Movie

The Thursday Murder Club (2025, Netflix)

My wife and I recently watched this enjoyable cozy mystery set at a posh retirement community in the UK. (At least it looked posh to me!)

I thought it was wonderfully cast. Helen Mirren chews up any scene with just two actors in it. Pierce Brosnan isn’t 100% convincing as a labour organizer but close enough. Celia Imrie has the skills the Murder Club needs and provides all the cozy with tantalizing cakes. Ben Kingsley is fine, but out of all of the leads seems to have the least to do.

The biggest shock to me is the great 1970s music that is used in this movie and that it is entirely appropriate for these retirees. The seventies were just twenty years ago, weren’t they?

Don’t think too hard about the twists and turns and how things turn out, just enjoy the ride on this one. There’s a five-book series this is based on (so far,) and as long as the numbers are good I bet we see a sequel in short order. Can’t wait to see the cakes!

Nowhere Boy (2009)

I happened onto this as a short clip on YouTube, then I found the full movie posted. (I think it’s also currently on Netflix.) I missed this one when it came out as I was in full work-family mode then. As someone who’s read every major biography of John Lennon, I was curious to see how this one stood up.

Answer: it’s OK. I think my reaction was muted because I knew what was going to happen at just about every stage. It’s good to see Mimi’s love for John come through. The brief period where John’s mother Julia re-enters his life is heartbreaking.

The best part of the movie is Julia showing John those first chords on the banjo and seeing the unfocused teen engaged and engrossed in something for the first time in his life.

All in all, if you haven’t seen this one yet, you’re not missing much.

The Naked Gun (2025)

I was a big fan of the silly humor of the original Police Squad and its follow-on movies. This latest in the exploits of the LAPD’s special squad now follows Frank Drebin’s son, played by Liam Neeson. He has the same straight-man vibe that Leslie Nielsen did that made the first run so successful. The movie pays homage to original cast members (and in one case DOESN’T pay homage on purpose). Pamela Anderson was a lot better as the female lead than I expected.

It has been years since I have heard my wife laugh so much at anything, so I think the movie is successful. There were a couple of running gags that lost their effectiveness, but I admire that they kept up with it. We could do with more farce in our lives and the exercise of examining the background for the humor instead of what’s right in the foreground.

About the only jokes that fell flat for me were the ones intimating a sex scene when looked at via infrared goggles. For me, that just went to a place that I don’t remember the original stooping to for laughs. I suppose that might be the influence of Seth McFarlane, or it just might be what’s permissible now versus the late 1980s.

It was great to watch a movie with less than a ninety-minute runtime, and that included watching the credits for some additional smirks and laughs. I blinked to miss the movie’s run in theaters but was glad to see it on Paramount+.