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.

The new movie “The Sun is also a Star” is a romance and fate movie, at the level of the memorable “Serendipity” released in 2001, starring Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack. The problem with Serendipity is that Beckinsale’s character believed in miracles and fate so much, that the odds of that relationship actually happening after the ridiculous beginning of this movie were a billion to 1. I thought the ending of Serendipity was very well done however.

This movie has many scenes of fate and unlikely circumstances, and most of them are not believable. I also did not believe the unlikely relationship between the main character Natasha Kingsley played by Yara Shahidi and Daniel Bae played by Charles Melton. The underlying story of Natasha’s family being deported back to Jamaica connects the action of this entire film and I found the conclusion to the deportation and the final scene unsatisfactory. I would have gone into a completely different direction with this story. Another problem was the many time killing music with no dialogue in this movie, that mostly means they did not have enough screenplay for 2 hours. Not a good sign for any film.

The Rotten Tomatoes ratings for The Sun is also a Star is a low 50% and I agree with this, and do not recommend this film.