By Joan Amenn You know the film about the East Coast cop who flies in to hopefully reconcile with his estranged wife who has built herself a successful career on the West Coast? Yeah, we’re not goi…

By Joan Amenn Mr. and Mrs. Charles (William Powell, Myrna Loy) have just arrived in New York City for the holiday season and they are ready to party! However, there seems to have been a murder comm…

By Joan Amenn We’re diving into controversial waters here, but with the arrival of the latest SpongeBob film “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants” (2025) we wanted to share our favorite epi…

By Joan Amenn We’re diving into controversial waters here, but with the arrival of the latest SpongeBob film “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants” (2025) we wanted to share our favorite episodes from Bikini Bottom. From the Amenn Family to you and yours, a very happy holiday season and may your patties always be krabby (or something like that.) 5. Have You Seen This Snail? (Season 4): A boy’s best friend is his …snail. Probably best remembered for the musical number “Gary Come Home” which references the 1972 animated feature “Snoopy Come Home” that emotionally traumatized Gen X’ers to this day, “Have You Seen This Snail?” is endearing in showing SpongeBob’s (

Year: 2025 Runtime: 99 minutes Director: Tina Romero Writers: Erin Judge, Tina Romero Actors: Jaquel Spivey, Katy O’Brien, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Tomas Matos, Jack Haven, Dominique Jackson, Marga…

Runtime: 283 minutes Directors: Matt and Ross Duffer, Frank Darabont Writers: Matt and Ross Duffer, Caitlin Schneiderhan, Paul Dichter Actors: Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Sadie…

By Joan Amenn You don’t have to be a fan of the Disney canon to love “Mary Poppins” (1964). It is well known that the author of the source material, P.L. Travers, was less than thrilled with the ad…

By Joan Amenn You don’t have to be a fan of the Disney canon to love “Mary Poppins” (1964). It is well known that the author of the source material, P.L. Travers, was less than thrilled with the adaptation which does teeter precariously toward the twee in some scenes. However, the film is inarguably saved from drowning in saccharine mostly by the offbeat casting of Dick Van Dyke who celebrates his 100th birthday today. In a grim year of continual real life loss, horror and disappointment, this is a cause to smile and revisit this comforting childhood film.

Film critic Calum Cooper reviews the opening film for this year’s London Film Festival, the exhilaratingly complex third film in the Knives Out series, Wake Up Dead Man.

Year: 2025 Runtime: 110 minutes Director/Writer: Kurtis David Harder Actors: Cassandra Naud, Georgina Campbell, Lisa Delamar, Jonathan Whitesell, Veronica Long, Dylan Playfair, Emily Tennant By Tay…

By Joan Amenn Nothing says the holidays like gatherings of dysfunctional families and it doesn’t get much worse than the family of Henry Plantagenet. More commonly known as King Henry II (Peter O’T…

By Joan Amenn I am a fourth generation Italian American. The stories of my ancestors that I grew up with both mirror and contrast with how my ethnicity have been depicted on screen, much like anyon…

Year: 2025 Runtime: 150 minutes Director: Maria Friedman Writer: George Furth Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Actors: Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe, Lindsay Mendez, Katie Rose Clarke, Krystal Joy…

Year: 2025 Runtime: 150 minutes Director: Maria Friedman Writer: George Furth Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Actors: Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe, Lindsay Mendez, Katie Rose Clarke, Krystal Joy Brown, Reg Rogers, Max Rackenberg By Joan Amenn “How did you get to be here?” -Stephen Sondheim After a smash revival on Broadway, “Merrily We Roll Along” was finally captured on film at the Hudson Theater last year. As a musical with lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim, it has a rocky origin story. It was adapted from a play written by George S.

Year: 2025 Runtime: 125 minutes Director: Chloé Zhao Writers: Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell Actors: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Joe Alwyn, Justine Mitchell, Emily Watson, David WIlmot, Freya …

Runtime: 283 minutes Directors: Matt and Ross Duffer, Frank Darabont Writers: Matt and Ross Duffer, Caitlin Schneiderhan, Paul Dichter Actors: Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Sadie…

Year: 1985 Runtime: 113 minutes Director: Walter Murch Writers: Walter Murch, Gil Dennis, based on the books by L. Frank Baum Actors: Fairuza Balk, Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie, Matt …

Year: 1985 Runtime: 113 minutes Director: Walter Murch Writers: Walter Murch, Gil Dennis, based on the books by L. Frank Baum Actors: Fairuza Balk, Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie, Matt Clark, Michael Sundin, Tim Rose, Brian Henson, Justin Case, John Alexander, Deep Roy, Emma Ridley By Joan Amenn Now that both Acts 1 and 2 of “Wicked” the musical have adapted to film, there has been plenty of online buzz about how dark the plot goes in the ultimate fates of some of its characters. This only shows how little is known not only about the book by…

By Brian Skutle Over the past few months, I’ve been rewatching “WKRP in Cincinnati” (1978-1982) with my mom when I’ve gone to visit her. A few years ago, I bought the Shout Factory DVD set which re…

Year: 2025 Runtime: 90 minutes Director: Rob Margolies Writer: Jonathan Geffner Actors: Sean Young, Jonathan Geffner, Deborah Twiss, Ed Altman, Kristin Samuelson, Hari Bhaskar, David Lambert By Joa…

Year: 2025 Runtime: 90 minutes Director: Rob Margolies Writer: Jonathan Geffner Actors: Sean Young, Jonathan Geffner, Deborah Twiss, Ed Altman, Kristin Samuelson, Hari Bhaskar, David Lambert By Joan Amenn If you’re a fan of film noir and have a fondness for whimsey, “The Dummy Detective” (2025) may help get you through this long holiday weekend. Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, it is a delightful send up of noir tropes, murder mystery clichés and a few sometimes slightly creepy puppets. Think of “Clue” (1985) as a sundae with Jim Henson…

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