The Photograph: Decent love story with an excellent twist and excellent serious performances from two traditionally comedic actors. ***1/2
Downhill: Like an actual adult movie with two 50-year-olds taking their family on vacation and doing 50-year-old stuff. As an early 30s new father, I’m a little weirded out at how much I appreciated it. Not laugh out funny, but also a good mature occasionally funny movie. ***1/2
The Call of the Wild: I can’t turn down any movie about a dog named “Buck,” even if for all the adventure I’m not sure there was any excitement. All the actors ham it up and in the end I was charmed. ***
Artemis Fowl: This was just silly. A movie made by people so far removed from reality they aren’t even having fun with stuff that isn’t supposed to be based in reality. *1/2
Shirley: Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” 100% got me as a kid, and I had no idea what to expect going into this but I think it delivered. Elizabeth Moss is being weird as hell and they managed to deliver a movie that, though confusing and occasionally off-putting, felt like an actual Jackson story. ***3/4
