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The A-List: Honey Don’t. Margaret Qualley and Aubrey Plaza star in the second part of a thematic trilogy from Ethan Coen. Qualley is a PI in Bakersfield investigating, Plaza (one of my fave actresses) works at the police station (friends with benefits situation), and Chris Evans is a creepy preacher. This got horrible reviews on IMDB, but both El Chico and I loved it. We watched the first in this thematic trilogy (Drive Away Dolls) this summer which also stars Qualley…and got horrible reviews, but is a lot of fun. Despite being from a Coen brother, it’s not the same type of quality films the brothers are known for, which might be why.

The B-List:

An American Werewolf in London (B+): One of the spooky season films El Chico and I watched. I thought it was going to be serious, so I was pleasantly surprised to find how much (dark) humour is in it. Two Americans in the UK face a werewolf. One is killed, the other is turned. It was just stupid fun. I’m wondering about An American Werewolf in Paris…Julie Delpy is in it, but…been reading bad things.

Near Dark (B+) 80s vampire film (for spooky season) from Kathyrn Bigelow. After being turned a young man goes on a road trip with the woman that turned him and her vampire clan.

Broken Flowers (B+) Somehow I never got to this one from Jim Jarmusch when I was trying to see all his films. Bill Murray plays a man who finds out he has a son, but doesn’t know who the mother is, so he visits women from his past.

Star 80 (B+) Another 80s one I’ve been meaning to get to. Bob Fosse directed this film about a real life story where a actress becomes involved with a creepy possessive abusive director with severe consequences. I blinked and missed Stuart Damon in a small role.

Fingernails B+ Quirky Apple TV film starring Jessie Buckley and Jeremy Allen White about a near future where couples take tests before marriage. I mainly watched it for the cast and enjoyed it for them.

The Naked Gun (2025): Not quite as good as the Leslie Nielsen movies, but I was expecting it to be much worse. It was just silly fun, needed in these dark times…and Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson were just too cute together knowing their real-life romance on set.

Romancing the Stone (B) A fun romcom Indiana Jones style adventure from the 1980s starring Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito.

Come Back to the 5 and Dime Jimmie Dean, Jimmie Dean (B) I saw the play in college but didn’t remember much. Cher, Karen Black and Kathy Bates are some of the ensemble cast in this Altman film about a James Dean fan club reunion.

Wolfs (B) Brad Pitt and George Clooney are fixers trying to one-up each other for the entire movie as they have to work together to clean up a messy death. It probably would have been better with lesser known actors.

Highest 2 Lowest B-. Not Spike Lee’s best joint but it was still okay. It felt like a storyline from Empire… A music exec’s son and son’s friend are kidnapped, but after his son is returned safe, he doesn’t want to pay the ransom.

The C List

Mother Couch (C+) Ewan McGregor, Ellen Burstyn and Lara Flynn Boyle star in this movie about a mother who decides to sit down on a couch in a furniture store and not get up. It tries to be spiritual and metaphorical but is too much of a mess to work.

Jurassic World: Rebirth (C): The good: Jonathan Bailey. The bad: Everything else. It was…a fanfic movie about the universe that didn’t really have a connection to any of the previous six movies.

The D-List.

I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) (D+) Unnecessary and incredibly stupid reboot/sequel/whatever that ruined the entire franchise (which wasn’t great to begin with) thanks to that twist. The only good part was a mid-credits scene that I won’t spoil. That scene was an A…rest of the movie was an F.