50 years ago this week, LOGAN'S RUN debuted in movie theaters. 50 years!!! A science fiction classic and major box office hit in 1976, the film belongs in the same nostalgic 70's bucket of fond memories for me as "Westworld", 'Soylent Green" and "The Omega Man". Michael York stars as Logan, a 23rd century Sandman (policeman) who chases down "runners" alongside his partner Francis (Richard Jordan). In this idyllic, perfect society, everyone lives in domes that offer perfect weather, free love without commitment as desired and every whim that the future can provide. The only catch is that on your 30th birthday, when you take part in the Carousel ritual, you hope to be "reborn" as an infant to start all over again. Runners are those intelligent folks that would like to live long enough to get a 31st birthday card, so they try to escape off the grid. The Sandmen track them down and execute them, at which time they are picked up like yesterday's trash. One day, Logan discovers a trinket in a runner's hand that he turns in at the end of his shift. He's soon assigned to track down the mysterious "Sanctuary" where all these runners are heading. To help him go undercover, they mark him as a runner. Logan finds himself paired up with Jessica (Jenny Agutter) as they run for their lives through plenty of episodic adventures. Farrah Fawcett Majors is gorgeous (but really awful) as an assistant at "New You" which offers a futuristic plastic surgery, Roscoe Lee Brown is "Box" a robot with a penchant for collecting species of every variety and the excellent Peter Ustinov steals every scene he is in as an Old Man they discover outside the dome. Ustinov famously said after the film became a hit that he improvised 99% of his dialogue. It's quirky as hell, funny and Ustinov is a genius. It works flawlessly. The production design is excellent, with effects that were state of the art then but look pretty tacky now. The scenes outside the domes in a 23rd century Washington DC, now taken back by nature, still hold up and Jerry Goldsmith elevates everything with one of the best music scores of his long career. As always, Goldsmith makes very specific choices to create the future. During the opening credits, the music features a full, bombastic orchestra with some electronic instruments. For action outside the city, the music is by full orchestra with no electronic instruments. Inside the city, the orchestra consists solely of strings, piano, and electronics. Some metal percussion instruments are heard in the New Face segment. It's a unique score in the Goldsmith legacy and still holds up beautifully. This is pure fun in seventies mode, with big hair, bright clothes, fantastic sets and large scale models galore. York is earnest and fine, Agutter gets plenty of young male hearts racing in advance of her most famous turn in "An American Werewolf in London" and its all just plain colorful, classic MGM sci-fi fun. The infamous "Love Shop" scene originally ran about four minutes long but needed lots of editing to get to the desired PG rating! Publicity for the film in '76 said that the sets built for this movie were the biggest and most expensive made at MGM Studios since the great musical spectacles of the 1930s and 1940s. The film was a huge hit, earning over $25 million against it's $8 million budget. It spawned a short lived and poorly regarded TV series after its success. This is one of those 70's classics that i love revisiting. It's hard to believe that we first saw it on the big screen at the Cine Capri in Phoenix opening weekend, 50 years ago this week! Time's up runner! Logan and company get a nostalgic B.

A worthy sophomore season by any measure, PARADISE: SEASON 2 may meander a bit in its middle, but it more than makes up for it with a slam bang final three episodes that lets its stellar cast loose. Creator Dan Fogelman (This Is Us) continues to dazzle with his use of time, popping back and forth with flashbacks before unleashing something truly clever as we near the finale. Sterling K. Brown (Is God Is, American Fiction) is excellent as Xavier, former secret service man, now in the outside world and on a quest to find his wife Teri (a stellar Enuka Okuma) whose radio transmission from Atlanta put Xavier in motion. After a wild plane flight and a less than stellar landing, he meets Annie Clay, a former tour guide at Graceland who's holed up post-apocalypse in the KIng's house with a good friend. Episode One introduces takes us back years earlier to get to know Annie, well played by newcomer Shailene Woodley (To Catch a Killer, Ferrari). Her survival skills have been honed for a few years by the time she meets Xavier. She also meets a band of travelers led by Link (Thomas Doherty). He's gathered a loyal following and they say they are on their way to the rumored bunker in Colorado. His and Annie's bond will serve as a fascinating trail to follow this season. Meanwhile, back at the massive underground bunker, our favorite characters are facing new challenges. Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) finds power to be an elusive thing to hang onto within the city of survivors. Rebellion looms, led by the late President Bradford's son Jeremy (Charlie Evans). A young new secret service agent named Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom from "The Gilded Age") has an eye for advancement and deadly reaction skills, moving quickly up the ladder as two factions emerge within the city. Driscoll is a lethal, brown nosing beast with some deep, deep issues. Dr. Torabi seems to know everyone's secrets at the top and as played by Sarah Shahi, she's loaded with great intuition and a bit too much curiosity for her own good. I loved how her character, along with Sinatra, evolve so much this season in the capable hands of Shahi & Nicholson. When Xavier arrives at the site of Terri's radio transmission, he meets a lonely guy named Gary (Cameron Britton), known as The Mailman. He claims to be a very close friend of Teri's, opening up a fascinating flashback history of the planet's day of reckoning and the wild group of folks who end up in Gary's Fallout Shelter at the Post Office. The final two episodes, 7 and 8, unleash a hell of a conclusion as all of the stories collide at the Colorado bunker and beyond. It's a killer structure that nestles all these disperse story lines into one beautiful conclusion. Well, at least the conclusion of Season Two! The finale has real life and death consequence, wrapping up story lines while setting up plenty of mystery for the future. To say worlds collide would be a vast understatement. I loved several unexpected story lines that emerge in the final two hours. At least twice, I said, "I didn't see that coming" and there is no higher compliment from my chair. Most of the series has a low tone, or a couple notes playing behind the scenes instead of dramatic music, just like Fogelman's "This Is Us". When he does bust a full musical score out, it's twice as powerful. Fogelman has created a strong tale with so many fascinating exits and off roads that we're just barely scratching the surface after two seasons and 16 episodes. It feels like the best seasons of "24" with a dash of "Westworld" and a stable of strong actors creating fascinating, complicated characters. Sterling K. Brown leads with intense power, a man on a mission he'll die to complete. Brown is incredibly compelling. Special effects and production design are first rate. Another massive hit for Hulu, just like it's inaugural season, the series is set to return for Season 3 in 2027. We can't wait to see what's next. PARADISE: SEASON 2 gets a very solid B+.

A visually stunning trip through London, Mexico City, Ireland, Denmark and America, KNIFE EDGE: CHASING MICHELIN STARS pulls you into the highs & lows in some of the most spectacular restaurants in the world. You don't have to be a foodie to enjoy this great, 8-episode documentary detailing, for the first time, the secretive world of Michelin inspectors and the Chefs chasing them. The CIA level tactics they use to keep the anonymity is a lot of fun to watch, as are the secret, face-obscured interviews with inspectors. My wife and I have been fortunate to enjoy the experience at some incredible restaurants around the world, but I am definitely more on the "foodie" scale than she is. We had an incredible evening at La Pergola, the only Three Michelin Star restaurant in Rome a couple years ago. It's a night we'll never forget. Each piece of food was absolute art. I only wish I had seen this series beforehand to see just how much those 3 stars actually mean and what LaPergola Chef Heinz Beck has done to earn them, each and every year. Each episode is hosted by the effortlessly charming Jesse Burgess, who serves as our to-camera narrator and surrogate taster at these wild locations. Some of the restaurants are established, stellar and successful spots chasing their second or that very rare third star, while some are small establishments just trying to survive in one of the most challenging business ventures possible. Each episode introduces you to a couple of restaurants, the chefs behind them and often their families. You learn each of their quests and connect with them on a more intimate level than just watching them prep and hand out food. But that food! WOW. Apple TV has shot the entire series with incredible 4K photography that sweeps through each of the international locations, and dives right into tight photography of these incredible creations on each plate. We found ourselves saying " Wait, I want that!" and noting the names and locations of these spots, hoping for future visits. The end of each episode features the annual Michelin Award ceremonies in their cities, where we watch along with Jesse to see if they win the much coveted star. The Michelin Star isn't just gratification or an ego boost, each one had a dramatic effect on the reservations and longevity of every restaurant. It's a fascinating world and it really pulls you into this arena. There are some wild restaurants featured. Episode 1 details a NYC Subway Station restaurant whose entrance is so obscure it's like a secret entrance to Hogwarts. Once inside, its hard to imagine you're underground near the tracks! Episode 4 looks at a stunning location in the Swedish forests that is incredibly worth the drive, especially thanks to jaw dropping drone camerawork dropping you into one of the most stunning locations I've ever seen. They are chasing their second star. If you're expecting every Chef to be a loud, shouting character, you'll find a few that resemble the show's Executive Producer, Gordon Ramsay. But you'll also find plenty of different approaches to staff in these diverse kitchens. One of the chefs even demands near silence in the kitchen, which is pretty fascinating to watch. Episode 7 details a Chef on the absolute cutting edge of modern food, creating microscopic ravioli that fit 20 tiny, complete pasta in each serving spoon. His old school Mom says, 'they look ridiculous put taste delicious' and declares it worthy for the menu. This is a great documentary series. If you love superb global dinner spots, human drama or stunning photography, you're going to love this show. I was very happy to hear that it's been renewed for another season. That will give me even more restaurants to add to our gastronomic global bucket list! KNIFE EDGE SEASON 1 gets a delicious A.

Every parent battling over screen time with their kids should get them in front of the big screen this weekend to see TOY STORY 5. Pixar's gift for entertaining kids (and adults) of all ages remains intact with this sweet, funny and heartfelt new adventure. Halfway through the film, I was ready to open this review by settling with "even lesser Disney/Pixar is better than any other animated choice" and then the final 25 minutes came together with a perfect bow, delivering huge laughs, big action and the patented HEART that we've come to expect from this blockbuster film series. It's been 31 years since the first film broke the mold for what was possible in onscreen animation, so it's only fitting in 2026 that this installment faces the fact that toys are truly becoming obsolete due to all-knowing screens, pads and devices in our kids hands from an early age. It's a message that Writer/Directors Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL-E) and McKenna Harris deliver with humor and surprising power in several shots of our beloved characters looking across a neighborhood with every little face glowing from the light of their devices. All those beloved characters are back and are joined by some great new ones as well. Tim Allen's Buzz Lightyear is holding down the toy fort at young Bonnie's house. He spends most of his time rehearsing for how to propose to his love Jessie, beautifully voiced by Joan Cusack. Bonnie is at the age where all the neighborhood and school kids are playing on their ipads and she's the only one still playing with her toys. When her parents break down and buy her first device, a Lilypad voiced by Greta Lee (Past Lives) Bonnie is immediately sucked into everything the device offers. Our gang of toys are horrified. Dolly (Bonnie Hunt), Forky (Tony Hale) and Rex (Wallace Shawn, still proclaiming extinction every chance he gets) don't know how they are going to stay relevant. Jessie reaches out to Woody (Tom Hanks) who soon arrives looking just the same, except for a bit of a gut and a shiny bald patch. Hanks and Allen still conjure up the same magic that they have exuded for the entire series, but Jessie serves as the center of the story this time out and Cusack delivers in a big way. Several new characters are standouts among the first generation of electronic toys that have already been discarded in the toy box, led by Conan O'Brien nailing every line as Smarty Pants, a toilet training device for kids who supplies enough poop and fart jokes to satisfy any boy (or Dad!) in the audience. Those jokes probably are the reason for the very mild PG rating, the first non-G dubbed entry in the series. I loved the way that Bonnie's fantasy sequences with her toys devolve from crisp computer animation to a more traditional looking painted style. The film looks spectacular from start to finish. A subplot about a shipping container of Buzz Lightyears washed up on a deserted island Tom Hanks "Castaway" style is a lot of fun and plays out well from start to finish. For those of you who care, Taylor Swift wrote a nice new theme song for the film, "I Knew It, I Knew You". It's okay, but it doesn't hold a candle to past songs like "When She Loved Me" or "I've Got a Friend In You" by Randy Newman. I stand by my stance that every Taylor Swift song sounds exactly like every other Taylor Swift song. I personally miss having a Newman song, but his new score is beautiful, with thematic notes you'll recognize effortlessly. The final 25 minutes came together so perfectly that I felt like Stanton & Harris were just playing with me until then, suddenly dropping a perfect final act into the audience's lap. Funny, action-packed and sweet, it delivers everything you want in a Toy Story film and leaves you feeling great walking out of the theater. I'm not the lone voice thinking that "Toy Story 3" was one of the best concluding acts of a trilogy in film history. It was a masterpiece. TOY STORY 5 doesn't rise to that level, but it's a perfectly enjoyable entry that is going to deservedly pack families into theaters this weekend. My box office prediction: To Infinity and Beyond! It gets an appreciative B+ from this seat in our sold out showing.

WIDOW'S BAY is a hilarious, scary, perfectly eccentric new creation that made me laugh a lot. I've never seen anything like it. How often can you truly say that? Creator Katie Dippold (The Heat, Parks and Recreation) has carefully crafted 10 episodes with a unique, deft blend of horror and comedy that pulled me in from it's very first moments. The cast that Dippold has assembled as citizens of Widow's Bay is nothing less than perfection. Matthew Rhys (The Post, HBO's Perry Mason) is flawless as new Mayor Tom Loftis. Tom is a happy idealist, seeing nothing but potential as he plans to turn Widow's Bay into another Marthas Vineyard. But last time I checked, Marthas Vineyard didn't have a killer fog bank, haunted hotel rooms, serial killer clowns and mysterious, wet old women chasing you down the middle of the street. If it sounds like you've seen all that before in Stephen KIng and John Carpenter films, maybe you have, but not like this. Dippold manages to give everything a new spin and a slightly off kilter bent that's as twisted as the town's citizens. The always amazing Stephen Root (Barry, Office Space) is a highlight as Wyck, the grumpy, crazy old dude who's always warning Tom about curses and an evil history that shrouds this island town, 40 miles off the coast of New England. Kate O'Flynn is stellar as Patricia, who works closely with Tom at Town Hall, while trying desperately to build a stable of friends. Her social networking skills are...challenged. O'Flynn damn near steals the show with the biggest character arc across the ten episodes of Season 1. Dale Dickey (Hell or High Water) matches her as Rosemary, with no filter and all the history you want to know about their secluded little hamlet. She is HILARIOUS. Jeff Hiller (Ghosts, Ghost Town) is the perfect amount of quirky as Dale, one of Tom's staff who rarely changes his expression until his fall over funny delivery in the finale. K Callan (Joe, Veep) is Tom's secretary, who doesn't seem to work a lot, but plays a pivotal role in the town. Tom isn't just trying to hold the town together as Mayor, he's a widowed single dad to teenager Evan (Kingston Rumi Southwick) who's entered his most rebellious years just in time for the town to go to hell around him. Surrounding this cast is a lot of great storytelling, framed with superb special effects and episodes that highlight a different character or event on the path to a massive nor'easter bringing a reckoning to Widow's Bay. It's hard to pick a favorite episode. Tom's stay in the haunted hotel in episode 2 and Patricia's self help book in Episode 4 are standouts, but the series never falls off, delivering some killer suspense and huge laughs in its final two installments. I can't say enough about how ORIGINAL this concept is. Blending characters you grow to care about across dramatic arcs, with huge laughs and hilarious dialogue throughout, the horror moments top everything off like the perfect spice. Dippold is astonishing in her bold style, never flinching as she pops between genres, she navigates tone shifts that would have clunked forward in lesser hands. Rhys is the core of the story and his Tom is a marvel to watch. His eager to please, confident Mayor is challenged in every way possible. Rhys creates a man who's beat down and broken by the island, ultimately faced with an impossible challenge. My bet is Rhys wins an Emmy for the role. As Sheriff Bechir Clemmons, Kevin Carroll (The Leftovers) is our surrogate for the audience. Like us, he has no idea what the hell is going on in this town and we experience his horror right alongside him as events escalate. I couldn't wait to see what happened next. Luckily for you, all the episodes are now available on Apple TV. One of their biggest hits, the series has rocketed in popularity the past couple months since its debut. It's no wonder why. It's fresh, original and entertaining at an incredibly high level. A friend asked me what I'd compare it to and I said "Imagine Mike Flanagan's miniseries Midnight Mass if it was really funny too". Fans of that one will love seeing Hamish Linklater pop up in a role I wont divulge here... I can't wait to go back to WIDOW'S BAY for Season 2 and see what's next. It may not be Marthas Vineyard, but it gets an A+

A unique, Southern Grindhouse flick with some serious dramatic roots, IS GOD IS delivers big laughs, tight suspense and some great performances, dripping with blood on its quest for vengeance. This one ain't for the kids. Two sisters scarred literally and figuratively by their violent family past, Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson) live a symbiotic existence on the fringe. Both have serious scars from a horrific fire. Racine's are mostly on her one arm, neck and back, while Anaia's swirl up over her entire face in a mask of pain. Racine has spent her entire life protecting her twin from relentless taunts, stares and cruelty. After losing another job, they get a message from their long lost Mother, who they thought was dead from the same fire. Their Mom Ruby (VivIca A. Fox, buried under many layers of burn victim makeup) summons them to meet with her and gives them one task, to murder their Father, the Man responsible for the fire that impacted the rest of their lives. Watching Racine and Anaia's reactions to this quest brilliantly carves out how different two twins can be, while knowing each other's pain and feeling every moment of each other's existence. Writer/Director Aleshea Harris blasts her way onto the screen in her feature film debut, basing the movie on her stage play of the same name, but visually opening it up into a mad road trip with a Southern Gothic and Classic Western feels. I would be fascinated to see the original stage play to see her magic at work. The trail of characters that Racine and Anaia follow to their Father, referred only to as "The Man" is twisted, hilarious and lethal in equal measure. Mykelti Williamson (Forrest Gump) is excellent as a lawyer that once worked for The Man, who ripped his tongue out for fear the lawyer might talk. He does all his talking on a white board he keeps with reach. At one point, he writes down for the twins: "Careful with vengeance. You never know where the blood will land." Indeed. Erika Alexander plays Divine, the minister of a tiny church whose members seem to throw the devil himself around like a shadow. Divine was the woman into whose arms The Man went after torching his wife and twin daughters. The entire scene is hilarious from the moment the twins walk in the doors of the church until their hilarious parting lines as they exit. Eventually, the girls get to their Dad's house, delivering a final 30 minutes that feels like a Tarantino dialogue-driven suspense scene packed with violent surpriseS, twists and turns. Like a QT film, its bloody AND horrifying in equal measure. Young and Johnson are both fearless in their roles as Racine & Anaia. Very different, but equally powerful, they create two very distinct young women serving as the hand of God, or at least their Mom. Vengance is mine, saith the Lord. Walking into the film in its final act, Sterling K. Brown (Paradise, This is Us) creates one of the most evil men ever to stroll into a film. He gives off serious "Kill Bill" vibes as a man who doesn't waste a word, but always seeks control. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire final act. Harris delivers a powerful ending to her tale and her actors take the material to another level as twenty years of family history, terror and mystery comes to a boiling point. It may be only halfway through 2026, but I can't imagine a more assured, confident hand in the Director's chair for a film debut this year than Aleshea Harris. She delivers something TRULY different with power, style and in-your-face bold characters that I won't soon forget. Her style is poured all over the film, with unspoken communication between the twins in unique font splattered on the screen and pops of violence that startle in their intensity. IS GOD IS gets a very solid B. Can't wait to see what Harris does next.

A masterpiece of mayhem and the best pure action film since Gareth Evans "The Raid 2: Redemption", THE FURIOUS is a hellbent thriller packed with some of the craziest, most lethal fighting in film history. It's a jaw dropping, hilarious, brilliantly choreographed symphony of violence that rarely stops to take its breath. Along with most of the audience last night, I not only laughed out loud, but I did the rarest of thing in a dark theater for me, I said the same thing out loud at least three times...."holy sh*t"......maybe not the most eloquent theater commentary, but well earned. The film starts off with journalist Matia (JeeJaw Yanin) investigating the disappearance of yet ANOTHER young child in her Southeast Asia city. She follows that trail to where a bunch of young children are being held in cages. The film dances very close in this opening in going too far against my cardinal rule of what I won't ever watch, which is children in any kind of torture endangerment. Nope. Director Kenji Tanigaki takes things right up to that edge to establish just what our heroes will be fighting against for the rest of the film. Matia squares off a trio of violent dudes in a killer fight scene that whets your appetite for the feast that's about to follow. We meet Wang Wei (Miao Xie), a mute, hardworking father to his young daughter Rainy (Yang Enyou). About to enter her teenage years, Rainy spends most of her time worrying about her Dad as she is about to head off to China to be with her Grandmother for awhile. In the first of countless incredibly staged chase/fight scenes, Rainy is kidnapped by the child trafficking ring and thrown in the back of a construction flatbed truck. Her Father hears her screams and runs down the truck in a scene of relentless, full speed running that would make Tom Cruise proud. Wei battles on top of and all over that vehicle to get his daughter back against men twice his size. It's thrilling, creative as hell and absolutely brutal, especially the way it ends. It's clear by now that Wei isn't just a handyman. He's got a very particular set of skills and a 100% commitment to finding his daughter and making those that took her pay the ultimate price. Wei tracks the one clue he has to a massive nightclub with an MMA style fight ring in its center. He follows the clues to the first level of very bad dudes and starts climbing the villain food chain. We've all scene plenty of martial arts in films. I love the best of these films, like the aforementioned Gareth Evans "The Raid" series that incorporate original and creative staging to the vengeance. WOW, does THE FURIOUS absolutely sing in this department. Back in the 80's we always got a great scene in Rambo with our hero strapping on 15 different armaments and ammunition belts while Jerry Goldsmith's music belted out the signal to get ready for some serious ass-kicking. Nah, just give Wei a good hammer. He's got all he needs. The club scene sets up so many great stages for fighting, including a sequence in that MMA ring in which Wei piles up so many bodies that he just keeps stacking them until he can climb out of the ring. In that club, Wei also connects with Navin, the husband of that missing journalist from the opening. Navin is played to perfection by Joe Taslim, who memorably played Jaka in "Raid: Redemption". That's the third time I've mentioned those films, a sure sign that if you haven't seen it, rush out immediately and do so. The two pair up to continue following the chain of bad guys to find their loved ones. They're up against a corrupt police force as well, help is NOT coming in their quest. The film deftly stacks its action into one massive sequence after another. Every time you think it can't top itself, Tanigaki says "hold my beer" and blasts your senses with an even crazier action scene. He and his production crew have also perfectly cast each level of crime boss. They get crazier, more committed and more refined as they go, ending up at the palatial doorstep of Paklung, a dapper young, aspirational killer who would fit right into any corporate boardroom. Well played by Joey Iwanaga, he's the next generation who's sick of watching the old men run the syndicate. Tanigaki, a former stunt coordinator for major Hollywood films serves up a banquet of ballet-like violence, delivering plenty of things I've never seen before on screen. He also blends that touch with a seriously respectful nod to the past, including some Sergio Leone split screen in the finale that took me back to "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". If you love the "Crazy 88s" scene in QT's "Kill Bill' fasten your seatbelt. THE FURIOUS packs one sequence like that after another in a wild orgy of hand-to-hand combat with everything from ball peen hammers to bicycles. It's imaginative, fast paced and exhausting in all the right ways, earning an A.

Steven Spielberg delivers his best film in 20 years with the powerful, hopeful & intelligent thriller DISCLOSURE DAY. More "Minority Report" than "Close Encounters", anyone grabbing their popcorn and settling in for another "ET" are in for a surprise. But for me, the final 15 minutes delivered that same heartfelt, stirring aspiration for mankind that we all felt watching ET say goodbye to Elliott 44 summers ago. This is the brilliant summer movie making from our greatest American director that we've been missing for a very long time. Spielberg plunges us into the action from the opening frames, with Dr. Daniel Kellner (a superb Josh O'Connor) running to escape the same kind of relentless secret government agency that Mulder & Scully were constantly fleeing from in the X-Files. These baddies are led by Noah Scanlon, perfectly cast in the form of Colin Firth, who brings a galaxy of mystery and menace to the role. Scanlon and his mob of well tailored government agents want all the files that Kellner has made off with, which expose a massive 70 year UFO coverup by the government. Scanlon has kidnapped Kellner's girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson) and isn't afraid to play hardball to get the files back. But Kellner has something even more valuable in hand, literally. I'm not giving away any major plot points here, and I won't ruin any of the film's surprises or mysteries, which are brilliantly set up and revealed. Everything that I described above happens in the first five minutes of the film. As Daniel and Jane Kellner hit the road to escape, the are helped by a benevolent and calming voice, Hugo Wakefield. If you want a peaceful presence in the middle of a two hour plus chase mystery, you can't hire a better actor than Colman Domingo, who serves up my favorite performance of his to date, for me. He's fascinating to watch as the global events unwind around him. Meanwhile, we meet Kansas City TV weather personality Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) and her musician husband Jackson (Wyatt Russell). Margaret is beloved in the local market for her sexy, funny personality. The woman absolutely LOVES a good hail storm. But she seems restless at home, feeling like there must be something more out there for her. One day on air, after a fascinating event I won't share here, she begins speaking in a strange language of clicks and stops and moans that's just as freaky as you've seen in the trailers. The newscast goes viral globally, putting the plot into action mode as Scanlon's team suddenly shows up looking for her, putting Margaret and Daniel on a relentless collision course. Spielberg reaches into his limitless and patented bag of visual style and action-scene creative talents to unleash one great sequence after another. There's a chase sequence involving Margaret and Kellner's car being pushed by one of those big, window tinted Government suburbans onto a train track as a very long train speeds by. Henry Lloyd Hughes is great as Caspar Boyd, Scanlon's right hand man and the one at the wheel forcing our heroes onto the tracks. It's a killer action sequence from start to finish, as is an escape from a rural farm where Margaret and Kellner are hiding. In between the action, Spielberg and long time collaborator / screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park) weave a powerful tale around humanity, our place in the universe, religion, power and fate. Spielberg is the only filmmaker that I can think of that can so deftly blend two such different tracks into one seamless film that can play on so many different levels. Janusz Kaminski shot the film, his 21st collaboration with Spielberg since 'Schindler's List" over 30 years ago. They have created a beautiful visual language that sings in both the action scenes and the awe struck finale. John Williams tops that long legacy with his 30th original score for Spielberg since 1974's "The Sugarland Express" and every classic moment in between. Williams, now 94 years old, came out of retirement to do their 30th film together and he delivers a wholly original, fully symphonic score that jolts the action scenes and puts a massive lump in your throat in that finale. Spielberg has intentionally not revealed any of the film's third act in the trailers, leaving the finale a complete mystery. It took me several hours to process my thoughts on it. What was never in question for me, was the final twenty minutes as the ultimate crescendo not only of the story line, but of Spielberg, Williams, O'Connor, Blunt, Domingo and Firth's contributing talents. It reaches such emotional heights that it struck the sold out audience I saw it with completely silent. You could hear a pin drop as the final secrets are revealed in patented Spielberg style. The absolute final moment of the film, will be what divides audiences. I don't think you could end the film any other way. For me it's a powerful inspiration for all of humanity and the choices ahead of us as a species. Spielberg has evolved so much as a filmmaker that he's bringing his loyal audience along with him, reaching for something beyond a summer popcorn movie. While those purely looking for that may feel empty (you're already starting to see that online) DISCLOSURE DAY has the ability to deliver joy, hope and a powerful message. If you'll only.... Listen.... I loved this film and can't wait to see it again. DISCLOSURE DAY gets an A+.

"Go Home....while you still look like your passport picture....." Adam Scott serves up a great dramatic performance in Damian McCarthy's latest horror mood piece, HOKUM. Scott plays writer Ohm Bauman, who's having trouble wrapping up his famous novel trilogy. We see the current state of the book's ending play out in a bright, color splashed prologue that takes his two characters to a tipping point in the middle of a vast desert. The scene plays as a powerful counterpoint to the wet, dreary landscape and muted colors of the Irish Inn where Bauman has settled in to try and solve his writer's block. The inn he's chosen has deeper meaning, as it's where his beloved late Mom and decidedly less supportive deceased Father spent their honeymoon. If Bauman's looking for the romance of the location to inspire him, he's wandered into the wrong locale, with eccentric locals filling every frame. Florence Ordesh is Fiona, the Inn's bartender/staff member who seems to see past the grumpy, "I just want to be left alone" vibe that the writer spews in every direction. David Wilmot is Jerry, a local vagrant and a staple at both the hotel and the murky woods that surround it. He and Ohm bond after Jerry sees the writer spreading his Mother's ashes carefully around a massive redwood. Their surprise conversation is a natural, intriguing sequence that sets the tone. Peter Coonan plays Mal, the hotel's manager who's got his hands full managing everything from the locals and the wildlife to his staff. The property seems to sprawl downward and outward in a myriad of confusing and mysterious directions. Will O'Connell (Game of Thrones) is perfectly cast as Alby, the elevator operator and doorman who knows every dark nook and cranny of the old, stone built Inn. Every time the film looks down the hallway at his elevator, it conjures up a bit more dread. Scott is very good as Ohm. He conveys a lot of internal torment as his world closes in around him, keeping people at bay with every alienating, rude comment that comes to mind. It's a good thing that the Inn doesn't seem to have many guests, it's mostly the staff that he tries to keep beyond arm length. Fiona and Ohm begin to bond over storytelling and life, leading to a devastating plot point that I saw coming with the same sense of dread as Fiona. It kicks off a series of Halloween night events at the Inn that spin the story into a missing person mystery worthy of Dateline, if Dateline was made by George Romero & Stephen KIng. Joseph Bishara (The Conjuring) crafts a creepy, twisting music score that heightens the tension as Colm Hogan's camera pulls you deeper down dumb waiter shafts and black corridors. It seems the Honeymoon Suite has been locked up for many years. So why does the old bell system at the front desk keep ringing from someone pulling it in that room? Are the spooks at the Inn a mass delusion of local folklore and some mushrooms from the wet ground of that forest next door? Writer/Director Damian McCarthy serves up another fine serving of horror folklore, following up his interesting 2024 entry, "Oddity", which shares similar themes of solitude, isolation and death. McCarthy knows how to build suspense and exactly how to pull you, the viewer, around corners and hallways that you instinctively want to avoid. McCarthy and Scott are a clever match. The word Hokum means "a device used by showmen to evoke a desired audience response", or "pretentious nonsense." Thanks to McCarthy and Scott, the film is much more the former than the latter, and that desired response is escalating horror, which they serve up in smooth style. HOKUM gets a solid B.

SCARY MOVIE is built to deeply offend anyone who proudly defines their pronouns in their signature line and for that alone, THANK YOU Wayans Bros! A throwback to when we could all laugh at our own crap, the latest installment skewers virtually everyone equally in a no holds barred, adult fashion that had me smiling throughout, but rarely laughing out loud. It's been thirteen years since "Scary Movie 5" so the boys have a whole lot of horror movie fodder to rip into with goofy enthusiasm. This is their first Scary Movie film since 2001's "Scary Movie 2"! "Sinners", "Weapons", "The Substance", "Longlegs", "Terrifier" and the latest "Halloween" and "Scream" sequels all take on direct hits in the Shawn and Marlon Wayans screenplay. They are making up for lost time by throwing everything at the screen they want with no filters applied. They are 100% committed to hilarious violence, graphic nudity and sexual content, which our nearly full Saturday morning crowd took in stride and laughed out loud a LOT at throughout. It's not just an R, it's a HARD R after three lamer PG-13 installments. Jordan Peele even approved the take off on his film "Get Out", which the Wayans BBQ here. They have a lot of fun tearing into the fact that they're even making a sequel this long after the last one, with plenty of the returning actors 100% self-aware and acknowledging on camera how lame the returning killer story line is in the first place. Marlon Wayans steals the movie, returning as Shorty, who is so stoned that he's made millions for doing absolutely nothing online. Influencers have rarely been so accurately captured! LOL Anna Faris is back as Cindy, taking on the crazy Mom role (see Jamie Lee Curtis in the recent Halloween flicks). Faris has a keen sense of comic and physical comedy timing and she shows it off here. Regina Hall is hilarious as Brenda, shooting off random one liners and bullets with ease. She's having a blast. Shawn Wayans is hilarious as Ray, who claims to have been converted to straight by the church in one of the film's most laugh-filled, 'Sinners" take off storylines. As the film goes, it falls more and more into its groove, which alternates between telling our story and serving up plenty of hilarious "Family Guy"-style, nonsensical asides that include a take off on the "Michael" trailer featuring a fatter, less talented brother and flashbacks that serve up big laughs. It really finds it's way in its final twenty minutes or so, dropping in some major star cameos that I won't divulge here, each one funnier than the last. They also serve up a major star cameo in the opening scene that's hilarious, but NO SPOILERS here! This is a funny, wild ride, dripping with adult humor, graphic sex, nudity and punch lines. Theaters should bundle this in a double feature with "Blazing Saddles" and make every uber-sensitive snowflake watch them back-to-back. Republican, Democrat, Gay, Straight, Black, White, NO ONE IS SAFE! Bring it on, boys! If the Wayans Bros mission is to get everyone to lighten up and just laugh at ourselves, this is a good start! Good luck! SCARY MOVIE gets better as it goes and serves up plenty of laughs, especially for horror & action film buffs. The John Wick-style conclusion had me in stitches. It gets a B-. R rated trailer below.

Powerful, moving and a true testament to the bravery of America's greatest generation, MASTERS OF THE AIR continues the great tradition of "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific" with compelling, action-packed story telling. A superb cast carves out portrayals of distinct, real men who led the B-17 bombing campaigns across Germany. As the nine-episode miniseries opens, we meet the 100th bomber group as they arrive in England. The group is led by the smooth Major Gale "Buck" Cleven (Austin Butler) and his more vocal best friend Major John "Bucky" Egan (Callum Turner). Butler and Turner are both excellent, creating leaders you care about as they and their men are plunged into incredible, death defying bombing runs across Germany. The special effects team is superb in every moment of the series, spending every dime of a massive $250 million Apple TV budget on jaw dropping moments in the air and on the ground. There are huge dogfights throughout that defy gravity and reality in their intensity, plunging you into the seats of these brave heroes battling impossible odds. Anthony Boyle (The Lost City of Z) is terrific as Lt. Harry Crosby, a navigator prone to airsickness and underestimating his own capabilities. Ben Radcliffe (Fackham Hall) is solid as Lt. John Brady and Nate Mann (Licorice Pizza) leaves a hell of a mark as Lt. Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal, whose ability to bring his crew home threatens to break the 25 mission mark. The cast is huge, incredibly well cast and provides a very deep bench as we meet hundreds of soldiers in the air and in the battles on the ground. As in "Band of Brothers' you grow to admire these men, appreciate their strengths and weaknesses and then cheer for them like hell as they carve out a uniquely heroic path to save our future freedoms. The season sprawls across many key elements of WW2, including bombing runs that began to turn the tide against the Nazis and imprisoned airmen in the German Stalag camps that reminded me of the war classic "The Great Escape" in all the right ways. The D-Day landings at Normandy play a key role, as do the brave Tuskegee Airmens missions in France. Series creator John Orloff, the writer of "Band of Brothers" constructs a nine-episode arc that pulls you deeper into history with each chapter, upping the ante and the action throughout. Butler (Elvis, The Bikeriders) studied film of the real Buck Cleven to learn his cadence and humor and shines in the role, as does Turner (The Boys in the Boat, Eternity) who evolves from loud mouth showboat to a pivotal leader of men. Flight scenes were filmed in exact replica B-17s suspended 50 ft in the air on a gimbal inside a 360-degree stage of seamless LED high def screens. We've come a long way from back screening! The digital effects are so perfectly rendered that the actors react real-time to their surroundings. It's jaw dropping. The music score by Blake Neely serves up full tilt thrills that barrel through the air right alongside our heroes, but also provides tender accompaniment to the tragic loss these men and their group, "The Bloody 100th" endure on every mission. Executive Producer Steven Spielberg has said that this was the biggest project he's ever worked on, and with 300+ speaking roles and 3000 + production crew members over the nine episodes, it's hard to argue. Ten years in the making, this is the kind of epic historical miniseries that I've been missing since "The Pacific". Perhaps because my Father was one of the brave airmen that flew B-17 missions in the Philippines in WW2, this series really hit me emotionally. Seeing these men sporting the same United States Air Force patch that he wore on his shoulder during his missions brought the power of these men's commitments to country home to me in a very special way. This is superb film-making chronicling one of the most important times in human history. It should be seen by everyone, alongside "Saving Private Ryan", "Band of Brothers" and 'Patton" as incredible tributes to American bravery in the World War II era. By any measure, MASTERS OF THE AIR is a brilliant tale of incredible men staring down death for American freedoms. A wartime masterpiece, it gets an A+

Based on a stage play, PRESSURE serves up some decent WW2 action along with a whole lot of talk about the weather, not an easy thing to make suspenseful. General Dwight "Ike" Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser in FULL bluster mode) is relying on two men to give him the green light for the D-Day invasion on Monday, June 5th. The first is his trusted advisor for much of the war campaign so far, Irving Krick. Krick (Chris Messina from "Argo" and "Air") is a devil may care, humorous jokester to his fellow officers and has been a reliable weatherman to date. Winston Churchill tells Ike that there is only one man for the crucial decision around the most important battle of the war, and that's Captain James Stagg (Andrew Scott) the lead British Meteorological Officer who's wound so tight that he squeaks. Scott (Spectre, Blue Moon) is saddled with a character with zero sense of humor and a profound devotion to hesitation. For most of of the film, I just wanted to smack Stagg upside the head and tell him to get on with it. But Scott is a superb actor and when he does finally release all the pressure of the scenario, it's a verbal explosion that works. Stagg manages to alienate everyone within 50 feet of him, starting with Eisenhower's right hand person, Captain Kay Summersby, perfectly played by Kerry Condon from "The Banshees of Inisherin" and "F1". For anyone with even a basic knowledge of World War II history and D-Day, there isn't a whole lot of suspense on them trying to make a go of it on June 5th. But the screenplay by Director Anthony Maras (Hotel Mumbai), based on the play by David Haig, carefully builds plenty of conflict between many factions. Historical figures abound. Damian Lewis seems to have wandered in from the set of last year's comedy farce "Fackham Hall" as General "Monty" Montgomery. So laden with testosterone and bravado blended with tightly pursed lips, pinky up tea drinking and "we MUST go on the 5th!" energy that he seemingly has zero regard for his troops, Lewis is way over the top. Robert Portal (The Iron Lady, My Week with Marilyn) is far better as Admiral Ramsay. I am a huge fan of Brendan Fraser, but the role seems to only sit comfortably on him in its quieter moments of resolve and introspection. The screenplay requires him to have massive blow up moments, which seem historically out of character for Eisenhower, who was known for his quiet and thoughtful leadership style under enormous pressure. Fraser's Ike seems like he's on a reality show, 'The Real Generals of Normandy", throwing furniture and exploding into tirades. Fraser is such a good actor that he constantly brings you back to center and the interactions between he and Scott in the film's finale are excellent. Fraser has also said that he read an enormous amount of biographies about Eisenhower in preparing for the role, so I have to give him credit for portraying the man in a style far removed from Ike's historically crafted reputation. PRESSURE earns a lot of respect by busting out of its stage roots with very well staged battles and troop movements on a large scale. While the D-Day scenes may not be of the same massive, dramatic punch as Spielberg's Normandy invasion in "Saving Private Ryan", the young troops pouring onto those beaches in France still packs an emotional punch, as does their triumph. Maras knows how to build suspense. His "Hotel Mumbai" is an excellent film and if you haven't seen it, add it to your watch list immediately. He faces a bigger challenge here in building tension about two men staring at weather maps. No easy task, but he navigates it well. Occasionally, the overbearing music score by Volker Bertelmann quiets down and helps build that tension, but much of the music is SO obtrusive and overbearing that I just wanted it to stop! In the opening scene of Stagg's arrival at HQ, the music grows louder and louder and LOUDER and then an assistant starts banging a hammer at the same time. Stagg screams STOP! I'm pretty sure he was talking about the music score, not the hammer. PRESSURE is a serviceable, enjoyable WW2 film for aficionados, but it feels like it could have been so much more with some different casting choices. Maras and his assistant editors combed through over 40 hours of actual WW2 footage from the portrayed events to find footage that was then digitally cleaned up, colorized and added to the film. It adds stunning realism to the film and blends seamlessly into the flow, perhaps the greatest compliment to what Maras has assembled with PRESSURE. It gets a B-.