Now Playing

Here's a look at the new movies I saw this week.

Last Christmas
Starring: Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding, Emma Thompson, and Michelle Yeoh
Synopsis: Christmas movies are a huge part of our culture, and have been for a long time. In fact, Christmas is in general. Between music, movies, and specials, everyone has their favorite. And each year once you swing past Halloween, Christmas culture explodes with new options. In fact, if you're a Hallmark fan, you've been getting new fixes each week since October 25. But there's always at least a couple of original films in theaters, too. The first this year is "Last Christmas," a comedy that comes with a pedigree. It's directed by Paul Feig ("Bridesmaids") and was written by Thompson, who is a great and talented actor. Thompson did it as a tribute to her friend George Michael, who provides much of the sound track including the song that inspired the film's name, and a lot of its plot. And that could seem a little too kitschy, but this is a movie that you sink into despite any reservations. Yeoh and Thompson do a nice job in supporting roles, but the winners here are Clarke and Golding. Golding burst into the consciousness with another romantic comedy, "Crazy Rich Asians," about a year ago. He's pathologically charming, and brings that to full effect in this role. And Clarke, probably best known as the Mother of Dragons on "Game of Thrones," really does a nice job sinking into a much different role. I thought they had great chemistry and made much of the film fun. Now there is a big plot twist (this movie isn't what you might have thought it is) that I won't ruin here, suffice to say it's been controversial. The question is whether it ruins your experience. As a man who lives with an ardent Hallmark fan, I've seen more than 100 different takes on the Christmas romance film. This was unique in the way the story was put together, and the warm performances made it a decently fun ride. If you think too hard about the plot you might have questions and concerns that diminish the experience, but it's not that kind of movie. Enjoy it for what it is, and appreciate the performances and you'll get yourself in the Christmas spirit a little early this year.
Rating: PG-13 for language and sexual content.
Verdict: Three stars out of four.

Midway
Starring: Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Woody Harrelson, Dennis Quaid, Darren Criss, and Luke Kleintank
Synopsis: It's been nearly 80 years since WWII, and yet stories of the heroes that fought there remain a part of our culture. Especially when it comes to the telling of stories of our biggest battles. In 1976, the film "Midway" came out, chronicling the battle that was a big turning point in the War in the Pacific. It was led by an all-star cast that included Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, and Glenn Ford. Now 43 years later, just in time for Veterans' Day, it's been remade. The new "Midway" chronicles the events from Pearl Harbor through the titular battle, and tries to be a faithful re-telling of the men who led the missions. It's filled with a strong group of actors, and has a big scope and spectacle. That's thanks to its director, Roland Emmerich. He's the man that gave us "Independence Day," "Godzilla," and "The Day After Tomorrow," among others. That's probably not the resume you'd first think of when making an important story about our country's history, but he handles it well. This is a well crafted tale, and writer Wes Tooke ("Colony") does a nice job building the characters and the action in the story. That's the reason "Midway" exploded to top the Box Office. It's not a great movie, and it isn't a war movie in the vein of "Saving Private Ryan," but it's a faithful re-telling and one that seeks to honor the men who made the sacrifices to protect our freedom.
Rating: PG-13 for sequences of war violence and related images, language and smoking.
Verdict: Three stars out of four.

Upcoming Releases:
Friday, November 15: "Charlie's Angels," "Ford vs. Ferrari," "The Good Liar"
Friday, November 22: "Frozen 2," "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood," "21 Bridges"
Wednesday, November 27: "Knives Out," "Queen and Slim"
Friday, November 29: "Dark Waters"