Room for Cream ShortsWhat’s it rated? Not rated When? 2025 Where’s it showing? Saturday, Nov. 8, from 6 to 9 p.m., The Department, 986 Quintana Road, Suite B, Morro Bay Room for Cream Films—Alex Raban and Jenny Gosnell’s film production company—presents a variety of its short films this Saturday in Morro Bay. The evening opens […]
Glen Starkey
Frankenstein is a gothic visual feast about what makes us human
Writer-director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, Nightmare Alley) adapts Mary Shelley’s 1818 gothic horror novel for the big screen. Oscar Isaac stars as brilliant but egotistical scientist Victor Frankenstein, who creates a monstrous creature (Jacob Elordi) constructed from cadaver parts, leading to tragedy for both. (149 min.) FrankensteinWhat’s it rated? RWhat’s […]
Writer-director Ari Aster’s 2018 feature-length debut, Hereditary, is a disturbing shocker
HereditaryWhat’s it rated? RWhen? 2018Where’s it showing? HBO Max Since it’s Halloween season, streaming services are packed with horror films, and one of the best is Hereditary, writer-director Ari Aster’s (Beau is Afraid, Eddington) feature-length debut. Toni Collette stars as Annie Graham, a miniature artist who constructs highly detailed and weirdly unsettling dioramas of houses. […]
Task is a family dynamics-focused gritty crime show
Brad Ingelsby (Mare of Easttown) created and wrote this crime drama focusing on Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo), a Philadelphia-based FBI agent and former Catholic priest put in charge of a task force investigating a series of robberies targeting motorcycle gang stash houses. (seven 60- to 68-min. episodes) TaskWhat’s it rated? TV-MAWhat’s it worth, Anna? Full […]
The Birds screens as a fundraiser for The Rock Community Radio on Oct. 27 at Bay Theatre
The BirdsWhat’s it rated? PG-13When? 1963Where’s it showing? Bay Theatre of Morro Bay, Monday, Oct. 27(doors at 5, show at 6 p.m.; $17.91 presale at my805tix.com) In time for Halloween, Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1963 nature-horror film will screen as a fundraiser for The Rock Community Radio. The screenplay by Evan Hunter is loosely based on […]
In The Lost Bus, a school bus driver navigates the 2018 Camp Fire to save his passengers
Co-writer Paul Greengrass (United 93, Green Zone, Captain Phillips, News of the World, and three of the Jason Bourne franchise films) directs this screenplay he wrote with Brad Ingelsby (Out of the Furnace, Run All Night, Mare of Easttown) based on a segment of San Francisco Chronicle journalist Lizzie Johnson’s 2021 nonfiction book Paradise: One […]
Play Dirty follows professional thief, Parker, on another criminal misadventure
Play DirtyWhat’s it rated? R When? 2025 Where’s it showing? Prime Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Nice Guys) co-writes and directs this heist flick based on the Parker book series by Richard Stark (aka Donald E. Westlake). In this go-around, we’re dropped into the middle of the story as professional thieves Parker (Mark […]
The Smashing Machine follows early MMA fighter Mark Kerr through his ups and downs
Writer-director Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems, Good Time) helms this biopic about pioneering mixed-martial arts and two-time UFC champion Mark Kerr (Dwayne Johnson). (123 min.) The Smashing MachineWhat’s it rated? R What’s it worth, Anna? Full price What’s it worth, Glen? Full price Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria, Movies Lompoc, Regal Edwards Arroyo […]
Little Big Man is an excellent early example of a revisionist Western
Arthur Penn (The Left Handed Gun, Bonnie and Clyde, The Missouri Breaks) directs Calder Willingham’s screenplay based on Thomas Berger’s 1964 novel of the same name about Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman), who lives through a series of Wild West misadventures. The film is framed as a 121-year-old Crabb narrates his life story to a historian […]
One Battle After Another is a helluva cinematic ride
Inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland, writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Punch-Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood, The Master) weaves this story about Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio), a former revolutionary now living a paranoid existence off the grid with his daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). When Bob’s old nemesis, Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), […]
Black Rabbit follows estranged brothers who reunite to sort out a series of dangerous problems
Black RabbitWhat’s it rated? TV-MA When? 2025 Where’s it showing? Netflix Created by Zach Baylin (King Richard, Creed III, The Order) and Kate Susman, this crime thriller miniseries focuses on the Friedken brothers, Jake (Jude Law), proprietor of NYC hotspot Black Rabbit, and his chaotic brother, Vince (Jason Batemen), who after a period of estrangement […]
Alien: Earth brings sci-fi horror to the small screen
I’ve been a fan of the Alien franchise since director Ridley Scott’s 1979 original. The claustrophobia, the paranoia, the disorientation of space travel, and the feeling that these space travelers are mere pawns for maniacal corporate interests have made the franchise fertile ground for sequels and prequels. Sure, it’s gone off the crossover rails a […]

