sequences are shot incredibly awkwardly, with some point-of-view shots of a beat-up Gyllenhaal that I didn’t need. And finally, the bad guy doesn’t have the menace that Ben Garza had in the original. In this movie, Ben Magnussen plays the son of a crime boss who is out of his league and can’t help but mess up. The ending of this film doesn’t come even close to the satisfying ending of the original. Now I will say, just like the original, there are a few laughs, especially brought to the screen by UFC bad boy Connor McGregor, who plays his part of the ultra-tough guy brought in to kill Dalton. McGregor chews up scenery and swaggers about as if he is getting paid by how many times he shows his butt. Still, I feel Amazon made a mistake and didn’t release this in theatres, where crowds could cheer as the beer bottles crash against the band’s cage and Dalton gives it to a few drunk bad guys. Stay through the first part of the credits for a bonus scene that may set up a sequel.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Road House Website  Now playing on Amazon Prime.

Indiefest: They Shot the Piano Player (2023) PG-13 This animated docudrama is about Jess (voiced by Jeff Goldblum), a music journalist, who travels to Brazil to uncover the truth about a young samba-jazz pianist, Tenório Júnior, who disappeared without a trace in 1976 after a promising start of his music career. The film uses beautiful animation with a fantastic jazz soundtrack that captures the spirit of the samba-jazz craze of the 60s. They Shot the Piano Player is a perfect introduction to a jazz form that few know about. The film does an amazing job of letting the people who knew Tenorio and what an amazing pianist he was, while letting us know about how quickly people disappeared in South America countries during this time, sometimes for very little reason. It’s a perfect way to capture a place in time when samba ruled the airwaves and the bars of not just Brazil but the world.   My Rating: Full Price  They Shot the Piano Player Website Now playing in theaters. 

My View: Shirley (2024) PG-13  Shirley tells the story of Shirley Chisholm (Regina King), who made history as the first Black woman elected to Congress and to run for President in the 1972 election. So you know when you see that Regina King is playing the lead character, you will get a performance worthy of watching. I wish the film was on the same level as her performance. Shirley feels like someone gave John Ridley a bullet-point presentation of Shirley Jacksons’ run for the Democratic nomination for President in 1972, and he followed it to the letter. Other than getting to see Shirley on her first few days as a congresswoman and verbally tearing down a fellow freshman congressman in the halls, we don’t get a lot of background on her. We are almost instantly thrown into the race without a lot of information on why she thought this would work. We get to see how Shirley played the game of politics, but we didn’t get to know why. I wanted more from this film, and frankly, I got more out of the closing credits when we learn what happened to a lot of the principal players in her run than I did in the film itself. Still, watching Regina King work her magic on the screen is always fun.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Shirley Website Now playing on Netflix.

Indiefest: Riddle of Fire (2023) PG-13 Riddle of Fire starts when their mother asks three children to run an errand to the grocery store. Their journey will be filled with kidnappings, battles with a witch and fairies, and a showdown with a huntsman. This is a fun film about the adventures of three friends who go on a quest to get some eggs to make a pie so that their mother will let them play video games. The opening sequence, where the three successfully carry out a raid on a warehouse to steal a new gaming console, is so much fun. The film relies on you believing that the kids think the world is filled with witches and fairies, and that another adventure is just around the corner. It’s about how you could spend a whole day with your friends fighting off the bad guys to save the day. The film slows down a bit in the second half, and some of the performances are lacking, even so, the three kids have a lot of charm besides, did it all really happen? To the three heroes of the story, it did, and that’s all that matters.  My Rating; Bargain Matinee  Riddle of Fire Website Now playing in theaters

My View: Late Night with the Devil (2023) R  A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing an unspeakable evil into the nation’s living rooms. The movie is centered around footage from a late-night talk show, with some behind-the-scenes footage thrown in. It’s an exciting film that plays with many stereotypical late-night talk show tropes. Halloween night is when the show is broadcast live. The guests are a man who can talk to the dead, a former magician who now spends his time debunking people who say they can talk to the dead or the devil, and a woman who claims one of her patients can take the form of the devil. Into the mix is the talk show host, played by David Dastamlchian, named Jack Delroy, who, after he lost his wife to cancer, is trying to revive his talk show by doing stunt shows like this one. Nevertheless, things start to deteriorate, like the man who converses with the dead experiencing a seizure on live television. As it becomes clear that something is not right in the studio, things only get worse. This is a fun and occasionally terrifying adaptation of the horror film genre, with a touch of nostalgia for the old late-night talk show format. I loved David Dastamichian, who plays the host and is willing to go the extra mile to save his show until he realizes it’s gone too far. He is perfect in portraying the man who believes he is the smartest and most talented person in the room, but is really not. The film perfectly captures the talk show look and feel of the late 70s, which makes it a blast to watch. I’m not totally happy with the ending, but up to that point, it’s a fun ride back to a time when everyone watched late-night talk shows and talked about it around the water cooler the next day. I wonder what they said after they saw this broadcast? My Rating: Full Price   Late Night with the Devil Website  Now playing in theaters.  

Forgotten Film: The Last Samurai (2003) R Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), a Civil War vet, is hired by the Japanese emperor to train the emperor’s army in the ways of modern warfare and defeat an army of traditional samurai warriors led by Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe). Algren’s army is badly routed, and he is wounded, but Katsumoto spares his life. Algren soon learns the ancient ways of warfare are honorable and he decides to help Katsumoto’s quest. Because of the success of the FX/Hulu TV series Shogun, I thought I would revisit this film, which doesn’t always come up when discussing Tom Cruise’s career. The Last Samurai is a film that is not your ordinary white savior type of film. The film is more about two warriors finding common ground and respect, with Algren learning that there is more to life than just killing by the easiest way possible. Cruise plays off of Watanabe well, and there are some incredible battle sequences that make this film work so well.   My Rating: Full Price  The Last Samurai Info The film is available to rent/buy on Amazon.

Weird Credits: From the credits of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire: Hair Punching

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Monkey Man (2024) R Monkey Man is about a man (Dev Patel) who wears a gorilla mask when he enters the ring as he fights for money. This man has a plan, and it involves violence and getting revenge for the murder of his father by corrupt leaders. The film won the Audience Award at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival.  Monkey Man Website  The film will be in theatres on Friday, April 5th.

Until Next Time!