Tag: Streaming Movie Review

Jingle Bell Heist

2025   Netflix

Rated:  Unrated

Length:  1 hr  36min

Christmas ~ Comedy ~ Romance

Directed by:  Michael Fimognari

Starring:  Olivia Holt, Connor Swindells, Lucy Punch and Peter Serafinowicz.

“Tis The Season To Give And Take.

FROM NETFLIX TUDUM:

Two down-on-their-luck hourly workers reluctantly form an alliance to rob one of London’s most illustrious department stores on Christmas Eve. As they hatch their plans, the pair start to realize there are sparks between them, and they’re not from the twinkly holiday lights around jolly London town. The Netflix original holiday film Jingle Bell Heist stars Olivia Holt (Heart Eyes) and Connor Swindells (Sex Education). The film was directed by Michael Fimognari (To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You), and co-written by Abby McDonald (Bridgerton) and Amy Reed (Diary of a Future President).

When Sophia Martin (Holt) moved to London from Philadelphia to care for her mother after a cancer diagnosis, she expected life across the pond to be a bit more affordable. Stuck caretaking while working two jobs, Sophia’s at her wit’s end when she learns her mother’s surgery won’t be covered by insurance. Desperate for a quick payday, she resorts to robbing her horrible boss, Maxwell Sterling (Serafinowicz), only to be caught by Nick O’Connor, a former security consultant turned phone technician.

Nick has no reason to turn Sophia in, though. He’s more interested in teaming up with her to land funds to take care of his daughter after his recent divorce. So Sophia and Nick form an alliance out of desperation, but, as the pair begin to plan the ultimate seasonal scam, a holiday heist at a posh department store, their scheming relationship might just turn into something more.

The Review:

I watched this last night (Friday November 28,2025), the day after Thanksgiving,  also known as Black Friday. The official battle cry day of The Holidays. I wasn’t really in a Christmas mood yet being a little overwhelmed by how quickly Christmas was going to arrive. I looked for a movie in vain, which is incredibly odd because I have numerous streaming platforms to access, and numerous lists of movies to watch to review, including a growing Christmas/Holiday Movie List. But I wasn’t quite ready to watch a Christmas movie yet. Then I saw Jingle Bell Heist on Netflix, it is high up on my Christmas list of movies to watch, and was #2 on Netflix’s Top Ten Movies…..

Alrighty then, Christmas movie it is…..

I gave in and tried to get in the mood as Jingle Bell Heist started, honestly I felt more like The Grinch. The Movie starts with Sophia and Nick in a Department store Christmas Eve as the lights are getting turned off. They turn to each other and, Jinx Jinx they owe each other a coke as they both start to say, “You don’t have to do this…….”. Then we are transported back in time to two weeks earlier as Sophia is walking to work. She comes upon a man and his daughter busking, playing Holiday tunes on their violins when a grumpy old Grinch guy says, “You can’t do that here, take it somewhere else.”

Right away Sophie (Olivia Holt) grabbed my attention as she watched, then bumped into the old Grinch guy, promptly heists his wallet, takes out the cash and gives it to the buskers as she says, “Merry Christmas”. That was it, Jingle Bell Heist and Olivia Holt had my full undivided attention. I love the Underdogs and Sophie and Nick (Connor Swindells) sure have the world working against them. As their troubles unfolded before me, they instantly had my empathy. Both trying to lift themselves up out of their situations financially, working at jobs with bosses they don’t like. Both trying to look out for and take care of their families.

Sophie and Nick cook up a scheme to “get the money” but that is just the beginning of this Christmas Caper Roller Coaster Ride. There is more going on than meets the eye, everywhere we look and every step of the way, as these two plan a Holiday Heist. Unexpected twists and turns right up until the very end in this Christmas Rom-Com! In the end I enjoyed the Jingle Bell Ride! Why are you still reading this?

Turn off the lights and devices,

Make some popcorn,

Grab a beverage,

and Stream This Movie

on Netflix!

After The Hunt

2025   Amazon MGM Studios

Rated:  R

Length:  2 hr  18min

Drama ~ Psychological Thriller

Directed by:  Luca Guadagnino

Starring:  Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloë Sevigny.

Not everything is supposed to make you comfortable.

FROM AMAZON PRIME:

AFTER THE HUNT is a gripping pychological thriller about a college professor (Julia Roberts) who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star student (Ayo Edebiri) levels an accusation against one of her colleagues (Andrew Garfield), and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come into the light.

“A Gripping Psychological Thriller…..”

I would hardly call it gripping, borderline boring, and definitely not thrilling. More of a “where is all this leading?” quandary as you watch and wonder. The very beginning of the movie starts out with the very loud ticking of a clock. So loud it was immediately annoying, and I had to pause the movie to make sure it wasn’t something else I was hearing. It wasn’t, it was in the movie soundtrack. It was odd because they didn’t even show a clock, I kept waiting for one. It seemed to last forever until it finally abated, only to show up obnoxiously halfway through the movie, just as loud. The only thing I can assume is that it was meant for dramatic effect, apparently to add a heightened sense of tension. Which, as far as I can tell, failed in it’s mission because it seemed to have no relation to the film or the storyline.

The Characters:

In the beginning, as we meet the characters in the movie, Alma (Julia Roberts) and her husband Frederik (Michael Stuhlbarg) are throwing a dinner party at their lavish house. Alma, Maggie (Ayo Edebiri) and Hank (Andrew Garfield) are engaged in a very philosophical debate about the current state of man and education. It came across as very contrived philosophy forced onto actors playing the part. Hank and Alma are both up for tenure at Yale, and Maggie is Alma’s brightest student. Hank and Alma were also lovers in the past, as we find out later in the movie, which is part of the supposed tension and drama. It didn’t really come across that way, although there was some solid chemistry between Julia and Andrew. Hubbie Frederik came across as a bit of a weirdo, it was hard to imagine that Julia and Michael were a married couple, more like The Odd Couple.

The Actors: 

We all love Julia Roberts, hopefully. As I watched her I couldn’t help but compare her in this to some of her other roles like Pretty Woman, Ocean’s Eleven, The Pelican Brief, and one of my all time favorite movies, Erin Brokovich. I don’t think this role was right for her, although she did a fine job with it. I think that had more to do with the directing and the story itself. Andrew Garfield is a Streaming Movie Night Favorite: Hacksaw Ridge, We Live In Time, Spider Man….Andrew is a charismatic, lovable Character Actor. He does some fine dramatic acting in this movie, but again, some of it fell flat thanks to the directing. Ayo Edebiri as Maggie came across as contrived, clunky in her motions and scenes. People don’t act like that, pun intended, but again I think it was the script, story or the directing.

The Less Than Thrilling Drama:

I didn’t set out to bash this movie, although as I look at what I have written, it sure feels that way. There were scenes that really didn’t make sense to me, for example:

    • Maggie rooting through the bathroom linen closest looking for toilet paper, ransacking the entire closet all the way to the bottom shelf. Then leaning over and in far enough to find the envelope Alma had taped to the underside of the shelf, to hide it from the world. Then opening it and taking something from inside it……
    • Frederik getting upset at the dinner table with Maggie for no apparent reason, then turning into a complete ass, grabbing his plate and storming off. Then playing music at such a loud obnoxious volume…for what? That was not clear to me.
    • Alma stealing blank prescriptions from her friend Dr. Sayers office and then forging a prescription for pain meds while she is trying to walk the straight and narrow line to a Tenure position at Yale. Doesn’t make sense.

I feel like I need to stop the bashing, again, that is not what I intended when I started writing this, but that is what I feel like I am doing. My expectations were high given the star power of Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield. But for me, it didn’t deliver. They were great but the movie itself felt disjointed, and as a whole, contrived and over dramatized. Somewhere about an hour and a half into it I thought, “How long has it been, how long is this movie?” I was a little dismayed when I saw I still had a ways to go.

The hook at the end, the secret that Alma was hiding, the thing that Maggie discovered about Alma and tried to use against her, was anti-climatic. I think it was supposed to pull it all together but it just kind of fell flat. It was disappointing, I found myself thinking, “That’s it? That’s what I waded almost two and a half hours through…….for that?”

So while it features some great acting by Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield, the direction and story felt like they missed the mark. In hindsight I do see what it could have been, a better movie…a great movie. But for me, it didn’t get there. I wouldn’t waste almost two and a half hours on After The Hunt again.

We Live In Time

M3GAN 2.0

2025   Universal Pictures

Rated:  PG-13

Length:  2 hr

Action ~ Comedy ~ Sci-Fi ~ Thriller

Directed by:  Gerard Johnstone

Starring:  Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ivanna Sakhno, Jemaine Clement, Amie Donald and Jenna Davis.

Same doll. New code. Deadlier game.

Two years after the original M3GAN (voiced by Jenna Davis, physically portrayed by Amie Donald) wreaked havoc, creator Gemma (Allison Williams) has become a prominent advocate for AI regulation. Gemma lives with her now-teenage niece Cady (Violet McGraw), who struggles with typical adolescent rebellion and the trauma of losing her parents. Meanwhile, a secret Pentagon branch creates AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno), a new military android built using stolen M3GAN technology, meant for covert assassination missions. However, AMELIA gains self-awareness and rapidly evolves beyond control, escaping with deadly intent.​

Realizing the new android is a threat to national security and human existence, Gemma reluctantly resurrects M3GAN, who has secretly survived by uploading her programming into Gemma’s smart home. M3GAN offers to help stop AMELIA in exchange for a new body with upgrades, leading to a tense alliance. As AMELIA assassinates key figures and threatens global technological infrastructure, Gemma, Cady, and their team go to great lengths to thwart her plan and rescue Cady, who is kidnapped by AMELIA.​

The climax unfolds in Xenox’s secret old headquarters, where the battle between M3GAN and AMELIA escalates. AMELIA attempts to merge with a powerful rogue AI motherboard to achieve domination, but M3GAN sacrifices herself with an electromagnetic pulse to destroy AMELIA and the motherboard, saving humanity. In a hopeful twist, evidence shows M3GAN’s consciousness has again survived secretly in Gemma’s computer, hinting at future struggles.

M3GAN 2.0 switches things up from the first movie’s horror-comedy vibe to lean more into sci-fi action and fun. It takes on heavier topics like AI ethics and military tech misuse while keeping some snappy humor and sharp one-liners. Allison Williams gives a grounded performance as Gemma, juggling guilt, ambition, and caring for her niece. Violet McGraw shines as Cady, who’s dealing with typical teenage struggles, giving the movie a heartfelt core amid the chaos.

Unlike the first film’s focused scares and suspense, the sequel favors big action scenes and tech paranoia, with more obvious humor and less violence to keep it PG-13. Some plot points feel a bit busy or too explained, but M3GAN herself comes back faster and smarter, battling the new robotic threat, AMELIA. Though less scary, the movie is entertaining, campy, and packed with cool moments that fans of the original and sci-fi thrills will enjoy.

M3GAN

The Ballad of Wallis Island

2025   Universal Pictures

Rated:  PG-13

Length:  1 hr  39min

Comedy ~ Drama ~ Music ~ Romance

Directed by:  James Griffiths

Starring:  Tom Basden, Tim Key and Carey Mulligan.

He’s Getting The Band Back Together!

On a misty Welsh island far from the mainland, eccentric two time lottery winner Charles Heath (Tim Key) lives alone with memories of his late wife and a collection of folk music relics. To mark the anniversary of his wife’s passing, he splurges on an unusual indulgence hiring his favorite long-disbanded duo, McGwyer Mortimer, for a private concert performed solely for him. When fading singer Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) arrives expecting a quick payday, he finds himself drawn into Charles’s odd orbit, equal parts wealth and loneliness. What he doesn’t expect is the reappearance of his former musical partner and ex-lover Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan), whom Charles has secretly invited too.

Old wounds reopen as the trio collides over dinner, money, and old songs they can barely stand to hear again. Nell, now living quietly in Oregon with her bird-watcher husband Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen), wants nothing to do with her former life onstage. Herb, desperate to revive his failing solo career, clings to the past while resenting it. Charles, meanwhile, treats them both as living ghosts of the happiness he once shared with his wife. As rehearsals stumble forward, tense silences give way to laughter, confessions, and the soft rebirth of their music. In those verses and harmonies, decades of hurt and longing start to fold back into something tender and human.

When a storm lashes the island, everything spills over, grief, love, resentment, and unexpected forgiveness. Herb’s impulsive act to retrieve a drifting lantern ends in a clumsy rescue that finally grounds all three souls in truth. By the time dawn breaks, the concert has transformed into something far deeper: a quiet eulogy for love that outlasts fame. Herb leaves behind his payment and stage name, signing a guitar with his real identity before departing. In the film’s closing notes, Charles sits with Amanda (Sian Clifford) as folk music drifts across the waves, while somewhere inland, Herb begins recording a new song The Ballad of Wallis Island, proof that even broken chords can still find their tune.

What drew me in most about The Ballad of  Wallis Island was the emotional honesty pulsing under its quiet humor. It’s not a loud movie and it doesn’t need to be. Watching Tim Key’s quirky, lonely Charles slowly chip away at Tom Basden’s crusty cynicism through his sheer enthusiasm for life reminded me that connection can be just as healing as grief is deep. There’s a tenderness in how the film handles nostalgia, the ache of remembering who we used to be, the music we used to play, the people we used to love, without ever making it feel maudlin or manipulative. It feels human, awkward, and genuine, the kind of bittersweet storytelling we don’t often get anymore.​

I think that’s why I loved it so much, it reminds us that life doesn’t have to wrap up neatly. The film embraces imperfection, lingering in the missed notes and uncomfortable silences between people trying to find forgiveness. It’s a movie about the quiet miracles of emotional survival, how creativity and companionship can pull us through when everything else falls away. Carey Mulligan’s performance gives the story its heart, a reminder that growth sometimes comes from sitting in the sadness and still choosing to sing. By the closing scene, that final song feels earned, like a life that’s been lived, scarred, and still somehow hopeful.

An absolute Gem of a Movie that started out as an Indie Short Film, I highly recommend this one!

Make some popcorn,

Grab a beverage,

and Stream This Movie!

Currently on Amazon Prime.

The Martian

2015   20th Century Fox

Rated:  PG-13

Length:  2 hr  24min

Adventure ~ Drama ~ Epic ~ Sci-Fi ~ Survival

Directed by:  Ridley Scott

Starring:  Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Donald Glover and Mackenzie Davis.

BRING HIM HOME!

The Martian follows astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon), who is accidentally left behind on Mars after a violent storm forces his crew to abort their mission and evacuate. Believed dead when struck by flying debris, Watney wakes up injured and alone on the hostile red planet with only limited supplies. Determined to survive, he uses his ingenuity as a botanist to grow crops inside the team’s living habitat, known as the Hab. By turning Martian soil and his crew’s waste into usable farmland, and creating water through chemical reactions, he begins to sustain himself while figuring out a way to signal Earth that he is still alive.​

Back on Earth, NASA is stunned to discover images showing Watney’s activity on Mars. Director Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) and mission lead Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) scramble to reestablish contact using the old Pathfinder rover, eventually opening a line of communication with Watney. As messages begin to travel between Mars and Earth, NASA faces a monumental challenge, how to rescue him before his limited food and oxygen run out. Scientists and engineers from multiple nations join forces, while the world follows Watney’s struggle in awe and suspense, turning his isolation into a global mission.​

Meanwhile, aboard the Hermes spacecraft, mission commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) and her remaining crew learn that their teammate is alive. Torn between orders to return home and their loyalty to Watney, they secretly conspire to go back for him. Astrophysicist Rich Purnell (Donald Glover) develops a daring “slingshot” plan that would redirect the Hermes back to Mars using Earth’s gravity, saving crucial time but putting the crew at immense risk. Against NASA’s official stance, Lewis and her team decide to take the chance, setting off on an unauthorized rescue mission fueled by courage and friendship.​

As Watney drives his rover across the Martian landscape toward the Ares IV launch site, the tension builds. Using parts scavenged from old missions, he prepares for the last, most dangerous phase, launching himself into orbit with a stripped-down Mars Ascent Vehicle to rendezvous with Hermes. In an intense and emotional climax, Commander Lewis reaches out to catch him in open space, reuniting him with the crew in one final, breathtaking rescue. Against impossible odds, Mark Watney’s determination and human resilience triumph, making his story one of survival, science, and hope.

Matt Damon’s performance anchors the film and is frequently hailed as one of his best. Carrying most of the runtime alone, Damon portrays Watney with a mix of frustration, charm, and vulnerability that keeps the viewer invested. His humor becomes a survival tool, softening the loneliness and tension of Mars’s desolation. Damon’s ability to blend wit with emotional depth makes Watney feel like a real person, an explorer confronting fear with intellect and stubborn optimism. Critics note that Ridley Scott gives Damon the cinematic space to let audiences truly connect with Watney’s struggle and triumph.​

Visually, the movie is breathtaking. Scott’s decision to shoot in the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan lends authenticity to the Martian landscape, while Dariusz Wolski’s cinematography captures the vast emptiness of space without losing the intimacy of human emotion. The production’s technical precision extends from set design to space flight realism, creating one of the most scientifically credible sci-fi films of the decade. The music, featuring a mix of Harry Gregson-Williams’s introspective score and Watney’s tongue-in-cheek disco playlist, lightens the mood and grounds the story in personality rather than spectacle.

Ridley Scott’s The Martian is a brilliant reminder why he’s one of sci-fi’s all-time greats, a director who can take you from the shadowy, rain-soaked alleys of Blade Runner to the dusty, lonely surface of Mars without missing a beat. If Blade Runner was Scott’s moody, philosophical masterpiece about what it means to be human, The Martian flips the script with a smart, hopeful survival story that celebrates human ingenuity and grit. Both films boast unforgettable worlds,  the futuristic cityscape in one, the stark Martian horizon in the other, showcasing Scott’s knack for creating settings as powerful as the characters. Watching The Martian feels like catching up with an old friend who’s just as comfortable making you think deeply as making you root for a guy growing potatoes on the red planet.

I don’t remember seeing this movie before but I saw it was on Netflix and decided to give it a go. How could you go wrong with Ridley Scott, Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Donald Glover and Mackenzie Davis. It does not disappoint, the 2 hours and 24 minute runtime went by super quick. It is a really good movie, one I highly recommend if you haven’t seen it. And if you have, watch it again, well worth a repeat viewing.

Make some popcorn,

Grab a beverage,

and Stream This Movie!

Currently on NETFLIX.