Going In Style:

This remake of a 1979 movie that starred Art Carney and George Burns in the lead roles, is funnier and far cleverer than the original.  Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Adam Arkin have three things in common.  They are all pensioners, they are good friends, and they all worked for the same factory for much of their lives.  When they learn that the entire business has been bought by foreign buyers who intend to move it offshore, and stop paying their pensions, they mobilize.  Learning that the bank at which they all deal is a key player in helping this business happen, they decide to rob the bank of an amount of money equal to their lost pensions.  What follows is a fine little caper movie filled with twists, turns, and a surprise ending.  Watch for a nice secondary role from Anne-Margaret whom we have not seen in a long time.  If you remember the original well, get ready for a very different ending.  Great fun here, and some delightful performances from a great group of senior citizen actors. Rated 14A.

The Circle:

You can’t fault the casting, nor the source material for this Tom Hanks film that had every reason to be far better than this mediocre finished product.  Based on the novel by David Eggers, we meet Bailey (Hanks) who is a Steve Jobs-type corporate leader of a Google-like high-tech company.  Every Friday he steps out on stage before his adoring staff and breaks out new products in a method identical to the heyday of apple.  Mae (Emma Watson) is a recent college grad who gets introduced to the organization by a close friend, and is thrilled to be one of the workers who is in on the secrets of technology.  Soon, Mae is more than that – Bailey introduces a new product, a tiny, wireless, button-size camera and mic, that can be attached to clothing, stuck on a wall, or put on the dashboard of a car, nearly invisible.  His plan, he tells the world, is to have a “transparent” world, a place where there are no secrets, where everyone sees what everyone says and does, and where humanity will become ever closer.  Mae is the poster girl for all of this, the first transparent person.  Something tragic occurs as a result of Mae’s candour, and she tries to undo what she has done, and soon learns the real secret of Bailey and his organization.  Unfortunately, the ending falls flat, a poor payoff for the time it takes to watch this film.  This was Bill Paxton’s final movie before his death earlier this year. Rated 14A.

Phoenix Forgotten:

In keeping with my previous comments, here is another film for which the payoff at the end is not worth the journey.  Based on some factual data, with other parts purely made up.  The factual part:  for several nights in 1987, strange UFO-like lights are seen over the desert outside of Phoenix, AZ.  Three teenagers decide that they are going to go after those lights, to find out definitively what they are.  The three are never seen again.  That’s fact.  It’s 20 years later, and teens related to the missing threesome decide to go on an expedition to find out what happened to them.  They discover a camera that had been signed out of the high school that they all attended, found the tape inside, and embarked on a journey as to what really occurred, based on the supposedly real footage.  The movie had possibilities, in a Blair-Witch-sort of way, but it loses its path and offers very little by way of a payoff.  Rated 14A.

Between Us:

Olivia Thirlby (Judge Dredd) and Ben Feldman (Mad Men), play a couple in New York City who fall in love, settle down, and then develop the fear that their carefree lives, full of fun and adventure, are all over.  This romantic comedy with a strong addition of drama as well, walks us through the bits and pieces in their lives that make them feel that the best days are behind them, and then helps them understand what it was that drew them together in the first place.  Also stars Adam Goldberg and Leslie Ann Warren.  Rated 14A.

The Hanoi Hilton (1987):

Senator John McCain was a resident of this establishment during the Vietnam War, although he isn't portrayed here.  This was the name given to the most notorious of all prison camps that "greeted" American servicemen during the Southeast Asian conflict.  Michael Moriarty stars along with a strong cast that demonstrate the horrors and the torture that was meted out on American POWs.  Some broke under the merciless pressure and horrific beatings, while others managed to get through each day somehow.  Despite what Donald Trump said about liking the servicemen who "didn't get captured," this remains a strong reminder of how men respond during the worst of times.  Paul Le Mat (American Graffiti) and David Soul (Starsky and Hutch) also star.  Rated 14A.