To our great benefit, filmmakers from around the world are still telling inspiring and sobering real-life stories from World War II. The latest is “Truth & Treason” from director Matt Whitaker which tells the touching yet horrifying true story of Helmuth Hübener. At age 17, Hübener was found guilty of high treason by the Nazi courts and sentenced to death. On October 27, 1942, Helmuth Hübener was beheaded by guillotine. His crime – he simply spoke the truth about Hitler’s Nazi regime.

This isn’t the first time Whitaker has shared Hübener’s story. In 2002 he directed a documentary entitled “Truth & Conviction”. Now, with the help of his co-writer Ethan Vincent, Whitaker has turned this moving true story into a narrative feature that takes place roughly over the course of one year. It features a collection of stellar performances and a firm dedication to telling a powerful story with a timeless relevance.

The story is set in 1941 and mostly takes place in Hamburg, Germany. That’s where we meet 16-year-old Helmuth (Ewan Horrocks), a bright and whip-smart young man with a gift for writing. When not hanging out with his three close friends, Karl (Ferdinand McKay), Rudi (Daf Thomas), and Salomon (Nye Occomore), Helmuth is serving in the Hitler Youth as required by Nazi law. He also continues to write which earns him a job as the youngest intern ever hired at Hamburg city hall.

As the world is plunging into war and Germany itself is undergoing radical changes under Adolf Hitler, Helmuth remains oblivious, swallowing the Nazi propaganda as truth and naively going about his life. That is until a series of events unfold that are impossible for the boy to ignore. Soon Helmuth is questioning everything he believed to be true about his country, his church, even his family.

Helmuth’s transformation begins when his big brother Gerhard (Maxim Ays) returns home from the French front having smuggled back a shortwave radio. Despite them being banned by the German authorities, Helmuth listened to the radio faithfully, hearing news broadcasts from the BBC that offered a much different view of Hitler’s aggression.

But Helmuth’s eyes are fully opened when his Jewish friend Salomon is beaten by German soldiers and later taken away in a neighborhood roundup. Being a young man of faith, a troubled Helmuth looks to his church for guidance. But his Bishop (Daniel Betts), who Helmuth has always held in high regard, chooses to stay loyal to the Führer, embracing blind allegiance to an oppressive dictator over the teachings of the One he claims to serve.

Angry and inspired, Helmuth forms his own resistance, wielding truth as his weapon and using his writing skills to spread it across the city. His secret campaign consists of typing out anti-Nazi leaflets on bright red parchment and planting them around the city under the cover of night. He even recruits Rudi and Karl who join his righteous cause despite the heavy consequences if they’re ever caught.

Helmuth remains the centerpiece of this compelling drama, but Whitaker makes time to view the darkening times through several other characters. We see the corruption of a church through Bishop Zander’s willful ignorance. We see different German perspectives through the conflicted eyes of a Gestapo officer (Rupert Evans). We see the impact on families through Helmuth’s own quiet and unassertive mother (Joanna Christie) and his stern Nazi sympathizing step-father (Sean Mahon). Each add layers to Helmuth’s story while also casting a revealing light on the Nazi rule.

Whitaker uses several visual details and historical references to help paint a clearer picture of Germany under the Führer’s iron fist. Consider the door to Bishop Zander’s church officer with a picture of Jesus Christ on one side and a portrait of Adolph Hitler on the other. Or the locked door protecting an archive of banned literature in the basement of city hall. Touches like these leave quite an impression and help define the times. They’re just some of the many pieces that bring this powerfully urgent and profoundly inspiring drama to life. “Truth & Treason” is a movie not be missed.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

After 15 years the Tron series is back on the big screen with “Tron: Ares”. I have to admit, despite being a lover of both science fiction and action, I never fully latched onto the Tron movies. I’ve always admired their premise and strikingly unique visual style. But for whatever reason, neither the 1982 original “Tron” nor 2010’s “Tron: Legacy” pulled me in like other movies from a similar mold.

Next up is “Tron: Ares”, the third installment in this ambitious sci-fi action franchise and a standalone sequel to “Legacy”. It’s directed by Joachim Rønning (“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”) and written for the screen by Jesse Wigutow. Together they craft a visually bold and refreshing blockbuster that neither looks nor sounds like anything else on the big screen. Its only drawback is a surprisingly basic story that plays like a franchise’s attempt at reintroducing itself.

Since its beginning, the Tron franchise has transported audiences to a spectacular world called The Grid. It’s a visually stunning digital frontier populated by sentient programs who interact like their human counterparts. It was created by programmer and video game designer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) who is digitized into The Grid during the first movie. In “Legacy”, Flynn’s son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) enters The Grid in search of his father.

That brings us to “Ares”, where The Grid has evolved and is now divided into sectors tied to major tech companies. As a result of the corporate rivalry between ENCOM and Dillinger Systems, the wall separating the digital and physical worlds has rapidly dissolved. Much of this due to Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), the CEO of Dillinger Systems and the grandson of Ed Dillinger (played by David Warner in the 1982 film). Julian is intent on restoring his grandfather’s legacy at any cost despite the warnings of his concerned mother Elisabeth (Gillian Anderson).

Julian’s latest breakthrough has him able to pull programs from his company’s sector of The Grid into real life (think 3D printing on steroids). State-of-the-art bikes, paragliders, armored vehicles, and his crown jewel, Ares (Jared Leto), a sophisticated and super-advanced AI soldier who is incredibly strong, highly intelligent, and utterly expendable. Julian is anxious to sell his tech to the highest bidder but he has one problem – he can’t keep his programs in the real world for more than 29 minutes.

Enter Eve Kim (Greta Lee), the current CEO of ENCOM who has taken the company’s reins following the death of her sister. Eve is determined to finish what her sister started which includes recovering the Permanence Code created and hidden by Kevin Flynn. The Permanence Code allows digital programs to exist in the real world indefinitely. And Eve knows bad things will happen if Dillinger Systems gets to it first. But Julian has a bigger problem once Ares begins questing his identity and purpose. His desire for independence sets in motion a much bigger conflict than spans both the digital and physical worlds.

Set to a pulse-pounding original soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails and jaw-dropping digital effects custom-made for the big screen, “Tron: Ares” is an exhilarating spectacle that dazzles both audibly and visually. It’s original premise and setting lends to a distinct style that energizes the action and well as the slick aesthetics. The performances also shine led by a spirited Greta Lee. A shrewdly reserved Leto makes Ares a fascinating mystery while Jodie Turner-Smith is fierce as his second in command. Jeff Bridges even returns in a small but welcomed spot.

Surprisingly though, the story is rather simple and underwhelming, with it playing out and finishing in a mostly conventional manner. There are very few highs or lows, and we get no real twists. That said, it does keep the audience constantly moving forward while nicely setting up the movie’s technical strengths – the stunning visuals, the cutting-edge action, and the sinister industrial grind of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ score. A deeper narrative could have catapulted it higher. But even as it is, “Tron: Ares” is an electric experience that (as cliché as it may sound) demands to be seen on the big screen. “Tron: Ares” is in theaters now.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

Scott Eastwood stars, Jamie Foxx baffles, and Robert De Niro cashes a check in “Tin Soldier”, one of the most confounding features to reach a screen this year. While it’s technically an action thriller, finding a fitting category for it is a challenge. That’s because this confection is all over the map, attempting to be a little bit of everything but ultimately landing nowhere.

It’s hard to believe this ever looked good on paper, but something about “Tin Soldier” drew Eastwood and two Academy Award winners. The film is directed by Brad Furman who is helming his first feature since 2018’s “City of Lies”. He does everything he can to make something at least slightly cohesive. But even at under 80 minutes, his film has a difficult time generating or sustaining any momentum. That’s because the script (written by the trio of Furman, Jess Fuerst, and Pablo Fenjves) fails to develop into anything compelling or narratively functional.

Seventeen years prior, a decorated naval officer named Leon K. Prudhomme (Foxx) founded a PTSD treatment center for veterans. He called it THE PROGRAM. But a secret FBI investigation discovered Prudhomme was actually forming a heavily armed anti-government cult. He reinvented himself as a charismatic (and unintentionally goofy) revolutionary called The Bokushi. And all indications point to his cult stockpiling chemical weapons.

Out of fear that a domestic terror attack is imminent, the FBI begin planning a raid on the Bokushi’s remote mountain compound (think Waco, 1993). But before they do, a covert tactical team organized by Emmanuel Ashburn (De Niro) is secretly organizing an unsanctioned mission to infiltrate the compound and take out the Bokushi before things escalate.

To guide his team, Ashburn approaches Nash Cavanaugh (Eastwood), a disheveled military vet and former member of Prudhomme’s cult. Nash struggles mightily with PTSD, a result of his time at war and in the Bokushi’s outfit. Nash wants no part of Ashburn’s mission. But when he hears his wife Evoli (Nora Arnezeder), who was presumed killed during his escape, may actually be alive, Nash agrees to join the operation with hopes of rescuing his wife.

From there the movie moves forward in the most mechanical way imaginable. It jumps from point to point with very little buildup and even less emotion. Furman makes an effort to break things up, but it mostly comes through instances of awkward narration and jarring flashbacks, none of which add much the story (there’s one unintentionally bonkers flashback of Foxx giving a musical performance that plays like an “In Living Color” sketch). Meanwhile other actors like John Leguizamo and Shamier Anderson do little more than add some familiar faces.

Not that it was ever fully together, but things completely fall apart in the final act where any attempt at an explosive finish gives way to utter absurdity. We get a laughably easy infiltration, a goofy cult ritual, and a hysterically bad monologue. And if that wasn’t enough, the story wraps up with a preposterous showdown in….a gladiator arena.

To its credit, there are a few striking locations, flashes of clever cinematography, and a couple of decent action sequences. But overall, “Tin Soldier” features more bad haircuts than good scenes. And no amount of effort can make this AI-quality creation remotely entertaining or inspired. “Tin Soldier” is in select theaters now and releases on VOD September 30th.

VERDICT – 1 STAR

With the obviousness of its provocative title, “The Threesome” sets out to grab as much early attention as it can get. Once you get beyond that, you have a movie hampered by dueling ambitions. On the one hand it wants to be a millennial romcom. On the other hand it wants to be a mindful and mature relationship drama. Unfortunately it never fully works as either. And things get even shakier as the two ambitions try to coexist.

Connor (Jonah Hauer-King) is head-over-heels for Olivia (Zoey Deutch). The two once had a fling but broke it off and became friends. He’s still crazy about her and wants to give it another shot. She’s not interested, or so she pretends. While at the bar where Olivia works, Connor strikes up a conversation with a young woman named Jenny (Ruby Cruz). His intent is to make Olivia jealous, but the three end up hitting it off.

After spending some time dancing at a nearby club, all three end up at Connor’s place where things quickly heat up. The trio get closer and from there…well, look no further than the movie’s title. All of this happens in the first 15 minutes or so. The rest of the movie deals with the aftermath and the complications that mount at almost absurd rate. And it all begins with the revelation that both Olivia and Jenny are pregnant.

The story is a rollercoaster of consequences brought on by a near endless parade of bad choices. But that’s not quite the way the movie sees it. Instead, director Chad Hartigan and screenwriter Ethan Ogilby tell their story from an aggressively ‘modern’ perspective. They view nearly everything including dating, relationships, sex, even religion through the same social lens. In fact, it’s so beholden to its point-of-view that it may only appeal to those who hold the same worldview while pushing away those who don’t.

That may not seem like the most fair-minded critique, but in this case it does impact the storytelling. For example, throughout the story the consequences are almost exclusively emotional. That’s not to say there aren’t emotional consequences. But the movie barely looks beyond feelings. And those feelings are often undermined by the tonal hopscotch as the story bounces back-and-forth between comedy and drama.

And then you have the characters. The performances are solid with Deutch impressively balancing the best. Meanwhile Cruz is an absolute revelation. But the characters often live oblivious to reality, making statements like “I thought you were on the pill?” or “But you wore a condom!”. Meanwhile supporting characters manage a few laughs but are mostly cut from the standard romcom cloth. Take Kevin (Josh Segarra), Olivia’s meat-headed side-dish and Greg (Jaboukie Young-White), the conventional gay best friend functioning as comic relief.

“The Threesome” takes several swings at humor while at the same time attempting to be realistic and grounded. It’s a juggling act the movie never quite masters. There’s certainly potential in the story and its unorthodox ‘love’ triangle. But it’s too difficult to get onboard when the story stretches believability to such a degree. And it’s even harder to take seriously when the movie tries to say something weighty. Ultimately, there are just too many frustrations to get past.

VERDICT – 2 STARS

Television producer and presenter Richard Osman struck gold as a novelist with his 2020 best seller, “The Thursday Murder Club”. Not only was the book greeted with strong reviews, The Guardian called it “the fastest selling adult crime debut since records began“. His light yet intelligent work of crime fiction spawned three sequels that were released over the following three years. Now fans eagerly await the fifth installment that is due out later this month.

As we wait, director Chris Columbus and Netflix have delivered a feature film adaptation of “The Thursday Murder Club” and it is nothing short of a delight. It’s an adaptation full of spirit and with a level of charm that makes it irresistible. It also features a crackling cast that includes Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie – all so wonderfully in tune with the material and each other. And while it hardly reinvents the murder mystery wheel, nearly everything from its characters to its setting to its all-around vibe clicks cozily into place.

Built within a beautiful old abbey and its surrounded property, Cooper’s Chase is a luxurious retirement village for elderly folks with good pensions. Among the residence are three good friends who make up the Thursday Murder Club. They are a retired international spy, Elizabeth (Mirren), a retired high-profile trade unionist, Ron (Brosnan), and a retired psychiatrist, Ibrahim (Kingsley). Together the group of murder mystery enthusiasts pick out a current police cold case and attempt to solve it.

Their current case involves the murder of a young woman. Needing some medical expertise for their ‘investigation’, the group recruits a new resident, a retired nurse named Joyce (Imrie). But before they can dig into their case, they’re sidetracked by the news that a ruthless and corrupt land owner, Ian Ventham (David Tennant) wants to shut down Cooper’s Chase and turn it into a luxury resort. The co-owner and operator, Tony (Geoff Bell) vows to fight for their home. But when he turns up dead, the club realize they have a more pressing murder case on their hands.

While the super sleuthing is a lot of fun, it’s what happens around it that gives the movie some weight. The four club members each have their own family side stories which the film cleverly uses to speak about aging. When not combing over evidence, Elizebeth is taking care of her beloved husband Stephen (Jonathan Pryce) who’s struggling with dementia. Ron is so enamored with his celebrity son Jason’s (Tom Ellis) fame that he can’t see the young man’s struggles. Joyce and her daughter Joanna (Ingrid Oliver) haven’t communicated well since the death of her husband. Meanwhile Ibrahim keeps quiet about his family past until just the right moment.

Other supporting players give good performances to help round out the story. Naomi Ackie is a fine addition playing Donna, a frustrated constable who has grown tired of making coffee and handing out parking tickets. Daniel Mays is a lot of fun playing the lead detective investigating Tony’s murder. And even Richard E. Grant shows up in a small but chilling role as a major crime kingpin who may or may not have connections to the murder.

Among the many reasons for the film’s success are screenwriters Katy Bland and Suzanne Heathcote. While their script happily embraces a number of stock whodunnit tropes, they avoid the commonly overused elderly archetypes, even poking fun at them on occasions. Their treatment of Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim, and Joyce is a breath of fresh air. These aren’t overly sweet grannies or amusingly grumpy grandpas. Bland and Heathcote imbue their characters with grit, personality, intellect, and emotional sincerity. The veteran actors take it from there, wonderfully breathing life into this endearing foursome.

Perhaps its story is a bit overstuffed. Maybe the ending is too tidy and the final moments a tad too saccharine. Yet “The Thursday Murder Club” never pretends to be something it’s not. Despite the presence of murder, the film is self-aware enough not to take things too seriously. Its tone is breezy and easygoing with no shortage of good-natured humor. But what sets it apart is its treatment of its leads. They’re presented as real people with real personalities. And they’re vibrantly portrayed by a top-notch ensemble who drive this smart and satisfying crowdpleaser. “The Thursday Murder Club” is streaming now on Netflix.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

The history of “The Toxic Avenger” is nearly as wild as anything its creators have put on screen. Lloyd Kaufman’s 1984 film was a bonkers superhero, black comedy, and splatter film mashup that gained a boisterous cult following through its VHS and Betamax releases. It eventually paved the way for three feature-length sequels, an animated spin-off series, and a video game based on the spin-off series.

Now here we are in 2025 with a remake that has its own wild history. There were talks of a family-friendly reboot as far back is 2010 but it fell through. Six years later, another reboot was discussed with Guillermo del Toro attached. In 2018, Legendary Pictures won the rights to the remake, and a year later Macon Blair had been hired to write and direct. The finished film hit a few festivals in 2023 but struggled to secure a distributor due to its over-the-top gore. No one would touch it until Cineverse stepped in earlier this year.

Now “The Toxic Avenger” is back and with a fresh coat of 2025 paint. Blair’s script has a little bit of everything. It starts as an underdog story, evolves into a vigilante story, and ends as something similar to a superhero story. But possibly more than anything, “The Toxic Avenger” is a pitch-black comedy. The laughs come in rapid succession and often from the most unexpected places. And then there’s the gore, thrown liberally at the screen through an array of digital and practical wizardry.

Peter Dinklage stars as Winston Gooze, a widowed single parent doing his best to raise his stepson Wade (Jacob Tremblay). Life has dealt Winston a tough hand, and it only gets worse after he’s diagnosed with a terminal brain disease and given one year to live. Winston learns of an insanely expensive potential cure. But he’s devastated to learn that it’s not covered by the insurance plan he has with his employer, BTH, who has loyally worked for as a janitor.

BTH is ran by an its pampered and corrupt CEO, Robert Garbinger (played by a wacky Kevin Bacon who eats up every wacky scene he’s in). The company creates and distributes proprietary bio-boosters. But it’s also a criminal polluter, dumping cancer-causing chemicals and toxic waste into a river that runs by the small town of St. Roma’s Village. As a result, a determined whistleblower named J.J. Doherty (Taylour Paige) is ready to go public with damning evidence exposing BTH’s complicity.

After the company refuses to help him, a frustrated, hurt, and desperate Winston breaks into the BTH factory to steal enough money to pay for his treatment. But he’s caught by Garbinger’s goons who shoot him in the head and dump his lifeless body in a tank full of toxic sludge. Unexpectedly, the chemicals bring Winston back to life yet leaves him horribly disfigured and deformed. Even more, the mutated Winston emerges with superhuman strength and healing factor which he uses to become the working-class, mop-wielding avenger his city needs.

Dinklage brings energy and heart to the ill-fated Winston, both before and after his grotesque transformation (Luisa Guerreiro handles the body suit performance with Dinklage provides the voice-over). Meanwhile he’s surrounded by a supporting cast who are all-in with what the movie is going for. In addition to the hilariously gonzo Bacon and Paige as the movie’s straight woman, we also get Elijah Wood channeling Danny DeVito’s Penguin, Jonny Coyne playing a perpetually angry mob boss, and Julia Davis as Garbinger’s ditzy wife.

“The Toxic Avenger” is a zany yet self-aware reimagining that pretty much accomplishes everything it sets out to do. In fact, you could tag it as pure shock schlock and the filmmakers wouldn’t be a bit offended. It’s extremely gory to the point of delighting some and turning off others. It’s also absurdly silly which could lead to the very same reactions. I get that it may be excessive to the point of being exhausting. But it’s hard to not be entertained by this raucous mix of shock value and humor. “The Toxic Avenger” releases in theaters Friday, August 29th.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS