Avatar: Fire and Ash

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Mercy (2026)  PG-13  In the near future, a system is implemented that, if you are arrested for a capital crime, you go before an A.I. Judge, and you have only 90 minutes to prove your innocence. Detective Raymond (Chris Pratt) wakes up and is accused of killing his wife. He now has 90 minutes to prove his innocence to the A.I. Judge (Rebecca Ferguson).   Mercy Website  The film will be in theaters on Friday, January 23, 2026

Until Next Time!

28 Years Later

My View:  28 Years Later  (2025)  R  28 Years Later takes place almost three decades after a virus was unleashed on the world. A group that has survived has been housed on a small island connected to the mainland by a causeway. A father, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and son, Spike (Alfie Williams), leave the island on a mission to go into the heart of the mainland, and there they discover the secrets, wonders, and horrors of the outside world. Back in 2002, director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland unleashed 28 Days Later, a horror film that gave us zombies created from a virus that weren’t your old-fashioned slow-moving, leg-dragging creatures but one who could move with speed and had intelligence. In other words, a nightmare that unfolds before our eyes on the screen. Now that directing/writing duo has come back with a new film to explore what has happened since the original film. Unlike the first film, where we, along with the main character, slowly figure out what is happening to the world, 28 Years Later puts us in the middle of a small settlement that has flourished because of its isolation and strict rules. The film follows Jamie and Spike as they leave for a rite of passage for Spike. He is about to go to the mainland to kill his first zombie. They leave the safety of the island and travel inward, where Jamie cooly guides Spike into killing a zombie, but soon, they are confronted with a group of zombies that the two can’t handle, and it’s now a race for life or death. And that’s just the first 30 minutes of the film. 28 Years Later is a very different film from the 2002 film. This is more of a coming-of-age film about Spike and what he will do to save his family. The film is centered around courage, love, and the decision of someone to put their life on the line to save a loved one. I don’t want to give too much away, as the plot makes this a very different type of film from your ordinary zombie apocalypse movie. It is scary, though I will admit I was expecting more scares than it actually delivers. However, it more than makes up for that with a storyline that is moving and rich in feeling. Alfie Williams is outstanding as Spike, who is determined to do whatever he can to help his family, even if it means defying his village. Williams gives us a hero to follow, one who makes mistakes but whose heart is in the right place and makes the best decisions he can. So go and get engrossed in a zombie tale that has incredible cinematography, a bombastic soundtrack, and an ending that you will not see coming.      My Rating: Full Price  28 Years Later Website   Now playing in theaters nationwide.  

Familyfaire:  Elio  (2025)  PG   Elio is about an 11-year-old orphan named Elio, whose love for space is so strong he dreams of being abducted by aliens. One night, his wish comes true when he is taken aboard an alien ship and transported to the Communiverse, a place inhabited by intelligent life from across the galaxy. Mistaken for Earth’s leader, Elio must navigate through a crisis that threatens to destroy the new friendships he has just formed. When adults go to see a Pixar film, we expect to see imaginative storytelling, brilliantly done animation, and a plot that will move you (and possibly make you cry). Elio works on the first two points but misses badly in the emotional department, as we never achieve the impact we needed to create the desired emotional impact. I liked the storyline, as Elio is a fun kid who, while he is in over his head, is still willing to help his newfound friends against an evil warlord who wants to take over the Communiverse. Youngsters are going to love the action and all the trouble that Elio gets into. The cast of characters are fun and the evil warlord, Lord Grigon, is impressive looking in his armor but isn’t scary for young kids to be afraid of. I loved the meeting between Elio and his soon-to-be best friend, the giant-worm-like blob named Glordon (voiced by Remy Edgerly). Elio instantly realizes that Glordon, though weird-looking and with lots of teeth, is someone he can not only be friends with but also understands what Glordon is going through with his father, Lord Grigon. The animation is visually stunning and brilliantly executed.   However, I never got that catch in my throat from any emotional impact in this film that I wanted. I think the writers missed the boat by not emphasizing Elio’s life with his parents, who he lost recently and is now being taken care of by his aunt (voiced by Zoe Saldana), who apparently has had to sacrifice her dreams to take in Elio. We get glimpses of how hurt Elio is, but those are brief and miss that emotional point that we needed to make the final scenes have more impact. While much better than, say, Lightyear, Elio isn’t up there with the classic Pixar films that we all shed tears at, and that’s too bad. I could have used a bit of a cry. There is a bonus scene after the first portion of the credits and a rather strange promo trailer at the end of all the credits.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Elio Website  Now playing in theaters nationwide. 

My View:  Bride Hard  (2025)  PG-13  In Bride Hard, Sam (Rebel Wilson) is serving as the maid of honor at her childhood best friend Betsy’s (Anna Camp) destination wedding. When a mercenary group takes the extravagant wedding hostage, chaos ensues. However, what the mercenaries don’t realize is that Sam is actually a secret agent, ready to unleash hell on anyone who threatens her best friend’s special day. I have already added this movie (in pen) to my list of the worst films of 2025. The plot is devoid of anything remotely funny, and it absurdly suggests that Rebel Wilson is the agency's top spy. If you think that using hair curlers like nunchucks is entertaining, or if you find it hilarious when Sam kills another bad guy and then takes a piece of wedding cake, saying “peace of cake,” then you won’t mind the hour and forty-five-minute runtime that feels much longer. I couldn't tell if this film was intended as a parody of action films (and perhaps wedding films) or simply a poorly executed comedy. I know it was painful to watch, almost as painful for the guy in the fight with Sam, who kept getting burned by the hair curlers. My Rating:  You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again   Bride Hard Website Now playing in theaters. 

Indiefest:  The Queen of My Dreams  (2023)   The Queen of My Dreams is about Azra (Amrit Kaur), a Pakistani Canadian woman who has had a fractured relationship with her parents since coming out as a lesbian. Azra travels to Pakistan after her father’s passing, guided by memories of her mother’s youth, her love of Bollywood films, and her own experience in rural Canada. The Queen of My Dreams is a film about how, in the blink of an eye, a relationship can change, in this case, when a mother realizes that her daughter is interested in girls and not boys. Through Bollywood fantasies Azra has, flashbacks to her childhood, and scenes from her mother’s past life in Pakistan, we see how the two, mother and daughter, are so alike.  We see how Azra’s mother (played in these flashbacks by Amrit Kaur) was a fiercely independent modern woman who, like her daughter in the future, rebelled against what was thought a woman should be like in the Pakistani culture, eventually breaking away from her parents, just like Azra in the present is doing. I loved the interweaving of the Bollywood musicals into the film, often with Azra taking over a role to show us how she is feeling and experiencing life. The Queen of My Dreams is a lovely tale of two women who blazed their own trail and followed their dreams and not the dreams of their parents.  My Rating: Full Price  The Queen of My Dreams Website   Now playing in select theaters.  

My View:  Surviving Ohio State  (2025)  Surviving Ohio State is a documentary based on Sports Illustrated reporter Jon Wertheim’s cover story on the decades-long abuse scandal of male athletes by a doctor, Dr. Richard Strauss, at Ohio State University. The film features extensive interviews with members of the wrestling team that first brought the scandal to light and then goes into detail on how the abuse wasn’t just concentrated on the wrestling team but on other male athletes and even students who weren’t on scholarship but sought treatment at the student medical center. The film highlights how the university was aware of the doctor’s misconduct yet took no action for ten years, allowing him to have significant freedom. This included taking long showers with teams, conducting full-body exams during every visit with male athletes, and even making inappropriate advances in the showers alongside referees.  Surviving Ohio State has gotten some publicity because Ohio congressman Jim Jordan was an assistant coach on the team while the abuse was going on and claims he knew nothing about the allegations. The first half of this film is a shocking first-person tale through interviews of how the abuse started with each person and how they reacted at the time. It’s a sickening tale of abuse of power and taking advantage of teenagers who don’t have a way to fight back. The second half of the film explores how the university has handled the allegations over the years and how it still has not taken full responsibility for its lack of action. Surviving Ohio State is a film that will sadden you to think how many lives were ruined, how many young men suffered in silence, and how a university kept quiet.My Rating:  Full Price  Now playing on the HBO Max platform. 

Forgotten film:  I Am a Hero  (2015)  TV-MA  Hideo (Yô Ôizumi) is an artist who works on Japanese-style comic books called Manga. He once had a promising future, with a girlfriend and an award for “newcomer of the year” from his employer. However, his life has gone into the dumps, working as an assistant on other people’s work, his girlfriend has thrown him out, and now the world is being attacked by zombies. Hideo is an unlikely hero, though he fantasizes he is, and more often than not, he cannot pull the trigger (literally, in most cases during the film, he fails to shoot his shotgun at critical times). All Hideo wants in life is to be a man of action and courage, but he is more a man of indecision, often freezing when he should act. Yo Ôizumi is pitch-perfect as the ineffective Hideo. He seems to show every emotion broadly on his face, so we are aware of what he is thinking without having to have it explain it to the audience. The reason that this film is a blast to watch is the zombies. The zombies keep some of the characteristics of who they were when they were alive. A gifted athlete is still capable of performing fantastic feats as a zombie. Someone who like to shop, in zombie form, will attempt to enter stores with a determined purpose. The zombies can also talk, so very often they are muttering phrases that they often said while they are alive, like a zombie barista to kill Hideo while also trying to take his order. I Am a Hero is a brilliant, action-packed film that will make any zombie lover want to see this film repeatedly, hoping that if the zombie apocalypse happens, we can also say, “I Am a Hero.”    My Rating: Full Price   Surviving Ohio State Website  Available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video. 

Weird Credits: From the credits of Elio:  Additional Sweatbox Coordinator

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)  Five friends inadvertently cause a deadly car accident and cover it up, keep it a secret rather than face the consequences. A year later, they are confronted by a horrifying truth: someone knows what they did and is out for revenge. The friends discover this has happened before and ask for survivors of the Southport Massacre of 1997 for help. This film features Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr., two of the stars of the 1998 film.   I Know What You Did Last Summer Website  The film will be in theaters on Friday, July 18, 2025.

Heretic

My View:  Heretic  (2024)  R   In Heretic, two young Mormon women (Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher) have been spreading the word of God door to door without much success. They knock on Mr. Reed’s (Hugh Grant) door, and he welcomes them in, eager to hear what they have to say. The two girls soon learn that they are captive in the house and are to play a game of cat-and-mouse in the home of a madman. Heretic is a highly inventive horror/suspense film that will test your nerves and even your puzzle-solving skills. Hugh Grant gives one of his best performances in years and against type as a man who invites two young women into his home to test their faith and will to live. Grant, as a man who has lots of questions and few answers, is a delight to watch on the screen, as he pulls out all the stops, including some songs from the past and some trivia from the present. It’s a master class in being charming while also being weird and scary at the same time. Heretic is a film where evil thinks it can out-think good, as Mr. Reed pushes the young Mormon missionaries to question their religious beliefs while also putting them through a torturous puzzle of a house that seems always to have one more door to open. If you're not prepared for the constant questions about faith and religion, Heretic may not be the horror film for you. However, if you wait for Mr. Reed to get down to business, there are some excellent scares in your future. Just know that you may want to take a religion course or two at your local community college after seeing Heretic and being a part of Mr. Reed’s lectures. You might also have a craving for blueberry pie. Then again, probably not.  My Rating: Full Price Heretic Website  Now playing in theaters.

Indiefest:  Small Things Like These  (2024)  PG-13  Small Things Like These takes place in Ireland in 1985, where Bill (Cillian Murphy), a local coal distributor, lives with his wife and five children. While delivering coal, he sees a sight that will change his life: a young woman is screaming while being dragged against her will by two nuns and another woman into the church of the convent he is delivering to. Small Things Like These is about a man who has a troubled past and now is confronted with a situation that constantly brings up that past. Cillian Murphy gives us a performance that is all about the silence that almost encapsulates the character as he ponders his childhood and what to do about the young woman he has seen being mistreated by the nuns. Bill is a man with a good heart. He is a wonderful father to five girls and is married to a wife he adores. However, Bill, like the rest of the town, knows that nuns run a home for unmarried women who have become pregnant. As the film progresses, Bill learns more and more about how these young women are being treated, especially the young woman he saw earlier. Bill has to make a decision whether to stay silent and carry on with his business or take a risky action that could lead to significant consequences. Murphy gives us another Oscar-worthy performance, one where his face, often in shadows and in close-up, gives us all we need to know about what he is feeling. It’s a performance that you will not forget.   My Rating: Full Price  Small Things Like These Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

Indiefest:  Emilia Perez  (2024) R Rita (Zoe Saldaña) is a lawyer who feels that she will never be successful. She gets an anonymous call that tells her if she is willing to meet with someone, she will be richly rewarded. Rita goes to the meeting against her better judgment and discovers that her new client is a cartel kingpin, Juan ‘Manitas’ Del Monte. It's a meeting that will change her and Manitas' lives, for both good and bad. Emilia Perez is a musical in the style of Andrew Lloyd Weber, where much of what the characters think and say is expressed through song. Shot in Mexico by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the film stars Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, and Selena Gomez in a film that takes you on a journey you won’t expect. I loved the performances by all three, especially the opening musical number that Zoe Saldaña does as her character expresses her frustration with being smarter and a better lawyer than her boss. The problem for me was that the musical numbers seemed endless and were often filled with words that didn't quite fit together. The film felt much longer than its two-hour and ten-minute running time, and while the plot certainly gets points for creativity (and makeup), it felt a little too much like watching a very long Telenovela. While I am not enamored with the film, I will tell you that France has submitted it as their official submission for Best International Picture, and it won awards at film festivals across the world, including Cannes. It’s just not my type of film. However, it might be yours. My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Emilia Perez Info   Now playing in select theaters and will be available on Netflix on Wednesday, November 13, 2024. 

Sorry I Missed It (A film that I didn’t see when it was first released but have seen recently)   Juror #2  (2024)  PG-13   In Juror #2, Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult), is serving on a high-profile murder trial. Justin faces a moral dilemma that will undoubtedly impact his entire life. Justin is being forced to reexamine a past event that happened to him that could help determine the case’s verdict. This could be the last film that Clint Eastwood directs, which is sad because the studio only gave it a small amount of screens in a few cities. Eastwood, for the last ten years, has been an up-and-down director with some good work (Richard Jewell, Sully) along with some so-so work (Cry Macho, The 15:17 to Paris). I am happy to say that this time out, Eastwood has given us a solid courtroom drama about a man, played by a low-key Nicholas Hoult, who has a huge moral dilemma. He has information that could change the outcome of the trial, but it could also get him into trouble. The film keeps the tension going soon after Justin is picked to be a juror for the trial, as we are let in on what Justin knows. The film puts you in the shoes of Justin, and we have to decide whether to go along with what Justin does with the information or root against him, this family man with a baby on the way. While not a great film, Juror #2 is a solid work that deserved more theaters and promotion for a four-time Academy Award winner. Sorry Mr. Eastwood, Hollywood is a very fickle town.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Juror #2 Website   Soon will be on streaming services. 

My View:  Blitz  (2024)  PG-13   Blitz is about nine-year-old George (Elliot Heffernan), who is sent by his mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) to the countryside via train to escape World War II in London. Defiant and determined, George leaves the train and sets out to return to his family in a city being attacked by constant bombing. The film takes place when London was under siege by bombing, and going to a makeshift fallout shelter was a nightly activity. Rita works in a factory making bombs, and she wants her son to be safe. So, against his will, she puts him on a train. George shares the same fate as more than a million other children during the war, being sent to the countryside for safety, but without his family. However, George has other ideas and jumps the train, starting a journey to go home again. Blitz is the tale of two people. George, a young, independent boy, will see and do things that he can’t imagine to get back home. And his mother, Rita, who at first is sad that her only child has been sent away. Rita learns her son jumped the train, and no one knows where he is. The production design and the cinematography of this film are outstanding, making you feel as if you, too, are in London dodging bombs and burning houses. The film is anchored by two exceptional performances: Elliot Heffernan as the tough, determined George and Saoirse Ronan as Rita, the single mom trying to raise her son and keep him safe. Heffernan is perfect in the role of George, who seems almost as if he is from a Dickens story. We see the horror of war through Heffernan's eyes as George brings us along for his adventure full of betrayal, close calls, and death. Saoirse Ronan is remarkable as the young mother who is just trying to survive while loving her son with all her heart. It's a performance that will tear at your heart. Writer/director Steve McQueen takes us on an adventure where the world has been torn apart, and we get to experience it from the point of view of a son and a mother who only want to find each other again.  My Rating: Full Price  Blitz Info  Now playing in select theaters and will be streaming the Apple TV+ platform on Friday, November 22, 2024.

My View:  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2024)  PG   In The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Grace (Judy Greer) has been given the reigns of the annual Christmas Pageant. One problem: the Herman kids, the terrors of the neighborhood, are determined to be included in this year’s pageant. Wherever the Herman kids go, mayhem and trouble always follow. Will Christmas survive? I got a very different film than what I was expecting. I thought this would be more of a silly and laugh-out-loud funny film, like A Christmas Story. Instead, we get a wonderful film about acceptance, compassion, and empathy. If you're not looking, you might even get the meaning of Christmas thrown in for good measure. What you see in the trailer is about all the hijinks you get from the Herman kids. This is a film whose message is that the church is for all of us, poor and rich alike. A lovely performance by Judy Greer anchors the film as the mom who takes on the Christmas Pageant and the busy body women who want her to get rid of the Herman kids from appearing in the pageant. Greer works the story with lightness and joy in her performance, making us fall in love with Grace as she is willing to include the kids who everyone else wants gone. The film also has standout performances from Molly Belle Wright as Beth, Grace’s daughter who prays to God to help her mother put on the pageant, and Beatrice Schneider as Imogene, the leader of the Herman kids who is determined that she will play Mary in the pageant. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a film that the whole family will enjoy, and I can see it becoming a permanent part of the yearly Christmas movie-watching experience.   My Rating: Full Price  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Website  Now playing in theaters.

Forgotten Film:  Shade  (2003) R  Vernon (Stewart Townsend) is a card shark, so good that people think it’s magic. Charlie Miller (Gabriel Byrne) and his girlfriend, Tiffany (Thandiwe Newton), see someone they can use to do a con. The man they want to take down is a notorious gambler, Dean Stevens (Sylvester Stallone). It’s going to take a lot to take Dean down. This is a film that has so many twists and turns that it almost makes your head spin. There are some fun performances, including Jamie Foxx and Melanie Griffith. It’s a movie that makes for a good weekend watch, with plenty of surprises to keep you interested.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Shade Info  Available for rent/buy on Amazon.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Heretic:  Breakdown Artist

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  September 5  (2024)  R  During the 1972 Munich Olympics, an American sports broadcasting team finds itself covering a hostage crisis involving Israeli athletes. The trailer looks fantastic, highlighting an event when literally the whole world was watching.  September 5 Website  The film will be in theaters on Friday, November 29, 2024. 

Until Next Time!