You can always tell when summer break begins at our house because the number of movies we watch increases by A LOT. We watched so many good ones this month and even found a couple of new TV series that we are really enjoying.
Movies:
1. The Accountant 2. We watched the first one, so of course we had to see the second. We all liked this one just as well, if not better, than the first. There’s a lot more action and I love that the brother is helping him out in this one. Rated R.
2. Speed. Grayson had never seen this and on one of the nights it was just the three of us, we introduced him to this epic 90’s classic. As expected, he didn’t thrill in it as much as we had when we first saw it 3 decades ago. But, he thought it was ok. Rated R.
3. Into the Woods. This is a favorite of our whole family and we try to watch it once a year. If you’ve never seen it, I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s several fairy tales (Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, etc.) all retold and mashed together as a musical with a lot of big-name actors playing the roles. It’s fantastic. Rated PG
4. 1917. Morgan LOVES anything World War related. This is one of the best WWI movies in my opinion. Two British soldiers are tasked with delivering a critical message to an isolated regiment to keep them from walking into an ambush. It’s a bit graphic and that’s why we waited so long to let him see it, but it is such a good story. Rated R.
5. Thursday Murder Club. We had just watched this a couple of months ago (see Episode 109), but on a recent trip to visit my parents I re-watched it with them since they had never seen it. They loved it just as much as we did. Rated PG-13.
6. The Greatest Showman. It had been a long while since I we had watched this movie. I had forgotten how good it is and how much I like it. Another great musical with Hugh Jackman. Rated PG.
7. Edge of Tomorrow. This was another re-watch that we all remembered loving the first time around. It’s a futuristic movie about alien monsters attacking our planet and attempting to wipe out the human race. A soldier somehow ends up reliving the same day of an attack over and over and as a result is able to team up with another soldier and figure out how to defeat them. It’s a bit like Groundhog Day meets Aliens. It’s Rated PG-13.
8. Fountain of Youth. This is a newish movie (2025) starring John Krasinski and Natalie Portman about two siblings who are on an adventure seeking the Fountain of Youth. The trailer looked great and I had high hopes. But to be honest, it wasn’t very good. We all thought it was OK, but kind of campy with a lot of bad acting. It’s Rated PG-13.
9. Beverly Hills Cop (I, II, and III). My boys had never seen these and I thought it was high time they were introduced to one of my favorite movie series from the 80’s/90’s). Movies from this era tend to move a little slower and even the action movies have a lot more drama than today, but they both really liked them. Eddie Murphy is just fantastic. Their all Rated R.
10. Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War. We have absolutely LOVED the Jack Ryan TV series that stars John Krasinski that streams on Prime. It was doing so well (four seasons) that apparently they decided to make a movie. Let’s just say–some TV shows are better as TV shows and not so great as movies. That’s how I felt about this. For some reason, the pacing seemed off, the characters less defined and I thought the story seemed like a three ring circus that never really came together. It was ok, but not what I was hoping. It’s Rated R.
11. Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu. We got to see this on opening day at our favorite movie theater (Icon Cinemas). It was worth the money and then some. We all LOVED it and Grogu (still not a fan of the name they chose for “baby Yoda”) is absolutely fantastic. I highly recommend this movie. Rated PG-13.
12. Spaceballs. Our boys have been asking to watch this oldie but a goodie movie for a long while. It’s typical Mel Brooks humor–dumb, dumb, dumb and funny. They enjoyed it and now feel like their childhood is complete. Rated PG.
13. The Instigators. This was a nice surprise of finding a new to us movie that we all were interested in for family movie night. It stars Matt Damon and Casey Afflek playing thieves. When their robbery goes wrong, one of them calls in their therapist to help and it all goes crazy from there. There’s a lot of great action and humor. Rated. R.
14. Backrooms. Super Rockstar and the boys went to see this one in the theater. My boys have both played the Backrooms video game –it’s a horror game that liminal space (backrooms) where “initities” (monsters lurk). They LOVED the movie. It met and exceeded all their expectations. I sat this one out–because I do not enjoy horror. At all. Rated R.
15. The Pink Panther. This re-make starring Steve Martin is not nearly as good as the original from the 60’s, but it has a lot of the same goofiness. It’s just dumb humor and a mindless comedy. Rated PG.
TV Shows.
1. For All Mankind. Super Rockstar loves anything outer space related (I may have mentioned this a time or two). We found this TV series that has five whole seasons, and we never knew it existed. It’s about the American space program beginnings and it starts with a supposing of what would happen if the Russians had landed on the moon first. The story takes on how that would have affected our space program as well as the cold war. It’s really good and we have finished the 1st season and are well into the 2nd. Rated TV-MA.
2. Dutton Ranch. This is the newest spin off to the Yellowstone story and focuses on Rip and Beth starting their own ranch in Texas. So far it’s really good and has a similar feel to the original series–with all the drama, danger and action. Rated TV-MA.
That’s all for May watching. Now that it’s summer movies season, I can’t wait to tell you about all the new ones we’ll see in the theaters.