Point Break (1991)

Summer's over, but I felt like holding onto it vicariously with one of the few surf-focused features I could name. I hadn't heard of this one when it was new (the year I saw my first R movie), but between a 2015 remake and occasional references, I figured it was worth checking out. Besides, 122 minutes was a convenient amount of time for me to kill.

Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) has just joined the FBI when he hears about a gang of four who deftly rob L.A. banks while wearing masks of former U.S. presidents. Senior Agent Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey) theorizes from various hints that "the Ex-Presidents" are surfer dudes. Since Angelo's too old for it, Johnny takes up surfing in his off-duty hours, hoping to find the robbers in their insular community. He persuades expert Tyler Ann Endicott (Lori Petty) to teach him, and she introduces him to a group led by "Bodhi" (then top-billed Patrick Swayze). I think you already know where this is going.

Toy Story 5 (2026)

Despite my previous desire not to have the series continue, I got curious when I saw the new plot element in ads. Having seen all the other entries (not counting Lightyear) in theaters, I soon talked my parents into joining me -- followed by my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and reluctant nephew. This would be a new experience on that level at least, enough to make up for nearly half an hour of ads. Good thing the movie itself moves along at a fast clip.

Bonnie (Scarlett Spears), now 8, has trouble making friends because all the same-age kids in her neighborhood would rather play online. Her parents buy her a tablet called Lilypad (Greta Lee), much to the consternation of her soon neglected toys. Her longtime favorite, plastic cowgirl Jessie (Joan Cusack), sneaks off with stuffed horse Bullseye (no voice) to ensure that Bonnie has a good time at a sleepover with new connections thanks to "Lily," leaving astronaut action figure Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) to try to keep Lily in check. When things go sideways, Jessie and Bullseye involuntarily return to where she stayed decades ago....

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

A quarter century ago, I saw the second half of this thanks to my roommate. I felt like I'd seen enough, but more recently, I've wanted the complete picture. It was one of the most popular Netflix horror offerings I hadn't seen in full and one of the last influential and arguably great works of Francis Ford Coppola, with only The Rainmaker for competition since.

Toward the end of the 19th century, the Romanian count (Gary Oldman) gets help from suspicious English lawyer Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) to move to England. Dracula sees a picture of Harker's fiancée, Wilhelmina Murray (Winona Ryder), and is strongly reminded of his own bygone wife. He sees fit to let his harem restrain Harker by exsanguination while he goes off to court Mina, in addition to satisfying his infamous other appetite. When Mina's friend Lucy Westenra (Sadie Frost) exhibits strange physical and mental symptoms, fiancé Arthur Holmwood (Cary Elwes) reluctantly turns to the expertise of Professor Abraham Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins), who quickly determines the cause....

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)

I was a little surprised when this became slightly more popular than its predecessors, especially with critics. I thought that Shadow the Hedgehog's star had faded, judging by his near absence from recent video games and TV shows. But perhaps his signature angst really speaks to modern cinema's favorite demographic, teens. When the movie came up on a menu at the Red Cross, I went right for it.

The three ET friends who make up "Team Sonic" -- Sonic (Ben Schwarz), Tails the Fox (Colleen O'Shaughnessey), and Knuckles the Echidna (Idris Elba) -- are not world-famous yet, but the government has an improved opinion of them, as evidenced by a request that they help neutralize a powerful threat. Shadow (Keanu Reeves, once again playing an alleged ultimate life form) has escaped from a secret facility, and despite 50 years of stasis, he can hold his own against all of Team Sonic together. Also newly free after 50 years is the spry grandfather of Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik (Jim Carrey), Prof. Gerald Robotnik (also Carrey), who used to study Shadow with his consent. Both of them are so furious at what the government unjustly did in connection with their project that they plan to kill far more than the guilty parties.

DC League of Super-Pets (2022)

I didn't expect to see another movie that begins with the last day of Krypton so soon, but Netflix announced that it would stop streaming this month. (I get Max now; it just takes me a little longer to set up.) DCLoSP didn't tempt me when it was in theaters, if only because nobody I knew was talking about it, but it does get decent ratings across sites, along with a number of minor award nominations and one win. It seemed apt for light fare to pass the time.

Krypto (Dwayne Johnson), the last dog of Krypton, likes saving the day with owner Superman (John Krasinski) but becomes overly jealous of the attention Supes lavishes on Lois Lane (Olivia Wilde). In his sulking, he's late to notice Superman's abduction by Lulu (Kate McKinnon), a hairless guinea pig who'd been a like-minded lab subject to Lex Luthor (Marc Maron). Lulu has gotten her paws on orange kryptonite, which bestows random superpowers -- in her case, strong telekinesis -- on nonhuman animals, and tricked Krypto into swallowing just enough green kryptonite to depower him for most of the 105-minute runtime. Her platoon of guinea pigs with other powers apprehends the rest of the Justice League in a bid to take over the world. Fortunately, she has betrayed four other critters in the pet shop, who are now willing to use their incidental powers to team up on Krypto's rescue mission. They just have to get the hang of it fast, because Lulu will wait only so long to kill the Justice League.

47 Ronin (2013)

I didn't remember whether this was supposed to be good, but its 118-minute run made it seem a decent choice to keep me occupied while donating platelets. I later learned that it bombed at the box office but still managed to get a Netflix sequel last year. Go figure.

Circa 1700, half-English, half-Japanese Kai (Keanu Reeves) is rumored to have been raised by demons or perhaps be one, which doesn't stop Lord Asano (Min Tanaka) from giving him shelter since boyhood. But one day, power-hungry Lord Kira (Tadanobu, heh, Asano) uses demonic connections of his own to deceive Asano into an act bad enough to demand seppuku. The shogun (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) awards Asano's domain to Kira and orders Asano's daughter Mika (Ko Shibasaki), Kai's love, to marry Kira after a year of mourning. Asano counselor Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada) spends a year in jail, then frees Kai from slavery as a combatant. Regretting his earlier acquiescence to such injustice, Oishi now plans to lead Asano's former samurai to illegal revenge on Kira before the wedding. Since ronin are considered honorless, they become more amenable to accepting help from Kai, who really does know a thing or two about demons....

John Wick (2014)

Sometimes when traveling, I choose movies I expect not to get too invested in, just in case I miss part of it due to technical difficulties, lack of time, or tiredness. I had already heard this movie summarized as one man killing many men to avenge his dog, which probably wouldn't resonate with me. Nevertheless, it's pretty popular and will soon have a third sequel, so I thought there might be more to it than the summary suggested.

Well, yes, to a point. First, the dog killers also beat John (Keanu Reeves) up at his home and steal his rare fancy car. Second, the dog was a posthumous gift from his late wife (Bridget Moynahan) and thus something of an extension of her. Third, little did they know that John was a legendary hitman, an underworld bogeyman à la Keyser Söze, having retired only for the sake of settling down with his wife. Fourth, lead thug Iosef (Alfie Allen) is the son of a Russian mafia leader, Viggo (Michael Nyqvist), who tries to kill John preemptively to protect Iosef. Once you know all this, it's little surprise that John is willing to kill anyone who stands between him and retaliation.

Toy Story 4 (2019)

To me, the Toy Story series has been almost the antithesis of the Cars series. TS1, while flawed, was destined for classic status. TS2, while not feeling necessary, outdid it in my book. TS3, which I had long assumed would never happen, became my all-time favorite animated feature (tho I may revise that assessment with further viewings). Could TS4 continue the pattern?

A mere two years after the events of TS3, old toy cowboy Sheriff Woody (Tom Hanks) has lost favor with owner Bonnie, who's starting kindergarten. He's taking this decline better than he did in TS1, but his way of coping is to support Bonnie clandestinely against the advice of others; like the emotions in Inside Out, he prioritizes nothing over the happiness of "his kid." With his guidance, she makes an ugly yet fairly impressive arts-and-crafts toy named Forky (Tony Hale), who initially doesn't have the mindset for a sapient toy at all. By the time Forky's getting cooperative, Woody's eyes stray to a familiar sight in an antiques shop window, giving him a riskier new priority and prompting buddy Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) to go on his own rescue mission....

Mifune: The Last Samurai (2015)

I had seen Toshirō Mifune in a dozen films, only one of them not directed by Akira Kurosawa. Even when he's not the main character, he has a habit of capturing our attention. So I accepted the Meetup invitation to a documentary about him, tho my dad declined.

Actually, this isn't entirely about Mifune. Before getting into even his parentage and infancy (with cute photos care of his professional photographer dad), the doc presents the earliest history of motion pictures in Japan, with a focus on silent, Noh-inspired samurai shorts. I'm somewhat impressed that clips survive in any capacity. Late in the doc, we learn a little about the career of Kurosawa in the absence of Mifune.

The Devil's Advocate (1997)

Still watching vaguely Halloweeny movies, am I? That comes of neglecting to rearrange my queue in time. It's also a movie I initially marked "Not interested," probably because I wanted to make time for something else, not because I expected to dislike it. Was it worth adding? I think so, but you'll notice that's hardly a strong answer.

Two years before Keanu played a super pseudo-messiah in The Matrix and three years after his turn as a heroic cop in Speed, he starred as law-abiding yet rather corrupt lawyer Kevin Lomax in DA (heh, appropriate abbreviation). Of course, the real draw for viewers must be Al Pacino as suspiciously named CEO John Milton, who takes a special interest in Lomax and his nigh inexplicably perfect track record. I hardly call it a spoiler that Milton creates steam by sticking his finger in holy water; the posters alone give a big hint to his identity, even if it takes Lomax most of the 2 hours and 24 minutes to catch on.