Q-Tips Reviews

2/10/22 – Ordinary, disparate strangers living in New York City go about their business. Clara runs away from her violent husband with her two boys and meets four people who are also going through difficult times. Alice, a nurse on the verge of cracking, Mark, accused of a crime he did not commit, John Peter, his lawyer, and Jeff, an unambitious man, find they are all connected as their paths intertwine.

Q-tips say: We liked it. People who like neat, tidy narratives might not like this film but its big-hearted sympathy for people on the margins of society and hope-filled belief in the power of kindness will win others over.

Mrs. Q says: The movie, The kindness of Strangers, serves as a strong argument for the importance of really seeing those around us and opening our hearts to them.

2/4/22 – yes, there are sub titles, should you need them.

Geocache champion Pilialoha “Pili” Kawena, age 12, is abruptly lifted from her busy New York life and dropped into rural O’ahu to help care for her grandfather. Initially skeptical about her new surroundings, Pili finds a cryptic pirate’s journal in her Papa’s studio hinting at a 200-year-old shipwrecked treasure hidden away in the island’s caves and mountains. With her older brother and new friends in tow she uses her clue solving skills to lead them on an adventure of a lifetime through the natural wonders of Hawaiʻi. As she learns to respect and love her native culture she also discovers not all secrets should be shared and that the real treasure in life is ‘ohana — her family.

Q-tips say: Finding ‘Ohana is a family-friendly adventure with some beautiful scenery that might be enjoyed by many.

2/3/22 – Two days in the difficult life of the Burrows family, told through the eyes of Miles, the older son and a drug addict.

Q-tips say: Enjoyed this film. See it!

Watched this movie and was amazed at the acting and raw storyline. The film does a great job at bringing important topics like autism and addiction to light and the impacts on a family. Mrs. Q says: I can only imagine how many families personally relate to this film. The chemistry between the little girl and her brother, especially, is real and their acting was so on point. Definitely recommend this film.

2/1/22 – Two years after NFL head coach Sean Payton is suspended, he goes back to his hometown and finds himself reconnecting with his 12-year-old son by coaching his Pop Warner football team.

Q-tips say: Was ok.

Mrs. Q says: It was a little bit of a feel good movie.  Actors, a cast of lovable tween boys, and a wholesome tone make this feel-good comedy a natural audience pleaser.

However, a shallow representation of sports, parenthood, and comedy, with almost no laughs.

1/28/22 – After years of searching for his father, a young man, on the run from the law, finds his way into the life of a secluded old man in the woods. As the days go by and secrets about their past are revealed, they realize they may not have been looking for each other but they were brought together for a reason.

Mrs. Q says: I liked it. A beautifully crafted and performed drama. An inspired film centered around faith, redemption, family, and how the decisions that we make ripple forward again and again. It might be a good conversation starter for parents and teens, despite the mildly off-color vocabulary that occasionally crops up in the dialogue.

Mr. Q says: It was ok.

1/18/22 – The Tender Bar tells the story of J.R. (Tye Sheridan), a fatherless boy growing up in the glow of a bar where the bartender, his Uncle Charlie (Ben Affleck), is the sharpest and most colorful of an assortment of quirky and demonstrative father figures. As the boy’s determined mother (Lily Rabe) struggles to provide her son with opportunities denied to her — and leave the dilapidated home of her outrageous if begrudgingly supportive father (Christopher Lloyd) — J.R. begins to gamely, if not always gracefully, pursue his romantic and professional dreams — with one foot persistently placed in Uncle Charlie’s bar.

Q-tips say: Yes, see it. We enjoyed it. Follow JR’s life growing up with large family at Grandpa’s house. It’s a decent coming-of-age tale based on a memoir. Story with working-class detail and if the peaks and valleys of J.R.’s life are a little predictable, the cast provide exemplary turns.

1/15/22 – In the world of international crime, an Interpol agent attempts to hunt down and capture the world’s most wanted art thief.

Q-tips say: OK – silly but we did enjoy to a point. The nice thing here is that the humor outweighs the mindless action.

Mrs. Q says: Keep in mind, it is just a movie. We watched it on a cool rainy evening it was just about perfect for the time and place. It promises good action, charm, absurd journey. A film worth watching for a goofy good time. Just some good dumb fun. The final scene suggests a sequel. 

1/14/22 –

Severe, pale-eyed, handsome, Phil Burbank is brutally beguiling. All of Phil’s romance, power and fragility is trapped in the past and in the land: He can castrate a bull calf with two swift slashes of his knife; he swims naked in the river, smearing his body with mud. He is a cowboy as raw as his hides. The year is 1925. The Burbank brothers are wealthy ranchers in Montana. At the Red Mill restaurant on their way to market, the brothers meet Rose, the widowed proprietress, and her impressionable son Peter. Phil behaves so cruelly he drives them both to tears, reveling in their hurt and rousing his fellow cowhands to laughter — all except his brother George, who comforts Rose then returns to marry her. As Phil swings between fury and cunning, his taunting of Rose takes an eerie form — he hovers at the edges of her vision, whistling a tune she can no longer play. His mockery of her son is more overt, amplified by the cheering of Phil’s cowhand disciples. Then Phil appears to take the boy under his wing. Is this latest gesture a softening that leaves Phil exposed, or a plot twisting further into menace?

Q-tips say: YES, see it. We enjoyed it. Won many awards.

Mrs. Q says:
Filmed with stunning scenery, Dog can subvert your early opinions about who is “good” and “evil” in the drama, and make you reconsider your sympathies by the end. The movie is quietly, sneakily stunning.

Series on Monday night. 1/3/22

When whip-smart Cambodian doctor Thony De La Rosa comes to the United States for medical treatment to save her ailing son, she soon discovers her path won’t be as straightforward as she had hoped. As the system quickly fails her, pushing her into hiding, she resolves not to allow herself to be beaten down and marginalized, and becomes a cleaning lady for organized crime. Using her cunning and intelligence, Thony forges her own path in the criminal underworld, doing whatever she has to to survive.

Q-tips say: Like it. Mrs. Q says: Not sure if I would like it, but I do. So we will be watching it every Monday evening. Sometimes the usual sitcoms are ok – but sometimes not. So this is, for now, a nice change from the usual.