Dark Phoenix

My understanding is that this is the final chapter of the X-Men backstory series (First Class and Apocalypse). It is the origin story for Jean Grey (Phoenix) and provides background for why, in Avengers: Endgame, she is so powerful. Which leads me to ... 1) why do the avengers have so much difficulty beating bad guys when they have two (not one, two) "most powerful being in the universe" women in Jean Grey and Carol Danvers, and 2) with so many "most powerful being in the universe" characters, where does Marvel go next without just being silly. But mostly, this film is unnecessary placeholder. It doesn't advance any storyline, and it doesn't fill in significant historical storyline gaps.
2 stars (out of 5)

Anna

Jason Bourne meets Red Sparrow. Anna is a KGB trained assassin who is placed in the Paris fashion industry as a model for cover. Her life goal is freedom, to be left alone. But of course someone with her talents will not be let go. So this had the possibility of being another generic spy/assassin thriller. But Luc Besson plays with the timeline in extremely effective ways. We jump forward and backward to paint a cause and effect picture that both makes sense and reveals twists and turns that would be plainly seen in linear time. And after the first few time jumps, I gave up trying to mentally keep track of linearity and let the story unfold. Nicely done.
4 stars (out of 5)

Turn up Charlie (Serial)

Season 1

Idris Elba is Charlie, is a down on his luck London DJ and Piper Perabo is the hottest DJ around. Perabo and her movie star husband who is a childhood friend of Charlie, get him to watch their entitled kid to help him out. Charlie and the kid hit it off and the two are pretty much good for each other amidst family relation struggle, love interest struggle, career struggle, etc. Light hearted, but sincere. Well done.

4 stars (out of 5)

Unlocked

With a star studded cast (Noomi Rapace, Orlando Bloom, Toni Collette, Michael Douglas, John Malkovich) we are introduced to Noomi Rapace as a CIA agent in Europe. She was an interrogator who has a bit too slow to stop a bombing six years ago and never really stopped blaming herself. But now she is forced back onto service to extract a plot of an active biological weapon attack from a suspect. She puts her personal hesitation aside and steps up to get the job done. Mid interrogation, she realizes something is wrong. Begin a series of events where we are looking for a CIA mole, learning who to trust, and working to do the right thing. Pretty good spy play here and maybe the best thing is the anti-stereotypical portrayal of who is a terrorist and who is the good guy protecting freedom and life. I liked this.
4 stars (out of 5)

Being Frank

James Gaffigan plays Frank. Frank is Phillip's dad and as the protagonist/narrator, Phillip's perspective drives this film. In most ways this is a completely predictable telling of a family struggling to relate, of a teen disconnected from his parents and of discovering both himself and what is actually good about his family. Completely predictable even with the twist of Frank having two families. The film has its occasional moments, the characters are largely one dimensional, the plot is mostly retread, and yet I still found myself walking out having enjoyed the telling.
3 stars (out of 5)

CBGB

Alan Rickman plays Hilly Kristal, a horrible businessman about to embark on his next great idea. He buys a bar in Brooklyn and names it the CBGB for Country, Bluegrass and Blues. There isn't a good venue for these genre artists to expand their repertoire and he will give it to them. Unfortunately, there are no CBGB bands or artists around interested in playing in his club. But he does get some other local bands to fill the stage, and his only rule is original music only. Turns out that the CBGB becomes an incubator for the punk music scene, with many bands getting their start there and then going on to mainstream popularity. Hilly becomes the patron of an entire genre and generation of musicians. And throughout the entire run, his business sense was horrible. Fascinating.
5 stars (out of 5)

Murder Mystery

An entry in Adam Sandler's multipic deal with netflix, Sandler and Jennifer Aniston go to Europe for their 15th anniversary. He is a NYPD cop, and aspiring detective. She is a hairdresser and avid mystery novel reader. They get entwined in a "Murder on the Orient Express" scenario that they must solve to clear themselves from being suspects. Several murders along the way make everything complicated, but they bumblingly find their way about. It is comedic-drama (as you would expect from the leads) and largely meets expectations.
3 stars (out of 5)

Men in Black: International

I like that this is not a reboot. Instead, it is the story of the MIB, 20 years on from the last time we saw them. Molly met an alien when she was little and didn't get neuralized. So she spends the next 20 years becoming an expert and hunting down the MIB organization. When she finds them, she gets herself hired on as a probationary agent, and promptly sent to London to work with H (Hemsworth). The first walk through headquarters is a modern Mos Eisley, and still just as fun. The story is really the same - bad aliens are coming to destroy the earth - MIB must find and destroy - who can you trust - it all works out in the end. A particular highlight was Kumail Nanjiani as Steve. The voice and character were perfection. This is low key entertainment, so as a high stakes summer blockbuster it will be considered a failure. But is you see it, you will enjoy it.
4 stars (out of 5)

Late Night

Emma Thompson plays Kate Newburry, the multi-decade host of a late night TV talk show. Turns out, her show isn't good anymore, she is completely out of touch with what is current and funny, and completely out of touch with her show. She hasn't even met many of the writing staff. Mindy Kaling plays Molly, the diversity hire in the writing room. With a prior job of quality assurance officer at a chemical plant, she has absolutely no credibility with the staff. But it turns out she is just the word of truth the show (and Kate) need to be honest about what good TV is (and who good people are). Maybe formulaic, but the writing is tight and both Kaling and Thompson are really good.
4 stars (out of 5)

Sahara

For Matthew McConaughey, this was probably supposed to be a franchise starter as Dirk Pitt. For Clive Cussler fans it was a true representation of the novels. For everyone else it was just an average action film. McConaughey is marine salvage explorer Dirk Pitt and while chasing the legend of the Confederate Ironside carrying Confederate gold coins, he crosses paths with W.H.O. doctor Penelope Cruz. Cruz is hunting down the source of a super-contagious disease in Africa and is making the wrong people mad. She gets in trouble, Pitt rescues her, and then their hunt seems to merge. True to the Cussler novels, Pitt is larger than life and his adventures are outlandish. But somehow a throwaway beach read doesn't effectively translate to big screen action-drama. Maybe today as a netflix series it would work well (certainly there are enough novels for several seasons), but in 2005 we weren't there yet.
3 stars (out of 5)

Home Again

Reese Witherspoon is a recently separated, 40-something mom of two girls who moved them back from NY to her California, childhood home. Oh, and her father was also a famous filmmaker back in his day. Overlay this with a trio of young, aspiring filmmakers with presumed talent but no real plans or sense for how to get things going in Hollywood. This felt like the old Reese's commercial where an inadvertent collision between chocolate carrying person and a Peanut Butter carrying person results in a "you got your chocolate in my peanut butter" goodness. The overlay of Witherspoon with the 3 handsome young men is just as much a staged "inadvertent" collision, and yet I didn't care because it worked. 100% predictable (it starts, travels, and ends exactly like you would expect), but the chemistry is good, the kids are cute, and everybody feels good in the end.
3 stars (out of 5)

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Since it has been 5 years since the first Godzilla, and this movie picks up with characters and story that the previous left off with, I was definitely missing context. [Aside: I do think it is the responsibility of filmmakers to assess how popular the original in a series is, and how long ago it is likely to have been seen, and how much a typical audience member will remember. A good filmmaker will provide the context and history of the first film in a new way, but sufficient to allow the film to stand alone. End Aside] Maybe that is the intent of the filmmaker, so that I will go back now and watch the original. In this version, there is an entirely new cast (only Watanabe returns). The Titans are basically dormant, but an eco-terrorist wakes them up (including Godzilla's primary foe from ancient times). The goal is to yank the apex-predator title from humanity in an effort to right the natural balance of life on earth (see Kingsman, Avengers, The Happening, etc.). But the good guys are able to help Godzilla help himself and take his rightful place back at the top of the pile, thereby demanding subservience of the other Titans. Woo-hoo, humanity survives, even if Boston and D.C. don't. Pretty good 'big animal fight scenes' without losing the action in the blur. Pretty bad wave physics and explosion physics. And by 'pretty bad', I mean non-existent. But for a summer movie, it was a good excuse to go get some popcorn.
3 stars (out of 5)