The Ray Pletcher Blog

Turning 81 years old this month, Harrison Ford returns as Indy for one final adventure as the famed archeologist in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Directed by James Mangold, the story follows Indy who upon retiring from being a professor in NYC in 1969 stumbles upon a new adventure that sees him joining forces with his goddaughter Helena played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. They race against the clock to retrieve Archimedes' Dial before a Neo-Nazi played by the menacing Mads Mikkelsen does first and carries out his plot to ressurect the Third Reich. Set against a beautifully moving and triumphant score by John Williams, this picture is a rollercoaster of an adventure that you don't want to miss out on.  The film opens with a 25 minute prologue featuring a digitally de-aged Harrison Ford set during World War Two. To be honest I didn't quite buy into it as most of it looked very video gameish to me but there were moments were it quite wo...

MICHAEL KEATON IS BATMAN. Keaton returns to his iconic role after more than three decades away and he hasn’t missed a beat. If anything he nails it even more this time around bringing a level of nuance to the character in only a way that he can. The Flash, directed by Andy Muschietti, a movie that has been long stuck in the dreaded Hollywood development hell phase is finally a reality and follows Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) as he sets out to save his family by going back and changing time only to unravel the fabric of reality, creating a new timeline in which Superman never made it to earth, the world has no metahumans, and Michael Keaton not Ben Affleck is Bruce Wayne. The result is a thrilling multiversal tale that is fast-paced like a freight train yet poignant and deeply resonant on a core level.  The film’s opening gives us a fresh introduction to Barry Allen aka The Flash in his status quo as the pseudo-janitor for the Justice League, particu...

  This faith-based picture works incredibly well as a real, breathing, and entirely engaging theatrical experience which shouldn’t be discounted or dismissed. Starring Kelsey Grammer, this true story follows a national spiritual awakening that took place in the late 60s and early 70s that originated within a teenage community of hippies in Southern California. This film has it all from romance to drama to emotional stakes and sensational thrills.      Chuck Smith played by Kelsey Grammer is a pastor with a rebellious daughter played by the ever so lovely Ally Loannides who takes in a hippie by the name of Lonnie Frisee (Jonathan Roumie) who has a real heart for Jesus and from the connection they make a movement is sprung in Southern California to save hippies who are lost in their quest for God. On the other hand we follow military school student Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney) that embarks upon a tantalizing romance with a blonde hippie named Cathe (Anna Grace Barlow) a...

SHAZAM! Zachary Levi excels in this delightful followup to the 2019 film which explores the theme of family and coming-of-age in a truly resonant fashion. The story follows Billy Batson (Asher Angel) who on the verge of turning 18 and aging out of his foster home struggles to keep the gang together while a new threat emerges in the form of Helen Mirren and her equally treacherous sisters. Directed by David F. Sandberg, Shazam: Fury of the Gods proves to be a remarkably entertaining action comedy that continues to deliver on the Big -inspired touchstones that the original film brought us.    The actors playing young Billy and his foster siblings are all growing up fast as evidenced by the nearly four year gap in between installments and two year jump in the storytelling, so it’s only natural that the screenwriters decided to move the story forward with the narrative of Billy’s fear of being kicked out of the home he has built for himself over the last two years. This is done ...