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”

Coyote vs. Acme

Posted on August 26, 2026 at 11:50 am

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for cartoon violence and some language
Profanity:	Some schoolyard language and potty humor
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Cartoon "violence" -- explicitly, no one hurt
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	August 27, 2026

“Coyote vs. Acme” like its title character, has proved to be unstoppable. This delightful tribute to the madcap and enduringly popular world of Looney Tunes was originally conceived as a humorous New Yorker essay by Ian Frazier in 1990. Frazier was a fan of the publication “American Lawyer” and decided to compose a legal complaint filed on behalf of Coyote against the company that was a serial offender in the categories of safety and effectiveness of consumer products. “Mr. Coyote states that on eighty-five separate occasions he has purchased of the Acme Company (hereinafter, “Defendant”), through that company’s mail-order department, certain products which did cause him bodily injury due to defects in manufacture or improper cautionary labelling.”

It was optioned for a movie but nothing happened for more than 30 years, when it was filmed by the studio behind the Looney Tunes cartoons, Warner Brothers.

And then Warner CEO David Zaslav did to the movie what Acme’s products did to Coyote: he blew it up, deciding it was better for the balance sheet as a tax write-off than as a theatrical release. Outraged fans protested. The film was picked up for distribution by plucky newcomer Ketchup Entertainment, later joined by Legion M.*

The movie is enormous fun, with deep understanding and affection for Looney Tunes, its characters and its absurd exploration of the eternal struggles of existence. Fudd will never shoot Bugs. Sylvester will never catch Tweety. And perhaps the saga of Coyote and Road Runner is the most existential, stripped down with no dialogue and always set in the spare southwestern desert.

Chuck Jones’ rules for Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner are legendary and deceptively simple. Coyote could stop any time, but he is, in today’s terms, obssessed with the Road Runner he will never catch. His failures are always the result of his own efforts, even hubris. Road Runner does nothing but run on the road and say “Beep Beep.” He never tries to outsmart Coyote or harm him in any way, as, for example, Bugs Bunny does to would-be hunter Elmer Fudd. Coyote is failed every time by the company that provides all of his equipment, Acme. The super-magnet. The parachute. The rocket-powered roller skates. Every time, they fail in spectacular fashion, often leaving Coyote falling off a cliff. Sometimes he is briefly suspended in the air before realizing that once again he is about to plummet. We stay at cliff level while he falls until we witness a puff of dust far, far below.

Coyote hires a personal injury law firm headed by Kevin Avery (“SNL” alum Will Forte). Note that the lawyers’ last names are all inspired by Looney Tunes animators. Avery’s specialty is defective products from Acme, and he settles all cases quickly for a few hundred dollars. When a clerk mistakenly files suit for hundreds of purchases instead of just the rocket roller skates, it escalates to the attention of Acme general counsel Buddy Crane (John Cena) and CEO Foghorn Leghorn (Eric Bauza, who, like his predecessor Mel Blanc, provides almost all of the voices). This threat to the company must be extinguished.

A lot of the classic Looney Tunes characters show up, and I won’t spoil which one is called as a witness to discuss Acme’s secret “Project Sisyphus,” the name a sly reference to Coyote’s perpetual inability to achieve his only objective. The integration of the cartoon and real-life characters and environments is seamless, truly impressive. The human characters are bland and underwritten compared to the cartoon characters (Lana Condor and Tone Bell are sadly wasted) and the film would benefit from being a little shorter. But it is colorful and often hilarious and its satire about the state of capitalism is just the kind of insoucient, make-fun-of-the-hand-that-feeds-you humor that the denizens of Termite Terrace specialized in. Jones, Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, Frank Tashlin and others would love this and be very glad that we never have to say, “That’s All, Folks!” to the antics of Looney Tunes.

*I have a small investment in Legion M, along with tens of thousands of other movie fans.

Parents should know that this movie has a lot of cartoon violence, but, as discussed in the film, all the cartoon immediately bounce back from whatever happens to them. There is some schoolyard language and brief potty humor.

Family discussion: Why did law school classmates Kevin and Buddy have such different careers? What do you think about Foghorn Leghorn’s explanation for Project Sisyphus? How should products be tested? Which is your favorite Looney Tunes character and why?

If you like this, try: “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” and of course the Looney Tunes cartoons

The Deb

Posted on August 24, 2026 at 5:56 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	Not rated
Profanity:	Extremely strong and crude language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Smoking, teen drinking
Violence/ Scariness:	Some scuffles, no one badly hurt
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	August 25, 2026

Rebel Wilson’s “Pitch Perfect” experience and love of classic Hollywood shows in her first film as director, “The Deb,” with vibrant, ebullient musical numbers featuring an outstanding cast of young performers. It was released in Wilson’s home country of Australia in 2024 but is just now coming to the US on demand.

The basic plot is a classic city mouse and country mouse with one teenage cousin expelled from a posh private school in Sydney and sent to live with her rancher uncle and cousin in a remote rural community. On the surface it is brash and raunchy — the opening musical number with girls in plaid skirt and navy blazer school uniforms is a song about much they suffer from rich girl problems, with the repeated phrase often abbreviated as “FML.” But it is also heartwarming and refreshingly shrewd about cancel culture and teenage identity struggles. While the characters are exaggerated for comic purposes, the film is sympathetic to everyone.

The city cousin is Maeve (Charlotte MacInnes) and we are introduced to her via her podcast, where she disingenuously pretends that showing herself in a tiny bikini is fighting the patriarchy. It is clear that spouting aphorisms about heteronormativity and claiming to be the feminist voice of her generation are just click-bait expressions of teenage angst. As the school principal, who is also her mother, tells her, “You are not Malala. You don’t want change; you want attention.”

After Maeve rips open her shirt to flash the entire school she is sent to a rural community called Dunburn. She is picked up at the bus stop by her cousin Taylah (Natalie Abbott), via riding mower. Maeve’s uncle is Rick (Shane Jacobson), a widower who loves his daughter but relies on her to do farm chores and considers ramen a suitable dinner. Rick is also Dunburn’s mayor, which mostly means applying to the government for relief after a three-year drought that threatens the town’s economic viability.

The town’s most beloved tradition is The Deb, a throwback coming-out (to society, not out of a closet) gala where the girls wear poofy white dresses and are presented via a giant plaster clamshell. Taylah is looking forward to it. Maeve sees it as a juicy topic for a disdainful podcast about an “antiquated heteronormative s***show from hell…uniquely preserved from rural isolation.”

Wilson plays Janette, the owner of a beauty salon called Curl Up N Dye and the mother of Annabelle (Stevie Jean), leader of the trio of Dunburn mean girls, who perform as the Pixie Cups. Janette is grooming Annabelle to be a pop star and Wilson plays her as over-the-top outrageous, including insulting and being cruelly dismissive to her other daughter, who “identifies as a koala.”

Thankfully, the traditional makeover scene is subverted, everyone grows up a little (stay past the beginning of the credits for some reassurance along those lines) and Maeve’s savvy about creating viral content is used for good. What works best in the film are those musical numbers, with a lot of variety from pop to country to hip-hip. The stand-out a duet ballad with Maeve and Taylah singing separately about the impact of a spotlight, brought back later in a reprise. The screenplay is credited to Hannah Reilly, who wrote the play it is based on, with “additional writing by Rebel Wilson,” and it is pretty easy to figure out what Wilson added, mostly for her own character. This makes for some unevenness of tone that makes less accessible for the likely audience most interested in a story of young women trying to establish their identity and direction in a world that has a lot of unrealistic expectations.

Parents should know that this movie has extremely crude humor and very strong language. A character is persuaded by a boy to let him take a picture of her with her shirt off, which he shows off to other boys. There is some teen kissing and a teen who comes out as gay to a parent. There is smoking and teen drinking, and some scuffles (no one badly hurt).

Family discussion: Why is Maeve so angry and impatient? What makes her change her mind about Dunburn? What would you say to Jeanette?

If you like this, try: “Grease,” “Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger,” the “Mean Girls” musical, and the “Pitch Perfect” series

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”