Song Sung Blue (2025)

Two dreamers find themselves late in life (lucky them!) and form a Neil Diamond tribute band known as Lightning & Thunder, while weathering the storm of love, life and tragedy along the way. It's hard to describe how this movie sinks its hooks in you, but it's a very moving account of a true to life couple who forged their bonds through the power of music. If you're a Neil Diamond fan, it's even better. It's heavily saccharine, but you know what? That's okay sometimes, especially when the performances are this strong.

4 "so good"s out of 5

Note: Based on the 2008 documentary of the same name, available here.

Glass Onion (2022)

Rian Johnson follows up the successful Knives Out with another Benoit Blanc murder mystery that feels drastically different from the first. Taking place on a remote private island, it's a vacation mystery filled with high-tech gadgetry and hidden motives. Daniel Craig remains, but the rest of the cast changes, positioning him to become the next Hercule Poirot. It's an often convoluted puzzle box with the answers hidden in plain sight, which might detract from some of its thrills, but it's still worth the cost for all its opulent splendor. Craig is so great in the role, it might be the part he's remembered for over Bond.

3½ hourly dongs out of 5

DEEPWATER HORIZON [2016]

Director Peter Berg's first true story disaster film of 2016 is the Mark Wahlberg vehicle Deepwater Horizon.
It tells of the 2010 events that led to one of the worst oil spills in U.S. history, when the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig exploded killing 11 men.
The heart-stopping action sequences is the star here with it's snappy editing, incredible sound design and applause-worthy visual effects.  The characters are wafer-thin, leaving only Wahlberg and Kurt Russell with enough to chew on that so there's actual reason to become emotionally invested.  Fortunately Berg doesn't exploit the event for wide-eyed popcorn thrills and instead makes the action realistically frightening, but ultimately fails to explore the drastic environmental destruction in the aftermath.

3 crimson ties out of 5

WISH I WAS HERE [2014]

The humorous drama Wish I Was Here has passion project for actor/director/co-writer Zach Braff written all over it.
Braff plays a down-in-the-dumps family man who's struggling as an actor that finds himself at a huge turning point in his life when he discovers his father is dying of cancer.  Through all the cookie-cutter timed indie-rock songs, smug observations on everyday life and "edgy" cuteness, Braff explores some pretty heavy themes that ground it with fluffy grace.  I appreciated the comfort zone laughs and tears but found it did nothing to make it stand apart from all the other films like it.  It's a good film but I wish it were great, considering the acting talent and other potentials it had going for it.

3 swear jars out of 5

GOOD PEOPLE [2014]

Danish director Henrik Ruben Genz made some wonderful films in his native language so what the hell happened with Good People?
A young couple, heavily in debt, find a sack full of money that's being hunted down by both the police and criminals that want it back.  Obviously the story resorts to "greed makes people do the darndest things" and leaves a pile of bodies in it's path.  Apart from the boring retread story (which could work with a bit more wit about it) the fast pacing of the script hurts the slow-buring reveal of the direction.  It simply conflicts so heavily that we're pummelled with incoherencies and plotholes galore.  Genz's eye for rainy day Killing-esque noir and decaying buildings are as beautiful as always but with so much lost in translation and studio interference everything gets lost in this 90-minute mess.

2 inevitable nail guns out of 5

Gossip (2000)

A slickly presented thriller that explores how quickly a small misdeed on campus can spiral out of control, and the consequences that follow.
It’s aimed squarely at a young adult audience, so the primary objective is to entertain that demographic at the expense of all else. However, the inclusion of Lena Headey keeps it from falling into the hole of 'all tits - no talent' that most of these kind of things stumble head first into.
James Marsden, despite looking and acting like a younger Tom Cruise, wasn't as useless as he usually is. It's entertaining nonsense.

3 endings that take a sharp left turn into disappointment avenue out of 5

Nine (2009)

Some films are more than the sum of their parts; Nine has the misfortune of being the opposite. It has a great female cast, some interesting set pieces, some clever lighting that reminds of Gregg Toland’s work, and occasional smart editing, but they never gel into a satisfactory whole. Like the main protagonist’s mind it’s directionless and empty when it should be focused and impassioned. If that was a conscious decision, designed to reflect his crippling lack of imagination, it was a bad one. It's a yawn-fest with some bad music.

1½ cabaret music videos out of 5

The Skeleton Key (2005)

I saw The Skeleton Key when it first came out because I was bored, and was fairly disappointed. The film has not improved upon re-watching.

There's one scene that's delightfully horrifying when you think about it, but other than that, it's just a really mediocre movie. There's nothing offensively bad about it, but it's frequently boring, and that's usually the biggest sin a movie can make. Kate Hudson is known for starring in rom-coms, and this movie is sort of a rom-com of horror movies. Predictable, characters acting like idiots, and no time devoted to the things that would actually be interesting. At least the scenery is nice.

1.5 special bowls of gumbo out of 5.

THE KILLER INSIDE ME [2010]

Based off the classic crime novel by Jim Thompson, The Killer Inside Me is a disturbing and haunting noir that's a challenging watch due to some of it's brutally graphic violence against women.

Texas in the 1950's makes for a fascinating backdrop for this host of icky characters, with Casey Affleck's sociopath being the center of it all.  Affleck's skin-crawling performance is so damned creepy and played down I'd recommend the film based on that alone.  It's beautifully shot with a style I can't quite pinpoint, however it's the distance of each character that makes it difficult to get emotionally attached to.  

3½ Goldberg Variations out of 5