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A Thousand and One March 30, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Through the grainy filter capturing the hustle and bustle of the streets of Harlem, writer/director A.V. Rockwell, making her feature directorial debut, showcases her skillfulness at creating a lived-in setting for her story. Initially set in the mid-1990s, you see people with beepers, boom boxes, gold chains, and ripped jeans. The World Trade Centers are still standing, signaling how different of an era this was. But not everything has changed since then, with the aggressive “anti-crime” (a code word for racial profiling) politics of former mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg being a consistent threat over the decades. People get stopped for random frisks, neighborhoods become gentrified, and the police presence is always felt. Inez (singer Teyana Taylor) is one of those people living on the fringes of this world. She just got back from an extended stay at Rikers Prison and is in the process of figuring out how to move on. One of the first people she sees from across the street is her sort-of young son, Terry (it’s complicated), who’s been shuffling around foster homes since she left. Inez is a child of the foster care system as well, and she’s a lot of herself within Terry. She knows that he’ll end up just like her if he continues to be stuck on this path. To break the chain, Inez illegally “kidnaps” Terry from his foster home and moves him uptown, giving him a new name, Daryl, and a fake birth certificate in the process. Years eventually go by, with Inez and Terry making the most out of their makeshift situation. But Inez knows this lie will come crashing down once someone starts to wiggle that bottom block. Similar to how she creates the world around her characters, Rockwell has the world push back against them. Inez is always having to fight for what she has, whether it's the landlord’s shady attempts at getting her to leave so he can flip the building or being unable to support herself through a job she cares about like hairstyling. Years and years of that wear on her, with Taylor being a great illustrator of this. Those hardships burrow into Terry as well, with Rockwell taking the Moonlight approach of having three different actors (Aaron Kingsley Adetola, Aven Courtney, and Josiah Cross) play the boy between the ages of six and seventeen. The choice may not work as well compared to what Barry Jenkins did for his Best Picture-winning film, but all three performers here find a connective thread that they weave together. While the influence of Moonlight becomes more heavily evident as A Thousand and One marches on with its slightly overextended 116-minute runtime, none of it feels like a secondhand imitation. Eric K. Yue’s beautiful cinematography and Gary Gunn’s fluttery score give warmth in the most tender moments. The coldness is always present as well, being an aching reminder of how close to the edge these characters live. A Thousand and One tells a story of the past and the future, with each character having to reckon with where they stand in their timeline. Rockwell has delivered an impressive debut, worthy of the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize awarded to her at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Between her career behind the camera and Taylor’s in front of it, there’s an immense amount of talent on the rise. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Terminator: Dark Fate November 7, 2019 By: Button Hunter Friesen No matter what our differences maybe when it comes to politics and social issues, we as humans can all agree that the Terminator franchise has been nearly downright awful for almost thirty years. Since the innovative T2 by James Cameron, the three sequels by lesser filmmakers have buried this once-popular series into a grave of mediocrity. And once again to milk more money out of nostalgic and hopeful fans, the franchise has been quasi-rebooted into the form of Terminator: Dark Fate . Set in a present where Judgement Day never happened, Dark Fate opens in Mexico City as two robots from opposite sides arrive from the future. Their target is Dani Ramos, an important figure that will someday lead the human resistance against the robot overlords. The human-robot hybrid sent to protect her is Grace and the robot sent to kill her is the Rev-9, a shape-shifting terminator similar to that of the T-1000. As Grace fights to protect Dani, she is eventually joined by Sarah, who helps the pair go on the run from the relentless killing machine hunting them. Directed by Tim Miller of Deadpool fame, Dark Fate is a downhill action flick where the ride starts at the top and continues to sink lower as time goes on. The beginning action set pieces are ripped straight from T2: Judgement Day as the two robots track down their target and eventually meet for a fight. This initial scene is by far the best in the movie as each robot gets to show off its unique powers. Miller also lets the scene play out with minimal editing and great stunt work that highlights the quality special effects. Once this scene is over, Miller has foolishly played his whole hand and left nothing else for the remaining ninety minutes. The action becomes a recycled mess as each subsequent scene takes place in dimly lit areas that try to hide the flaws. Nothing new is introduced about the humans or robots and it all melds together into a blob of standard movie action tropes. With three screenwriters and five credited story contributors, Dark Fate has way too many cooks in the kitchen that end up canceling each other out. The plot is incoherent, which has now become a staple of the Terminator sequels. Time travel is a finicky business once you start to think about it, but this movie has serious logistical problems straight from the start. These huge, gaping plot holes negate any emotional connection to the story and make every plot twist easy to see from a mile away. The overstuffed writer's room also led to some insufferable dialogue choices. The usual franchise catchphrases are all here, only this time they’re painfully inserted and delivered to the point of parody. There’s also an incessant need for every other sentence to be a profound statement, especially any line from Dani or Sarah. In a seemingly desperate move, the producers brought back Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor. The character and Hamilton’s performance are the film’s biggest asset, even as she struggles to work with the amateur material given to her. Mackenzie Davis is pretty good as Grace, the robot-human hybrid from the future. Like all robot characters from the franchise, she brings great physicality to her performance. Unfortunately, she doesn’t bring much emotion to her human half, stifling any connection to her character. Relative newcomer Natalia Reyes plays Dani and falls into the usual rookie trap of overacting. At the start, she does fine work, but as the film gets more dramatic, Reyes overleans into her one-note performance. Lastly, Arnold Schwarzenegger reprises his role as the T-800 terminator. It’s no surprise that the Austrian is great in the role that he can play in his sleep by now as he makes a nice pair with Hamilton and is the only reason some of the comedic moments work. Dark Fate is the best sequel since Terminator 2: Judgement Day , but that's such a low bar to jump over that it isn't saying much. It's like a student got three straight F's on their exams and then got a C-. It’s still not good, but at least they didn’t fail this time and are somewhat moving in the right direction. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Dead Don't Hurt May 26, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen The Dead Don’t Hurt opens with two simultaneous scenes of death. In one, a person peacefully draws their last breath as they lie in the home they built with their own two hands and are surrounded by the family they raised. In the other, a gunman mercilessly kills everyone in a saloon before hightailing it out of town. It’s in these two scenes that writer/director Viggo Mortensen illustrates the juxtaposing ideals of the old American West: a place where you can build something for yourself out of nothing, and also have it all taken away in a heartbeat. Not to be outdone by Bradley Cooper last year with Maestro ; Mortensen also produces, stars, and composes the score for his second feature at the helm after 2020’s Falling . And if that wasn’t enough, he also made the film in an atypical fashion by composing the score first and then shooting it to fit the musical cues. The necessity of the move is debatable and fully impossible to notice while watching the film, but the fact that it happened adds to Mortensen’s stance as an icon for the films that hang just outside the Hollywood sphere. Could you guess what his highest-grossing film is when you exclude The Lord of the Rings trilogy? It’s Green Book … and it’s not even close. Mortensen isn’t the sole star of his own revisionist western, as Vicky Krieps takes over the first-billed position. She plays Vivienne Le Coudy, a French-Canadian who was introduced as a child to the harsh realities of frontier life when her father was killed and left hanging on a tree by the British. And now, she’s betrothed to a British man in San Francisco, only this one will likely kill her through the boredom of high society. That’s how the charmingly rugged Danish cowboy Holger Olsen (Mortensen) catches her eye one day (I mean, who could resist Viggo?). “Come with me,” he asks her as he returns to his home at the edge of the world, a quiet and peaceful dusty homestead near a stereotypical Old West town. The coupling of these two characters is where The Dead Don’t Hurt really makes its mark. Krieps carries a sturdy poise throughout, while Mortensen is a man who, despite being a decorated soldier from his homeland, would much rather build barns and plant gardens than fire a weapon. Mortensen’s soft score accents these tender moments, and Marcel Zyskind’s camera always seems to find the magic hour within the California landscape. It’s the moments of commerciality, such as Garret Dillahunt as the unruly son of the town’s richest man and the staging of the action scenes, that bring everything back down below the surface. Dillahunt doesn’t have the presence to be an intimidating villain, with his all-black outfit doing all of the heavy lifting to communicate your attitude towards him. He’s part of some boilerplate conspiracy by the town’s mayor (played by Danny Huston) to hold a monopoly over its limited resources. It’s clear that Mortensen cared the least about this subplot when writing and filming it, so there’s no need to bother with it. A more interesting mistake comes in the form of the jumbled editing, which, if my memory serves me well, tries to cut between three different timelines: Vivienne’s childhood, her and Holger’s early days together, and then many years down the road. There’s no forward momentum or narrative secrets unlocked through the cross-cutting between these scenes, only a small sense of confusion about what’s happening and when. The (minor) works of John Ford and Howard Hawks would be an apt comparison to make for The Dead Don’t Hurt . Along with Kevin Costner’s supposed Horizon: An American Saga quadrilogy, this could mark a miniature comeback for the Western genre. Mortensen has just supplied the intimacy, now we’ll have to wait and see what Costner has to say about our nation’s past. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Monkey Man April 4, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Dev Patel’s Monkey Man lives and breathes in a world of action. Everyone is unruly and agitated, the mirrors are perpetually broken, the harsh lighting bathes everything in shadows, the TVs are always tuned to the exposition news channel, and the fans are dramatically spinning above everyone’s heads. Patel has openly expressed his influences for his first directorial feature; ranging anywhere from Bruce Lee, Korean action films such as Oldboy and I Saw the Devil , and the John Wick series. There’s a little bit of everything mixed into this killer cocktail, which is finished off with some Indian mythology and political commentary. The biggest inspiration for Monkey Man is, of course, the legend of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey deity. It serves as the opening prologue, given by the mother of Patel’s character, named Kid, as a younger child. She speaks of a great avenger who fights for the people against their abusers, leaving no villain left standing. Kid takes that message to heart, with the moral of the story being further burned into his psyche after his village is destroyed and his mother is murdered at the hands of the power hungry Baba Shakti (Makarand Deshpande). With the ball passed to his side of the court throughout his entire adult life, Kid rises through the ranks of the criminal underworld to get closer to his targets. There’s no room for anything in his life besides revenge, which he will get at any cost. Patel lays on a thick layer of brutality to every image and interaction within Monkey Man . There is no light at the end of this tunnel, nor is there one at any of the stops along the way. There are multiple instances where Kid gets swept up in his rage, often caused by flashbacks to the night where he lost everything. And when he does let out the beast, the results are gnarly. The choreography is rougher around the edges than the John Wick films, with the camera pulled in tight and tumbling around with the actors. It’s a little bit closer to the Raid films from Indonesia, always daring you to ask how no one was severely injured performing these stunts (Patel did break his hand and toes). But like its mostly silent main character, Monkey Man is a better film when it opts for action over words. Co-writing with Paul Angunawela and John Collee, Patel infuses brushes of social commentary into his tale of bloody violence. I’ll admit, I’m not well-versed in the culture of India, so there may have been a few (or several) ideas that went over my head. But much of it also feels surface-level, churning out a very similar story of the poor underdogs versus the rich aggressors. Baba Shakti isn’t much of a compelling villain, nor are his underlings Queenie (Ashwini Kalsekar) and Rana (Sikandar Kher). Yes, the action covers most of these problems, but there comes a point in a two hour movie where there needs to be something else to chew on. That fact goes double once you realize that there’s fewer action set pieces than you would think. Thankfully, Patel does deliver the goods whenever they’re promised. The final twenty-ish minutes rattles your senses with its propulsive camerawork and bone-crunching sound work. Producer Jordan Peele saved this film from the clutches of Netflix, giving audiences the proper way to experience it in a crowded theater. Hopefully Peele’s investment in Patel leads to more collaborations down the road, specifically with Patel behind the camera. Monkey Man is a solid first outing, with only some minor recalibration required for everything to click just right. Patel has been continually linked to the role of James Bond since Daniel Craig's retirement. Maybe he’d become the first 007 to also direct an entry in the franchise? I kind of like the sound of that. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Woman King September 10, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen The Woman King had its World Premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. TriStar Pictures will release it in theaters on September 16. Touted as the story of the “real black panthers,” TriStar Pictures’ The Woman King aims for much more than just Hollywood showmanship. It wants to be an inspirational true story of the African warriors who stood up to the European powers that sought to colonize and enslave them. Of course, the real story of these warriors is much more complex, as they actually fought to protect their own slave trade. But if you want to pick apart this movie for historical inaccuracy, then you’d have to pick apart every movie within the genre, and that would take an eternity. And to give the movie the benefit of the doubt, the plot synopsis does state that it is “a historical epic that is based in an alternate history of The Kingdom of Dahomey,” which means you should leave your quibbles at the box office. Viola Davis stars as General Nanisca of the Dahomey warriors, one of the only African kingdoms to feature women as part of the armed forces. We first see them engaging a rival tribe, the Oyo, in which they attain a decisive victory because of their skill and tactics. Although their feud has been going on for centuries, both Dahomey and the Oyo are being instigated by the European colonial powers that seek to bolster their slave trade. To avoid selling their own, each of the tribes raids the other, selling off their prisoners as slaves (regardless of gender or age). It’s a bloody business that King Ghezo of Dahomey no longer wants to be a part of. But the only way to stop the trade would be to wipe out the Oyo, which is nothing short of a tall order considering their superior numbers and technology. The film’s analysis of the slave trade is far better than most tonally deft Hollywood epics. The Dahomey are the heroes of our story, but they aren’t without their misgivings. But while the introspection is good, it’s also not good enough. The central conflict is resolved too cleanly without regard to the bigger picture. Sure, the white slavers are killed and the people are freed, but are we really led to believe that’ll be the end of all of this? Director Gina Prince-Bythewood does craft some spectacular action setpieces, each highlighting the physical prowess of the Dahomey Amazons. Swords, spears, muskets, and even sharpened fingernails are used by the women to vanquish their enemies. The PG-13 rating is pushed to its limits, with only a few rapid cuts away from the fatal blows keeping us from the adults-only territory. That level of top-tier craftsmanship also appears in nearly every aspect of the film’s production. An eye-popping color palette coats King Ghezo’s palace and the traditional costumes of the warriors. And Terence Blanchard’s (Spike Lee’s go-to composer) triumphant score gives each scene that little extra boost it needs to get over the edge. It’s just a shame that the technical prowess of the film couldn’t bleed over into the script (written by Dana Stevens and Maria Bello), which constantly throws a wet blanket each time things start to heat up. Along with the simplification of slavery, we also get soap opera-level twists about the character’s lineage and a forced love story between a female warrior and a down-with-the-cause European. It’s in these moments you’re reminded this movie cost $50 million to produce and needs to pull out every trick in the book to appeal to all audiences. At least the acting covers most of the script’s problems. As expected, Viola Davis crushes her role as the stern warrior leader. Lashana Lynch carries over her great comedic timing from No Time to Die as the second-in-command, Izogie. And Thuso Mbedu, who plays the audience surrogate, Nawi, does well at handling the film’s heavier moments. If not for its weak script, The Woman King could have been one of the best action movies of 2022. But even for all its faults on the page, there’s no denying the power of what it accomplishes on the screen. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Phoenician Scheme May 28, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen For his review of the 2005 Steven Spielberg film, Munich , film critic for The New York Times , A.O. Scott, began with the title: “An Action Film About the Need to Talk.” It’s a succinct way to describe the main theme of Spielberg’s underseen docudrama masterpiece that recounts Israeli operatives hunting down the people responsible for the Black September capture and massacre of their athletes at the 1972 Olympics. Were the retaliation measures justifiable, or were they just blind vengeance? And even if they could be justified, wouldn’t the cycle of violence just be perpetuated by the other side until they each go blind? Although it substitutes slapstick and levity for the blood and bullets of Spielberg’s film, Wes Anderson’s newest work, The Phoenician Scheme , goes about those ideas in a pretty identical manner. And although the lack of dialogue between the warring factions was part of the problem in Munich , too much talking on the part of this film’s main character, Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro), sets everything in motion here. Middle school history students would describe him as a “robber baron” or a “tycoon” on account of his shrewd business practices. Famines? He’s started them. Slavery? He’s indulged in it. Hand grenades? He has enough lying around that he offers them to all guests like cookies. Fiddling with deals and going back on his word is largely why he’s amassed his fortune, and probably why so many attempts have been made on his life. That’s exactly where we meet Korda in this story: surviving his sixth recorded airplane crash. At some point, the house is going to win, which is why he’s made the precautionary move to have his estranged novitiate daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), returned home so that she can assume possession of his estate should the unthinkable happen. But before he can defy his enemies by retiring, he must tighten the final screws on a massive infrastructure project in the fictional Middle Eastern territory of Phoenicia that will bring him and several future generations enough passive income to stay atop the throne. On this journey, we stop to meet each of the members who comprise this wall-to-wall A-list cast. Many of them have previously featured in Anderson’s films, such as Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston returning from their live-action debut in Asteroid City to play American train tycoon brothers who prefer to settle disputes over a game of H-O-R-S-E. I will jump the gun here and say that the scene where they challenge Zsa-zsa and the prince of Phoenicia (Riz Ahmed) to said game might be the funniest moment Anderson has ever created. There are also multi-film veterans like Mathieu Amalric (coincidentally, also in Munich) , Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, and Rupert Friend. “The story of a family and a family business” is the plot summary provided. It’s apt, as a full explanation of all the machinations that go on here would require many more paragraphs. I was never quite sure who everyone was, why they were important, and what needed to happen between them for the conflict to be resolved. But I also don’t think Anderson wants us to pay that much attention to the nitty gritty details. I suppose you could if you really wanted to, as there’s plenty of information doled out through the trademarked sumptuous production. What’s really important here is not the 5 Ws, but the 1 H. Spurred on by a combination of Liesl’s objections to his malpractices and the gradual melting of his cold, Grinch-like heart, Zsa-zsa begins to see the error of his ways. “Let’s communicate,” is a punchline he says in each encounter, all caused by everyone’s instinctual failure to bring their best intentions to the table. In a time when the terms “trade war” and “tariffs” have become shorthand for an outdated and backward way of conducting business, here’s a story that preaches the value of being simultaneously kind and successful. Del Toro is quite excellent, making Zsa-zsa a thornily interesting character. There are a lot of laughs to be had from his line deliveries, and his command of the scenery Anderson places him in. Except for cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman, who’s been discreetly replaced by the equally fantastic Bruno Delbonnel, all the usual craftspeople align the credits. Anderson continues to prove that he has total dominion over a world that only he can create and perfect. So many have tried and failed to replicate, but there can only be one. Anderson is a lot like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At this point, you’re either in or you’re out. I’m so deep in the bag that it might as well be the one from Mary Poppins . I’ve seen a lot of films, and the majority of them all follow the same pattern. Anderson’s films certainly aren’t an exception, but there is always something magical about their sameness. And like Nicole Kidman always says: We come to this place [the cinema] for magic . More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Landscape with Invisible Hand August 16, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Aliens have invaded Earth! They came from the sky, descending upon our mortal world after sensing our weaknesses. We are no longer the dominant species of our world, usurped by these higher-dimensional beings. Except, this event was nowhere near as exciting or terrifying as it sounds. It was more like a corporate buyout, as their alien technology was too advanced for us to compete. Every object, process, and idea became obsolete overnight, rendering the entire human race to be managed over with the cold smile of Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta. One of those humans was Adam Cambell (Asante Black), a Rhode Island teen with a lawyer mom (Tiffany Haddish) that has been unemployed since the takeover, and a younger sister (Brooklynn MacKinzie) that doesn’t see any light left in the world. Her feelings are pretty much shared by everybody, especially the teachers, most of whom have been laid off as they “have been underbid by the little boxes on your foreheads.” Adam sees a bit of sunshine in the form of his new classmate Chloe (Kylie Rogers), whose family has been homeless nomads for the past few months. The two develop romantic chemistry quickly, using their happy feelings for each other to escape their downtrodden circumstances. Luckily for them, those feelings can be monetized, as the aliens don’t have the physical capabilities to feel love and will pay top dollar to witness it firsthand through something called a “Courtship Broadcast.” As many Gen Xers would know, putting something online lessens the spontaneity of a feeling. You can’t fully be genuine when you’re trying to be genuine. Adam and Chloe run into this problem after the honeymoon phase dissipates rather quickly. That aspect of social media and modern love is only one of the handful of scattershot ideas within writer/director Cory Finley’s screenplay, adapted from the book of the same name by M.T. Anderson. There are also themes about consumerism, broken families, class divides, immigration, emigration, teenage angst, social norms, life’s purpose, and the value of art. It’s a classic case of too many cooks in the kitchen, with none of the “lessons” being all that insightful. You might not have seen it with these types of characters in these situations, but you can see these plot developments and themes coming from a mile away. Finley’s previous efforts of Thoroughbreds and Bad Education were able to thread the tonal needle with supreme confidence. There’s even a moment within Thoroughbreds where a character explains that the worst thing to be is indecisive. Finley seems to have forgotten that lesson in his third outing, as he loses that edge that made him such a phenom. Every image feels less than the sum of its parts, and you’re left with less energy than you came in with. But all is not totally lost. The cast is quite good. Black and Rogers are nice together, and Josh Hamilton often shines as Chloe’s father who bends so far backwards to not be a failure that he ends up becoming more of one. Tiffany Haddish rises above her thinly written character. There’s also Michael Abels’ (a frequent Jordan Peele collaborator) synth score, instilling that extra drop of sci-fi kitschiness. Landscape with Invisible Hand finds Finley stretching himself thinly across too many ideas and too many characters. It’s respectably ambitious, but never sticks the landing. Ultimately, it’s more of a misstep than a failure, as I expect him to find his footing again, hopefully, sooner rather than later. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

28 Years Later June 19, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen The only moment that could be considered “light” in 28 Years Later , the third fittingly titled entry in the famed zombie franchise after 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later , is the logo treatment for Columbia Pictures. Even the opening image features the Teletubbies, the little devils that simultaneously entertain and steal people’s souls. After that, it’s a non-stop train down to hell. But there’s still a melody to the morbidity, much of it coming through the strong performances and delicate tonal balancing from returning director Danny Boyle. That shouldn’t be a surprise for the revered British auteur, considering he’s already performed this trick with the electrifying provactivness of the original Trainspotting , which turned into the wiser, sadder T2 Trainspotting . Time was a valuable asset for that series, and so is it here. No longer is agonizingly immediate dismemberment the top-of-mind threat, but the slow, trodden wait for time to outpace mortality. The ending of 28 Weeks Later , with the zombies now spreading through mainland Europe, has been retconned back to the British Isles. The world’s governments aren’t going to make the same mistake twice, so the United Kingdom has been permanently sealed off, leaving any and all human survivors to fend for themselves. Even for the people of Holy Island, who have formed a quiet, secluded community away from the infected, there’s a lingering feeling that everyone else on the planet is just waiting for them to die off and for all this to be done. As the title alludes, enough time has passed since the rage virus first appeared. There are now generations that don’t know what the world was like before all this. iPhones, the internet, plastic surgery, and pizza delivery. Those are all foreign concepts to twelve-year-old Spike, played by the brilliant newcomer Alfie Williams. His lifestyle has reverted several hundred years, his dad (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and he being the hunter-gatherers of the community. There are now variations of the infected, some slower and others brawnier and more intelligent, known as “Alphas.” A natural plot would create an antagonistic relationship between Spike and the Alpha, with his coming-of-age reaching its climax by slaying the beast. Screenwriter Alex Garland (recently helming the A24 military duo of Civil War and Warfare ) and Boyle have different ideas. As opposed to his worn-down traditional father, Spike’s concept of masculinity comes from his devotion to his sick mother (Jodie Comer), with the only hope for a cure being from a supposed insane doctor housed deep in the forbidden mainland. Like all promises of relief in this franchise, the answer is never what you want to hear. But instead of being a blunt beating, Spike’s realization about the natural order of things comes with precise catharsis. A bald and red-painted Ralph Fiennes plays the mad doctor, offering sobering wisdom from someone who sees past the us vs. them division of the living and the dead. His appearance is greatly welcomed, and his work with Williams and Comer tugs at the heart, a surprising occurrence from a franchise whose first instinct with organs is to violently rip them out. This is also a franchise where every terrible happening is caused by unbelievable stupidity, so the higher-minded philosophy still has a pretty low ceiling. The thematically correct sloppiness of the previous entry’s cinematography is replicated here through wide-angled and anamorphic iPhone cameras. At times, there’s a jarring beauty to it, providing an unvarnished view of the world. In other moments, it’s an uncanny valley, my mind instinctively rejecting cell phone cameras from the silver screen. That unfiltered view also prevents the unsightly CGI from being masked. A highly questionable ending, certainly a teaser for the already-shot sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple , dampens a lot of the goodwill built up to that moment. This is only supposed to be the start of a new trilogy, with original cast member Cillian Murphy expected to return. The brief sample has me questioning what the full course is going to be, but there are still enough unique ideas ready for us to sink our teeth into. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Irishman December 9, 2019 By: Button Hunter Friesen Sprawling fifty years and dozens of features, director Martin Scorsese has crafted one of the finest filmographies in cinematic history. Over the decades, there appear to be two sides to the revered auteur’s style of filmmaking. One side is filled with fast-paced and violent storytelling in films such as Goodfellas, Casino , and The Wolf of Wall Street . On the other side is a more slow and quiet study of the human condition that can be found in The Last Temptation of Christ , Kundun , and Silence . Now after years of being disjointed, these distinct styles have finally melded together in the director’s newest Netflix film, The Irishman . Telling the true-ish story (it’s still hotly debated whether any of it is true) of mob hitman Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, the film places its main character at the forefront of American history in the mid-twentieth century. Over the years, Sheeran became increasingly attached to mob life, eventually leading him to the infamous teamster Jimmy Hoffa, whose fate is still unknown to this day. But as Frank rises the ranks within the mob, we watch as he slowly descends into a life of violence where the riches are short-lived and damaging effects are ever-lasting. The first thing you’ll probably notice when looking up the film is its massive 209-minute runtime, which makes it the longest mainstream movie released in over a quarter-century. That amount of length may be daunting on paper, but Scorsese makes every minute of it glide by with ease. His usual style of kinetic editing and pacing are masterfully employed and keep the film entirely thrilling throughout. By the time the film has finished, you feel as though you have lived a life with these characters rather than just watched it. Another production facet that the film carries is a revolutionary new technology that digitally de-ages its main cast so they’re able to play their characters over multiple decades. Admittedly, the gimmick doesn’t work perfectly as the 76-year-old Robert De Niro never convincingly looks like his thirty-year-old self. But even with its missteps, the technology is never a bother and seamlessly works its magic in the scenes where the characters are closer to the actor's age. Adapted by Steven Zaillian from the book “I Heard You Paint Houses”, The Irishman is a dense (maybe too dense) and depressing crime epic. Scorsese’s trademarked main character narration is here in its entirety as Sheeran tells his life story while in a nursing home near the end of his life. Even though Scorsese implements his usual gangster style within the script, its use here is for an altogether different purpose than in previous films. Instead of showing the often joyous life of criminals with smugness, the script fully exposes us to the doom and gloom that a life of crime brings to someone. Frank is the main character in our story, but within his story, he’s always off to the side as he gets caught up in the everlasting destruction around him. By the time the third act reaches and the characters are reflecting on their past, their sad nature is fully exposed. All the acts these characters committed were paid for in death and despair, with the reward being even more of the same. Teaming up with Scorsese for their ninth collaboration, Robert De Niro does his best work in decades in the titular role. His performance as Frank is closed-off and internal, further highlighting that Sheeran had little control over his life. The further the story progresses, the more haunting De Niro becomes as he can more clearly see where the road will take him. On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, Al Pacino plays the infamous union boss Jimmy Hoffa. We’ve always known that Pacino has fervor in his acting repertoire. His only problem over the years was how to effectively channel it to the right performance. Fortunately, there seems to be a method to Pacino’s madness here as his boisterous fire perfectly counters De Niro’s coldness. Playing against type is another frequent Scorsese collaborator in Joe Pesci as mob boss Russell Buffalino. Even if it may be his quietest role to date, Pesci instills fear through his menacing delivery and stares. Rounding the ensemble cast is Harvey Keitel, Bobby Cannavale, Ray Romano, Jesse Plemons, and Anna Paquin; all of which do great work in their supporting roles. Proving that the two sides of Martin Scorsese work better together than separately, The Irishman is a crime classic on par with the greats before. Its extensive tale of remorse and sorrow is worth every minute you put into it. If you only see a handful of movies a year, make sure this Netflix epic is one of them. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Testament of Ann Lee September 6, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen The Testament of Ann Lee had its North American Premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Searchlight Pictures will release it in theaters on December 25. The TIFF press gods might smite me for mentioning this right off the bat, but early in the Press and Industry screening for The Testament of Ann Lee , the 70mm projection sputtered for a moment, only to then fully cut to a black void. An ironic wave of applause and cheering came over the audience of critics, with many (including myself) lining up hours prior in the crisp morning air. The distraction lasted less than a minute, with the heavenly image of Amanda Seyfried’s titular character and her devout followers reappearing on the screen in a rush of rhythmic dance. This hiccup was just another reminder of the tightrope that director Mona Fastvold and her co-writer/partner Brady Corbet must traverse to get their art made and presented in the purest way possible. The pair were at the prior edition of the festival with The Brutalist , their efforts finally rewarded after years of toiling with financing, recasting, and distribution. The fact that a movie of that scale and intelligence could be crafted for a mere sum of $10 million calls into question the ethics of modern moviemaking. Fastvold and Corbet went unpaid for their efforts, and much of their crew labored for a fraction of their usual fees. But just as László Tóth and Ann Lee were unshakeable in their creed, so are Fastvold and Corbet in their artistic integrity. The Testament of Ann Lee arrives at the festival under a similar scenario to The Brutalist : undistributed, a laundry list of producers and foreign subsidiaries, and an eagerness to ward off any spineless suit with the premise of a quasi-musical about a female-led religious movement set during the years before the American Revolution. Unlike Tóth, Ann Lee was a real person. She was born in Manchester, England, and received no formal education, remaining illiterate throughout her life. The ecstasy of religion mitigated the agony of daily life. Her shepherds were James and Jane Wardley, who preached the value of cleansing oneself from sin through chanting and dancing. The unconditioned eye may judge these people as crazed zealots, flailing about with the same rhythm of a seizure. Fastvold lowers our guard by burying the camera deep within their movements, each contortion an act of pure faith. The Brutalist composer Daniel Blumberg returns with a rich soundscape that focuses on the repetition of words and phrases. The songs “Beautiful Treasures” and “Hunger and Thirst” bring together all facets of the production into a harmonious expression of resilience. None of these tunes will be climbing up the Spotify charts, and they’re probably better off because of that. Ann’s devotion is not rewarded with the gifts of children, all four of them dying before their first birthday. These costs of lust, along with Ann’s mother being sexually assaulted when she was a child, lead her to swear off any physical bodily pleasures. Her followers obliged, which is probably why their numbers have dwindled down to just two in 2025. It’s from here that the movement transplanted to America, a land of religious tolerance (cue the ironic slide whistle). Seyfried is tremendous in her commitment, seizing this golden opportunity to showcase her musical talent fully. It might be her best work yet, a remarkable achievement in this Renaissance period that includes turns in Mank and The Dropout . The supporting players - Lewis Pullman, Thomasin McKenzie, Christopher Abbott, Tim Blake Nelson - all have their moments to shine, although not in the usual form of musical solos or dance numbers. They share a glance or a steadfast prayer in defense of the persecution they receive from the conservative leaders. I’d say that Fastvold and Corbet deserve more than the pennies they receive to make their films, but it doesn’t seem like they need it. The pair obviously sees themselves in their subjects, willing to put everything on the line for what they believe in. Lest we forget that history was never made by the meek. You probably won’t become a Shaker after seeing The Testament of Ann Lee , but you’ll be a believer in their convictions and the overwhelming power of their story. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

A Hero July 16, 2021 By: Button Hunter Friesen A Hero had its World Premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Amazon Studios will release it in theaters on January 07, followed by its streaming premiere on January 21. Without much fanfare, Iranian auteur Asghar Farhadi has become one of the most consistent filmmakers of the new millennium. His work has amassed him prestigious premieres at film festivals, two Academy Awards for Best International Feature (2011’s A Separation and 2016’s The Salesman ), and the opportunity to work with some of the biggest international stars. Premiering at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (which usually serves as his launching pad) is his newest film, A Hero . Set within modern Iran, A Hero follows the life of Rahim, who is currently on two-day parole from his prison sentence, which he is serving because of his inability to pay off a debt to a local lender. When Rahim and his girlfriend find a bag of gold coins at a bus stop, they decide to pawn them off to help pay the debt. Unfortunately, the exchange rate for the coins isn’t ideal, so they decide to do the right thing and return them to the owner. A woman comes forward to reclaim her lost property, which turns Rahim into a local celebrity for his generosity. But after some digging, hidden details start to come up to the surface. Rahim’s story is put under a microscope, with many suspecting there’s more than meets the eye. Barring his 2018 feature Everybody Knows , Farhadi has concentrated his storytelling on his home country of Iran. He has a fascination with showcasing the modern problems that its citizens often deal with, a monumentally difficult task considering the strict censorship the government puts on its artists. Despite the government initially banning him from making the film, Farhadi was able to explore the modern fallacies of divorce and gender in A Separation . A Hero taps into that same vein as Farhadi spins a web of moral and ethical quandaries so dense that it would give the world’s leading philosophers a headache. Often compared to the great Alfred Hitchcock for his knack for suspenseful drama, Farhadi structures his film with a rapid pace, both in terms of setting and plot progression. Taking place entirely throughout Rahim’s two-day parole, the film covers a lot of material in a short amount of time. And this material isn’t clean and dry stuff as much of it contains complicated details and extensive critical thinking without the guarantee of a satisfying answer. Unlike Hitchcock, Farhadi is quite invisible in his direction. Like the master that he is (which isn’t to say Hitchcock isn’t a master), Farhadi is always present, but never visible. There isn’t anything showy about his work as the story and actors carry the film from beginning to end. His reluctance to overtly showcase his prowess to the audience is a sign of a director confident in his abilities, and the crew that he has assembled. A Hero is still filled with a few directorial flourishes such as a perfectly framed shot here and there, with the final shot rivaling his best visual work. Where Farhadi flexes his muscles is in the jam-packed script. Like Aaron Sorkin’s work in The Social Network , there are mountains upon mountains of dialogue, all going by in the blink of an eye. This is both a blessing and a curse to the film, as it produces a rapidly evolving plot that keeps you guessing, but also overloads itself and spreads its message too thin over too many topics. The ideas of The Good Samaritan and the troubling machinations of the court of public opinion are topics rife with debate that Farhadi is expertly able to dissect, but just not at the same time. At the center of the film is Amir Jadidi as Rahim, who, like all Farhadi performers, is a captivating lead. Despite his myriad of problems, Rahim always carries around a dogged smile on his face and a sliver of optimism in his mind. You’re attracted to him as a character because of this and feel betrayed by him once more light is shed on the truth. While he may not be working at the absolute height of his power, Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero is still a feature by a master storyteller doing what he does best. There’s a lot to learn and digest, with some of the material being quite rough around the edges. Few filmmakers are as gifted as Farhadi at showing the complicated nature of everyday life. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Morbius April 4, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen I have made a deal with the devil. The trailer for Morbius has been stalking me ever since it first appeared in January 2020. It didn’t matter what YouTube video or movie I was watching in the cinema, the trailer would always follow me there. International arthouse movie? Morbius trailer would play there. Romantic comedy? Morbius trailer would be there too. Animated kids film? You guessed it, the Morbius trailer. After two years of agony, I’d had enough. I called up the Lord of Darkness and begged him to release me from this eternal punishment. He made me an offer for that request. His asking price: sell my soul or buy a ticket to the full version of Morbius . I chose the cheaper option (or so I thought), which was to put money in Sony’s pocket and buy a ticket to Morbius . And now after seeing the final product, I wish I had sold my soul instead. Morbius gives vampires a bad name, which is saying something since the famed bloodsuckers have had quite a tumultuous cinematic career. Besides the Dracula adaptations, there’s been a lot of crummy vampire stories, including multiple editions of the Underworld and Twilight franchises. I will say that it’s tough to categorize Morbius as a vampire movie since I honestly don’t know if the titular character is actually a vampire. Dr. Michael Morbius gets vampiric qualities after he mixes his DNA with that of a vampire bat. For some reason, this gives him superhuman speed and strength and also changes his diet from regular human food to human blood. His search for a cure has brought him a remedy that might be worse than the disease. And while it’s hard to tell if Morbius is a vampire movie, it’s even more difficult to tell if it’s a Marvel movie. Sony desperately wants you to think it is as their trailers tout themselves as the studio that brought you the recent Spider-Man films. That may be a true statement, but it’s only half true, as Sony is part of the studio partnership with Disney that produces those films. And judging by each studio’s individual output, it’s clear that Disney does the heavy lifting in the relationship. So no, this is not a Marvel Cinematic Universe film, which means you don’t have to subject yourself to torture just to know how it will interconnect with the other pieces. The Disney+ Marvel shows are already torture enough. Sony may wave the Marvel flag to lure you into seeing this film, but there’s none of the Marvel charm or showmanship present within the film itself. There’s no thrill to this story, no reason in wanting to know what happens next. The stakes are nonexistent, as the only thing Michael must do is keep his bloodlust to a minimum and find a cure for his newfound condition. Honestly, after so many superhero films with apocalyptic scenarios, the lives of a few nameless side characters don’t interest me in the slightest. Of course, there is action in this “superhero” film to keep your brain occupied, even if it is the blandest and murky action I’ve ever seen. I was so bored during the set pieces, that I amused myself by performing an experiment. I would watch half the scene with my glasses on, and then the other half with them off. In the end, it didn’t matter since everything is just a muddled mess of CGI. Trying to make out what is happening, especially during the tedious finale, is a fool’s errand that offers no reward. Poor Jared Leto has gone and ruined another comic book movie, just like he did with his “interpretation” of the Joker in 2016’s Suicide Squad . I’ll give Leto credit in saying that he always brings 110% to what he’s doing, which can be seen quite prominently in his offensive performance in last year’s House of Gucci . It’s just that what he’s doing tends to be wrong on almost every level. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he drank real human blood to prepare himself for this role. From the bottom of my heart, I implore you not to watch Morbius . Because if Sony makes enough money from this to greenlight a sequel, I’m going to go insane as the trailer for Morbius 2 will undoubtedly stalk me like its predecessor. And if that does happen, I won’t make the same mistake twice and buy a ticket to it. I’d rather just sell my soul. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen