On July 4, the movie “Sound of Freedom,” an action thriller dealing with the human trafficking and sexual exploitation of child sex slaves and their rescue by law enforcement was released by Angel Studios to more than 2,800 movie theaters in the U.S.
Ricky Miller, Entertainment Editor
| September 1, 2023
“Meg 2: The Trench” does what it’s supposed to do in giving the viewers a fun, exciting fantasy thrill ride with no holds barred.
Jason Statham returns in the lead role of Jonas Taylor, a gung-ho adventurer whose unsubstantiated claims of a giant fish, actually a megalodon or prehistoric giant shark, turned out to be true. In a nifty throwback, the little Chihuahua named Pippin from the original “Meg” makes an appearance. The sequel put a smile on my face when the dog from the 2018 original was still alive and kicking.
Ricky Miller, Entertainment Editor
| July 31, 2023
I liked the comic-fantasy “Barbie” and I had fun. But to me it’s just forgettable fodder. Parents should be warned, it’s a stringent PG-13. There are double entendres. I’d recommend it for kids 13 and older, as the rating states.
Margot Robbie had fun in the role of Stereotypical Barbie. It’s a change of pace for her and far removed from Robbie’s gutter-mouth performances as Harley Quinn in both versions of “The Suicide Squad” in 2016 and 2021.
Ricky Miller, Entertainment Editor
| July 25, 2023
“Oppenheimer” is my event movie of the summer. I couldn’t care less about superhero shenanigans in the fictional world. Part of the reason it’s my event movie is that it’s directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan, a five-time Oscar nominee known for “Tenet,” “Dunkirk” and three recent Batman adventures.
Ricky Miller, Entertainment Editor
| July 18, 2023
It’s amazing that Tom Cruise at 61 can still run around acting like he has no cares in the world like a 30-year-old man. On top of that he insists on doing the majority of his own stunt work. It’s ironic that in “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” we see Kittridge, played by Henry Czerny, return as one of Ethan Hunt’s (Cruise) adversaries.
Ricky Miller, Entertainment Editor
| June 23, 2023
“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” is a very enjoyable and engaging movie sans filmmaker Michael Bay, who dropped out of the series after “Transformers: The Last Knight” in 2017 to direct people movies like “Ambulance” with Jake Gyllenhaal of 2022.
Steven Caple Jr. (“Creed II,” “Transformers: Earthspark” on TV) slips into the director’s chair for the new “Transformers” chapter. This sci-fi action-adventure takes place in the 1990s. This one involves a likable kid named Noah played by Anthony Ramos (“In the Heights,” “Hamilton”), who’s trying to make it in New York City.
Ricky Miller, Entertainment Editor
| June 19, 2023
With certain movies, I’ve become a big dork. I relish the fact that the technology has come along in a certain way so that filmmakers elicit a response of pure joy for me.
I love the color palette of the animated action-adventure “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” because what they did this time around actually duplicates the efforts of the Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” of 2018.
Ricky Miller, Entertainment Editor
| June 12, 2023
I think I’ve said this before, but when entering into “The Fast and the Furious” universe, don’t expect any “Shakespeare” or grandiose soliloquies. Besides Vin Diesel’s mumblings and grumblings, the real scene chewing comes from Jason Momoa’s character Dante. He’s just in this for a paycheck. He’s just showy the whole movie.
#8 ‘Indiana Jones
and the Dial of Destiny’ (June 30)
This adventure must overcome the absence of franchise helmer Steven Spielberg, instead featuring James Mangold as director. With Harrison Ford, of course, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and John Rhys Davies.
The whole “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” phenomenon edges on two of the three co-directors, Aaron Horvath and Michel Jelenic, who were behind “Teen Titans Go! to the Movies” in 2018. I think that’s why Universal Pictures gave them the green light for this new project.
The voices for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” include well-known performers Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Jack Black and Anya Taylor-Joy. They compliment a fun and enjoyable screen adaptation that despite all the success kind of falls flat.
