It Was Just an Accident (2025)

A mechanic immediately recognizes the man who comes into his shop for emergency repair. After imprisoning the man in his van, the mechanic reaches out to others to help confirm that the man he's abducted is the prison torturer he remembers. 

I don't know if this would've worked if it hadn't gotten so broad (a couple in full wedding garb tagging along, the mechanic taking his abductee's pregnant wife to the hospital, the constant necessary tipping/bribing at every single turn), but I know the impact of the story was muted by these attempts at comedy. I was bored and annoyed.

D

Wild Target (2010)

A hitman who has grown bored with his job is hired to take out a conwoman who crossed a mobster. Despite himself, he winds up protecting her because she interests him. They also pick up an aimless stoner because why not.

This is not a good movie and the romance bummed me out. It is, however, charming and fun. Think Hudson Hawk and you're on the right track.

C+

Sentimental Value (2025)

After the death of their mother, two women have to deal with the fact that their estranged father still owns the family home and wants to shoot his next film there. The story unfolds one little bit at a time, giving us big impressions before we know their genesis. 

Though the motor in this story is generational trauma and the hurt that we share with our kids even if we struggle not to, it's the genuine attempt the father makes to drag those he loves into some shared healing that places this far above a typical family drama. Even Elle Fanning, playing his temporary surrogate, is scalded by this trauma as she struggles to grasp it.

Though we all need grace, it's so difficult to give or accept -- especially to those who caused our trauma or from those who suffered trauma because of us. So magnificently human.

A

Blue Moon (2025)

Lorenz Hart, half of the songwriting duo Rodgers & Hart, is struggling with the fact that his partner has just opened a new show (Oklahoma) with a different partner (Hammerstein). He's sitting in a bar almost monologuing for the bartender, the pianist, and another solitary drinker who turns out to be E.B. White. And, boy, can the guy talk. I would've bought him shot after shot just to hear him ramble about romance and music and movies -- his love of language is something I share.

Ethan Hawke is the whole show here and he doesn't disappoint. The one criticism I have is that they needn't have been so concerned with Hart's stature. I was put in mind of Tim Conway's knees-on-shoes "Dorf" a couple of times, and that didn't help me keep my mind on the story.

B+

Lake Mungo (2010)

Mom, Dad and brother are devastated after 16-year-old Alice drowns during a family outing. While barely coping with the loss, they each begin experiencing unexplained occurrences in their home. They set up cameras and contact a medium to help them figure out what is going on and whether Alice is still with them.

This really worked for me for one reason: I had no idea it was fiction. My first hint that it might be was in the last 10-15 minutes and then, of course, when the credits rolled. But, for more than an hour, I was in my "Unexplained Mysteries" mode coming up with theories about what had happened and genuinely questioning what I really think about spirits. I'd feel silly if I hadn't had such a good time.

B-

Song Sung Blue (2025)

Mike and Claire meet as struggling musicians taking what jobs they can to scrape by doing what they love: singing. Together the two divorceés form "Lightning and Thunder," a Neil Diamond tribute act. Though it's slow going, eventually the band gains a following and rises to the point of opening for Pearl Jam. And that's when tragedy strikes.

It's a pretty crazy story and it could've been a wild a ride, but it's just so -- I don't even know -- basic? Despite the surprises, I somehow never really felt anything. There was always the question mark of "how popular could they have been really?" I mean, it was a Neil Diamond tribute band in Milwaukee. If it weren't for Claire's accident, no one would remember them.

C+

Frankenstein (2025)

Visually stunning and unexpectedly deep. I was especially taken with the creator's journey as what I initially interpreted as callousness revealed itself to be something else: a scientific mind disgusted at his latest failure -- unable to see the striking achievement and beauty of his creation because it didn't match up to what he'd hoped. Victor's disinterest in nurture masked the creature's capacity to wonder and learn and, although it's tragic enough that he doesn't realize the miracle until he's nearly dead himself, it'd be even more of a tragedy if he'd never grasped it.

My cheeks were so wet when this was over. I'm not sure when the tears started as it could've been at almost any moment after the creature was animated. Elordi definitely earned that nomination.

A-

Ballerina (2016)

In 2012, Ella Havelka became the first indigenous dancer in The Australian Ballet. For Australians, especially for the indigenous people, this is a big deal. There is a question mark from Ella herself: was her talent what got her in or her race? I'm guessing her talent as, if it were just a publicity stunt, she'd be featured more prominently in their performances. Since she's simply part of the "flock" rather than the star of their productions, it seems likely that she got herself there. And yet, it's definitely her race that got someone to make a movie about her. 

She seems like a lovely young woman with a drive to preserve the language and practices of her ancestors. She weaves baskets, regularly spends times with elders to practice her speech, and gives time and encouragement to young dancers. And, at the time this was filmed, she was actively working on a dance style that fuses native movement with ballet. But none of this, in my opinion, rises to the level of "let's tell her story!" This felt more like hearing someone talk at length about their lovely granddaughter who has a bunch of different hobbies.

C

Hamnet (2025)

Gary bailed on this halfway through, which is too bad since it really turns into something beautiful and affecting in the latter third or so. But, that's the whole problem with this: it's such a slow burn for the first hour or so that it takes real determination to keep going. All of the characters felt as though they were deliberately being kept at a distance -- even the extremely powerful scene depicting the birth of Agnes's first child felt like I was witnessing it from the nosebleeds. Why?

The only thing that's likely to stick in my memory from this is the beautiful and astonishing work of Jacobi Jupe as Hamnet. I haven't been this enthralled by a child actor since Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense. I hope Jupe continues to land work like this. I'll be watching.

C+

Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln (2024)

Compelling and well-made documentary. Though it uses reenactments, they seemed to support rather than tweak the information present in letters, newspapers and from scholars. I came away with the belief that -- not only was Lincoln into men -- he wasn't hiding it. Most interesting, though, was that it didn't seem to diminish him in anyone's eyes. Is it actually possible that we're NOT abandoning sexual morals but only rewriting history to drum up disgust and worry? And why am I not surprised?

B-

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (2025)

What's going on in Linda's life is just way too much. Her no-name daughter's nutrition is managed with an at-home feeding tube because she won't eat enough by mouth, her therapist is less than supportive, her own patients are a handful, no-name's doctors won't continue to treat no-name if her no-way weight goals aren't met, she's basically a single parent as her husband's job rarely brings him home and when he calls he only adds more stress, and now she's moved into a low-rent motel room with no-name because her own home's ceiling caved in. What she's dealing with would be enough to send most people over the edge. 

BUT all of that would've been enough (and probably way more affecting) without the distracting camera work. We spend so much time so close to Linda's face that I felt smothered by her grimaces. We never see the daughter's face, which reduces her to a constant whine of need -- so much so that when Linda would leave her alone in that sketch motel for hours at a time, I didn't spare a thought for the kid. Maybe that was the point? I don't know, but I hated everyone in this fucking movie except A$AP Rocky as the drug-procuring, ceiling hole verifying, resentful babysitting quasi-friend.

D-

Train Dreams (2025)

This felt more like having a book read aloud by a gifted reader, with the images my own brain might have conjured as the words' accompaniment. A lovely celebration of a small life as full of tragedy and beauty as any "big" life could possibly be.

A-