Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

The Bluff is a violent buccaneer revenge tale

Director Frank E. Flowers (Haven) cowrote with Joe Ballarini (A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting) this swashbuckling tale about former female pirate Ercell Bodden (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) now living a quiet and peaceful life on Cayman Brac with her disabled son, Isaac (Vedanten Naidoo), and her sister-in-law, Elizabeth (Safia Oakley-Green), who knows nothing of Ercell’s […]

Posted inSun Screen

The Copenhagen Test is an ’80s-style sci-fi spy thriller

The Copenhagen TestWhat’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2025 Where’s it showing? Peacock Created by Thomas Brandon (Legacies), this sci-fi spy thriller follows former U.S. Special Forces soldier turned analyst Alexander Hale (Simu Liu), who works for clandestine organization The Orphanage that oversees the rest of the intelligence community. He’s in a budding relationship with hot […]

Posted inWedding Issue

What’s required to officiate a California wedding? Turns out … not much

Marry me!Online sites for ordination include: themonastery.org, getordained.org, amm.org, and spaghettimonster.org. Do your friends or family find you entertaining? Do they think you truly love and care about them and have special insight into their relationships? If so, prepare yourself, because they may ask you to marry them … to each other, I mean. Not […]

Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is propelled by Rose Bryne’s Oscar-nominated performance

Writer-director Mary Bronstein (Yeast) helms this story about Linda (Rose Byrne), a psychotherapist whose personal and professional responsibilities leave her on the brink of a nervous breakdown. In between work, she cares for her daughter (Delaney Quinn) who’s got a pediatric eating disorder requiring a feeding tube and daily hospital visits. Her ship captain husband, […]

Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

Crime 101 is a multi-threaded crime thriller about a multi-million-dollar heist

Bart Layton (The Imposter, American Animals) directs his adaptation of Don Winslow’s 2020 novella of the same name about thief Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth), whose series of heists along the 101 freeway draws the attention of Detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo) and intersects with the plans of disgruntled insurance broker Sharon Combs (Halle Berry). (139 […]

Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

Earth’s Greatest Enemy documents U.S. military’s environmental destruction

Earth’s Greatest EnemyWhat’s it rated? Not rated When? 2026 Where’s it showing? Friday, Feb. 20, at Cal Poly PACSLO (6:30 p.m.; $10 student, $20 general at pacslo.org), and Saturday, Feb. 21, at Cuesta College CPAC (12:30 p.m.; $15 at eventbrite.com) Wife-and-husband documentarians Abby Martin and Mike Prysner (Chevron vs. The Amazon) spent five years on […]

Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

Dracula is mostly straightforward take on Bram Stoker’s Gothic vampire tale

French writer-director Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, The Professional, The Fifth Element, Lucy) reimagines Bram Stoker’s classic vampire story about 15th century prince Vladimir of Wallachia (Caleb Landry Jones) who after the death of his wife, Elisabeta (Zoë Bleu), renounces God and is cursed with vampirism. Determined to find the reincarnation of Elisabeta, he searches […]

Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

The Wrecking Crew is a well-cast mismatched buddy action comedy

Angel Manuel Soto (Blue Beetle) directs Jonathan Tropper’s (The Adam Project) script about estranged half-brothers—reckless Oklahoma reservation cop Jonny (Jason Momoa) and disciplined former Navy SEAL turned drill instructor James Hale (Dave Bautista)—who reunite in Honolulu after their shady private eye father, Walter (Brian L. Keaulana), dies in a hit-and-run. Was it murder? As they […]

Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

Shelter is a serviceable but predictable Jason Statham vehicle

ShelterWhat’s it rated? R When? 2026 Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria, Movies Lompoc, Regal Edwards Arroyo Grande  Ric Roman Waugh (Greenland) directs this action thriller about a recluse (Jason Statham) living on a remote Scottish island with his dog. A young girl, Jesse (Bodhi Rae Breathnach), delivers supplies every week, but during […]

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