It’s 1946. World War II has ended. To the victors go the spoils. The winning British are in Germany governing the losing Germans. Colonel Lewis Morgan (Jason Clarke) leads the British efforts to bring order to the City of Hamburg. Morgan’s wife, Rachel (Keira Knightley) arrives from England where the two reunite to begin their post-war lives together. The British Government, as it has a right to do, takes over a mansion owned by a German architect, Stefan Lubert, (Alexander Skarsgård). This becomes the Colonel and his wife’s new home. There are camps set up for displaced Germans like Lubert, a widower, and his daughter who resides with him. However, Morgan, much to his wife’s chagrin, allows the Luberts to stay in the mansion’s attic. From that point, The Aftermath begins, with the characters confronting a range of conflicts and challenges.

The Aftermath succeeds not because it’s an exceptional production, but because it’s a refreshing change from current film experiences. It’s a period piece. And, the re-creation of worn-torn Germany, the story’s highlighting of the continued hostilities between the forces even though the war has officially ended – give the movie a value which underlies the main storyline.

The character conflicts are real and compelling. Lewis and Rachel debate a loss they suffered. Stefan tries to convince his daughter that they are actually lucky to be in the attic. Then there’s tension between Rachel and Stefan. Lewis is often away from home carrying out his military duties. So, one has to question his leaving Rachel in the mansion with the taller and better-looking Stefan.

Each of the lead actors proffers strong performances. Ultimately, The Aftermath comes together in an entertaining and even a bit educational way. And it gets our highest rating, See It!

The Aftermath is rated R for sexual content/nudity, and violence including some disturbing images and is 108 minutes in length.

Someone leaves a handbag on a New York City subway. Frances (Chloe Grace Moretz) retrieves it and returns it to the owner, Greta, (Isabelle Huppert). The two women quickly form a bond. When Frances learns that their encounter wasn’t the by chance event she thought, she distances herself from her new friend. But Greta isn’t the easy come, easy go, type of woman and becomes obsessed with maintaining a bond with Frances.

Greta contains all of the clichés of horror films. There’s the nice well-meaning victim, Frances and her sinister nemesis, Greta. In this film genre, villains are always capable of feats of great strength, always one step of head of others, and never seem to have anything else to do in their lives but to pursue their victim(s).

It’s also troubling when films have non-credible aspects. Frances is new to New York, gullible and naive to the dangers of big city life. But then she references being from Boston. Really? Boston is not exactly a small town. It would have been easy to have her hail from any of thousands of towns and villages.

As to the acting, to make the film work, Chloe Grace Moretz has to be a character who garners viewers’ sympathy. She does. Alternatively, Isabelle Huppert, in the title role, has to be evil. She is, in the most exquisite way. Together they create the necessary drama and suspense.

Greta gets a B+ in cast diversity. It’s a small cast; so there are a limited number of characters. However, there are many people of color in supporting roles and background scenes.

When films are set in New York City, I always subject them to a New York City Realism Test. In a Gwyneth Paltrow film, she rode the G train through Manhattan. Wrong. The G train only goes between Brooklyn and Queens.

In Greta, nothing stands as not authentically New York. The writers even explain how two young women like Frances and her roommate are able to afford the large, comfortable loft where they live; her roommate’s father bought it for her.

The verdict on Greta: It’s a Rent It. No need to see it now. If you have the opportunity to see later, through some other venue, do it. It’s not a must see now.

Greta is 98 minutes long and rated R.

Apollo 11 is a documentary focusing on the historic 1969 Apollo 11 mission, to the moon. The film consists solely of archival footage that was previously unreleased to the public and does not feature narration or interviews. The stars are the three astronauts who made the voyage: Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. aka Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins.

Apollo 11 is educational and mildly entertaining. There’s no mystery as to how this adventure is going to turn out. It’s truly amazing as to how many components of this project, years in the making, had to come together for this mission to succeed. It’s also intriguing to listen to conversations between the astronauts in outer space and control stations in Houston. In addition to the serious informational exchanges, there was light-hearted banter.

The film also captures a time when more people smoked, men, wore shirts and ties and women, dresses, even in casual settings.

There will be some viewers who will bask in the imagery of a large number of technicians, scientist, mathematicians and laborers who worked on this project: hundreds of white men, approximately 20 black men and a handful of Asians. No women. Yep, to some, those were the good ole days!

But we also know from the 2016 film, Hidden Figures, that women played an important role in America’s space program.

Apollo 11 is a CNN film and is a See It! It’s Rated G and is 93 minutes.

Jordan Peele is back with another thriller, and you get at least two opportunities to see Taraji P. Henson and Michael Ealy in movies in 2019

1. What Men Want

What Men Want is a twist on Mel Gibson’s 2001 movie, What Women Want, and is the story of a female sports agent (Taraji P. Henson) who has been constantly edged out by her male colleagues. Once she learns to listen to men’s thoughts, she shifts her strategy in her race to sign the NBA’s next LeBron James. Among the costars is Richard Roundtree who back in the 70s played John Shaft who was a bad mother. . . shut your mouth! Just remembering Shaft!

What Men Want is expected to open on February 8, 2019. 

2. The Upside

Inspired by a true story and based upon a hit 2011 French film, The Upside stars Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston in a warm comedy about a recently paroled ex-convict who begins an unlikely friendship with a paralyzed billionaire. Bet you can guess who plays the ex-con and who’s the billionaire. The Upside opens on January 11, 2019. 

3. Us 

After his provocative 2017 megahit Get Out there was no doubt that Jordan Peele would be back writing and directing, but he's holding the storyline for Us close to the vest. Nevertheless, we do know, it will be a thriller and it stars Lupita Nyong’o, Elisabeth Moss, and Black Panther’s Winston Duke. Us is scheduled to be released in the United States on March 22, 2019, but if you’re going to South by Southwest, you might be able to catch the World Premiere of Us on March 8, 2019. 

4. Pet Sematary

This a remake of the 1989 film based upon Stephen King’s seminal horror novel, Pet Sematary. This version is set in rural Maine where Dr. Louis Creed, his wife, Rachel, and their two young children find a mysterious graveyard hidden deep in the woods near the family home. When tragedy hits the family, the doctor turns to his eccentric neighbor, Jud Crandall for advice, setting off a horrific series of events that the doctor could have never imagined. Pet Sematary opens on April 5, 2019, and stars, Jason Clark and Jon Lithgow. 

5. Jacob’s Ladder

After his brother dies in combat, Jacob Singer, played by the blue-eyed brother, Michael Ealy, returns home from battle-worn Afghanistan only to fall into a deep state of paranoia as he comes to believe that his brother is still alive, and life is not what it seems. Jacob’s Ladder, a remake of the 1990 film of the same name, doesn’t have a release date as of yet. However, the film’s distributor, LD Entertainment, says Jacob’s Ladder is expected to open in 2019.

6. Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral

A fun-filled family reunion becomes a disaster as Madea and her kin travel to backwoods Georgia, where they plan a funeral that could unearth some deep dark family secrets. Of course, Tyler Perry heads the cast in Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral, along with Courtney Burrell, Patrice Lovely, and Ciera Payton. Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral opens on March 1, 2019.

7. The Best of Enemies

Inspired by the true events during the civil rights era, The Best of Enemies stars Taraji P. Henson as Ann Atwater, a fiercely determined civil rights activist in North Carolina, and Sam Rockwell as the Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan. The two conduct a 10-year battle, which ends in an abrupt and unlikely way in 1971. The Best of Enemies is based on the book, The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South by Osha Gray Davidson opens on April 5, 2019. 

8. The Intruder

Michael Ealy (yes, him again) and Meaghan Good star in The Intruder, a psychological thriller about a young married couple who buys a beautiful Napa Valley home only to find that the previous owner (Dennis Quaid) simply won’t let the property go and will stop at nothing to drive them out. The Intruder opens on May 3, 2019. 

9. Fighting With My Family

Fighting With My Family is based on the 2012 documentary, The Wrestlers: Fighting With My Family, depicting the WWE career of the professional wrestler, Paige. The movie stars Florence Pugh as Paige, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson makes an appearance. Fighting With My Family opens at Sundance on January 28, 2019, and nationwide on February 14, 2019.

10. Aladdin

The musical romantic fantasy Aladdin returns. Having been released in an animated version in 2017, this edition features real living and breathing humans. Aladdin stars Mena Massoud as the title character alongside Will Smith as the Genie.