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Once upon a time far far away in another galaxy Star Wars was born.

Well it wasn’t really another galaxy where it was born, but that’s where the action takes place. ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ is part one of an anthology. The film is set in a time way before we get to meet the iconic characters known as Luke Skywalker, Hans Solo and Princess Lea.

The film starts with a battle raging between the rebel forces and the Galactic Empire. We meet a young girl named Jyn Erso whose father, Galen (Mads Mikkelsen) is a brilliant scientist. She watches as her mother is killed and her father is whisked away by the Imperial army, but not before daddy tells her to hid. Jyn does just that until she’s rescued by Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), an extremist militant who you may remember from ‘Clone Wars’.

We flash forward to Jyn all grown up and beautifully played by Felicity Jones. She hooks up with renegade imperial pilot (Riz Ahmed), plus a hard-boiled resistance type (Diego Luna), a blind monk (Donnie Yen) who walks around chanting ‘The force is with me. I am the force’ over and over again. Unfortunately he sounds like a informercial for positive thinking and I did find this part of the film kind of cheesy.

Also in the crew is a bearded sword fighter (Wen Jiang) who looks out for the monk. And last but definitely not least is a sarcastic droid voiced perfectly by Alan Tudyk. I mean what would ‘Star Wars’ be without a sarcastic droid?

Now that we met the good guys, we take a walk over to the dark side, aka The Galactic Empire, where Galen unwillingly has invented a weapon known as the DEATH STAR. This weapon can wipe out planets in a blink of an eye. This makes not only the Emperor thrilled, but his super evil, creepy, side kick, Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) who prefers to wear white no matter what the season, over the moon joyous.

Okay to summarize, we have a really really bad weapon in the hands of some really, really bad dudes, which of course leaves only one choice for the rebels…steal the design schematics so the weapon will never be completed. What could be easier?

To say anymore would be a SPOILER. But what I will say is that fans of this franchise will not be disappointed. It’s exciting, fun, humorous, with great special effects. I gave ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ four bagels out of five. The film directed by Gareth Edwards and written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy opens in theaters Friday, December 16th. Love to know what you think.

When I saw ‘Whiplash‘ I knew I was seeing the birth of a brilliant director and now with Damien Chazelle’s latest film, ‘La La Land‘ he more than proves I was right. This flm is not only a beautiful homage to the musicals of long ago, but it’s a bittersweet love story that you will remember well after the credits roll.

The film opens on a crowded Los Angeles freeway in winter where frustrated drivers break out in song and dance. Sometime I myself have dreamed about doing many times when I’ve been stuck on the 405.

One of the drivers happens to be Mia (Emma Stone) who works as barista on a studio lot . Of course, this being La La Land, she’s also an aspiring actress. Now we all know that every actress/actor does their best preparation for an audition in their car and that is unfortunately the case where Mia is concerned.

She becomes very distrated and this leads to a moment of road rage between her and another lucky driver, named Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) who happens to be a struggling jazz pianist.

Well Mia’s audition doesn’t go too well so her three roommates, in an attempt to cheer her up, invite her to a lavish party downtown, where of course we have more singing and dancing. Bored, Mia leaves the party, and discovers her car is towed. Not a good day for our budding actress. She’s forced to walk home.

Meanwhile, Sebastian isn’t doing much better. He’s playing a gig at a restaurant, a job he absolutely hates, since the owner Bill, (J.K. Simmons) won’t let him play any jazz. He has to follow a song list and from the look on his face, he is anything but happy. So what does he do? Play his own music of course and winds up getting fired, but not before, Emma walks into the restaurant and hears him play. She goes to compliment him, but Sebastian brushes her off.

Months later, Mia is at another party and notices Sebastian again, now a keyboardist for a 1980’s pop cover band. After several more encounters, which includes several more musical numbers, the couple finally connect and yes, they fall in love and move in together.

If I say anything else, it will definitely fall into the SPOILER category, which is the last thing I want to do. But I will say that Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are just wonderful and if the film doesn’t get a Best Picture Win, I will be surprised.

I gave ’La La Land’ which opened in theatres Friday, December 9th, five bagels out of five. Do not miss it.

Warren Beatty has wanted to do this film for decades and he finally has. I have to say it was definitely worth the wait. ‘Rules Don’t Apply’ written and directed by Beatty is absolutely wonderful.

The year is 1958. A beautiful young actress wannabe, Marla Mabrey (Lily Collins) has come to Hollywood with her over protective Baptist mom, Lucy (Annette Bening) to be one of Howard Hughes contract players.

She is among 25 other gorgeous young females who get paid $400.00 a week, plus their own house and personal driver. They all share one thing in common. That Hughes will give them a screen test and they will become a star.

Hughes has several rules of course. The hopeful starlets cannot interact with their drivers or have sex with anyone on his primarily Mormon male staff.

As Lily waits patiently for her screen test, she develops a friendship with her driver, Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich) who eventually becomes Hughes close confidant. This becomes a big problem for both of them when their friendship turns into something much more.

What’s the most interesting thing about the film is Hughes himself. During this time, he was very reclusive, extremely eccentric and a drug addict after his almost near fatal plane crash.. His business associates at TWA are starting to think that he is senile since he refuses to meet with them. Hughes prefers to hang outing his bedroom eating ice cream.

One day he does emerge and he meets Lily. The two of them wind up developing a close but odd friendship and she begins to suspect, the promised screen-test will never come. .

‘Rules Don’t Apply’ is funny, sad, romantic and but most important it gives a us a glimpse into a brilliant man who changed aviation forever.

I gave the film which opens in theatre, Wednesday November 23, five bagels out of five. Don’t miss it.

The Aliens Have Landed and They Have Something to Say Unfortunately no one speaks their language.

‘Arrival is based on Ted Chiang’s ‘Story of Your Life’ but I wouldn’t read his short story until you see the film. When the movie begins, it is already established that aliens have landed on 12 different locations on planet earth. Their ships are around 1500 feet tall and look like huge black oval eggs.

Are they friendly? Why are they here? and What do they want?. So many questions, which is a very big problem since no one can figure out how to communicate with these visitors from outer space. That is, until military man Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) brings in brilliant linguist, Louise Banks (played beautifully by Amy Adams).

Louise is happy (more or less) working at a university in the Northeast, and the last thing she wants is to be whisked away by a bunch of military men and taken to one of the landing sites where the aliens have parked spaceships.

What’s so wonderful about ‘Arrival’ is that we experience the film through Louise’s character. We see flashbacks of her life with her daughter, and this gives her a lovely vulnerability and sadness. We experience her going through a mourning process at the loss of her child as she tries harder and harder to connect to the aliens. She must find a way to communicate with them before the world blows them apart. Yes folks, once again, humans want to destroy that which they do not understand.

Louise delves head-on into learning the aliens’ language. To do so, she must get face to face with them, which means boarding their ship, which is no easy task. Luckily, she has physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) to help her on her journey. His approach is much different than her’s. He believes mathematics is the way to go.

One of my favorite scenes in the film is when Louise is about to meet the aliens. Amy conveys every emotion her character is going through, and in turn you go through it them with her. There are two aliens on the ship and Louise names them Abbot and Costello. Of course it takes her awhile to get used to their appearance. These guys are no E.T. They are ugly and scary-looking. Turns out Abbot and Costello are Heptapods, which means they have seven long legs like an octopus, with equally long arms that seem to have starfish attached to them.

“Arrival,” written by Eric Heisserer, is a emotionally moving, exciting and intense film that asks the question, “If you knew everything that was going to happen in your life, is there anything you would do differently?” You may leave the theater with questions, and even some confusion, but eventually its meaning will become clear, especially when you discuss it other members of the audience.

“Arrival” opens in theaters today, Friday, November 11 and I gave it 5 bagels out of 5. Don’t miss it.

‘Doctor Strange’ is absolutely wonderful and I loved every single second of it. The Doctor, played impeccible by Benedict Cumberbatch (who knew the dude could be so sexy?) is a different kind of superhero. Yes, he can fight but he uses the powers of mysticism to defeat his enemies instead of just brawn.

When we first meet the Strange, it’s obvious that he is brilliant and a complete insufferable narcissist. The dude has a major attitude and one that is not very appealing.

Well it doesn’t take long before Strange finds his perfect, controlled world turned upside down. It comes in the form of a major car crash that Strange survives but at a very big price. His hands are so severly damaged that he may never operate again.

The world Strange knows just might be gone forever. This sends the him into a downward spirial that even his girlfriend, Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) can’t get him out of.

After searching for a cure in traditional medicine and not finding one, he meets a man anmed Pangborn (Benjamin Bratt) who broke his back but somehow learned to heal himself. When Stange presses him for more information, Pangborn tells him to go to Kathmandu in Nepal.

Despite his intense scepticism, he takes Pangborn’s advice he heads to Tibet and finds Kathmandu. it’s here he meets Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who after turning him away, eventually winds up taking Strange to meet his master, The Ancient played by the brilliant Tilda Swinton.

To say Strange thinks this whole thing is one big joke is an understatement, but to his credit, he doesn’t run away. Instead he slowly lets go of all of his baggage and allows The Ancient to become his teacher and through extraordinarily hard work, Strange finds himself on the physical and spirtual journey of his life. One that could mean the end of the earth and mankind as we know it.

For those familiar with the comic, I promise you won’t be disappointed and for those that aren’t, you will definitely NOT be disappointed.

‘Dr. Strange’ directed by Scott Derrickson who also co-wrote the film is a feast for the eyes. I saw it in IMAX 3D and it was one visually wild ride. Cumberbatach’s Strange has perfect comic timing, his wit is sharp and he makes a perfect Dr. Strange.

I gave ‘Dr. Strange’ which opens in theatres Friday, November 5th five bagels out of five. Don’t miss it.

”I have read every single book that Lee Child’s has written and to say I am a huge fan is an understatement. What makes Child so unique is that he only writes about one character – Jack Reacher.

When I first heard that Cruise had the rights to the books, I was really upset. Reacher is over 6 feet 5inches, and weights 250 pounds. Need I say more? Okay I will. Reacher is anything but slick. Tom Cruise no matter what character he plays, always comes off as…slick. So you can understand why I had a big problem with him playing this character.

Jack Reacher is a drifter. He wears his clothes until they get dirty, then he throws them away and buys some more at a thrift store.

He doesn’t live anywhere, doesn’t have a bank account and travels around the country on a bus. People in trouble usually just bump into him and of course he helps. Reacher was a Major in an elite military police unit and still has a few friends in the army.

When the film opens, there’s a shot of several guys lying on the ground. It’s obvious that they were badly beaten up. Inside a diner is Reacher and from the bruises on his face, we know that he’s the one kicked their butts.

When the police go to arrest him, he tells them in two seconds the phone on the wall will ring and you guys are going to be in big trouble. That’s all I’m going to say but it’s a very clever scene and gives great insight into Reacher’s character.

After that opening, it doesn’t take long for Reacher to be drawn back into the life he left behind. His friend and successor, Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders) is framed for espionage. Reacher will stop at nothing to prove her innocence and to expose the real perpetrators behind the killings of two former soldiers.

This takes the audience on a really fun ride which includes great stunts (mostly performed by Tom), killer fight scenes, chases, twists and turns, which finally leads us to New Orleans where there’s a very big parade going on celebrating Halloween.

One of my favorite parts of the film is Reacher’s relationship with a fifteen year old girl, Samantha (the wonderful Danika Varosh) who may or may not be his daughter. It’s in Cruise’s scenes with her that he gets to show another side of Reacher and it’s really quite endearing.

There’s also a great character known as The Hunter played by Patrick Heusinger who’s quite good at playing a sociopathic killer who’s determined to take down Reacher and make him suffer big time.

I give ‘Jack Reacher Never Back Down’ directed and co-written by Edward Zwick, which opens in theaters, Friday October 21st, 4 bagels out of five with lox, cream cheese, capers and the works. Don’t miss it.

I have one word for ‘The Accountant’…Awesome…I have one word to describe Ben Affleck’s performance….Freakin Fantastic. Okay that’s two words, but this is one of his best performances in years.

‘The Accountant’ directed by Gavin O’Connor is an edge of your seat thriller that will keep you guessing right up to the end. I won’t say too much about the plot because I don’t want to give anything away.

Affleck plays (Christian Wolf, who is a math savant with an over the top affinity for numbers. Behind the cover of a small town CPA office, Wolf works as a freelance accountant for some of the world’s most criminal organizations. Needless to say he assumes many different identities and so for years it has worked perfectly until…

The Treasury Department Enforcement Division run by Ray King (J.K. Simmons) starts to close in. It’s then that Wolfe takes on a legitimate client, a state of the art robotics company where an accounting clerk (Anna Kendrick) has discovered a discrepancy involving millions of dollars. The company is run by John Lithgow and his sister, Jean Smart. As Christian gets close to uncovering the truth, bodies start piling up.

There’s much more to the story, with great twists you won’t see coming, but I will say Christian just happens to be a crack shot. What’s wondering about Affleck’s performance is has a profound understanding how each little mannerism shapes who he is. Christin is someone who’s incredibly smart, but the character is also physically imposing and strong. It’s also great to watch him with Anna Kendrick) You could see that he has no idea how to interact with a woman and that makes him even more engaging.

I gave “The Accountant’ which opened Friday, October 14th 5 bagels out of 5. You can also here more of my thought on the film on my youtube channel This is one film you don’t want to miss.

I went to this screening dreading the brutality I knew I was about to witness. Films about slavery and the holocaust always have the same affect on me…They wipe me out emotionally and no many how many times I see movies that deal with these horrific events, it’s still hard to fathom that ‘man’ could commit these atrocities.

Unfortunately, watching ‘The Birth of a Nation’ written, directed by Nate Parker, who also starred in the film, I felt strangely detached. I was not emotionally moved. I don’t know if this was caused by the fact that Parker did too many things and lost his objectivity, but the film just lacked the power that I expected it to have.

Nat Turner was a slave who became a preacher. He told his flock that he spoke with ‘the Spirit’ and his slave owner, Armie Hammer used him to appease other unhappy slaves on neighboring plantations.

In the beginning, his preaching was benign but that soon changes when his wife Cherry Ann (Aia Naomi King) is beaten and raped by several slave catchers, but what finally pushes him over the edge, is when he sees another woman, Esther (Gabrielle Union) get raped with Nat’s owner’s blessing. That’s it for him…Nat’s days of being a peaceful warrior for God are over.

The film is filled with white folks doing the most horrible, vile deeds that you’d expect to find in a movie about slavery, including Jackie Earle Haley, a so called policeman, whose sole job is protecting the slave owners from their slaves and preventing their escapes.

By the time Turner decides to rebel it’s almost anti-climatic. It seems like an after thought. Yes all these monstrous things happened, but Parker seems to be hitting you over the head with it. I kept flashing back to ’12 Years of a Slave’ which was one of the most powerful, moving films on this subject that I’ve seen in a long time; No wonder it won an Oscar.

‘The Birth of a Nation’ opens in theaters today, Friday October 7, 2016 and I gave it 3 bagels out of five.

The first thing you’re probably wondering is if I read the book. The answer to that is yes.

And then you might be wondering, did I like the book? The answer to that is, “No, I LOVED the book.” The novel, in case you don’t know, was a huge success and at the top of the bestseller list in 2015. It was written by Paula Hawkins and I can’t wait for her next book.

Lastly, you might be wondering if I like the film, and the answer to that is a resounding, “NO.” Not only didn’t I like the film, it actually annoyed me.

First problem: The book was set in England, which gave it a certain neighborhood feel, a certain texture…The houses were close together, and small enough that you could easily believe that a person looking through the windows would have no trouble checking out what was going on inside.

For some ridiculous reason, the director Tate Taylor decided to set the story in New York, but I don’t even think it was filmed in New York. It looked more like some place in Canada, but that’s beside the point. The houses were so large, and so far back from the train tracks that our main character, alcoholic Rachel Watson (Emily Blunt), would have to have x-ray vision to peer inside and see what was going on. Also, these so-called New York houses were triple the size of the ones in England, so I found it hard to believe that she was able to look inside and see the habitants’ most intimate moments.

Second Problem: Without giving anything away, there was a character in the book who was Rachel’s friend. This character was extremely important in creating tension and giving insight into Watson’s psyche. Their relationship causes a great deal of stress and urgency for Rachel. In the film, they reduced this so-called friend/roommate to one or two lines.

Now that I’ve expressed what bothered me about the film, I should say something about the story. Rachel is an alcoholic, divorced and obsessed with her ex-husband, Tom (Justin Theroux), and his beautiful new wife Anna (Rebecca Ferguson). Since she has nothing better to do, Rachel takes every opportunity to harass the couple. Oh, did I mention the train she rides back and forth on always conveniently stops right outside of her ex’s house so she can spy on the happy couple? But they are not the only ones that catch Rachel’s eye.

She also manages to get a glimpse into the world of ultra-macho Scott Hopewell (Luke Evans), and his beautiful young girlfriend Megan (Haley Bennett), who ironically bears a strong resemblance to Anna, and who used to be her nanny. Sound complicated? Not really. Eventually the film turns into a murder mystery, but by that time, I’m exhausted and craving a glass of wine.

Emily Blunt is quite good as an alcoholic, but for me it was a little one note. The whole film felt rushed and underdeveloped. It would be interesting to see what reaction the people who haven’t read the book will have.

‘The Girl On a Train,’ written by Erin Cressida Wilson, opens in theaters Friday, October 7, 2016. I gave it three bagels out of five.