XD Now Playing
Avatar: The Way of Water
Cast: Zoe Saldana, Kate Winslet, Michelle Yeoh
Director: James Cameron
Now Playing
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Jamie Lee Curtis
• 139 min
Living
Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp
• 102 min
Women Talking
Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley
• 104 min
PLANE
Gerard Butler, Daniella Pineda, Tony Goldwyn
The Fabelmans
Michelle Williams, Gabriel LaBelle, Paul Dano
• 151 min
A Man Called Otto
Tom Hanks, Kailey Hyman, Rachel Keller
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Harvey Guillén
• 100 min
M3gan
Violet McGraw, Amie Donald, Jenna Davis
• 102 min
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Martin Freeman, Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong'o
House Party
Andrew Santino, Allen Maldonado, Jacob Latimore
• 100 min
The Whale
Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Ty Simpkins
• 117 min
Coming Soon
80 for Brady
Rita Moreno, Sally Field, Jane Fonda
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors
John Wick: Chapter 4
Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård
Movie Guru's Current Movie Reviews
Since I write many of these briefs the day before the movies are released, what we have here are mostly ruminations on movies I have not yet seen. You will have to decide for yourself if these briefs have any value. I believe the less you know about a movie, the better chance you might enjoy it to the upside. Too many reviewers seem to go out of their ways to ruin for you with way too much information your upcoming movie experience. In fact my D graded Master’s Thesis proposed that reviews should be embargoed until after the opening weekends allowing moviegoers to see the movies fresh and without plot summaries taken right out of the press kits.
- Plane
Gerard Butler claims the crown previously worn by Liam Neeson as best B movie action star who can turn any silliness into a bruising non-stop action flick.
- The Son
Florian Zella, film Director, playwright, and genius, ropes Hugh Jackman and Anthony Hopkins into this prequel to The Father (the title character in that one played by Hopkins for which he won a best actor academy award). This will be another unsparing look at life‘s never ending obstacles to enduring happiness.
- M3gan
It seems that a robot friend (doll) loses control and thereby gains control. It might be an OK flick if well written, and the horror can’t be too bad since it has a PG-13 rating. At least the movie is only 100 minutes which is a relief to those of us who prefer our movies in under two hour doses.
- A Man Called Otto
Tom Hanks. Need I say more. This should be a wonderful movie about a cantankerous widower who is overwhelmed by the needy and oh so friendly new neighbors. Hopefully the jokes are funny (I don’t expect original) and adults show up and the movie is a big hit.
- Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody
Such a terrific effort with brilliant performances and perfect lip-syncing to remastered Houston hits, though the movie is weighed down by its length (maybe too many Whitney back stories) and the inevitable waste of a life.
- Babylon
An artiste directs a superstar actor and an up-and-coming superstar actress, both acting their back sides off. This is a very special roaring 20s Hollywood expose that turns away audiences on purpose. The less said the better or I might accidentally create an interest in this mistake. I was looking forward to this film and now I’m struggling to get through the entire film wary of what may come next.
- The Whale
Many of you, like me, have stopped looking forward to the movies of Darren Aronofsky. His creations are no longer special. However this one does have a tour de force effort by Brendan Fraser and is worth a look see if you are an auteurist.
- Puss In Boots The Last Wish
Something is happening here but I don’t know what it is. Holiday movie going is a family tradition. Yet my grand kids watched strange one the Disney Thanksgiving movie on Disney+ and have no interest in puss in boots because their favorite movies are so available on their TVs which they can watch over and over again at their convenience.
- Avatar: The Way Of Water
James Cameron foisting his imagination and technological brilliance on an unsuspecting audience even though the movie is an avatar. For example, in avatar the way of water Cameron is using both high definition 48 frames per second but also includes standard 24 frames per second for scenes in which he believes technology will take away from intimacy, or so I assume. Somehow he is saying that he has made the look compatible by running the standard 24FPS doubled up. Don’t ask me, and we shall see. Anyway of course all moviegoers must see this movie or theaters will go out of business. In fact I personally cannot wait.
- She Said
Even though this accurate accounting of the Harvey Weinstein story of Executive Power and rape takes place at the New York Times, it very much feels like the decades ago Washington Post’s All the President’s Men takedown of Watergate’s Richard Nixon for his use of Executive Power to cover up Presidential misdeeds.
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
I went into the XD theater for the first Thursday preview showing. The theater was packed. I sat in the second row way up front. The first two rows recline all the way back. The previews all knocked me out, especially a new John Wick opening in March. At some point during the previews I fell asleep. I woke up during a ferocious battle scene. I quietly left the theater. I will be back.
- The Banshees of Inisherin
Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, both recognizable to American audiences, are lifelong friends breaking apart in this Irish masterpiece. If you love film and have a chance to see a movie so perfect, you should never pass up such a chance as you have now.
- Tar
Directed by Todd Field. Starring Cate Blanchett. Need I say more. Todd Field’s two previous films, In the Bedroom and Little Children each had female tour de force performances from Sissy Spacek and Kate Winslet respectively. In Tar we have this generation’s Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, in her prime. Blanchett dazzles as a top of the charts Maestro, conducting all over the world. Surprises await The biggest surprise is that Tar has not cornered the audience it deserves.