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-