The Amateur (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Amateur (2025): Rami Malek stars as a low-level CIA analyst whose wife is killed and wants revenge, only to uncover a bigger crime involving the CIA itself. Malek lacks the killer instinct, leading to gimicky methods to take out his wife's killers. That's the only thing novel about this. B-

Hulu

A House of Dynamite (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

A House of Dynamite (2025): A single ICBM is headed towards the US. 18 minutes until impact. Tension mounts as the entire government — military, diplomatic, political — tries to determine who is behind it and how to counter it. A thriller without resolution. B+

Netflix

Nobody 2 (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Nobody 2 (2025): Bob Odenkirk plays a working stiff whose undercover job happens to be assassin. In this sequel, he just wants to take his family on vacation to an aging theme park in Wisconsin, where he runs into all kinds of bad guys, which he dispatches in clever ways. Think of this as a violent "Home Alone" for grownups. C+

On airplane

Jurassic World Rebirth (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Jurassic World Rebirth (2025): Nothing wrong here, just meh. A predictable story about having to get DNA samples from the three largest, baddest beasts on land, sea, and air. What's missing is intelligence and cunning on the part of any dinosaurs, like those velociraptors in the original. C+

Peacock

Ballerina (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Ballerina (2025): The torch is passed on the John Wick saga. Ana de Armas takes over as an assasin in training. Same old shit as Keanu Reeves's four movies. If you like action movies with lots of violence (or you're stuck on an airplane over the Atlantic), this could be for you. C+

On airplane

The Chair Company (TV 2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Chair Company (TV 2025): Corporate fraud thriller/comedy? Tim Robinson plays a manager whose chair collapses while he's giving a presentation. He's embarrassed enough to investigate the chair company and uncovers a vast conspiracy theory that gets more convoluted as time goes on. Don't expect answers. C-

HBO Max

Ne Zha II (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Ne Zha II (2025): Children's movie, but be warned: it's nonstop violence. Visually stunning animation, but the style seems to change with each scene. Too many characters. Too much confusing back story. Maybe you have see Ne Zha I first. C+

HBO Max

Marty Supreme (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Marty Supreme (2025): Timothee Chalamet plays a small-time, fast-talking hustler trying to beg, borrow, or steal the funds needed to get into the world table tennis championship in Tokyo. Fascinating to watch the acting, even if you can't like the character. A-

In theatres

Pluribus (TV 2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Pluribus (TV 2025): Extraterrestrials make everyone on Earch happy. Only Rhea Seehorn is immune. So she takes it as her mission to save the world from happiness. It's like a Twilight Zone episode where the twist happens in the first episode and the interesting part is watching how it all plays out for nine episodes. A-

AppleTV

Materialists (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Materialists (2025): A professional matchmaker's own perfect man must offer it all — love and money. When a client is sexually assaulted, she questions everything about her job and her own goals. The first half of movie is a thought-provoking look at dating. Second half reverts to rom-com tropes. B-

HBO Max

Ballad of a Small Player (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Ballad of a Small Player (2025): High stakes gambling addict knows his luck will change if he can just con someone into staking him enough for one big bet. Colin Farrell is great and Macau is luxurious, but the plot and the characters are threadbare. C+

Netflix

Champagne Problems (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Champagne Problems (2025): Young woman is sent to Paris to negotiate the acquisition of a champagne winery. First day she meets a handsome man. Naturally, romance ensues. The only plot twist is predictable. But it's harmless fun with plenty of shots of Paris at Christmas time. B-

Netflix

The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Shop Around the Corner (1940): Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan in a romcom with the "Lubitsch Touch." Also starring Frank Morgan, who you will recognize as the Wizard of Oz in the 1939 classic. See how many romcom tropes that are still standard today are in this movie, some used for the first time. B+

HBO Max

#VeryTardyReview

Weapons (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Weapons (2025): Less a horror film, more a mystery/thriller. All but one child from the same class flee their homes at 2:17 am one night and disappear. Story is told from different perspectives, each filling in a few more details. Slow build to a satisfactory conclusion. B-

HBO Max

Wicked: For Good (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Wicked: For Good (2025): Elphaba is not all bad. Glinda is not all good. Kind of like this movie. The running time of the two movies is twice the length of the entire stage musical. There's just too much. There's a great two hour movie in there. B-

In theatres

F1: The Movie (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

F1: The Movie (2025): Cocky, arrogant Formula 1 racer, played by Brad Pitt (of course), tries to reclaim glory 30 years after a bad accident. It's a sports movie. Enough said. What did I learn about F1 racing? The win goes to the car with the best tires. Or at least the driver who knows how to get the most out of them. B-

AppleTV

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025): A murder mystery where the crime is just an excuse to explore irreconcilable views of religious faith, with Benoit Blanc's lack of faith also on view. As for the murder plot, it has too many elements that lack credibility. B+

Netflix

The Roses (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Roses (2025): Remake of the 1989 classic black comedy. Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch star as the couple in a love/hate marriage. Best scenes are when the two trade barbed insults and admire each other for it. Nothing really fresh here. These actors are wasted in these roles. C+

Hulu

Last Samurai Standing (TV 2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Last Samurai Standing (TV 2025): Japanese. Part Shōgun. Part Squid Game. Violent action thriller set at the end of the era of samurai. Figuring out who is behind the 100 billion yen contest in which samurai are pitted against each other adds mystery. Bad ending, like they had an eight episode story but filmed only six episodes. C+

Netflix

Nouvelle Vague (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Nouvelle Vague (2025): French. Richard Linklater's tribute to Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 classic New Wave movie "Breathless", matching its style perfectly. This movie's subject is Godard making the original movie, all the while explaining to his actors what he is after. Nouvelle Vague is must-see for film students. A-

Netflix