Category Archives: Uncategorized

Disclosure Day

What a beautifully constructed movie! Everything works. The visuals, the script, the acting. There’s reality and fantasy. Incredible tech. Religious overtones. Symbolic animals. Jackie Gleason—what? Memorable shots that make you say, “wow!” All fueled by that eternal question: Do aliens exist? 

Steven Spielberg keeps asking that question. And answering it! His newest film Disclosure Day tells the story of a massive conspiracy to keep information about the presence of aliens on our planet a secret. (For fear that it would cause the world’s populace to panic.)

Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) is a Kansas City TV meteorologist who gets a visit from a cardinal—a bird, that is, not a cleric or a ballplayer. That visit stirs a mental upgrade that gives her extraordinary insight but also causes bizarre behavior. After an MRI, she senses that she needs to leave town.

Meanwhile, Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) wants to share the secrets he carries with him, which he obtained from the Wardex corporation, an outfit that has worked with the U.S. government for decades to keep the keep the alien info hidden. Kellner, too, has incredible vision in his mental makeup.

Wardex, led by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), wants to stop Kellner before he is able to spill the beans. Is Scanlon a bad guy? Well, kinda but not totally. Scanlon has the ability to teleport himself and does so as he tries to track down Kellner via his girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson. Bono’s daughter!) and grab the evidence that Kellner carries. 

Scanlon employs a device, a handheld geometrically-shaped object about a foot long, that gives him powers including teleportation. 

(Wardex headquarters, by the way, has more video screens than any NASA mission or any TV network control room. It looks real.)

Fairchild and Kellner go on the run together and their journey includes a car versus train collision that results in a memorable escape from peril, one of those “wow” shots. 

Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo) is a former Wardex employee who offers guidance to the two via cell phone as they manage to elude Wardex goons and law enforcement. 

The pace of Disclosure Day slows noticeably in the third act when more backstory is introduced. Fairchild revisits her childhood. And the fantastical resolution of the story steps gingerly to its conclusion. 

Disclosure Day has Spielberg trademarks like an excellent John Williams soundtrack that is not at all subtle in telegraphing moods. There are creative uses of lighting as seen often in Spielberg movies. But no shooting star, dang it, another treat enjoyed in several of his films. Is it his best movie in twenty years, as some critics have said? I’d say it’s his best since Minority Report (2002.)

Emily Blunt is an established star but her performance in Disclosure Day will move her another notch up the Hollywood ladder. Firth is, as always, solid. Domingo continues to be a perfect “go to” guy for strong supporting characters. (He’s also the lone American born actor among Brits Blunt, Firth, O’Connor and Irish born Hewson.)

Disclosure Day runs two hours and twenty-five minutes. According to Wikipedia, screenwriter Daniel Koepp developed forty-two drafts of his screenplay. The result of his work that you see onscreen is impressive. 

Disclosure Day is rated PG-13. 

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Pressure

Bob Dylan was wrong. Sometimes you DO need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. Especially if you’re planning a really big event.

We’ve all cancelled outdoor plans because a huge rainstorm was predicted, only to sit at home as the sun shines. And we’ve plowed ahead with plans because the forecast for nice weather was wrong and we got soaked.

If your big event is, say, the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944, an accurate forecast is vital. But a forecast is just that… an educated guess. Which is why the local TV people with all the modern Doppler radar and satellite images at their disposal are still often dead wrong when they try to answer the simple question “is it gonna rain?”

In the new movie Pressure, Scottish meteorologist James Stagg (Andrew Scott) is charged by General Dwight Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) with predicting the weather for D-Day, June 5, 1944. 

Wait—June FIFTH? Well, that was the plan but as you likely know the invasion actually occurred on June SIXTH. What happened? Stagg told Ike to hold off because the weather looked iffy for 6/5/44. And here’s where the film’s narrative conflict lies.

Stagg’s arrogance is met with that of a similarly confident American soldier/weatherman Irving Krick (Chris Messina) who looks to weather patterns from years past to inform his D-Day conjecture. They disagree on the outlook but Stagg has final word and because he notes the way the wind blows across the North Atlantic, he calls off a June 5th action.

The buildup to that decision consumes the thoughts of all the key characters including British Field Marshall Montgomery (Damian Lewis) and Ike’s right hand woman Kay Sommersby (Kerry Condon). The nature of her relationship with the American commander is seen in this film as mainly professional—there has, of course, been speculation about the personal nature of their work together.

D-Day has been documented in fiction and non-fiction films for decades. It is a singular moment in twentieth century history. Pressure covers ground that has been well trod but also brings a different wrinkle to last minute preparation for the invasion focusing not on Ike or the troops but instead on the weather forecasters.

The tension is palpable and this film captures the concern shared by all its major players. Yes, there’s more than a bit of melodrama. Brendan Fraser is passable as a chain-smoking Eisenhower but his gravitas doesn’t quite match up to that we’ve seen from other male actors. Part of the pressure Ike is under is the result of a catastrophic rehearsal for D-Day in April 1944, an episode not particularly well-remembered, which is referenced at the beginning of the film.

Pressure is directed by Anthony Maras who co-wrote the script with David Haig who wrote the stage play from which it was adapted. 

Despite depictions of wartime violence, Pressure is rated PG-13. 

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The Sheep Detectives

A Whodunit! A murder mystery solved by… sheep! That’s not a spoiler, that’s what the film’s about.

And such an enjoyable movie it is! It’s a comedy with visual as well as verbal jokes. It’s a fantasy with talking sheep. And it’s a homicide investigation with multiple suspects. And The Sheep Detectives satisfies in all three of those areas.

George Harvey (Hugh Jackman) is a shepherd in the UK. At the end of each day he reads from murder mystery novels to his sheep, knowing that they, being sheep, have no idea what he is telling them. Ah, but they do know! And they try to solve the crimes he reads to them. The brightest sheep Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is the one who usually figures out who the culprit is.

After George is found dead and local cop Officer Derry (Nicholas Braun) supposes the death is likely the result of an accident, the sheep begin to have suspicions.

Enter George’s daughter Rebecca (Molly Gordon AKA Claire Bear on the TV show The Bear) and Rebecca’s lawyer Lydia Harbottle (Emma Thompson). At the reading of the will, it is revealed that Rebecca has a twin brother who lives in South Africa. He is reached by phone.

The talented individuals who voice the various sheep include Patrick Stewart, Bryan Cranston, Regina Hall, Chris O’Dowd and Bella Ramsey, among others.

As the tale unfolds, several possible murderers are introduced. Including another shepherd, Caleb, as well as the local butcher, the village shopkeeper and even the local pastor. 

Because this is a film that features charming talking sheep and contains no sex or nudity, you might be tempted to bring young kids to the movie house. Please don’t! Once the film gets rolling, they will be bored with the proceedings. 

Did I almost tear up when the story is wrapped up? Maybe just a bit. It’s a sweet, cute film. I look forward to seeing it again soon!

The Sheep Detectives is directed by Kyle Balda and written by Craig Mazin who is known for writing the HBO series Chernobyl and The Last of Us. 

Rated PG.

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Mercy

The movie Mercy moves fast. As it must. 

In Mercy court in a lawless near future Los Angeles, a defendant—who is presumed guilty—has 90 minutes to prove his/her innocence before an AI judge. Failure to do so results in swift execution. 

Alcoholic LA policeman Chris Raven (Chris Pratt), an early supporter of the Mercy court system, is accused of murdering his wife. Circumstantial evidence makes it look like he did it.

Ah, but in this scenario, he has access to multiple digital platforms as the courtroom clock counts down. 

As in a couple of current TV shows, High Potential and Tracker, the access to cell phone data, CCTV footage, emails, financial transactions, criminal records, etc. is quicker and easier than in real life. In Mercy, from his well-connected courtroom, Raven is able to get that digital info at lightning speed.

How realistic or even imaginable is all that? Not very. But when you consider that twenty years ago iPhones didn’t exist and in a few weeks you will be able to watch this movie on your iPhone, what the near future holds… well, who knows? 

Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson) is the AI judge. Like some of our real life AI, she doesn’t handle nuance well. 

Jaq Diallo (Kali Reis) is Raven’s LAPD partner who provides a link to his investigation in the real world. (Reis co-starred with Jodie Foster in that Alaska-based season of True Detective.)

While the main part of Mercy is set in the Mercy courtroom, the videos and phone calls and surveillance footage take the story into the outside world. And, yes, there is even that classic element of thriller films… a chase scene on LA’s freeways!

The main virtue of the film Mercy is its breakneck pace. Nary a slow moment. And like Chris Raven’s trial, it’s over and done in just over ninety minutes. Also, Chris Pratt is a likable actor. So he’s a good choice for this lead role.

Mercy is a juicy chunk of escapism. Directed by Timur Bekmanbetov. Written by Marco van Belle. Rated PG-13. 

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My Top Movies for 2025

My Top Ten Movies of 2025

  1. Nuremberg—Russell Crowe at his best
  2. One Battle After Another—So much stuff going on… all of it compelling
  3. F1: The Movie—Good story…amazing visuals
  4. Materialists—A different sort of romcom…Dakota Johnson stunning
  5. After The Hunt—Polarizing film, yes, but I like it
  6. The Ballad of Wallis Island—Sweet quirky tale…memorable characters
  7. Black Bag—Soderbergh’s compact mystery
  8. Mickey 17—Another Bong Joon Ho goofy story…Pattinson brilliant
  9. Marty Supreme—Everything clicks in this one, especially Chalamet
  10. Hamnet—Jessie Buckley and cast deliver an emotional payoff

*****Ten more movies I liked a lot in 2025…

The Running Man

The Phoenician Scheme

Novocaine

Eleanor The Great

Highest 2 Lowest

Song Sung Blue

Eternity

Death of a Unicorn

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

*****A few more movies I liked in 2025…

The Housemaid

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina

Regretting You

The Amateur

Love Hurts

The Penguin Lessons 

Friendship

Good Fortune

Jurassic Park: Rebirth

I’m Still Here

Drop

*****And Four Movies I DID NOT like…

Warfare

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

The Smashing Machine

Sinners

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Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

The Bruce Springsteen movie is slow. It’s redundant. And a lot of the music featured is not the artist’s most popular music. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere does not have the appeal of A Complete Unknown, the Bob Dylan movie from last year. That film had moments of joy and this new one is a bit more grim.

Is it unfair or unwise to compare this new movie to last year’s? Maybe. But that’s what I keep thinking about.

Jeremy Allen White is okay as Springsteen but this script would be challenging for any actor. To convey angst, discomfort and depression without physically acting out can’t be easy. Okay, there are couple of instances of acting out but mainly he keeps it inside. White gives it his best but the material is lacking.

The period depicted is the early 1980s. Springsteen has finished a tour and in his alone time he writes and records the songs that will become his Nebraska album. That album was released in 1982 and contains music that is not familiar to the general public. There ARE fans who say that Nebraska is their favorite Springsteen album. Just as there are people who say rutabagas are their favorite vegetable.

Some of the music in S:DMFN is excellent. The bits where Bruce is jamming classic oldies with a band at the Stone Pony, his old club in Asbury Park NJ, are fun. A performance of Born In The USA in a recording studio is a real killer. But the tone of the movie and some of the music is somber. 

Jeremy Strong plays Bruce’s manager Jon Landau who has to convince the CBS records honchos that Bruce wants to release these raw songs, originally recorded on a cassette machine in his bedroom, as his next album. Paul Walter Hauser plays Mike, who engineers those bedroom sessions. Odessa Young plays Bruce’s love interest Faye, who provides glimmers of happiness during this glum period of Springsteen’s life. Podcaster/comedian Marc Maron has a small role as a studio hand.

After Springsteen moves to Los Angeles, he seeks professional help to mitigate all his anguish. One can hope that the events depicted in S:DMFN might lead any moviegoers who have similar demons to get the counseling they need.

I’m a Springsteen fan. Saw him in concert four times. I believe Born To Run is among the greatest rock songs ever. So it feels weird that I am lukewarm about the movie.

Since Bruce sang about baseball in his song Glory Days and since the St. Louis Cardinals had a player named Scott Cooper for a season back in the 90s, let me put it this way: writer/director Scott Cooper was swinging for the fences but he got a standup double. Which is still a solid base hit.

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is rated R.

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Regretting You

The new family drama film Regretting You has some of the hallmarks, um, characteristics of a Hallmark Channel movie. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing.

A young, attractive cast. Small town setting. Much communication via text messages. Wine drinking. Plus a widow.

And, like many Hallmark films, once the scene is set, you pretty much know where the story is going to go. Getting there is what makes such a film work. Or not. (That, too, is not necessarily a bad thing. I mean… you knew the boat was gonna sink but you watched all three hours of Titanic anyway, right?)

Unlike Hallmark films, Regretting You has sex (but no nudity), drug use and some kissing that’s hotter than what you’ll encounter in Hallmark land. It’s rated PG-13.

Morgan (Allison Williams, daughter of TV newsman Brian) is a thirty-something mom of a 17-year-old daughter Clara (McKenna Grace). Morgan became pregnant with Clara when she was Clara’s age, so she’s overly protective.

Morgan’s life is hit with a double whammy when her husband Chris (Scott Eastwood, Clint’s son) and her sister Willa (Jenny Davidson) die in a car crash. That shock is followed by a life-altering revelation. An old platonic friend of Morgan’s, Jonah (Dave Franco), was involved with sister Willa and he begins showing up often at Morgan’s house.

Meanwhile young Clara is hot to trot and begins a flirtation with fellow high school student Miller (Mason Thames). So mom Morgan has to deal with her own issues and keep a watchful eye on daughter.

The great actor Clancy Brown has a small role in the film. He was a prison guard in The Shawshank Redemption. He supervised the duel at the end of John Wick 4. And, of course, he’s the voice of Mr. Krabs on SpongeBob SquarePants. Always good to see him AND to hear his amazing voice.

Regretting You is based on a book by the prolific best-selling author Colleen Hoover. Unlike the previous Hoover movie It Ends With Us, this new film will hopefully remain free of the bad vibes, controversy and litigation that followed in the wake of its production and release.

A spicier Hallmark sort of movie is how I’d describe Regretting You. If that sounds like something you’d like, check it out.

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Good Fortune

Cute, sweet, charming. Words to describe Good Fortune, the new film from Aziz Ansari. He wrote it, directed it and co-stars. Funny? Yes, occasionally.

Good Fortune is a fantasy. A light trifle, but amusing. 

Arj (Ansari) is a gig worker in L.A. He works at a Home Depot type store but also does food delivery and other tasks. He sleeps in his car.

Jeff (Seth Rogen) is a wealthy tech bro who lives in a cool house on a hill. After hiring Arj to clean his garage, he makes Arj his assistant. When Arj uses Jeff’s credit card for an expensive restaurant meal, Jeff fires him.

Gabriel (Keanu Reeves) is an angel. His area of concern is driving and texting and he saves many distracted drivers from danger. But he’s ambitious and oversteps his authorized duty. He arranges for Arj and Jeff to trade places and their respective lifestyles.

Gabriel’s goal is to show Arj that wealth is not that important to one’s happiness but, of course, that backfires and Arj does not want to swap back. After his misstep, Gabriel’s angel boss Martha (Sandra Oh) demotes him to human status, leading to the movie’s funniest scenes.

Keke Palmer is appealing as Arj’s co-worker and romantic interest Elena. 

Reeves and Rogen are talented comic actors whose performances here are spot on. Ansari, whose talents are immense, is not quite the experienced actor as those two guys. But he gives it his best effort and is a likable fellow and in a film like this one, likability goes a long way.

As a director and writer, Ansari could’ve used a real angel on his shoulder to coax him into tightening up the movie a bit and offering a few more funny lines here and there. 

Does Good Fortune offer a real message about economic inequities? Mainly it just reiterates what most of us already know. But if, after seeing this film, you might be likely to tip your DoorDash delivery person or Uber driver more generously, then Ansari will have made his point.

Good Fortune is rated R, mainly for language. Runs just over 90 minutes.

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After The Hunt

After The Hunt is worthy of your attention because it stars Julia Roberts. She is, to use a Ron Burgundy term, kind of a big deal. And her performance in this new film is worthy of your attention because it’s pretty darn good!

Alma (Roberts) is a philosophy professor at Yale. There’s tension in her life as she waits to find out if she will get tenure. Her husband Frederik (Michael Stuhlbarg) is supportive even though he’s aware of her catting around with fellow instructor Hank (Andrew Garfield). 

After a party at her home, grad student Maggie (Ayo Edibri from The Bear) walks home with Hank and later accuses him of sexual assault. Which puts in motion all the film’s drama. At the party, there had been a discovery that sets up a question that needs answering, lending suspense to the story. Hmmm. A mystery!

Alma’s relationships with Frederik, Hank, and friend and associate Kim (Chloe Sevigny) are examined but After The Hunt’s most interesting personal relationship is between Alma and Maggie. Their dynamic changes throughout the film… sometimes warm, sometimes not. The film touches on racial and gender issues. And on the way victims of sexual predators are treated. And, briefly, the topic of plagiarism in higher education. 

After The Hunt is more talk than action. Such movies are sometimes tedious but director Luca Guadagnino and writer Nora Garrett keep the pace moving. Audio from a metronome kicks off the movie and is used a few more times along with an often quirky music soundtrack from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. 

After The Hunt is not a “crowd pleaser” type of movie and not even a “must see.” UNLESS you are a fan of Julia Roberts and her wide-ranging body of work. She’s strong in this meaty role and, along with a good supporting cast, her work here is  among her best efforts.

After The Hunt is rated R. It clocks in at 2:19.

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The Smashing Machine

I’m not a fan of boxing but I have enjoyed a few great boxing MOVIES. I have a strong dislike for MMA fighting and wondered if I might be able to enjoy the new movie The Smashing Machine. I was NOT able to enjoy it.

It’s not that The Smashing Machine is necessarily a bad movie. It’s just that the depiction of the the “sport” of Mixed Marshall Arts is gruesome and, for me, off-putting. Seeing a man on top of another man, repeatedly punching the guy in his already bloody face is disgusting and cringey.

If you like that kind of thing, well, then, director/writer Benny Safdie has constructed a stylish film with several shots from a handheld camera and with an ethereal instrumental jazz audio track. And he and his crew deserve credit for making the fights seem realistic.

Dwayne Johnson (nee The Rock) has bravely stepped into a more serious role as Mark Kerr, a real-life MMA fighter who becomes addicted to pain meds, goes through rehab and tries to make a comeback. Yep, that old sports movie redemption cliché. Johnson’s look is different too. His hair makes him look a bit like André the Giant.

Kerr’s girlfriend Dawn (Emily Blunt) has issues, too. Her support for Kerr is inconsistent. She wants to occasionally be a party girl while he tries to stay clean. Trouble ensues.

Fellow MMA fighter Mark Coleman (Ryan Bader) is effective as Kerr’s buddy and friendly competitor. 

The Smashing Machine received a 15-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival a few weeks back. And the superlative accolades for the film and especially Johnson’s performance from early reviewers have been splashed all over the TV and print advertisements for the movie. Is he award-worthy? To be determined.

The box office appeal of Dwayne “Don’t Call Me ‘The Rock’” Johnson will sell a bunch of tickets during TSM’s opening weekend. But will it have “legs?” That, too, is to be determined.

The Smashing Machine is rated R. There’s some language and, did I mention, the fighting is rather violent.

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