The Rivals of Amziah King - 4 Stars - APPLE - August 14, 2026 - Delightful modern noir with Matthew McConaughey as a beekeeper/musician/town character and newcomer Angelina LookingGlass as Matthew's foster daughter who takes over the business and avenges those who sabotaged McConaughey.
Arch Campbell
I hope you see something good at the movies
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Movie Guide
The Rivals of Amziah King - 4 Stars - APPLE - August 14, 2026 - Delightful modern noir with Matthew McConaughey as a beekeeper/musician/town character and newcomer Angelina LookingGlass as Matthew's foster daughter who takes over the business and avenges those who sabotaged McConaughey.
Sunday, October 18, 2026
YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING --- 4 Stars - THEATERS - October 16, 2026
Comic Nathan Fielder calls his film You Can see Everything a pseudo-documentary. For several weeks, disgraced technology company founder Elizabeth Holmes and her husband allow Fielder and his crew to embed with her and her family as she prepares to serve a federal prison sentence for defrauding investors. In case you've forgotten --- Elizabeth Holmes founded Theranos, a company promising to diagnose and prevent serious illness by analyzing a single drop of blood. Investors provided millions for the idea, which promised to take the place of the sometimes-painful blood draws medicine requires today. Fielder is known for his cutting-edge comedy. Some time ago I watched several episodes of Nathan for You which I found sometimes funny and sometimes so cringeworthy I signed off. I consider Fielder an actor/comic in the mold of Sachia Baron-Cohen and his Borat character. As the story unfolds, we meet Elizabeth Holmes' partner/husband (not sure) and father of her two children Billy Evans. The story casts Evans as the villain of the piece, holding power of attorney over Holmes and speaking on her behalf, even licensing her image. After a while I began to wonder why Holmes and Evans agreed to this. Those thoughts increased as Holmes enters prison and Fielder recreates scenes and phone conversations with the help of an A list actress. I find it interesting Lance Oppenheim directs this project. Oppenheim just produced Primetime - the story of Robert Hanson and his To Catch a Predator series on NBC. Taken together, I wonder if the point is to show we have entered a world where people will do anything for attention. I found You can See Everything (and by the way, you can't --- in fact you don't even come close) quite an experience --- creative, cringeworthy, and brilliant. I wonder what this will look like in twenty years when everyone's forgotten about Elizabeth Holmes and maybe medicine actually can diagnose disease with a drop of blood. Till then, this qualifies as a must see.
If you really get hooked find the series The Dropout on HULU, with Amanda Seyfried. Also, Netflix offers a great documentary on the Theranos rise and fall titled Out for Blood.
VERITY - 2 Stars - THEATERS - October 2, 2026 & THE HOUSEMAID ---- 2 Stars - HBO Max - October 9, 2026
Verity takes another go at the sexy thriller with the hot husband in the middle. In Verity, Anne Hathaway plays a fabulously successful writer who can no longer speak or move after a terrible car crash. Hot husband Michael Showalter needs a ghost writer. Of course he finds sexy, in need of work writer Dakota Johnson. And of course, Dakota has to move in with the couple and their young son. Pretty soon Dakota and hottie husband start canoodling. What's the harm, after all, Anne can't move or speak ---OR CAN SHE? Verity is more of a type than a movie.
The Housemaid - HBO MAX - one week later on a main streamer --- October 9, 2026. 2 Stars. Same movie except it's Sydney Sweeny and Amanda Seyfried and another hot guy I've never heard of --- Brandon Sklenar. Nice twists end both movies. Both belong to a long line of sexy thrillersplayed off season for decades.
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Lorne - October 5, 2026-1 Star/Who is Martin Mull - October 7,2026-1 Star/Norm-The Tale of NOrm Macdonald-October 16,2026-4 Stars/All NETFLIX
Norm-The Tale of Norm Macdonald establishes the late standup comic as a comic's comic. A mix of Macdonald's life and behind the scenes interviews with clips from various appearances paints a picture of a strange man beloved by his peers. Macdonald is best known for his biting jokes about O.J. Simpson during his time as the Weekend Update News Reader on Saturday Night Live. Simpson friend Don Ohlmeyer - head of NBC at the time - fired Macdonald for being "not funny." Macdonald possessed a dry drool sense of humor and a talent for stretching a joke to a side-splitting punch line. The documentary captures a unique talent deserving of appreciation. 4 Stars
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Who is Martin Mull? tells the story of another very funny comic. Mull won my heart as the host of Fernwood Tonight, a local late night talk show purposely done on the cheap, poking fun at small towns and television in general. Earlier Mull produced Dueling Tubas, a lampoon of Dueling Banjos. The documentary reveals Mull really liked to paint. Wish I could tell you I found that interesting, but I didn't. 1 star.
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Lorne - follows Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels as he produced the long running comedy show. Lorne clearly despises the camera. Other people talk about him. One bright spot captures a pep talk before a live performance. The clips are nice. Lorne Michaels is 81 years old. The show he founded has turned generic. This documentary feels like an NBC infomercial. 1 Star.
Thursday, October 1, 2026
PRIMETIME - 2 Stars - September 26, 2026 - THEATERS
Robert Pattinson turns never lets up as former NBC reality show star Chris Hansen in Primetime. Hansen, as host of NBC's "To Catch a Predator" creates something of a sensation as he exposes internet predators, caught on camera believing they are meeting an underage teen for sex. Don't expect any heroes in this story. The predators are entrapped and humiliated for the sake of entertainment. Primetime has plenty to say about network television's quest for ratings at any price. Instead of moral outrage I left the theater with a headache.
Thursday, September 10, 2026
Coyota vs. Acme - 2 1/2 Stars - THEATERS - August 28,2026
Everything Wile E. Coyote dredges up from the Acme corporation flops - rocket skates, cannons, giant slingshots. He's had enough of it, ruining his pursuit of the - BEEP-BEEP - roadrunner. Licking his wounds one night Mr. Coyote catches and for Will Forte's ambulance chasing law firm. So begins Coyote Vs. ACME. The mix of cartoons and humans is nice, recalling but not quite equaling Who Killed Roger Rabbit, the gold standard of this kind of thing. As with the original cartoons, Coyote vs. ACME offers plenty of pratfalls, especially into very deep canyons. The finale drags out many of the Warner Brothers great stable of characters led by Foghorn Leghorn, the overgrown rooster/bully at the head of ACME. Kids will like. Some will try to make this a statement on heartless giant corporations. If you go, just go for the fun.
