FRIDAY FAMILY FILM NIGHT

In which the Mister joins me in reviewing THE SECRET AGENT (2025) from writer/director Kleber Mendonça Filho.      A research scientist named Armando (Wagner Moura) flees the political repression of 1977 São Paulo for his hometown of Recife, adopting a false identity to evade a corrupt businessman and the military regime.  While hiding in a safe house filled with fellow dissidents, he navigates a surreal and paranoid landscape during Carnival, desperate to reunite with his young son and secure his family's future before his cover is blown.  As he searches government archives for his own mother's history, Armando becomes a target in a high-stakes game of surveillance and urban legends, where the line between a personal vendetta and state-sanctioned violence begins to blur.  The film clocks in at 2 h and 41 m, is rated R and is available on Hulu but also available to buy/rent on Prime Video.  Please note there are SPOILERS in this review. Please donate if you can to my Covenant House Sleepout here: https://www.sleepout.org/participants/66266 #TheSecretAgent #KleberMendincaFilho #WagnerMoura #Marcelo #Armando #Fernando #Portuguese #PeriodDrama #PoliticalThriller #Suspense #Mystery #Crime #Drama #Mystery #Thriller #BestCasting #BestInternationalFeatureFilm #BestMotionPictureOfTheYear #BestPerformanceByAnActorInALeadingRole #Oscars2026 @Hulu  @PrimeVideo  #FridayFamilyFilmNight Opening intro music: GOAT by Wayne Jones, courtesy of YouTube Audio Library

In which the Mister and Monsters join me in reviewing ZOOTOPIA 2 (2025) from Jared Bush's screenplay, the film is directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard.  In Zootopia 2, intrepid rabbit cop, Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), and her charming fox partner, Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), are assigned to track down a mysterious and elusive reptile named Gary (Ke Huy Quan) who has infiltrated the city.  Their investigation takes them deep into the "Marsh Market," a hidden district populated by cold-blooded citizens that forces the duo to navigate unfamiliar social hierarchies and urban legends.  As the case unravels a conspiracy that threatens to destabilize the city’s delicate inter-species harmony, Judy and Nick must rely on their evolving partnership to solve their most "cold-blooded" case yet.  The film clocks in at 1 h and 48 m, is rated PG and is available through Disney+ and Hulu but also available to buy/rent on Amazon.  Please note there are SPOILERS in this review. This episode of the podcast goes out to all my lovely and generous donors: Kate, Angie, Melissa, Veli, Tamika, Stacey, Suzette, Sabina, Mian, Rashema - THANK YOU!  Please donate if you can here:  https://www.sleepout.org/participants/66266 #Zootopia2 #JaredBush #ByronHoward #GinniferGoodwin #JudyHopps #JasonBateman #NickWilde #KeHuyQuan #GaryDeSnake #FortuneFeimster #NibblesMaplestick #AndySamberg #Pawbert #DavidStrathairn #Milton #IdrisElba #ChiefBogo #Shakira #Gazelle #PatrickWarburton #MayorWinddancer #QuintaBrunson #DrFuzzby #DannyTrejo #Jesus #NateTorrence #Clawhauser #BonnieHunt #BonnieHopps #DonLake #StuHopps #Crime #Comedy #Action #Adventure #Animation #BuddyComedy #AnimalAdventure #BestAnimatedFeatureFilm #Oscars2026 @Disney+  @Hulu  @Amazon  #FridayFamilyFilmNightOpening intro music: GOAT by Wayne Jones, courtesy of YouTube Audio Library

In which the Mister joins me in reviewing JANE EYRE (1943) from Charlotte Brontë's novel and a screenplay by Robert Stevenson and Aldous Huxley.  In director Robert Stevenson’s atmospheric 1943 Gothic masterpiece, the resilient orphan Jane Eyre (Joan Fontaine) escapes a childhood of abuse to become a governess at the gloomy and isolated Thornfield Hall.  She soon finds herself drawn to the brooding, temperamental master of the estate, Edward Rochester (Orson Welles), whose cynical exterior masks a deep-seated pain that Jane’s quiet strength begins to heal.  As their unlikely romance deepens toward a marriage proposal, Jane is haunted by eerie laughter and mysterious occurrences emanating from the house's locked attic, suggesting a dark secret that threatens to shatter her hope for a new life.  The film clocks in at 1 h and 37 m, is rated approved and is available through a quick Google search but also available to buy/rent on Amazon.  Please note there are SPOILERS in this review. #CharlotteBronte #JaneEyre #RobertStevenson #AldousHuxley #JohhnHouseman #KettiFrings #HenryKoster #JoanFontaine #JaneEyre #OrsonWelles #Rochester #PeggyAnnGarner #YoungJane #ElizabethTaylor #Helen #JohnSutton #DrRivers #SaraAllgood #Bessie #HenryDdaniell #Brocklehurst #AgnesMoorehead #MrsReed #Drama #Romance #CostumeDrama #DarkRomance #PeriodDrama  @Amazon  #FridayFamilyFilmNightOpening intro music: GOAT by Wayne Jones, courtesy of YouTube Audio Library

In which Kid 1 and I do a compare and contrast of WUTHERING HEIGHT 1939 vs WUTHERING HEIGHTS 2026, both sourced from Emily Brontë's novel.  In writer/director Emerald Fennell’s stylized and provocative 2026 reimagining of the Brontë classic, the feral bond between the spirited Catherine Earnshaw (Margot Robbie) and the brooding orphan Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) is forged amidst the gothic decay of their childhood home and the windswept Yorkshire moors.  Their obsessive connection is violently severed when Catherine chooses the refined comfort of a marriage to the wealthy Edgar Linton, prompting a devastated Heathcliff to vanish into the night only to return years later as a wealthy and vengeful enigma.  As the two engage in a destructive and high-fashion "war of hearts," their rekindled passion descends into a surreal fever dream of jealousy and class warfare that threatens to consume everyone in their orbit.  The film clocks in at 2 h and 16 m, is rated R and is still playing in theaters.  Please note there are SPOILERS in this review.In director William Wyler’s sweeping 1939 adaptation of the Emily Brontë classic, with screenplay credits to Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht and John Huston (uncredited); an orphaned stable boy named Heathcliff (Laurence Olivier) and the spirited Catherine Earnshaw (Merle Oberon) forge an intense, primal bond on the Yorkshire moors that defies their rigid class differences.  Their soul-deep connection is fractured when Catherine, lured by the promise of social prestige and "civilized" comfort, chooses to marry the refined neighbor Edgar Linton, prompting a devastated Heathcliff to vanish into the night.  Years later, Heathcliff returns as a wealthy and sophisticated gentleman, launching a calculated campaign of psychological revenge against the families that spurned him while remaining obsessively tethered to his tragic love for Catherine.  The film is rated approved and clocks in at 1 h and 44 m - we also watched it on HBO Max but you can also catch it on Prime Video, Plex TV, Tubi  but it's available to rent/buy on Amazon.  Please note there are SPOILERS in this review.       #EmilyBronte #WutheringHeights #MerleOberon #Cathy #LaurenceOlivier #Heathcliff #DavidNivens #Edgar #FloraRobson #Ellen #DonaldCrisp #DrKenneth #GeraldineFitzgerald #Isabella #HughWilliams #Hindley #LeoGCarroll #Joseph #MilesMander #Lockwood #SaritaWooton #YoungCathy #RexDowning #YoungHeathcliff #DouglasScott #YoungHindley #EmeraldFennell #MarogtRobbie #Cathy #JacobElordi #Heathcliff #HongChau #Nelly #ShazadLatif #Edgar #AlisonOliver #Isabella #MartinClunes #MrEarnshaw #EwanMitchell #Joseph #AmyMorgan #Zillah #CharlotteMellington #YoungCathy #OwenCooper #YoungHeathcliff #VyNguyen #YoungNelly #Drama #Romance #CostumeDrama #DarkRomance #PeriodDrama #PsychologicalDrama #SteamyRomance #InTheaters  @HBOMax  @TCM  @PrimeVideo  @PlexTV  @Tubi  @Amazon  #FridayFamilyFilmNightOpening intro music: GOAT by Wayne Jones, courtesy of YouTube Audio Library

In which the Mister joins me in reviewing MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM (2020) from writer Ruben Santiago-Hudson and director George C. Wolfe.  Adapted from the August Wilson play, the legendary "Mother of the Blues" Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) arrives at a sweltering Chicago recording studio for a session fraught with tension between her, her white management, and her ambitious band.  While Ma fiercely guards her artistic authority and personal dignity against exploitation, her volatile trumpeter Levee (Chadwick Boseman) pushes for a modernized sound, fueled by his own traumatic past and a desperate desire for stardom.  As the afternoon wears on, the recording booth becomes a pressure cooker where clashing egos and deep-seated racial grievances threaten to boil over into an irreversible confrontation.  The film clocks in at 1 h and 34 m, is rated R and you can find it on Netflix. Please note there are SPOILERS in this review.#MaRaineysBlackBottom #AugustWilson #RubenSantiagoHudson #GeorgeCWolfe #ViolaDavis #MaRainey #ChadwickBoseman #Levee #ColmanDomingo #Cutler #GlynnThurman #Toledo #MichaelPotts #SlowDrag #JeremyShamos #Irvin #JonnyCoyne #Sturdyvan #TaylourPaige #DussieMae #DusanBrown #Sylvester #PeriodDrama #Drama #Music #BlackStories #BlackHistoryMonth  @Netflix  #FridayFamilyFilmNightAnd if you can support my @CovenantHouse sleepout, it would be appreciated.  Any amount will go a long way to help the young people they help.  This is an organization that's existed since I was a teen and they continue this life saving work.  You can donate herehttps://www.sleepout.org/participants/66266Opening intro music: GOAT by Wayne Jones, courtesy of YouTube Audio Library