Remember that iconic moment in “Amadeus” when Salieri composes a simple little piece in honor of Mozart’s arrival, and then, the greatest composer of all time, only 25 years old and incapable of imagining Salieri’s bitter jealousy, sits down to play the piece and cannot help turning it into something magical. I could not help thinking of that moment when the real-life Sir Paul McCartney, after a flawless faux interview where he, seemingly sincere, describes a very crude lyric from one of fictional metal group Spinal Tap’s songs as “lit-ra-tchure.” It is followed by the genuine look on his face when he struggles to appear to enjoy their rehearsal performance. Then he sits down at a piano to show them some suggested tweaks, which they immediately reject.
I did not expect a sequel to exceed or even meet the level of the original Spinal Tap movie, which ushered in the era of the mockumentary and remains, to my mind, in the top ten funniest and most quotable feature films of all time. But whether you are a fan who has seen the original multiple times or are coming to these characters with no preconceived notions (but come on, watch the original!), you will have a lot of fun at this one, like the first a take that perfectly balances comedy with authenticity down to the details and a deep, unqualified affection for the souls who just want to share their music with an audience. Hey, Ozzie Osborne said he didn’t laugh at the original because it was too close to the truth.
I’m not going to spoil the surprises, the visits with characters from the first film and cameos from real-life legends. I’ll just say that it is extremely funny and point out that on the poster the number 2 is represented by a close-up of one of the megaliths from Stonehenge.
“The End Continues” begins with the classic premise: getting the band back together. They have not spoken in years and all seem settled with projects they like. But when the daughter of their late manager discovers that she has inherited their contract, she books them for one last performance, in New Orleans.
As fans well know, the band has lost a number of drummers over the years, apparently 11 of them, so one of their first tasks, after three star drummers turn them down, is to audition prospects, find one brave enough to take the job (Valerie Franco) and then rehearse to get ready for the show.
That’s pretty much it, but we do not need anything else except to revisit some of our favorite moments from the first film. It’s great fun to get a reprise of “Listen to the Flower People,” and yes, Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) is still captivated by the possibilities of music technology. I hope the end does continue forever. Rock on, Nigel, David, and Derek, rock on!
Parent should know that this film has strong language, crude humor, sexual references, and bawdy lyrics.
Family discussion: What do the occupations of the musicians at the beginning of the film tell us about them? What real-life musicians do they resemble?
If you like this, try: the Christopher Guest films featuring many of these performers, including “Waiting for Guffman,” “Best in Show,” and “A Mighty Wind”
Rated PG for smoking, suggestive material, some thematic elements
Profanity:
Mile language
Alcohol/ Drugs:
Alcohol and cigarettes, characters get tipsy
Violence/ Scariness:
None
Diversity Issues:
Class issues
Date Released to Theaters:
September 12, 2025
You could have a very successful drinking game if you took a swig every time someone in “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” talks about change, coping with it, changing with it, or trying to ignore or prevent it. But you’d be far too tipsy to enjoy this movie’s many pleasures for those who have watched the characters in the title estate for the past 15 years, through five television seasons and two previous feature films. Beginning with the death of the heir to the estate in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, through world events and domestic developments, the series explored social norms, family dramas, both of the titled family and their servants, and the impact of world events. It was romantic and glamorous. (Those clothes! Those dinners! Those romances!) It had everyone’s favorite, Dame Maggie Smith as Lord Grantham’s mother, the acid-tongued Violet, Dowager Countess. It was often thoughtful and endearing, as characters adapted and matured and relationships reconciled. This film will be of greatest interest to those who have followed the story, though you need not have seen or remembered every detail. But for those who have come to care about these characters, it is a very satisfying conclusion.
Copyright 2025 Focus
This film takes place in 1930, and as it begins the family and some of the servants are attending a glittery performance of Noel Coward’s operetta, Bittersweet. After the show, Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), his wife (Elizabeth McGovern), their daughter, Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), and Lady Edith Hexham (Laura Carmichael) and her husband (Harry Hadden-Paton) go backstage to congratulate the play’s star, Guy Dexter (Dominic West), who became a family friend after appearing in a movie filmed on the estate. The Grantham’s former footman, Thomas Barrow, is there as well because he is now Dexter’s companion/manager. As Lord Grantham says, their relationship appears “hearty.” Dexter introduces them to Coward (a louche and very charming Arty Froushan).
Lady Mary is unaccompanied because she and her husband are getting divorced, at the time so scandalous she will become a “social pariah,” thrown out of a fancy party by the hostess (Joely Richardson) because members of the royal family are about to arrive and it would be unthinkable for them to be in the same room with someone who is divorced.
Lord and Lady Grantham have both lost their mothers. The memory of Violet and Smith lofts above the story, with Violet’s portrait in the hall and frequent references, and hopes for the disposition of the American estate of Lady Grantham’s mother because Downton always needs money. Lady Grantham’s brother, Harold (Paul Giamatti) arrives to tell her it is not what she hoped, and he brings with him an associate named Gus Sambrook (the always- excellent Alessandro Nivola).
“Downton Abbey” creator and screenwriter Julian Fellowes has a gift for melding drama with an exquisite sensitivity to social hierarchies. He understands the smallest details and the way they reflect the emotional and social upheavals. When Lady Mary is shunned by even those they thought of as close friends, her sister, Lady Edith, who has perhaps come the longest way of the characters in the show, is wise and sophisticated enough to know that the world has changed (there that word is again) enough so that there is one path to putting her back in the social world, and it is not about the old hierarchies of noble titles but about another kind of social currency.
As always, the lives of the servants are of equal importance. Two of the key figures are retiring, in a parallel to the difficulties Lord Grantham has in letting Mary take control of the estate. That means two others in the downstairs community have new responsibilities, underscored by Lady Merton (Penelope Wilton), whose more populist views come into play as she brings two members of the downstairs staff into a prominent role in community affairs.
And, as always, it is gorgeous to look at and revel in. The tiaras! The Royal Enclosure at the Ascot races! The sumptuousness of the surroundings and the empathy for the characters bring this saga to most a satisfying conclusion. If Fellowes cannot resist a wink at the audience by giving a character a speech about the importance of screenwriters, what can we do but wink back at him?
Parents should know that this movie includes sexual references and non-explicit situations as well as family difficulties.
Family discussion: How do we decide when to change and when to hold on to traditions? Which of the characters is best at adapting?
If you like this, try: the “Downton Abbey” series and earlier films and Fellowes “Belgravia,” “The Gilded Age,” and “Dr. Thorne.”
Back to work, back to school, back to sweaters, raking leaves, Halloween, and Thanksgiving!
And it’s time to go back to one of the best times of the year for movies. Here’s what I’m looking forward to this fall, including two highly anticipated sequels arriving for Thanksgiving. (As usual, release dates may change.)
SEPTEMBER
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (September 12) We met the Crawley family and their servants in 1912. Now it is the 1930s, they are mourning the loss of the Dowager Countess, and, as always, there will be challenges, complications, and romance.
Tin Soldier (September 12) Oscar winners Robert De Niro and Jamie Foxx play a cult leader and the former soldier who challenges him.
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (September 12) By now, it may be going to 12. Our favorite mini-Stonehenge metal trio is reuniting, and real-life music superstars are as excited as we are, with on-screen appearances by Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Lars Ulrich, Questlove, and Garth Brooks. And, we hope, a new drummer.
A Big, Beautiful Journey (September 19) Kogonada made a deeply moving film about two people walking around talking about architecture and another deeply moving film about a family in the future whose beloved robot nanny breaks. This is what is certain to be a deeply moving film about strangers played by Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie who go on a fantasy journey together as they visit their pasts.
Him (September 19) Jordan Peele produced this film about a promising high school athlete whose dream comes true when he has a chance to be at a training camp run by his idol. It does not go well.
London Calling (September 19) After fleeing the UK from a job gone wrong, a down on his luck hitman (Josh Duhamel) is forced to train the completely inept son of his crime boss (Rick Hoffman) to kill people.
Eleanor the Great (September 26) Scarlett Johansson’s first project as a director stars June Squibb as the title character who moves to New York City for the first time in her 90s, after the death of her best friend.
One Battle After Another (September 26) Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson is always very private when it comes to telling us what to expect from his upcoming films. So we don’t know much beyond the impressive cast: Leonardo di Caprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Wood Harris, Alana Haim, and Chase Infiniti.
OCTOBER
The Smashing Machine (October 3) Dwayne Johnson plays MMA fighter Mark Kerr, co-starring Emily Blunt.
Tron: Ares (October 10) Jeff Bridges, star of the 1982 original, returns in a new chapter that promises to be set more in the analog world, with a computer program weaponized to interact with reality. The cast includes Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Cameron Monaghan, Evan Peters, Gillian Anderson, Jodie-Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Hasan Minhaj. I saw the new racer and heard the soundtrack from Nine Inch Nails at Comic-Con and both were very cool.
Roofman (October 10) The improbable but true story of Jeffrey Manchester, a former U.S. Army Reserve officer who turned to robbing businesses, particularly McDonald’s restaurants, by drilling through their roofs. After escaping prison, he hid in a Toys “R” Us for six months, living undetected while planning his next moves. Manchester is played by Channing Tatum, co-starring with Kirsten Dunst.
Kiss of the Spider Woman (October 10) Word is that this may be Jennifer Lopez’s Oscar moment. She plays the title character, as remembered by a prisoner, who tells the story of his favorite movie to his cellmate (Diego Luna). “Chicago’s” Bill Condon directs.
After the Hunt (October 10) Julia Roberts plays a professor dealing with conflicting allegations made by the people she is closest to, played by Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri, directed by “Challengers” and “Call Me By Your Name’s” Luca Guadagnino.
Blue Moon (October 17) Lorenz Hart was one of the greatest lyricists of all time and his collaborations with Richard Rodgers, including “My Funny Valentine,” “Mountain Greenery,” and the song that gives this Richard Linklater film its title are a permanent part of the American Songbook. This film takes place as the show Rodgers wrote without him, “Oklahoma,” is opening. Hart was under 5 feet, and there is some movie trickery to make star Ethan Hawke look short and balding.
Stiller and Meara: Nothing is Lost (October 17) I grew up watching “The Ed Sullivan Show” with my family, and my favorite (until the Beatles arrived!) was the comedians. I loved the real-life couple of Stiller and Meara, now better known for their acting work, Jerry Stiller in “Seinfeld” and Anne Meara in movies like “The Daytrippers” and “Awakenings.” This loving documentary is made by their actor/writer/director son Ben Stiller.
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Good Fortune (October 17) How has it taken so long for someone to cast Keanu Reeves as an angel come to earth to guide a human? Aniz Ansari wrote and directed a film that is a throwback to mid-century classics like “Here Comes Mr. Jordan” (remade by Warren Beatty as “Heaven Can Wait”) and “A Guy Named Joe” (remade by Steven Spielberg as “Always’). Ansari stars as well, along with Sandra Oh, Seth Rogen, and Keke Palmer.
A House of Dynamite (October 24) Kathryn Bigelow is one of the all-time greats when it comes to action thrillers. This one stars Idris Elba and Rebecca Ferguson in a tense drama about an attack on the US. The cast also includes Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Jonah Hauer-King, Greta Lee, and Jason Clarke, and the screenplay is by NBC news chief Noah Oppenheim.
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (October 24) This musical biopic has “The Bear’s” Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen in 1982, making his sixth studio album, Nebraska, “Studio” is not exactly the right term as it was recorded without his band in Springsteen’s own bedroom.
Regretting You (October 24) Based on the best-seller by Colleen Hoover, this is the story of a mother and daughter following the death of the father of the family. Alison Williams, Mckenna Grace, and Dave Franco star.
Nouvelle Vague (October 31) Another Richard Linklater film, and also based on a true story, this is about the filming of a very influential French movie that was a part of the New Wave (translation of Nouvelle Vague), a movement to make films that were more natural, with a gritty documentary feeling. Zoey Deutch plays Jean Seaberg, the American actress who starred in the film as an expat, with Guillaume Marbeck playing 26-year-old director Jean-Luc Goddard.
Copyright 2025 Netflix
NOVEMBER
Frankenstein (November, date not set) Yet another re-telling of the story of the doctor who wanted to create life, but this one is a passion project for Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro, who has a thing for monsters. Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Charles Dance, Christoph Waltz,.and Oscar Isaac star.
I Wish You All the Best (November 7) A non-binary teen thrown out of the house by their parents moves in with their sister and finds a new world of acceptance and friendship.
Begonia (November 7) Emma Stone and director Yorgos Lanthimos have had a very fruitful artistic partnership, including “The Favourite,” “Poor Things,” and “Kind of Kindness.” In their latest, Stone plays a powerful CEO kidnapped by conspiracy theorists who believe she is an alien.
Peter Hujar’s Day (November 7) Ben Wishaw plays Peter Hujar, a photographer in New York in the 1970s and 80s. His black and white images were original, striking, and influential. He was known for being both brilliant and difficult when he died of AIDS in 1987. In this film, Rebecca Hall plays writer Linda Rosenkrantz, who interviewed Hujar about how he spent his day. Anything writer/director Ira Sachs does will be unexpected and thoughtful.
Train Dreams (November 7) The team behind “Sing Sing,” Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, adapted Denis Johnson’s novella, Train Dreams, the story of Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton), a logger and railroad worker who leads a life of unexpected depth and beauty in the rapidly-changing America of the early 20th Century.
Now You See Me, Now You Don’t (November 14) The magicians of the Four Horsemen are back with more tricks up their sleeves. Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco return along with Morgan Freeman, plus some new faces: Dominic Sessa of “The Holdovers” Justice Smith of “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” and Ariana Greenblatt of “Barbie.”
Eternity (November 14) You die, you go to heaven, and you have the chance to live the rest of eternity with the person you married. But what if the first person you married died and has been waiting in heaven for you all this time and the second person you married also thinks he’ll be spending all of eternity with you? Elizabeth Olson, Miles Teller, and Callum Turner star.
Jay Kelly (November 14) You want to make a movie about a huge movie star who is aging and thinking back on whether his life has had meaning. So why not cast a real-life huge movie star? That’s what co-screenwriter of “Barbie” Noah Baumbach has done with George Clooney as an actor named Jay Kelly, with co-stars Adam Sandler and Laura Dern.
Murder at the Embassy (November 14) When a private detective is called to investigate a suspicious murder inside Cairo’s seemingly impenetrable British Embassy, she discovers a second crime has been committed that could ignite a global war. Everyone within the walls of the embassy is a suspect, but the ultimate evil force is lurking right around the corner. Mischa Barton returns as Miranda Green in the follow up to the highly successful film “Invitation to Murder.”
Copyright 2025 Lionsgate
Wicked: For Good (November 26) One of the most highly anticipated films of the year is part 2 of the origin story of the two witches of “The Wizard of Oz.” We’ll learn more about the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Woodman, as well, plus some great songs.
Zootopia 2 (November 26) Everyone’s favorite police bunny is back with her slightly reformed partner in this sequel to the Oscar-winning delight.
Hamnet (November 27) Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, and Jessie Buckley star and Chloe Zhau directs a story imagining William Shakespeare’s wife after the death of her young son, as her husband processes it by writing a play called “Hamlet.” It is based on the acclaimed novel by Maggie O’Farrell.
