Creed II (2018)

Adonis Creed becomes a petulant baby who thinks he knows everything and finds out different. I mean, oof. This is not a good movie. When the big bad Russian boxer and his mean daddy turn out to be more sympathetic than the star, you know something's gone wrong somewhere. What a waste of the goodwill the first Creed built. This is trash.

D

Men in Black: International (2019)

Young girl encounters an alien and, when the MIB come to wipe the family's memories, she's overlooked. She spends her entire life searching for and trying to become a part of the group she saw that night and finally slips in.

The set-up is much better than the execution. Though everyone's game, the script really lets them down. This should be the end of the series. Well, the prior film should've been the end of the series.

C-

Fighting with My Family (2019)

Based on a true story about the daughter in a British "wrestling family" breaking into the American WWE. Although the drama back home felt a little too manufactured (sibling rivalry, the single-mindedness of the family), the drama of what it takes to make it in the WWE was fascinating.

Florence Pugh is very good as Paige, a true talent who doesn't know how to fit in with the girls selected more as eye-candy than for their know-how. Her struggle made me respect the rigors of what I've thought of as just a show. It's a very entertaining ride.

B-

Another Earth (2011)

Rhoda is a brilliant high school student on her way to MIT. While driving home after a night of celebrating with her friends, she is distracted by the news of a planet very similar to Earth now visible in the night sky and plows into a family. This tragedy, of course, changes both her life and that of the family's sole survivor.

Brit Marling is sheer talent. Though she's a fine actress, she is a truly gifted creator. Her ideas transport and force one to consider the unknown. This film casts a spell and I know I'll be thinking about it for years.

A-

Dolemite Is My Name (2019)

Eddie Murphy plays Rudy Ray Moore, a man who had always dreamed of being famous but could never find the hook to get him there. Once he crafted the character of Dolemite -- a rhyming, puffed-up braggart full of fantastical stories -- he became a household name in the black community.

The bulk of this story concerns his efforts to get a movie based on the character made. It's a wild ride with lots of set-backs, but Murphy makes it fun. It's the best role he's had in decades. Still, the movie runs slightly longer than it should. I felt like we went over the same ground a few times.

B

American Woman (2019)

Deb, 32, is the mother of a teenage girl who is, herself, mother to an infant son. They live across the street from her settled sister's family and also regularly see Debra's mother. They're tight-knit, but Deb is definitely the black sheep screw-up of the family and her daughter Bridget looks to be following the same blueprint -- until, one night, Bridget just doesn't come home.

Most movies would focus on Bridget's disappearance as THE STORY. But here, it serves as more of a catalyst. Deb is suddenly acting mother to her grandson and scrambling to make her life and his better. Though it's both heartbreaking and triumphant, the film never makes the mistake of going too big on either of those. It's just life. It can be sad and terrible and sweet, but it's almost always manageable and, from the outside, fairly small.

B

A Christmas Carol (2019)

This adaptation made Scrooge less a stingy, lonely old man and more of a damaged and cruel one. The mood was effective: it put both Gary and me in mind of the Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell miniseries, but without the light and sense of hope.

Even in the denouement, when Scrooge has recognized the error of his ways, it was uncomfortable. Which, sure, this might be more true-to-life -- I mean, would a family who'd been so personally affected by this man's cruelty welcome him with joy into their lives? Probably not. But being honest doesn't always make for great entertainment.

C+

When Harry Met Sally... (1989)

This was probably the 5th time I've seen this near-perfect film. I love the bumper scenes with the long-term couples recounting how they met, the general banter, the soundtrack, oh -- just everything.

My first birthday after we were married in 1990, Gary bought me the soundtrack on cassette tape and loaded it into my Celica's tape deck so that, when I started my car, I heard the sweep of the big band leading into Harry Connick Jr.'s vocals of "It Had to Be You." Almost 30 years later, that is still a lovely memory. This movie is the same way -- I know what's coming and I'm in happy anticipation every moment.

A

White Christmas (1954)

A male song and dance duo team up with a sister act, both romantically and to save a failing Vermont Inn owned by the men's former general.

I can't believe I'd gone more than 50 years without seeing this touchstone Christmas film. The story's slight and there are only a few really good songs, but it was sweet and definitely helped to put us in the spirit of the season.

B

The Christmas Chronicles (2018)

Kurt Russell is a hot Santa Claus whose work is disrupted by a brother and sister who hitch a ride resulting in a crash, disabling the sleigh and scattering the reindeer.

It's not going to be a classic by any means, but it's mildly entertaining. Except for those weird elves. They should've rethought that nightmare fuel.

C+