MOVIE TIP

Thelma

This is a pleasant little comedy with a good heart and great affection for all of its characters. June Squibb plays a 93-year-old woman (the titular Thelma) who falls for a phone scam in which a caller pretends to be her grandson, in jail following a car accident. A distressed Thelma sends $10,000 to an address she thinks is her grandson’s lawyer. When she realizes she’s been duped, Thelma is inspired by Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible” movies to set things right. With her buddy Ben (Richard Roundtree) and a motorized scooter, Thelma tracks down the con artists. “Thelma” writer/director Josh Margolin saw a similar scam happen to his own grandma, although her family managed to step in before she sent the money. Squibb is a delight as Thelma, and the late Roundtree is warm and wonderful as her steadfast pal. Fred Hechinger embodies the love the grandson has for Thelma. His neurotic parents are played by Parker Posey and Clark Gregg, who are sheer comic gold.

— Kristina Dorsey

I’m in Love

Andy Timmons

It’s not just that my pal Andy Timmons is one of the finest guitarists in the world, he’s also a Top 10 Beatles fan. As such, he’s probably uniquely qualified to have gone to Abbey Road Studios — yes, the Beatles’ home ballpark — and record a fantastic arrangement of this 1963 song by John Lennon. The Beatles never recorded the tune but Timmons, working from the very sparse original demo and jazzed to be unleashed in Abbey Road, fleshed out the song with joyful imagination and in the spirit of homage. He also played all the instruments and sang all the parts, and it’s very much like an outta-nowhere gift — not just for Beatles lovers but for fans of pure pop music everywhere. I’d be pretty surprised if this wonderful effort doesn’t somehow get to Ringo and/or Paul and they celebrate. Find video and music at facebook.com/andy.timmons and streaming from all major services.

— Rick Koster

Fly Me to the Moon

This is nominally a romantic comedy starring Scarlett Johannson and Channing Tatum. But really it’s a star vehicle for Johannson. She glows with charisma (of course) but it’s more than that. She hasn’t had a role this rich in ages, and she makes the most of it. She plays a savvy and sassy advertising whiz in the 1960s who is brought in by NASA to market the Apollo 11 flight to the public. Tatum has a fairly thankless role as the NASA launch manager; straightlaced is rarely fun to play. The cast provides the two stars with adroit support, and the 1960s look of the sets and costumes are flashback fab. “Fly Me to the Moon” is an entertaining summer diversion, although I’d argue it would have been better at a 100-minute run time instead of 132 minutes.

— Kristina Dorsey