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 “chastity mandate” 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 […]
Glen Starkey
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 “leased access” 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Hawk follows a former golf champion’s comeback
Created by Will Ferrell, Harper Steele, and Chris Henchy, The Hawk follows Lonnie “The Hawk” Hawkins (Ferrell), a former No. 1 ranked golfer who years ago exited the pro ranks in disgrace, as he attempts a return to pro golf by working his way up to play the U.S. Open. If he wins, he’ll complete […]
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 […]
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 […]
Ride or Die is Prime’s female-led mismatched buddy crime dramedy
Ride or DieWhat’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2026 Where’s it showing? Prime Created by Tessa Coates (Massive Dad), this new miniseries set in the U.K. and other parts of Europe follows besties Debbie (Octavia Spencer) and Judith (Hannah Waddingham) as they go on the run from a mysterious enemy. Debbie is married to David (Jamie […]
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 […]
See a fundraising screening of The Blues Brothers at Bay Theatre on July 20
Here’s your chance to see a cult classic on the big screen and support your local radio station when The Rock Community Radio (97.3/107.9 FM) hosts The Blues Brothers fundraiser screening at Bay Theatre. The Blues BrothersWhat’s it rated? R When? 1980 Where’s it showing? Bay Theatre of Morro Bay on Monday, July 20 (doors […]
Minions & Monsters is cute but empty
Co-directed by Pierre Coffin and Patrick Delage, and co-written by Coffin and Brian Lynch, this is the third Minions prequel and seventh film in the Despicable Me franchise. It’s mostly set in 1927 Hollywood, but it begins at a film history museum as Olivia (voiced by Allison Janney), is giving a tour and relates the […]
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is absurdist time travel comedy
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t DieWhat’s it rated? R When? 2025 Where’s it showing? Hulu Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Rango, A Cure for Wellness) directs this relentlessly inventive script by Matthew Robinson (The Invention of Lying, Love and Monsters) about The Man from the Future (Sam Rockwell) […]

