Kneecap (2024)

A "mostly true" origin story for the Irish-language rap trio Kneecap. For the first two-thirds or so, I just assumed this was complete fiction. Then I looked up the band and found out it was a real thing -- but I still thought that these must be actors playing the band members because they are so natural and charismatic. Nope! Those are the band members themselves! And -- to further admit to my ignorance -- I had no idea that the Irish have a language of their own. And people say that movies are a waste of time...

Truly fun if a bit chaotic/confusing at times.

B

Gladiator (2000)

Caesar selects the loyal General Maximus  as his successor, which makes Caesar's unstable son Commodus less-than-happy so he murders Dad and takes over. To clip all the loose ends, he orders that Maximus & his family also be murdered, but it doesn't work out quite as he planned.

This was the third time I've seen this -- for some reason it never quite sticks in my mind. Yes, I remember the "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED" bellow and the incesty vibe of Commodus with his sister, but I'm also always on the edge of my seat as to what's going to happen. Definitely rousing entertainment though.

B+

Born Yesterday (1950)

DC reporter is hired by a garbage tycoon to smarten-up his girlfriend Billie so she'll fit in better with the bigwigs he's trying to influence. What the tycoon couldn't have foreseen is that the more she learns, the less satisfied she is with the status quo. His insults no longer roll off of her and she begins considering the morality of what he's up to.

This is a bit darker than I remembered -- more abusive. But what really stood out to me this time around was the lesson that "Those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it." This film is about 75 years old and tackles both fascism and the evil role of money in politics & here we are, all these years later, with the same old stories in news.

B-

Vampires vs. the Bronx (2020)

The Bronx is facing gentrification, which is bad enough. But when a trio of friends discover that the  properties are being bought up by vampires, they decide to make like Blade & take 'em down.

It's way too light on both plot and innovation. It's neither scary nor funny enough.

C

The Princess Bride (1987)

Nearly perfect family movie: romance, adventure, feats of derring-do, villainy, and hilarious silliness. Wonderful the first time you see it and every bit as enjoyable the 12th time. Almost every line is quotable.

I have only one complaint: it's usually difficult to decipher Fezzik's lines (and sometimes Inigo's too), but that's easily mitigated with subtitles.

A+

Carry-On (2024)

After a rejection from the Police Academy, Ethan has followed his girlfriend to LA and is putting in the bare minimum at his TSA job. The news that he's expecting a baby puts some fire under him and he gets a trial run on the imaging machine on one of the busiest days of the year, making him the new puppet for the bad guys trying to get a nerve agent through his checkpoint.

Both the villain and our hero pivot when necessary, which makes for a really satisfying back and forth; they're basically the airline McClane and Gruber. Getting to the finish line was pretty fun even though there wasn't ever any doubt how things were going to end up.

B

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet play sisters who (along with their mother and younger sister) are forced from their home with very little to sustain them when their father dies. They land somewhat softly as guests in a small home on a vast estate and each falls in love with a handsome man of means. But nothing's easy in Jane Austen's world: one of the men turns out to be a scalawag who must marry for money and the other turns out to have been betrothed to another for years. Will it somehow turn out alright?

This is basically the more tragic version of Pride & Prejudice -- and we'd just watched that miniseries last week. The acting is wonderful and the film is beautiful, but I just kept thinking about how much better P&P is. Probably unfair, but isn't everything when you're a woman without means?

C+

That Christmas (2024)

There's way too much going on here. We've got a lonely kid dealing with a fresh divorce and his sad/overworked mom who isn't shy about making sure her son is aware that his dad ran away with a 25-year old. There's a guy getting married on Christmas eve to a woman with a bunch of kids (I think? Maybe they weren't all hers), but anyway the kids aren't invited to the wedding for some reason. We've also got twins, one of whom is an anxiety-ridden goody-goody and the other who's a troublemaking "look at me"-type. And the lighthouse-keeper's mom is dying in a nursing home and the mean teacher is secretly grieving. Meanwhile, Santa's figuring out the best gifts for them all while his single reindeer complains.

My son recommended this to us as "good for a sweet cry," but the only thing I could find worth crying about here was the wasted time and movies that didn't get made because talented artists were busy making this crappy jumble. If the focus had simply been tightened to be on the twins and giving the revelations there a chance to breathe, this could've been something worthy of my tears.

D

My Old Ass (2024)

It's her last summer at home before college and Elliott doesn't want to waste it with her family. But when 39-year-old Elliott comes to visit during 18-year-old Elliott's mushroom trip, older gives younger some advice. Elliott is encouraged to slow down and savor time with her brothers and mother and to stay away from the yet-to-be-encountered Chad. She actually follows the advice... well, most of it.

I'm getting up there and can admit that I've done my share of lamenting "kids these days" and wishing my adult children had more time for me, so this hit me right in the gut. It's such a special film that basically turns the "what would you go back in time and tell your younger self" into reality. Though the situation is magical, the story focuses on life rather than the miraculous and reminds us that life is truly crammed with magic for anyone paying attention.

B+

Jules (2023)

Milton's a widower living on his own and he's beginning to show signs of confusion; his daughter has noticed, as have the other citizens who regularly attend town meetings. So, when he begins mentioning the spaceship that has crashed into his backyard, it only generates more concern about his mental state despite the fact that the spaceship and the alien who emerges are real. Soon a couple of elderly women are in on the secret and they're determined to keep "Jules" safe.

What a lovely story. The alien plot is sweet, but what I liked the most was the three lonely people coming together to form a sort of family. It was hopeful and a good reminder that everyone needs community -- as long as there's consciousness, there's a need for others in our lives.

B+

Argentina, 1985 (2022)

After coming through a brutal military dictatorship, Argentina's new government decides that those who were responsible during that time must be prosecuted. They select Julio Strassera, a competent but quiet prosecutor, who must then find a willing team to work with him despite threats of violence from those who prefer to leave the past unexamined. I admit that I was sometimes confused about who was who -- this entire subject was completely new to me -- but I didn't need to follow every beat to get it. 

It reminded me a bit of The Untouchables, in which Eliot Ness fought an unpopular war with a cobbled-together team of the untested. This, however, felt more rooted in reality, enabling me to easily envision the future in the United States in a decade or so. Hopefully our incoming government is more familiar with this chapter in history than I was and will take heed.

B-

Wonka (2023)

Once upon a time, Willy Wonka was just a young man trying to make it in the candy business. He travels to the town with the best chocolate (according to his late mother) and runs afoul of a trio of resident chocolatiers. But he's got ingenuity and moxie on his side and he's collecting friends as well.

It was good-natured and good-looking, but it somehow felt like it was hedging a bit. Chalamet manages to be both delightful and a tad blank, like the best actor in any big high school. We were entertained but there's no way I'll seek this out again.

B-