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Telling the story of Harriet Tubman (Cynthia Erivo), her escape from slavery to her transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes, a leader along the underground railroad that saved and freed the lives of hundreds of slaves, changing the course of history. Directed by Kasi Lemmons and Written by Gregory Allen Howard and Kasi Lemmons this recounting of History adds interesting detail and context to Tuban’s life, material often overlooked in basic history books, fleshing out her incredible path and how she accomplished much of her amazing work, often guided by god/voices. But, with an almost Walken-esque Dead Zone ability to see the future, the blur between supernatural and natural becomes a bit trying, sort of a one trick pony. And, despite the cast’s strong list of assets, thinking powerhouses Erivo, Janelle Monáe, and Leslie Odom Jr. on vocals, it’s only Erivo who gets the nod to sing throughout the film, a seemingly un-capitalized potential rings throughout. Furthermore, the film’s score also manages to run flat by the end of this two hour and five minute tour, bummer. Perhaps worthy of a watch at home, and could have made an interesting mini series, this story and production still needs a bit of re-working overall. Harriet is rated PG-13.

It’s been over thirty years since Sarah Conor (Linda Hamilton) originally disrupted Skynet, a computer system destined to destroy life on earth. Now, driven by the loss of her son, destroying every terminator threat on earth is her mission. So, when a new breed of future cyborg soldier (Mackenzie Davis) appears to protect a human (Natalia Reyes), Sarah’s radar is on high alert, but who is the new liquid robotic threat (Gabriel Luna)? Directed by Tim Miller and Written by James Cameron assisted by a team of writers, this resetting of the Terminator franchise sits closely to the first two Terminator installations, i.e. before things went too far off the rails. To that end, it’s hard to fault the film for delivering the goods exactly as expected in action and character development, no surprises there. But, what is apparent and unusual from the get go is the director’s clear choice to shoot the film at a higher frame rate than what audiences may be accustomed to, ultimately creating the “soap opera effect,” think The Hobbit, or Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk– a chancy move to say the least; although, two minutes in and that distraction is replaced by a few questionable CGI renderings of robots. But, past some of the initial visual nuttiness, fans of the franchise and James Cameron’s original vision will definitely find enough to feast on this go round. Solid action, a splash of humor, putting the women up front strong while letting Arnold Schwarzenegger do his thing, the boxes are checked. Terminator: Dark Fate is rated R.

Chosen to steward a lighthouse on a clandestine rock off the coast of New England, young Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) and the much older Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe) are an odd couple to say the least; but, learning to navigate each other’s peculiarities and preferences for their 4 week stint together may prove to be more than either can bear. Directed by Robert Eggers, and written by Max Eggers and Robert Eggers, tales from the sea, superstition, creatures from the deep, and storms of biblical proportion are just the tip of this cabin fevered and allegory rich iceberg. Heavily inspired by the works of Herman Melville and historical events that took place in an actual lighthouse off the coast of Wales, this black and white work of art combines beautifully composed cinematography, stunning sound design, and two powerhouse actors to create the suspense masterpiece you didn’t see coming. In particular, DaFoe’s theatrical muscle and ability to recite impossibly long monologues of great nautical vengeance in single takes and Pattinson’s measured windup makes for the perfect slowest-fuse-ever to reach a powder keg– haunting in its imagery, leaving an indelible mark in the viewer’s mind. An art house film by definition, this will be a challenging watch for pedestrian film goers, but for those who long to feel the blaze of St. Elmo’s fire from their masts, this is the rich and satisfying experience being sought.The Lighthouse is rated R.