Heart of the Beast

Posted on September 24, 2026 at 5:36 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for violence, bloody/injury images, some language, and peril
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Beer
Violence/ Scariness:	Extreme and intense peril, graphic wounds
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	September 25, 2026

Two former military, both with some PTSD, camp out in the Alaska wilderness. One is James (Brad Pitt), a retired special forces soldier, and the other is a scout dog named Odin, who was injured in action and now has titanium teeth and a prosthetic leg. “The Heart of the Beast” is the term for the area, for its distance from the trappings of civilzation in mileage and difficulty, but it is also a reference to the two souls who would prefer to maintain that distance.

While trying to navigate through a storm, James has a heart attack and crashes his plane. They have to traverse 58 treacherous miles on foot, and this is the story of that journey.

Director of Photography Mauro Fioe (“Avatar,” “Training Day”) shows us both the pristine beauty of the stunning landscape and the ominous danger for even the hardiest of visitors. (For this film, the part of Alaska is being taken by understudy New Zealand, authenticity overtaken by economics.) We can see why James feels happiest there, away from the humanity that created his trauma and the humanity who can never understand what he experienced. He gets to use the skills that kept him alive in a combat zone for a peaceful purpose, just quietly experiencing the wonders of nature. Brief flashbacks to the chaos of combat show us how devastating that experience was for both James and Odin.

The film is bookended with brief scenes featuring the wonderful Anna Lambe of “North of North.” But James has just one encounter with a human, J.K. Simmons as Watkins, a gruff but gracious man very familiar with the area who tells James he has never seen anyone else in “the heart of the beast.” Pitt shows us the sharp contrast between James’ loving interactions with Odin and his awkward reserve with another human, at first not even giving Watkins his name, and than, reluctantly, just his first name. They sit by the fire together, drinking James’ Belgian ale, and Watkins talks about his own life and asks questions not about James but about Odin, to help James open up a bit. As he promises, he is gone before James and Odin wake up the next morning, but he leaves behind a book, highlighting a quote he thinks James will appreciate: “He had survived the worst the world could do to him. He had known the cruelty of man, yet he lives… and the love of man had taken root in his heart.” (The quote is not from a book; it was written for the movie by screenwriter Cameron Alexander. This screenplay, his first filmed feature, was selected from “The Black List,” a high-profile collection of curated quality scripts.)

Each part of the journey brings different dangers, and each tells us something about James and Odin. We see that Odin is important to James because of his courage and sacrifice, because of the loyalty of those who have shared time in battle, and also because James may not be ready to interact with people, but caring for another creature gives him a sense of purpose and accomplisment. Pitt is superb in performance where he is the only human on screen for most of the film. We see James’ skill in the way he evaulates and responds to an increasingly daunting series of challenges. This film may not be an advertisment for Special Forces training, but it may send some audience members to REI, as even after many of his supplies are lost, James somehow seems to have an endless Mary Poppins carpetbag of items he needs when things go badly. We see James’ joy in Odin, his resolve, his grace under pressure, and sometimes the anguish he tries to hide from his canine family. Pitt is terrific with Odin (played by a dog named Uber), making us feel their deep connection. And Odin is up there with Rin Tin Tin and Lassie in his daring and devotion.

Parents should know that this is a story of extreme peril involving falls, a heart attack, a bear, wolves, a plane crash, and near-drowning. There is a very sad death. James uses strong language.

Family discussion: Why was Odin so important to James? What were the most important items James had with him in case of emergency?

If you like this, try: “Megan Levey,” based on the true story of a young Marine corporal and her military combat dog

Forgotten Island

Posted on September 24, 2026 at 10:52 am

Lowest Recommended Age:	4th - 6th Grade
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for thematic elements, rude humor, language, brief tobacco Imagery, scary action, and some violence
Profanity:	Some strong and crude language for a PG
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended animation-style peril, action, and some violence, no one badly hurt, sad death (offscreen) of grandmother, parental abandonment
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	September 25, 2026

“Forgotten Island” is a colorful story about friendship and memory, inspired by Filipino folklore. Jo and Raissa meet as children in the waiting area for the principal’s office. They are very different, Jo (H.E.R.), a fierce, impulsive chaos agent and Raissa (Liza Soberano), deliberate, thoughtful, and academically-oriented. Jo lives with her beloved grandmother, Lola (Dolly De Leon) but feels abandoned by her parents, who have moved to the US. Raissa has a more comfortable life with devoted parents. But they have something in common, a passion for Lola’s stories about visiting the magical island of Nakali through a portal from an enchanted sun dollar.

They have both been sent to the principal’s office for getting in trouble in the classroom by insisting that Nakali is real. But they decide not to wait, leaving behind a post-it note that simply says BRB (Be Right Back), and pledge to be best friends forever, exchanging string friendship bracelets. In a charming and joyous montage, we see their adventures as they grow up, including accidentally driving a bus to the beach where it gets stuck in the sand and becomes something of a clubhouse/art project. Many special memories get added to that friendship bracelet, and many more BRB notes are left behind. And then, as the girls are near high school graduation, we see them with Lola in a hospital bed hooked up to monitors, and then she is gone.

Jo is working (and sometimes getting fired) in fast food restaurants and Raissa is getting ready to go to America to attend Caltech. The night before Raissa is to leave, Jo persuades her to go on one last adventure. They discover an enchanged sand dollar and soon they are transported to Nakali. They wake up the next morning with no memory of what happened the night before and find that the sand dollar is missing so there is no way for them to get home in time for Raissa’s flight to California. They try to figure out how Raissa lost one whole side of her hair and how she got wings. Jo is wearing a jeweled crown but has no idea where it is from. And both girls and a strange new companion named Raww (Dave Franco) have some angry-looking, possibly infected tattoos that read: Wild Pack.

They meet a series of magical creatures. Raww is a were-dog who sometimes assumes full dog form, sometimes almost turns back into a boy, and most times is a bit of both. Batiba (Jenny Slate) is an agoraphobic cave-dweller who collects the memories of visitors to the island and keeps them for herself. Merhman (Manny Jacinto) is a preening mer-man, Bungi is a 200-year-old baby whose mother finally cuts his umbilical cord so he can travel with the group, and the Manananggal (Lea Salonga) is a fierce and angry winged creature whose upper and lower halfs can separate at the torso and operate independently.

As Jo and Raissa try to locate the sand dollar, remember the night before, and hold onto the memories of their past that Batiba wants for herself, the exciting and colorful adventures help them to understand their past and learn, sometimes painfully, how to be better friends.

The Filipino folklore contributes new characters that in the Joseph Campbell or Jungian sense each represent parts of an integrated human spirit, all the parts that make up the id, ego, and superego. The visuals are dynamic, with has great, strong, colors, some luminous, and imaginative and telling character design. The pacing is very energetic, sometimes overly so, as though worried about losing the attention of the hyped up of the TikTok generation. As is the current fashion (“Spider-Verse,” “KPop Demon Hunters,” etc.), moments of particular intensity of emotion or action switch to an exaggerated, flat, anime style, which may reduce the tension by adding some self-aware humor to reassure young audience members. There are some nice tributes to the pleasures of karaoke and some good pop songs (“Don’t Stop Believin'”, “Don’t You Forget About Me”) that fit the storyline. The discussion of memories is well handled, but what’s best is the relationship of the two heroines, very different in temperament and outlook but appreciating each other and the way their differences are a strength. A sweet concluding scene is more magical than even the most fanciful character.

Parents should know that this film has some disturbing material for a PG including scary images, peril, and violence (no one badly hurt), very risky behavior shown as fun and adventurous, as well as crude language, potty humor, and jokes about crotch hits and the “Predator” movie.

Family discussion: Who have been your best friends and what memories of your time together mean the most to you? Which is your favorite of the magical characters and why?

If you like this, try: “In Your Dreams”

Mutiny

Posted on August 20, 2026 at 6:52 pm

B-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	Rated R
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Social drinking
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended, very graphic and bloody perio and violence, many characters injured and killed, graphic and disturbing images
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	August 21, 2026

Cool action hero name: Check. Tightly coreographed hand to hand combat in tightly constrained space: Check. Pause in the action to have someone read aloud action hero’s heroic but tragic backstory: Check. Holding on for dear life hanging by one hand: Check. Killing many bad guys with sounds of spurting blood and crunching bone: Check. Beautiful and plucky woman: Check. Saving the biggest of the bad guys for a final extended fight scene with many improvised and unusual but handily placed weapons: Check.

In other words, a very generic Jason Statham movie (he also produced), with a sprinkling of plot to allow us to catch our breath between many many many scenes of people being shot, punched, stabbed, and killed by various other means. Does it make sense? No. I mean, the title is just one word and even that isn’t accurate. At least the director’s previous film, “Plane,” was, actually pretty much about a plane and the various fights on and around it. Special props to the entire sound department for outstanding gunfire, crunching bones, neck-twisting cracks, and blood spatter.

Does that matter? Not to people who just want to see the 58- year-old action star take on the bad guys, which, spoiler alert, he still does extremely well.

The main character might just as well be named Jason Statham, but in this movie he is called Cole Reed, bodyguard to Tibu (Ramon Tikaram), a Thai billionaire, CEO of a vast shipping company that began with just one small boat. While Cole waits for Tibu in the lobby of a skyscraper we see how closely he observes every sound and movement around him.

Tibu and his son Kameron (Chaneil Kular) have just agreed to sell the shipping company. It is a bittersweet moment, but as Tibu explains, the company was his dream. His son Kameron wants him to sell and Tibu wants his son to be able to pursue his own dreams.

Cole is treated like a valued confidante and Tibu calls him part of the family. So we know that’s all about to end. Indeed, when Cole is driving Tibu home after the party celebrating the sale, they are ambushed and Tibu is killed, despite Cole’s best efforts, which include killing all of the attackers. The police are involved in the murder so they cannot be trusted. They blame Cole and have the media put out an alert that he is armed and dangerous.

Cole is determined to find and punish everyone responsible for the attack on Tibu. He grabs an American passport from one of the men he killed, and since they are both lean, bald, white men, that enables him to get on the ship with the people behind the murder, including the ship’s Dutch captain (Roland Moller as Marko).

A last-minute substitute has been added to the crew (Annabelle Wallis). She and Cole independently discover that the ship is transporting people who have been captured to be turned over to enslavers. Most of the rest of the film is different set-ups for fight scenes, which are excellent. Adrian Lester shows some gravitas as a canny US Navy captain who receives the brief distress call. A final scene veers from retribution into vigilantism, which might leave a sour tone. But no one is there for gravitas, canniness, or the fine points of restorative justice; just seeing Statham take on lots of scary bad guys, which he still does very well.

Parents should know that this is a very violent film with many bloody and graphic fight scenes and many characters injured and killed. Characters use strong language.

Family discussion: What will Cole do next? What will Kameron do next?

If you like this, try: “The Transporter” and “Hobbs and Shaw”

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Posted on July 28, 2026 at 4:43 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for sequences of action/violence and some language
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended comic book action and violence, characters injured and reference to sad deaths
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	July 31, 2026

We’ve been warned even more than ususal not to allow any spoilers in our reviews, so this is the best I can do while leaving the best surprises in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” for you to discover.

I can remind you that in the last episode, “No Way Home” Peter’s beloved Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) was killed by the Green Goblin and to protect the rest of the people he loved he caused them to lose all memories of him.

We’re brought up to date with a terrific montage of Spidey capturing one villain after another, including Scorpion (Michael Mando). Headlines congratulate him for just about eliminating crime from the city.

Now, Spider-Man (Tom Holland) is an adult and dealing with being utterly alone by spending every waking moment fighting crime and pretending he is not being crushed by loneliness. He brings flowers to Aunt May’s grave. He misses his best friend, Ned (Jacob Batalon) and the love of his life, MJ (Zendaya) and watches their Instagram posts about their time at MIT. His only real human contact is with an appreciative Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas).

The strain takes a toll. “Sometimes Spider-Man does the right thing even if it breaks Peter Parker’s heart.” Being full-time Spider-Man without any time for Peter may be a factor in some changes that are occuring in his spider-powers. We will see other characters struggle with the duality of their super-ness and their humanness, a theme of the film.

And then a new villian seems impossible to find, much less stop. Someone is able to “jump” into the minds of just about anyone, and breaks the Scorpion out of prison. The government Damage Control department led by Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman of “Severance”), which adapts bad-guy technoloy for good-guy purposes, asks him to track the mystery villain down. With some guidance by three familiar characters from the MCU, he gets a little closer.

Director Destin Daniel Cretton handles the drama and the action well, especially a great fight with The Hand, evil, red-cloaked ninja assassins.

Spider-Man and Tom Holland have come a long way. Peter Parker was just 14 when we first saw Holland play a small role in “Captain America: Civil War” and 15 as lead in “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” He was gone a few years in the Snap, but came back as a 16-year-old. Both he and Zendaya have gracefully grown with their older but wiser characters and their performances are thoughtful and as grounded in a way that balances the heightened tone of any story that involves a person swinging on spider-webs can be. It is sweet to see chemistry of the real-life newlyweds and impressive to compare their performances (and one other actor’s) to what they did a couple of weeks ago in “The Odyssey.” Clearly, they not only treat both with seriousness and commitment, but they also give each genre and its fans the respect it deserves.

Now, who’s ready for “Avengers: Doomsday!”

Parents should know that this is a comic book movie with extensive peril and action. Characters are badly injured and dealing with two very sad, off-camera deaths. There is also some strong language.

Family discussion: Did you catch the Gandolf reference? How do you know what is a big potato and what is a small potato? Do you agree with Spider-Man’s decision about who to help? Which character’s powers would you most like to have, and how would you balance your superhero (or supervillain) life with your human life?

If you like this, try: ALL of the Spider-Man movies, so you can compare the Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland versions.

Minions & Monsters

Posted on June 30, 2026 at 2:57 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Cartoon mayhem, peril, and violence, with some comic but graphic moments including a beheading, plus scary monsters
Diversity Issues:	Deaf character
Date Released to Theaters:	July 1, 2026

It was about the time that tourists on a history of Hollywood tour walked past an animated George Lucas in a glass case, speaking with the ACTUAL VOICE OF THE ACTUAL GEORGE LUCAS that I said, “Okay, my critical faculties have been officially shut down and I am just a happy fangirl at this point.” “Minions & Monsters” continues the origin story of the little yellow guys in denim overalls and now adds in the origin story of the movies, plus a robot voiced by Jesse Eisenberg and some love for the fanboys. That’s a quintella of irresistableness and I did not even try to resist.

In a present-day prologue, tour guide (Alison Janney) tells a group to take a seat so she can give them the full story of the two minons who changed everything in movies, history, and the world. We go back in time to see them on their quest to find and serve the most evil master in the world. Unfortunately, the minions keep accidentally destroying their “big bosses.” First there is a “scary, burly, and super-mean”gigantic one-eyed ogre, then a wizard with a book of arcane spells, and a despotic king.

Then, they see another promising bad guy, an old West train robber riding a galloping horse. The minions end up taking over the train, which crashes through the city of Los Angeles circa early 1920s (the history dates here are pretty wobbly, but go with it). This gives us a glimpse of iconic silent film characters and settings including Charlie Chaplin in “Modern Times,” Buster Keaton in “Steamboat Bill Jr.,”and Harold Lloyd in “Safety Last.” That train robber? An actor, in a film the minions have just disrupted to the frantic consternation of a dashing monacle-sporting, tweed-knickers-wearing director named Max (Christoph Waltz). But it turns out the brothers who run the movie studio (both voiced by Jeff Bridges) love the chaos of the minions and soon they are big stars, living in an enormous mansion, adored by fans, and selecting what will become their iconic look: denim overalls.

Like many other stars of the silent era and unforgettably depicted in “Singin’ in the Rain,” things change dramatically for the minions when the sound era begins. The minions do not possess the ability to produce intelligable speech. Most of the minions go off in search of another “big boss.” A few, including James, Henry, and Ed, who is Deaf decide that they need to make a monster movie. And so they use the wizard’s book of spells to call up a friendly little green monster (Trey Parker) who promises to bring them to some scary but cooperative monsters.

Meanwhile, a nerdy robot named Dort (Eisenberg) proves unexepectedly adept at fighting bullies at a sci-fi convention and starts seeing a sweet suffragist named Debbie (Zoey Deutch). Dort is a great new character, with a wonderful retro design and a hilarious, slightly unbalanced walk.

It is exciting and very funny and in love with movies. It even begins with the old Universal logos and the Eadweard Muybridge images that led to the very first development of movie technology. Above all, like “Toy Story 5” (and “Toy Story 4”) this film is a tribute to the joy of imagination. The two new minion characters, James and Henry (like the other minions, voiced by director Pierre Coffin) grew up creating stories and characters. The people who made this film did, too, and they want you to see how exciting and fun and important that is.

Parents should know that this film includes a lot of cartoon comic mayhem, peril, and violence including scary monsters and sharks, chases, punching and slapping, a character’s head is cut off, and another dissolves into dust. There is some rude humor including a character who sits on a toy. A new minion is Deaf and his friends quickly adapt to using sign language.

Family discussion: Why do brothers Frank and Ernest have such different responses? Which of the minons are better at adapting to changing circumstances? Which of their “big bosses” is the scariest?

If you like this, try: the classic movies referenced in the film and the other minions and “Despicable Me” movies