Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Shockingly good. If this had been the only sequel to the first flick, even with the tremendous separation in time, the sequence would be perfect. In fact, the passage of time actually works to this film’s advantage; it makes the storyline of no one remembering the past events, of those happenings being completely outside the knowledge of the youngsters who are the backbone of the cast, make much more sense; it gives the whole concept an overall internal consistency. This plot works almost seamlessly with what came before, and presents its story with equal amounts of funny and creepy, all served up with the same panache as the original. And those aforementioned youngsters? They’re terrific, particularly McKenna Grace in the pivotal role. If there is to be a next chapter with them—strongly hinted in the ending here—I’d be on board with it. All in all, this may be the biggest surprise I’ve seen in cinema in a long time: a re-imagined take on a classic that I would not have guessed was advisable, but that now seems absolutely necessary. From not a ghost of a chance to totally alive and well—that’s some paranormally good moviemaking right there. Who you gonna call indeed!

Tully

So if I have this right, the premise of this movie is that having kids drives you out of your mind. Thanks for that news flash, but I'm way ahead of you. Beyond non-revelatory revelations, this film's core seems to be about female problems, which are not only baffling and mysterious, but also of questionable entertainment value. Which is not to say it's awful, just that it has a focus that pretty much guarantees that it will not be a general crowd-pleaser. There are good moments; you get a very believable performance from Charlize Theron; and the soundtrack includes a dose of good and interesting music. So we're talking about a movie that's about halfway there. That may be enough for you, if any of the proceeding is your thing. One word of warning: some scenes in this flick, particularly some early scenes, will have you rethinking your stance on smacking kids around--and not in the currently socially acceptable direction.

Thank You for Smoking

A good satire that doesn’t bog down too much in delivering its message. The numbers are there, figures on cigarette deaths and all that--but the data is delivered so smoothly that you never feel like you’re being preached at. And, despite the evident progress made against smoking (in this country, at least) this film’s message still remains relevant today (especially for the broader picture about the incest between death merchants, their lobbyists, and our government).

Young Adult

I enjoyed watching Patton Oswalt play reluctant Sancho Panza to Charlize Theron's demented Don Quixote. And, with the exception of one major misstep towards the end, the movie remains refreshingly, brutally honest throughout. It certainly provides a fine meditation on who lives 'those lives,' if you know what I mean, so if you're prone to that sort of thinking anyway, check this one out.