M3GAN 2.0 (2025)

"Amelia" is a new military-grade bot running on code lifted from M3GAN. So, what's the best way to take it down? By resurrecting the original M3GAN, of course. I mean, I guess? 

This story is a lot more silly than the first, which I welcomed. Though still capable of scary things, M3GAN (who has been lurking and watching in the home's tech since she was deactivated) has upgraded some of her social skills, making her a lot less terrifying to those who mean no harm. This plays much more like an action comedy than a horror movie.

C+

Primal Fear (1996)

A shy young man (Edward Norton) is accused of the brutal slaying of a beloved archbishop. A hotshot lawyer (Richard Gere) can't wait to head up the defense in this sensational case. Though the accused insists on his innocence and his love for the victim, the evidence uncovered makes it hard to deny. Unless, perhaps, he's both innocent and responsible? Hmm...

Norton makes his film debut here and is immediately recognizable as a huge talent. The movie, however, feels more than a little like an episode of Law & Order: SVU. 

C+

Seed of Chucky (2004)

I haven't kept up with the Chucky films -- the first (and last) I'd seen to this point was the original "Child's Play" back in college. But, no matter, I quickly absorbed the love interest and the spawn and how Jennifer Tilly fits in and just rolled with it. And, frankly, I had a great time.

Tilly is so game: she just throws herself into the role of Jennifer Tilly, fading star who will do almost anything to land a shitty role. She also gives it everything she's got to voice Tiffany, who wants to be a nurturing mother to her gender-confused offspring. Speaking of which, this is a pretty dang progressive storyline for a movie of this age! I appreciated that the parents, though struggling with how to support their kid, still made sure Glen/Glenda knew they were loved.

Although I'm unlikely to watch another Chucky movie, this was rather fun.

C+

Three Strangers (1946)

Three people who've never before met agree to be bound to each other by a mutual agreement, in hopes that lore of wishing before a goddess statue at the stroke of the Chinese New Year will reward them. 

The set-up is pretty great. But, once we start following the individuals, the "magic" dissipates and morphs into three small stories of people entangled in unsavory circumstances. I'm not saying that I wasn't entertained, but it quickly became something other than the spookiness the first act got me primed to enjoy.

C+

Frankenstein (1931)

Victor Frankenstein removes himself from society, becoming obsessed with his attempts to create life from dead tissue. Nothing can tempt him away from his experiments: not his old professor, his father, nor even his girl. But, of course, they eventually prevail and drag him away to convalesce and finally return to his old self. Too bad his creation doesn't also have a retreat from his hell.

It's one of those films that is familiar through so much parody that I knew it even though I'd never seen it. It's got everything a good story needs, including a powerful sense of the tragic -- I really felt for the sad-eyed beast who didn't know his own strength -- but it's been done so much better so many times since. It will just have to content itself with being the first rather than the best.

C+

The Invisible Man (1933)

A scientist stumbles upon an injection that causes invisibility (and, it seems, criminal tendencies), but hasn't yet cracked the antidote. In order to work without interruption, he travels to a small town in a snowstorm and takes a room while concealing his condition under heavy winter wrappings. Soon his violent temper gets him evicted and he responds by terrorizing the town and eventually killing a cop.

The good: the special effects are quite impressive and I bought the terror from his best friend. The bad: the silly comments while harassing the public (especially since they didn't seem to be audible to his victims) and the fact that no one could figure out how to catch him even though it was often clear where he was. The wtf: because he had to be naked to be undetectable, all I could think of was his wide open ass whenever we saw a chair indent because he'd sat in it.

C+

Coyote vs. Acme (2026)

Bugs Bunny was Saturday morning appointment television when I was growing up so I was absolutely giddy with anticipation when I saw the trailer several months back. The idea is brilliant: Wile E. Coyote hires a personal injury lawyer to bring suit against Acme for its faulty products. But, somehow, this never leaned into the silliness that made the shorts such classics. Sure, there are tons of explosions, but I never found myself chuckling or even smiling.

Will Forte, John Cena and Lana Condor are all well-cast and very game, so I can only fault the script and, possibly, the silence of Wile E., when everyone who knows Looney Tunes is aware that he can speak (see below). I really wanted to love this, but it felt way too long and way too convoluted and just didn't charm me the way I was expecting.

C+

The Lair of the White Worm (1988)

After their parents disappeared a year back, sisters Mary and Eve are running a bed and breakfast out of their house. Angus has taken a room there in order to do some archaeology in their front yard (?), from which he extracts the skull of a large animal and uncovers a religious mosaic. Good friend James is the Lord Protector of the town, which seems to be a ceremonial position centered around the legend of a worm. Oh, and a snaky lady lives right down the road.

Absolutely nutso film that doesn't make much sense at all, but is still pretty entertaining somehow. Amanda Donohoe as the immortal Lady Sylvia Marsh takes vamping to sky-high levels, lifting the entire production up with her.

C+

Purple Noon (1961)

A French telling of Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley, in which the lower class Tom Ripley is tasked by Philippe's father to find him and bring him home. Instead, Tom decides to tag along with Philippe for as long as possible, enjoying the high life he so craves. Eventually, of course, his welcome wears out and he has to get creative to keep the fun going.

Without a clear rooting interest, even a decent thriller like this just can't really have much of a lasting effect. Tom is the villain, but the idle rich he's duping could never be called innocents or heroes, so who really cares?

C+

My Old School (2022)

Brandon Lee was immediately marked out as odd when he enrolled in school as a 16-year-old. He dressed oddly, could explain advanced concepts that his classmates hadn't grasped, and just looked older than everyone else. These differences were explained away by his upbringing: traveling the world with his mother the opera singer meant his education was a more worldly one. Or it could be that this was just his second time at bat.

It's definitely different from anything I've ever seen before: it's a documentary involving the actual classmates and teachers, a good portion is animated, and the main subject delivers his tale in his own words, but with actor Alan Cumming lip syncing them because "Brandon" doesn't want to show his own face. Although I give it props for its offbeat telling, I found the story just weird rather than captivating -- like listening to gossip about people I don't know. I honestly got a little bored.

C+

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026)

Picks right up where the last one ended. Even though Grace "won" by surviving her wedding night in the first film, she's not free until she does it again. This time, she's dodging representatives from the remaining family dynasties that control the entire world. She's also got her estranged sister by her side and the same bloody wedding dress on her back.

It obviously had a BIGGER BLOODIER mandate which, along with the pampered elites forced to fight, kept things fun. But it also just felt like another trip to the well and that's never gonna be as refreshing as the first time. I also have a quibble with the rules changing: survive 'til dawn and you're free! Oh, unless you actually DO survive, in which case you gotta keep fighting.

C+

The Dink (2026)

Dustin, once a promising tennis player, has been disappointing his father since he broke his wrist in a loss to Andy Roddick as a teen. Now he's just stagnating as an instructor at his father's club, getting his kicks from banning people who annoy him. After a wrist injury, his doctor prescribes pickleball as rehabilitation and he can't help but enjoy himself because it's fun. The fact that the sport brings Candace into his orbit is also a benefit.

Though charming for a while, it's just so obvious where things are going that it can't help but peter out by the halfway mark. I think it would've benefited from being unafraid to just lean into the cringe or add a gross-out moment or two but, instead, it's far too mild to ever really pay off. Aaron Chen stands out just doing his Aaron Chen thing.

C+

Asteroid City (2023)

A playwright is working on a story about a small town in the desert hosting a kind of nationwide science fair that turns into a quarantine. We get scenes about the writing, the backstage happenings, and the play itself. I was disoriented for quite some time, but then I finally stopped trying to understand what was what and the frustration melted away.

It's your basic Wes Anderson nonsense: visually impressive with prevailing twee.

C+

The Candidate (1972)

Bill McKay, though son of a former governor, has no political ambitions but is hand-picked by a strategist to run for senate. Rather than winning, the goal is to simply shake up the race, giving McKay freedom to be bold. Welp, boldness works a lot better than expected.

The acting is strong and the pseudo-documentary style works, but it's too dated to be anything other than a time capsule at this point. What was probably groundbreaking and audacious when it came out simply cannot retain that now that we're so used to unqualified, unpolished everymen running for office and winning.

C+

Project Hail Mary (2026)

The storytelling structure is brilliant: the lone survivor of a deep space mission awakes without memories, so we're learning along with him what needs to be done and how he got there. The earth scenes are full of information and tension, but also a lot of collaborative fun. Seeing all of these people from different nations working on a common goal while understanding the gravity and urgency of their task -- that's the stuff.

Less successful, for me, were the actual space scenes. Everything up there felt borderline cartoony and dumbed-down. Sure, I laughed at "fist my bump" and I understand that a cute animated sidekick opens it up to family viewing, but we spent too much time in silly-mode.

C+

Burn, Witch, Burn (1962)

A popular professor is on the fast-track to promotion when he discovers that his wife has been practicing witchcraft for years. Despite her protestations that continued protection is necessary to combat others' spells against him, he insists that they rid themselves of that ridiculousness. He finds out soon enough that his wife might not be as delusional as he thought.

The acting is strong and it's fairly effective, but I mostly was annoyed at the misogyny of this man dismissing his loyal wife's fears as silliness.

C+

Steve (2025)

A (very busy) day in the life of Steve, the headmaster of an alternative school for troubled boys. A "normal" day is probably eventful enough, but today they've also got a documentary team in to do a story on the school as well as a scheduled visit from a local official. 

The style of the film is chaos -- which is fitting as it captures the vibe of these very unsettled and often angry kids -- but it's also exhausting. Perhaps that was the point. The small staff here is dedicated but running on steam as they're often the target of tantrums and, in the case of the pretty new staffer, inappropriate attention. The point is well-made that tossing kids like these into prison-like situations will never teach them to manage their impulses and contribute to society, but it simultaneously illustrates just how much time and effort is necessary to help them. It's sobering, to say the least.

Cillian Murphy is brilliant here, but the film depends too much on vibes and doesn't give us enough of a story.

C+ 

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2024)

After receiving a "goodbye" note in the mail from a former colleague now in hospice, reserved Harold struggles with the appropriate words with which to respond. So, instead, he seizes on a tossed-off anecdote from a girl ringing up his groceries and decides to walk 500 miles or so to visit his friend in person. He leaves then and there without preparation or even checking in with his wife.

Though things make a lot more sense once the entire story is revealed, we spend so much time in the dark that Harold comes off as almost simple-minded. I have definitely indulged in "magical thinking" more than a few times, but having to wait until the script decided that we'd earned the answer to why he'd go to such lengths... especially for someone he'd not seen in at least a decade (?) was frustrating -- especially because the reveal forced my sympathies to "change sides."

C+

Lee (2024)

Former model Lee is working as a photographer for British Vogue during World War II when she decides to go to the action as a war correspondent. It takes some creative thinking to even get there and then some thick skin and balls to actually get the job done, but Lee is up to the task. Her sense of duty to make sure those "back home" understood the gravity of the sacrifice being made is something to be lauded and, in my opinion, her gender only aided her in seeking out some private moments that could've been overlooked otherwise.

Despite the interesting woman and subject, the film just felt like homework -- like I could've easily been reading this in a book as the drama never quite came alive onscreen. The bookending device of Lee, now elderly, recounting her story in an interview also didn't work. Though I now understand why that device was employed, during the watch I was annoyed as it seemed to add nothing.

C+

Champions (2023)

Hothead assistant coach gets fired from his minor league basketball job, gets a DUI, and is assigned to 90 days of community service as the coach for a team with intellectual disabilities. The cast is comprised of actors who actually have the disabilities their characters do, which is commendable. But, with Harrelson in the lead, I expected there to be more of an edgy storyline as he learns how to coach in a different way. Instead, he's almost effortlessly patient with this demographic even though he dropped the the r-word at sentencing. 

Feel-good? Yep. Believable in any way? Nope.

C+