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