Q-Tips Reviews

11/6/22 –

An ordinary young boy called Nikolas sets out on an extraordinary adventure into the snowy north in search of his father who is on a quest to discover the fabled village of the elves, Elfhelm. Taking with him a headstrong reindeer called Blitzen and a loyal pet mouse, Nikolas soon meets his destiny in this magical, comic and endearing story that proves nothing is impossible.

Q-tips say: With this year’s holiday season just beginning, A Boy Called Christmas is a wonderful way to get begin the festivities.

It is warm, entertaining and unpretentious. If you are looking for some Christmas magic this season, this might do the trick.

11/5/22 – Fresh off the triumph of solving her first case, Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) follows in the footsteps of her famous brother, Sherlock (Henry Cavill), and opens her own agency — only to find that life as a female detective-for-hire isn’t as easy as it seems. Resigned to accepting the cold realities of adulthood, she is about to close shop when a penniless matchstick girl offers Enola her first official job: to find her missing sister. But this case proves to be far more puzzling than expected, as Enola is thrown into a dangerous new world — from London’s sinister factories and colorful music halls, to the highest echelons of society and 221B Baker Street itself. As the sparks of a deadly conspiracy ignite, Enola must call upon the help of friends — and Sherlock himself — to unravel her mystery. The game, it seems, has found its feet again!

Q-tips say: YES, see it! Enola Holmes 2 is charming and well-acted. The story may be too complicated for its own good and a bit on the predictable side, but the journey is sweet nonetheless.

The game is afoot in Enola Holmes 2, a wonderful showcase for Millie Bobby Brown manages to work the character’s famous brother, Sherlock, more organically into the mix.

11/4/22 – Daniel Radcliffe is “Weird Al” Yankovic in the unexaggerated true story about the greatest musician and sex symbol of our time. With Evan Rachel Wood and Rainn Wilson.

Q-tips say: Some parts were enjoyable & good but others, not so good, just kind of goofy.

Yankovic diehards will likely enjoy this movie since — like his parody songs — it takes self-serious pieces of pop culture and changes the words to something silly.

10/22 – In the village of Gavaldon, two misfits and best friends, Sophie (Sophia Anne Caruso) and Agatha (Sofia Wylie), share the unlikeliest of bonds. Sophie, a lover of fairy tales, dreams of escaping her ordinary village life, while Agatha, with her grim aesthetic, has the makings of a real witch. Then one night under a blood red moon, a powerful force sweeps them away to the School for Good and Evil — where the true story of every great fairy tale begins. Yet something is amiss from the start: Sophie is dropped into the School for Evil, run by the glamourous and acid-tongued Lady Lesso (Charlize Theron), and Agatha in the School for Good, overseen by the sunny and kind Professor Dovey (Kerry Washington). As if navigating classes with the offspring of Cinderella, Captain Hook, and the dashing son of King Arthur (Jamie Flatters) wasn’t hard enough, according to the Schoolmaster (Laurence Fishburne), only true love’s kiss can change the rules and send the girls to their rightful school. But when a dark and dangerous figure (Kit Young) with mysterious ties to Sophie reemerges and threatens to destroy the school and the rulebook entirely — the only way to a happy ending is to survive the fairytale first.

Q-tips say: Yes, see it. We enjoyed it especially during Halloween time.

The critics did not like it so much but the audience did – so see it.

The film doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s a lot of fun and has plenty of heart thanks to its leading performances and solid character development.

Two young actresses outshine a stellar cast in THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL, a reimagining of fairy tales. 

10/15/22 – A father (Marlon Wayans) and his teenage daughter (Priah Ferguson) are forced to team up and save their town after an ancient and mischievous spirit causes Halloween decorations to come to life and wreak havoc.

Q-tips say: See it! Get read for Halloween & see it.

A movie that is full of playful scares. The story isn’t wholly original or even new, but it delivers on what it promises. It’s difficult not to be charmed by a cute family-friendly (Mrs. Q says: but NOT for the very little ones) Halloween movie that instills the importance of Halloween while embracing it on a massive scale.

10/14/22 – Over one day across the streets of L.A., three lives will change forever. In this breakneck thriller decorated veteran Will Sharp, desperate for money to cover his wife’s medical bills, asks for help from the one person he knows he shouldn’t–his adoptive brother Danny . A charismatic career criminal, Danny instead offers him a score: the biggest bank heist in Los Angeles history: $32 million. With his wife’s survival on the line, Will can’t say no. But when their getaway goes spectacularly wrong, the desperate brothers hijack an ambulance with a wounded cop clinging to life and ace EMT Cam Thompson onboard. In a high-speed pursuit that never stops, Will and Danny must evade a massive, city-wide law enforcement response, keep their hostages alive, and somehow try not to kill each other, all while executing the most insane escape L.A. has ever seen.

Q-tips say: Yes, we did enjoy Ambulance. There are some weird swings at humor (a few land, some don’t) and the movie begins to run out of gas well before the two-hour mark. But there are some good twists that keep this from being your conventional heist-turned-chase movie.

Mrs. Q says: Gyllenhaal looks hot, makes a convincing crook, and is clearly having a great time; in the early, rougher passages, his verve and manic energy almost single-handedly keeps the picture afloat. It is kind of dumb sometimes and I am so ashamed of myself for enjoying it as much as I did. Ambulance is here to remind you of the head-spinning delights of watching a genuine cinematic madman at work.

8/22 – “The Mustangs: America’s Wild Horses” is a feature documentary that takes audiences on an odyssey throughout America to places few people have seen or know about. There are more than 80,000 wild horses on our public lands and 50,000 in government corrals. “The wild horse is so ingrained in the American imagination that even for those who have never seen one know what it stands for: fierce independence, unbridled freedom, the bedrock ideals of the nation. From car ads to high school mascots, the wild horse — popularly known as the mustang — is the enduring icon of America. But in modern times it has become entangled in controversy and bureaucracy, and now its future is in question.” 

Q-tips say: We did enjoy it. A documentary about a beautiful and breathtaking animal, and the film is built around that species facing a crisis of survival, the problem tends to be one of dwindling population. The bald eagle was once that creature (it’s now doing much better). More recently, there has been concern over the vastly diminished population of elephants in Africa. The film’s production quality is rich with dazzling visuals of desert landscapes and mustangs galloping across the plains, making The Mustangs: America’s Wild Horses a delight to watch.

Mrs. Q says: The most moving part of the doc involves the influence these animals have on military veterans suffering from PTSD.

8/30/22 –

A troubled girl finds faith and healing when she bonds with a wounded horse.

Q-tips say: Was ok. We did enjoy it. Probably not an Academy Award movie but enjoyable. Faith films can come with many story lines, some about sports, some about music, and some about animals.  “A Champion Heart” concerns a horse with what some people think is a defect—he has one ear that is only a partial ear. Because of his appearance, he is out of the stable of champions, and delegated to end of the line and taken in by a horse rescue farm.  Sullen and contrary, he needs a friend.  Guess what…he is going to get one. This story of faith, trust, hope and overcoming emotional obstacles is well done with directing, casting, soundtrack, cinematography and most of all – a horse named Tux.