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The End of Oak Street tries to channel Spielberg

David Robert Mitchell (It Follows, Under Silver Lake) wrote and directed this sci-fi dinosaur thriller about the Platt family—aspiring novelist Denise (Anne Hathaway), husband Greg (Ewan McGregor), and children Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery)—who after some kind of cosmic event discovers their suburban neighborhood has been transplanted to a strange and dangerous place. […]

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The Dink gives pickleball the sports comedy treatment

The DinkWhat’s it rated? PG-13 When? 2026 Where’s it showing? Apple TV Josh Greenbaum (Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, Strays, Will & Harper) directs Sean Clements’ script about Dustin ā€œThe Hammerā€ Boyd (Jake Johnson), a former tennis prodigy trained by his domineering father, Chuck (Ed Harris, at his most taciturn). Tragically, Dustin […]

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One Night Only offers a charming romcom within a ridiculous premise

Will Gluck (Easy A, Friends with Benefits, Anyone But You) directs Travis Braun’s rom-com script set in a dystopian future America where premarital sex is outlawed under a ā€œchastity mandateā€ except for one night a year. Two New Yorkers searching for love—Owen (Callum Turner), a pizza shop owner, and Allie (Monica Barbaro), a commercial jingles […]

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Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story examines a cable TV trailblazer

Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd StoryWhat’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2026 Where’s it showing? HBO Max Do you remember ā€œleased accessā€ cable television? The FCC mandated that cable operators must offer independent cable creators and producers rentable airtime. An example of a local cable access show was the fishing parody program Fishmasters, which aired […]

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Spider-Man: Brand New Day is all about the importance of friends

Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) directs this fourth installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man series. After Dr. Stephen Strange’s spell at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), no one remembers Peter Parker (Tom Holland)—not his best friend, Ned (Jacob Batalon), and not even his girlfriend, MJ […]

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Miss You, Love You is bittersweet dramedy about grief and loss

Miss You, Love YouWhat’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2026 Where’s it showing? HBO Max Grieving widow Diane Patterson (Allison Janney) is forced to plan her husband’s funeral with her estranged son’s assistant, Jamie Simms (Andrew Rannells), after her globetrotting son is unwilling to return home, in writer-director Jim Rash’s (The Way Way Back, Downhill) bittersweet […]

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Le Vigne Winery hosts a special outdoor screening of Bottle Shock Aug. 8

Bottle ShockWhat’s it rated? PG-13 When? 2008 Where’s it showing? Le Vigne Winery, 5115 Buena Vista Drive, Paso Robles, Saturday, Aug. 8 (doors at 6:30, film at 8 p.m.; 21-and-older; $22.84 at pasopictureshow.com) Randall Miller (Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing & Charm School, Nobel Son, CBGB) directs this quirky comedy-drama he co-wrote with Jody Savin and […]

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Old-school sword-and-sandal epic, The Odyssey, reflects the current zeitgeist

Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer, Dunkirk, Interstellar, Inception, Batman Begins) wrote and directed this action fantasy based on Homer’s epic poem about Odysseus (Matt Damon), king of Ithaca, who after the Trojan War faces a dangerous voyage home to reunite with his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway). During the perilous journey, he encounters creatures such as the cyclops […]

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I Will Find You is a red-herring-filled Harlan Coben-based mystery

Created by Robert Hull based on the 2023 Harlan Coben novel of the same name, this crime drama follows David Burroughs (Sam Worthington), wrongly imprisoned for his son Matthew’s (Jasper Rainn Larence) murder. After five years of a life sentence, David learns from his ex-wife’s sister, Rachel (Britt Lower), that Matthew (now played by Ashton […]

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