Luck: Peggy Holmes directed this animated feature film, the first from production company Skydance Animation, founded by Toy Story director and all-around Disney/Pixar king John Lassetter after his 2018 departure over “inappropriate workplace behavior.” Was the first swing without the Mouse a home run? Well, no – not really. The animation budget was there but it was lacking things like interesting characters, funny jokes, a compelling story… **1/2
Prey: I hadn’t seen a Predator movie before this one, but I quite enjoyed this prequel that follows a Native American girl from the 1700s who runs into an early version of Predator. The lack of context and lore was actually a plus here – ship appears, Predator arrives, let’s freaking go. ****
Thirteen Lives: Ron Howard is such a talented and earnest director and here he competently made an earnest movie. But: WHY? From the moment news hit that a young soccer team was stuck in a cave, it was not only obvious that a movie would follow but that the end result would feel unnecessary. And here… we… were. In between long stretches of a meticulous underwater cave rescue, a big-hitter trio of Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell and Joel Edgerton talked to each other in office spaces a lot. Rarely did any of it get interesting, insightful, anything. **1/2
I Love My Dad: As the “Dad” in the title and as he usually does, Patton Oswalt really went for it. Otherwise there’s only so much to be done with the “dad catfishes son” premise, even when it’s based on a true story. **3/4
Secret Headquarters: This Paramount+ superhero movie was based on an original story, so though it wasn’t great everyone involved should get some credit. It reminded me a little of Spy Kids, which was trying more things and had more ideas than your average kid superhero movie, but not enough managed to jump out other than Owen Wilson’s charisma – and you’re getting that charisma in almost any other Owen Wilson movie. **3/4
