Caught Stealing (2025)

Hank is just coasting as a barkeep in 1990s New York after his promising future in baseball is derailed by an injury. But when his dealer neighbor has to leave town and asks Hank to catsit, he's sucked into the criminal underworld and has to scramble to get himself out before he's taken out.

There's barely a dull moment here -- almost nonstop excitement and thrills. Yes, there are more than a couple of plot holes, but that just means you shouldn't look too hard or you'll ruin the good time you'd definitely have otherwise.

B

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

A couple of years after a a very public divorce, socialite Tracy is set to marry the "up from nothing" George. Her ex Dexter now works for Spy magazine and, in order to quash a story about Tracy's father's philandering, he has convinced his editor to send a reporter and photographer to cover the wedding instead.

With Cary Grant as Dexter (still beloved by the family), Jimmy Stewart as Mike the reporter (and frustrated "serious" author with little regard for the useless rich), and Katharine Hepburn as Tracy (trying to move on if her emotions would only let her), there's never a dull moment. I mean, what a trio. It's witty, silly, passionate, lovely and deeper than I understood when I first saw this in my teens.

B+

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)

Though both are con men, Freddy leans toward quick-score small potatoes work while Lawrence has honed his craft and has accrued tremendous wealth. Though Freddy is eager to work under Lawrence to learn the craft, he eventually bristles at not getting a cut of the proceeds and goes out on his own, much to Lawrence's dismay because, as he says, "a poacher who shoots at rabbits may scare big game away." They make a wager that whomever can swindle small-town Janet Colgate first will be allowed to stay in town while the other moves on.

This was the third time I've seen this (at least) and it holds up well. Michael Caine and Steve Martin make a hilarious comic duo -- I'm so surprised they didn't work together a few more times! That last scene is just perfect.

B

Wicked: For Good (2025)

Maybe I should've rewatched the first installment before going into this one, but -- honestly -- should that be on the audience? I don't like this assumption that I should either have a good enough memory to have every plot detail locked in my brain OR be so obsessed to have rewatched the first multiple times. I mean, what would be so awful about a 5-minute refresher at the top of a sequel? But, no, we plunge right in and I felt seriously lost until I decided to stop trying to understand. Even with my lowered expectations, I still couldn't muster any enthusiasm.

The action felt too close and too fast. I was overwhelmed just trying to take in what I was seeing. There's also no standout song -- absolutely nothing I, as someone who has only heard "Defying Gravity" and "Popular" before these movies, would care to hear again. I did enjoy Dorothy showing up as a background player, performing the steps of her well-known storyline to push the "real" narrative forward, but that's where my appreciation for the script ends. Though Grande, Erivo and Bailey all play their parts well, the whole affair wound up feeling overfilled and muddy.

C-

Sea of Love (1989)

Pacino and John Goodman are detectives on the trail of a serial killer who finds victims through the personal ads. In an undercover operation to gather fingerprints from suspects who respond to the cops' fake personal ad, Pacino's interest is piqued by a beauty who knows what she wants, which is not great since his judgment is immediately compromised.

It's a solid mystery buoyed by the easy-going chemistry Pacino and Goodman share, as well as the red-hot magnetism between Pacino and Ellen Barkin. I went digging to see if Pacino/Barkin had ever been an item and was completely unsurprised to find that they had been.

B

And Soon the Darkness (1971)

Two British nurses have decided to bike through the France on holiday, taking less traveled routes to see the real France rather than tourist traps. Because one is a "stick to the plan" type and the other would prefer to be more spontaneous, they have an argument resulting in one pedaling on ahead while the other stays behind to sunbathe. When the more responsible friend decides to go back to collect her friend, she's nowhere to be found.

Though the atmosphere was effective and the language barrier added a believable dash of confusion, the script relied too heavily on red herrings. Since there are only about half a dozen people in the film, this means that everyone's a suspect. It stretched believability to the breaking point: I would've been frustrated if I'd been at all invested.

C

Bananas (1971)

We'd seen this early Woody Allen probably 30 years ago and I remembered it as absolutely hilarious. I guess that's proof that memory can't always be trusted! 

Though some of his one-liners and sight gags about sex (especially the one about child molestation, which made me gasp) feel weighted down by what we now know, that's not the only thing that tanks this experience. There is a story, but it plays out as a series of far-fetched bawdy little skits -- most of which don't really work -- that make it feel more like an extended Benny Hill episode than a movie. But, credit where it's due, there are a few bits that are truly funny and I'm forgiving my memory for focusing on those.

C-

The Naked Gun (2025)

Liam Neeson is surprisingly game as Frank Drebin Jr. -- and, actually, the entire cast is giving it their all -- but the script is way too tame. Though we laughed a couple of times we'd expected so much more! 

C

Come See Me in the Good Light (2025)

Although I have nothing against poetry, I don't think I own a single book of it. But that's about to change because, thanks to Andrea, I now know what it can be.

This is simultaneously one of the most heartbreaking and joyous films I've ever seen. Andrea -- with the support of her wife Megan -- copes with recurring cancer and we are privileged to witness some of the journey. Though there are bouts of melancholy and regret about what she will miss out on and that she might not ever be able to say "I'm 50," the overwhelming vibe is one of gratefulness for the beauty and love she's experienced.

I became smitten with Andrea and her words and only wish that I'd been aware of her wonderful work when she was still with us.

A-

The Driver (1978)

A persistent detective (Bruce Dern) sets his sights on a slippery getaway driver (Ryan O'Neal). The story's told with a minimum of dialogue, heaps of style and some of the best car chase footage I've ever seen. Knowing that those sequences were accomplished via practical effects make them all the more impressive.

B

The Facts of Life (1960)

A friend group of upper middle class suburbanite couples are constantly together for events. Kitty has little patience for her best friend's husband Larry, but when a vacation for three couples -- due to illness and unexpected work -- winds up stranding them alone together for a week, their feelings for each other change. Upon their return to real life, there's lots of sneaking around and fear of getting caught, but no actual forward motion in their relationship, so they make plans to get away together to an isolated cabin where the reality of what they're doing catches up with them.

What really works here is the very last scene where Kitty comes home, hoping that her husband hasn't yet read the Dear John letter she's left for him. What doesn't is pretty much the entire relationship between Kitty and Larry and the sad state of each of their marriages and self-centered families. The aimed-for humor in several of the scenes were always tinged with sourness. I was not a fan.

C

Finch (2021)

Finch has adapted to post-apocalypse reality pretty well: he's got a UV suit to protect him from the unhampered-by-ozone sunlight, a map to help him keep tabs on buildings yet to clear, and a Wall-E type robot helping him scavenge. Back at "home" there's a dog waiting for him as well as a pretty decent laboratory to keep him innovating. His latest project is a humanoid robot to take care of the dog when Finch isn't there to do it himself.

It's not terrible, but it is terribly derivative. This is pretty much a dystopian Cast Away if Wilson were a whiny bitch.

C

Leave the World Behind (2023)

A New York family takes an impromptu getaway to a beach house AirBnB. They almost immediately lose phone and internet signals, then witness the confusing beaching of a oil tanker. It's not until the home's owner and his adult daughter show up late at night that they're told about chaos and blackouts in the city. Together, these two families must face a new reality, without even being sure that they can trust each other.

I liked the surface premise: how would you handle the "owners" showing up at your rental requesting shelter? Could you trust their news of what's going on elsewhere when you have no way to verify? But the weirdly written women almost derailed it. Why did the owner's daughter have such a big chip on her shoulder? And why was the vacationing matriarch treated as paranoid just because she didn't want to let strangers into a home with her children? The script obviously wanted us to think about race relations (the vacationers are white while the owners are black), but I just read it as a ridiculous distraction. I also think I would've enjoyed the ambiguity being explored a bit more: leave out the tanker and let it be a real question mark if the visitors are on the level.

In short: it made me think, but mostly about ways this could've been a lot more intriguing.

B-

Cuckoo (2024)

Gretchen's mother has died, which means the teen is moving from her home in the states to live with her father Luis, his wife, and their daughter. This new family is in the middle of relocating to the German Alps -- a fresh start for everyone! Their host owns a resort and has contracted with Luis to design a building, so he's a constant presence in their lives. He's especially nervous about anyone being out alone after dark. So... something's going on, right?

Yep. Something about impregnating people as hosts for a species that would die out otherwise. But I'm not sure why anyone is anxious to keep the species going since "weird screamy noises that kind of bend reality" seems to be its one skill.

Hunter Schafer as Gretchen is what makes this movie almost work. I'd not seen her before and found her absolutely mesmerizing.

C