Pop Culture Diary: This Week's Reviews, Reads and Roundups: 'Disclosure Day,' Lemon Twigs Live, More

What I've Been Into...

"Disclosure Day" (2026). You could, I suppose, see this as the third part of Steven Spielberg's "aliens trilogy," following up on "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "E.T." That's a tall order, of course, considering the classic status of those two earlier films. This third film, while not quite matching up to them, however, does share a lot in common with those earlier ones.

For one thing, it's funny and it has heart. Thanks to strong performances and some good dialogue writing, we like Josh O'Connor's Daniel Kellner, Eve Hewson's Jane Blankenship and Emily Blunt's Margaret Fairchild from the get-go, and we don't like Colin Firth's Noah Scanlon, the film's baddie.

This isn't a film about good vs. evil, however. As with Spielberg's previous alien stories, it's about knowledge vs. ignorance, and openness vs. rejection. We're placed on the side of the folks who want to tell the truth and share wisdom, and who welcome new visitors to our world. And being on this side of the equation, rather than with those who are close-minded, suspicious and violent, feels good; it's the right place to be.

Like the kids who hide E.T. and help him "go home," or the beaming Richard Dreyfus watching visitors from another world walking out of their spaceship, Daniel, Jane and Margaret are on the side of possibility and cooperation and they are full of wonder and delight.

Obviously, this stance has great resonance given the time in which we're living, and it's a big reason why Spielberg's film and its message is so welcome.

There are funny, poignant scenes between the lead characters (O'Connor and Blunt are especially good together), a couple of great car chases, and a tense, heartwarming third act that lands just right.

There are a some things about the film's inner workings, however, that don't stand up to even casual scrutiny.

The workings of some of the alien technology, for example, didn't make much sense and, great as he is, the elaborate maneuverings of Coleman Domingo's kindly scientist were convoluted and confusing and didn't seem terribly necessary.

Also, one can't help feeling that Daniel, Jane and Margaret's efforts to get on TV so they can disclose the truth about the aliens seemed a little archaic given that they all had cellphones at their disposal. Why not just post the videos on the Web? And why did the aliens need humans to make their presence known in the first place? Why not land a flying saucer on the White House and unfurl a banner saying "We come in peace"?

Also, the CGI animals featured are terribly, inexplicably bad. How could anyone involved in the production not see this?

Despite its flaws, however, this was a good summer movie experience: Fun, funny, heartwarming and nostalgic, yet undeniably relevant to our present circumstances.

The Lemon Twigs @ Revolution Hall, Portland, Ore., 6/13/26. I've wanted to see Brian and Michael D'Addario's powerhouse power pop band, the Lemon Twigs, in action for a long time, wondering if they'd be able to pull off all of those catchy hooks and soaring harmonies live. And I was delightfully surprised that, yes, they sure can.

Augmented by Danny Ayala on bass and keyboards and Reza Matin on drums, this is an incredibly skilled quartet, playing and singing all manner of tricky arrangements like there's nothing to it. They have great stage presence, too, with the D'Addario brothers executing high kicks and Pete Townshend leaps without missing a beat or flubbing a riff.

The audience recognized it was seeing something special, too, and we all gasped when the members swapped instruments for a couple of tunes, demonstrating that, yes, they can do it all.

The show, comprised mostly of songs from the Twigs' two most-recent albums, A Dream Is All We Know and Look for Your Mind!, went by way too fast. I left wanting to see them again A.S.A.P.

See them if they're in your town.

Here are a couple of recent live videos. Not from the show I saw, but they could've been: