Category: movies
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Survive: Dashing Through the Snow
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: When their plane crashes on a remote snow-covered mountain, Jane and Paul have to fight for their lives as the only remaining survivors. Together they embark on a harrowing journey out of the wilderness. Review: In Survive, an adventure drama now streaming on STARZ, Sophie Turner not playing a bestie…
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Dumb Money: Not So Pretty Day Traders Try to Make Wall Street Look Dumb
Movie info via IMDB: Dumb Money does a good job of skewering the knowledge and experience of the Wall Street Elite. It’s a take back the power comedy with all kinds of take backs- the power of the struggling middle class mass to outsmart the rich betting on companies, essentially America, to fail. It shows…
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Flora and Son: A Frowzy Song Filled Fable for Today’s Anxious Soul
Movie Info via Wikipedia: Flora, a single mother living in Dublin, is having trouble with her estranged son Max, a rebellious teenage petty thief. Encouraged by the Gardaà to find Max a hobby, Flora rescues an old guitar from a dumpster and, with the help of a Los Angeles-based online guitar teacher, discovers that one…
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Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant: A masterfully manipulative war thriller
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant follows US Army Sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Afghan interpreter Ahmed (Dar Salim). After an ambush, Ahmed goes to Herculean lengths to save Kinley’s life. When Kinley learns that Ahmed and his family were not given safe passage to America as promised, he must repay…
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The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar: Wes Anderson Rediscovers His Substantive Style
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar: A rich man learns about a guru who can see without using his eyes. He sets out to master the skill in order to cheat at gambling. Extremely faithfully adapted from Roald Dahl’s long short story. Review: Asteroid City was what happens when Wes…
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Sanctuary: Who’s Screwing With Whom?
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Set over the course of one night in a single hotel room, “Sanctuary” tells the story of a dominatrix (Margaret Qualley) and Hal (Christopher Abbott), her wealthy client. About to inherit his late father’s position and fortune, Hal tries to end their relationship, but when his attempt to cut ties…
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No One Will Save You: Twisting Everything Inside You Inside Out
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: No One Will Save You” introduces Brynn Adams (Kaitlyn Dever), a creative and talented young woman who’s been alienated from her community. Lonely but ever hopeful, Brynn finds solace within the walls of the home where she grew up–until she’s awakened one night by strange noises from decidedly unearthly intruders.…
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Love at First Sight: Statistically High Chance this Netflix Rom-Com Will Be Guaranteed Fresh
Movie Info via Rotten Tomatoes: After missing her flight from New York to London, Hadley (Haley Lu Richardson) meets Oliver (Ben Hardy) in a chance encounter at the airport that sparks an instant connection. A long night on the plane together passes in the blink of an eye but upon landing at Heathrow, the pair…
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Cassandro: Light as Liberace, With the Punch of the Rock
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Saúl Armendáriz, a gay amateur wrestler from El Paso, rises to international stardom after he creates the character Cassandro, the “Liberace of Lucha Libre.” In the process, he upends not just the macho wrestling world, but also his own life. Review: Roger Ross Williams, the director of Cassandro, a biopic…
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A Million Miles Away:Â To Get to Infinity You Must Be Willing to Get Beyond the Earth
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Inspired by the real-life story of NASA flight engineer José Hernández, A Million Miles Away follows him on a decades-long journey, from a rural village in Michoacán, Mexico, to more than 200 miles above the Earth in the International Space Station. With the support of his family, José’s drive &…
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Plane: Gerard Butler Saves Us from Liam Neeson Once Again
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: In the white-knuckle action movie PLANE, pilot Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) saves his passengers from a lightning strike by making a risky landing on a war-torn island — only to find that surviving the landing was just the beginning. When most of the passengers are taken hostage by dangerous rebels,…
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Dreamin’ Wild: The Fate of Second Chances
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Dreamin’ Wild, the true story of love and redemption, is about what happened to singer/songwriter Donnie Emerson and his family when the album he and his brother recorded as teens was rediscovered after thirty years of obscurity and was suddenly hailed by music critics as a lost masterpiece. While the…
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Fast X: Dumb Fun and Horsepower Thrills
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Over many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family have outsmarted, out-nerved and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they confront the most lethal opponent they’ve ever faced: A terrifying threat emerging from the shadows of the past who’s fueled by blood revenge, and…
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The End of Sex: Killing It Softly in Anxiety
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: The End of Sex tells the story of a married couple (Emily Hampshire and Jonas Chernick) who are feeling the pressures of parenting and adulthood. After they send their young kids to camp for the first time, they embark on a series of comic sexual adventures to reinvigorate their relationship.…
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El Conde: Living With the Vampire of a Nation’s Horror
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: El Conde is a dark comedy/horror that imagines a parallel universe inspired by the recent history of Chile. The film portrays Augusto Pinochet, a symbol of world fascism, as a vampire who lives hidden in a ruined mansion in the cold southern tip of the continent. Feeding his appetite for…
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A Haunting in Venice: Old School Haunts, Taunts and Hints With a Peppery Twist
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: A Haunting in Venice” is set in eerie, post-World War II Venice on All Hallows’ Eve and is a terrifying mystery featuring the return of the celebrated sleuth, Hercule Poirot. Now retired and living in self-imposed exile in the world’s most glamorous city, Poirot reluctantly attends a séance at a…
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Taurus: How to Not Find Musical Inspiration
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: A rising but troubled musician searches for the inspiration to record his next song, pushing himself deep into the void. A work of fiction that explores fame, addiction, the artistic process, and the music industry, Taurus is a soulful and universal cautionary tale. Review: The only way a musician/pop idol…
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Corsage: Tied and Undone By Odd Choices of Style.
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Empress Elizabeth of Austria is idolized for her beauty and renowned for inspiring fashion trends. But in 1877, ‘Sissi’ celebrates her 40th birthday and must fight to maintain her public image by lacing her corset tighter and tighter. While Elizabeth’s role has been reduced against her wishes to purely performative,…
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Sitting in Bars With Cake: A Semi-Weepy that Leaves a Good Taste in the Mouth
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Based on the cookbook Sitting in Bars with Cake by Audrey Shulman. Corinne convinces her baker best friend, Jane, to commit to a year of baking cakes and bringing them to bars with the goal of meeting people and developing confidence. Review: Sitting in Bars With Cake is based on…
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The Equalizer 3: Finding Home By Killing Everyone in the Old Town
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) has struggled to reconcile the horrific things he’s done in the past and finds a strange solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed. Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new…
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The Little Mermaid: Great Sea Legs, Not So Great Land Legs
Summary via IMDB: The youngest of King Triton’s daughters, Ariel is a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. Longing to find out more about the world beyond the sea, Ariel visits the surface and falls for the dashing Prince Eric. Following her heart, she makes a deal with the evil sea…
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Mafia Mamma: A Half Horse Head Mafia Comedy
Movie info via IMDB: An American mom inherits her grandfather’s mafia empire in Italy. Guided by the firm’s consigliere, she hilariously defies everyone’s expectations as the new head of the family business. Review: Mafia Mamma, a comedy about a suburban American housewife (Toni Collette) who becomes the leader of an Italian crime family through inheritance,…
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Hypnotic: Jedi Mind Tricks All Around
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Determined to find his missing daughter, Austin detective Danny Rourke finds himself spiraling down a rabbit hole investigating a series of reality-bending crimes where he will ultimately call into question his most basic assumptions about everything and everyone in his world. Aided by Diana Cruz, a gifted psychic, Rourke simultaneously…
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Moving On: Something Is Stuck This Time Around
Plot via Wikipedia: Two estranged former friends reconnect at the funeral of another mutual friend, and decide to exact revenge on their dead friend’s widower for the harm he caused to one of them decades earlier. Review: Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda are a reliable pair of actors when they work together- and they have…
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The Wrath of Becky: Getting Her Revenge on the Second Time
Movie Info via Rotten Tomatoes: Two years after she escaped a violent attack on her family, Becky attempts to rebuild her life in the care of an older woman — a kindred spirit named Elena. But when a group known as the “Noble Men” break into their home, attack them, and take her beloved dog,…
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Past Lives: Life Won and Lost 8,000 Times
Summary via Rotten Tomatoes: Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life, in this heartrending modern romance.…
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Sisu: Doing His Finnish Duty to the Dullest Extent
Storyline via IMDB: During the last desperate days of WWII, a solitary prospector (Jorma Tommila) crosses paths with Nazis on a scorched-earth retreat in northern Finland. When the Nazis steal his gold, they quickly discover that they have just tangled with no ordinary miner. While there is no direct translation for the Finnish word “sisu”,…
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Miguel Wants to Fight: Fighting Not Fighting His Way
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: In a neighborhood where fighting is stitched into the fabric of everyday life, Miguel has never found himself in one. However, when a combination of events turn his life upside down, Miguel and his friends enter into a series of misadventures. Review: In Miguel Wants to Fight, we’ll, Miguel wants…
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Golda: Choosing Life Over Ashes
Summary via IMDB: Focuses on the intensely dramatic and high-stakes responsibilities and decisions that Golda Meir, also known as the ‘Iron Lady of Israel’ faced during the Yom Kippur War. Review: Golda, is this year’s their finest and darkest hour movie. The 1973 Yom Kippur War was that for Israel and its prime minister, Golda…
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You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah: Getting to 13 Without Being a Goy.
Summary via Wikipedia: Stacy Friedman and Lydia Rodriguez Katz are best friends who have always dreamed about having epic bat mitzvahs, but things start to go comically awry when a popular boy and middle school drama threatens their friendship and their rite of passage Review: The best Adam Sandler movie I’ve seen in the last…
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Grand Turismo:Â Lap after Lap after Lap
Summary via IMDB: Based on the unbelievable, inspiring true story of a team of underdogs – a struggling, working-class gamer, a failed former race car driver, and an idealistic motorsport exec – who risk it all to take on the most elite sport in the world. Review: Racing movies only have to get the cars,…
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How to Blow Up a Pipeline: Oh, Just Get on With It
Summary via IMDB: Theo and Xochitl, lifelong companions from Long Beach, California, a city riddled with pollution from multiple oil refineries, are now in their twenties. After Xochitl’s mother passes away during an unexpected heatwave that she attributes to climate change, she becomes disillusioned with the sluggish pace of her college divestment campaign. Seeking more…
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How to Rob: Getting Away by Running Backwards
Sean Price and Jimmy Winters are a two man stick-up crew, robbing criminals from Boston to Cape Cod. Sean wants out of the game, but it’s not so simple when a couple of killers are hunting them for retribution over a past robbery. Summary via IMDB: Review: How to Rob is the latest crime drama…
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Carmen: Authentic Priestess of a Community’s Soul
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: CARMEN is perhaps veteran director and accomplished actor Valerie Buhagiar’s most joyous film outing yet. Set in a sun-dappled village in Malta in the 1980s, Natascha McElhone gives a career-best performance as a 50-year-old woman finding a new start in life through romance. In a small Mediterranean village, Carmen has…
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Strays: The Incredible Journey Goes on a Foul Mouthed Road-trip
Summary via Wikipedia: When a gullible Border Terrier named Reggie (Will Ferrell) is abandoned on the streets by his selfish and ruthless owner Doug (Will Forte), an animal-hating drug addict who never wanted him, he teams up with other strays including a street-wise Boston Terriernamed Bug (Jamie Foxx), an Australian Shepherd named Maggie (Isla Fisher),…
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Unseen: A Phone Thriller With Long Distance Eyes
Summary via Wikipedia: Gas station clerk Sam receives a call from Emily, a nearly blind woman who is running from her murderous ex in the woods. Emily must survive the ordeal with Sam being her eyes from afar using a video call. Review: Unseen is a neat little thriller with the most interesting twist: the…
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The Monkey King: Too Much Monkey Shines
Summary via IMDB: THE MONKEY KING is an action-packed family comedy that follows a charismatic Monkey and his magical fighting Stick on an epic quest for victory over 100 demons, an eccentric Dragon King, and Monkey’s greatest foe of all -his own ego. Along the way, a young village girl challenges his self-centered attitude and…
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Blue Beetle: Las Cucarachas Fight Back
Summary via IMDB: An alien scarab chooses college graduate Jaime Reyes to be its symbiotic host, bestowing the teenager with a suit of armor that’s capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero known as Blue Beetle. Review: I expected there would be moments in Blue Beetle where…
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The Pope’s Exorcist: God Damn It- Russell Crowe Finds a Way Back
Summary via IMDB: Inspired by the actual files of Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican, The Pope’s Exorcist follows Amorth as he investigates a young boy’s terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden. Review: Father Gabrielle Amorth does exist. He was an exorcist-…
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Red, White and Royal Blue: A LQBTQ Princess Diaries
Summary via IMDB: Based on the Casey McQuiston Novel of the same name, this story focuses on Alex Claremont-Diaz, the First Son of the president of the United States and his rivalry with the young prince, Henry. After causing a major uproar at the older Prince’s Brother’s wedding, the two are forced to avoid a…
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Happiness for Beginners: From About Schmidt to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Summary via IMDB: A year after getting divorced, Helen Carpenter, thirty-two, lets her annoying, ten years younger brother talk her into signing up for a wilderness survival course. It’s supposed to be a chance for her to pull herself together again, but when she discovers that her brother’s even-more-annoying best friend is also coming on…
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Heart of Stone: Netflix Fights Back to Reclaim the Algorithm
Summary via IMDB:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13603966/?ref_=tt_mv_close An intelligence operative for a shadowy global peacekeeping agency races to stop a hacker from stealing its most valuable and dangerous weapon. Review: In Heart of Stone, Gal Gadot is Stone, a spy with her own IMF team like Tom Cruise- Heart is the all powerful computer that plots and control it…
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Jules: Close Encounters of the Alien and Elderly Kind
Summary via IMDB: Jules follows Milton (Ben Kingsley) who lives a quiet life of routine in a small western Pennsylvania town, but finds his day upended when a UFO and its extra-terrestrial passenger crash land in his backyard. Before long, Milton develops a close relationship with the extra-terrestrial he calls “Jules.” Things become complicated when…
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Asteroid City: Wes Anderson’s Pretty Little Turd
Summary via IMDB: Following a writer on his world famous fictional play about a grieving father who travels with his tech-obsessed family to small rural Asteroid City to compete in a junior stargazing event, only to have his world view disrupted forever. Review: Wes Anderson has always been meta, but with a purpose. In Asteroid…
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Lola: Messing With Sister History
Summary via Wikipedia: England, 1941, sisters Thomasina and Martha have created a machine that can intercept broadcasts from the future. This delightful apparatus allows them to explore their inner punk a generation before the movement comes into existence. But with World War II escalating, the sisters decide to use the machine as a weapon of…
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Bones and All: Fine Young Cannibals in Love
Summary via IMDB: Virginia, 1988. Having no recollection of her mother, high school outcast Maren plucks up the courage to embark on a long, challenging journey to find her. Instead, as Maren struggles to understand, facing her well-hidden adolescent longings on the fringes of Ronald Reagan-era America, a chance encounter with enigmatic pariah and handsome…
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The Death of Cinema
Some day the warblers will come and the birders will wander through the undergrowth, run across the ticket booth covered in briars,the rusty saplings of the speaker posts.Somewhere in the thickets they will find the popcorn stand, where they once bought a two buck bucket big enough to last a double feature of Godzilla/Mothra.They can…
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Earth Mama: Feeling the Pain of Child Separation
Premise via Wikipedia A pregnant single mother, with two children in foster care, embraces her Bay Area community as she fights to reclaim her family. Review: Earth Mama is a drama about Motherhood: wanting children, having children, fighting to keep them- and if you are black, poor, make occasional poor decisions, losing them to the…
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War Pony: Never Ever Going Off the Reservation
Storyline via IMDB: The interlocking stories of two young Oglala Lakota men growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Review: The eventually intertwining stories in Riley Keough’s and Gina Gammell’s War Pony have a heavy Reservation Dogs feel. War Pony has a more grim, grimy and tragic feel. The Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota,…
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Skinamarink: Stumbling Badly in the Childhood Dark
Storyline via IMDB: Two children wake up in the middle of the night to find their father is missing, and all the windows and doors in their home have vanished. To cope with the strange situation, the two bring pillows and blankets to the living room and settle into a quiet slumber party. They play…
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River Wild: A Feral Thriller
Storyline via Wikipedia; Estranged brother and sister Gray and Joey, embark on a whitewater rafting trip amongst tourists with their childhood friend named Trevor. Along the river, the events quickly turn from exciting to terrifying, as the group finds themselves trapped alongside a killer who is intent to sabotage the trip while keeping secrets from…
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TNMT: Mutant Mayhem— Oozing Growing Charisma
Storyline via Rotten Tomatoes: After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers. Their new friend, April O’Neil, helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army…
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Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3: A Nice Send Off for the Old Team and Good Setup for the New Guardians
Storyline via Rotten Tomatoes: In Marvel Studios “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” our beloved band of misfits are looking a bit different these days. Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him to defend the universe along with protecting one of their own. A mission that, if…
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Jesus Revolution: Getting to God by Eliminating Your Inner Charles Manson
Storyline via Wikipedia: Based on the autobiographical book of the same name co-written by Greg Laurie, the film follows Laurie (Joel Courtney), Christian hippie Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie), and pastor Chuck Smith(Kelsey Grammer) as they take part in the Jesus movement in California during the late 1960s. Review: Jesus Revolution is a mostly faithful depiction…
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Blackberry: The Road to the iPhone is Paved with Blackberries
Storyline via IMDB: A company that toppled global giants before succumbing to the ruthlessly competitive forces of Silicon Valley. This is not a conventional tale of modern business failure by fraud and greed. The rise and fall of BlackBerry reveals the dangerous speed at which innovators race along the information superhighway. Review: All on screen…
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Haunted Mansion : Spooks Come Out for a Singing Wake
Storyline via IMDB: A single mom named Gabbie hires a tour guide, a psychic, a priest and a historian to help exorcise her newly bought mansion after discovering it is inhabited by ghosts. Review: I doubt if even fans of the Haunted Mansion will like the latest cinema edition of the Disney Parks ride. This…
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Emily: Needs More Dickinson and Less Wuthering Heights
Storyline via IMDB: “Emily” imagines Emily Brontë’s own Gothic story that inspired her seminal novel, ‘Wuthering Heights.‘ Haunted by her mother’s death, Emily struggles within the confines of her family life and yearns for artistic and personal freedom, and so begins a journey to channel her creative potential into one of the greatest novels of…
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You Won’t Be Alone: Living in Witchery
Storyline via IMDB: In an isolated mountain village in 19th century Macedonia, a young girl is kidnapped and then transformed into a witch by an ancient spirit. Review: I love how the witch film You Won’t Be Alone moves lyrically, subconsciously between dream and nightmare, horror and fairy tale. Alone pares down its visuals to…
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Book Club: The Next Chapter- Riffing on the Audio Version
Storyline via Rotten Tomatoes: The highly anticipated sequel follows our four best friends as they take their book club to Italy for the fun girls trip they never had. When things go off the rails and secrets are revealed, their relaxing vacation turns into a once-in-a-lifetime cross-country adventure. Review: In Book Club: The Next Chapter…
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Barbie: Living and Dreaming in the IRL highly Meta-Life
Storyline via IMDB: Barbie suffers a crisis that leads her to question her world and her existence. Review: There is a lot of feminism floating through Barbie. Some thoughts of death too— the perfect doll ruminating, fearing, crying about a mortal end. It turns out to be a rip in the Barbie-real world continuum, a…
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Of an Age: The Sweetness of Remember Your Name
Storyline via IMDB: In the summer of 1999, a 17-year-old Serbian-born Australian amateur ballroom dancer experiences an unexpected and intense 24-hour romance with a friend’s older brother. Review: I found the gay romance Of an Age (on Peacock) filled with subtle echoes of Call Me By Your Name. The age difference between the would be…
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They Cloned Tyrone: Trying not to Be a Copy of its Former Self.
Storyline via IMDB: A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio (John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris) onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy in this pulpy mystery caper. Review: They Cloned Tyrone is a wanna be Jordan Peele film. The Glen neighborhood here is a future dystopia where every conspiracy theory…
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Oppenheimer: I Am Destroyer of Worlds
Storyline via Rotten Tomatoes: During World War II, Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. appoints physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to work on the top-secret Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer and a team of scientists spend years developing and designing the atomic bomb. Their work comes to fruition on July 16, 1945, as they witness the world’s first nuclear…
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Close: Splitting Childhood into Joy and Grief
Storyline via IMDB: With summer drawing to a close, inseparable 13-year-old best friends Léo and Rémi idle away the rest of the holidays before school. It is as if the two bosom buddies share an unbreakable brotherly bond beyond their comprehension–in fact, nothing can ever come between them. However, when the boys’ cloudless friendship catches…
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The Inspection: Going to the Very Corp
Storyline via IMDB: In Elegance Bratton’s inspirational and deeply moving retelling of his own story, a young, gay Black man, rejected by his mother and with few options for his future, decides to join the Marines, doing whatever it takes to succeed in a system that would cast him aside. But even as he battles…
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Bodies Bodies Bodies: Paranoia and Acting in a Dark House
Storyline via IMDB: Nervous about meeting the smug, wealthy friends of her rehabilitated girlfriend Sophie, timid newcomer Bee arrives late to a booze-addled, drug-fuelled hurricane party at bored David’s Georgian grey-stone manor house. As the storm rages outside, the party gets started, and the group of spoiled zoomers gathers around the host in the family…
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Nimona: F(r)ight the Power
Storyline via IMDB: When Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed), a knight in a futuristic medieval world, is framed for a crime he didn’t commit, the only one who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz), a mischievous teen with a taste for mayhem – who also happens to be a shapeshifting creature…
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Mission Impossible; Dead Reckoning-Part One— See Tom Run and Run and Talk and Talk
Storyline via IMDB: Ethan Hunt and the IMF team must track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity if it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan…
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The Out-Laws: Living With the Almost Bad In-Laws.
Summary via IMDB: A straight-laced bank manager about to marry the love of his life. When his bank is held up by infamous Ghost Bandits during his wedding week, he believes his future in-laws who just arrived in town, are the infamous Out-Laws. Review: I come to expect a pretty reliable formula for every Adam…
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65: That Extinction Meteor Can’t Come Fast Enough.
Storyline via IMDB: After a catastrophic crash, pilot Mills quickly discovers he’s actually stranded on an unknown planet. Now, with only one chance at rescue, Mills must make his way across an unknown terrain riddled with dangerous prehistoric creatures in an epic fight to survive. From the writers of A Quiet Place comes 65, a…
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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: Going into History
Summary via IMDB: Daredevil archaeologist Indiana Jones races against time to retrieve a legendary dial that can change the course of history. Accompanied by his goddaughter, he soon finds himself squaring off against Jürgen Voller, a former Nazi who works for NASA. Review: In Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Professor Henry Jones must…
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Wildflower: Neuro-Divergent Parents in a Teen’s World
Summary via Wikipedia: The film centers on Bea, the daughter of two intellectually disabled parents Sharon and Derek. Bea is left comatose during her senior year in high school and the film explores aspects of her life, including a romantic relationship with fellow student Ethan, through flashbacks. Review: Wildflower (on Hulu) really doesn’t really advance…
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Blow Up My Life: Another Generic Drug
Storyline via Chattanooga Film Festival: Jason (JASON SELVIG), a disillusioned pharmaceutical employee, is fired after a drug-fueled social media post goes viral, but when he accidentally discovers a deadly opioid conspiracy hidden by his former boss (DAVRAM STIEFLER) he sets out to redeem himself. In this noir comedy-thriller set in the age of tech, Jason…
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Local Legends: Celebrating the Non-Legendary
Storyline via IMDB: The adventures of Matt Farley as he spends a few weeks preparing for a big comedy show in Manchester, NH. Review: Local Legends stars comedian/musician Matt Farley in a mockumentary about his everyday life. It’s a pretty shaggy dog story with bits of Woody Allen’s black and white phase sprinkled in. The…
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TRAP: Getting too Close and Yet too Far to See the Real Ashbury Park
Storyline via IMDB: Facing life in prison, a hood dreams of the violent streets that forged his identity, but cursed his soul. Review: TRAP, the debut film from Anthony Edward Curry, stands for The Real Ashbury Park, draws on the lives of kids Curry grew up with, to create an impressionistic liquid narrative that becomes…
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The Weird Kidz: Just So Off-Putting
Summary via Chattanooga Film Festival: THE WEIRD KIDZ is a horror-inflected creature feature and an ode to ’80s coming-of-age films and favorite late night cinema tales. When three pre-teen boys and an older brother and his girlfriend take off for a weekend campout, none of them could imagine the horrors (and laughs) awaiting them in…
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Sour Party: Sparkly Colored Farts
Summary via Chattanooga Film Festival: Gwen and James are two broke, self absorbed, emotionally stunted 30-somethings, eking their way through a meager LA existence. They’ve tried everything to get rich quick from cliche artistic endeavors and failed business startups to sex work, playing the victims all the way. When Gwen realizes she forgot her older…
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New Religion: Feeling Red Grief
Summary via IMDB: Miyabi lost her only daughter in an accident. After her daughter’s death, she got a divorce. She now works as a call girl and is living with her new boyfriend. One day, she meets a weird customer who asks her to let him take a picture of her spine. She does as…
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The Last Movie Ever Made: In the End, Getting It Done Right
Summary via IMDB: With the world about to end, Marshall convinces a group of friends and strangers to help finish the sci-fi movie he abandoned in high school. Review: If the world should end, it should end with sweetness. In The Last Movie Ever Made, the last movie ever made is the one that remained…
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The Elderly: Parental Homicidal Tendencies Turn Real
Summary via IMDB: Octogenarian who enters into a state of dementia after the sudden suicide of his wife, sparking a series of paranormal events that will put his family’s lives at risk. Review: I admire filmmakers that stick to their vision no matter how weird and sordid it gets. In the Spanish horror film, The…
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Mrs. Booker on 8th Ave: Getting John Cassavettes Half Right
Summary via IMDB: Mrs. Booker on 8th Avenue follows Florence Booker (Daniella Alma) who feels increasingly isolated in her marriage in New York. A shared cigarette with an alluring line cook sparks an affair that causes the different layers of Florence’s life to unravel. Review: Filmed over ten days on the streets of Manhattan, Mrs.…
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King on Screen: King Directors Give Each Other Halos
Summary via IMDB: 1976, Brian de Palma directs Carrie, the first novel by Stephen King. Since, more than 50 directors adapted the master of horror’s books, in more than 80 films and series, making him now, the most adapted author still alive in the world . What’s so fascinating with him that the directors can’t…
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Brutal Season: Death of a Family’s Soul
Summary via IMDB: In 1948, the Trouths are facing no income and the hottest summer on record. When their estranged son inexplicably returns, the apartment is full again – but is it big enough for the gambling, trauma, and substantial life insurance policy that comes in his wake? Brutal Season is a throwback drama that…
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Hell Hath No Fury: Marriage Is So Deadly Funny
Storyline via IMDB: A husband and a wife separately and unknowingly plot to murder each other on the same fateful night. Review: Hell Hath No Fury is a murder comedy of errors. There are murders and infidelities and betrayals a plenty which all go merrily awry and right. One cohort dies with a knife blade…
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Polite Society: Committing to the Lunatic Vision of Adolescence
Storyline via IMDB: A merry mash up of sisterly affection, parental disappointment and bold action, Polite Society follows martial artist-in-training Ria Khan who believes she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting the help of her friends, Ria attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in…
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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse- Lighting Refines Gold
Storyline via IMDB: Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar®-winning Spider-Verse saga, an epic adventure that will transport Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man across the Multiverse to join forces with Gwen Stacy and a new team of Spider-People to face off with a villain more powerful than anything they have ever encountered.…
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Elemental: Fire and Water Will Mix
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Disney and Pixar’s “Elemental,” an all-new, original feature film set in Element City, where fire-, water-, land- and air-residents live together. The story introduces Ember, a tough, quick-witted and fiery young woman, whose friendship with a fun, sappy, go-with-the-flow guy named Wade challenges her beliefs about the world they live…
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Chevalier: The Cock Crows So Sweetly Off
Storyline via IMDB: An opulent historical drama, Chevalier shares the story of Joseph Bologne, a Black composer and brings to light on a brilliant Black composer and violinist whose legacy has been woefully violin virtuoso who was a part of the court of Marie Antoinette. Seeming to surmount racial barriers, Bolonge, who was bestowed with…
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The Flash: Going Way Way Back
Storyline via Rotten Tomatoes: Worlds collide in “The Flash” when Barry uses his superpowers to travel back in time in order to change the events of the past. But when his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barry becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned, threatening annihilation, and…
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Flamin Hot: Cheetos Go Grande
Storyline via IMDB: In 1966 southern California, Richard Montañez grows up as a hardworking child with a strict father and supportive grandfather. He faces challenges in his youth and later becomes involved in a life of crime. However, when his wife Judy becomes pregnant, they decide to turn their lives around. Richard struggles to find…
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Magic Mike’s Last Dance: A Lap Dance With No Release
Storyline via IMDB: Magic” Mike Lane (Tatum) takes to the stage again after a lengthy hiatus, following a business deal that went bust, leaving him broke and taking bartender gigs in Florida. For what he hopes will be one last hurrah, Mike heads to London with a wealthy socialite (Hayek Pinault) who lures him with…
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Transformers: The Rise of the Beasts: They Shouldn’t Have Touched the Bumblebee
Plot via Rotten Tomatoes: Returning to the action and spectacle that have captured moviegoers around the world, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on a ’90s globetrotting adventure with the Autobots and introduce a whole new faction of Transformer — the Maximals — to the existing battle on earth between Autobots and Decepticons.…
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The Super Mario Bros Movie: Game On!
Plot via Rotten Tomatoes With help from Princess Peach, Mario gets ready to square off against the all-powerful Bowser to stop his plans from conquering the world. I’m not a gamer now. I don’t know and don’t care whether the graphics in The Super Mario Bros Movie are true to the games. The reviews from…
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Champions: Trading Farts for Hearts
Champions starring Woody Harrelson and a winning cast of intellectually disabled adults can be considered the more serious Dumb and Dumber. The Peter and Bobby Farrelly original featured protagonists with more hearts than smarts and lots of fart humor. The Bobby Farrelly directed, Champions amps up the heart, double downs on the smart-ass, and essentially…
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Somewhere in Queens: Getting Beyond the Sticks
Plot via Rotten Tomatoes Leo Russo (Ray Romano) lives a simple life in Queens, New York with his wife Angela (Laurie Metcalf), their shy but talented son “Sticks” (Jacob Ward), and Leo’s close-knit network of Italian-American relatives and neighborhood friends. Happy enough working at the family construction business alongside his father (Tony Lo Bianco) and…
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Sam and Kate: Starring Their Real Life Kids
Info via Rotten Tomatoes: A life-affirming family dramedy starring Oscar®-winners Dustin Hoffman and Sissy Spacek, Sam & Kate takes place in a small town in the heart of the country. Hoffman plays Bill, the larger-than-life father to Sam (Jake Hoffman), who has returned home to take care of his ailing dad. While home, Sam falls…
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Renfield: Getting Beyond the Blow and Suck
Plot via IMDB: R.M. Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) decides to leave his centuries-long line of work as a henchman and familiar to Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage) and finds a new lease on life in modern day New Orleans when he falls in love with a feisty but perennially aggressive traffic cop named Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina) I…
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Flux Gourmet: A Burnt Offering
Plot via IMDB: Set at an institute devoted to culinary and alimentary performance, a collective finds themselves embroiled in power struggles, artistic vendettas, and gastrointestinal disorders. I know my wife loves to cook and I know she likes hearing the sounds of all that food prep: the chopping, dicing, oiling, boiling and sometimes the toiling.…
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80 for Brady: Making Me Hate Tom Brady Even More
Plot via IMDB: A group of friends made it their life-long mission to go to the Super Bowl and meet NFL superstar Tom Brady. I’m a Miami Dolphins fan and I unequivocally hate Tom Brady. I hate all the stupid Brady to the Dolphins rumors. I hate his greatness. I hate that he lives in…
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Air: Game Changer
Plot via IMDB: Follows the history of shoe salesman Sonny Vaccaro, and how he led Nike in its pursuit of the greatest athlete in the history of basketball, Michael Jordan. Ben Affleck has proven that he can find drama in the details of negotiation. Air, a sports drama about how Nike not only developed the…