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Dragnet is the story two LA cops that couldn't be more different from each other personality wise that - due to time - not only learn how to work together but like each other like brothers do!! Playing the role of the by-the-book straight cop is Friday played by comedy veteran Dan Aykroyd whose first partner has just retired and has now just been assigned a new parter who is almost half his age and is living the good life named Pep Streebek played by American treasure Tom Hanks. Aykroyd and Hanks are comedy gold as they first meet and start on the few assignments that they are given. One assignment leads to another and eventually the ultimate odd couple are tasked with investigating a major property damage case at a "Playboy" like magazine in the LA area. It turns out an influential reverend is coming into town that is very much against pornography and is working with a corrupt member of city hall to dupe the "Playboy" like magazine for a lot of money and plans of taking off for South America with it AND Friday's girlfriend but you know of course that Joe Friday and Pep Streebek would not let that happen. There are laughs around every corner of this movie. This is one of Tom Hank's early movies but he is still outstanding in it. There was talk back in the 80's that Aykroyd should have received an Oscar nomination simply for being able to recite all of the California penal codes he was able to recite to suspects but that never came to fruition. All in all Dragnet is a great feel good movie. 7 out of 10 stars!!

Ahsoka is the story of Anakin Skywalker's apprentice Ahsoka Tano who comes back to join the Republic in her own way to train her old apprentice Sabine Wren and hunt down the dangerous Imperial strategist Grand Admiral Thrawn before he can cause more damage to the galaxy!! This review is not a review of one particular episode of the first season but is rather a review of the entire season. It must be said that the lightsaber fights throughout the entire series - no matter who the director of the individual episode was - were absolutely outstanding!! Many people watch Star Wars movies and the subsequent Disney series for the lightsaber fights and this series was the peak and evolution of all off-screen training and technology put into those fights. Bravo Disney and Lucasfilm!! Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano was just acceptable. I know hard core Star Wars fans might not like that review but in terms of fights she was exceptional but when it came down to interacting with other actors like Sabine it really seemed like a dress rehearsal. George Lucas as a director throughout the films he directed demanded his actors to be faster and more intense in their dialogue and actions and I think some of that philosophy could have been used here. Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren was very good. Like with Dawson she handled the sword and blasters well and acted a little bit more intense than Dawson did so I look forward to seeing more of her in future Star Wars projects I hope. Eman Esfandi as Ezra Bridger was a nice late addition to the series. Clearly a drawing force for Sabine it was great to see the pair reunited and Esfandi came across as a strong actor both in terms of his acting and also his strength on the battle field against the Night Storm Troopers in their first attack against Ahsoka, Sabine, Ezra, and those small turtle-like people whose names I can't remember right now. One more theory I want to throw out there before I wrap this review up I think that it is very possible that Thrawn and the Night Sisters were at that plant to harvest enough bodies to build that red Sith Army to give to Emperor Palpatine to present to Kylo Ren for his attack against the Resistance in the movie The Rise of Skywalker later on in the timeline. It's just a fan theory that could be proven correct in future Ahsoka seasons or future movie projects. It's a good series that is worth your time that every true Star Wars fan needs to see. 7 out of 10 stars!! Go see it!!

Clear and Present Danger is the story of how a CIA operative gets caught up in the Columbian drug war and Washington DC political scene at the same time and comes out on top in both. That CIA Operative is Jack Ryan in this movie based on the book written by Tom Clancy and the main character in the movie is played by legendary American actor Harrison Ford (Star Wars, Blade Runner, Witness) who has shared the Jack Ryan character with other distinguished actors including Alec Baldwin but plays this Ryan to total success!! In the beginning of the movie Ryan is simply a Deputy at the CIA behind his boss Admiral Greer played wonderfully up until his death in the movie by James Earl Jones (Field of Dreams) who Ford also performs with in a way in the Original Star Wars films as James Earl Jones famously voices the lines of the evil lord Darth Vader in the film saga!! As this story picks up we learn that some friends of the President of the United States of America have been killed and after some failed diplomacy even more Americans are killed attempting to arrest those that are guilty. This forces the President to illegally send in a bunch of commandos into Columbia to take care of the situation secretly without the go ahead of Congress and when funds are shut off for the brave men Jack Ryan must get involved to go save what are prisoners now and later on stand up to the President for going about his business incorrectly. Clear and Present Danger was great film back in 1994 and it is still a great film today!! Harrison Ford gives a tour de force performance and Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man) as his military point man in Columbia is spot on!! It's a thrilling movie with excitement around every twist and turn!! Phillip Noyce did a terrific job directing this film that took place at several locales throughout the world and blended a couple different cultures of people to tell a sophisticated story. Talented composer James Horner wrote and performed a very good soundtrack that complimented the story very well. Bernie Pollack costume designed all of the different characters from different countries very well including military personnel. Clear and Present Danger was rated PG-13 back in 1994 when it was first released. It ran two hours and twenty-one minutes. If you like Tom Clancy movies, Harrison Ford movies, or military movies then this is the film for you!! 7 out of 10 stars!!

Ferris Bueller's Day Off is an American movie comic classic written and directed by the late John Hughes starring Matthew Broderick (The Producers) that tells the tale of one day in the life of three friends where one of the friends decides to take a sick day from high school and bring the other two friends along. Joining Broderick - who plays Ferris in the movie - on his day off is his buddy Cameron Frye played by Alan Ruck (Twister) and girlfriend Sloane Peterson performed nicely by Mia Sara (Timecop). Ferris Bueller's Day Off is the ultimate day off from school comedy and will go down in cinematic history as Broderick's most definitive film should he not pull out a Godfather or some other type of movie like that in his remaining years. Like I wrote early on, the story centers around how Ferris orchestrates a day off from school with his friends as they visit all of the impressive attractions in downtown Chicago with Ferris even becoming one of the attractions as part of the Octoberfest parade late in the movie!! The movie is fun, memorable, has heart, and is just great to watch if you want to pick up your spirits!! It is designed for a wide audience not just late teens. As I wrote before the late John Hughes wrote and directed this movie and he did a terrific job doing so!! Hughes was born in Michigan but spent his high school years living just outside Chicago which no doubt had a great effect on his professional directing and writing career with films like Christmas Vacation, The Breakfast Club, and this movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Hughe's did an outstanding job both writing and directing this film!! Ira Newborn did a terrific job composing a score that complimented every part of the film. There were highs and lows to the film as there are to about every film and Newborn covered them nicely!! Marilyn Vance did a nice job costuming all of the characters in the film!! Ferris Bueller's Day Off received a PG-13 rating when it was released in 1986. It runs one hour and forty-three minutes. If you like John Hughes films, Matthew Broderick films, great American comedies, then this is the film for you!! Eight out of ten stars!!

Ticket to Paradise is the story of young woman just out of college that goes to a beautiful island with her friend and falls in love with one of the native islanders there. The two young people fall in love so much so that they decide to get married and the young woman, Lily Cotton - played nicely by Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart), calls her parents Georgia Cotton - performed by Academy Award Winner Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman) and David Cotton, played by George Clooney (Batman and Robin) to fly down to the island to give their blessing and be a part of the wedding ceremony. Lily's parents are divorced and are somewhat scorned by life in their relationships both personally and professionally and are determined to break this relationship where it stands before it gets any further since Lily has yet to experience much life just getting out of college. Unbelievably this is where a lot of the fun and comedy begins when Georgie and David get to the island. The older couple of course meets Gede, Lily's fiancé played well by Maxine Bouttier (Meet Me After Sunset) who does his best to traditionally impress the parents but after a bunch of hilarious chain of events the group eventually accepts each other, the young couple gets married, and the odd divorced couple of Georgia and David decide to move to the island permanently at the end as friends! Ticket to Paradise is a good movie. It's the perfect movie to pop on the streaming service during the middle of the week where there is nothing else on or to break up you typical TV routine. It is very funny in parts and both Roberts and Clooney are very good in it. Ol Parker did a nice job directing the film, it probably wasn't very hard directing the film in such a desirable location. Parker and Daniel Pipski wrote a very funny screenplay that came across nicely in this movie. Lorne Balfe composed a competent score that augmented to a very likable movie. Lizzie Gardiner costumed all actors - natives and non-natives - very well throughout the movie. Ticket to Paradise was rated PG-13 when it was released in 2022. It runs one hour and forty-four minutes. If you like Julia Roberts movies, George Clooney movies, or rom-coms then this is the movie for you. 6 out of 10 stars!

Rush Hour is the story of how a detective from Hong Kong and a police officer from Los Angeles work together to free a kidnapped young girl and unravel a crime syndicate at the same time. The detective from Hong Kong's name is Lee and he is played by internationally known martial arts actor Jackie Chan (Who Am I?). As mentioned above Lee is not alone on his quest to free the young girl and put a cramp in the crime syndicate's plans as he is joined by American comedic talent and actor Chris Tucker (Silver Linings Playbook) who is absolutely hilarious in this movie! Together the pair make a gut busting funny odd couple who by movie's end get the job done. Things are not as they appear to be in this movie though as the good guys are not necessarily good so that is something to watch for throughout the film. Rush Hour is a great movie, it is the first movie that I remember seeing Chris Tucker in a starring role. He had a very minor role in 1997's Jackie Brown but to me this is the movie where Tucker really stepped to the forefront and made a name for himself alongside Chan - one of the biggest, if not the biggest actors to come out of Asia - at the time. The film is absolutely hilarious and led to a series of sequels that were good but not quite as good as this one in my opinion. There is also tons of martial arts in this movie thanks to Chan, one of the greatest martial arts actors of all-time! Director Brett Ratner did a nice job directing a story that panned the Pacific and involved a large cast. Ross LaManna and Jim Kouf both wrote a very funny screenplay for two very different lead actors. Lalo Schifrin composed an interesting soundtrack that augment the movie. Sharen Davis costumed the actors appropriately. Rush Hour received a PG-13 rating when it was released in 1998. It runs one hour and thirty-eight minutes. If you like great comedies, martial arts movies, Chris Tucker or Jackie Chan movies then this is the film for you! 7 out of 10 stars!

Wonder Woman is the story of how a woman with powers given by Greeks Gods goes and joins a mortal man to travel to Europe during World War I to help the Allies defeat the Germans in the war that was supposed to end all wars. This woman with special powers name is Diana Prince, and she is played by Gal Gadot (Red Notice). To movie goers she is known as Wonder Woman, but in the movie she is simply known as Diana. Diana is on a quest personally to defeat Ares, the Greek God of War in this movie who she believes is also is in the human form of a high ranking German officer known as Ludendorff played by Danny Huston (The Aviator). The two clash in a titanic battle at the end of the movie but their struggle of good versus evil is a theme throughout the film. Diana is not alone in her fight against the Germans as she is joined by Allied soldier Steve Trevor played nicely by Chris Pine (Star Trek) who crashes his plane just off the coast of Diana's island early in the film leading to his rescue and the meeting of the two stars. Diana and Steve are joined by Sameer, played by Said Taghmaoui (G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra), Charlie - performed by Ewen Bremner (T2 Trainspotting), and The Chief - played by Eugene Brave Rock (The Revenant) who all nicely compliment the pair of leaders in the field as they traverse the European countryside looking for Ludendorff and an end to World War I. Wonder Woman is a great movie, it was revolutionary when it was first released some six years ago and is still a great film today! It is the type of film that people go to the movies for, it's fun, it's well done, it's well written, and it's semi-based in reality that makes it even more fun at least to me! Patty Jenkins did a great job directing it, she spanned the gauntlet covering action all the way from the Greek ages to modern society. Allan Heinberg, Zack Snyder, Jason Fuchs, William Moulton Marston, and Harry G. Peter all did a great job combining to write a daring script that inspired and entertained at the same time. Rupert Gregson-Williams wrote a soundtrack that we will enjoy for years and a Wonder Woman theme that we will not mistake! Lindy Hemming did an outstanding job costuming the VERY different characters from Amazon warriors to German soldiers. Wonder Woman received a PG-13 rating when it was released in 2017. It runs two hours and twenty-one minutes. If you like great action movies, Greek or Amazonian movies, Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot or Chris Pine movies then this is the movie for you. 7 out of 10 stars!!

Stephen Curry: Underrated is the complete story of the life of one Stephen Curry all the way from his very early years growing up to his latest championship with the Golden State Warriors at the end of the 2021-2022 NBA season. It is told in a documentary style that goes back and fourth from his early adolescent years with his family to his rise to national attention at Davidson University in North Carolina, finally to his most recent success with the Warriors in the NBA. While the documentary does good a job of covering all of Curry's life with interviews from some influential members of his family including dad and former NBA player Dell, mom Sonya, and grandmother Candy Adams it also includes takes from friends and former NBA star Reggie Miller, and current NBA stars Kevin Durant and Draymond Green. The documentary finally features many interviews from Davidson head coach Bob McKillop, a very influential figure throughout Steph's life. The documentary is organized really well and the picture quality for non-archived footage is top notch! The creative team that put this work together was even able to clean up over ten year old footage of Steph Curry and Davidson games in 2007 very well and clear to see for this documentary so kudos to them on their work on this part of the documentary. While this piece covers the entire court about Steph's success in life it mainly focuses on his success and struggles he had at Davidson university, the academic institution that really put Curry on the map and helped him start his game-changing NBA career by making the three-point shot "the thing." The Curry documentary ends on a nice note by coming full circle with Steph coming back to Davidson years after leaving school one year early to depart for the draft to receive his diploma by returning to school for the special ceremony. He also had his number retired on that same night at Davidson, a school that only retires numbers of athletes if they graduate. Peter Nicks did a nice job directing this documentary, it was organized and interesting throughout. Nathan Matthew David did a fine job with the soundtrack to the documentary, it nicely complimented the flow of the footage and was not overwhelming. Stephen Curry: Underrated is rated PG-13 this year the year it was released in 2023 and runs one hour and fifty minutes. If you like basketball, rooting for the little guy, Davidson University, Steph Curry, or the Golden State Warriors then this is the documentary for you. 7 out of 10 stars.

Gladiator is the story of a man that is a General in the Roman Empire who, due to circumstances, gets ousted from the Roman Empire and loses his family and has all of his Earthly possessions burned to the ground becoming a slave to a traveling band. In this traveling band the leader of it recognizes that this former General, played terrifically for the Academy Award for best actor that year by Australian actor Russell Crowe (Les Miserables) is strong enough to fight in the gladiator fights for him so a gladiator he becomes. Maximus' - that's the General's name - journey is not yet complete though as different districts throughout the Roman Empire hear of this great gladiator and his compatriots and want to see him so it's off to the Coliseum in Rome for the "Spaniard" - that's his name at the time - and his team to go. This is where the the story eventually comes to a glorious end as Maximus gets revenge at the end by killing Commodus - the sitting Roman Emperor - played extremely well by Academy Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor for that performance by Joaquin Phoenix (Joker) who eventually gets killed in Rome's fabled circular arena. Commodus' unjust ways and his orders to kill Maximus at the beginning of the movie eventually come to public light at this time of the movie as Maximus sets things straight before the film comes to a close. Gladiator is a great movie, a generational movie that inspires movies afterwards to be like it!! The performances by Crowe, Phoenix, and Connie Nielsen (One Hour Photo) as Lucilla the sister of Phoenix's character and love interest of Crowe are absolutely fantastic, perhaps the best of their lives!! The action by Crowe and the other gladiators in the Coliseum are first rate, it's extremely realistic and the production team did not hold anything back!! Ridley Scott did a fantastic job directing this movie, he took an extremely talented cast and got the best out of them to make a classic film!! David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson all wrote a story that could have been ripped from the headlines of real history and adapted for the screen but told a story that as just as realistic and equally entertaining anyway!! Lisa Gerrard and Hans Zimmer knocked the ball out of the park as far as composing a soundtrack that highlighted the ups and downs of this movie - top notch!! Janty Yates did an excellent job costuming all of the different characters and classes of characters interspersed throughout the film. Gladiator was rated R when it was released in 2000 and runs two hours and thirty-five minutes. If you love great movies, classics, Roman military movies, Academy Award winning movies, Russell Crowe films or Joaquin Phoenix movies then this is the film for you. It receives my very rare 9 out of 10 stars.

Transformers: The Last Knight is the story of how Autobot leader Optimus Prime, the "Last Knight" to the date of this story, saves Earth and what remains of his dying planet Cybertron before the two massive hulks collide with each other!! The metallic CGI character Prime is not alone on his quest to save the Earth as he is joined by several of his metallic buddies and Cade Yeager, an inventor from Texas that was introduced to Transformer's movie fans in the previous installation of the franchise and has helped Optimus and the tide of good save the Earth and humanity twice now counting this victory over Megatron and his evil Decepticons!! Yeager is played well by all-around good guy Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter) who is guided by Sir Edmund Burton played nicely by Anthony Hopkins (The Edge) and assisted in the field by Vivian Wembly played very well by Laura Haddock (Captain America: The First Avenger). Action, swords, laser shots, BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPES that you will not see in a lot of other action movies are draped throughout this beautiful movie. The Last Knight, as I will be calling this movie for the remainder of this review, is a good film, it is just not a great film. Like a just wrote the seeming endless landscapes at the last 45-minute mark of the movie are absolutely breathtaking, I don't think I've seen anything like it in any other movie in my life!! But then again there were no major improvements to the look of Optimus Prime or Megatron, they still looked like the garbage pile of spare parts that they looked like in the original Transformers and not the smooth version we saw as kids in the cartoons. Give Michael Bay and the producer credit for consistency but it would have been nice to see Optimus Prime actually look like Optimus Prime from the cartoons. Michael Bay, as usual, did a fantastic job directing this movie. Bay always does a fantastic job directing whatever movie he chooses to do and this one was no exception. Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, Ken Nolan, and Akiva Goldsman all did an acceptable job with the script, the storyline was interesting and it led to an interesting conclusion. Steve Jablonsky did a fine job with the soundtrack, nothing special but it served the purpose of complimenting all of the action on-screen. Lisa Lovaas did a fine job costuming the human characters, this was not an easy task considering she had to costume dark aged warriors of around the 1400's and then make the time jump to modern day times when the story called for it but Lovaas' work was more than acceptable. The Last Knight was rated PG-13 when it was released in 2017 and runs two hours and thirty-four minutes. If you like the Transformers, are a fan of Mark Wahlberg, or Sir Anthony Hopkins work then this is the movie for you. Otherwise pass on it. 6 out of 10 stars.

The Out-Laws is a story of how far would you go for love as a young man is introduced to his in-laws for the first time but it turns out that his in-laws are actually criminals that rob banks and on this sordid mission the young man's bride to be goes missing to a gang leader who they eventually get back after the son teams up with his in-laws in order to rob banks for the gang leader making them all "Out-Laws" in this wild and hilarious action comedy!! The young man that puts it all on the line is funny man Adam Devine (Pitch Perfect) who plays bank manager Owen Browning and in this movie is a matter of days away from marrying his beautiful wife Parker McDermott, played nicely by actress Nina Dobrev (The Perks of Being a Wallflower). The one catch to the wedding though is that Owen has not yet met Parker's parents and when he does all the trouble starts to happen as I briefly described above. Parker's Dad is played by internationally known actor Pierce Brosnan (James Bond: Tomorrow Never Dies) and his mother is played well by Ellen Barkin (The Fan) and together the two make a too cool for school, butt kicking, crime couple that we get to know through the course of the movie. Of course at first Parker's parents appear as just protective parents to Owen but after Parker is kidnapped by Rehan Zakaryan played by Poorna Jagannathan (The Night Of) Parker's parents skills really kick into gear!! The Out-Laws is a really funny movie with some great action in it. It is not expected to be taken too seriously, it's simply a fun way to pass about an hour and half with friends and family seeing this poor young man go through the strangest of situations all in the name of love. It's also a lot of fun to see the fifth James Bond back in action again, there's even a joke about halfway through the movie that make's reference to Brosnan playing the fifth James Bond. Tyler Spindel did a great job directing a fun movie with a very diverse cast. Ben Zazove and Evan Turner did a fine job writing the script that was - at times - a bit crude but was sprinkled with comedy throughout. Rupert Gregson-Williams did a nice job with the soundtrack, clearly the comedy and the action was the name of the game for this movie but the music helped the movie flow. Jordanna Fineberg did a nice job costuming all of the characters, the actors looked the part they played. The Out-Laws received and R rating the year it was released this year in 2023 and runs one hour and thirty-five minutes. If you enjoy action, comedy, Adam Devine or Pierce Brosnan movies then this is the movie for you. 6 out of 10 stars!!

65 is the story of an Astronaut that takes a job in order to earn enough money to pay for a medical operation to make his daughter healthier only to have a grand tragedy on the voyage where he has to crash land on the planet Earth during the days of the dinosaurs. Lucky for him he is resourceful enough, and motivated enough by teaming up with a young girl the same age as his daughter on his flight to make it off the perilous planet and back to space and home (we imagine) at the end!! The Astronaut's name is Mills and in this movie he is played by Hollywood rising star Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) who plays a compassionate, tough, and determined young man who fights off dinosaurs large and small all on his trek from the destroyed ship to the suitable flying back-up cruiser beyond a high mountain. As I mentioned before Mills is not on his own as he is accompanied by a very young girl named Koa played by Ariana Greenblatt (Love and Monsters) who, unfortunately for the pair does not speak the same language as Mills but has an inner toughness and equal determination about her to carry on that allows the pair to survive in the face of chaos!! 65 is a good movie and is worth seeing if you like sci-fi or Adam Driver films. With the flood of dinosaurs in it there is a lot of "Jurassic Park" feel to it but this time you are really rooting for the good guys to put the dinos down so they can survive!! The action in the film is very good, Driver will win an Academy Award some day for either his action or his dramatic movies or a combination of the two but in this one he was just very good as the care taker of the young girl and the hero of the story. It was a nice performance by Driver. Scott Beck and Bryan Woods both did a nice job directing this film. They took two major concepts, dinosaurs and living in the space era, and blended them nicely into a movie. Beck and Woods also did a nice job writing the script for this movie, it was entertaining and flowed well throughout. Chris Bacon and legendary composer Danny Elfman did a terrific job on the soundtrack, you knew you were enjoying a sci-fi movie by the tones of the tunes. Michael Kaplan did a fine job with the costuming throughout the movie, there were few actors and costume changes but with what there were Kaplan was spot on. 65 received a PG-13 rating when it was released this year in 2023, runs one hour and thirty-three minutes, and again is worth seeing if you are a sci-fi fan or fan of Adam Driver. 6 out of 10 stars!!

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is the fifth and final Indiana Jones movie featuring Harrison Ford (Star Wars, Witness, Blade Runner) in the series of movies about an American Archeologist who, in this story, travels all over the globe at different times with different generations of friends to track down the Dial of Destiny, a tool that was made by the great Greek mathematician Archimedes during his time to allegedly travel through time in order to augment to knowledge. Jones is not alone on his quest to gain the parts of the Dial of Destiny as he is joined by Hollywood rising star Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Solo) who plays Indiana's Goddaughter Helena who is also the daughter of one of the men that Jones was originally assigned to work with when he was initially tasked to go after valuable artifacts during World War II. The pair, along with newcomer Ethann Isidore (Mortel) who plays young Teddy, make for an interesting cross-generational group that has each other's back around each perilous corner and has enough trust in each other to see the mission through!! The Dial of Destiny, as I will be calling the movie for the remainder of this review, is a tremendous movie!! It took courage for the writers to introduce time travel into an Indiana Jones film after many long-time fans complained about the unbelievability of aliens at the end of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull but like Indy says in the movie all it comes down to is how hard do you believe!! Plus time travel really was one of the mystical topics that the writers of the Indy series had not touched on yet and they did it here!! James Mangold did a fine job directing this film, it could not have been easy to jump from one era being World War II to the late 1960's and free love all the way back to the days of the Roman Empire in terms of directing a film but Mangold pulled it off flawlessly!! Six writers contributed to write a story that flowed well and had very few lulls in it. Even with Ford in his late 70's age-wise during filming there was great actioning throughout the film and Waller-Bridge certainly someday could take the brown fedora and whip if she wanted to!! The soundtrack by John Williams is outstanding and in my opinion is Oscar worthy!! Joanna Johnston did a fantastic job costuming ALL of the characters from ALL of the eras, no easy task by any means!! The Dial of Destiny received a PG-13 rating when it was released this year in 2023 and ran two hours and twenty-three minutes. Eight out of ten stars!!

Groundhog Day is the story of a Pittsburgh Meteorologist that travels to Punxsutawney Pennsylvania to cover the annual Groundhog Day event only to get caught up in an unbelievable day repeating itself that very much is an allegory to mature male pattern depression until the Meteorologist puts himself on the right track in life and ends up with the girl at the end!! The Pittsburgh weatherman in this story is played wonderfully by treasured American comic Bill Murray (Ghostbusters) who says and does many funny things in this role of a lifetime!! Murray's character is named Phil in the movie and he is literally supported by his love interest in this film named Rita played terrifically by Andie MacDowell (Sex, Lies, and Videotape) who plays Phil's segment producer in the movie. The duo is not alone though, as they are both supported by funnyman Chris Elliot (There's Something About Mary) who performs as Phil's cameraman. For about 85% of the movie Phil wakes up to the same Sono Bono song "I got you Babe," and to the day Ground Hog day. This kind of day continues until he figures things out at the end that he should be improving himself and doing things for Rita and not wasting his time on other base desires. There's more to the film than that of course but self-improvement and doing things for the woman he loves is the driving message. Groundhog Day is a terrific movie!! It is groundbreaking in the sense that such a sensitive topic has never been approached like this before and especially with such comedy but as they say sometimes comedy is the best medicine. Murray is fantastic in this film, very much Oscar worthy and if he doesn't win in the near future he certainly is worthy of a lifetime achievement Oscar!! Harold Ramis did an outstanding job directing this movie, there is all sorts of comedy involved in it from physical comedy to of course traditional verbal comedy and Ramis' command of the actor's situation is unquestioned!! Danny Rubin and Ramis combined to write a script on a sensitive issue that I have touched on in a very approachable way, something that is not easy to do but these two men pulled it off nicely!! George Fenton did a nice job with the soundtrack, it's a classic!! Jennifer Butler did a fine job with the costuming, everyone looked like they belonged in that merry little town!! Groundhog Day received a PG rating when it was released in 1993. It runs one hour and forty-one minutes. Eight out of ten stars!!

Terminator 2: Judgement Day is the story of a Terminator that travels back in time to protect John Connor, leader of the future Resistance, from a new Terminator, one more advanced and deadly than it is!! The older model Terminator once again is played splendidly by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (Predator) who teams up with then newcomer to film Edward Furlong (Detroit Rock City) playing a young John Connor who decides to rescue his mom - performed terrifically once again by LInda Hamilton (Dante's Peak) - from a mental hospital in Southern California!! They accomplish all of this on the run from the T-1000 or newer Terminator!! The T-1000 is played fantastically by actor Robert Patrick (The Faculty) who puts forward an icy, strong, calculating performance!! The T-1000 is much different than the Terminator that Arnold is, it is much, much more of an upgrade. It has the ability to morph into people or weapons that it wants making it a very serious piece de resistance!! Director James Cameron used all of the movie technology he had at the time to show the T-1000 morphing from silver liquid up to a police officer and to other objects to the wonderment of audiences watching!! Terminator 2: Judgement Day is one of my favorite movies of all-time!! Director James Cameron nailed it, he left nothing out of this movie!! Unlike a lot of sequels to successful originals, there is that unfortunate drop off with plot and the rest but with this movie there was not! Camron and William Wisher held nothing back writing this film and they knocked it out of the park!! This film was filled with reality and hope and was stitched with a great moral message that audiences could take to heart!! Brad Fiedel did an outstanding job on the soundtrack again, everybody that knows pop culture show tunes knows the Terminator theme by now!! Marlene Stewart did a great job costuming all of the characters in it including the disintegrating Arnold Terminator character at the end!! Terminator 2: Judgement Day, received an R rating when it was released in 1991. It runs two hours and seventeen minutes. It receives my very rare 9 out of 10 stars!!

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the fourth film in the Indiana Jones movie series featuring American archeologist Indiana Jones as this time he and friends are tasked with finding an alien crystal skull and taking it back to an abandoned ancient South American Indian Kingdom in hopes of freeing his friend from Russian hands in which he does and he also learns a lot more in the process!! Jones once again is played by the terrific Harrison Ford (Star Wars, Witness, Blade Runner) who takes the gun and whip to South America with his - unbeknownst to him at the start of the movie - son played fantastically by Shia LaBeouf (Transformers) who performs Mutt Williams in the film, a sort of street tough, smart, greaser who Indy takes something of a liking too when they first meet at the train tracks in the States. Indy and Mutt aren't alone on their venture to free their friend Professor Oxley - played wonderfully by the late John Hurt (1984) - from Russian hands as Jones' old girlfriend Marianne Ravenwood re-enters the picture in South America and the adventure roars on!! Ravenwood once again is played by the spunky Karen Allen (Starman) and the synergy between she and Indy as far as this movie and Raider of the Lost Ark did not miss a beat!! What would a great chase for jewels or knowledge be without a grand villain, or at least a grand intellectual villain and this movie has that in the woman of Irina Spalko performed by the extremely talented Cate Blanchett (Carol). This really is a good movie, not quite as good as the first three in my opinion but still a good movie. I think when the writers of this movie decided to really go sci-if and bring aliens into the climax that truly stretched our imaginations as an audience and made this Indiana Jones a bit tougher to believe than the first three. Still we all could be proven wrong someday if an actual alien or aliens are proven to have existed or visited this planet. Still it's a fun movie though. Steven Spielberg did a very good job directing this film, they went to many exotic locations and his command of each location was exquisite!! David Koepp, George Lucas, Jeff Nathanson, and Philip Kaufman all did a nice job writing this story I just wish they had stayed away from the alien aspect throughout the film and maybe tried another world religion. Composer John Williams is the best and his work here proves it!! Costume designer Mary Zophres did an outstanding job costuming all of the characters throughout this period piece!! Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull received a PG-13 rating when it was released in 2008. It runs two hours and two minutes. 7 out of 10 stars!!

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is the second movie in the Indiana Jones movie series where the American archeologist crash lands in India and is entrusted by a village of devastated Indians to bring back one of their sacred religious stones and all of their children that have been stolen from them to work in the mines of the nearby Palace/Temple of Doom which Indy does with the help of his friends!! Reprising his role once again is the one and only Harrison Ford (Star Wars, Witness, Blade Runner) who once again dons the brown fedora as Indiana Jones, the American professor who is not afraid to travel the world in search of fortune & glory or in this case just doing the right thing. Joining him on his trip to the Temple of Doom is Kate Capshaw (Black Rain) who plays showgirl turned fish out of water Willie Scott when she gets mixed up with Jones in Shanghai. The two make a comical pair throughout the film, always at odds with each other which leads to a lot of tension between the two but you can tell that each one truly does care for the other. The final part of the trio is one character named Short Round played by recent Academy Award winner Ke Huy Quan whom Indy met on his travels before meeting Willie. Short Round has the utmost loyalty to Jones and when all things seemed dire at one point in the film it was actually Shorty, as they call him in the movie, that broke free and ended up saving Indy and Willie!! The Temple of Doom, as I will be calling this review for the remainder of this article, is a tremendous film!! Indy frees children from oppressive slavery by basically mowing down their enslavers with a sword while Willie and Short Round unlock the children from their bonds. Jones brings back the sacred stone & children to the devastated community and in doing so makes it whole again!! There is a lot more in this film than there was in Raiders in terms of traps and drama, there is a lot more action, a lot more gross stuff (see the dinner with the snake and the frozen monkey brains for dessert and also the Tribal leader pulling the man's heart from his body before they sacrifice him too) more wild jungle animals (snakes, elephants, vampire bats) and in general more hope as that is what Indy and his friends brought to the Indians when they first met at the beginning of the movie!! Director Steven Spielberg was spot on again with this one, you can understand why he wins so many Oscars!! Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz, and George Lucas all combined to write a terrific script that only furthered the franchise!! Composer John Williams is the best, you can see why he wins so many Oscars with his work on this movie!! Anthony Powel did a tremendous job costuming ALL of the different character of this film from Indy, Willie, and Shorty, to the religious zealots, to the British cavalry. The Temple of Doom - the movie again - received a PG rating when it was released in 1984. It runs one hour and fifty-eight minutes. Eight out of ten stars!!

Raiders of the Lost Ark is the story of an American archeologist and his friends that go searching after the Ark of the covenant, the actual Ark that many believe that the prophet Moses placed the 10 commandments in after he descended from Mount Sinai, and they do discover it keeping it out of Nazi hands after the Nazis enjoyed a demonstration of the power of the Ark which they shouldn't have!! Raiders, which I will be calling this review for the remainder of this article, is a spectacular movie, it combines myth with fiction and fact and in doing so brought a new generation of fans out to the theaters to see this film and the series of films to follow it! The American archeologist in the movie is played by none other than Han Solo himself Harrison Ford (Star Wars, Witness, Blade Runner) who will go down in cinematic history as playing two of the most recognizable and beloved characters ever to appear on the silver screen in Han Solo for Star Wars and now Indiana Jones for the series of the same name!! In this movie Ford plays Indiana Jones, a University Professor by day and when he is off on assignment he is one of the best trackers of treasure and artifacts that the United States has to offer for the archeological community!! Joining him on his quest to find the Ark before the Nazis do is his old girlfriend Marion played nicely by the spunky Karen Allen (Starman). Indy and Marion are joined in Cairo Egypt, the burial site of the Ark, by friend and wealthy construction man Sallah played well by John Rhys-Davies (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King). The trio are not without their competition though as leading the intellectual part of the Nazi regime to capture the Ark and deliver it to Hitler is a Frenchmen named Belloq played very well by Paul Freeman (Hot Fuzz). Everybody puts in outstanding performances in this movie and the writing is fantastic!! You can understand why this saga has added legions of fans over the decades!! The action is superb, the soundtrack - by the best man in the business for it in my opinion in John Williams - is simply perfect!! Raiders is the type of movie that every movie should aspire to be like!! Steven Spielberg was simply magnificent directing this film, he took a very young Harrison Ford that had seen some success in two previous Star Wars movies and made him even more successful!! Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas, and Philip Kaufman all combined to write one of the greatest movies of the 1900's, easily in the top 100!! Like I wrote before composer John Williams simply knocked the ball out of the park on the soundtrack, the Indiana Jones theme has become a monicker for sports highlights and the like!! Deborah Nadoolman did an outstanding job with the costuming on this period piece of a story!! Raiders received a PG rating when it was released in 1981. It runs one hour and 55 minutes. My very rare 9 out of 10 stars!!

Never Say Never Again is a James Bond movie but it is a stand alone James Bond movie meaning that it wasn't done by the same studio (United Artists) that has put out the majority of James Bond movies over the years. It is still based on Ian Flemming's characters and his original story for this movie but rather was backed by Warner Bros. Studio and starred very popular James Bond actor Sean Connery (The Rock) in his last appearance as 007. In the story Never Say Never Again, 007 is tasked with traveling to the Bahamas to meet up with a mad man that has placed large scale explosives at high target locales throughout the world!! As I wrote before Bond is performed by the first James Bond ever and many people's favorite British spy the late Sir Sean Connery who performed his last James Bond role here more than admirably taking down villains and saving more than one damsel in distress in heroic fashion even at an advanced age in this film!! The vodka martini drinking smooth man was not alone on his quest to take down madman Maximilian Largo played wonderfully by Krause Maria Brandauer (Out of Africa) as the British spy is joined by one of his American counterparts Felix Leiter, played nicely by the late Bernie Casey (Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure). What would a Bond movie be without it's Bond girls as this film featured two of them, one bad and one good!! The bad first. Working for Largo was Fatima, an extremely intelligent, fit, and attractive brunette who had mixed feelings towards Bond but ultimately had orders to kill him!! Fatima was played by Barbara Carrera (The Island of Dr. Moreau) who played the role well!! The other Bond girl who was mostly the damsel in distress but ultimately delivered the decisive shot at the end was played by relative newcomer Kim Basinger (8 Mile) who performed Domino Petachi very well in the film!! She was a dancer and girlfriend to Largo but eventually danced her way to the heart of Bond!! Never Say Never Again is a very good movie!! Director Irvin Kershner of The Empire Strikes Back fame gave Bond fans everything they want in this film, a lot of action, a lot of great Bond verbal liners, a lot of great Bond gadgets, this movie had it all!! To sum up the directorial duties, Kershner and his team took a lot of what technology had to offer up to 1983 and put it into a realistic 1983 human Earth movie and pulled it off very well!! Six writers combined to write this stand alone Bond film that was exciting and if you include the film in the library of Bond films - which I do - it is one of the best!! Michel Legrand composed a great soundtrack that complimented the action on the screen!! Charles Knode did a fine job costuming every actor in the movie!! Never Say Never Again received a PG rating when it was released in 1983. It runs two hours and fourteen minutes. Six out of 10 stars!!

Vacation is the story of a man that decides to take his family on an All-American vacation from the Midwest to a vacation theme park called "WallyWorld" located in Los Angeles California!! The film is very much patterned after 1983's National Lampoon's Vacation so much so that the man that decided to take his family on this vacation is one Rusty Griswold from the 1983 Vacation who is now all grown up and is played terrifically by Ed Helms (The Office). He, with his wife in the movie Debbie Griswold - performed well by popular TV and movie actress Christina Applegate (Anchorman) - are the next evolution of Clark and Ellen Griswold!! Instead of a boy and a girl to compliment the family Rusty and Debbie have two boys, James and Kevin with ironically Kevin - the much younger and smaller brother - cracking on James - the taller and older brother - physically and verbally throughout most of the movie until James grows up when he meets a girl on the trip and eventually things start to fall more into place between older and younger brother. James is played by Skyler Gisondo (Booksmart) and Kevin is played by Steele Stebbins (A Haunted House 2) in the film. Vacation is really a hilarious movie!! For those of you that thought that Ed Helms may have been a bit stiff on The Office don't worry about that here, Helms is in his element!! He's funny and his comedic timing is perfect!! Applegate is the perfect compliment to Helms as well!! The former Married... with Children star is up front funny and holds nothing back when it comes to the comedy of the movie!! John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein directed a movie that was funny, had heart, and will take you back to that 1983 classic that many love so much!! Goldstein, Daley, and characters created by writer John Hughes made for an interesting new vacation that is novel and hilarious!! Mark Mothersbaugh composed a good and interesting soundtrack that complimented the fun of the movie!! Debra McGuire did a nice job costuming the everyday characters throughout the film!! Vacation received an R rating when it was released in 2015. It runs one hour and thirty-nine minutes. Six out of 10 stars!!

The Terminator is the story of a time traveling cyborg that travels back in time to assassinate the mother of the leader of the human resistance around the year 2029 before he is born around the year 1984 but fails because the resistance also sends back a human helper to protect the mother and help defeat the Terminator!! The Terminator is played by none other than former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (Predator) who plays an en emotionless, mostly efficient killing machine dishing out lines for American pop culture for the next thirty years and trying to kill every Sarah Connor in sight!! Sarah Connor, the mother of the leader of the resistance that the Terminator has come back in time to kill, is played well by Linda Hamilton (Dante's Peak) who reprised her role two other times in the Terminator movie series!! Sarah is not alone in her struggle against the Terminator though as I mentioned that a resistance fighter was sent back by the name of Kyle Reese played by popular 1980's and 90's actor Michael Biehn (The Rock). It turns out that Kyle is more that just a resistance fighter and protector of Sarah he is also the father of the leader of the resistance in the future making The Terminator - the movie this time - something of a love story. The Terminator - the movie again - is a great movie, it's a classic!! It's the first time that I came across a James Cameron's work when I watched it as a youth & of course Cameron went on to direct and develop movies such as Titanic and the two Avatar movies - gigantic films that grossed enormous sums of money world wide!! The action and special effects - for it's day back in the early 1980's - is pretty good for the film!! The acting is satisfactory but this is isn't the type of film up for acting Oscars, it's the type of film for people that want to escape for a couple hours or so. To sum up directorial duties, James Cameron did an outstanding job with this film!! Like I wrote it's a classic movie and is still fun to watch to this day!! Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd, and William Wisher all contributed nicely on writing a script that was fresh, logical, and interesting!! Brad Fiedel did an outstanding job with the soundtrack to this movie especially the Terminator theme when the cyborg was nearby!! Hilary Wright did an acceptable job costuming all of the characters, this was by no means a superhero movie so most of the outfits were just everyday people. The Terminator received and R rating when it was released in 1984. It runs one hour and 47 minutes. 8 out of 10 stars!!

The Flash is the story of a young meta-human (a young man with super powers in this story on the planet Earth) that learns the ability to travel back in time and in doing so wants to save the life of his mother that died very young in his life and does so but spends the rest of the movie trying to put the correct timeline back together so that the universe makes sense to him once again!! This young meta-human is the Flash, and his super power is super-speed, he has the ability to "flash" from here to there in a blink of an eye to protect the innocent from harm or deliver a punch that might be needed to a villain at just the right time!! The Flash is played wonderfully by Ezra Miller (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) who not only plays the superhero Flash but also his alter-ego Barry Allen, a worker for the police department in the city that Allen lives in. Besides this successful double life Miller's image and voice is also used to play his younger self when the Flash travels back in time to try to save his mother from death and keep his family together. The Flash is not alone on this adventure though as he is joined by old-school Batman Michael Keaton (Mr. Mom) and Supergirl performed very nicely by Sasha Calle (The Young and the Restless) when they learn that General Zod - played well by Michael Shannon (Groundhog Day) has entered their timeline and has intentions of recolonizing their world!! The Flash is a tremendous movie - it's a lot of fun and you don't necessarily have to have watched the Justice League movie or Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice film to understand it - it's self encapsulated!! Miller is great, his comedy is timely and his interactions with the other legendary superheroes really is memorable!! Director Andy Muschietti did a fantastic job simplifying a time traveling film all into one film that was action packed, fun, and filled with humor!! Christina Hudson, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, and Joey Harold all combined to write a story that was original and appealed to many generations of super-hero fans!! Benjamin Wallfisch did an excellent job with the soundtrack, I could swear there were moments when he borrowed from the great Danny Elfman who composed the Michael Keaton Batman soundtrack when Batman was fighting in this movie but I'm sure he and the producers had permission from Elfman to do so!! Alexandra Byrne and Bob Ringwood did a fantastic fob costuming all of the superheroes and everyday characters for this movie!! The Flash received a PG-13 rating when it was released this year in 2023. It runs two hours and twenty-four minutes. 8 out of 10 stars!!

The Matrix Revolutions is the story of how Neo's friends rescue him from a meta-physical level that is neither their level nor the level of the Matrix only for Neo to be badly injured by an out of control Agent Smith. Neo recovers enough to travel with Trinity to the center of the Sentinels home where Trinity dies on the way. Neo picks himself up by his bootstraps & teams up with the Sentinels to defeat the out of control agent Smith all the while the Sentinels were attacking the home of Neo's people called Zion just prior to the two forces teaming up!! It is a blockbuster of a movie and can only be wrapped up by saying that the blinded Neo (and yes he was blind - relying on light and energy at the very end of the movie to defeat a full strength Agent Smith) was able to defeat Smith and his millions of replicas and bring back the important honorable dead throughout the movie by literally brining light to where there was dark - such as the soul of the dark and malignant agent Smith - much like many of us believe that education or religion brings light to many who have none. I have written before on my original Matrix movie review that the main characters of this film can be compared to very famous characters throughout the Bible with Neo as something of a "New" Christ, and Trinity like a "fighting" Mary Magdalene, with Morpheus as a John the Baptist figure that always believed and fought for Neo. Some of those same religious themes continued throughout the trilogy including the very ending of The Matrix Revolutions as I pointed out in this review. Regardless of those points, The Matrix Revolutions is a very good movie, it's plot winds and turns just as much as the previous two Matrix movies but the action is outstanding and the special effects are out of this world!! It is a closing fitting to the excellence of the entire Matrix trilogy and I very much hope they continue to make more Matrix movies in the future!! Lana and Lilly Wachowski did a fantastic job directing this film and the entire trilogy saga, they brought stylized fighting to the forefront in Hollywood movies around the turn of the century!! The Wachowski siblings also did a terrific job writing the final chapter of the opening trilogy of the Matrix movie, like I inferred some Christian religion involved if you look at it from a certain point of view!! Don Davis did a nice job with the soundtrack for the movie!! Kym Barrett costumed all of the different characters well, from the fighting Zions all the way to the well dressed Agent Smith!! The Matrix Revolutions received an R rating when it was released in 2003 and runs 2 hours and 9 minutes. 7 out of 10 stars!!

Armageddon is the story of how an asteroid the size of Texas is cut in half by an oil drilling team that had no business being up in space but turned out to be just the right team to get the job done!! Leading the oiling drilling team is Harry S. Stamper, played with terrific authenticity by Bruce Willis (Die Hard). The thought about destroying the asteroid is that if you can drill a hole deep enough in this asteroid, drop a nuclear bomb in it, and fly away in a space shuttle or shuttles it will save Earth and get the job done. Apparently blasting it with a hundred nukes from Earth won't get the job done so Harry's team is called in to accomplish the task!! Running things at NASA is talented actor Billy Bob Thornton (Bad Santa) who plays Dan Truman, NASA's flight director of sorts. He gives the okay for Harry to bring in his men that he trusts that includes A. J. Frost, played very well by Academy Award winner Ben Affleck (Good Will Hunting), Chick - performed by Will Patton (The Postman), Rockhound, played by Steve Buscemi (Fargo), and Oscar - performed by Owen Wilson (The Royal Tenenbaums) to name a few. The band of scrappy oil drillers is capped off by Harry's daughter Grace performed nicely by Liv Tyler (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King). This is a really good movie!! As a matter of fact this is one of the best space movie's out there in my opinion, especially space movie's from Earth's perspective. Besides the big names that went into this movie on-screen talent-wise look at the big names that combined to work together to create this movie off-screen. Talented individuals like Michael Bay directed, J. J. Abrams was a writer, and Jerry Bruckheimer was a producer just to name a few!! Armageddon was a big time movie when it was released in 1998 and it is still a great movie today!! Bay did a great job directing this film - no one knows how to do movies on a grand scale like Bay and Armageddon is no exception!! Jonathan Hensleigh, J. J. Abrams, Tony Gilroy, Shane Salerno, and Robert Roy Pool all combined nicely to write a story that was fun, exciting, and new to audiences!! Trevor Rabin composed a soundtrack that was completely novel and very exciting at the same time!! Magali Guidasci and Michael Kaplan each worked together on making interesting and realistic outfits for the everyday characters and the astronauts!! Armageddon received a PG-13 rating when it was released in 1998 and runs two hours and thirty-one minutes. 7 out of 10 stars!!

Avatar: The Way of Water is the story of how a band of humans re-invade the beautiful planet Pandora and force the forest-dwelling blue-skinned Na'vi aliens to leave their fantastic home to seek refuge with the aqua-skinned aliens. The pair of cultures eventually drive the human forces away from their coral reef home & celebrate a victory once again but not without many deaths including the death of the eldest son of the central characters of the story. Way of the Water, as I will be referring to the film for the remainder of this review, stars Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation) who saw much more screen time in the original Avatar movie as did his co-star Zoe Saldana (Guardians of the Galaxy) who play Jake and Neytiri respectively in the movie. The couple is mainly featured in the opening part of the movie and in the closing part of the movie. In the middle of the movie director James Cameron shows off all of the CGI & real underwater technology and beauty that he puts into this film as he has the children of the previously mentioned couple and friends they made at the reef in playing with underwater creatures at swimming in the beautiful turquoise sea!! This middle part of the movie is so long that I as a Gen Xer started to get something of a cold shoulder, clearly Cameron wants to bring all generations into this movie so they can enjoy it, but for a huge block in the middle of the movie you could swear that the movie is for Millennials and beyond only but that simply could just be me speculating. That point aside Way of the Water is a very good movie done very well!! It is artistically as beautiful of a movie as you will see out there, more beautiful than Aquaman - it's simply a masterpiece of beauty!! Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman, and Shane Salerno all combined nicely on a story that was fresh up until the very end when I felt like I was watching a lot of Cameron movies at the time - Terminator 2, Titanic, a little bit of the first Avatar, take a look and see what you think. Simon Franglen did a nice job with the soundtrack to the movie!! Bob Buck and Deborah L. Scott both contributed nicely to the non-CGI character's outfits throughout the movie!! The Way of Water received a PG-13 rating when it was released in 2022. 8 out of 10 stars!!