Happy Saturday of Graduation Week!

Great to see you, Saturday Matinee friends. A super eventful week is coming up with lots of little stuff in between.

On Wednesday, Nic graduates from middle school. We feel so lucky that he had a great eighth grade year (and yes, I did show him the Bo Burnham movie of the same name at the start, because that’s just good parenting). Middle school sucks no matter who you are or where you are. For Nic’s class, entering sixth grade right as we were all emerging from the pandemic offered extra challenges. But he emerged unscathed, thanks to the incredible friends he made on the cross country team, most of whom he’ll run with throughout the summer and into the fall in high school. All the cliches about the passage of time are accurate. I fully expect to be a sobbing mess.

Then on Friday, I have ACL surgery planned to fix my skiing injury. I am very ready to be out of this leg brace into into physical therapy so I can start running again. The FOMO is all-consuming, especially on these cool May Gray/June Gloom mornings, which are perfect for running along the beach. Things might be a little wacky at Breakfast All Day for a couple of weeks, as I don’t know what sort of shape I’ll be in, but I’ll do my best to stay current, and this newsletter is a priority. I’m so thankful you’re here.

But! You’re here for movies, and movies you shall have. Among those we discussed this week at our YouTube channel:

• YOUNG WOMAN AND THE SEA. Daisy Ridley stars as Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel, in this beautifully made, well-acted drama. It’s uplifting without being schmaltzy, and a great choice for the whole family, especially for the young, female athletes in your life. In theaters.

• JIM HENSON IDEA MAN. Ron Howard directs this affectionate documentary about the mastermind behind “Sesame Street,” the Muppets, “Labyrinth” and so much more, who died way too young at age 53. It’s surprisingly honest about Henson’s flaws while also duly singing his praises. Streaming on Disney Plus.

• ROBOT DREAMS. This Oscar-nominated film seems like a sweet animated tale about a dog and his robot living in 1980s NYC, but it packs a surprisingly powerful emotional wallop. We loved it. Bring Kleenex. In theaters now.

• MOVIE NEWS LIVE! Alonso was on location at the Mendocino Film Festival promoting his new book, “Hollywood Pride,” but we made it work. We had a lengthy discussion about why the summer box office is down, among many other topics. Join us for our livestreams every Friday at Noon Pacific (except for June 7, when I’ll be recovering from surgery).

And as always, all these goodies are available in podcast form for your enjoyment on the go, in Apple and all the podcast places. Put us in your ears and run some errands this weekend.

Also this week, I had a couple of reviews over at RogerEbert.com. One is “Young Woman and the Sea.” The other is “Backspot,” from non-binary director D.W. Waterson, starring a great Devery Jacobs. It does for competitive cheerleading what “The Novice” did for rowing in depicting an elite sport as a grueling obsession. Evan Rachel Wood is withering as the coach of a top squad. In theaters now.

A24 is once again doing their summer IMAX series, which is a great way to revisit some of the indie distributor’s classic films. This time, they’ve scheduled the director’s cut of “Midsommar” for June 20 (because the original theatrical version didn’t provide enough nightmare fuel), the documentary “Oasis: Supersonic” on July 16, and “Everything Everywhere All At Once” on Aug. 28. I’m planning to take Nic to “Midsommar,” because he’s never seen it before, and again: That’s just good parenting. Tickets and details are available here.

Thank you so much for sharing some of your time with me this weekend. It’s been so gratifying to watch this community grow. If you’ve found value here, I’d be honored if you’d share my newsletter with a friend. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here — although I may be a little loopy — next Saturday.