Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Posted on January 2, 2026 at 9:34 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 by the MPAA for violent content, bloody images, strong language, some crude sexual material, and smoking
Profanity:	Strong and crude language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking and drunkenness
Violence/ Scariness:	Gristly violence, graphic and disturbing images, murders
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	November 22, 2025
Date Released to DVD:	December 13, 2025

I love Rian Johnson‘s “Knives Out” movies, and this latest one had everything I hoped for: a twisty plot, a knock-out cast, a dash of commentary about contemporary life and searching for meaning. Also: searching for money. Power, too, but especially money. Writer/director Rian Johnson makes each film in the series a different setting and tone, so instead of “Glass Onion’s” sunny setting in a huge, art-filled mansion on a Greek island, this one has a gothic feeling, set in and around a spooky Catholic Church in upstate New York.

It begins with a literal knock-out. An idealistic young priest named Father Jud Duplenticy (2025’s MVP Josh O’Connor, in his third of four films released this year) punches another priest in the nose for some unnamed offensive remark. Father Jud came to the Catholic church after a brief career as a boxer and a period of feeling lost and guilty. He is devoted to his calling as a way to share healing, encouragement, trust, and community.

He is assigned by his bishop (Jeffrey Wright) to be assistant priest to the imperious Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). Even the names have a gothic ring. Monsignor Wicks (do NOT call him Father) has a small coterie of devoted followers and enjoys being so bombastic and judgmental from the pulpit that anyone outside that group walks out of the service. He is not happy to have Father Jud and immediately accuses him of trying to take over the church. Then he insists on giving his confession and intentionally makes it as uncomfortable for Father Jud (though hilarious for the audience) as possible.

Glenn Close plays Martha Delacroix (I told you about the names), who is the church’s pretty much everything but the priest. She runs the office and fills the chalice. As a child, she was devoted to Wicks’ grandfather, a widower with a daughter who became a priest, and it has been the center of her life ever since.

The Wicks loyalists are groundskeeper Samson Holt (Thomas Hayden Church), who is in love with Martha, popular author turned fanatic Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), currently working on a book about Wicks with a strong overlay of conspiracy theories, ailing young cellist Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny), who believes Wicks will find a way to cure her through faith — and her generous financial contributions, doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), devastated because his wife left him, and attorney Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), who gave up her dream of advocating for the public good to follow her father as lawyer for the church. Her father also told her she had to be responsible for Cy, a young boy he brought home. Cy (Daryl McCormack) is now an adult, back living with Vera after a failed political campaign, and trying to make a comeback as an influencer, posting Wicks’ sermons.

This is a nicely toxic soup for what will turn out to be that favorite of mystery authors and fans, a locked door murder. A body is discovered in a locked alcove near the pulpit during a service with everyone in the pews as witnesses that the murder victim was the only one who entered. The sheriff shows up (Mila Kunis) and of course so does master murder-solver Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig).

Composer Nathan Johnson, as he did on the two previous films, enhances the story with evocative music, starting with screechy strings in the first scene and reaching for resolution.

As with the earlier films, there is some sharp commentary on contemporary culture, but the film is always respectful of Father Jud’s sincerity and his attempts to create a caring environment for the congregation. O’Conner continues to impress with his exceptional range and the precision of his characterization. Like the other two British actors, Scott and McCormack, he has an impeccable American accent. With so many characters, some are more clearly defined than others. Kunis and Washington do not get a chance to show much depth to thinly drawn roles, but Bridget Everett of “Somebody Somewhere” makes the most of a tiny part as an employee of a local company who has some crucial information for Blanc and Father Jud. Like the priest, we quickly move from irritation to empathy as she keeps him on the phone. And then we get to enjoy the twists and surprises. Can’t wait for the next one.

Parents should know that this is a murder mystery with violent deaths. Characters drink alcohol and there are references to a child born out of wedlock and an adult who is a drug abuser and has sex with many people. There are very explicit sexual references.

Family discussion: What drew each of the members of the congregation to Monsignor Jefferson Wicks? Why was Martha so loyal? What will Father Jud do next?

If you like this, try: the other “Knives Out” movies, Agatha Christie films like the original “Murder on the Orient Express,” “And Then There Were None,” and “Witness for the Prosecution,” as well as locked room classics like the one mentioned in the film, Hollow Man by John Dickson Carr.

The Best You Can

Posted on December 31, 2025 at 9:17 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for language, sexual references and some drug use
Profanity:	Strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Alcohol and marijuana
Violence/ Scariness:	Sad death, medical issues
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to DVD:	December 25, 2025

Real-life couple Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon are pure magic on screen. In fact, they are so magical, so sincere, empathetic and endearing, so precise in their attention to character and their connection to the other actors that we may feel we don’t just know them; we want them to come live with us. Their skill, their powerful chemistry, and the modest intentions of “The Best You Can” elevate this small film into something special.

We meet the two main characters as they are under great stress. Cynthia (Sedgwick) is having dinner with a colleague at an elegant restaurant, waiting for her husband Warren (Judd Hirsch) to come back from the men’s room. She is explaining to the friends that yes, she did marry a man who was much older but everything is okay, really, when he returns to the wrong table after entering the wrong rest room. She is not willing to admit to herself how serious his cognitive decline has become. She consults with a doctor friend (Ray Romano), who gently uses the term “dementia” and tells her she needs to get on with her life. “I don’t want to get on with my life,” she moans.

We first see Stan (Bacon), a retired cop now doing the night shift at a private security company, in extremis. He is getting a prostate exam. And the doctor’s report is not good. He needs to see a urologist. He also has a very strained relationship with his daughter, an aspiring singer who self-medicates some mental instability with drugs. “I’m not on drugs,” she tells him. “I do drugs.”

Stan and Cynthia meet when he is on duty. Someone has broken into her house. She thinks he is the intruder, so she whacks him. And it turns out, she is a urologist. She wants to make up to him for hitting him on the head, so she offers to treat him.

They develop a friendly relationship via text. It says a lot about the extraordinary charisma and skill of Sedgwick and Bacon that they make the near-impossible meet not-cute and extended scenes of texting work. Whenever the screenplay lets them down, with references to television shows no one under 65 will recognize, much less understand, that they give these moments so much heart and so much charm.

The movie also benefits enormously from some of the supporting characters, not just Romano and Hirsch but also Brittany O’Grady (“White Lotus”) as Stan’s troubled daughter (be sure to watch the credits to hear her sing) and Meera Rohit Kumbhani as a home health aide with endless patience and sympathy.

Writer/director Michael J. Weithorn also has patience and sympathy for his characters, and with Bacon and Sedgwick, who also co-produced, he has produced a film that reminds us that, with some help, the best we can has a lot to offer.

Parents should know that this film has very strong language, sexual references, some crude, and a non-explicit situation, drinking and drug use.

Family discussion: What was the purpose of Stan’s story? What did Stan and Cynthia have in common?

If you like this, try: “I’ll Be Right There” with Edie Falco and “Suze” with Michaela Watkins

Resisterhood

Posted on December 30, 2025 at 8:48 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	NR
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Protests, arrests, references shootings, natural disasters,
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie

The award-winning documentary “Resisterhood” is about some of the most controversial moments of Donald Trump’s first term as President and the groundswell of protest in response. Since it was released in 2020, as he was defeated by Joe Biden, it is well worth another look in light of increased controversy and division.

Director Cheryl Jacobs Crim begins the film with a collection of clips from the 2016 campaign, like his imitation of a reporter’s disability and his urging of violence against protesters to highlight/remind us of Trump’s thuggishness and cruelty. Those moments are stark and unsettling in showing us how far we have fallen from what six years ago seemed like the floor of politics. And how alert and vibrant Trump was compared to the man who falls asleep during meetings and tries to cover up the bruises on his hand.

After that opening, the focus is on the response of the voters to initiatives like child separation at the border, eliminating the rights of GLBTQIA individuals, the appointment of Justice Kavanaugh despite claims of sexual abuse, rollback of environmental protection. Crim introduces us to five thoughtful “resisters,” and the determination, integrity, and commitment to helping others in each story is warm, engaging, and inspiring.

Steely but radiant and warm-hearted Margaret Johnson Morrison is identified as an historian/educator. She tells us that the first time she participated in a protest it was on the march from Selma to Montgomery led by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King. And one way and another, she has been standing up for justice ever since. “That is why I have continued to participate where I could, to change what is wrong to what is right.”

Joanna Lohman was on the Washington Spirits soccer team as this film was being made. She felt that soccer was what she was born to do, but she loved talking to the fans, especially the young girls who wore her jersey to games and admired her “jo-hawk” haircut. She happened to be injured at the beginning of the season, which gave her time to think about using her time and her platform to speak out on the issues she cared most about, respect, equality and inclusion for the GLBTIA community.

Mimi Hassanein (community volunteer) came to the United States from Egypt and has been a US citizen since 1971. Even before she learned to speak English, she reached out to her community by sharing what she could: bringing baklava to her children’s school. She wears a hijab, but take it off when she is in the car. By the time we see that, it is wrenching, because we know how good hearted she is, and she has shown us how she has embraced the American idea of civic involvement. “Learning about my civic duty really empowered me to really learn about the beautiful system we have here.” She explains that she feels she has to do that to be safe, because strangers make comments like accusing her of being in ISIS. As the movie goes on, she decides to run for office.

For Illinois Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez and his wife, originally from Puerto Rico, the Trump policies on immigration and his response to the devastation of Hurricane Maria. He describes his journey of questioning the prejudices he was taught as a child. “My heart and my soul is so much cleaner today than it was.” And Dr. Jean Gearon is proud to carry on the tradition of her great-grandmother, a leader of the fight for women to get the vote. She is a psychologist, but she makes it clear at an early meeting that the gathering is not a support group; it is about education, outreach and action.

The film is punctuated with the large demonstrations with people protesting policies on climate, guns, immigration, and the confirmation of Supreme Court justice Kavanaugh. We also get a brief glimpse of the alt-right protest in Charlottesville, shouting “Jews will not replace us!” and another protest of that protest. Crim deftly brings the stories together, giving us time with each of her main characters in the context of the developments of the 2017-2020 era. Some of the film’s most powerful and moving scenes are the family members who are all inspired to continue the tradition of speaking out for others. Morrison’s great-nephew says, “She made it sure that her voice was heard. And if she can do this, I can do this.” Hassanein’s granddaughter knocks on doors to talk to voters and the whole family comes over on election night. And Gearon’s daughter accompanies her to the Belmont–Paul Women’s Equality National Monument, a historic house and museum of the U.S. women’s suffrage and equal rights movements, so see her great-great-grandmother’s pictures. They remind us that it is not about a particular politician or policy, it is about always looking forward. As Morrison says, “That is why I have continued to participate where I could, to change what is wrong to what is right.”

Parents should know that this movie covers many political controversies, some involving violence, bigotry, or reproductive rights. A survivor of the Parkland school shooting speaks at a protest. There are references to sexual assault.

Family discussion: Which of the issues in the movie is the most important to you? What kind of protest is most effective?

If you like this, try: “Ratified,” about Virginia’s becoming the final state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment

Anaconda

Posted on December 24, 2025 at 6:15 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for violence/action, strong language, some drug use and suggestive references
Profanity:	Strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking and drug use (played for comedy)
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended peril and violence, guns, explosions, scary giant snakes
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	December 25, 2025

If you are in the mood for a movie that is self-aware but still cheerfully and unapologetically stupid but in a very funny way, I’ve got good news. “Anaconda” is here.

You may wonder if this is a remake of a legendarily cheesey 1997 creature film called “Anaconda,” and the answer is, sort of, part reboot, part meta-commentary. If you have no idea that there even was a movie starring Jon Voight, Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Owen Wilson, Danny Trejo, and Eric Stoltz, consider yourself lucky and don’t worry about it because everything you need to know to appreciate this film will be recapped for you as the four main characters talk about why they want to do a remake/update. And by the way, if you have never seen the 1997 version, this one might just inspire you to give it a try.

The four main characters, friends since childhood, are Doug, a wedding video photographer who would rather be making something more challenging (Jack Black), Griff, a Hollywood actor better described as unsuccessful rather than struggling, though he was in three episodes of “SWAT” (Paul Rudd), Kenny, once fired by Doug as a videographer because he was high (Steve Zahn), and Claire, a recently divorced lawyer looking for something to feel excited about (Thandiwe Newton, sadly underused as essentially the Wendy to the Lost Boys of the group). Griff tells the group he has obtained the rights to the 1997 “Anaconda” and proposes a 3-week shoot in the Amazon rainforest with him as star and Doug as director.

All four are at that mid-life point where they need to feel that they have not given up their dreams and so, with a screenplay by Doug and some modest financing from Claire, they are off to the rainforest. There they meet up with a snake wrangler named Santiago and his beloved anaconda, Heitor, and set off to film, having no idea that Ana, the person driving the boat (Daniela Melchior), is on the run from some scary-looking guys.

That’s the set up for a lot of meta-jokes about filmmaking, the process and the business, as well as various antics as many things go wrong in making their film, Ana’s pursuers keep pursing, and, perhaps needless to say, there are actual anacondas, well, CGI, but in the world of the movie, these are what Jon Voight called in the first film, “perfect killing machines” that “hold you tighter than your true love. And you get the privilege, of hearing your bones break before the power of embrace causes your veins to explode.”

The action and comedy, much of it extremely silly, are well balanced and keep things moving briskly. I might come down on the side of a little less carnage, but perhaps that is taking this more seriously than it is fair to expect of us. And some surprises near the end and during the credits are genuine delights.

Parents should know that this movie includes extended peril and violence including scary giant snakes, guns, and explosions. Characters are injured and killed. It also includes alcohol, drugs (portrayed for humor), and some strong language.

Family discussion: What project would you like to do with your friends? If you made a movie together, what would it be about?

If you like this, try: the original “Anaconda” film and “Tropic Thunder”

Song Sung Blue

Posted on December 24, 2025 at 9:27 am

A-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for Rated PG-13 for thematic material, some strong language, some sexual material and brief drug use
Profanity:	Strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Pharmaseutical abuse, character is a recovering alcoholic
Violence/ Scariness:	Offscreen serious injury and recovery
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	December 24, 2025

First there was Neil Diamond, one of the foremost singer-songwriters of the 1970s-90s. And then there was a Milwaukee couple billed as Lightning and Thunder who described their act not as a Neil Diamond tribute act, but a Neil Diamond experience. (“Experience” in this case meaning a fog machine and a leaf blower to blow back their hair.) Then there was a documentary named “Song Sung Blue” about Lightning and Thunder (real names, Mike and Claire Sardina, about the success of their act but also about their setbacks and challenges, about the music and about their love story. And now, like the infinite regression of the girl on the ketchup bottle we have two huge Hollywood stars, very slightly dimming their imperishable glamour to star in a feature film of the same name, and it is one of the most purely enjoyable films of the year, with heartfelt performances and joyous music.

Jackman plays Mike, a divorced Vietnam veteran in recovery from alcoholism who has a teenage daughter. He is passionate about performing (a character astutely observes that a recovering alcoholic will find something else to be addicted to and his is music), and he is very specific about what he wants to do. His stage name is Lightning.

He first sees Claire (Hudson), a divorced mother of a teenage daughter and a younger son, when she is performing in a curly black wig as Patsy Cline. Back at her house, they start singing together and it is instant magic. Their chemistry as performers and as a romantic couple shines from the screen. Soon they get married (at the Wisconsin State Fair) and blend their families. One particularly nice scene is when the two teenage girls get together and form their own instant connection over their family upheavals and some weed.

There are some setbacks along the way, including a mistake in booking that has them performing their first gig not, as they thought, for a motor home convention but for a motorcycle club gathering. But soon, with the help of friends, their crowd-pleasing appearances lead to an enthusiastic local following. Those friends include characters played by Jim Belushi, as the gentle, very sincere tour bus driver who signs on to book their gigs, Michael Imperioli as a devoted friend and Buddy Holly impersonator who is thirty years older than Holly ever got to be, and Fisher Stevens as a dentist so on board he gets Lightning a replacement tooth with a bolt of lightning on it. All three give endearingly open-hearted performances. Lightning and Thunder sing the Neil Diamond songs like they are brand new, with superb musicality. We can see that they are most alive when they are on stage.

“I just want to sing and be happy and feel loved!” Claire tells her daughter. “I will be Neil Diamond, but I’ll also be me,” Mike promises. “He’s…artistic,” says Mike’s daughter to Claire’s daughter, meaningfully. “Most alcoholics trade one addiction for another. Music is that for Dad.” Those comments, along with impeccable work by production designer Clay A. Griffith and costume designer Ernesto Martinez tell us what we need to know about Mike and Claire. But writer/director Craig Brewer is also telling us a deeper story about the healing power of performing music to lift the spirits, bring people together, create a sense of meaning and purpose, and just make us feel good.

Claire is badly injured in a freak accident. Mike has heart problems. But they love each other and the audiences love them. And then they get a call from Eddie Vedder, who wants them to open for Pearl Jam when they play at a huge music festival in Wisconsin. (A terrific performance by John Beckwith as a slightly laconic but enormously decent Vedder and be sure to check out the footage of that real-life performance.)

Thanks to Brewer, the movie never condescends to Mike, Claire, or their friends. It takes the same joy in their performances that their fans do. Jackson is excellent as Mike and Hudson is a revelation here, never better, with a perfect Wisconsin broad A, exquisite harmonies, and so much joy on stage we cannot help but bask in it. As Claire recovering from her injury, depressed and knocked out on painkillers, she is raw and heartbreakingly vulnerable. We know she cannot give up the music, and seeing her back on stage, reconnecting with the pure joy of the music and the audience, connects us with all of that and with the love story, too.

Parents should know that this film has strong language, a recovering alcoholic, a serious injury and painkillers, and a teen pregnancy.

Family discussion: What’s the best Neil Diamond song? Were you surprised that Eddie Vedder invited Mike and Claire to open for Pearl Jam? If you were in the audience, how would you have responded?

If you like this, try: The documentary of the same name and of course the music of Neil Diamond