LIFE IS SHORT - 4 STARS - NEFLIX - MAY 12, 2026

Martin Short turns the story of his life over to his friend Director Lawrence Kasdan.  The result celebrates the joy in Short's performances and examines the grief of great losses along the way.  Home video, behind he scenes footage, and frank comments from Short's friends make this documentary stand out.  I especially enjoyed the stories of Short's SCTV Days and the genuine friendship of the cast. I've watched many celebrity documentaries in recent years.  Life is Short feels more truthful than most.  This is an extraordinary work.  

REMARKABLE BRIGHT CREATURES - 3 1/2 STARS - NETFLIX - MAY 8, 2026

Remarkable Bright Creatures serves up a creative mystery comedy starring Sally Field, as an older widow working as the night cleaner of an aquarium.  Her story is narrated by a giant Pacific octopus - voiced by Alfred Molina.  The two form a believable bond adding a charming spark to this story.  Sally befriends a young drifter played by Lewis Pullman as they uncover a life changing mystery.  The result is a delightful family friendly watch.      

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 --- THEATERS --- 3 Stars --- May 1, 2026

The cast of the great 2006 fashion comedy return for an update.  Meryl Streep plays the lead as imperious as ever, even as her magazine empire diminishes to  the point where she has to fly coach and take cabs.  Anne Hathaway returns to "Runway" Magazine as head of features.  Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt reprise their  roles.  The completed film is fun, even as it feels almost exactly like the original, only not quite as good. 

The Christophers - 2 Stars - THEATERS - APRIL 12, 2026

The somewhat greedy children of artist Ian McKellen hire a former to finish his  uncompleted work, therefor enhancing their inheritance. Michaela Coel plays the forger.  Her  relationship with McKellen gives the story spark, as well as comic turns from James Corden and Jessica  Gunning, as the greedy would be inheritors.  McKellen's charming even as the story takes a tad too much time to unwind.  

Movie Guide

Life is Short - 4 Stars - NETFLIX - May 12, 2026 - A surprisingly inspiring review of actor Martin Short's life, his talent, his joy, and the deep grief of love and loss.  

Song Sung Blue - 4 Stars -- PEACOCK - December 25, 2025 - Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as cover artists chasing a dream.  Grand old school audience pleaser.  

Train Dreams - 4 Stars - NETFLIX - November 21, 2025 - A haunting story of a logger in the early 20th century, his loves, and the changes in his world over 80 years.  Extraordinary. 

The Life of Chuck - 4 Stars - PRIME - June 3, 2025 - Three scenes in a man's life - based on a Stephen King short story. Life as a mystery full of wonder.   

The Pitt - 4 Stars - MAX - January 9, 2025 - Season Two - April 16, 2026  - One of the great medical series, with Noah Wyle as head of emergency medicine in a struggling Pittsburgh hospital.  The Pitt far surpasses Wyle's work in ER.  This one's the real deal. 

Remarkably Bright Creatures - 3 1/2 Stars - May 8, 2026 - NETFLIX - An Octopus observes Sally Field's friendship with a young drifter.  Delightful, creative and touching.  

Sinners - 4 Stars - MAX - April 8, 2025 - Brilliant mix of genres surrounding the story of a blues legend.  Vampires are involved.  Michael B. Jordan stars as twins.  

One Battle After Another - 3 1/2 Stars - HBO MAX - Paul Thomas Anderson creates a dazzling chase drama of revolution a generation later.  Outstanding roles for Leo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Chase Infiniti.   A 2025 Oscar contender.  

Weapons - 3 1/2 ---HBO MAX --- October 23, 2025 - A great horror movie involving missing kids and a very creepy aunt.  Amy Madigan rocks.  This one rates right up there with Psycho.  

The Devil Wears Prada 2 - 3 Stars - May 1, 2026 - THEATERS - Meryl Streep returns for a twenty year update of the iconic comedy.  Nothing new here, but still fun.  

 

Knives Out:  Wake Up Dead Man:  - 3 Stars - NETFLIX - November 26, 2025:  The third in the satisfying detective series starring Daniel Craig as hammy Benoit Blanc.  A priest's death makes the best of the series so far. 

Rental Family - 3 Stars - HULU - November 21, 2025 - Brendan Frasier plays an American actor in Japan, hired to provide emotional stand-in roles for strangers.  The unusual idea bogs down in well intentioned lies.   

Nuremberg - 3 Stars - NETFLIX - November 7, 2025 - Based on the memoir of the Army psychiatrist who interviewed Herman Goering during his rial for WW2 war crimes.  Strong acting from Russell Crowe, Rami Malek and Michael Shannon.  A soapy script detracts. 

I Like Me - 3 Stars - PRIME - September 4, 2025 - Sweet documentary on a very nice guy who died too soon in 1994.  Clips include his star turn in "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" and great work on SCTV. 

The Thursday Murder Club - 3 Stars - NETFLIX - August 28, 2025 - Cut senior citizens solve a series of murders threatening their posh retirement home.  Great cast includes Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosman, and Ben Kingsley.  

 

Department Q - 3 Stars - NETFLIX - May 29, 2025 - Crackerjack mystery thriller. Hot headed Matthew Goode heads a cold case unit unraveling the mystery of a missing prosecutor.  Great writing and producing keep you guessing.   

The Christophers - 2 1/2 Stars - THEATERS - April 12, 2026 - Ian McKellen's greedy children hire an artist to finish some of his  art work.  The scheme backfires. 

Eleanor the Great - 2 1/2 Stars - PRIME - September 26, 2025 - The wonderful June Squibb wanders into the wrong group meeting and passes herself off as a Holocaust survivor, when actually the strong belongs to her late best friend.  Interesting thoughts on grief and aging but resolves incompletely.  

Hamnet - 2 1/2 Stars - PEACOCK - November 26, 2025 - This year's artistic bid for the Oscar, with an excellence performance from Jesse Buckley, as Will Shakespeare's wife Agnes.  The death of their son creates deep grief and maybe a masterpiece.  A great work, but a chore to watch.       

Jay Kelly - 2 1/2 Stars - NETFLIX - December 5, 2025 - Movie super star George Clooney as an icon toward the end of his career rethinking his life.  Pleasant but nothing new here. 

  

Marty Supreme - 2 Stars - HBO MAX - December 25, 2025 - Timothy Chalamet will probably win the best actor Oscar for this relentless exhausting story of a hustler willing to do anything to succeed or fill his ego. 

Blue Moon - 2 Stars - NETFLIX - October 24, 2025 - Great performance by Ethan Hawke as songwriter Lorenz Hart --- drunk and miserable at the end of his depressing life.  Geez, can we at least have some music? 

The Naked Gun - 2 Stars - PRIME -  August 1, 2025 - Desperately tries to recreate the originals.  i spent more energy trying to laugh instead of the real thing.  

Honey Don't - 1 1/2 Stars - PEACOCK - August 22, 2025 - Uneven Film Noir with Margaret Qualley.  She's great in a confusing script with a lousy ending. 

 

Project Hail Mary --- 3 1/2 Stars - THEATERS - March 20, 2026

 Everybody's talking about Project Hail Mary and I love it.  I fondly remember the days when you ran into a friend and immediately started talking about the cool movie you just watched.  So when a movie gets people talking, that's good by me.  Project Hail Mary begins with spaceman Ryan Gosling waking up with no idea where he is or how he got there.  Gradually we learn he teaches middle school science and once wrote a paper that impressed the right people years later.  He's recruited  on a project to save the world from devouring itself.  Beyond that, the science mystifies me.  But that's ok, sometimes you don't have to understand every plot nuance to enjoy a story.  Project Hail Mary looks great - set mostly in space.  Along the way, it drops little pieces of plot from other big movies - E.T., 2001, Gravity and many others.  Ryan Gosling's a great star for our times --- good looking and modest at the same time. The closest thing he gets to a co-star is a very austere Sandra Huller, a most serious scientist with a talent for karaoke.  Gosling's real co-star is a spaceman from another galaxy, destined to steal scenes and win our hearts.  Fun and exciting and giant and a little loud and sentimental and cute and scary, Project Hail Mary --- what more do you want in a modern movie?