When it comes movies about teenagers trying to meet their goals and fulfill their parent’s expectations with accomplishments athletically and academically, Trey Edward Shults’s Waves is a deep and haunting experience. The movie is filled with scenarios of successes, disappointments, failures, irreparable consequences, and the life after a major tragic event. Kelvin Harrison Jr. is the lead, and this is one of his most memorable movie experiences. While I thought his performance in Luce this year was his best, his performance in Waves tops it. The film also stars Taylor Russell, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Sterling K. Brown, Alexa Demie, and Lucas Hedges. They all deliver knockout performances that makes Waves a narrative gem that I believe is one of the best films of the year. This engaging film is about a family that goes through hard stages in life and tries to navigate after harsh events have occurred.

The film takes place in South Florida and Kelvin Harrison Jr. plays Tyler. Tyler is athletic, academically inclined and has a decent set of peers.  His demanding father, Ronald (Sterling K. Brown), wants Tyler to push himself above his limits athletically with wrestling. Tyler is already in the mind-set that his life is going well and that he can deal with some distractions. Those distractions, however, cause his life to start to go down-hill. He realizes that he has some physical health issues so he should not participate in athletic events. However, he tries to still do so by experimenting with pills and all kinds of supplements to help his body be able to handle the impact of his sport. This is a bad idea and causes Tyler to be severely injured.  Still, he still has the chance to do well academically, but he starts to fall apart, because sports and exercise have been his life.

Tyler believes at one point that his life is still solid, but then he gets to a point where his world is rocky. He finds out that the girl he is dating is pregnant. And, since Tyler has already been drinking and experimenting with drugs, his attitude and anger spiral out of control and cause him to make increasingly poor decisions. His sister, Emily (Taylor Russell), realizes he is going to get himself in trouble, but she does not do much to stop him. His stepmom, Catharine (Renee Elise Goldsberry), loses her ability to prevent Tyler from doing harmful behaviors because he is already out of control. Unfortunately, Tyler does something that carries heavy criminal charges and puts him in jail for a long time. This impacts Emily because she feels her social life is going to be negatively impacted given her brother is a criminal and lots people in their school and neighborhood know what he has done to put himself in jail.

Years later, the film gears on Emily and her new relationship with her new boyfriend, Luke (Lucas Hedges). She starts to grow a close relationship with him because they are both introverted. They begin to bond and share their past experiences of why they remain quiet and do not come out of their shells. In those moments of connection and disconnection, Waves will leave viewers in tears. Slowly, Emily begins to realize that despite what her reputation may be (based on her brother’s actions), there is still good in the world and people do care. She even opens up about the issue with her dad and stepmom causing them to realize that they can still be happy if they look at what qualities they have to offer the world. Waves is one of those movies that is poetic because the message is how to live life after tragic events and how to be thankful for what there is in the world in the good times and the bad. Tyler may have messed up, but does that mean his family cannot love him? Does Emily have to remain a ghost the rest of her life? Can Emily’s father be a good role model to Emily? The film has many questions as well as answers. It is sad in some moments, but also quite uplifting.

I am giving Waves four stars, because the film defines what life can be after something unforgiveable.   It also shows that resentment and hate are not the answer. The answer is to accept and move on (over time, but positively). I loved this movie and even cried during a few scenes. I was looking for resolutions where there is hope, and Waves offered a lot of those resolutions. The message is to never give up. Do not miss Waves.

As the final movie in the Star Wars franchise, I found The Rise of Skywalker to be decent to an extent. However, the film is not perfect. The Rise of Skywalker starts with many cool battle scenes, leaves viewers with some unanswered questions, and looks back at prior issues from The Last Jedi (2017). Director, J.J. Abrams did what he could to best wrap things up. Nevertheless, I did not find the movie that monumental although still enjoyable. The characters we love ranging from Leia Organa (played by Carrie Fisher), Luke Skywalker (played by Mark Hamill), Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver), Rey (played by Daisy Ridley), Finn (played by John Boyega), Poe Dameron (played by Oscar Isaac), C-3PO (played by Anthony Daniels), Chewbacca (played by Joonas Suotamo), and Lando Calrissian (played by Billy Dee Williams), all come together to conclude the saga. Now, like I said the film is not horrible, it is just not all that amazing.

The plot of this Star Wars movie centers around the surviving Resistance.  They come up front towards the First Order that must come through to complete the saga. This means that Rey is on a mission to fulfill her task of figuring out who is the true Jedi. The action in the movie is cool, yet it goes off course periodically and is just not all that structured. Yes, I believe the previous Star Wars movie had too many scenes with talking a lot between the characters.  However, in that case it gave fans ideas about the next conflicts for the saga.  In this case, it seems to jump into the conflicts without being clear.

What I did enjoy most about the movie was the realization that Kylo Ren came upon himself along with Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron. My issue was that their problems did not seem to fit the purpose of the film which was trying to fulfill the saga. Yes, the saga is wrapped up, but not in a very memorable way. I found myself wondering if this movie was rushed. To an extent it was, but I believe that the action took place first, so fans could get excited.  Excitement is great, but fans also like to know the background story so they can understand why specific scenes are featured. I didn’t think the conclusions reached throughout the movie made that much sense which was a disappointment.

Overall, for this Star Wars movie I am at a solid two stars. I had high expectations and this one did not deliver. Given Disney plays a big part in making Star Wars movies, they will obviously have more ideas to in the future and are bound to make numerous reboots. If fans are die-hard, then this movie must be seen.  Viewers just need to adjust their expectations and not expect spellbinding elements that Star Wars is known for.

Compared to films that feature traveling high in the sky off the earth, The Aeronauts is a masterpiece that shows the obstacles that exist to seeing the earth from the sky with little to no technology. The film is pristine at showing the tools that are utilized for flying a hot air balloon, however, they only remain that way for a limited time as the two main stars go higher in the sky. Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones are in the perfect roles for this movie. After their brilliant performances in The Theory of Everything (2014), they shine once again in The Aeronauts. Director, Tom Harper (who directed some Episodes of Peaky Blinders on Netflix and Wild Rose last year) creates a visually stunning and emotional thrill ride where Redmayne and Jones must rise to the challenge and obstacles they have above them. It is a ride that is full of interesting questions.

The film gears on James Glaisher and Amelia Wren (Redmayne and Jones). Glaisher is a scientist and Wren is a pilot. The year is 1862, and Glaisher’s fascination with meteorology puts him on a mission to advance human knowledge by going up in a hot air balloon thousands of stories high. His goal is to go higher in the sky than anyone has in history. They succeed in accomplishing their mission to go up higher than anyone has been before, but then Glaisher does not want to stop, but instead keep going higher and higher. The film is structured and provides numbers and signs at moments in the movie as they continue their journey until it eventually becomes dangerous. The temperature decreases massively, they do not have much oxygen, and their tools for descending start to fall apart as the cold winds cause them to malfunction and not work effectively at all.

What grabbed my attention the most about this movie is the fact that they are surviving that high up with little food or water. Also, the fact that there are no electronics for emergency purposes. Glaisher and Wren rely on each other and think together to figure out how they will descend safely without dying. This tests their patience with each other. Wren wants to descend because she knows there is danger, Glaisher wants to continue so he can make history by making a discovery that he feels only he can make. Glaisher even puts his health aside to attempt to go up farther. That is the point at which Wren starts to find herself having to figure out the tools solo, because Glaisher begins to have head problems and is out of it.

The film is beautiful with cinematography and lighting. The scenes where they fly in the hot air balloon in the clouds contains lots of breathtaking imagery. I saw this in 70 MM projection at the Music Box, and since the whole screen was filled up with the movie, it was spectacular. I heard this film may be in IMAX at some point and given that the IMAX screen is much bigger, viewers would feel like they are thousands of feet in the air just like Glaisher and Wren.

I am giving The Aeronauts four stars. I walked in not sure how amazing this movie would be, but it exceeded my expectations.  It is one of the top films of the year for me. Also, best performances once again by Redmayne and Jones. Viewers will want to see this in 70 MM projection which is possible in Chicago in December. True film fanatics will not be disappointed as they will experience a ride like no other without technology.