As a professional movie blogger, a must see movie is any movie that is rated 95% or higher on Rotten Tomatoes. Almost without exception a movie ranked that high is either very good or great, with the exception of “Booksmart”, that is at best a below average teenage comedy.

For me, the entire premise of this story did not work. Two girls about to graduate from high school realize that all their years of never partying or having any fun was wasted, because other students who partied and skipped school also got into the best schools. Already this is a bad idea, because this would never happen in real life. The two girls then decide that they will make up for all this lost fun in one night, another bad idea. This movie was somewhat raunchy but mostly not funny and did not work as a comedy. Why the critics liked this movie so much I makes no sense. My rating is only 50%.

Booksmart is the directorial debut of actress Olivia Wilde and I thought the directing for this film was OK, but nothing that stood out as out as memorable.

I do not agree with the critics for Booksmart and I do not recommend this movie.

Getting thrown into jail for something you did not do is bad enough for any human being to live through, but to be put on death row when you are innocent is for most of us a fate worse than death. What the new movie “Trial By Fire” shows better than just about any movie I have ever seen is a true story of massive injustice. The main character Cameron Todd Willingham, played very well by Jack O’Connell was railroaded onto death row in Texas for arson and the murder of his 3 young children, even though he was completely innocent.

The corrupt court system in Texas in the early 1990’s that illegally forced an innocent man onto death row by convicting him of arson and the murder of his 3 infant children was one of the most outrageous stories of incompetence and the treatment of the poor that I have ever seen. Witnesses were paid off and given reduced sentences, Willingham’s lawyer did not care enough to do his job at all, the arson experts who testified that the fire was set on purpose were 100% wrong. Despite all of this Willingham was on death row for 12 years until Elizabeth Gilbert, played by Laura Dern, through a series of letters became involved with Willingham’s case. Gilbert’s efforts over several years eventually became more desperate as Willingham’s execution date became closer and her realization that nobody in charge cared enough to help an innocent man.

The state of Texas has executed more people than any other state for many years and this movie showed at the end that as many as 158 people in recent years, were days away from being executed before new evidence was found to save them. In the case of something as extreme as the death penalty, killing another human being should not only be the last resort, it should be something that happens only when all avenues of evidence and doubt have been completely exhausted. Unfortunately because of the politics and corrupt, incompetent people in charge, too many innocent people have been put to death in this country.

I thought that this movie was very well done, despite the low 61% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and I give a strong recommendation to this film.

The problem with making a sequel to 2017’s “A Dogs Purpose” is that a movie about the constant death and then reincarnation of several dogs for 2 hours can become extremely depressing. The new movie “A Dogs Journey” is unique in that it is a film both for Dog lovers and not for Dog lovers at the same time, because of the death scenes of beloved dogs. There is nothing in this world like the pure unconditional love of a pet and the pain of an understanding that most pets do not live much longer than 15 years at best. Dealing with this harsh reality can be devastating no matter how much we prepare ourselves for the inevitable loss.

This sequel once again stars Dennis Quaid and I thought that the story for this movie was better because it included less dogs who are reincarnated and one central story throughout the entire movie about a dog who protects the granddaughter of Dennis Quaid’s character. I thought this story was very well done throughout this film.

The Rotten Tomatoes rating for this movie is an anemic 47%, but I would give it a solid 70% because of the good job it does with emotional impact, especially at the end. I give a solid recommendation to A Dogs Journey, but prepare yourself for some very painful moments that are hard to watch.