Author: James Hathaway

Movie 1: The Invite

This is a wonderfully written, directed and acted adult drama/comedy. Two couples live in the same San Francisco apartment building. When one couple invites the other to dinner, things unexpectedly unravel out of control. The situations and reactions are very funny and satirically realistic. Watching this movie, we wondered how much was scripted and how much was ad-libbed.

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Movie 2: The Fundamentals of Caring

This is a 2016 Netflix movie we knew nothing about.  A middle aged man is hired as a care giver to a special needs teenager.  He convinces his mother to let him take her son on a road trip.  The fun and drama starts then.  Really good and touching acting.  Once again Paul Rudd delivers a human and funny performance.  This is a very entertaining movie.

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Movie 3: Maddie’s Secret

This is a fun and well done satire comedy/drama.  It follows the life of a chef as she rises in the TV food and restaurant business.  This is the directorial debut for John Early who also plays the main character Maddie.  The movie was made for $1,000,000.  Very low budget in Hollywood terms.  But it feels much more professionally done and has already recouped that amount in its first two weeks.

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Movie 1: Supergirl

This is yet another super hero movie, this time from DC Comics.  There are the usual villains and disasters and lots of action and special effects.  Yet somehow this movie was just a big yawn.  The acting and cinematography are nothing special.  Fans of this genre will probably find this entertaining.  And it is always good seeing female characters fighting for truth, justice and the American Way! 

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Movie 2: Lucky Strike

This is a fairly decent and entertaining WWII action thriller.  During the Battle of the Bulge a group of soldiers is tasked with mining a road to stop the Nazi advance.  Lots of action.  This movie seems reminiscent of other war movies.  Not exactly sure Scott Eastwood was the right choice to carry this film, but he does an OK job.    

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Movie 3: Minions & Monsters

This is the third Minions movie in the franchise and has been a critical and financial success.  Once again it is a silly, slapstick humor adventure that will appeal to all ages.  This movie is considered a prequel and set in 1920’s Hollywood.  There are several familiar voices (Allison Janney, Jessie Eisenberg).  The youngsters in our audience laughed and clapped throughout.

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Movie 1: The Death of Robin Hood

This is a very different take on the classic folk story.  It is also very dark and more than a little bleak.  This Robin Hood is not the hero we all know.  He is a murderous thug that rampages through England with little regard for anyone.  Once we got used to the overt violence there were interesting scenes and cinematography.  This Robin Hood spends his final days at a convent on a small offshore island.  A very unusual and dramatic role for Hugh Jackman. 

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Movie 2: Leviticus

This is an Australian coming of age story that is part romance, part supernatural horror and part survival story.  Two teen boys come to terms with being gay as their parents and fellow town folks send them to a religious conversion therapy group.  Very good acting, especially by the teens.  At times difficult to watch even with some very tender moments.

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Movie 3: I Will Find You

This is an 8-part Netflix miniseries.  A father is falsely accused and imprisoned for killing his young son.  He escapes prison to prove his innocence.  Several twists and turns and good acting.  Each episode is about 47 minutes.  We binged watched it in one afternoon and evening.

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Movie 1: Toy Story 5

This is the 5th movie in Disney’s juggernaut franchise. The usual cast of lovable characters has returned. This version does a very good job bringing in technology as Woody and Buzz take a backseat to Jessie. Its first weekend set global box office records. Once again children of all ages will enjoy the clever animation, messaging and laughter.

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Movie 2: Voicemails for Isabelle

This is a very enjoyable Netflix romantic comedy/drama.  A young woman leaves her late sister voicemails as she tries to heal from the shock of her death.  She doesn’t realize that her sister’s phone number has been given out to someone else.  And this someone else travels to San Francisco to find her.  No great message here, just nice scenes of San Francisco and a good story.

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Movie 3: Scary Movie

This is movie number 6 in the Scary Movie franchise.  We don’t remember seeing any of the previous five.  But what we’ve read this version reunites all the original characters.  We aren’t exactly sure what this film is about other than there is a lot of slap stick humor and mayhem.  And more than a few murders.  We found it dumb and more than a little boring.  But it does have a couple of good political zingers.

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Movie 1: Masters of the Universe

This is a sci-fi adventure that is loaded with special effects, humor, romance and more than a little testosterone.  The hero of this saga gets separated from his magical and powerful sword and he sets out on a quest to find it.  And along the way he meets all manner of obstacles.  But for us there was so much going on it just got boring and we finally thought so what?  But aficionados of this genre will enjoy it.

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Movie 2: Disclosure Day

This is a marvelously entertaining sci-fi alien adventure with Steven Spielberg’s brilliant human connection.  A group of scientists and journalists try to release footage of aliens on earth to the public.  While, of course, the government tries to stop them.  Excellent acting all around, with a sure Oscar nomination for Emily Blunt.  We thoroughly enjoyed this what soon will be an instant classic.  Spielberg’s best movie in years. 

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Movie 3: Stop! That! Train!

We had no idea what this movie was about until a friend said lets go see it.  What a fun, campy surprise.  A group of drag queens are on an out of control speeding train, headed for all places, anti-drag queen Florida.  With all manner of slap stick humor along the way.  Including RuPaul as President of the United States and a slew of cameo appearances by a dozen actors.  By no means great filmmaking.  Just a fun 90 minutes.

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Movie 1: Passenger

This is a low budget horror film that is actually pretty good and doesn’t try to insult the viewer nor take itself too seriously. A young couple goes on a road trip adventure and witnesses an accident. Then a demonic presence joins the trip. Surprisingly good cinematography and acting. It kept us entertained and more than a little scared.

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Movie 2: Power Ballad

A wedding singer and a struggling boy band singer unexpectedly meet at a wedding in Ireland and spend the night writing songs.  One song they write becomes an overnight sensation.  This is an unexpectedly feel good movie with very fine acting, singing and important messages about friendship and respect.  Thoroughly enjoyable.  

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Movie 3: Office Romance

This is a Netflix romantic comedy that falls flat and misses on almost every level.  Jennifer Lopez plays the CEO of a New Jersey company who gets romantically involved with an employee, breaking all the Human Resources rules.  As much as we wanted to enjoy this movie it is sadly dull and boring.  Much of the acting and writing is just embarassing.

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Movie 1: I Love Boosters

This is an outlandish and outrageous comedy about the social implications of shoplifting. Those of us living in large cities saw this kind of behavior firsthand during covid, where gangs of youth went into stores and blatantly stole things right in front of everybody. This is definitely a satire on those days. The costumes are amazing. Very good writing and acting. It took us awhile to get into this movie, but once we did, we just sat back and enjoyed.

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Movie 2: Tuner

This is a very entertaining, and at times tense, thriller where a piano tuner with perfect pitch turns to safecracking to earn extra money.  Several twists and turns all very well done.  And the movie sheds light on a very severe, but under reported, hearing illness called hyperacusis.  Leo Woodall is becoming quite the good actor.  And always wonderful to see Dustin Hoffman.  Large theater release worldwide.  

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Movie 3: The Wizard of the Kremlin

This is a fascinating political thriller drama set against the backdrop of years of chaos in Russia following the fall of the Soviet Union.  It is based on fact with a lot of creative license thrown in.  Excellent acting by Paul Dano and Jude Law.  It follows the rise of Vladimir Putin from his early KGB days to almost present time.  Limited theater release but should be streaming somewhere later this year.

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Movie 1: Is God Is

In this dark revenge drama, two twin sisters are asked by their mother to find their father and kill him.  That’s about the only “simple” thing about this story.  Based on an award winning play by writer/director Aleshea Harris.  The writing, directing and acting are excellent.  Several twists and turns.  But please be warned, while at times mesmerizing, this movie can be very difficult and unsettling to watch.

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Movie 2: Obsession

We are not exactly sure what this horror film is about.  We saw it because some young friends we know raved about it.  This movie is making a ton of money and the theater we were in was nearly full.  We were the oldest two by at least 40 years.  Four other folks closer to our age walked out after an hour or so.  We should have too.  It was a total waste of time, money and popcorn. 

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Movie 3: Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

Another Star Wars movie!  Once again this version has the prerequisite evil Empire, various galaxy characters, sights and sounds.  At least this one has Sigourney Weaver and Pedro Pascal.  Other than that it was slow, darker than usual, and rather dull.  Very disappointing.  Hopefully 2027’s Star Wars, starring Ryan Gosling, will be much more exciting.

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Movie 1: Apex

This is an unexpectedly entertaining edge of your seat action thriller.  A woman rock climber (Charlize Theron) is grieving the loss of her friend and tries to escape to the wilds of Australia.  She encounters an extremely depraved hunter (Taron Egerton) and the cat and mouse games start from there.  Both actors did many of their own stunts.  The tension is palpable.  Beautiful cinematography.   On Netflix.

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Movie 2: In the Grey

This is an action drama where a covert group of operatives attempt to recoup a large fortune from a group of mobsters.  The action and acting are very entertaining.  The cinematography is awesome with various locals in the Canary Islands, Spain and Saudi Arabia.  You can always count on writer and director Guy Ritchie to deliver an exciting and off beat adventure. 

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Movie 3: Remarkably Bright Creatures

This is a very charming movie, beautifully based on the 2022 bestseller by Shelby Van Pelt.  A lonely widow and mother forms a friendship with a large, colorful Pacific octopus. The movie skillfully takes on several human emotions.  Very well written and acted.  Alfred Molina is the voice of the octopus.  On Netflix.

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Movie 1: Devil Wears Prada 2

Audiences have waited years for this very fun sequel.  This movie very neatly ties most of the loose ends from the original film.  The main characters are older, wiser and just as fascinating to watch.  The acting, scenery, sets, costumes are all amazing. Kenneth Branagh is a nice addition to the cast.  And once again Meryl Streep proves she can do anything and look fabulous doing it.  We found this movie very entertaining and will for sure see it again.

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Movie 2: The Sheep Detectives

Every evening a sheep herder reads aloud a murder mystery to his flock.  Unbeknownst to him the flock actually understands what he’s saying and talk amongst themselves.  When the sheep herder is found dead the sheep jump into action to solve the crime.  This is a fun movie for all ages.  Several young kids in our audience kept walking towards the screen wanting to touch the sheep!   

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Movie 3: Michael

We weren’t exactly sure what this movie was gonna be about, nor why there even was a movie.  It explores Michael Jackson’s early life as a young boy, a member of the Jackson 5 and his first years as a solo artist.  The music of course is wonderful, but we were totally surprised how entertaining and well done this movie is.  The young man who portrays Michael Jackson is phenomenal.  Colman Domingo’s acting, as Michael’s abusive father, is amazing.  The audience in our theater was mostly older woman, many of whom danced in their seats or the aisles.

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