Hook (1991)
[6] What if Peter Pan grew up? Steven Spielberg explores the question in his lavish production of Hook, the story of an adult Peter Pan (Robin Williams) who must return to Neverland to rescue his children from the dastardly Captain…
The Lady in the Van (2015)
[6] Maggie Smith headlines this true story adapted from a stage play by Alan Bennett, about a homeless woman who parks her van in a single, gay man's driveway and stays for fifteen years. Smith reliably carries the film, but…
Downton Abbey (2019)
[7] First off, know that I have never seen an episode of the Downton Abbey TV series. I went into the feature film completely cold, but despite having no history with these characters or their melodrama, I found the feature…
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
[5] Forces conspire to keep Harry Potter from returning to his second year at the Hogwarts wizarding school. Apparently, the big bad Voldemoort (who we still don't see but hear about all the time) put a monster in a mysterious…
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
[5] You know the story. Poor orphaned boy gets invited to a magical wizarding school and is destined to be the main adversary for a big bad meanie who is slowly manifesting (over, like, three or four movies). What I…
Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing (1973)
[6] While vacationing separately in Spain, a teenager (Timothy Bottoms) and a woman in her thirties (Maggie Smith) strike up an unlikely friendship that blossoms into romance. Both characters are introverts who help each other come out of their shells,…
Clash of the Titans (1981)
[8] Special effects maestro Ray Harryhausen brings Greek myths to life in Clash of the Titans. The story centers on heroic Perseus, favored son of Zeus, who must accomplish several deadly chores in order to save his beloved Andromeda from…
Murder by Death (1976)
[5] With a script by Neil Simon and an incredible all-star cast, I expected more from this spoof of murder mysteries. Most of the ensemble are confined to playing the same note throughout the film, including Peter Sellers as a simile-spewing…
Quartet (2012)
[5] Dustin Hoffman directs this tepid comedy/drama based on Ronald Harwood's play about geriatrics putting on a concert at a home for retired muscians. Maggie Smith stars as the facility's newest resident. She's nervous about seeing an old flame (Tom Courtenay)…
Travels with My Aunt (1972)
[5] At her sister's funeral, an eccentric woman meets her uptight nephew and takes him globe-trotting to find an old flame. The combination of the great George Cukor and the ever-acerbic Maggie Smith doesn't add up to anything compelling in…