What to Watch This Weekend: Our Friend, True Mothers, Dark Whispers, Max Cloud, Come Play, White Tiger, Ad Astra, MacGruber

For A Powerful Friendship Drama: Our Friend
Our Friend is a poignant, painful, and powerful movie about love, family, and friendship that feels so real and raw and should not be missed.  For more information, check out the review!

For An Oscar Worthy Adoption Drama: True Mothers (Virtual Cinema)
True Mothers is a thoughtful, delicate film that approaches a difficult subject matter with beautiful cinematography, realistic and realized characters, and a balanced approach to the story telling that will leave you speechless.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Collection of Scares: Dark Whispers Volume 1 (Digital)

Dark Whispers Vol. 1 is a scary good compilation of horror stories, that highlights some frightful female voices in the horror genre.  For more information, check out the review!

For A 90s Inspired Space Opera: Max Cloud (Digital and Physical)

Max Cloud is the ridiculous 90s science fiction and video game homage that we didn't know we needed with plenty of fun, 16 bit gaming references, and a great space opera cast.  For more information, check out the review!

For Those Looking For Digital Horror: Come Play (Redbox)

Come Play is a modern Babadook, with fantastic sounds, a creepy modern creature, and palatable tension.  For more information, check out our review!

For A Compelling Drama About Class: The White Tiger (Netflix)

The story of a poor villager's rise to successful entrepreneur, this film has rave reviews based on its great source material and compelling drama.  Definitely check this out if you're looking for something new to watch!

For Two Hours of Brad Pitt and Phenomenal Sound: Ad Astra (HBO)

Ad Astra is leaving HBO after this weekend, so if you've been thinking of watching this one now is your chance!  It is a slow burning near future space journey that will take you to the stars and beyond if you give it the time.  For more information, check out our review!

For A Ridiculous Time: MacGruber (Amazon)

MacGruber is all ridiculousness that will have you laughing at the slapstick comedy and insane situations.  Plus it has some stars in it who have become household names!

What to Watch This Weekend: December 27, 2019

In Theaters: Spies in Disguise

Spies in Disguise should not be pigeon-holed into a second tier animated film.  It is a beautifully animated adventure featuring two leads with great chemistry, some truly impressive animation, and a fantastic soundtrack to entertain both young and old.  For more information, check out our review!

In Theaters: 1917

1917 uses impressive camera work and Hollywood magic, booming special effects, and impressive sets to tell an authentic, dramatic war story.  For more information, check out our review!

At Redbox: Ad Astra

Ad Astra is a slow burning near future space journey that will take you to the stars and beyond if you give it the time.  It is a slower watch. but it rewards you with a fantastically realized world and some pretty amazing special effects.  For more information, check out our review!

Streaming (Amazon): Nightcrawler

Jake Gyllenhall's dark and surprisingly well reviewed movie follows a reporter who breaks into the world of Nightcrawling, i.e., following police sirens in the hopes of getting a scoop on a crime story.  This movie received positive reviews for its dark setting, comedy, and scathing commentary on popular culture! 

Streaming (Starz): Men In Black: International

The series reboot did not get good critical reviews, but has decent audience reviews.  It is a harmless and forgettable member of the series, but one that has two starts with great chemistry in a fun summer adventure through the galaxy. 

What to Watch This Weekend: September 20, 2019

In Theaters: Ad Astra

Ad Astra is going to be a polarizing film, but I really appreciated the world that they were building and the deep character study of Pitt's character.  Our review called it "a slow burning near future space journey that will take you to the stars and beyond if you give it the time."

In Theaters: Dream Girl
I absolutely loved Dream Girl and thought it was a hilarious and different Bollywood film.  Our review called recommended it "[i]f you want to see something incredibly funny and different, with more to say about society than your average movie."  

At Redbox: Aladdin

Aladdin is a fine remake of the animated classic.  It is not as good as the original movie, but Disney did a good job re-imagining the film and Will Smith's genie, though not as good as Robin William's portrayal, still has a lot to love about his character.  Smith makes the role his own, and has a fresh take on the character that is fun to see.   

Streaming (HBO): Catfish

Catfish has not been available to stream for free since the Manti Te'o fiasco (I tried to watch it that weekend after it had been available to stream forever).  It is finally back on a streaming service, and the original film that arguably coined the term should definitely be seen.  

Streaming (Amazon): Operation Finale

The drama about the real life mission to capture Adolf Eichmann is a tense film starring the amazing Ben Kingsley and Oscar Isaac.  The mission itself is pretty unbelievable and is helped along by some very good performances. 

Review: Ad Astra

Release date: September 20, 2019
Running time: 122 minutes
Starring:  Brad Pitt, Liv Tyler, Tommy Lee Jones

Ad Astra is going to be a polarizing movie.  It is the marriage of Gravity and Intersteller, a movie set in a near future that has Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) go on a journey to the stars in the hopes of stopping a catastrophic series of electrical surges.  Despite this odd premise, the movie tries to be more grounded in plausible near future technology, and builds an interesting world not so different from our own.  The best part of this movie is that although it is set in a future where space travel is common place, the setting is so well done that the world doesn't seem implausible.  

One thing you will notice about Ad Astra is it is more of a character study than space action movie.  Brad Pitt is the only advertised actor and it shows; the movie focuses on him and him alone.  You get to hear his thoughts, see his reactions to many stressful situations, and really dig into what makes his character tick.  One of the hallmarks of his character is that he is cool under pressure, which can be little off putting since he will show no emotion even in the most intense situations.  It is similar to Ryan Gosling's portrayal of Neil Armstrong in First Man; it actually mutes some of what should be intense action sequences.  But it also means that his character is a great vehicle to experience this future world with, allowing the audience to really take in all that this film has on display.

And speaking of muting, one thing you will notice, or not notice, is the lack of sound in the emptiness of space.  The movie does a great job of recreating the isolation of space.  Many intense scenes are eerily quiet, which is an interesting experience to say the least.  Additionally, although there is music in the film it is not overpowering.  I would recommend watching this film in a quiet location so you can really appreciate this feeling of isolation. 


The isolating sound and slow character study make for a slowly progressing movie.  It is something that I think will be polarizing to much of the audience, but I loved it.  The plot itself is interesting despite it being drawn out, and there are some odd sequences that didn't hit right.  There is a tragic scene towards the first third of the film that just seemed out of place, and a large part of the main story feels like it was unnecessary.  And this is especially off putting given how slowly the story progresses; perhaps the film could have felt a little tighter by cutting some of these scenes.  It feels like this could have been resolved with a few writing tweaks, but what you are left with is still a very interesting film experience. 

All that being said, Ad Astra is a slow burning near future space journey that will take you to the stars and beyond if you give it the time.  

Watch it