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Envisions a future society where a few select people from earth are allowed to live an apparently superior existence in an enormous bubble. Having children is carefully controlled by the governing body. Alicia Vikander does a great job playing an assessment tester sent out to live with a married couple for a week in order to evaluate if they will allowed to have a child. The movie kept my interest throughout, although Alicia Vikander’s testing schtick portraying a devious adult child and testing the couple’s resolve, quickly wears thin and gets annoying. For the movie premise you must be willing to suspend disbelief at the notion that any superior society would divine rules for procreation along the lines of those shown in the movie.

Ash has kind of a sci-fi /Aliens vibe that doesn’t really set up until the second half of the movie. The first half drags quite a bit with some boredom relief as the main character experiences amnesia, but with memory flashes that aid her in piecing together why she appears to be the only survivor when her spaceship lost power and she awakes to find fellow crew members dead/murdered. The action starts in the last half. Aaron Paul, the high school druggie from Breaking Bad, has a good showing. Middle of the road, decent movie.

Jonathan Majors stars as a not-too-bright, steroid using bodybuilder relentlessly dedicated to being Mr. Olympia. He struggles with family, health issues, life, job. Majors should be nominated for a best actor award. Just a phenomenal performance. I’d recommend it even if you’re not a bodybuilding fan.

Brazil, 1971, the country has been under a military dictatorship for five or six years. The new government is interested in turning back resistance. This is the story of a husband and wife and their older children through this point in history. The husband is taken for interrogation and the family doesn’t see him again. The wifeIs a very strong, unsentimental woman. Self-pity is not part of her DNA. Thus, what could’ve been a real tearjerker of a movie was not particularly.After the movie, I found myself reading about this period in Brazil’s history that spanned nearly two decades. Despite the repression, political and otherwise, it was a very productive growth period in Brazil’s economy. Overall, I enjoyed the movie with its focus on the wife’s pursuit of a law degree and for public recognition about what was done to her husband, a former Brazilian congressperson.

This sequel must’ve been a big step down from the original Den of Thieves, which I did not see. I was expecting an action movie here and instead struggled to stay awake through a long, overly complicated dialog/plot driven movie. The two heist scenes were just OK. This is two hours and 24 minutes of forgettable junk… Skip it—really.

An engaging, nearly three hour drama that gives the viewer a sense of how a government run by religious leaders impacts and controls the daily life of a family in Iran. Includes some real footage of protests and police response. A rare and secret inside look at life and career pursuit under the thumb of a theocratic government.

In retrospect, it was all a bit sad. Nicole Kidman‘s character is married to a loving husband and they have an active, and not altogether unimaginative sex life. He’s a creative type—a theater director—quite into her and his family. If ever there was a set up perfect for a woman to discuss what she needs in bed, that was it. Kidman‘s character is so reluctant to broach the subject that she regularly fakes orgasm, and decides to cheat instead.

Uninspiring character dialogue and lack of dramatic tension for all but the last 10 minutes of this spare 78 minute running time (by my watch) create a forgettable picture. Run Lola Run this is not.

A teacher reaches out to help a wayward, struggling student without family. The teacher’s commitment helps the student fight and overcome his childhood demons. In the Director epilogue, we learn that the movie is meant as a social commentary on the value of kindness and helping others, “pay it forward” style. The movie reminded me of a TV “afterschool special.” It felt like it was shot on a shoestring budget. That said, the movie kept me reasonably engaged, even if not especially emotional or memorable.

The constant distracting point of view camera shot, plus slow pacing ruin what should be a moving story. Runtime is at least 30-45 minutes too long. Much pedestrian character dialog that adds little.