Podcast - Freeze Frame

Russ Simmons gives his take on upcoming movies.

Freeze Frame: “Lightyear” (PG), “Spiderhead” (R), “Cha Cha Real Smooth” (R)

Buzz Lightyear, the Space Ranger who inspired the fabled action figure from "Toy Story," gets an origin story with "Lightyear." Chis Evans provides the voice of our hero who battles the evil Emperor Zurg and his robot army while attempting to protect fellow space travelers on a remote planet millions of...

Freeze Frame: “Jurassic World Dominion” (PG-13), “Hustle” (R)

The “Jurassic Park” films have raked in over $5 billion at the worldwide box office. Naturally, Hollywood is as interested in resurrecting the franchise as the evil corporations are in resurrecting those aggressive dinosaurs. “Jurassic World Dominion” is the sixth film in the series, and it offers more of the...

Freeze Frame: “Hollywood Stargirl” (PG), “Watcher” (R), “Eiffel” (R)

Lenexa, Kansas native and “America’s Got Talent” winner Grace VanderWaal stars in the Disney+ musical, “Hollywood Stargirl,” a sequel to the 2020 film “Stargirl.” When Stargirl and her mom leave Arizona for the West Coast, the young singer gets involved with neighbors trying to make their own movie. While it’s...

Freeze Frame: “Top Gun: Maverick” (PG-13), “The Bob’s Burgers Movie” (PG-13), “Montana Story” (R), “The Dreams of Rene Sendam” (Not rated)

It's been 36 years since Tom Cruise first scrambled his jets in the action blockbuster "Top Gun." The long-gestating sequel "Top Gun: Maverick" has finally arrived and, happily, these Navy pilots nearly reach mach 10. But, as Maverick says, "You don't have time to think up there. You think, you're dead."...

Freeze Frame: “Downton Abbey: A New Era” (PG), “Senior Year” (R)

The second "Downton Abbey" feature film, “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” provides fans with just what they expect from their favorite British period soap opera; High-toned escapism. Multiple plot threads unfold as the dowager countess, played with her patented aristocratic spunk by Dame Maggie Smith, discovers that she has inherited a...

Freeze Frame: “On the Count of Three” (R), “Operation Mincemeat” (PG-13), “Happening” (R)

Is it possible to find comfort in mutual desperation? The extremely edgy comic drama "On the Count of Three" dares to explore that thorny question in a story about two friends who make a mutual suicide pact. Jerrod Carmichael and Christopher Abbott are excellent, full stop, as lifelong friends who...

Freeze Frame: “Memory” (R), “The Survivor” (R), “Polar Bear” (PG)

Remember Charles Bronson, the actor who in the 1970s and 80s, made a slew of bloody revenge dramas during his golden years? The career of Liam Neeson has taken a similar trajectory. The latest example is "Memory," the story of an aging hit man who gains a conscience but loses his...

FREEZE FRAME: “The Northman” (R), “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once” (R), “The Bad Guys” (PG)

The medieval Viking legend of Amleth, the inspiration for Shakespeare's "Hamlet," becomes a dark big screen extravaganza in "The Northman." Alexander Skarsgård takes the title role of a prince who spends years seeking revenge on his uncle who killed his father, married his mother, and stole his kingdom. Director Robert Eggers lacks...