Alan Ng

Lady Chatterley’s Lover has the look, feel, and beauty of your Merchant-Ivory high-brow English dramas. Simply add sex and nudity.

I’m here simply for the brilliant performance of Cate Blanchett. She’s imperfect, incredibly flawed, and a villain who doesn’t know it.

If you like action, then you’re going to have fun, but this is by no means a perfect movie and doesn’t stack well against old-school MCU (everything up to phase three). Its weakness lies in the by-the-book story and does nothing to overcome the superhero fatigue we’ve been feeling for a while.

The best thing about the film is the repeat viewing value.

Its complicated story, hero, and visual style are a great reminder of the beautiful thrillers birthed during the Golden Age of Hollywood, albeit with the help of modern technology to pull it off with a modest indie budget.

Ultimately, Blonde is a recommend but loaded with caveats and disclaimers. It’s not for everyone. Its artistic visuals and Ana de Armas’ spot-on performance as Marilyn Monroe is worth seeing, but the almost three hours of emotional trauma may be a hard pass for most.

Blind Ambition has plenty of drama to make a wine tasting engaging for even the most devout tea-totaller.

Empathy and balance is the reason you must see This Land.

Everything in Easter Sunday is played for laughs… crazy family, wacky mob thriller, and lots of cameos. It’s all good, light fun. See it because you’re a fan of Jo Koy or just to get to know a little more about your Filipino brothers and sisters.

What works is the relationship between Mahilo and Chisato. The characters are so well defined and contrasts one another perfectly. The depiction of their friendship is just as good as the fight scenes. Action-wise, it really does take a while to warm up, but getting to the final battle is worth the wait.

Daisy Edgar-Jones is the star here and gives an incredibly endearing performance.

Ultimately, I walked away wishing the story would leap out of the good category into greatness. But grab your young kids, lower expectations a bit, and you’ll have a good time with the animated antics.

Messaging aside, there is such great nuance in both performances of Carice van Houten and Marwan Zenzari. You’re continually guessing their state of mind in a true psychological thriller manner.

This documentary is an eye-opener to the future of this ever-shrinking yet growing world.

There is a great deal of heart in My Old School.

Moon, 66 Questions is a movie made for adult children reluctantly forced into the care of their parents. Lentzou brings their struggle to the big screen with great empathy and introspection in that says you’re not alone.

It’s a good thriller with excellent performances.

Returning in Lightyear is the trademark Pixar sense of humor. Like every film, all jokes are meticulously crafted in a way that will make children laugh and adults laugh harder.

As a comedy, Ninja Badass serves up one hilarious joke after the next.

The battles are bloody and gory, and the set pieces are absolutely massive in scale.

It’s a fitting tribute to Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse and makes you long for a time when storytelling was someone just telling a story.

What The Phantom of the Open has going for it is a sweet and unconventionally inspirational story.

While simple, there is great depth to this uncomplicated story.

As an indie thriller, American Siege does what it needs to accomplish in building tension as the filmmakers bring us into a town where everyone is compromised one way or the other and these compromises cause the town to implode.

The narrative is mournful about a man who lived a long tragic life, a dark and depressing tale of young men having to hide their sexual orientation and its emotional and psychological toll in carrying their secret into their senior years.

The honesty of the troupe in telling their story is both brutal and hilarious.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a wild rollercoaster ride and reminds me of the days when I actively collected comic books.

Cha Cha Real Smooth is a series of reflections on life.