Jun 13 2025

Materialists

Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is failed actress turned matchmaker working in New York, and, as it turns out she’s very good at her job, matching women seeking partners based on materialistic characteristics with equally materialistic partners. But coming from her own failed relationship with starving artist, John (Chris Evans), and now meeting her own Unicorn, Harry (Pedro Pascal), the age old tale of love or money is set. Written and Directed by Celine Song this romantic romp is set to give it the ol’ college try with material the ensemble all handle aptly. Unfortunately in terms of story complexity or originality the script falls short of the mark, specifically when it comes to any lessons learned or transcendence to advance the plot in an interesting way; the end result is a relatively flat outcome.That said, you want the feel-good romance, you got it, but keep those expectations low, the film runs just as shallow as its characters. Running an hour and 56 minutes Materialists is rated R.


Jun 6 2025

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina

Trained by the Ruska Roma, a lethal ballet troupe and the home of John Wick (Keanu Reeves), young Eve (Ana De Armas) finds herself torn between serving as a ward to various subjects as her Director (Angelica Huston) instructs, or, hunting down her father’s killers who stem from a cult of equally lethal killers. Choices will have to be made. Written by Shay Hatten and Derek Kolstad and Directed by Len Wiseman this dive back into the ultra violent cloak and dagger world of assassins thieves hits the ground running at a slightly more metered pace in terms of action frenzy, but takes an abrupt turn mid-plot to accelerate into hyper-violent space successfully achieving a rightful place in the John Wick universe. Albeit, thinly plotted and obnoxiously telegraphed plot points do draw eye rolls amongst several big “reveals.” But beyond that, De Armas has clearly put in the work, physically and training wise to pull off some of the more interesting pulp action smash sequences of the year. After all, we’re here for the chaos and carnage in a Wick based film, not the wit, prose, or thoughtful discourse. To that end, the sheer number of adversaries reduced to pink dust is high as this tiny dancer slings grenades and flamethrowers like peanuts at a baseball game. Running two hours and five minutes, audiences definitely get their dollar’s worth and a bit more, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is rated R.


May 23 2025

Mission Impossible — The Final Reckoning

In hiding for several months following the last run in with a deadly A.I. known as The Entity, Ethan (Tom Cruise) and the rest of the I.M. team find themselves called back in to action as their old nemesis, Gabriel (Esai Morales) has resurfaced with The Entity in tow and sinister intentions for humanity. Stopping the annihilation of all life on earth is the impossible mission for the final reckoning, this message will self destruct in five seconds. Written by Bruce Geller, Erik Jendresen, and Christopher McQuarrie and Directed by McQuarrie this final installment of this version of the I.M. franchise aims to go out as big and as bold as possible offering set piece action sequence after set piece action sequence punctuated by a handful of rather droll lulls and convoluted plot points– end result, an oddly balanced but enjoyable romp through the franchise’s greatest hits, multiple call backs from the last 30 years, and of course, lots of Tom Cruise running, lace up those track shoes for your eyes, you’re going to need them. Meanwhile, perennial favorites Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg return again to put the family bow on top of the tree along with relative newcomers Pom Klementieff and Hayley Atwell to add extra punch. But, action and callbacks be damned, the two hour forty nine minute runtime definitely feels long in the tooth by act three, and that seems to be the hardest pill of all to swallow, bloat for bloat’s sake. It’s as though the editors were instructed to specifically NOT trim for length, woof. That said, pace yourself on beverages going in and get ready for hair raising stunts, to that end you can’t go wrong. Mission Impossible–The Final Reckoning is rated PG-13