Reviews

In the version of Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” that my wife and I saw at Hale Centre Theatre inSandy, Utah last year, an inspector arrives at a country manor in a snowstorm, someone is offed, andoddball houseguests are interrogated. Nearly every character is given believable motives for killing thevictim, and the audience all become surrogate inspectors, champing at the bit

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On the night of the 100th showing of Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap,” a director (Adrien Brody) who hopes to make it into a film is murdered. Jaded Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) is joined by the unexperienced but enthusiastic Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan) to investigate the cast and crew who seem untroubled by the loss of the unlikeable victim.



Characters Versus Plot



Although

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Sam (Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton), a young boy in Granite City, idolizes the superhero Samaritan who disappeared 25 years ago after his ultimate battle with Nemesis. While some believe he gave his life to save the city, Sam suspects that the trashman who lives in his apartment complex, Joe Smith (Sylvester Stallone), is the masked hero in hiding. With crime and

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A filmmaker (Dean Fleischer-Camp) becomes fascinated with an adorable talking shell (Jenny Slate) who lives in an Airbnb with his grandmother (Isabella Rossellini). As we explore the little guy’s world, Marcel discovers the possibility of reconnecting with his long-lost family through his growing popularity on the internet.



Unusual in the Best Ways



The film acts like a documentary and feels so genuine

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In the 1960’s North Carolina marshes, the body of Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson) is found at the base of a high tower. Speculation and town gossip leads to the arrest and trial of Kya Clark (Daisy Edgar-Jones) who lives alone in the marshes.



Romanticism and Reality



This movie reminded me of “The Glass Castle” (2017) which was also better received by audiences

For the last five-odd years, I’ve had a recurring nightmare. The details and circumstances vary, but the concept is always the same. I see some kind of incredible spectacle—a tornado, a brilliant sunset, even the arrival of a spaceship. My first instinct is to grab my camera and photograph it, but I am always foiled in my attempt. Sometimes my

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When Julia Thistlewaite (Zawe Ashton) is humiliated over being publicly slighted by the wealthy, honorable Mr. Malcolm (Sope Dirisu), she enlists her cousin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and childhood friend Selina Dalton (Frieda Pinto) to use Mr. Malcolm’s list of requirements for a wife against him.



Everything I Could Have Wanted and More



With this being based on a contemporary novel, I was a

Thor: Love and Thunder – 3 stars out of 4



For the “Thor: Love and Thunder” soundtrack, director Taika Waititi uses Guns ‘n Roses the same way he used Led Zeppelin for “Thor: Ragnarok” in 2017. Guns ‘n Roses was a great band, far superior to most all its peers, but it was no Led Zeppelin. And “Love and Thunder,” for

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Five people suddenly wake up from cryosleep in a mysterious underground facility with no immediate recollection of who they are or why they are there. As they get a sense of their roles and situation, not all is as it appears as each person seems to be concealing their own secrets.



Bravo, guys!



Although it is a local, independently made film, there

Jurassic World: Dominion - 2 stars out of 4



There are a lot of scenes in “Jurassic World: Dominion” where characters have threatening encounters with a dinosaur, enough that they start to feel redundant. But one stands out in particular. As with most of these scenes, the characters freeze in terror when they detect the presence of the threat, and start