Bank of Dave: Movie Review

Fighting against the banking system in an hilarious, entertaining, genuinely feel-good movie.

Previously I referred to The Burial as the biggest crowd-pleaser of the year, so I’ll call Bank of Dave the best crowd-pleaser of the year. It’s very much a ‘little guys succeeding against systems designed to make them fail’ but it’s very funny, very entertaining, surprisingly smart and even a little inspiring. There’s a lot of predictable elements but all incorporated in a way that feels right and remains interesting.		2023 Directed by: Chris Foggin Screenplay by: Piers Ashworth Starring: Rory Kinnear, Joel Fry

Killers of the Flower Moon: Movie Review

An important and tragic moment in American history full of greed, racism and corruption.

Killers of the Flower Moon is based on a true story about a series of murders of Osage Native Americans in Osage County, Oklahoma in the 1920s. I would like to say shocking true story because it’s almost hard to believe that this actually happened, but knowing the racism at the time, it’s unfortunately rather easy to believe. The elements propelling the story forward are money, greed and racism. All of which are unsurprising motivators for murder.		2023 Directed by: Martin Scorsese Screenplay by: Eric Roth, Martin Scorsese, and David Grann Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Lily Gladstone

The Burial: Movie Review

Taking down greed and racism in an entertaining crowd-pleaser.

The biggest crowd-pleaser you’ll find this year. A highly entertaining court room drama about good guys vs bad guys. There might be a few minor misdirections on which one is which, but it’s all due to how they play the race card. A story which is seemingly not about race at all turns out to be very racially motivated thanks to a smart observant young lawyer.		2023 Directed by: Maggie Betts Screenplay by: Doug Wright, Maggie Betts, Jonathan Harr Starring: Jamie Foxx, Tommy Lee Jones, Mamoudou Athie

Rustin: Movie Review

A biopic that matches its lead character.

Rustin starts a little chaotically; a jazz score with Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo) in various political offices with various political bigwigs and African American leaders. It feels out of sorts and difficult to get into, and while it’s not obvious at first, this is very much on purpose. Rustin is a traditional biopic but it tries to skirt familiarity by giving the film the same personality as its subject.		2023 Directed by: George C. Wolfe Screenplay by: Julian Breece, Dustin Lance Black Starring: Colman Domingo

Reality: Movie Review

An FBI transcript turned into a riveting true story.

Reality takes a new spin on the based-on-a-true-story genre by presenting a word-for-word real-time account of something that most of us probably only know from headlines in the news. And wow does this style ever work. It is impressive how much our perceptions of the story and the people shift and suspense has been packed in as the filmmakers follow the actual transcript of the FBI raid and interrogation of Reality Winner.		2023 Directed by: Tina Satter Screenplay by: Tina Satter, James Paul Dallas Starring: Sydney Sweeney

Christmas in Notting Hill: Movie Review

An adorably cute romantic pairing.

This is what a cute Christmas rom-com looks like. Georgia (Sarah Ramos) is visiting her sister Lizzie in London and meets cute stranger, Graham (William Moseley); but there’s a few things she doesn’t know about him: that he’s a famous professional footballer and that he’s the brother of her sister’s boyfriend. He also doesn’t know her connection. So when he accidentally tells her that his brother’s proposing this Christmas, she doesn’t know the significance.		2023 Directed by: Ali Liebert Screenplay by: Alex Yonks Starring: Sarah Ramos, William Moseley

A Merry Scottish Christmas: Movie Review

Lacey Chabert and Scott Wolf have been reunited as brother and sister in A Merry Scottish Christmas. And when you have TV royalty with their adorableness, you might as well make them duke and duchess, almost. Estranged siblings Brad (Scott Wolf) and Lindsay (Lacey Chabert) have been invited by their mother to a castle in Scotland. They don’t know why, she’s acting weird, although given the references to their childhood, I don’t know how you identify what’s weird with her.		2023 Directed by: Dustin Rikert Screenplay by: Andrea Canning, Dustin Rikert, Andrew Gernhard Starring: Lacey Chabert, Scott Wolf

Navigating Christmas: Movie Review

A Hallmark Christmas on a cute island.

Navigating Christmas is set on a remote island off the coast of Washington state. It’s a small island with a lighthouse, a diner and a few people who all wear plaid. It is a fictional place, but it’s a lovely set and not overdone unlike most of Hallmarks fictional small-town settings. Recently divorced single mother Melanie (Chelsea Hobbs) takes her teenage son on a last-minute Christmas vacation after his father bailed on him.		2023 Directed by: Peter Benson Screenplay by: Starring: Chelsea Hobbs, Stephen Huszar

All-Time High: Movie Review

Stupid on all levels.

All-Time High, as translated from the French title Nouveaux Riches, is an action comedy about small-time scam artists. The movie is just as stupid as the main characters are. Youssef (Nassim Lyes) is a fast-talking scoundrel; he’s at a club trying to hit on a girl by talking himself up, and when she points out that he’s tried to hit on her in the past and doesn’t remember, he doesn’t care and keeps trying.		2023 Directed by: Julien Hollande Screenplay by: Julien Hollande Starring: Nassim Lyes, Zoé Marchal

Dashing Through the Snow: Movie Review

Off-kilter but adds something new to Santa Claus.

Dashing Through the Snow is weird and off-kilter for most of it, but it also has a sense of fun and something for the whole family. Eddie (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges) is separated from his wife, has a daughter, and is a social worker who spends his time helping others who are less fortunate. He’s spending Christmas Eve with his daughter until he catches a guy breaking into his neighbor’s house.		2023 Directed by: Tim Story Screenplay by: Scott Rosenberg Starring: Lil Rel Howery, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges

Best. Christmas. Ever!: Movie Review

A messy comedy filled with cynicism, jealousy, loss and depression.

Best. Christmas. Ever! is not intentionally using that title ironically even though the first half is a cynical mess and the second half uses grief and depression to make everything worse. The premise fulfills the first half of the movie, two jealous friends who want to bring down the other person no matter the cost. It’s a common cynicism in comedies which I hate; this is not good-natured ribbing, this is jealousy and animosity wrapped up in forced laughter.		2023 Directed by: Mary Lambert Screenplay by: Todd Calgi Gallicano, and Charles Shyer Starring: Heather Graham, Brandy Norwood, Jason Biggs

EXmas: Movie Review

A comedy first rom-com.

A predictable rom-com, EXmas provides plenty of laughs, some well-earned emotions and the right amount of Christmas. Ali (Leighton Meester) loves the holiday but has nobody to celebrate it with, until her ex-fiancée’s family invites her to their house. A few Christmas movie reviews ago (for The Christmas Classic), I mentioned that my favourite trope is the ex who is still friends the family, and now we get a whole movie of that and it is exactly as delightful as expected.		2023 Directed by: Jonah Feingold Screenplay by: Dan Steele Starring: Leighton Meester, Robbie Amell

Christmas Island: Movie Review

Well-balanced Christmas cheer.

To clear up the first bit of confusion, this Christmas Island is a real town in Nova Scotia not the Australian territory in the Indian Ocean. Don’t worry, they’re not doing something silly like flying from the US to Switzerland by way of the south Pacific. The only silly thing this film is doing is having a massive storm over the Atlantic Ocean which is so severe that all flights have had to be grounded for almost a week.		2023 Directed by: David Weaver Screenplay by: Samantha Herman Starring: Rachel Skarston, Andrew Walker

Anatomy of a Fall: Movie Review

Questions of truth or justice in a trial about guilt or innocence.

High in the French Alps, Sandra lives with her husband Samuel, their 11-year-old son Daniel and their dog Snoop. That is until her husband is found dead at the foot of their multi-storey chalet. The police question her, naturally, since she was the only one home with him at the time. She calls a lawyer once she suspects she’s about to become a person of interest. The question becomes whether she killed her husband or not.		2023 Directed by: Justine Triet Screenplay by: Justine Triet, Arthur Harari Starring: Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud

The Dirty South: Movie Review

Slow but compelling tale of dirty criminals in Louisiana.

Set and filmed in Louisiana, The Dirty South is a tale of a small town populated by criminals. It’s a very brown and gray movie, everybody except one family is dirt poor, almost every scene takes place at night so it’s consistently darkly lit. It’s a premise you’ve seen before, and the beginning is slow and dark, but there’s also a humanity to these characters and an almost hidden sense of style that can keep audiences watching.		2023 Directed by: Matthew Yerby Screenplay by: Matthew Yerby Starring: Willa Holland, Dermot Mulroney and Shane West

Priscilla: Movie Review

Female empowerment in the shadow of Elvis Presley.

I wasn’t expecting the romance between Priscilla and Elvis Presley to be a tale of female empowerment and women’s liberation, but here we are. Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla features Cailee Spaeny as the young Priscilla (fourteen years old to be exact) smitten in love and over the years, almost imperceptibly at first, grows to be a woman who stands up for herself and gets out of the stardom of Elvis Presley and an abusive relationship before it destroys her.		2023 Directed by: Sofia Coppola Screenplay by: Sofia Coppola Based on the book by Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon Starring: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi

The Christmas Classic: Movie Review

Every Christmas rom-com rolled into one ridiculous but funny story.

The Christmas Classic is every Christmas cliché wrapped into a ski competition to save the chalet. But the story is also told with tongue firmly in cheek and having as much fun with it as possible. Elizabeth (Malin Akerman) works for her fiancé’s father’s real estate company and has been tasked with buying a ski resort in her small hometown in New Mexico.		2023 Directed by: Shane Dax Taylor Screenplay by: Shane Dax Taylor, Austin Nichols Starring: Malin Akerman, Ryan Hansen

Flipping for Christmas: Movie Review

All of Hallmark’s worst characteristics.

Flipping for Christmas is yet another one of Hallmark’s big city girl travels back to her small hometown, falls for the local handyman, and rediscovers the meaning of family and Christmas. And I would love to say, that at least one of those things got switched up, but only barely: she actually rediscovers the meaning of family, Christmas and community. It’s a very low budget production with overdone characters that it’s impossible to get wrapped up in the romance.		2023 Directed by: Katherine Barrell Screenplay by: Brett Heard Starring: Ashley Newbrough, Marcus Rosner

Helen's Dead: Movie Review

Helen’s Dead has assembled a lot of half-famous actors in a comedic murder mystery that has a hard time juggling the comedy with the crimes. Married couple Leila and George are hosting a fancy dinner party for one guest, a magazine editor who they are going to convince they’re famous successful people so they can become influencers. Until beautiful and alcoholic sister Helen crashes their party and one by one all of her boyfriends invite themselves over.		2023 Directed by: K. Asher Levin Screenplay by: Amy Brown Carter, K. Asher Levin Starring: Dylan Gelula, Anabelle Dexter-Jones, Emile Hirsch and Matilda Lutz

Mystic Christmas: Movie Review

Perfectly pleasant and often boring.

Mystic Christmas is an occasionally cute but often just boring Christmas romance. Usually exes at Christmas leads to a lot of fun in movie world, but here it’s just very tame. Juniper (Jessy Schram) is a marine expert returning home to temporarily help out the local aquarium. Her ex is the very nice Sawyer (Chandler Massey). They are both just nice people leading nice lives and it’s all a little boring.		2023 Directed by: Marlo Hunter Screenplay by: Nicole Drespel Starring: Jessy Schram, Chandler Massey

Tripped Up: Movie Review

A fresh, funny comedy about Gen Z girls and the food industry.

Life comes at you fast in Tripped Up. A dramedy about four girls in their mid-twenties, one of whom attempted to be a reality TV chef and is now a cog in fancy New York restaurant for a head chef who hates her. One bad decision later, and Lizzie and her three friends are on a road trip to a food festival in a last-ditch effort to save her career.		2023 Directed by: Shruti Ganguly Screenplay by: Cristina Catanzaro, Carrie Shaw Starring: Leah Lewis, Ariel Winter, Sasha Fox and Ashley Moore

Christmas by Design: Movie Review

A lazy Christmas romance.

I was looking forward to a fashion-based Christmas rom-com, but Hallmark’s Christmas by Design forgot the crucial element of successful romantic comedies – characters that audiences want to root for. Charlotte (Rebecca Dalton), aka Charlie, is fine by the end, but at the beginning she’s a delusional, extremely self-absorbed narcissist who likes being antagonistic towards strangers and dismissive of people who care about her. And it forgot the fashion.		2023 Directed by: Max McGuire Screenplay by: Carley Smale Starring: Rebecca Dalton, Thomas Chovanec

Checkin' It Twice: Movie Review

Checkin’ It Twice is my new favourite genre – the hockey rom-com. Scott (Kevin McGarry) is a journeyman minor league hockey player, he’s in his mid-30s still looking for his shot at the NHL, but instead he’s sent to Idaho Falls a feeder team for the AHL. Meanwhile, Ashley (Kim Matula) is a hot shot commercial real estate agent in New York who has just lost a client to her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend.		2023 Directed by: Kevin Fair Screenplay by: Steve Beauregard Starring: Kevin McGarry, Kim Matula

The Other Zoey: Movie Review

Cute, funny and relatable.

Zoey Miller (Josephine Langford) is The Other Zoey, the less popular, less cool Zoey, the one who’s not dating school soccer star Zack (Drew Starkey). And that’s fine by this Zoey, she’s more interested in getting into grad school for computer sciences anyways than dating some shallow jock. Until Zack gets hit by a car, gets amnesia, and mistakes this Zoey as Zoey Wallace, the soccer-playing very cool Zoey that he is dating, or was dating, it’s going to get complicated.		2023 Directed by: Sara Zandieh Screenplay by: Matthew Tabak Starring: Josephine Langford, Drew Starkey

Field Day: Movie Review

One thing about Hallmark movies that is abundantly true – they know their audience. Field Day is a sweet drama-romance about three middle-aged moms trying to find the right balance between work, love and their kids. Marissa (Carmel Amit) is a work-obsessed mom, struggling to be more present in her daughter’s life; Kelly (Shannon Chan-Kent) is an image-obsessed mom, pretending to be the picture-perfect mom.		2023 Directed by: David Winning Screenplay by: Julie Sherman Wolfe Starring: Rachel Boston, Carmel Amit, Shannon Chan-Kent and Benjamin Ayres

Tetris: Movie Review

Business smarts in a cold war-era drama, comedy, thriller.

2023 thus far is the year of the product/corporate biopic and despite some persistent naysayers who insist this is just commercialism of the worst genre, it is proving to add more interesting business obstacles onto the human aspects. Tetris is not the story of how it was created, but how it was purchased, sold and packaged to become one of the most popular video games worldwide.		2023 Directed by: Jon S. Baird Screenplay by: Noah Pink Starring: Taron Egerton

Love Is in the Air: Movie Review

Not the lovely Australian romance it should have been.

Love Is in the Air is an Australian version of a Hallmark romance. Dana (Delta Goodrem) is a career woman, a pilot of a small family seaplane delivery business, with no time for dating. William (Joshua Sasse) is a finance guy from a UK investment firm planning to sell off Fullerton Airways forcing them to shutdown. There are a few key ingredients from successful romances that are missing here, mainly genuine characters and a connection from shared values and beliefs.		2023 Directed by: Adrian Powers Screenplay by: Katharine E. McPhee and Adrian Powers & Caera Bradshaw Starring: Delta Goodrem, Joshua Sasse

The Retirement Plan: Movie Review

A purposely bad movie with Cage in granddad/assassin mode.

Action comedy The Retirement Plan had very little planning go into it: Cast Nicolas Cage, make him a good guy, and have him kill a whole bunch of bad guys. There’s certainly an element of fun to that premise, but it’s a very broad, very over-the-top re-purposing of an action crime drama into a comedy. Jimmy and Ashley find themselves on the run from bad guys who will kill them if they don’t get what they want: a critical thumb drive. They need an escape plan.		2023 Directed by: Tim Brown Screenplay by: Tim Brown Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ashley Greene, Thalia Campbell and Ron Perlman

Bottoms: Movie Review

The new standard for high school comedies.

Bottoms is quite possibly the funniest movie of the year. Set in a high school that is hopefully more extreme than anything in reality, PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri) are two very unpopular queer girls whom the entire school hates because they don’t idolize Jeff. Nicholas Galitzine’s almost cartoon portrayal of star quarterback Jeff (who wears his jersey emblazoned with his first name) perfectly fits the film’s atmosphere.		2023 Directed by: Emma Seligman Screenplay by: Emma Seligman, Rachel Sennott Starring: Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri

Choose Love: Movie Review

A minimal rom-com with no right or wrong choice.

A choose your own adventure romantic comedy. You finally have your choice of the stable boyfriend, the international long lost love or a rock star. Sorry, not your choice, you get to pick for Cami. Cami (Laura Marano) is an LA music producer who opens the movie by visiting a psychic. The psychic frames the movie perfectly, but Cami is a very flighty girl who can’t make up her mind about anything.		2023 Directed by: Stuart McDonald Screenplay by: Josann McGibbon Starring: Laura Marano, Scott Michael Foster, Jordi Webber and Avan Jogia

Deltopia: Movie Review

A day in the life of high school seniors attending an end of school year epic party. Deltopia is named after the real-life California beach party called Deltopia, and indeed the film opens with a ‘based on true events’ label. The problem with such a label is you’re expecting something interesting or significant to happen, but it looks a lot like every other movie about teens partying, except even harder to get into.		2023 Directed by: Michael Easterling, Jaala Ruffman Screenplay by: Michael Easterling, Jaala Ruffman Starring: Luna Blaise, Madison Pettis, Charlie Gillespie, and Hart Denton

Vacation Friends 2: Movie Review

The original friends are in over their heads.

The vacation friends are back on vacation. Ron (John Cena) & Kyla (Meredith Hagner) and Marcus (Lil Rel Howery & Emily (Yvonne Orji) are in the Caribbean on Marcus’ generosity – or more accurately, on the generosity of an Asian hotel group that Marcus’s company is trying to get into business with, and of course Marcus didn’t tell Ron and Kyla since they can be, you know, embarrassing.		2023 Directed by: Clay Tarver Screenplay by: Clay Tarver Starring: John Cena, Lil Rel Howery, Meredith Hagner, and Yvonne Orji

The List: Movie Review

Fun premise and delivers expected comedy.

Abby (Halston Sage) and Matt (Jonah Platt) are celebrating their engagement when in walks (fictional) celebrity Kenzie Scott. Matt and Abby’s formerly imagined celebrity free pass list becomes a reality officially written down and Matt is “free” to pursue the hot and famous movie star. The first part of The List mostly plays out as it would in real life complete with lies and jealousy and no actual freedom.		2023 Directed by: Melissa Miller Costanzo Screenplay by: Rob Lederer, Steve Vitolo Starring: Halston Sage, Christian Navarro

It Only Takes a Night: Movie Review

A romantic comedy with a bit of a bad girls twist.

It Only Takes a Night is marketed as a ‘women behaving badly’ type of movie but it plays out more like a romantic comedy; however, the end twist is a good joke so its easy to let any misdirection in the genre slide. It opens with Ruby (Eliza Taylor) being interrogated in the morning after a night that clearly went badly. Rewind to three months earlier and Ruby is preparing herself for her boyfriend proposing is instead dumped.		2023 Directed by: Callan Durlik Screenplay by: Callan Durlik Starring: Eliza Taylor, Arielle Carver O'Neill, Sana'a Shaik, 'Ana Ika, and George Pullar

Puppy Love: Movie Review

Jokes fly as two dogs and their owners fall in love.

Nicole (Lucy Hale) lives her life sloppily. She’s messy, over-sleeps her alarm, works for a house-staging company with rich clients – a job she doesn’t care about; getting drunk and yelling at strangers is easier than meeting somebody she actually likes. Max (Grant Gustin) does not like people; he’s asocial, has panic attacks at the mere thought of going to work and interacting with anybody will often lead to him throwing up.		2023 Directed by: Nick Fabiano, Richard Alan Reid Screenplay by: Greg Glienna, Peter Stass, and Kirsten Guenther Starring: Lucy Hale, Grant Gustin

Match Me If You Can: Movie Review

Cute and sweet rom-com.

Kip (Georgina Reilly) is a nerdy computer programmer who signs up for a dating website during a drunken night of self pity only to receive an email the next day saying she's unmatchable. What follows is a sweet and funny rom-com about an introverted girl thrust into a public spotlight after the company decides to sue her for libel. It's a movie about celebrating the weird and standing up for yourself.		2023 Directed by: Marian Yeager Screenplay by: Betsy Morris Starring: Georgina Reilly, Wilson Bethel

Red, White & Royal Blue: Movie Review

Annoying premise but good relationship saga.

The premise of Red, White & Royal Blue can be very difficult to accept, and it’s hard to see this as anything but a cash grab to try to steal off the recent popularity of the British Royals with King Charles’ coronation and Megan and Prince Harry’s tell-alls. In this version of reality, there’s a King James III who is the grandfather of Prince Philip (a clear parallel to William), Prince Henry (a partial parallel to Harry) and Princess Beatrice.		2023 Directed by: Matthew Lopez Screenplay by: Matthew Lopez, Ted Malawar Based on the novel by Casey McQuiston Starring: Taylor Zakhar Perez, Nicholas Galitzine

Making Waves: Movie Review

A lightweight romance with bland storylines.

Amelia (Holland Roden) is an over-worked music producer at a record label in Nashville, who would love her job if her boss actually listened to her occasionally. Her boss reluctantly approves a trip to the Outer Banks Music Festival to try and sign a new indie band. This happens to be her hometown, her high school boyfriend and childhood best friend still live there, and of course the ex is secretly the lead singer of Figure 8’s.		2023 Directed by: Terry Ingram Screenplay by: Kate Schriver, Laura Streicher Starring: Holland Roden, Corey Cott

North of Normal: Movie Review

A prudent tale of life finding its way back to normal.

Cea knows her life is far from normal, but she also doesn’t really know what normal is or where to find it. As a young child her single mother opted out of society and raised Cea first in a cult in the wilderness and then with her grandparents in the Yukon. North of Normal starts with young Cea continually confused and frustrated by the weird cult but then abandoned by her mother.		2022 Directed by: Carly Stone Screenplay by: Alexandra Weir Based on the memoir by Cea Sunrise Person Starring: Amanda Fix, Sarah Gadon

River Wild: Movie Review

A thriller with the right amount of action, suspense and atmosphere.

Joey (Leighton Meester) goes with her brother, Gray (Taran Killam), on a whitewater rafting and camping trip. Joining them are new friends, Van (Eve Connelly) and Karissa (Olivia Swann), and an old childhood friend Trevor (Adam Brody). Gray is the experienced rafter the others are up for the adventure. It’s just the five of them versus the elements but turns out it’s not going to be that simple.		2023 Directed by: Ben Ketai Screenplay by: Ben Ketai, Mike Nguyen Le Starring: Leighton Meester, Taran Killam,  and Adam Brody

Aloha Heart: Movie Review

Slow, minimal but lovely romance.

Sarah (Taylor Cole) is a workaholic who loves her job as a water conservationist and begrudgingly takes a week off for her best friend’s wedding in Hawaii. More on her later since she’s a much better character than expected based on that opening. Manu (Kanoa Goo) is a newly-promoted hotel manager working for his out-of-touch parents at a beautiful Hawaiian resort, where Sarah and the bride and groom are about to land.		2023 Directed by: Seth Jarrett Screenplay by: Nicole Baxter Starring: Taylor Cole, Kanoa Goo

Sons of Summer: Movie Review

A group of four men get caught up in a drug deal gone bad. Now it’s 30 years later and their four sons bonded by surfing and their fathers and decide it’s also time to get caught up in a drug deal gone bad. It’s now 30 years after the release of Point Break and Australia decided it needed to make its own Point Break, just cheaper and significantly worse.		2023 Directed by: Clive Fleury Screenplay by: Phillip Avalon, Greg Clayton Starring: Joe Davidson, Isabel Lucas

The Slumber Party: Movie Review

Disney’s The Slumber Party is The Hangover except change to teen girls, minus the drugs, and swap out the general R-rated raunchiness for PG misadventures. It manages to still be fun and perfectly tailored to its audience. This is a wholesome, progressive teen girl adventure comedy that focuses on fun. The overall themes about friendship and family are kept to a minimum. The girls just get to have fun instead of delivering virtuous messages.		2023 Directed by: Veronica Rodriguez Screenplay by: Eydie Faye, Jen Malone Starring: Darby Camp, Emmy Liu-Wang and Alex Coopher Cohen

See You on Venus: Movie Review

A light-weight tragi-comedy fizzles out into a confused romantic drama.

A girl with a secret makes a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Spain. She also manages to convince an almost stranger recovering from a tragedy to join her. Mia (Virginia Gardner) can steal hearts from the beginning; she’s a kind-hearted, street-smart girl who loves photography and grew up in the foster system. It’s clear she’s seen things in her past but has found a way to continually embrace positivity.		2023 Directed by: Joaquin Llamas Screenplay by: Victoria Vinuesa Starring: Virginia Gardner, Alex Aiono

Happiness for Beginners: Movie Review

A light-weight romantic dramedy with a lovely tranquil and serene atmosphere.

Happiness for Beginners gets off on the right foot. Ellie Kemper’s Helen is funny and Luke Grimes’ Jake is sweet. Helen is a little miss perfectionist, plans things to the detail and expects everyone else to just follow her lead. That type of character can get annoying but Kemper provides her with enough humanity that audiences are most likely to be sympathetic to her rather than frustrated by her.		2023 Directed by: Vicky Wight Screenplay by: Vicky Wight, Katherine Center Starring: Ellie Kemper, Luke Grimes