The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)

I wanted something different from my usual viewings, and I found it. It's rare enough to have movies set in Africa; it's rarer still that their protagonist is a Black African. This one doesn't even have any White characters to my recollection.

In the early 2000s, Wimbe, a Malawi village, is devastated by flood and then drought. The Kamkwamba family, headed by father Trywell (Chiwetel Ejiofor, who also wrote and directed for the first time), will have trouble farming enough food to get by, especially when neighbors resort to theft. They also can't afford the fee to keep 13-year-old William (Maxwell Simba) in school. But by sneaking into the school library, William learns enough to assemble a wind turbine, using a bicycle part among others, to meet both water and energy needs -- if only he can persuade Trywell and others to have faith and help him.

Superman (2025)

The reason I waited this long to watch was that the friend I wanted to accompany was busy. It was no longer in a nearby theater, so we streamed it. On the plus side, that let us pause as needed during the 129 minutes. I wasn't entirely sure we'd like it anyway; its reception has been mostly positive, but I knew of some complaints.

Little did I suspect that the previews starting with a badly wounded Superman (David Corenswet) reflected the actual start of the movie, in medias res. Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) has quite a few minions in play, including engineers and, well, the Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría), whose bodily nanomachines allow versatile abilities. Behind the scenes, Lex has been fomenting a war between two fictitious nations -- the invasive Boravia, led by Vasil Ghurko (Zlatko Burić), and poor Jarhanpur -- both to enrich himself selling weapons and to lure the Last Son of Krypton into making controversial interventions. But the general public doesn't turn against Earth's mightiest hero until Lex's discovery of a shocking message from the Kryptonian parents (Bradley Cooper and Angela Sarafyan)....

To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018)

For some reason, it seems I've watched more comedy-dramas centered on girls or young women from 2018 or thereabout than from other periods. Here's one more. Only later did I learn that it launched a series.

The movie doesn't make the setting clear, but the Jenny Han novel specifies modern Virginia. Lara Jean Song-Covey (Lana Condor), 16, sometimes called LJ, has been largely keeping to herself. She used to write letters to multiple crushes and put them in addressed envelopes without sending them. To her mortification, the letters "somehow" get out, as she discovers when Peter (Noah Centineo) tells her he's not ready to date her. By this time, she's not that interested in him either. They nevertheless work out an agreement to fake a relationship, because he wants to make his ex, Gen (Emilija Baranac), jealous and LJ has almost the opposite goal: to dissuade Josh (Israel Broussard), recently dumped by her older sister, Margot (Janel Parrish), from pursuing LJ in the wake of the letter he received. Perhaps neither Peter nor LJ knows the phrase "Fake it till you make it."

LJ has had five crushes, but only two really matter for this story. Lucas (Trezzo Mahoro) turns out to be gay, so he serves only as a confidant for LJ. The other two don't go to the same school, and one doesn't even show up in the sequels. To me, this overcomplication was the main sign of a basis in a book.

I considered adding a "racial" tag, because a few moments call attention to the Korean half of LJ's heritage, but it doesn't affect the plot or even the humor much. Nobody alludes to Asian stereotypes, even when LJ drives poorly. Nor does anyone raise an eyebrow at the prospect of interracial romance. Only a conversation about the political incorrectness of Sixteen Candles stands out.

Cracked.com pointed out how many romantic comedies center on "monsters." I wouldn't go that far this time. In addition to the whole charade, LJ does wrong in effectively ghosting Margot and Josh, and she gets overly furious at her kid sister, Kitty (Anna Cathcart). I have some idea of why Josh sees Peter as a jerk jock. But neither member of the not-so-fake couple appalls me. Gen strikes me as meaner, and even she's not a caricature.

Things are so formulaic that I rarely came anywhere close to surprise. This might also explain why I rarely came anywhere close to chuckling. Fortunately, it works as a fairly credible love story. At any given time, it's hard to gauge how much LJ and Peter like each other unless they're being earnestly passionate. I did end up rooting for them to make it work.

TAtBILB earns its slightly above-average IMDb rating. None of it's likely to be new to you, but the 99 minutes won't drag.

Flushed Away (2006)

The very starting premise of a rat going down a toilet turned me off, but an acquaintance assured me the excremental gags are very few and relatively tasteful. He also found the movie moderately funny, especially for the running(?) gag of a cappella slugs. I still didn't get the gumption to watch until Netflix said it would stop streaming at the end of the month.

In modern Kensington, ratty Roddy (Hugh Jackman, playing at least two Brits that year) seems to enjoy life as a pet who gets the ritzy apartment to himself for most of the day. Then a slovenly sewer rat (Shane Richie) moves in, and Roddy's attempt to return him to the sewer backfires. Roddy ends up in a bustling underground town with a mostly rodent population. He takes advice to seek the assistance of sailor Rita (Kate Winslet) in getting home, but first they must contend with having run afoul of The Toad (Ian McKellen), a mob boss with a chronic hate-on for rats despite some of them (Andy Serkis, Bill Nighy, and Christopher Fairbank) being his underlings.

Bad Shabbos (2024)

This saw limited release in December last year, as reflected by a Christmas tree on screen, but got wide release in late May. Now a local theater has been hosting a Jewish film festival. Thanks to my mom for calling my attention while I'm in the area.

Observant Jew David (Jon Bass) is engaged to Meg (Meghan Leathers), who is preparing to convert. He invites her and her Wisconsin Catholic parents, John (John Bedford Lloyd) and Beth (Catherine Curtin) to a Friday night dinner at the New York City apartment of his parents, Ellen (Kyra Sedgwick) and Irv (Stephen Singer), where they'll also meet his brother, Adam (Theo Taplitz); his sister, Abby (Milana Vayntrub); and Abby's boyfriend, Benjamin (Ashley Zukerman). Perhaps it's just as well that Meg's parents are running late, because Adam pulls a prank that accidentally kills Benjamin. Not wishing to get Adam in trouble, his family conspires with Meg and friendly doorman Jordan (Cliff "Method Man" Smith) to hide Benjamin, hurry dinner along, and whisk Benjamin to his apartment before a less friendly doorman (Alok Tewari) starts his shift.

Midway (1976)

I considered saving the last U.S. war movie left on my list for a patriotic holiday, much as I like to save horrors for October. But in all likelihood, I wouldn't remember on time. Besides, I was already in the mood for something very different from what else I'd seen lately.

The story begins with the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in April '42. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (Tohiro Mifune overdubbed by Paul Frees) sees it as a blessing in disguise, because now his superiors will give him carte blanche for his next move. Soon after, U.S. intelligence staff supervised by Commander Joseph Rochefort (Hal Holbrook) and monitored by composite character Captain Matthew Garth (Charlton Heston) find inconclusive evidence that Japan's next target is Midway Atoll. By the time of the eponymous battle in June, U.S. naval forces are not fully prepared and consider themselves the underdog.

Man on Fire (2004)

Not to be confused with Man on Wire, this title had turned me off for a long time. When I saw that I could watch it free on Hulu, I looked it up and found that it was much better received by the general audience than by critics. That gets me curious.

Since holding rich kids for ransom is rampant in Mexico, troubled ex-Marine John Creasy (Denzel Washington), at the advice of a buddy (Christopher Walken), becomes a bodyguard to Lupita or "Pita" (Dakota Fanning), preteen daughter of automaker Samuel Ramos (Marc Anthony). At first he is highly standoffish, but as she urges him to be as sociable as others, he learns to like her. Of course, this wouldn't be much of a story if he never failed at his job....

The Sugarland Express (1974)

When I saw that this was about to leave Netflix, I finally got curious about it. I knew only that it was the first wide-release feature directed by Steven Spielberg and probably the most popular of the few that I hadn't seen, most of which are from early in his career. Indeed, I doubt he was a household name before Jaws. Would I even recognize his style?

In Texas, twenty-something Clovis Poplin (William Atherton) is eight months into a one-year sentence. His wife, Lou Jean (Goldie Hawn), has her own criminal record and thus has lost custody of their toddler son. Clovis reluctantly agrees to her plan to bust him out, drive to Sugarland, reclaim their son illegally, and head to Mexico. Phase 1 goes smoothly, but then their driver gets pulled over for reasons unrelated to the passengers. One thing leads to another, and for most of the picture, the Poplins hold Patrolman Maxwell Slide (Michael Sacks) hostage, followed from a slight distance by dozens of cops under cautious Captain Tanner (Ben Johnson).

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.

Now You See Me (2013)

When I picked this out, I did not know that it had a threequel coming this year. I just wanted something rather different from what else I'd been watching lately. This one has been moderately popular among the general viewership, but critics are almost evenly split on it.

An anonymous, faceless source assembles four magicians -- famous card trickster Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), backmailing mentalist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), escape artist Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), and pocket- and lock-picking prestidigitator Jack Wilder (Dave Wilder) -- to pull off a series of heists in exchange for membership in an elite society. They're actually quite open about parts of it, working robbery into their stage shows and winning mass approval as Robin Hood types by paying the live audience; the authorities can't easily prosecute them without insinuating a belief in real magic. FBI Agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) is assigned to catch them somehow, with help from INTERPOL's Alma Dray (Mélanie Laurent) and possibly from long-time debunker Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman).