Against All Odds (1984)

Jeff Bridges plays a footballer who's upset at being released from his contract, but his skeevy buddy has a job for him: track down the girlfriend who left him. Bridges is pretty and when he finds the girlfriend, she's pretty too so they get pretty naked together.

There's some big conspiracy with the team owners and the team lawyers and bookies and shaving points and everyone's involved (including the girlfriend) and people die... just why did it need to be so complicated? We could've stuck with underworld asshole tasks his friend with finding his girlfriend and they fall in love. Instead, it gets all convoluted and lost me completely.

D+

Companion (2025)

Iris is uneasy about the weekend that she and Josh are going to spend with two other couples. Turns out she has good reason to be nervous as she's an AI companion bot who's treated as "less-than" by some of the guests. Although Iris's status is spoiled by the poster, I didn't know anything else about this going in, and that's exactly how this should be watched. 

This was not only surprising, but entertaining as hell. Though I'm not sure how long it's going to live in my memory, I was impressed.

B+

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+

The Drama (2026)

Emma and Charlie are about a week out from their wedding when they're swapping "what's the worst thing you've ever done" stories with their friends. Emma's answer sends her maid of honor into a rage and Charlie into a tailspin. 

This really worked for me, mostly because it felt so original. Where do we draw the line? Why do we struggle so much with extending second chances in real life while giving it freely in the abstract to ex-convicts, etc.? But, if nothing else, this works as a screed against big weddings -- so many moving parts and so much expense means that postponing or calling it off becomes nearly impossible.

B+

The Drowning Pool (1975)

This is the follow-up to Harper (a movie I really liked), with Paul Newman reprising the titular P.I. Though there are flashes of wit early on, the movie settles into a series of scenes featuring Harper chasing down (or being dragged to) yet another lowlife with another bit of information that may or may not be useful.

Meandering, confusing, and ugly. Also, Melanie Griffith as a nymphet ups the "yuck" factor.

C-