At first blush, Materialists looks like a typical romantic comedy, where an attractive single woman is forced to choose between two suitors.  Option A is the handsome, rich, older man she’s just met and could give her everything she wants.  Option B is a man closer to her age who’s scrapping by, but who she connects with because they were once in love.  Since both options are good–for different reasons–the fun is in waiting for the heroine to make her choice.  Although Materialists follows the same formula, Celine Song’s follow-up to her wonderful Past Lives aims higher.  It invites you to reflect upon your dating experiences and asks, how did you end up with the love of your life?

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The Nerd Identity.  The Geek Ultimatum.  Although it may sound like I’m being snide, both of those fake titles describe The Amateur perfectly.  The movie isn’t about an extremely capable one man wrecking crew out for revenge, like the characters played by Matt Damon, Jason Statham, Denzel Washington, for example.  Instead we have Rami Malek, who nobody would ever describe as being physically threatening.  He has the body of a man who’s probably never set foot in a gym, and if he ever did it was to reboot the WI-FI router.

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There’s nothing more dangerous than a man of principle.  That man will sacrifice everything to advance his cause, his friends, family, his health and even his own life.  His unshakeable belief in his own righteous cause justifies every decision, no matter the cost or who pays it.  The Order tells the story of two such men, one an FBI agent, the other the leader of a white separatist faction.  Despite their distinct differences in age, background and life experience, the movie reveals that they’re actually sides of the same coin.  Before the movie arrives at that conclusion, it establishes that these men are destined to collide in violent fashion.

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If you’re a fan of spy thrillers, much of Black Bag will sound familiar.  The plot involves two MI6 agents, their scheming colleagues and a computer virus that, when unleashed by Russian bad guys, will change the balance of power in the world by causing the death of thousands of innocent civilians.  This could be the basis of another impossible mission for Ethan Hunt, the next James Bond adventure or even a streaming series.  (There are many good ones to choose from these days.)  What’s different about Black Bag is that the heroic agents are happily married and have been for thirty-five years.  Yes, the fate of the free world is in the hands of a monogamous couple, as well as a fellow agent who hasn’t forgotten her Christian school upbringing.  If you believe that old fashioned values don’t matter in today’s world, director Steven Soderbergh and writer David Koepp beg to differ.

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