Woman of the Hour: Movie Review

Captivating and smart portrayal of a true crime thriller.

Woman of the Hour can be an uncomfortable watch, a movie that doesn’t really all come together until the end when you realize how succinctly it has told a true crime story with real implications from the sexism of the 1970s. How women weren’t believed and how easily people can present themselves differently. It's a measured and careful movie, a smart blend of what's needed to tell both a small story of one game show and an epic tale of misogyny.		2024 Directed by: Anna Kendrick Screenplay by: Ian McDonald Starring: Daniel Zovatto, Anna Kendrick

Chosen Family: Movie Review

The messiness of adult relationships.

Chosen Family takes place in a beautiful and affluent community in Rhode Island, and it's about how hard life is. Yes, you read that right, it's primarily about rich people who can afford to live in one of the nicest coastal towns in the country struggle through life's ups and downs. It is better than that, but be prepared.		2024 Directed by: Heather Graham Screenplay by: Heather Graham Starring: Heather Graham, John Brotherton

Advanced Chemistry: Movie Review

Funny, stupid, ridiculous.

Advanced Chemistry is a romantic comedy / comedy of errors. The premise suggests science fiction, a genre that typically can’t be done well with a miniscule budget. While the film does do well with its limited means, the biochemistry plot is too stupid for the movie to overcome. The resulting side effects of the experimental drugs lead to hilarity for some but only if you fall on the right side of ridiculous, which it does not for me.		2023 Directed by: Etana Jacobson Screenplay by: Alec Moore Starring: Samba Schutte, Chaunte Wayans

My Old Ass: Movie Review

A perfect mix of genres, characters and choices in life.

Let me just get one thing off my chest: I don’t like the title. I think it cheapens the movie; it may fit the characters in the beginning, but it grows so far beyond that. My Old Ass presents a few different themes but it evolves into something so sweet, uplifting and relatable (minus the parts that ignore the laws of time).		2024 Directed by: Megan Park Screenplay by: Megan Park Starring: Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza

The Problem with People: Movie Review

A tale of Irish quirkiness.

Local Hero meets Wild Mountain Thyme when a centuries old land dispute comes to ahead when a successful businessman from America travels to Ireland and quickly makes friends and enemies alike in the small Irish town. The Problem with People perhaps isn’t quite as weird as that mix would suggest but quirkiness takes over after a simplistic set-up. Fergus is dying and it’s his final wish that two separate halves of an estranged family reunite.		2024 Directed by: Chris Cottam Screenplay by: Wally Marzano-Lesnevich, Paul Reiser Starring: Colm Meaney and Paul Reiser

This Time Next Year: Movie Review

A mess of a not-a-romantic-comedy.

There’s a basic premise in This Time Next Year that is so simple but also creative and original. One moment of the year which most people think about exactly once a year and then never again, unless the odds have deemed you to be that one person it affects. Every year on New Year’s Eve there is a race in maternity wards to have the first baby born in the new year as it often comes with cash awards and prizes.		2024 Directed by: Nick Moore Screenplay by: Sophie Cousens Starring: Sophie Cookson, Lucien Laviscount

She Taught Love: Movie Review

Fresh and unique, but also boring and forgettable.

Frank (Darrell Britt-Gibson) is a struggling actor in LA. He complains about only being considered for stereotypical black roles like drug dealers, and sees a room full of actors who all look like him when he walks out. He’s a smooth talker and can make friends, and enemies, with women pretty quickly. His agent (D’Arcy Carden) attempts to get him to schmooze with industry bigwigs at parties, but his natural affinity for talking does not lend itself for Hollywood networking.		2024 Directed by: Nate Edwards Screenplay by: Darrell Britt-Gibson Starring: Darrell Britt-Gibson, Arsema Thomas

Killer Heat: Movie Review

An utterly forgettable tale of greed and jealousy.

Killer Heat has a strong and distinct film noir vibe. A private investigator has been hired to investigate the potential murder (ruled accidental death) of a son of a wealthy and controlling family. That story is then paired with bright sun-soaked photography of beautiful Crete and the rich residents wearing crisp white and designer sunglasses. It’s a beautiful-looking movie but does not at all fit the film noir atmosphere it’s trying for.		2024 Directed by: Philippe Lacôte Screenplay by: Matt Charman, Roberto Bentivegna, and Jo Nesbø Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley

The Life of Peter Gottlieb: Movie Review

A great lead character runs into production limitations.

Peter Gottlieb is a freshly-divorced, hopeless sad-sack of an economics professor at a small community college. Just in case you weren’t sure, the movie's opening sentence clarifies that this is indeed a fictional story. The beginning, featuring Peter in a hospital delivery room eagerly awaiting the arrival of his baby receives different news instead, is funny. It remains funny when we jump ahead five years to Peter teaching with no care whatsoever about his students or his job.		2024 Directed by: Sam Centrella Screenplay by: Sam Centrella, Reuben Barsky, and Giorgio Panetta Starring: Reuben Barsky and Erica Pappas

Millers in Marriage: Movie Review

Rich people and their champagne problems.

“You’re a good writer, Mags; you always have been, but it’s rich people and their champagne problems.” “Well, I write what I know.” That passage from husband Nick (Campbell Scott) to wife Maggie (Julianna Margulies) is the perfect quote to summarize Millers in Marriage. By far, the most common – and fair – complaint about Edward Burns’ latest is that it’s just rich people and their boring problems. This is true, but also true is that Burns is still a very good writer and has armed these characters with some witty dialogue and moments where things come together in an understated manner.		2024 Directed by: Edward Burns Screenplay by: Edward Burns Starring: Julianna Margulies, Gretchen Mol and Edward Burns

Sweet Angel Baby: Movie Review

Sexuality, morality and small-town politics.

Bundled up in big sweaters and tall boots, Eliza (Michaela Kurimsky) is arguably ready for the harsh Newfoundland winters. She’s also covering herself up to hide and get as far removed as possible from her other persona. In town, she’s a sweet, single, church-going, fundraising, unassuming young woman. But away from town – in the woods, or on a rocky shore, or in a deserted barn – she strips down in front of her camera and anonymously broadcasts to the rest of the world.		2024 Directed by: Melanie Oates Screenplay by: Melanie Oates Starring: Michaela Kurimsky

Addition: Movie Review

Grace (Teresa Palmer) likes to count thing. That’s not exactly accurate, she has a compulsive need to count otherwise she has a panic attack and feels like she has no control in this world. So she likes to count to feel safe and in control. She especially likes to count things in groups of 10. When she realizes she accidentally picked up 9 bananas at the grocery store, she needs to quickly find a 10th banana.		2024 Directed by: Marcelle Lunam Screenplay by: Becca Johnstone, Toni Jordan Starring: Teresa Palmer, Joe Dempsie

The Luckiest Man in America: Movie Review

The Luckiest Man in America is based on a true story that you’re likely not familiar with. There were no affecting consequences, it was just a day for big swings in opinions and personalities in front of the camera and behind the camera for the 1980s daytime game show Press Your Luck. Michael Larson (Paul Walter Hauser) is winning big money on the small-time game show, but nobody is sure if that’s a good thing, a bad thing, or a potentially fraudulent thing.		2024 Directed by: Samir Oliveros Screenplay by: Maggie Briggs, Samir Oliveros Starring: Paul Walter Hauser, David Strathairn

A New York Story: Movie Review

A love story that really pulls you in.

A New York Story is heavily influenced by Whit Stillman and Woody Allen. A tale of class differences in New York City anchored by a pair of young lovers who often find themselves walking the New York sights as autumn changes to winter. It’s a romantic aesthetic which I loved as a teenager but in recent years it no longer feels fresh or mature. However, it really fits the tone and these characters as they make their way towards each other across the class lines.		2024 Directed by: Fiona Robert Screenplay by: Fiona Robert, Sofia Robert Starring: Fiona Robert, Paul Karmiryan

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: Movie Review

A vibrantly crafted mess.

It’s been around 30 years since I last watched the original Beetlejuice, but I don’t remember it having so much nonsense. I remember Michael Keaton’s Betelgeuse, the larger-than-life demon, and Wynona Ryder’s goth girl. Both of whom, plus Lydia’s mother Catherine O’Hara, have returned for the sequel. Keaton warned producers that he can’t be in the movie too much or else his character gets over-done, which is why the first worked so well. They get the ratio right again, but the rest of the afterlife and underworld is just so ridiculously filled with nonsense that goes nowhere.		2024 Directed by: Tim Burton Screenplay by: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Seth Grahame-Smith Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, and Jenna Ortega

Deaner '89: Movie Review

Deaner (Paul Spence) is supposedly an iconic Canadian character. I think that’s a bit of an oversell. Regardless Deaner is getting the origin story treatment as many famous Canadian actors show up for a laugh. That is being generous though as all the jokes are buried in extreme rural Canadian accents and adding an “ ’er” or an “eh?” onto the ends of most words and then chugging beers while swearing.		2024 Directed by: Sam McGlynn Screenplay by: Paul Spence Starring: Paul Spence, Star Slade

(Un)lucky Sisters: Movie Review

A fun fast romp around Buenos Aires.

The (Un)lucky Sisters are two estranged half-sisters whose father just died. He may or may not have been a criminal and they may or may not have just inherited a luxurious apartment in Buenos Aires. He owned the apartment but it’s currently caught up in a lawsuit and won’t transfer to the estate right away if at all. This is a fun, fast drama/comedy caper as the girls navigate their relationship and dodge people who are most likely criminal co-conspirators of their father.		2024 Directed by: Fabiana Tiscornia Screenplay by: Mariano Vera Starring: Sofia Morandi, Leticia Siciliani

Boot Camp: Movie Review

Teen romance both cheesy and predictable, and sweet and funny.

Boot Camp is a teen romantic comedy about a chubby girl who attends a fitness and wellness retreat and falls in love with her trainer. It’s cheesy and predictable, and sweet and funny and hits a lot of the right notes. The beginning can be frustrating to get through because there are so many unrealistic aspects that you just have to accept, but then it settles down into a cute and lovely romance between two adorable characters.		2024 Directed by: Mackenzie Munro Screenplay by: Gemma Holdway, Gina Musa Starring: Rachel Boudwin, Drew Ray Tanner

Incoming: Movie Review

Perhaps I’m aging out of these movies, but I also think the filmmakers have aged out of these movies. Incoming is like 40-year-old men trying to act and sound like high school kids. They seem to have picked up as much lingo as they could from Gen Z on social media and then completed the movie borrowing from Gen X peers. The result is a high school party that doesn’t fit any decade.		2024 Directed by: Dave Chernin, John Chernin Screenplay by: Dave Chernin, John Chernin Starring: Mason Thames, Isabella Ferreira, Ali Gallo and Bobby Cannavale

It Ends with Us: Movie Review

A romantic drama with something to say.

With any movie based on a popular novel, there are always going to be two very separate camps: those who compare it to the novel they know and loved, and those who never read the novel. I am in the latter camp. Normally I would be in the target audience for this movie but considering I had not heard of author Colleen Hoover prior to this release, I am in a weird in between place where I am neither the target audience and yet also the type of person most likely to enjoy and get something out of this romantic drama.		2024 Directed by: Justin Baldoni Screenplay by: Christy Hall, Colleen Hoover Starring: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni

Spread: Movie Review

Ruby (Elizabeth Gillies) is smart and works hard, kind of. More accurately, she works at lots of jobs because she keeps getting fired because she can’t keep her mouth shut. Her current job is a paid internship at a high-brow magazine where she goes on a rant about journalism integrity and who the company should and should not partner with. She told herself to not say anything, but she couldn’t help herself, and now she’s out of a job.		2024 Directed by: Ellie Kanner Screenplay by: Buffy Charlet Starring: Elizabeth Gillies

Find Me Falling: Movie Review

Romantic drama that's a little unexpected.

You know what is a good underrated romantic drama? Hope Floats. This isn’t Hope Floats, but there is a comfort level whenever Harry Connick Jr appears on screen in a romance. Here he’s an aging former rock star who has just moved to Cyprus, where he wants to be alone, unknown and retire in peace. Or so he says. And then he finds out that the house he just bought is a suicide hotspot.		2024 Directed by: Stelana Kliris Screenplay by: Stelana Kliris Starring: Harry Connick Jr

Goyo: Movie Review

A dark and difficult watch about love on the autism spectrum.

Love on the Spectrum is a TV show that I have not seen, but would be a fitting alternate title for Goyo. Goyo is about a young man nicknamed Goyo (from Gregorius) with Autism. Goyo spends his days learning to swim with a group of mentally and physically handicapped adults but he actually just likes holding his breath and hiding from the world underwater and then yelling at his classmates.		2024 Directed by: Marcos Carnevale Screenplay by: Marcos Carnevale Starring: Nicolás Furtado, Nancy Dupláa

Space Cadet: Movie Review

Light on laughs and reality, but it is fun and sweet.

The key to Space Cadet is patience. A movie with a cheesy premise – a Florida party girl joins the NASA astronaut training program after her friend lies on her application – indeed begins with a very immature first half, but eventually moves towards something sweet and funny. Emma Roberts stars as Rex Simpson, a once-promising high school student (with accolades and scholarships to prove it) who put her life on hold to take care of her dying mother.		2024 Directed by: Liz W. Garcia Screenplay by: Liz W. Garcia Starring: Emma Roberts, Tom Hopper

Reunion: Movie Review

A nice, easy watch but minimal comedy and intrigue.

Most recently popularized by the AppleTV+ series, The Afterparty, a high school reunion is an intriguing setting for a murder mystery. Reunion is a quick little splash in that genre; some fun characters but too slight of a movie to make a lasting impression. We start with a cop, Evan (Billy Magnussen), and Ray (Lil Rel Howery) dancing around in his underwear and getting dressed in his old high school clothes.		2024 Directed by: Chris Nelson Screenplay by: Willie Block, Jake Emanuel Starring: Lil Rel Howery, Billy Magnussen

A Family Affair: Movie Review

High on the comedic energy, very low on the romance.

We’re in the era of competing movies on the streamers. Two months ago, Amazon released The Idea of You, a single mother dates a famous pop star, and now Netflix has released A Family Affair, a single mother dates a famous actor. However the few deviations provide big differences in the tone and theme of the two movies. A Family Affair is strictly a romantic comedy, emphasis on the comedy, where the 20-something daughter takes great umbrage with her mother’s new romantic interest.		2024 Directed by: Richard LaGravenese Screenplay by: Carrie Solomon Starring: Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, Joey King and Kathy Bates

Hit Man: Movie Review

A devilishly smart crowd-pleaser.

An interesting distinction needs to be made with Hit Man: It’s based on a real person, but it’s not based on a true story. Meaning, the main character and all his various personas and jobs and identities – all true, but the main plot and most of the action of the second half, all fabricated. Writer and director Richard Linklater has spent his career throwing in a few ‘based on a true story’ movies among his humorous and touching movies about the human existence. It's only fitting that Hit Man deftly combines the two.		2024 Directed by: Richard Linklater Screenplay by: Richard Linklater, Glen Powell, Skip Hollandsworth Starring: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona

End of the Rope: Movie Review

A western crime drama with a different historical flavour.

End of the Rope is a story about social justice, an historical crime thriller set during the early 1930s where the self-evident truth starts being at odds with the uncovered evidence and a community of desperate people starting to turn against their local law enforcement. It’s a low-budget independent feature telling a story arguably bigger than a film like this can handle.		2023 Directed by: Charlie Griak Screenplay by: Daniel Bielinski, Charlie Griak Based on the story by Dennis Johnson Starring: Joseph Gray, Chris Bylsma

The Image of You: Movie Review

The Image of You is a campy, pulpy, sultry, trashy thriller complete with identical twins, affairs, a dying mother, schizophrenia and murder, oh my! There is of course one big twist, but dilutes the movie into an unsatisfying mess. Sasha Pieterse stars as identical twins Anna and Zoe. Anna is the put-together, risk-averse twin; Zoe is the daring out-spoken twin seeking alcohol, drugs and other such pleasures.		2024 Directed by: Jeff Fisher Screenplay by: Adele Parks, Chris Sivertson Starring: Sasha Pieterse, Parker Young

Mother of the Bride: Movie Review

Mother of the Bride is a Netflix romantic comedy which has minimal romance, a few awful attempts at comedy, and has no clue who its target audience is. The center of the romance is Lana (Brooke Shields) a widowed single mother of Emma (Miranda Cosgrove) who is about to get married in Thailand. Lana is then thrown for a loop when she finds out the father of the groom is her old college flame Will (Benjamin Bratt).		2024 Directed by: Mark Waters Screenplay by: Robin Bernheim Starring: Brooke Shields, Benjamin Bratt

Unfrosted: Movie Review

A movie spoofing better movies to show how stupid it is.

Jerry Seinfeld, fresh off his “they don’t let us make comedy anymore” social media whining tour, has made a new comedy, Unfrosted, making fun of a whole bunch of better movies that came before it. Seinfeld who acts as producer, director, writer and star of the movie, belongs to a small set of people who likely never saw Air, or Blackberry or Tetris but complained about the idea of those movies being stupid. So he decided to make a stupider movie because he couldn’t see the humanity that was behind those movies.		2024 Directed by: Jerry Seinfeld Screenplay by: Jerry Seinfeld, Spike Feresten, Andy Robin Starring: Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Gaffigan, Melissa McCarthy

Junction: Movie Review

There have been so many opioid epidemic movies and shows over the past year or two, so it kind of seems like an odd choice for actor Bryan Greenberg to make his screenwriting and directorial debut with. It’s impossible for Junction to stand-out against the bigger-budget productions, the grittier productions, the documentary productions, so it just tucks itself into the middle with a nicely polished, lower budget, fictionalized story that could be (mostly) true.		2024 Directed by: Bryan Greenberg Screenplay by: Bryan Greenberg Starring: Griffin Dunne, Ashley Madikwe, Bryan Greenberg and Sophia Bush

Weak Layers: Movie Review

A very enjoyable movie about skiing, friends, lovers, and life in a ski town.

Weak Layers might seem like a simple movie on the surface – a skiing comedy where three female friends try to win a competition – but it successfully incorporates around 4 different simple ideas to tell a movie slightly different than expected to allow the audience to just be entertained by the skiing, the comedy, the romance. It’s got it all and remains a very simple, easy to like, fun to watch little movie.		2023 Directed by: Katie Burrell Screenplay by: Katie Burrell, Andrew Ladd Starring: Katie Burrell, Jadyn Wong, Chelsea Conwright, Evan Jonigkeit

American Fiction: Movie Review

American Fiction asks the question “What is Black art?” Is it a novel or a film made by a Black person or does it have to be about an experience unique to their culture in such a way that White people can praise it to absolve their guilt? It asks this question by telling a tale that is both truthful in an everyday every American kind of way and a part that is pure fiction that offers entertaining reflection.		2023 Directed by: Cord Jefferson Screenplay by: Cord Jefferson Starring: Jeffrey Wright, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, and Sterling K. Brown

Mean Girls: Movie Review

The same Mean Girls, now with songs.

The trailer says, “This is not your mother’s Mean Girls.” Except that it is. They added songs and changed a few lines, but otherwise it’s pretty much exactly the same Mean Girls. The updating for today’s audience is limited to wardrobe changes and new makeup styles, and the gossip around school is now done via tik tok videos and group texts.		2024 Directed by: Samantha Jayne, Arturo Perez Jr. Screenplay by: Tina Fey Starring: Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Christopher Briney and Bebe Wood

Anyone But You: Movie Review

It’s a beautiful movie to look at, but has lots of nagging distractions.

Anyone But You feels like it’s recreating the sensual romantic comedies that were once popular but for modern audiences. The film focuses on the gorgeous stars, the beautiful setting, the attractive stars, the delightful ensemble and did I mention how hot the leads are? This is very much a look at the very beautiful, very rich people on vacation type of movie.		2023 Directed by: Will Gluck Screenplay by: Ilana Wolpert, Will Gluck Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell

The Iron Claw: Movie Review

A surprisingly compelling story about tragedy.

I will never understand wrestling. Like any good university student in the 2000s, I had a group of friends into WWE Raw and I tried to like it but just couldn’t. I do, however, like biopics and “based on a true story.” The Iron Claw is a dramatic look at an American tragedy way more than it even resembles a wrestling movie. I had never heard of the Von Erichs before watching this movie and I’m sure my viewing experience was completely different than someone who grew up idolizing them.		2023 Directed by: Sean Durkin Screenplay by: Sean Durkin Starring: Zac Efron, Harris Dickinson, Stanley Simons and Jeremy Allen White