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Nouvelle Vague October 31, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen “Each film is made up of five different films: The film you write, the film you cast, the film you shoot, the film you edit, and the film you release.” That’s a line from Nouvelle Vague , spoken to Jean-Luc Godard as he’s about to begin production on his debut feature film, Breathless . Little did anyone know that it would become the apex not only of the French New Wave (for which this film takes its title), but also a pinnacle moment in the evolution of cinema. Sixty-five years later, director Richard Linklater, completing the back half of his 2025 double play after Blue Moon , is here to tell us all about. The film they wrote is a simple one. “All you need to make a film is a girl and a gun,” is Jean-Luc’s strategy for getting the necessary financing. He’s written a scenario with New Wave superstars and fellow Cahiers du Cinéma critics Claude Chabrol ( Le Beau Serge ) and François Truffaut ( The 400 Blows) , a fast-paced story of a crook and a girl on the run. Writers Holly Gent, Laetitia Masson, Vincent Palmo Jr., and Michèle Pétin find humor in the criminal behavior that is required to get a film off the ground. Jean-Luc evades securing permits, giving story details to his crew, and never keeps a regular working schedule. It’s all a mystery, maintain the magic that is needed to make a work of art. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UufRzKVFseg The film they cast was full of unknowns, except for the American expatriot Jean Seberg. Linklater applies the same logic, with Zoey Deutch, reuniting with the director after Everybody Wants Some!! , playing the Iowa-born star. She’s attracted to Godard’s whirlwind methods, mostly because they heavily clash with her recent work with the ultra-regimented Otto Preminger. Guillaume Marbeck marks one of the best feature acting debuts as Godard. He’s a dead ringer, complete with sunglasses that never come off and a partially receding hairline. There’s mischief in his (covered) eyes, and a sense of genius that persuades people to withstand his aloofness. A special shoutout should be given to Benjamin Clery as Jean-Luc’s assistant, Pierre Rissient, the comedic standout of the film. The film they shot was in French, with a 4:3 aspect ratio and high-contrast black-and-white. It was a fast and cheap solution, keeping the production light on its feet and giving the story a down-and-dirty aesthetic. David Chambille’s cinematography here is a near-perfect recreation, even down to the cigarette burn cue marks and slightly faded subtitles that also appear to introduce the dozens of famous historical faces. It’s boxy, yet vibrant, with an amateur quality that can only be made by someone who clearly understands what they’re doing. The sound pops, all of it recorded in post-production. The film they edited gave it the smoky, cool tone it’s most known for. Jump cuts excise all the “boring” bits, leaving only the parts we need to want to know more. Linklater could have leaned more on that technique, as a substantial chunk of the film is spent meticulously detailing the daily production process. The majority of the days in the twenty-three-day shoot meld together, leaving an impression that we’re running around in a revolving door. The film they released was in theaters, catching on like wildfire as a new generation of cinephiles gravitated towards its hip aesthetics and ideas. This film will not share that strategy or result, with its placement on Netflix isolating the experience. For as much fun as I had with the movie itself, an equal amount came from the collective awe-inspiring giddiness that spread throughout the room. We were all sharing the same projector light, the same sound system, and the same sequence of events. And there’s nothing as artistically pure as that. This review was originally published from the Canadian premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Netflix will release Nouvelle Vague in select theaters on October 31st, followed by its streaming premiere on November 14th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World March 4, 2019 By: Button Hunter Friesen Without many people noticing, the How to Train Your Dragon series has become one of the most highly regarded modern trilogies. The first two films struck a chord with audiences and critics by telling the beautiful story of a friendship between a boy and his dragon. The third and final film in the franchise, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, meets the bar set by its predecessors and caps off a series of a decade in the making. Now, the leader of Berk, Hiccup, has transformed the island into a dragon sanctuary. Due to their vulnerability and approaching enemies, Hiccup decides to search for an underground dragon paradise known as the Hidden World. At the same time, a new Night Fury mysteriously appears, catching the eye of Toothless. With both their physical and emotional fortitude being tested by new outside forces, both Hiccup and Toothless will have to re-examine their bond and decide what truly matters to them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkcucKDrbOI First and foremost, this is an absolutely gorgeous movie with several stunning shots. In association with the great Roger Deakins, cinematographer Gal Zimmerman has crafted a beautiful, breathing world filled with vivid colors. Director Dean DeBlois uses outstanding cinematography to its fullest potential, as a large part of the film takes place in the foreground of majestic vistas. He also uses stages in many of his scenes with single camera movements that make for more believable action. DeBlois proves to work best without dialogue as he creates great emotional depth through movement and expression. The dragons benefit the most from this as they are developed into full characters, with most being more fleshed out than the humans. And as always, composer John Powell delivers another amazing score. The mix of epic and tenderness makes Powell’s score quite possibly the best part of the film, as it combines with the sweeping imagery. Serving as the sole writer, DeBlois isn’t as good on paper as he is behind the camera. The script for this entry follows beat for beat with the previous two installments. The main theme of dragons and humans learning how to coexist is heavily touched on, but this time to the point of boredom. I realize it's the essential crutch of the trilogy, but it's just tiring to tread the same points for the third film in a row. There’s only so much that can be said until it becomes monotonous. The film also feels quite overstuffed as too many supporting characters fight for a small number of good jokes. Most of them turn out to be quite irritating as they only get one trait that wears thin incredibly quickly. The thread of single-trait characters can also be extended to the main villain, Grimmel, whose one defining characteristic is that he’s evil. Instead of developing him and creating justifications for his actions, DeBlois backs up everything Grimmel does with the explanation that he’s a bad guy who does bad things. Even with all his faults, DeBlois does do a great job with the final act. He effortlessly ends the series on a high note through sequences of heartfelt character interaction that will bring tears to audiences of all ages. Compared to most other animated films, the voice acting is not of as high a quality as one would expect. Jay Baruchel as Hiccup is still pretty good. His voice perfectly captures the character both physically and emotionally. America Ferrera does equally decent work as Astrid. Her best scenes are the more intimate ones she shares with Baruchel. F. Murray Abraham does a respectable job as Grimmel. Unfortunately, his perfectly menacing voice kind of goes to waste on a paper-thin character. Weighing the rest of the cast down is the comedy sidekick trio of Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig, and Justin Rupple. They each sound like they're on autopilot mode and end up becoming progressively more annoying throughout the length of the film. For lovers of the first two films, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is another instant classic. While it isn’t perfect, this finale to a solid trilogy will leave you dazzled by its imagery and touched by its story. Universal Pictures will release How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World in theaters nationwide on February 22nd. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

It Ends with Us August 7, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Every once in a while, there comes a moment during a critic’s career where they have a bit of an existential crisis over whether their opinion matters. Those pangs of self-doubt and uselessness can come in all shapes and sizes, covering an entire body of work or just a single piece. While I’ve never endured the self-questioning of my work as a whole (yet), there was a distinct moment during It Ends with Us where I seriously doubted any sort of merit I could bring to the conversation surrounding the film and the book it is based on. That immediate moment of realization came within the theater, but before the projector had even been turned on. After walking down the theater hallway and entering the specific room, I turned the corner to see that the entire auditorium was filled with women, the majority of whom were members of a local book club. I’ll admit, this already sounds like it’s the start of a whiny tell-all where a man finally realizes the world isn’t catered to him. It’s not that serious, nor was this even close to the first time I learned that movies can have different target audiences. But it was a gentle reminder that there are certain movies I can’t expect myself to “get,” something that I appreciate since too many movies try to be for everyone, which inadvertently makes them appealing to no one. It Ends with Us easily slots into that “book club sensation” microgenre, with many of its members being sneaky box office sensations. Where the Crawdads Sing grossed over $150 million post-pandemic, and The Idea of You became Amazon MGM’s number-one romantic comedy ever on streaming earlier this year. Based on my audience’s reception as the screen cut to black and the credits rolled, It Ends with Us will follow a similar trajectory, along with a healthy CinemaScore. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLET_u31M4M Director Justin Baldoni has already tapped this source twice before with Five Feet Apart and Disney+ Original Clouds , both cancer dramas. That subject never gets broached here, although things do start on an equally glib note with the funeral for Lily’s (Blake Lively) father, who was a domestic abuser throughout much of her childhood. Love and relationships have never been simple for Lily, which is why she’s stayed single in Boston all these years, her dreams of opening a flower shop being her driving force. Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni, casting himself as the irresistible neurosurgeon) is also in the same boat, although he’s intentionally put himself there after years of trading love for lust. Ryle shows all the signs a college orientation would give you to identify a sexual predator, including saying things like “I need a kiss to get you out of my head” and never taking no for an answer. Within the confines of the page, there could be the slightest bit of room for interpretation about the dynamic Lily and Ryle share. But once it’s projected on a giant screen right in front of you and literalized, it just comes off as creepy and pathetic. Sure, that is part of the point, but Baldoni’s attempts as both the director and actor to make Ryle into a romantically compelling character end up backfiring on every occasion. It also brings into question the “relatable” brush screenwriter Christy Hall (writer/director of Daddio earlier this year) tries to paint Lily with, as if any girl couldn’t be at fault for falling for this guy. Forming the final part of this love triangle is Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), Lily’s first love from high school and now the owner of the hottest restaurant in town (did I mention that he’s really hot as well?). Where Ryle is controlling and manipulative, Atlas is caring and sensitive. They all have tragic backstories, all of which conveniently explain their current problems and behaviors. Furnishing the mass marketization of domestic abuse and toxicity is the most popular art direction and costuming from the “cozy” section of Pinterest. Kevin McKidd feels like a prop as Lily’s father, his Grey’s Anatomy connection causing a flurry of excited whispers amongst the audience. There are not as many opportunities to appreciate the eye candy as I would have hoped, with Baldoni shooting most scenes through close-ups, often recreating the Focus Features logo background across the Boston skyline. Lively pops off the screen as much as her questionable fashion choices (I’m definitely no expert, but what she wears to her father’s funeral seemed like a bit too much), with one almost wishing that the entire movie would have ditched the two possible lovers and solely focused on her running her flower shop with Jenny Slate and Hasan Minhaj. The brief glimpses into Lily and Atlas’ past can stay, though, as newcomer Isabela Ferrer and Alex Neustaedter share some wonderful moments. Readers of the book will no doubt be satisfied with what Baldoni has crafted, while those making this their first experience with the story will be left wondering what all the commotion has been about on Goodreads for all these years. Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, just got a pass these past few weeks for making Deadpool & Wolverine “for the fans,” so it's best to apply that same metric here. Sony Pictures Releasing will release It Ends with Us in theaters nationwide on August 9th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Fall Guy May 1, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen “A love letter to stunt actors” has been the overused line to promote The Fall Guy , directed by former stuntman David Leitch, who’s now become a Hollywood action staple behind the camera ( Deadpool 2 , Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Bullet Train ). While it’s a true statement in the emotional sense, with Leitch obviously showing great respect and pride for the craft and people that make it happen, the actual events within the film, many of them using stunts in service of lame action set pieces, make it as much a love letter to stunt actors as Madame Web is to paramedics and The Batman is to detectives. There was an opportunity in the beginning for The Fall Guy to keep its sights set on those it so desperately wants to be paraded by, but Drew Pearce’s (writer of Hobbs & Shaw ) script always finds a way to take the road that’s been traveled by every other action blockbuster in this era. Things start with stuntman Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) working on the set of another major action vehicle for global superstar Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Stuntmen are supposed to be the invisible heroes, but Colt becomes the most famous one in the world after he’s in an accident that breaks his back. He becomes a loner, essentially leaving Jody (Emily Blunt) at the altar just as their relationship was starting to heat up. He eventually gets lured back years later to help save Jody’s blockbuster directorial debut, MetalStorm , which is essentially a cross of Mad Max and Dune if it were directed by Zack Snyder. Ryder is the star of the picture, but he’s gone missing, so Colt is brought in to perform the stunts and see the film get over the hump. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7jPnwVGdZ8 That premise alone should have been more than enough to carry this film. You’ve got romance with Gosling and Blunt sizzling up the screen with their will-they-won’t-they chemistry, and you’ve got action in the form of the stunt work, all of which impresses on a technical level. The early scenes of Gosling (or, to be correct, his stuntman) rolling over in simulated car crashes and being set on fire do make you appreciate the blood, sweat, and tears required by these brave people to create something out of nothing. It’s just a great shame that Pearce and Leitch decided to limit all that reality-based movie magic to the first act, instead focusing the large majority of the bloated runtime on a weak caper plot about what’s happened to Ryder. The producer of the film, Gail (Hannah Waddingham), has Colt look for him, which gets him mixed up with drug dealers and a horde of goons. A murder conspiracy and lots of shootouts and explosions ensue, yet none of it feels impressive as it continually inches closer to implausibility. Sure, it’s all part of the summer blockbuster fun, but it’s also hard to take this movie’s message about the realities of stunt work seriously when our protagonist is an indestructible superhero who surfs a highway on a shovel while dodging bullets, and the big stunt salute is just a poorly choreographed big-team brawl. Also feeding into the feelings of overindulgence is the now clichéd meta banter Gosling and Blunt frequently engage in. Both of them are great performers who have clearly shown their comedic chops (Gosling in Barbie , Blunt in The Devil Wears Prada ), but they’re not working with great material here. More often than not, a laugh comes from Gosling or Blunt oozing every bit of charisma they have to make it work, which also inversely makes other attempts at comedy feel oversold. The Fall Guy gets points for having its heart in the right place, but it also gets docked quite a few points by failing to put its money where its mouth is. There’s a hard, bland outer shell that prevents us from truly tasting the heartfelt inner core that Leitch thinks the movie is always tapping into. Summer movie season truly is back, but it’s unfortunately starting with more of a whimper than a bang. Universal Pictures will release The Fall Guy in theaters nationwide on May 03rd. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Havoc April 24, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen A generic petty drug deal goes wrong in a generic city run by a generically corrupt mayor who was just saved from generic charges brought by the district attorney. The generic Christmas lights glisten in the night as the generically crooked cops chase after them. The apex is reached once the criminals reach the lair of the generic Chinese triad, only to find themselves involved in a shootout that frames them for the murder of everyone inside. The generically gruff police detective with a generically dark past named Walker (Tom Hardy) gets roped into the case, his past being used as blackmail by the mayor to sweep this whole thing under the rug due to his son being one of the criminals. This dime-a-dozen cops-and-robbers story has been a VOD and Redbox staple for decades, but the technological advancements of our time have shifted its importance to streaming. It's the kind where the detectives - one a grizzled veteran, the other a fresh face looking to do things by the book - roll up to the crime scene saying "What'd ya got for me today?" Walker's troubled past is given the generic summation line of "You live in this world, you make choices," right off the bat. His choice caused the fracturing of his relationship with his wife and young daughter. The former repeats the specifics of their breakup as if recapping the previous episode of a long-running television series, and the latter exists as a prop to be reminisced about from a distance as she colors in her book or plays tea with stuffed animals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6txjTWLoSc8 All these valid complaints make it seem as if Havoc is one of the worst movies of the year, just another streaming exclusive designed to appear momentarily on the most-watched of the weekend list and then fade into the overpopulated land of obscurity. No, Havoc never threatens to plunge to those levels. But with a script that might as well be from the stack of rejected episodes within the CSI writer's room, it's damn near impossible to muster any emotional or intellectual reaction. Welsh filmmaker Gareth Evans directs from his own script. He's the creator behind the formerly cult classic, now insanely popular, Indonesian action films of The Raid: Redemption and its sequel, The Raid 2 . Both spawned a new wave of intricately choreographed, hyper-violent crime films (see Headshot , The Night Comes for Us , and The Shadow Strays ) that placed Indonesia at the forefront of modern action. Plot is merely a formality for these projects, a boilerplate connector for the bone-crunching action setpieces. Viewing Havoc through those lenses, the final product starts to look a little rosier. American action films have never been as brutal as things are here. Sure, the John Wick series may pile bodies for a mile in each direction, but there's a pristine sharpness injected into the choreography and set decorations. No such luxuries exist here, with the nicest location being the initial few minutes within an underground EDM dance club before it gets bathed in bullets and blood. Every character is just as grimy as the spaces they inhabit, with their only penance being the edge of a blade or the last bullet from a seemingly bottomless gun. In one of his few non-Venom lead roles since he took over the character in 2018, Hardy dives headfirst into the sweatiness. He still carries a lot of Eddie Brock-isms with him, likely from the fact that this film was shot in 2021, right between the first and second Venom films. He may not be as physically gifted as Iko Uwais or have a contract that allows him to get as bruised up, but he carries himself like a bulldozer. And, like every American, he always carries a bigger gun than his foe. For Evans, this is still a slight disappointment. Perhaps it's because the American studio system doesn't allow for as much freedom to innovate, or because its comparatively boundless riches make it too tempting to take the easy way out. The opening car chase is infested with snow and debris to hide the extensive visual effects, the camera swirling around at impossible speeds. The theatrical realism Evans has been known for was immediately stripped away, with a few glimpses throughout the rest of the film. Something is still better than nothing, which is what we usually get in this subgenre. Netflix will release Havoc on its streaming service on April 25th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Better Man December 26, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen You know what they say: when in doubt, add a monkey. The producers of Better Man , the new biopic on Robbie Williams, certainly took that often parodied advice to its most literal form, supplanting the famous British pop star with an anthropomorphized CGI ape. Yes, you read that correctly, for nearly 150 minutes, which includes his time as a little boy growing up in Stoke to his later days topping the charts, Williams ditches our flesh and blood for the fur of a primate. One may think that that's enough of a gimmick to differentiate this film from any of the multitude of musician biopics we've gotten over the years. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong, although I will say that the sight of an anthropomorphized monkey doing cocaine and getting a handjob at a club does go a long way in making this a unique experience. Blame it on my American DNA as to why I was fully unfamiliar with Robbie Williams before Paramount Pictures scheduled this for a Christmas Day release. "Don't you have to be famous to get a $100 million biopic made about you?" I asked as I read the headlines. It turns out that the level of blindness is something that almost all North Americans suffer from, something we might need a university study on, considering that British stars have invaded the American music landscape on several occasions before. A quick scan of Williams' extensive Wikipedia page opened my eyes, and a few ventures down the Spotify rabbit hole attuned my ears. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVeH5T4wxkE For once, I was going into a biopic having not already known the complete story of the titular subject. You can only do so much engagement with a journey where you know every sight along the way, and exactly when you'll see them. So, what did I learn about Robbie Williams after sitting through Better Man ? Well, not much that the Wikipedia page couldn't have told me, or any other musician biopic has already given me the impression of. At some point, I have to ask: How special are these singers if they all have the same life story? Young Robbie is constantly picked on at school, always chosen last on the playground, and told he's a freak. But it's not because he's a monkey, as no other character seems to notice that they're interacting with an extra out of the Planet of the Apes films. His life at home isn't much better, as his father has just left the family after determining that his wife and child were holding back his chances of being famous. Along with his mother and grandmother, Robbie still has his Sinatra records in his corner, and they're enough to help him realize his destiny as a singer. Fame comes quicker than he thought in the form of Take That, Britain's most sensational '90s boy band. From there, it's the usual rapid rise and fall filled with sex, drugs, and pop music. Williams' explanation for his appearance as a monkey, which Paramount was pragmatic enough to use in the film's first trailer and create a whole featurette around, is that he's always seen himself as a little less evolved than everyone around him. He's been a trained monkey since his teenage years, both on the stage and in the tabloids. The effect isn't as jarring as you would expect, most likely due to the fact that we've become accustomed to seeing human and CGI apes sharing the screen in the recent Planet of the Apes films. The same WETA visual engineers from that series worked on this film, and the results are full of the same vibrancy and expressiveness. Jonno Davies dons the motion-capture suit for the majority of the runtime, with Williams voicing the role near the adult years. It's a concept that's all well and good on paper, and even a few times in execution. But as the central conceit that distances the project from being just another genre copycat, it's too thin. Every person who gets a biopic made about them feels that they're different than everyone else, so seeing it literalized is putting a hat on a hat. What often breaks this film free from its formulaic trappings is director Michael Gracey's desire to claim the titular title that he bestowed upon Hugh Jackman's P.T. Barnum in his directorial debut, The Greatest Showman . Just as you'll never see him in public without his trademarked beanie (seriously, see how long you have to scroll through Google Images until you see him without it), you'll also never catch one of his scenes lacking in energy. I can bemoan the problematic nature of The Greatest Showman all I want, but I'll never deny that it wasn't extremely entertaining to watch. That same vibe runs through every moment of Better Man , the doldrums of a cliched story perpetually being papered over by visual splendor. “Rock DJ” blasts from every window as Take That celebrates their success with a flash mob dance in the streets, the whole thing captured in one (very digital) take. And “She’s the One” serenades Williams and Nicole Appleton as they seal their love. As someone who didn’t know anything about Williams and was ready for another boring biopic, I walked away from Better Man with quite a few of his songs in my Spotify playlist and a higher-than-expected urge to see it again. Paramount Pictures will release Better Man in select theaters on December 25th, followed by a nationwide expansion on January 10th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Last Duel October 18, 2021 By: Button Hunter Friesen At 83 years old, Ridley Scott is quite the inspiration. With a directorial career that spans nearly 2,500 commercials and countless films - such as Alien , the Best Picture-winning Gladiator , and The Martian - no one would blame him for hanging it all up and retiring to the countryside. But Scott has never known the definition of the word “break” and has tasked himself with increasingly tougher work the more he ages, with 2021 seeing the release of two major tentpole films in The Last Duel and House of Gucci . The latter of that pair bows at Thanksgiving, with the former hitting theatres this past weekend. In an extended prologue surrounding the titular bout between Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) and Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), The Last Duel sets up what to expect, such as the grey dourness of the setting and story, lensed exquisitely by Scott’s longtime cinematographer Darius Wolski. Atop both of the knights is the petulant King Charles VI, who is more than giddy for some bloodshed. And standing between the duelists is Marguerite de Carrouges (a terrific Jodie Comer), whose fate is linked to the outcome. Before any of the men meet their maker, we flashback sixteen years prior, to a time when they were dear friends. Broken up into three chapters, the film follows the unique perspectives of the three central individuals as it tracks the events that led to the duel. This Rashomon- inspired structure is where Scott, along with Damon and Ben Affleck, in their first credited screenplay since Good Will Hunting , show off their brilliance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgygUwPJvYk The first chapter is “The truth according to Jean de Carrouges.” In Jean’s eyes, he’s a righteous knight who has been wronged by those who deserve less than him. Despite his proud military record, his squire Jacques is shown favor by Count Pierre (a bleached-blond Affleck), who gifts Jacques with a vast piece of land once promised to Jean. The growing resentment between the two reaches a tipping point when Jean’s new wife, Marguerite, accuses Jacques of rape. But “The truth according to Jacques Le Gris” sees things differently. Jean is headstrong and foolhardy, easily leading Pierre to favor Jacques’s worldliness. Jacques feels that Jean is wasting the sophistication of Marguerite and that he is the only person who truly appreciates her. Therefore, his sexual act cannot be classified as rape, since the two of them are meant for each other. Not that it’s much of a spoiler of what the actual truth is, but “The truth according to Marguerite de Carrouges” displays the words “the truth” for an extra couple of seconds before fading away. This chapter is written by the talented Nicole Holofcener, as Damon and Affleck felt they were unqualified to write from a female perspective. Marguerite’s truth sees both Jean and Jacques as squabbling children using the pretexts of duty and honor to mask their cruelty. The rape scene is played again, this time amplifying the excruciating horror of the act, prompting a necessary, uncomfortable feeling within the viewer. Her accusation against Jacques is met with hostility from both Jean and the rest of France, as rape is not considered a crime against a woman, but a property matter. The greatness of the film’s structure is that it creates a puzzle where the pieces are constantly shifting in size and placement. Even a simple act, such as a handshake between Jean and Jacques, is seen from three angles, each eliciting a different response. It’s fascinating to watch as the web of lies and truth becomes increasingly difficult to parse, with Scott supplying the necessary inertia to keep the film moving at a great pace. And the final duel more than lives up to expectations, especially when compared to the high bar Scott has set for himself within his filmography. There have been only a handful of final battles that weren’t already decided by the plot before they begin, and this is one of them. There’s an exciting amount of tension as the knight's exchange blows in agonizing brutality. Bolstered by spectacle and substance, The Last Duel is one of Ridley Scott’s finest films. It’s one of the few films in 2021 to exceed my expectations, and one of the few blockbusters of the modern age to be propelled by collaborative artistry, rather than preconceived properties and overblown budgets. 20th Century Studios will release The Last Duel in theaters nationwide on October 15th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio December 4, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen Like humanity’s search for the missing link or the cure for cancer, filmmakers have endlessly sought to adapt Italian author Carlo Collodi’s 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio . Of course, Disney practically cornered the market with their 1940 animated musical version, which still haunts children to this day thanks to the Pleasure Island sequence. Decades would pass, with Robert Benigni - hot off the immense international success of Life is Beautiful - writing, directing, and starring in a 2002 live-action adaptation. The film would be a colossal critical and financial failure, practically locking Benigni in filmmaker jail for the rest of his career. But it didn’t stop him from appearing in another version later in 2019, this time solely in the role of Geppetto for writer/director Matteo Garrone’s version (which received two surprise Oscar nominations for its costumes and makeup). We also can’t forget the adjacent stories, such as Stanley Kubrick/Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence , or the projects that never got off the ground, such as ones from Sam Mendes and Paul Thomas Anderson/Robert Downey Jr. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od2NW1sfRdA Now in 2022, we have two more adaptations, with Robert Zemeckis’ live-action Disney+ version following the same disastrous fate as Begnini’s, and Guillermo del Toro’s stop-motion animated Netflix, sticking closer to the original text. All this is to say: After so many Pinocchio adaptations, how much can del Toro’s version reinvent the wheel and stick out from the crowd? Well, for starters, this version of Pinocchio might look appealing to children on the outside, but inside it harbors themes of loss, regret, fascism (a del Toro specialty), and mortality. Of course, it still carries a PG rating, so things never cross the line where you have to shield the eyes of the younger ones. But everybody has at least one or two memories of an animated film scaring the hell out of them, so why not let this be one of those times for today’s children? We are first introduced to Geppetto at the foot of his son Carlo’s grave. Through some flashbacks, we understand why he loved his son so much, and how he feels betrayed by God for taking him away. In a drunken stupor, he makes a wooden puppet, which is then granted life by the Wood Sprite, a terrifying version of the Blue Fairy. Pinocchio has a never-ending thirst for knowledge, which leads him to often disobey his papa’s commands. He soon gets conned into joining the circus by an evil carny and his pet monkey (with Cate Blanchett providing the primate noises), and also is recruited into the Italian army by a Nazi leader after it's discovered he’s incapable of dying. Already experienced at guiding live-action directors into the world of animation after doing so with Wes Anderson on Fantastic Mr. Fox , co-director Mark Gustafson aids del Toro in blending the macabre with the cheerful. The attention to detail is immaculate, with the painstakingly crafted sets and character movements given their time to shine. Also crammed into this slightly overstretched 120-minute version is a handful of songs, which often raises the question of whether or not this is a musical. None of the musical moments deserve to be remembered, even though they are delivered capably by the talented voice cast. Del Toro’s love for the material is always present, and so are the influences he has taken throughout his filmography, particularly Pan's Labyrinth and The Shape of Water . That adoration can sometimes be infectious, even if this is well-worn material that probably didn’t need another retelling. Netflix will release Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio in select theaters on November 9th, followed by its streaming premiere on December 9th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 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 that 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 Campbell (Asante Black), a Rhode Island teen with a lawyer mom (Tiffany Haddish) who has been unemployed since the takeover, and a younger sister (Brooklynn MacKinzie) who 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.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAD81wjRnL8 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. Amazon MGM Studios will release Landscape with Invisible Hand in theaters nationwide on August 18th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Button Hunter Friesen In the world of law enforcement, a “rip” is a seizure of criminal assets, typically money, weapons, or drugs. Like its namesake, it’s a fast-moving operation whose main objective is to get in and get out with as much stuff as possible before trouble explodes. Of course, criminals don’t find much humor in the irony of being robbed, so the job requires the toughest and bravest (“foohlhardy” would be the more correct word) from the police force. During those raids, adrenaline is pumping, and alluring substances are being grabbed. Add a ticking clock on top of that, and you never know what exactly is going to go down. Director Joe Carnahan’s The Rip boasts the tagline: “Count the money. Count it again. Count on no one.” The money is located in a stash house in Hialeah, a city just northwest of Miami, graced with bullet holes on each of its welcome signs. A tip came in to Lieutenant Dane Dumars (Matt Damon) about $150,000 being hidden for the cartel by a girl named Desi (Sasha Calle). But once Dane and his team - JD (Ben Affleck), Mike (Steven Yeun), Numa (Teyana Taylor), and Lolo (Catalina Sandino Moreno) - make their way through the house, they find out that $150,000 hasn’t been stashed, but $20 million. What was once a routine bust-up on a Friday afternoon before a well-earned weekend has become an all-night standoff. This unit is a family, but even a bond within a family can be tested by that amount of money. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeR5bcbRPak Carnahan got his start with seedy cops and criminals with 2002’s Narc , a theme that has continued in the two decades since with Smokin’ Aces and Copshop. He was also part of the screenwriting team for Bad Boys for Life , also a Miami-set story of cops getting in way over their heads. But instead of living the lives of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as they exchange one-liners while cruising down Ocean Drive, Damon and Affleck are being pitted against each other under the guise of ulterior motives and opportunities. Aflfeck’s character was in a relationship with the police captain, whose unexpected murder left a vacant job opening that Damon took. Now with $20 million on the line, questions that were left unspoken are now being asked out loud. This is a story (loosely) inspired by true events, something that Carnahan and co-writer Michael McGrale use as an opportunity to highlight the moral complexities within police work. As part of the murder investigation over the captain’s murder, everyone is brought in for questioning. Feathers get ruffled as silent accusations are made as to how this was allowed to happen. Add in the fact that this job also requires a willingness to be shot at on a daily basis, and you could understand the temptation to want a little more. After all, is it illegal to steal from criminals? It’s not like they earned this money through honest work, and definitely won’t use it to pay for medical bills, mortgages, and everything else that makes life an everyday grind. With a cast full of Oscar-nominated talent (or soon to be in the case of Taylor) and a director who tends to lean into the grunge, it’s interesting to watch this whodunnit yarn unspool across the humid night. As expected, Damon and Affleck carry a natural ease with each other, a forty-year friendship that’s been through thick and thin. The former is sporting a bit more grey than usual, possibly a bit of foreshadowing for the journey he’s about to take for Christopher Nolan in this summer’s The Odyssey . The latter gets a brief moment to show off his chiseled torso, perhaps a leftover element from his time as The Caped Crusader. Everyone else feels a bit underserved, stock characters that move from one room to another. It all gets too big and silly for its own good, relying on “Gotcha!” reveals to piece every loose thread together. It probably won’t hold up to any sort of scrutiny, but that’s not the kind of thing Netflix wants to serve, even going so far as to replay portions of earlier scenes and repeat important details so that no viewer can be totally lost. All of the actors and characters made a lot of money for this, but I don’t feel much richer from the experience. Netflix will release The Rip on its streaming service on January 16th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Blonde September 28, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen Maybe we, as a society, have been too harsh on Netflix? Sure, they spend an exorbitant amount of money on cinematic trash that they’ll claim broke viewership records, yet will never make a cultural impact (*cough* Red Notice & The Gray Man *cough*). And yes, they may have created a culture that’s more focused on constant consumption than finely tuned tasting. But while all of that was (and still is) true, they’ve also financed some of the finest works from our best filmmakers. They stepped in and supplied Martin Scorsese with $150 million to bring The Irishman to life, and also gave Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma a much grander life than any arthouse film has ever had before. They also ushered in the grand return of Jane Campion to the feature film landscape with The Power of the Dog , which was undeservedly robbed of a Best Picture win by their rival Apple TV+’s CODA . And with Andrew Dominik’s Blonde , the paradoxical streamer has added another feather to its cap. To be fair to Dominik, he did have to fight Netflix tooth and nail to release his cut of the film, which runs at a hefty 166 minutes and is saddled with the infamous NC-17 rating. One can’t wholly blame the distributor for trying to demand cuts to make the film a bit more “mainstream,” while at the same time ridiculing them for not fully understanding who they were getting into bed with. “Mainstream” never has, nor will it ever be, a word used to describe Dominik’s filmography. This is the man who brought us not one, but two films starring Brad Pitt at the height of his stardom that bombed at the box office. That’s not to say the films deserved it, though. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Killing Them Softly are both modern masterpieces that use their big-name stars for much more than good looks. The same goes for Blonde , which luckily won’t have to deal with the unneeded baggage of box office returns. Dominik uses star Ana de Armas to perfection, making her first solo leading role a mesmerizing experience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WYYyZ75yO0 Telling the story of Marilyn Monroe, or Norma Jeane as that was her real name, Blonde has much more in common with David Lynch’s Inland Empire than it does with any biopic. A line by Monroe about one of her movies may as well have been planted by Dominik to describe his film: “You never know when the dream ends and the nightmare begins.” Working as a fever dream, Blonde interweaves between reality and fiction as it tracks Marilyn’s troubled upbringing to her untimely death. None of it happens in chronological (or just plain logical) order, with Dominik throwing the viewer, as well as Marilyn, through the wringer of her memories. The frames endlessly jump around as well, from a boxed-in sharp black-and-white that would even make Pawel Pawlikowski blush, to vivid widescreen Technicolor. Through this, Dominik traps you in Marilyn’s world, never knowing what the next moment will bring, always looking ahead with a sense of unease. As Monroe, de Armas finds that vulnerability that made her such an enigma of a public figure. How could such a beautiful and tempting bombshell be so broken? It’s a physically and emotionally demanding role, with de Armas going for broke with unnerving fearlessness. If not for the film itself being so off-putting, Netflix should make a serious push for her in this year’s Oscar race. Of course, some viewers (mostly the ones who stumble upon this because they press play on whatever fills the home screen on Netflix) will cry foul at the liberties Dominik has taken with Monroe’s story. One enemy he’ll surely have is Oliver Stone, who presumably will take great umbrage at the film’s vitriolic portrayal of President Kennedy. But is Dominik’s film, and by extension the novel by Joyce Carol Oates, any more or less “true” than other biopics such as this year’s Elvis or Bohemian Rhapsody , which also took great creative liberties with a person’s life? Blonde does better than those films because even with inaccuracies towards details, it delivers a cinematic experience that relates us more to the figure than we did before pressing play. Just as The Northman did for Robert Eggers, Blonde illustrates why Andrew Dominik deserves all the money and creative freedom that any studio can afford. Fortunately for him (and us), Netflix indulged in his fantasies, allowing for a nightmarish and surreal experience that highlights the beautiful tragedy that was the life of Norma Jeane. Netflix will release Blonde in select theaters on September 16th, followed by its streaming premiere on September 28th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Paris, 13th District July 15, 2021 By: Button Hunter Friesen A call center representative, teacher, real estate agent, and online webcam model somehow find their lives coming together in the new Jacques Audiard film, Paris, 13th District ( Les Olympiades ). Audiard has taken a special interest in the lives of resilient people set within his native country. The films Dheepan and A Prophet don't showcase France at its best; instead, they shine a light on the many problems Audiard sees. After taking a detour into the English language for the unfairly ignored The Sisters Brothers, Audiard (along with co-writer Céline Sciamma of Portrait of a Lady on Fire fame) once again sets his sights on modern French society, this time through the gaze of not one, but four main characters. Our protagonists (or antagonists, depending on your viewpoint) all reside within the titular district of Paris, a highly populated sector known for its mixture of modern and traditional architecture. Émilie is a phone operator at a cell phone service call center who is stuck in a rut both professionally and romantically. She’s a disappointment to her Taiwanese immigrant parents, who often call to tell her about her sister’s experience as a doctor in England. Luckily, her romantic prospects improve with the arrival of Camille, a lonely schoolteacher who is inquiring about the vacant room in her apartment. Carnal feelings impulsively take over their relationship, something Émilie prefers as she lives by the motto “fuc* first, talk later.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_viLDiyPfMI At the same time, Nora is a real estate agent trying to reinvent herself by going back to school, despite being a dozen years older than her fellow students. Further compounding her misfit status is her striking resemblance to famous webcam model Amber Sweet. She soon receives the unwanted attention of lustful boys, forcing her to retreat from academic prospects. With morbid curiosity, Nora decides to meet her doppelganger and see if they share anything besides just looks. Like Paul Thomas Anderson in Magnolia or Robert Altman in Short Cuts , Audiard acts as a puppet master, crossing and pulling the strings of his characters. Being that there are only four main characters compared to dozens within Anderson and Altman’s films, the interactions are more frequent. Audiard is interested in exploring the idea of opposites attracting, which brings out both the best and worst in each other. These characters carry a lot of baggage with them, which often gets saddled onto their partner in an acrimonious fashion. Audiard and Sciamma take an authentic approach to these moments, with characters getting in heated arguments that sometimes lead to break-ups and sometimes lead to sex. The film is quite sexually explicit, with each actor bearing it all for the black-and-white screen. Except for the exceptional Noémie Merlant, the cast consists of relative unknowns, a fact that never crossed my mind, as they have the chops of veterans. Speaking of black-and-white, the grainy cinematography by Paul Guillaume strips down the film to its rawest form. Like Sam Levinson’s Malcolm & Marie , the lack of color works to center our focus on the actors and their condensed surroundings. While the beautiful cinematography could be guessed from still images, what is most surprising is the great electronic score by French musical artist Rone. Mixing pop beats with fluttery strings, the score embodies the clash between modernity and tradition that is present within the characters and the city itself. Not without its problems, Paris, 13th District often gets too attached to the trio of Émilie, Camille, and Nora, leaving Amber with a lower supporting status, despite her having the only sequence of the film shot in color. Frustratingly, Jehnny Beth’s great work as the most interesting character isn’t given the attention that it surely deserves. As filled with millennial insight as it is filled with nudity, Paris,13th District is a lighter affair from the dependable Jacques Audiard. Barring a few small setbacks within the script, the film is an arthouse delight that will connect with younger viewers, possibly more than they want it to. This review was originally published from the world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. IFC Films will release Paris, 13th District in select theaters on April 15th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen