Fifty+ years after its release, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR still packs a punch thanks to its eccentric and at the time, controversial staging. Filmed entirely on Israel locations by Director Norman Jewison (Fiddler on the Roof, Moonstruck, In the Heat of the Night) he begins the film with a busload of young people arriving in the ruins of an ancient temple, unloading a bus and costumes. During the overture, they shed their seventies garb for ancient costumes as Andrew Lloyd Webber's music soars. The film is entirely sung through, the only dialogue spoken is Tim Rice's song lyrics. This has always been one of Webber & Rice's greatest collaborations, a rock opera that carved out very new ground in the early 1970's. Anytime you start to feel comfortable, Jewison drops in a modern visual reference into ancient times. People either loved Centurion tanks chasing Judas across the desert or they hated it, there was very little middle ground. I loved it then and still find some serious full body chills in some the best numbers, which for me are "Gethsemane", "Pilate's Dream", "I Don't Know How to Love Him" and "Superstar". Ted Neeley is perfectly cast as Jesus, a role that he has continued to play in the decades since in stage revivals of the musical. Seventeen-year-old John Travolta auditioned for the role of Jesus. He didn't get the part, but producer Robert Stigwood would remember him four years later when he cast Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever". Carl Anderson (The Color Purple) is powerful as Judas, his rendition of "Heaven On Their Minds" is classic and a great opener. "Judas' Death" is also a powerhouse, with Israeli jets flying overhead and voices whispering around him. Yvonne Elliman is also good as Mary Magdeline, with "I Don't Know How to Love Him" equaled by the latter "Can We Start Again Please?". Barry Dennan has great presence as Pilate, offering up strong drama to offset the comically staged visit to King Herod, nailed by the hilariously off-putting Josh Mostel, showing the same comic chops as his dad, Zero. Fast paced, beautifully shot by Douglas Slocombe (Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Lion in Winter) and edited by Jewison regular Antony Gibbs (Fiddler on the Roof, Rollerball) it's got true visual style in those stark landscapes. Notable for it's somber ending that ends the story with the crucifixion, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR is an interesting take on music very much of its time, the very best of which still holds up perfectly half a century later. A solid B.

1998's The Prince of Egypt is a terrific animated film from the era just before CGI took over for hand drawn animation at the movies. This is the same story you have seen 100 times in "The Ten Commandments" but set to great songs by Stephen Schwartz ("Wicked"). Val Kilmer, Michelle Pfieffer, Sandra Bullock, Ralph Fiennes & Patrick Stewart lead a strong voice cast with great contributions by Martin Short and Steve Martin as well. The plagues of Egypt and parting of the Red Sea are very well done, with excellent animation and design from the team at Dreamworks. Watch for the scene where Moses falls asleep and the hieroglyphics come to life in his dream. This was a cutting edge CGI sequence in the late 90's and merges really well with the rest of the film, while showing a glimpse of where animation was soon to go. Regardless of where you fall on the religious spectrum, this is a terrific story, well told. Grab your kids or grand kids and enjoy. A

Wherever you land on the religious spectrum, from devout to agnostic, there's no denying the sheer will and power of Mel Gibson's 2004 blockbuster, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. I remember seeing the film in theaters in its original release and feeling like I hadn't seen the film, I'd survived it. The graphic brutality and violence that permeates nearly the entire film, made it a controversial and outlier family film experience. One critic at the time called it "The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre" and he wasn't far off in that opinion. It's been over twenty years since that first viewing and I wanted to revisit the film this Easter season, especially upon the news that Gibson has started the creation of its long awaited sequel, "Resurrection of The Christ". Gibson had shopped his original film based on The Gospels to every major studio, where it was soundly refused based on assumptions that there would be no audience for such a film. He financed and released the film himself, investing $30 million of his own funds in his vision. You can see why studios were reluctant. Gibson wanted the film to be in Aramaic, without subtitles. He eventually changed his mind and added subtitles, but there is no English spoken in the film. He wanted to cast the film without any major movie stars, with every role but the title one filled by foreign actors. Of course, we know now that his faith in the project was well founded, with the film grossing over $600 million against it's $30 million budget. Gibson personally made over $400 million on the film, giving him complete freedom to make whatever films he wanted for the past two decades. He's a select filmmaker and his "Apocalypto" is a brilliant film and a personal favorite, while "Braveheart" stands on its own as one of the best historical dramas ever made. PASSION depicts the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus, (perfectly cast in the form of Jim Caviezel) opening in the Garden of Olives as he finds his apostles asleep and Judas about to betray him. What follows is a shockingly brutal depiction of Jesus being arrested and savagely beaten, even before his conviction of blasphemy. Roman Governor Pontius Pilate (a superb Hristo Shopov) sees no reason to punish Jesus, questioning why he's even before him. He sends him to King Herod. Herod sees Jesus as a fool and releases him back to Pilate. Having been warned twice about any outbreak or trouble in his city, Pilate seeks every way he can think of to let Jesus go. When those efforts fail, he washes his hands of his responsibility and lets the rabble decide. We then watch, real-time the savage whipping and crucifixion of the man who had just arrived to the crowd's cheers days before. Gibson's mission appears to be to subject the viewer to the visceral torture that Jesus experienced at the hands of his Roman soldiers. His camera never looks away. The film's critics would tell you that the film revels in the worst moments. It is brutal to watch as whips just don't stripe his flesh, they yank huge chunks of flesh off his body. Blood covers every surface. The crucifixion sequence that follows is excruciating in it's graphic horrors. Gibson is an excellent filmmaker and he's found the perfect actor for his vision in Caviezel. During filming, the actor experienced a separated shoulder when the 150lb cross was first dropped on his back, was accidentally whipped by one of the actors playing a soldier and was actually struck by lightning filming the sequence on the cross. It's a powerful performance. Gibson balances some of the most horrific moments with flashbacks to Jesus' childhood with his mother Mary Magdalene (Monica Bellucci), his Sermon on the Mount and the Last Supper with his disciples. These flashbacks give you moments to breathe in the midst of the unrelenting torture. By the uplifting final moments of the film, which inspired long lasting goosebumps in me thanks to John Debney's music and an uplifting relief from the two hours of tension that went before it, I again felt like I had again "survived" watching the film. The only other movie that I feel that way about is Spielberg's "Schindler List" which I saw opening night in a theater and have never seen again. Both are brilliant but tortured experiences to witness. Gibson makes so many bold choices in this film that pay off. The Matera location photography by Caleb Deschanel (The Right Stuff, The Natural) is stunning and immerses you in the film. He shot everything at a slightly higher than normal film speed to give the film a dream like feel. The supernatural scenes with Satan as an androgynous, pale, floating figure are scary, unexpected and powerful. In the initial interview scene between Pilate and Jesus, there's a clever Easter Egg that most viewers may not notice. Hebrew or Latin speakers will recognize that after Pilate asks Jesus in Aramaic if he is king of the Jews, Jesus answers him in fluent Latin (translated as "Does this question come from you"). The look of surprise on Pilate's face thus makes perfect sense - few if any of his subjects speak Latin. From this point forward, their conversation continues in Latin. Christian audiences at the time came to theaters in large groups, a first at the time, but now almost commonplace with the nationwide success of Angel Studios and their frequent faith based films. I watch this film rise to the top of Apple TV rental charts every year around Easter week. Having seen it twice, I don't know that' I'll ever watch this again, but my respect for Gibson as a director and filmmaker hasn't wavered. Controversy be damned, he's a brilliant film maker. The film gets a haunting, respectful A.

When I was growing up, Easter didn't start until the annual TV showing of Cecil B. DeMille's THE TEN COMMANDMENTS hit the small screen. Those first commanding notes of Elmer Bernstein's score would fire up and we'd all settle in for our traditional evening (or TWO when ABC would break it into two prime time nights!). Clocking in at nearly 4 hours, DeMille tells the story of Moses from his birth to death with plenty of spectacle and BIG performances from a huge cast. Charlton Heston (Ben Hur) is Moses, capturing the man's despair when he falls from Prince of Egypt to the hard labor of a Hebrew slave. Heston is a legend in the role, carrying gravitas whether he's in the robes of a slave or a prince. Yul Brynner (The KIng and I, Westworld) is terrific as his brother Ramses, all ego and bombast in the face of any challenge. Brynner's family has shared that this was the only one of his films that Brynner truly enjoyed watching. They said he was proud of his performance, and very proud of being in the film. He regarded it as "the biggest film ever made, forever." We all know the story by now, so the pleasure of the film is watching DeMille throw everything he has at the screen. There are massive outdoor sets, on a scale unimaginable in today's world of digital painting. The film is splashed in the best special effects that 1956 could buy (no, they don't hold up very well today) and what must have been a year long shoot on Mount Sinai and throughout Egypt. When Moses is sent back to Egypt to convince his brother to "Let his people go", all the scenes of the plagues and the final Passover night are perfectly staged by DeMille. No one is ever going to accuse DeMille of having a light touch. Some of his actors are completely out of control. Anne Baxter is horrible as Nefretiri, chewing the scenery down as fast as DeMille can build it. Some of her final scenes are so strange in motivation I still can't figure out the logic after many viewings. Edward G. Robinson seems like he time traveled as a 1930's mob boss to become a Slave master. As Billy Crystal used to hilariously say, Robinson practically yells "Moses, yer a wise guy, see.." and Vincent Price is less than convincing as a violent builder lusting after beautiful slave women. There are some great standouts beside Heston and Brynner, including Yvonne DeCarlo and John Derek. The scenes with the burning bush, the creation of the tablets and of course the entire half hour sequence depicting the Exodus from Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea are all part of film history. The Passover sequence terrified me as a kid and its powerful staging still compels today. Those are 14,000 real extras and 15,000 real animals on camera during the exodus scene. Today, there would be nothing but CGI people on screen and there's something to be said for the OG approach, with DeMille's camera sweeping up, over and through the incredible mass of humanity leaving Egypt. Ridley Scott's parting of the red sea in 2014's "Exodus: Gods and Kings" is indeed far more spectacular. But that film missed the camp that DeMille brings to this 70 year old masterpiece. You have to hand it to DeMille. He keeps this old fashioned, family entertainment moving for nearly four hours without slowing down, crafting a powerful story for the ages. History can't question his commitment to making the film. He suffered a heart attack during production, after climbing 130 feet to check a faulty camera perched on one of the giant gates used during the exodus sequence. He took two days off, then returned to work, against his doctor's orders, to complete the film! I think it would be against some commandment somewhere not to pull this expensive chestnut out for holiday viewing. When adjusting box office results for inflation, only 6 movies have ever grossed more than this massive 1956 blockbuster. When you can only show it 3 times a day in theaters, that's even more impressive. Until Mel Gibson's 2004 epic "The Passion of the Christ" this movie was the highest-grossing religious epic in history, earning over $65 million, over $800 million in today's dollars. This film has been part of my life since the mid 1960's. It's never really Easter until it's on screen. Regardless of your personal religious take, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS is spectacular entertainment for generations of families. We'll appreciate the kitsch and the overacting right along with the jaw dropping spectacle and give it a B+. Happy Easter weekend all!

If you love dark, dark comedy wedded to smart drama, accept your invitation today to THE DRAMA. An acting showcase for Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, the film is unlike anything I've seen on screen in some time. Writer/Director Kristoffer Borgoli is an original voice, serving up the type of comedic/dramatic meld I haven't seen since Woody Allen's brilliant 1989 film, "Crimes and Misdemeanors". Since that's nearly 40 years ago, it's safe to say the Borgoli is treading very new ground for a couple generations. His actors are up to the task. Pattinson (The Batman, Inception) is Charlie, a successful Museum curator who falls in love at first sight at a Manhattan coffee shop. His meet-cute with Emma (Zendaya, showing incredible range) is the only traditional part of the story, but even details of that meeting will echo strongly later in the film. The film's structure is intriguing as hell, popping back and forth in time, a little at first, then more dramatically. Charlie and Emma's courtship and dating is a whirlwind and they set a date to get married. The film focuses in on the week of the wedding. There are menus to be finalized, last minute flower picks and a DJ situation that never seems quite settled. The couple sit down to finalize their menu with Charlie's best friends Rachel (Alana Haim from PTA's "Licorice Pizza") and her husband Mike (Mamoudou Athie from Jurassic World: Dominion). The four taste the final wedding menu choices, drink wine, laugh a lot, drink some more wine and then play a spur-of-the-moment game. It's basically a challenge to share the worst thing you've ever done in your life. Mike goes first, with Rachel goading him on and saying she's going to spill his secret if he doesn't. His secret is awkward but kind of funny. Rachel goes next, hers is a bit more twisted. Charlie agonizes to come up with much of anything. Then a very drunken Emma spills hers. NO SPOILERS here about her secret or any details of what happens next. But what a fascinating thing Borgoli does with Emma's reveal. It turns perception of who Emma is on its head. For Charlie, for Rachel and for you as the viewer. What would you do if you were Charlie? Borgoli threads a needle for the rest of the film, delivering BIG laughs at the most unexpected and awkward moments. His dialogue is tailored to every character. He plays loose with time and weaves in fantasy sequences and real memories. Pattinson is brilliant at playing a man whose world is suddenly turned inside out and upside down. Haim is stellar, stealing every scene she's in. Her Rachel is loud, transparent and has no poker face. Between this film, "Licorice Pizza"and "One Battle After Another", Haim is carving out a very respectable acting niche. She's never predictable and always fascinating to watch on the big screen. Athie is our solid, more relatable core of the story, caught in-between his wife and his best friend, trying to find some middle ground that's safe. Borgoli offers no safe quarter for the viewer. I loved the ride and had NO idea where it was going. I really vibed with the story structure, with Borgoli's screenplay and the editing by Borgoli and Joshua Raymond Lee serving up a very unconventional take on a modern rom-com. I have to call out Zoe Winters (The Materialists) as Frances the wedding photographer. Her photo session with Charlie and Emma a couple days after Emma reveals her secret, with the couple struggling, is laugh-out-loud funny. Winters facial expressions are a thing of legend. THE DRAMA lives somewhere closer to a horror film than a comedy, but that doesn't mean it isn't very funny in shotgun like bursts. This is a wild ride, a romance that goes off the rails and then some. Will they survive to the wedding? How well do you really know your spouse? Is there anyway to take back powerful words you wish had not been spoken? Questions abound, but many I would ask might give something away, and I refuse to do that. The less you know going in, the better. After the wild ride is about to pull into the station, Borgoli managed to truly surprise me with an ending that's somehow flawless. That's not easy to do when you are carving out a modern take as wild as this. He's one to watch. Zendaya has laughed that audiences are going to get sick of her by the end of 2026 with all the films she has coming out. No we won't Zendaya, not when you are turning in performances like this. Talk about complicated. Pattinson matches her stride for stride, offering up a hell of a starring pair. RSVP for THE DRAMA asap. It gets an A from this entertained and surprised table in the back corner of the reception. R-Rated trailer below.

"Let's a-Go!" Bigger, faster and sure to be a Billion Dollar hit, THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE is an enjoyable barrage of video game action and laughs for all ages. Funny enough to entertain my 12 year old grandson and not too scary for his 3 year old brother, this one is sure to pack in families this long Easter weekend. Building off the fun of the first film, this one plunges us into the action immediately. Princess Peach (Anya Taylor Joy) opens the film with some nice legend building before she is kidnapped by the tiny but ambitious Bowser Jr, hilariously voiced by Benny Safdie. The IMAX visuals and sound mix in this opening sequence drops you right into the Nintendo world and everyone in our sold out screening was wow'd. That's a lot of kids getting very quiet, very quickly. The $110 million budget is all over the big screen, with minute details and legacy video game easter eggs hidden everywhere. We're then popped into a desert setting with Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) riding motorcross bikes across massive hills as the camera pulls in right behind, above and around them. On the big screen, the fun quotient is off the charts for anyone who has ever played the game. I felt like the filmmakers this time out are even more committed to giving us full size renditions of our favorite parts of the game, from its very first, blocky game versions (that I played decades ago) to the most current stunning 4k iterations. Some vocal critics, obviously mistaking this family film that's built for fun as a self important drama, have derided "a lack of plot" and the lack of "a more cohesive story". Huh? Have they ever played a video game? The film moves quickly from one universe to the next, barraging us with familiar characters like Yoshi (Donald Glover), Toad (Keegan Michael-Key) along with some nice additions like Glen Powell as Fox McCloud, the most Han Solo-like Fox in the universe. Wild worlds abound across the universe and the story pops back and forth quickly as Mario and Luigi race through them to save Peach. Rosalina (Brie Larson) is also off to save Peach and her scene in an alt universe Las Vegas is a stunner. The action takes place on all four walls, "Inception" style and the background action is a testament to the thousands of artists that created this cinematic world. Luis Guzman (Carlito's Way, Boogie Nights) almost steals the movie as Wart, ruling that casino world with lazy domination. Jack Black is back and hilarious, serving up plenty of fun and intrigue as we try to figure out if his legendary villain Bowser is still a bad guy. Has he changed? A little one next to me whispered loudly at one point "Is he really good now?" Stay tuned. The amount of cosmic worlds, different settings and fast paced action is sure to keep kids of all ages entertained. There are power ups of every variety here. While the kids enjoy the characters and the action, adults can appreciate that every camera angle and setting is pretty stunning. The movie looks AND sounds great for every moment of its 98 minute run time, which is just about perfect for the kids. At the cost of a $1 million a minute, the film delivers every dollar on screen. Brian Tyler's score is always there and very enjoyable. Tyler (Avengers: Age of Ultron) keeps it fun and majestic from start to finish. THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE is pure popcorn fun for the family. I enjoyed it just as much if not more than the original. With the world building out of the way, this one just hits the ground running and never takes a breath. Space adventure, chase sequences, dinos, underwater worlds, game play? Yes on ALL counts, earning a solid B, slightly better than the B- I gave the first movie. There are two post credits scenes. The one mid credits is actually pretty dark and left our crowd mumbling, but the surprise at the very end after the credits rolled left our audience cheering about what lies ahead in a third film. With a $350 million opening weekend looming, I would expect that film will hit theaters Easter Weekend 2029!

A cavalcade of great performances deftly directed by Joachim Trier made SENTIMENTAL VALUE a richly deserving nominee for Nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture of 2025. This deeply felt portrait of a family with decades of history, a life in the arts and tragedy in their lineage is beautifully compelling. It pulled me in fast with its opening scenes and never let me off the edge of my seat. Flawlessly crafted, compelling human relationships are fascinating to watch and Trier (The Worst Person in the World, Thelma) has created something truly special with the Borg family. Nora Borg (a brilliant Renate Reinsve) is an actress we meet as she's about to take the stage, the orchestra is cued, the audience is ready, but she finds every reason she can think of to run from the stage and hide. I was terrified for her and pulled into her story immediately. We meet her sister, Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) whose adult life is far removed from the world of entertainment. She's raising her young son with her husband Even (Andreas Stoltenberg Granerud). Their father is Gustav Borg (perfectly cast Stellan Skarsgard) a famous, well respected film director who has just written his first big film in years. As the film unfolds, Trier's screenplay reveals subtle layer after layer of dynamics within the family. This is the type of writing I admire most. Every scene, every setting, every word of dialogue feels spontaneous, emotionally sound and powerful. It's clear that when Gustav left Nora and Agnes' mother, that their lives became easier, the home became less of a battleground, but it's also clear that Gustav wasn't the most present of Fathers. Assuming you know anything about these people, or that they are going to fall into boring cinema stereotypes is a huge mistake. The brilliance of the film is the discovery along the way. When Gustav approaches his daughter Nora to play the lead in his new film, to be shot at their family home, she immediately refuses. She seems to have a million valid reasons why. He approaches one of the biggest box office draws in America, Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) to play the part. Kemp, tired of being stuck in popular American films with no real weight, jumps at the chance to be in an important film from a respected Norwegian director. What follows is a collision of family, film making and a reckoning on age and legacy. The family home becomes a character all itself and is beautifully shot. The memories and expectations in those walls weigh heavily. I loved the scenes with Gustav and his long time producing partner Michael, perfectly played by Jesper Christensen from "Casino Royale". Their conversation about growing older and their current station in life is just one of many moments of the film that stay with you. Fanning is terrific as Kemp too. Her self doubt about the role and search for the character is palpable. I admire Trier's structure of the film. He assumes the viewer is watching and invested, never pandering to an audience that needs him to hold their hands. Scenes leap, settings jump, long quiet moments inform as much as any brilliant dialogue (and yes, it's brilliant dialogue). Reality and art blend. Personal memories are just that and are often startling to the other person that shares them. I've rarely seen realism and art blended so seamlessly. The ending is perfect. This is a beautiful, complex and very rewarding film. Reinsve is a jaw dropper as Nora. She would have been my pick for Best Actress, bar none. Her performance is one of the best I've ever seen. You cannot take your eyes off her from opening scene to closing perfection. SENTIMENTAL VALUE is an A+, conjuring up echoes of "Vertigo", "Interiors" and Tracy Letts' "August Osage County" while delivering a stunning original film. Academy Award Winner, Best International Feature Film, Norway's first win the the category. Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress for Reinsve, Best Actor for Skarsgard, Best Supporting Actress for Fanning and Best Supporting Actress for Lilleaas and Best Editing. (In Norweigan with English Subtitles.)

Oscar winners Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman teamed up in 1972 for a violent mob thriller bathed in blood. While it has a few great scenes, PRIME CUT is decidedly underdone. Hackman, hot off filming "The French Connection" is Mary Ann, a Kansas City mobster with a hair trigger who likes to put his adversaries through the meat grinder at his KC slaughterhouse, Mary Ann's Meats. His name is never explained, but I can only imagine it's part of why he's so pissed off. After a rival Chicago mobster sent to collect monies owed from Mary Ann is sent back to his boss Jake (Eddie Egan) as fresh hot dogs, Jake hires free lancer Nick Devlin (Marvin) to put Mary Ann back in his place. Violence ensues. Egan is a fascinating actor. He was the real life NYC cop that inspired Popeye Doyle, Hackman's character in "The French Connection". He carries real weight as Jake. Marvin's performance is a reminder of just how great he was in action roles. Even in films like this, working off a half baked screenplay that barely supports 90 minutes of running time, Marvin is fantastic. They don't make tough guys on film like this anymore, and they are missed! Marvin's Nick gathers his boys (his loyal driver and two younger goons) and heads to KC. It's immediately apparent when he gets there that he and Mary Ann have some serious history, including with Mary Ann's wife Clarabelle, played by 70's screen vixen Angel Tompkins. Her Playboy Playmate appearance in 1972 rocketed her to fame after many TV guest star spots in the late 60's. She also starred in one of my personal favorite TV series of the early seventies, 'Search". She's stunning and does just fine in her big scene with Marvin. Any time that Marvin and Hackman are on screen together, its riveting. Nick and Mary Ann have hated each other deeply for a very long time. Hackman is so damn good at playing a man with a hair trigger that I couldn't wait for Marvin to set him off. Marvin's quiet bravado seethes just below the surface and my money is ALWAYS on Marvin. Hackman accepted the role after sitting unemployed for six months since the end of filming on Friedkin's "French Connection". His next film after this would be a huge hit, "The Poseidon Adventure". Director Michael Ritchie (Fletch, Semi Tough) seems as fascinated with showing us small town farm life and county fairs as he does the action, leading to a strange pace that suffers plenty of lulls between the action. You can't accuse him of shying away from violence and nudity, revealing stables full of beautiful naked young women that Mary Ann is auctioning off like prized cattle. One of the girls, Poppy, whispers "please help me" to Nick and he immediately takes her with him. Poppy is played by Sissy Spacek in her first acting role. She's excellent, boldly frank in her nudity and displays all the acting talent in her first role that would earn her an Oscar playing Loretta Lynn eight years later. Marvin and Director Ritchie famously had huge fights during production as Ritchie wanted to film love scenes between Marvin and Spacek, which Marvin refused to do, due to their age difference. Gregory Walcott (The Eiger Sanction, Joe Kidd) is slimy as hell playing the aptly named thug Weenie. His penchant for grinding up folks in the slaughterhouse and dripping blood & sweat all over his victims makes him one of the most repulsive screen bad guys of the era. There are a couple of great action sequences in the film, the best being Marvin and Spacek running endlessly across wheat fields with a mob of gunmen and a huge threshing machine chasing them. It conjures up Cary Grant's dual with that airplane in Hitchcock's "North by Northwest". A second cat and mouse face-off in a field of sunflowers also delivers the goods. But for a film that's only 88 minutes long, it's got more filler than those bloody hot dogs. Even Marvin and Hackman's heroics can't save it from being more than an average early seventies thriller with a few great scenes. When even the great Lalo Schifrin's music score sounds like he phoned it in, you've got issues. This is the man that wrote the action music for "Bullitt" and "Mission Impossible". Just like the rest of the film, his score here comes up far short. PRIME CUT feels more like celluloid ground chuck. I'll stamp it with a C.

The flat out BEST series I've seen in a long time, FALLOUT is hilarious, exciting and packed with knockout visuals. I should probably start with my perspective. I've never played the video game and know nothing about it. Needless to say, I approached Prime's new series with fresh eyes, eyes that were assaulted with a terrific & intriguing collection of characters. The opening is a brilliant set up for what lies ahead. A perfectly cast Walter Goggins (Justified, The Hateful Eight) is Hollywood Western movie star Cooper Howard. We meet Howard for the first time in full cowboy garb at a child's birthday party. The luxury home sits in the hills overlooking Los Angeles, incredible views in every direction. Is Cooper a faded movie star? He's incredibly charming, but seems out of place. How does he know these people? His daughter doesn't seem to be friends with the other children. Before you can dive too deep into these questions, atomic bombs begin dropping into the skyscrapers of LA, their blinding light and shock waves coming right for the home. The execution of this scene is so sure handed, so flawless, that you are immediately pulled into the what and why of what lies ahead. I remember Richard Kelly's crazy, half dumb but intriguing 2006 film "Southland Tales"that opened in a similar fashion. It was one of the things I liked most about Kelly's film, but his film eventually petered out under the tonnage of its unfulfilled promise. Showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel, Tomb Raider) and Graham Wagner (Portlandia, Silicon Valley) nail the tone and the adventure out of the gate PERFECTLY. Watching Cooper on his horse with his daughter, riding hard into the Hollywood hills as orange mushroom clouds rise in the distance BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! is a perfect moment. It will be followed by many more. That scene is the opening few minutes of eight hours/episodes that never falter. After the titles, we move forward more than 200 years and meet the population of Vault 33. A massive underground bunker, all of it's inhabitants live an idyllic, Rodgers & Hammerstein, 1950's style American life. Cornfields are healthy, the projected sky is always patriotic blue and jello cake seems to be an indulgent favorite. Ella Purnell (Army of the Dead) is Lucy MacLean, the boundlessly upbeat and enthusiastic daughter of the bunker's elected leader, Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan). Hank leads the citizens with a 1950's flair. This could just as easily be a prequel to "Happy Days" as it is a post-apocalyptic dwelling. A major event is about to take place. Lucy is to marry the male member of neighboring Vault 32 that has been deemed most worthy to breed. The events of the wedding and its aftermath are just the first shock in a series of events that eventually drive Lucy to the surface of the Earth as a lone member of the vaults to exist above ground. And what a landscape it is. Los Angeles 200+ years after the apocalypse is a rubble filled landscape. Adding to the superb visuals, landmarks of the past always loom in the background. LAX's unique former control tower lurks like a battered spider. The beaten remnants of the Santa Monica Pier, the empty, towering, burned out skyscrapers of downtown and massive craters where the A-bombs dropped are everywhere. Crossing this landscape is The Ghoul. And he steals every scene he's in. The Ghoul is Cooper Howard, two centuries later. His face burned flat, his nose missing, he still walks with the confident cowboy strut of his former film days. I had a million questions. How is he still alive? What is a Ghoul? Half the fun is watching the story ahead reveal (or not reveal) answers to those questions. Deeper into California, the Brotherhood of Steel mans iron-giant style battle suits about 8 feet tall, loaded with weapons and power you might expect in a very early Tony Stark armored suit. Their ranks feel much like the old Marines, with the lowest of them stuck polishing boots and cleaning latrines. Aaron Moten (Emanicpation) is Maximus, a grunt who seems doomed at the low end of the ranks. When Maximus is sent out as the personal servant of one of the armed warriors Knight Titus (Michael Rapaport in a profane, hilarious performance), they face giant cockroaches and one hell of a nasty bear. Maximus begins a path toward redemption that will eventually lead him to cross paths with The Ghoul and Lucy. Michael Emerson (Lost, Evil) stars as Dr Wilzig, whose research & discoveries lead to the McGuffin that powers the quest for our three main players. The eight episodes find an incredible balance in telling this massive, three pronged story. We move from character to character and move back and forth in time. Every revisit to the pre-atomic bomb LA reveals more about the future. Jonathan Nolan (HBO's "Westworld", Inception) is a big influence behind the scenes, but his world building is 1000 times better here than it was with Westworld, a series that grew too complicated and impenetrable as it went on. It all reminded me a great deal of the heyday of "Lost" and its ability to weave a compelling adventure that crossed timelines and many, many lives. There are too many great characters to name, but there are some that really stood out for me among the massive cast. Moises Arias (Nacho Libre) is an enigma as Norm MacLean, son of Hank and brother of Lucy, he's a coward and a cypher who might just be finding his way after Lucy departs for the surface. Zach Cherry (Severance) is an absolute blast as Woody Thomas, a Vault 33 occupant inspired to take Hank's place as their leader. Every line delivery is perfect, including his one-liner in the voting booth. Leslie Uggams (Yes! That Leslie Uggams, the singer/damcer from the 70's) is great as Betty Pearson, a political leader in the Vault whose mysteries run deep. Sarita Choudury (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay) is powerful as Lee Moldaver, a power player in one rebel faction of the surface world. Johnny Pemberton (Ant-Man) delivers big laughs as Thaddeus, a loud mouth member of the Brotherhood whose story arc cuts through all the tales with humor and many twists. Like "Lost" or "Westworld" the scope of the storytelling is massive. Every new part of the world they took me too delivered visual fun. From the scale of the weaponry to the nuances of minor characters that come and go, post apocalypse Los Angeles is alive in a way that other films of the genre never quite matched. The eight hours allows plenty of valuable time for character building as well, making the payoffs of the final episode all the more powerful. Purnell is excellent, going from wide-eyed innocent with a tough edge to a true above ground survivor, Lucy never loses who she is at her core. Moten shows great range and his final scenes with Michael Cristofer (The Witches of Eastwick, Die Hard with a Vengance) as Elder Cleric Quintus are powerful. Goggins rises above all, creating a character so unique, so dangerous, twisted and just that he upps the series everytime he walks on screen. He brings violence and bloodletting like a Tarantino version of John Wayne. He's never been better. Great cameos abound, from Chris Parnell to Fred Armisen. Just thinking about their scenes makes me laugh. A rare, perfect blend of fantasy, sci-fi, comedy and drama, FALLOUT is fantastic. After a huge first week of streaming, Amazon Prime has just announced a Season 2. I can't wait. I'll be there opening night to binge the entire season with anticipation. FALLOUT gets an A+, okey-dokey? Watch the first half of the end credits of each episode to catch great still concept art of the episode you've just watched. Just another cool touch to a series packed with discovery.

A fun throwback to the adult action comedies of the 80's, MIKE & NICK & NICK & ALICE delivers a double helping of Vince Vaughn in his best role(s) in years. It takes a bit to get going, but once the intricate pieces start to fall into place, so does the fun. Over the opening credits, we meet a screwball scientist named Symon, played by Ben Schwartz (Sonic the Hedgehog). We can't quite tell what he's working on, but I do know he's singing an entire Billy Joel song from a long forgotten Disney movie called "Oliver & Company", not the last fascinating, eclectic song choice to be heard here. Disaster strikes the lab. Meanwhile, mob enforcer Quick Draw Mike (James Marsden) is setting up a meeting with his secret love Alice (Eiza Gonzalez from "Baby Driver") who just happens to be married to his best friend and fellow mobster, Nick, played with hilarious intensity by Vaughn. It's a fun core trio that will soon become a quartet. Meanwhile, lead underworld figure Sosa (Keith David from "The Thing" having an enormous amount of fun) is celebrating his adopted son's release from prison after 6 years. His son, Jimmy Boy, is surely one of the dumbest mobsters in film history. One of my favorite laugh out loud moments is when Sosa gives his boy a gold plated shotgun with the initials JB and his son says, "JB, what does that stand for?", David's reactions throughout are classic. Jimmy Tatro (Modern Family) is a comic standout with more testosterone than brains (or virility). As the first of four parties kicks off, Sosa announces that the celebration will continue to dawn, but that he also knows that among them is the rat that sent Jimmy Boy to prison. Sosa has discovered that the snitch is Mike, hiring Nick to kill his best friend. That's the set up. That would be enough, but what happens when another Nick from the future shows up, determined to change history? It's the find of callback that happened often in 80's films, an enormous plot device that you were just asked to roll with and enjoy the ride, Marty McFly style. If you can do that (and why wouldn't you?) this just gets funnier and funnier. One Vince Vaughn is a highlight in any film, but you get double the fun here as a slightly wiser Nick arrives to save their friend Mike from his fate. I laughed a lot as the film morphs into a classic buddy comedy times two, deftly tossing in a gallery of hilarious but dangerous bad guys that reminded me of the first two Beverly Hills Cop films, a rare comedy/action equation. In a real stroke of comic genius, all of the mobsters are aptly named by their biggest character trait. Arturo Castro (Tron:Ares, Road House) always knows the worst thing to say at the worst moment, hence his name Dumbass Tony. He lives up to it for big laughs. Lewis Tan (Mortal Kombat) is Roid Rage Ryan, ripped with muscles and a hair trigger. There are a couple of fun surprises in store around The Barron, a cannibal hitman also on the trail of Mike. I am not familiar with BenDavid Grabinski, the writer/director, but after a bit of an unsure start, he finds definite footing for the last 3/4 of the film, delivering some classic comic set pieces. My favorite was the scene in the convenience store with a very stoned clerk witnessing Mike and Nick trying to kidnap...Nick. The comic and action timing is flawless. Grabinski stages a mega-finale showdown with enough firepower to jaw drop John Woo. It's a thrilling, crazy finale on a massive and well staged scale. Vaughn and Marsden (and Vaughn!) deliver a roaring ending followed by an unexpected conclusion that I really enjoyed. Film buffs will also enjoy some funny references to "Ghost" and "Big Trouble in Little China". Packed with big laughs, twisted turns & surprises & stockpiles of ammunition, MIKE & NICK & NICK & ALICE would have been a big hit on the big screen this weekend. Hulu's dropping it directly to your living room instead. We're still laughing the next morning, which earns it an appreciative B.

"A battleground in shades of gray, played out in deception, seduction, and bad faith..." So wild that it could only be true, OPERATION MINCEMEAT is an intriguing World War 2 drama with suspense and intrigue to spare. An all-star British cast delivers an impossible series of deceptions in one of those beautifully detailed period dramas that the UK seems to have mastered long ago. Rather that a front lines themed story with plenty of big budget war action, this is a tale about all the agents in the shadows, steering history with elaborate plans to deceive the Nazis by diverting their attention. Will the Germans actually fall for a plan that depends on a corpse washing up on the right beach with falsified plans of attack in its pocket? It's the plan that Captain Montagu (a perfectly stalwart Colin Firth) has hatched alongside his right hand officer Charles (Matthew Macfayden of "Succession"). Their boss, the obnoxiously dug in Admiral John Godfrey (Jason Isaacs) thinks their approach is too simple, too stupid to possibly work. He's probably right, but the film has a lot of fun showing the inter-department rivalry and politics that would be at home in any office. Penelope Wilton (After Life, Downton Abbey) is terrific as Hester, running an incredible team to support Montagu with all the falsified details to give their plan believable tenure. Johnny Flynn plays real-life Ian Fleming, the author who created James Bond, who was very much part of the secret service behind the mission. Kelly Macdonald (No Country For Old Men) plays Jean Leslie, a key member of Montagu's staff that he begins to fall for during the long hours behind the mission. Their unspoken romance is one of those staid, English longings that Macdonald and Firth excel at playing. Simon Russell Beale is terrific as Winston Churchill, serving up one liners and swirling cigar smoke in equal, sublime measure. The film is loaded with pleasant surprises and more laughs and fun that you might expect. It's not easy to get a dead body to wash up right where and how you want it, especially when its maybe been in the cooler a bit too long... It's been said that the real-life story behind the film, the creation of a British officer that never existed, inspired Hitchcock and Ernest Lehman's similarly themed "North by Northwest" and fans of that film will appreciate the subtle links within. OPERATION MINCEMEAT is such a fascinating true story that its been adapted into an award winning Musical that's won huge acclaim on the West End and Broadway, still playing to packed audiences here and across the pond in March 2026. After seeing the film, I can't wait to see how it's been turned into a comedic musical! The roots are certainly there. A bit underappreciated upon its release in 2021, this is a mission worth looking up. Enjoyable, fast paced and clever, it's packed with real people in danger around the world on a mission to defeat Hitler and his evil ranks. More "Downton Abbey" than "Where Eagles Dare", it gets a very solid B+. Fleming perhaps served up the best summary of where our tale is focused: There is the war we see, a contest of bombs and bullets, courage, sacrifice, and brute force, as we count the winners, the losers, and the dead. But along side that war, another war is waged. A battleground in shades of gray, played out in deception, seduction, and bad faith. The participants are strange. They are seldom what they seem, and fiction and reality blur. This war is a wilderness of mirrors in which the truth is protected by a bodyguard of lies. This is our war.

One of the most powerful miniseries I've ever experienced, HBO's CHERNOBYL plunges you directly into the greatest man-made disaster in world history. Spread over five episodes, it's gripping from its very first moments, presenting tragedy on an unimaginable scale, hidden by a now extinct Soviet regime that could never admit failure on any scale. There are NO weak episodes among the five, with each highlighting a distinct part of the story. We open with a quiet scene featuring Jared Harris as Russian Nuclear scientist Valery Legasov. His part in the legacy of Chernobyl is key, heroic and stalwart in the face of death from every angle. Harris (Fringe, The Crown) is powerful in every moment and is our throughline over the entire 5+ hours as Legasov. Almost immediately, we are thrust into the events of April 1986 at the Nuclear Power Plant, an explosion so unimaginable that everyone involved refuses to see how serious it is until it's far too late. This first hour is packed with compelling moments that won't let you avert your eyes. Families gather with their children on a bridge in Pripyat, a nearby town in the middle of the night, woken by the explosion. As they look at the amazing light show projected into the clouds, tiny snow like ashes begin to fall, loaded with lethal amounts or radiation. Children sing and dance around in them, catching them on their tongues. Plant Manager Anatoly Dyatlov (Paul Ritter from "Quantum of Solace") is a wrecking crew of bad decisions, forcing a plant test that never should have happened and refusing to acknowledge the true level of the damage. We walk alongside crew members forced to go check on the reactor. They look over the edge into the core itself, fully exposed and blasting lethal radiation into the sky like a volcano of light. The film doesn't shy away from the reality of the event. The near immediate effects of the radiation poisoning turns people's insides to blood, causing massive burns within seconds. The special effects and make up teams are first rate and base everything on the actual events. Compounding the tragedy of an uninformed public and a town just a couple miles away, is Chernobyl's management team, who disregard anyone stating the truth in order to cover their own ass in the tragedy. Jessie Buckley (Hamnet) is excellent as the wife of a local fireman who's one of the first responders. Her husband Vasily (Adam Nagaitis) is brave beyond measure and will pay the price over the story arc. Legasov is appointed to a commission to explore the accident as the reality of it begins to sink in. He reports to Boris Shcherbina, excellently played by Stellan Skarsgard (Dune, Melancholia). Shcherbina is a fascinating man, a loyal comrade of the Soviet military who detests Legasov's theories on what's happening at the plant. The relationship these two real-life men form over the arc of the series is fascinating, moving and powerful. Skarsgard & Harris are an acting duo for the ages. In episode 2, Ulana Khomyuck (Emily Watson), a nuclear scientist in a plant hundreds of miles away begins to detect the radiation leak from Chernobyl and believes that another explosion is imminent. She immediately begins chasing down Legasov as the plant's core continues to spiral out of control. Episode 3 sees Valery developing a plan that may finally bring the core exposure under control, or will it just make it worse? The Tula miners that the Soviet government hires for a dangerous dig under the power plant are led by Andrei Glukhov, played by Alex Ferns (Andor, The Batman) in a scene stealing performance that stays with you. Episode 4 is a fascinating, different tone as we meet the soviet workers and military personnel charged with the cleanup after the nuclear disaster. From burying every bit of farmland and forest beneath ground to wiping out the radioactive animal population in the evacuated countryside, it's brutal work. Barry Keoghan (Crime 101, The Banshees of Inisherin) stars as Pavel, a young enlisted man exposed to things no human should ever see. The two other senior soldiers in his team are the ying & yang of the human experience as the world around them falls apart. The final episode recreates the Soviet trial to hold the plant managers responsible. Every failure must have a scapegoat. By the time this episode arrives, you'll know that a guilty verdict is far from complete justice, with many other factors in play for that tragic April night in 1986. CHERNOBYL is a rarity. It's educational, suspenseful, as amazing as any disaster movie, but wrapped in real human drama and a thriller that keeps you guessing. The level of human tragedy and loss here is staggering and the deaths depicted are slow and horrific. The final scenes detail the facts of history since the accident and how the globe has changed, or not. It's a cautionary tale that kept me glued to my seat for over five hours without a moment to breathe. Winner of 10 Emmys, the miniseries was created by Craig Mazin, based on the first-hand accounts of survivors of the disaster. It's directed by Johan Renck (The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad). Brilliant work by all. I have to mention a few more actors whose performances shined through from a massive and talented cast. Alan Williams (Rome) is terrifying as KGB Chairman Charkov, whose gentle gaze and quiet manner can stop your blood from pumping. Ralph Ineson (The Creator, Fantastic Four: First Steps) stands out as General Tarakanov and David Dencik (No Time To Die) sets the perfect tone as Mikhail Gorbachev, who's presence at the council meetings sets an ominous tone. This is a superb, riveting miniseries that I highly recommend with an A+. CHERNOBYL isn't just incredibly well made, it's important.