Long Shot (2019) | Jonathan Levine

In this raunchy romantic comedy, schlubby Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen), an established left-wing journalist whose uncompromisingly progressive Brooklyn-based online news site has found itself taken over by a right-wing corporatist that he refuses to kowtow to. Due to his deep-seated principles, Fred quits immediately, but he’s bummed out at having to start over again. His best friend, Lance (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) takes him out to blow off some steam and forget hir troubles for a while with a performance from Boyz II Men at a swank charity fund-raising party, and while there, Flarsky ends up running into the Secretary of State of the United States, Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron), who he just so happens to have once known, as the older girl next door who used to babysit him, and with whom he has had a crush ever since.  The two end up catching up, and it just so happens that she’s looking for a writer to punch up her speeches with wit and humor, and with him needing a job, it’s impossible to say no.  He’s a refreshing change of pace to Field, who hasn’t been able to enjoy herself for a very long time, but with presidential aspirations on her horizon, the gossipy public isn’t likely going to accept such a mismatch should she pursue Flarsky romantically.

The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018) – A Podcast Film Review

Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon star in this buddy comedy about two best friends who end up embroiled in a spy assassin plot when some terrorists come looking for them for information that Kunis’ most recent boyfriend, who she didn’t know was a secret agent, may have in his possessions.  Laughs, thrills, and action are promised, but does it deliver?

Ocean’s 8 (2018) – A Podcast Film Review

11 years after we last saw the Ocean’s gang pull down a big heist, we have Danny Ocean’s sister, Debbie (Sandra Bullock), freshly out of prison and ready to hatch a new plan to get herself and her fellow female partners in crime millions by lifting a one-of-a-kind diamond necklace worth over $150 million.  Steven Soderbergh steps into the producer chair in this Gary Ross-helmed attempt to recapture the magic of the prior trilogy.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) Film Review

Frances McDormand shines in this potent dark comedy from Martin McDonagh, playing a grieving mother who goads the local police force to action when they haven’t found any leads to her daughter’s grisly death. Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell support.

Lady Bird (2017) Greta Gerwig – Podcast Movie Review

Saoirse Ronan stars in Greta Gerwig’s splash solo directorial effort that takes from her own life as a teen in Sacramento, in LADY BIRD, one of the best teen comedies to come out in many years. Laurie Metcalf is fantastic as the mother who has trouble letting her ‘lady bird’ fly from the nest.