SPINAL TAP II – Pretty much a rehash of the first Spinal Tap film with our favorite pretend band assembled by the great, and tragically late, Rob Reiner. I don’t remember much of the first one….just that it was very funny and I liked it a lot. Mike says this one is okay with some funny bits, but not as good as the first. In his opinion the guys are too old, the dialogue is tired and while it was fun to watch, it didn’t entertain him the same way. I concur it was okay with some funny bits without making a comparison to the first. My favorite parts were scenes with Paul McCartney and Elton John. But overall the film made me sad. Watching Rob Reiner, knowing his creative genius is lost to us forever, was tough. RIP Rob…and thanks. Cheers! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – 0.

THE BEAST IN ME – Compelling psychological thriller starring Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys. Rhys is outstanding as a menacing, deviant, predatory animal and his performance is appropriately unnerving. His character occasionally displays a sensitive, caring quality which adds dimension and realism, and makes him much more dangerous. Claire Danes always turns out good work, but she has mannerisms that have consistently annoyed me since Homeland. It gets in the way when I watch her. Still I enjoyed this piece. And, it is only an eight episode mini-series which has us wondering until the very end…..did he or didn’t he do it, and if so, will he get away with it and/or do it again? Cheers! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – 0.

THE LAST SHOWGIRL – I disliked this film and could barely sit through it. The main character, played by Pamela Anderson, is needy and desperate and always speaks in an annoying childish voice. Jamie Lee Curtis plays a character similar to her role in The Bear. She deserved the Emmy for that role. I wasn’t impressed with her performance in this film and I’m surprised she was even nominated for an Oscar…much less winning one. The movie is one long yawn of ageism in a Vegas show which is aging itself into closure amid a lack of creativity and audience attendance. Then, in the final scene, all of a sudden Pam’s showgirl goes out on top, her relationship is repaired with her daughter and she is going forward with an old flame. Or maybe not. It’s unclear and definitely too quick to resolve whatever was or wasn’t happening during the prior 90 minutes. I like both Pamela and Jamie Lee…just not in this picture. Skip it! Cheers! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – 0.

THE MORTICIAN – Macabre, true crime tale of repulsive acts committed on human remains by fiendish California mortician David Sconce. Operating out of a crematorium in Pasadena during the 1980s and 90s, it is despicable what he was able to do undetected for so long. Even more despicable is when he was finally arrested, he basically got off with a slap on the wrist, leaving countless families devastated twice. The number is in the multiple thousands. He offers commentary throughout this documentary and remains smug, arrogant, and above the law with a complete lack of remorse. He’d do it all again if he could. It’s likely he even murdered several people who were wise to the goings on at his facility and were going to blow the whistle. It’s a tough watch, but I couldn’t look away. It’s an engaging story of forewarning for the rest of us that we need to beware the funeral industry. Personally I want a Viking send off but I think that’s illegal. Cheers!! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – 0.

ONE SHOT WITH ED SHEERAN – this hour long music experience with Ed may have been filmed in one continuous take, but there was definitely staging going on. Plus I don’t see how some camera angles could have been shot in one take. Still, Ed Sheeran fans (which we are) will find his jaunt through Manhattan fun and different…and it’s only an hour long. He plays several of his most famous hits among many songs as he and his guitar bop around the city landing on a friend’s wedding proposal, another friend’s party and supposedly impromptu (wink, wink) jams with a tavern band and folks on the subway. Ed is lovable in this piece and we loved him accordingly. Cheers! Boyfriends – 1; Girlfriends – 0.

TITAN THE OCEANGATE SUBMERSIBLE DISASTER – Blinded by hubris, arrogance and ego, Oceangate owner Stockton Rush became Oceangate murderer Stockton Rush. Ignoring the sub’s failure of all endurance testing, firing employees who raised safety concerns, overlooking the exit of many others who departed the company due to the same safety concerns, refusing to allow the sub to be inspected and certified for deep sea diving per industry standards, justifying his use of carbon fiber when he was repeatedly warned of its weaknesses. Still he continued to dive even though tragedy was only a matter of time, or as one of his employees stated…”it was a mathematical certainty the sub would fail.” It doesn’t get any plainer than that. Just seeing the graphs and hearing the popping sounds of fibers breaking during this documentary gave me goosebumps. I can’t imagine being locked inside this death capsule. Sadly it ended up being just that when four unsuspecting people, plus Stockton, imploded along with the sub on June 18, 2023, after only ten dives. Mesmerizing documentary. Cheers! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – everyone who spoke up to avoid disaster.

ONE TO ONE JOHN & YOKO – The year is 1971. John & Yoko have fled London and begun life in New York City in their small Greenwich Village apartment which they will inhabit until moving to the Dakota in 1973. Produced by their son, Sean Ono Lennon, and Brad Pitt, it is an interesting snapshot of the US at that time. Political unrest is raging over the Vietnam war. Young people are rising up in defiance of the establishment. Nixon is president, and John & Yoko have become huge outspoken activists for peace. Snippets of current events in 1971 are peppered among commercials and tv shows popular at the time revealing a huge disconnect between the lives of everyday Americans and the violent chaos in the country and the world. Live footage from the Lennons’ One to One concert to raise funds for the retarded children of Willowbrook State School is included. For me, the most interesting segments were phone recordings of John & Yoko speaking to various folks involved with their peace movement. Quite the history lesson for those of us who lived through it and those of us born too late to experience it….although it is a vivid reminder that we are repeating much of the same behavior in our country now. Cheers! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – 0.

RETURN OF THE KING THE FALL AND RISE OF ELVIS PRESLEY – New documentary covering Elvis’s life up to the comeback concert in 1968. Not a lot new here, but comments from Priscilla Presley, old acquaintances and Elvis himself, plus snippets from the ’68 concert, make this an interesting piece. And let’s face it, Elvis rocked that black leather outfit! I remember it well. Cheers!! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – 0.

A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE – Fascinating look in real time at a nuclear attack on America. In this film we have no idea who launched the missile against us, all efforts to intercept it fail and the president has only 18 minutes to make his choice…retaliate or not. Either way, the city of Chicago is toast and the surrounding areas are radiation drenched and life as we know it is over. Three aspects of the crisis play out simultaneously while the clock ticks down the 18 minutes. We get an unnerving glimpse of how vulnerable we are should something like this actually occur. The performances are great and the storyline and filming sequence is unique. I didn’t come away terrified or disturbed as much of the audience did. It definitely is thought provoking however. And Trump deciding to test nuclear weapons a week after this film’s debut is also worrisome. I don’t know if there is any correlation or not, but this picture has everyone thinking “what if?” Cheers! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – o.

JUDY – Renee Zellweger takes a stab at portraying iconic Judy Garland in this film of Judy’s last year alive. A few things bothered me watching this piece. One – Renee never really captured Judy’s essence for me. And she doesn’t look much like her either, even with hair, makeup and wardrobe to match the role. Two – the movie focuses only on the five weeks Judy was performing in London, with occasional flashbacks to her early years at MGM where her tender psyche was abused and molded into the vulnerable, tragic person she became. Lastly, I’m not sure how much of this film is factually accurate. I’m a Judy fan, but not of this movie. Skip it! Cheers!