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 Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

2022 Winners January 1, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen While it definitely wasn’t as bad as 2020 or 2021, 2022 could still be considered a rough year for most people. But there were a few that rose above the challenges set before them and came out victorious. In this list, I’ll be going through nine of the biggest winners of 2022, whichever way you want to define the term “success.” Of course, plenty more could have been included here, but margin space is tight so some tough decisions had to be made. Make sure to come back tomorrow to see the unveiling of the 2022 Losers list. A24 Just as they always do, the independent distributor offered several genre-drying outings from our best present and future filmmakers. Their presence was felt at every film festival, with Everything Everywhere All at Once (SXSW), Close (Cannes), and The Whale (Venice) grabbing headlines from all over the globe. And with the box office potential for arthouse films falling by the wayside at alarming rates, A24 has continued to position itself as a strong brand geared towards younger demographics, so its future looks as bright as its present. Colin Farrell In terms of both quality and quantity, the Irish actor knocked it out of the park, starring in several productions in varying genres and scales. He started off the year with After Yang at Sundance, reintroducing Kogonada’s film after its 2021 Cannes bow. He then went big, both literally and metaphorically, for The Batman , which has netted him his own future spinoff show. Then there was Ron Howard’s Thirteen Lives , where he and Viggo Mortensen aptly led the inspiring true story of the Thailand cave rescue. And, finally, he returned to his native home country to work again with Martin McDonagh on The Banshees of Inisherin , receiving the best reviews of his career. He’s already picked up a number of critics' prizes and looks to be a prime contender for the Best Lead Actor Oscar. Jenna Ortega No one had a bigger rise to fame in 2022 than Jenna Ortega. She had the one-two punch of The Fallout and Scream in January, proving that she was both able to carry heavy dramatic material and be a box office star. She kept the horror streak going with a supporting performance in Ti West’s X , followed by the titular role in Wednesday , which has already become one of Netflix’s most popular shows of all time. She’ll reprise her role in the upcoming Scream 6 , meaning we may have a new scream queen for this generation. Legacy Sequels Who says a sequel needs to come right away? If 2022 taught us anything, it’s that no movie is too old to get a follow-up. Top Gun: Maverick demolished box office expectations despite thirty-six years between entries, and Avatar: The Way of Water will look to repeat the success of its thirteen-year-old predecessor. Jackass Forever brought back the usual gang of numbskulls after a dozen years apart, resulting in even more hilarious brain trauma. Finally, there was Scream , blending both fan-favorites such as Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox with a fresh-faced group of potential Ghostface victims. Claire Denis The revered French auteur released two movies in 2022, both netting her positive critical remarks and some hardware for her trophy shelf. The first was Both Sides of the Blade , premiering at the Berlin Film Festival and reuniting her with Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon. Denis would pick up the festival prize for her direction just as she was racing around the clock to put the finishing touches on Stars at Noon for it to be submitted for the Cannes Film Festival, her first time there in competition in over thirty years. Her hard work paid off, as the film was jointly awarded the Grand Prize of the Festival (second-place prize) along with Lukas Dhont’s Close . Brian Tyree Henry Between both movies and television, and comedy and drama, Henry reached new heights in his career. He stole the spotlight from both Brad Pitt with his Thomas the Tank Engine-obsessed character in Bullet Train , and Jennifer Lawrence as a grief-stricken car mechanic in Causeway , which might earn him an Oscar nomination. He also concluded his run on Atlanta with the final two seasons, putting him in a prime position for next year’s Emmy awards. Horror Movies While other genres saw dwindling box office numbers, horror movies kept theaters afloat, both in wide and limited releases. Smile was the big winner with over $100 million both domestically and internationally, with Barbarian and The Menu close behind. Damien Leone’s Terrifier 2 proved to be a great investment at a budget of only $250,000, grossing over $10 million despite staying in a small number of theaters. X and Pearl gave arthouse horror fans a surprise treat, Prey reimagined the Predator franchise, and Bones and All told a story filled with both literal and metaphorical heart. Cate Blanchett Considering the high bar Blanchett has set for herself throughout her career, it’s hard to imagine how she would be able to raise it again. But just as she’s always done, she doubted the naysayers, turning in one of best performances of her career in TÁR , writer/director Todd Field’s return to feature filmmaking after a sixteen-year absence. She’ll be a top contender for her third acting Oscar. She also provided monkey noises for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio , and her narration for The School for Good and Evil was the only positive thing critics had to say about that movie. Ethan Hawke The only thing consistent about Hawke’s output this past year was the excellence of its quality. He made his MCU debut, and probably made some good money, as the main antagonist in Moon Knight . He then did three wildly different roles, both in terms of size and range, on the silver screen: Leading The Black Phone , supporting in The Northman , and providing a cameo in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery . But Hawke wasn’t just satisfied with appearing in front of the camera, as he also directed the six-part HBO Max documentary series on the relationship between Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Shazam: Fury of the Gods March 19, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen With all the recent news about the future potential for James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new and revitalized DCU, it almost seems pointless to spend time, money, and energy on a grandfathered-in property from the old guard like Shazam: Fury of the Gods . It is an increasingly bad product of the modern studio landscape that giant blockbusters such as this can be rendered irrelevant by politics even before they’ve come out. We don’t have to look that much deeper within Warner Bros. to find the indefinitely shelved Batgirl as a much harsher example. But then again, it’s hard for me to feel sympathy for Fury of the Gods (and the entire old DCU regime) when it doesn’t provide any compelling reasons for its own existence. It’s an ultra-corporate tentpole telling a been-there-done-that story, with the only thing it excels at being annoying. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi88i4CpHe4 Where the first Shazam was lighter on its feet and told a pretty straightforward story, Fury of the Gods muddies the waters as we dig deeper into the mediocre lore of the titular character. The three sisters of Atlas: Hespera (Helen Mirren), Kalypso (Lucy Liu), and Anthea (Rachel Zegler) have come to our mortal realm to claim their father’s staff, which can give and take the god-like powers from any person. Shazam (who doesn’t go by that name for “hilarious” reasons) and his superhuman foster family are their natural obstacles, although they have in-house troubles of their own as each member wants something a little different. Shazam doesn’t really know his place as a superhero, with Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) being overconfident with his abilities. The rest of the family fulfills their single character trait, so 75% of their interactions go exactly as expected. Shazam’s identity crisis extends to the movie at large, as the edges of personality from the first film have been sanded off in favor of much more generic plotting and action. The stakes are again centered around the world being destroyed, with a MacGuffin about an item with limitless power. It even creates a sky beam (sort of), something we definitely haven’t gotten tired of! There’s also still the problem of Zachary Levi and Asher Angel being the same character, despite the former having too much personality and the latter not enough. Director David F. Sandberg and writers Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan seemed to have sided with Levi, with Angel reduced to a much smaller supporting role. Grazer is grating as well as he overdoes everything. But there is talent evident within him, which he showed tremendously with Luca Guadagnino’s We Are Who We Are , so I still look forward to what he can do outside of franchises. It’s hilarious that Dwayne Johnson didn’t want anything to do with Shazam when he was building his Black Adam movie, despite the two characters having a decades-long relationship in the comics. Now with both Black Adam and Shazam: Fury of the Gods being beacons of generic studio fodder, it seems only right for the two of them to finally get together and make something that finally kills the DCU. I wouldn’t mind if their power were also strong enough to suspend the MCU for a while, because the slope toward the gutter is getting increasingly slippier with each new entry. Warner Bros. Pictures will release Shazam! Fury of the Gods in theaters nationwide on March 17th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Sing Sing April 23, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Blue streamers, a paper bird, a cardboard crown, stitched-together outfits, sheet cloth backgrounds, and a dim searchlight. These are the things that are used to turn reality into dreams within Sing Sing Correctional Facility, located just north of New York City. The actors up on that makeshift stage have been put there through Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), a real-life prison program that aims to help incarcerated individuals channel their creativity in a way that helps them become better suited to their eventual life outside of the cement walls. “We are here to become human again,” is the mantra that the participants live by, with many of them having been a part of the program for too many seasons to count. One of those veteran cast members is John 'Divine G' Whitfield, who has claimed Sing Sing as his home since he was wrongfully convicted of murders in the 1980s (the film takes place in 2005). He’s become somewhat of a minor celebrity across the prison system, with his plays and books, which he authors by clacking away on a typewriter within his tiny cell, reaching a wide audience of fellow inmates. He’s usually the brains of the operation, coming up with the ideas and scripts for the new productions, and starring in the lead roles. But while his next idea revolves around social satire, the others in the program would like to branch away from the “serious” material (their latest production was King Lear) and do something else. Somebody wants to do a Western, another wants something in Ancient Egypt, someone else wants to continue with Shakespeare, while another wants to play Freddie Krueger. Instead of choosing just one of those options, they decide to stitch them all together through time travel in their own original production. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3dXc6P3zH8 Adapting from the Esquire article “The Sing Sing Follies,” co-writer/director Greg Kwedar takes a naturalistic approach to the proceedings. After each of their performances, the actors are showered with applause from their inmate audience. They go backstage and congratulate each other on the great job that they’ve done. But instead of going out and celebrating, or receiving bouquets from adoring fans, they’re met with a wave of guards ready to sternly escort them back to their cells. The stark reality of this almost makes it more impressive that they persist season after season to put on a good show. None of this will advance their careers, nor will there be any sort of monetary reward at the end of this road. That non-professional aesthetic extends into the cast as well, with Kwedar only casting three professional actors in Colman Domingo as Divine G, Paul Raci as the group’s advisor, and Sean San Jose as G’s best friend. Many of the other roles are made up of former incarcerated members of the real-life troupe, which gives an unsanitized look at how the program has changed their lives. Talking at the post-screening Q&A, Kwedar mentioned the inspiration he took from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in terms of casting, with Domingo’s Oscar-nominated presence making him stand out similarly to Jack Nicholson. The role of Nurse Ratched is played here by the New York State Board of Parole, who constantly serve as the roadblock to Divine G’s potential release. That feeling of persevering through hopelessness is at the heart of Kwedar and Clint Bentley’s script, but it never comes across in an elevated fashion. Much of the tin-eared lines come from Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin (playing himself excellently), who makes several speeches about the streets being his home and that you shouldn’t put faith in the system. Bryce Dessner’s somber score soothes your ears between those moments, and Pat Scola’s quietly investigative camera roams the concrete jungle. Sing Sing is an important film when it's all put together, but that doesn’t mean it’s a lecture. There’s a lot of fun to be had in the production of the play, with the sheer creativity being incredibly infectious. Don’t be surprised to constantly hear about this film throughout the rest of the year. This review was originally published from a screening at the 2024 Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival. A24 will release Sing Sing in select theaters on July 12th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Dreamin' Wild August 1, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen History is full of instances where creative geniuses were overlooked in their own time, only to get the proper amount of recognition long after they had left our mortal world. Vincent van Gogh personally sold only one painting; the majority of the poems by Emily Dickinson never saw the light of day until decades after her death; and Johann Sebastian Bach was only known as a simple organist during his active days. But what if that rush of recognition wasn’t delayed so posthumously? What if all that work was reappraised during their lifetime? Would those figures celebrate their newfound success, or would it disrupt the unappreciated lives they had contented themselves with? Such are the questions within Bill Pohlad’s sophomore feature, which premiered last fall at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals, and just made its American debut as the opening night selection for the writer/director’s hometown Minneapolis-St Paul Film Festival. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV9Q05R66Nc In the late 1970s, the teenage brothers of Donnie (Noah Jupe) and Joe Emmerson (Jack Dylan Grazer) recorded an album called “Dreamin’ Wild” in their makeshift studio, which their dad built on the family farmland. Nothing came of it, with most copies going unsold and taking up space in their parent’s basement. The brothers moved on with their lives. Thirty years later, a producer hears the album and is compelled to track down the creators. The record is remastered and re-released to great acclaim, sparking a newfound nationwide interest, capped off with an article in The New York Times . The adult Donnie (Casey Affleck) is a bit skeptical of all this attention and isn’t sure if he wants to get back into the life he left behind so long ago. Affleck’s performance may as well have been lifted straight from Manchester by the Sea , which earned him an Oscar. There’s a quiet sense of guilt and regret in his demeanor, as his first go at music fame cost his dad a small fortune. Joe (Walton Goggins) is the less talented brother, but he’s always trying his best on the drums and is there as support. While Donnie struggles with finding the passion he once had as a teenager, Joe is more than willing to dive into the musical beats once again. Pohlad started out his Hollywood journey as a producer for several talented filmmakers such as Ang Lee ( Brokeback Mountain ), Terrence Malick ( The Tree of Life ), Sean Penn ( Into the Wild ), and Steve McQueen ( 12 Years a Slave ). His directorial debut came in 2014 with Love & Mercy , a biography of The Beach Boys frontman Brian Wilson, split between his youthful origins and later broken years. Dreamin’ Wild repeats that exact narrative structure, with Donnie and Joe literally looking into their past on multiple occasions. “Magical realism” is the way Pohlad described his approach to the film, with the exact stylings leaning close to that of Malick (sans whisper narration). But just as Malick’s name is misspelled in the “special thanks” portion of the end credits, Pohlad’s emulation of his style isn’t totally correct either. Some scenes are a little amateurish in their production qualities, and some of the interesting creative ideas are sandwiched between the story beats we’ve come to expect within the musician genre. Still, the director’s love and appreciation for the Emersons is always evident, almost as if he made the movie more for them than the paying audiences. That emotional reverence is what I walked away from the movie feeling the most, which is more than I can say about the majority of biopics these days. Roadside Attractions will release Dreamin' Wild in select theaters on August 04th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Broker May 31, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen Revered Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda has been on a sort of international tour since he won the Palme d’Or for Shoplifters during the 2018 edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Before then, he’d remained tied to his native Japan, beginning with his 1995 directorial debut, Maborosi . But after the golden laurels, he set his sights on making his English-language debut, The Truth , with Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, and Ethan Hawke. Also uncharacteristic was the film’s debut at the Venice International Film Festival, away from Cannes, where four of his last five films premiered. While it couldn't be considered a failure, the film was seen as a lesser work from a dependable master. So, as a possible rebound tactic, Kore-eda has returned to familiar territory with Broker , debuting in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. But Kore-eda hasn’t made a full return as he stops just short of Japan by setting and supplying his film with top-tier talent from South Korea. And with the help of his crew, many of whom come from Parasite, including lead actor Song Kang-ho, cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, and composer Jung Jae-il, Kore-eda has crafted a touching, if familiar, story about families forming in the most unlikely of circumstances. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm3B-fDc9Xw A baby has been left in a deposit box used by mothers who can’t, or won’t, keep their babies. Two of the employees at the facility, Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho) and Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won), have formed a partnership to circumvent the rules of the establishment by taking the babies into their protection and selling them under the table to needy couples. The act itself isn’t just about the money, even though it does help, since the going rate for a child is nearly $10,000. The pair sees themselves as saviors for these kids, as selling them off gets them to a proper home much quicker than the laborious state-run system. 1 in 40 mothers who drop off their babies never return, but So-young (Lee Ji-eun) is that one. She comes back to discover that her baby has been snatched by the pair, whom she labels as simple “brokers” looking to make a few extra dollars under people’s noses. Needing to keep her quiet and to lend some legitimacy to the sale (which So-young is still okay with), the brokers decide to cut her in on the deal. Purely based on this introductory premise, Kore-eda has laid a field filled with moral quandaries. Is it right to break the law and sell a child if it means they will potentially have a better life? Who is worse, the mother who disposes of the baby, or the people who sell the child? Who’s responsible for the child once the mother has disowned them? Kore-eda doesn’t stop there, as the plot thickens those arguments with supporting details and rationalizations from each character. So-young is revealed to have a troubled past, lending some credibility to the usual selfish act of giving up your child. Sang-hyun has had run-ins with the law, and Dong-soo grew up in a run-down orphanage where the chances of being adopted are slim to none. But even with all these character developments that should create an ethically questionable story, Kore-eda’s direction never makes you feel as if any of this is wrong or dangerous. Throughout the film, the gang is being tailed by two female police officers looking to catch them in the act. That danger of being caught never comes to the surface, with the cops being more of a humorous nuisance than a threat. Similar to his previous Cannes entry, Shoplifters , Kore-eda does make plenty of time to instill lessons on how we don’t often get to choose the family we have. A direct reference to Paul Thomas Anderson’s mosaic Magnolia tells all how the best-laid plans never truly turn out the way we envision. Even though each character may have their agenda behind the act, their shared journey is what binds them together. Dong-soo and So-young’s symbolic journey atop a Ferris wheel, coupled with the ivory keys of Jung Jae-il, makes for a tear-inducing moment. With a lighter tone and more melodrama, Broker doesn’t contain the precision of Kore-eda’s previous works. But that lightness makes for an accessible and emotionally rewarding experience. This review was originally published from the world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. Neon will release Broker in select theaters on December 26th, followed by a nationwide expansion on January 13th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

MSPIFF 2024 Preview April 11, 2024 By: Hunter Friesen When you think of the oldest film festivals in the world, you tend to gravitate toward the European monoliths such as Venice, Berlin, and Cannes. And even when you shift your gaze over to North America, we stay eastward with New York (NYFF) and Toronto (TIFF). But there’s a little festival tucked in the midwest that has been going on for almost as long as the giants: The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival. Abbreviated as MSPIFF (pronounced EM-spiff by the locals), the festival will be in its 43rd year this April, once again a hotspot for international cinema. Over 200 films from around the world will be screened at The Main cinema during the two-week-long event, with cinephiles such as myself cautioned to have their mail forwarded to the theater on account of the multitude of hours spent watching great films. Many of the highlights within the lineup boast laurels from many of the other festivals listed above. Case in point, the opening night film of Sing Sing , starring recent Oscar-nominee Colman Domingo as an incarcerated man finding solace in the prison’s theatre group. It premiered in Toronto last fall as part of the Special Presentations category and quickly became one of the buzziest under-the-radar titles. A24 picked up distribution rights and introduced it to American audiences a few weeks ago at SXSW. Minnesota audiences will be able to catch the film a few months early before the summer general release. That’ll be just one of several titles that A24 will be bringing over. The pair of Janet Planet and Tuesday premiered at Telluride last fall, finally reemerging ahead of their spring/summer releases. Also from SXSW is the Anne Hathaway-led The Idea of You by director Michael Showalter. And then there’s a smattering of TIFF titles such as The Convert , Days of Happiness , Shoshana , and In Our Day . Green Border and Evil Does Not Exist were both prize winners at last year’s Venice Film Festival. They’ll be screening here along with fellow Venice title The Beast . Both Evil Does Not Exist and The Beast were two of my favorite films I saw at TIFF , and I’ve been dying to revisit them in the six months since. A new Cannes may be on the horizon (and you can join in my anticipation by checking out my predictions article), but there are still plenty of titles from last year’s edition to celebrate. Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s About Dry Grasses has been pleasantly lingering in my mind since I saw it on the Croisette almost nine months ago. I won’t be rewatching it because of its daunting 197-minute runtime, but I might revisit the much shorter (87 minutes) Banel & Adama . I’ll hopefully be able to see Kidnapped and Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell for the first time after missing them at both Cannes and TIFF, with the latter winning the Camera d’Or and receiving rave reviews. But the fun doesn’t stop with just the films! The festival has graciously awarded Roger Deakins, the legendary cinematographer of several films from Minnesota’s Coen brothers as well as a two-time Oscar winner for Blade Runner 2049 and 1917 , with the Milgrom Award. He and his wife/collaborator James will be in attendance for the final two days of the festivals give an in-person conversation, book signing, and introduce a screening of Fargo . Also screening on the final day will be The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford , which netted Deakins an Oscar nomination. I’ll be publishing full reviews for select titles, with others being condensed into dispatches. You can take a look at the full slate of festival titles at the MSP Film Society website . More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Parthenope February 7, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen It may only be February, but Paolo Sorrentino’s Parthenope could very well take the cake as the most beautiful film of 2025. Early on in the famed Italian auteur’s newest film, the streets of Naples circa 1968 are bathed in the golden sunlight reflected off the water of the Mediterranean Sea. Men, women, and children populate every corner and avenue, all dressed in the works of Anthony Vaccarello, creative director of the luxury fashion house Yves Saint Laurent. At this moment, you understand exactly what Kate Hudson was singing and dancing about in Rob Marshall’s film adaptation of Nine . In those same waters eighteen years earlier, the titular Parthenope was born. Her godfather, the shipping tycoon boss of her father, gifted her a chariot from Versailles as a crib so that she could travel the world as she slept. He also insisted that the family name her after the mythological name of coastal Naples, bestowing her with thousands of years of blessings and curses. Like the streets in that opening, one of those blessings is her unparalleled beauty. Men start drooling like cartoon characters before going into a catatonic state just at the sight of her, and women understand that she puts them all to shame just by comparison. One of those slobbering dogs is Sandrino (Dario Aita), the son of her family’s maid. He’s fawned over her his entire life, even succumbing to sniffing her drying bathing suit just to get closer to a goddess. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT5PGHBugic Despite Parthenope being aware of the power her beauty possesses, she isn’t sure how to best wield it. She keeps those ogling men at bay, all of them treating her as a trophy to acquire. They all ask her what she’s thinking, but they never listen to her response. When she rejects the advances of a rich man who makes inquiries from his helicopter, he lashes by saying “You’re not a big deal.” Film acting initially seems to be the best use of her talent, although the fate of every actress is never pretty. She eventually lands in academia, specifically anthropology, a natural fit considering her voracious reading habits and need to always have a ready answer for those inquisitive men. Academia is where Sorrentino steadies the sights of his screenplay for the rest of the runtime, ruminating on the complexities of love, youth, and beauty. As evidenced by his previous works, Youth and The Great Beauty , these are not newfound themes for Sorrentino. What’s new for the director is centering his epic tale on a woman, specifically in a time and place when women were rarely given the chance to do so. When Parthenope asks her father what would help lift him out of his depression, he selfishly looks her up and down and responds that a grandchild might help. While all of its ideas are communicated through the utmost sensuality in both the setting and performances, much of Sorrentino’s dialogue gets lost in its flowery translation. Their prettiness is what also makes them vapid, a contradiction to the ultimate goal of this story. It’s why the more direct conversations between Parthenope and author John Cheever (Gary Oldman), soaking his new novel in alcohol and repressed homosexuality, leave a more lasting impression despite their brevity. There is also the dichotomy between a writer/director insisting that a woman is more than just her beauty, only to indulge in lensing her as if she’s beckoning you to buy the newest line of perfume. Newcomer Celeste Dalla Porta is radiantly beautiful and intriguing in the lead role, imbuing Parthenope with much more depth than the script reluctantly presents. Even if this amounts to style over substance, the performances and overwhelming seductiveness are temptingly attractive. For Sorrentino, the style is just as much the substance as the substance itself. A24 will release Parthenope in select theaters on February 07th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Blade Runner 2049 October 11, 2017 By: Button Hunter Friesen Blade Runner 2049 is a slow and complex film that yet again tackles what it means to be human, lifting the Blade Runner series to new heights. The plot is new and doesn’t follow the usual sequel tropes, the acting is superb, and the production is first-class. Denis Villeneuve has performed the rare feat of making a worthy sequel to a beloved and influential cult classic. The plot of Blade Runner 2049 takes its time to unravel and demands strict focus to fully grasp every detail to piece the puzzle together. In the year, you guessed it, 2049, Officer K tracks down the replicant Sapper Morton, who is living out his life as a lonely farmer. While investigating the farm he finds a box with the skeleton of a woman. After examining the remains, we discover the woman died during childbirth and was a replicant. Replicants being able to have children wasn’t considered possible and could potentially create a widespread panic in the population. K is sent on a hunt to find and eliminate the replicant child before anyone else finds out. His journey leads him to meet with old and new faces such as the enigmatic replicant creator Neander Wallace and retired blade runner Rick Deckard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCcx85zbxz4 The story plays out almost like procedural crime drama but is way better than anything you would find on television. We follow Officer K as he uses his detective skills and clues to figure out the history of the replicant child. We take breaks in between to see inside his private life and how his life experiences have made him who he is. The one problem with the plot is the pacing for the film's final third. The film carries a 163 runtime, slowly feeds you information, and builds the plot for the first two hours. It then feels like the final act needs to be quicker and leaves too early for us to fully comprehend and appreciate what is going on. Just like the first Blade Runner , this film questions the idea of what it means to be human. We as humans in the real world see man as rational and capable of making the right decisions for the common good. In the film, we see man coexisting with replicants, with some replicants exhibiting more human traits than actual humans. You feel more for them than our kind because of the situation they are forced into and how they must deal with their short and hopeless lives. Fans and appreciators of the original will undoubtedly enjoy this sequel as it dives deeper into the dystopian future and builds upon the ideas Ridley Scott proposed to us way back in 1982. Denis Villeneuve continues this question flawlessly and keeps the mystery and intrigue flying the whole way. You can feel the influences and connection between Villeneuve's last film Arrival as we follow the main character as they struggle to grasp and understand the different world around them. The biggest and best thing about this film is the masterful cinematography done by the legendary Roger Deakins. This is the third collaboration between Deakins and Villeneuve after Sicario and Arrival . Each shot is beautifully crafted and contains a whole story about the world we see. Seeing this film in IMAX will be worth your time and money. The most memorable shot comes when K is slowly walking through the red desert of Las Vegas and we see the destruction and unknown landscape he is entering. Deakins will receive an Oscar nomination (would be his fourteenth!) for his work and be in contention for his first statue. Complementing the breathtaking visuals is the amazing score done by Jóhann Jóhannsson , Hans Zimmer, and Benjamin Wallfisch . These three composers have created a soundtrack that not only perfectly fits the futuristic setting, but also philosophical ideas presented during the film. The music is made for you to think about the world we live in and the things surrounding us. The highlight of the soundtrack also comes from the looming desert walk scene, where a string of booming noises disorients us from the world and we are exploring with fear and intrigue just like K. The acting in this film is remarkable and outperforms almost every action blockbuster. Ryan Gosling gives a career-best as Officer K, a character having trouble figuring out his place in the world and coming to grips with his investigation. His performance here is comparable to his character in Drive , brooding and mysterious, but still, a very interesting character that we enjoy watching. While Deckard isn’t as interesting as Officer K, Harrison Ford does a solid job as a supporting character bridging the gap between the two films. Jared Leto is also great as the dark Neander Wallace. He barely gets any screen time but leaves a great impression on his role in the story. Great supporting performances also come from Robin Wright, Sylvia Hoeks, and Ana de Armas. Blade Runner 2049 is an excellent sequel to a cult classic that carries the story forward while keeping the same ideas and themes fresh and exciting. This film should be experienced and appreciated just as highly as the original. Villeneuve has entered the highest realm of great 21st-century directors alongside Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, and other visionaries. Warner Bros. Pictures will release Blade Runner 2049 in theaters nationwide on October 06th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Mufasa: The Lion King December 17, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Mufasa: The Lion King is a terrible sequel, a half-decent prequel, and a continuation of the failed excuse for the flawed existence of this version of the iconic story of the animal kingdom. Those may be harsh words to fling at a children’s film, but that’s what the property deserves when it trades its soul and respectability for cash. And that’s not even considering the fact that Barry Jenkins, writer/director of such foundational films of this era as the Best Picture-winning Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk , got roped into this, years of his finite career gone for nothing more than a commercial for merchandise and theme park attractions. Of course, it’s wrong of me to sit here and armchair theorize about the reasons for Jenkins’ position as the film’s director. This is a free market after all, and the pitfalls of the film industry have been made so clear since its inception that it would be foolish to judge someone for accepting work on the biggest stage. And there’s no denying that Disney hired the best possible candidate for the job, a visionary whose presence at the helm was the sole reason I ventured back into this photorealistic version of Africa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o17MF9vnabg Neither party comes out of this project having harnessed their full potential. Jenkins, a filmmaker with a masterful understanding of quiet observation, finds himself saddled with a story that always feels the need to be loud to resonate with audiences, specifically the younger ones. Case in point: the entire sequel subplot that is the shell to the nut of this story. Donald Glover and Beyoncé reprise their roles as Simba and Nala, respectively. Well, “reprise” would be a strong word considering the latter speaks less than ten words, shifting the focus of the future onto the lioness princess Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter). While Mom and Dad are away, she hears the origin story of her grandfather Mufasa from Rafiki… with some additional thoughts by Timon and Pumbaa. Between the strain of removing Simba and Nala as quickly as possible and the constantly unfunny gag of Timon and Pumbaa’s fourth-wall-breaking interjections, this section is ripe for removal, or, at the very least, fast-forwarding once this lands on Disney+. It would certainly help trim the fat off this 120-minute beast and maintain the dramatic heft of the prequel storyline. The past finds Mufasa as a lost cub, taken in by another pride of lions and given a brother named Taka, heir to the throne. The story of Moses and Rameses continues from there, with a great journey forcing Mufasa to face his destiny as king despite his hesitancy to ascend past his adopted brother. A few members of Jenkin’s usual crew came with him for this blockbuster. Cinematographer James Laxton finds more life in both the vast landscapes and the faces of his feline subjects. The hyperrealism of the visual effects has been slightly toned down, lessening (but not eliminating) the nagginess of the uncanny valley. Dave Metzger’s music backs up a race sequence between Mufasa and Taka that finds the magic and power of the original film, the cubs sprinting through the grass and ascending jagged rocks and trees. The music cedes itself to cues from Zimmer’s original track from there on out, a crutch to rekindle those nostalgic feelings. Wholly original are the lyrical songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, although none reach the exceedingly high bar that the famed multi-hyphenate songwriter has set for himself. Adding insult to injury is their placement within the story, many shoe-horned at the worst possible moment. Did we really need a chintzy tune about how evil the main villain (Mads Mikkelsen) is right before he murders a peaceful pride of lions? All of these less-than-ideal elements make it seem as if we’re settling. We already did a near-perfect version of this story thirty years ago (and subsequent variations of it on VHS) with a quarter of the runtime, so what could be accomplished now? If someone like Jenkins can’t find that much-needed spark, then it truly is time to throw in the towel. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures will release Mufasa: The Lion King in theaters nationwide on December 20th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Inside March 14, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Between the fish in the aquarium and the pigeon with a broken wing on the patio, there’s plenty of on-the-nose symbolism surrounding Willem Dafoe’s character’s situation within Inside , a film that never lacks for imagery, but seldom brings it above the surface. “Cats die, music fades, but art is for keeps,” Dafoe narrates as he prepares to perform a high-stakes burglary within a luxurious Manhattan penthouse. The owner appears to be an uber-rich art collector, with several of his prized pieces fetching a high asking price on the black market. The initial snatch-and-grab goes off without a hitch, that is, until Dafoe’s hacker accomplice mistakenly trips the alarm at the last minute. The apartment shuts down into defense mode, trapping Dafoe in a gilded cage filled with bountiful treasures, but no way to get them out. The resourceful thief must rely on his wits and resourcefulness to endure the isolation, as there’s no way to tell when he might be able to get out. In a cruel twist of fate, the apartment is filled with more paintings than food and running water, turning this once lavish paradise into a barren wasteland. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjODCllZj4w With next to no other in-person cast members and taking place on entirely one set, Inside may as well be confused as a member of the pandemic-era club of tiny movies that were able to be filmed while abiding by the strict safety protocols. Such members include Sam Levinson’s misbegotten Malcolm & Marie , the James McAvoy & Sharon Horgan-starring Together , and Judd Apatow’s “I shed two tears every time I mention it,” The Bubble . Luckily, Inside is nowhere near as infuriating or as limited as those films, but it may not be all that memorable. Director/co-writer Vasilis Katsoupis, marking his narrative feature debut, displays a knack for crispy imagery. The sharp edges of the high-end furniture and décor give off the vibe of a cold prison, with the thief’s hierarchy of needs being changed by the day. The television has a CCTV feed, with one of the cameras being pointed at a cleaning lady eating her sandwich during her lunch break. The thief looks with lust toward the sandwich, with all the high-priced surroundings worth nothing in comparison. Eventually, Inside becomes a game of Chekhov’s Symbol, as every perfectly framed image and use of color is required to profoundly mean something. It would have made for an interesting puzzle if the pieces weren’t so easy to put together and the ending picture was anywhere close to being worth more than the sum of its parts. Dafoe never lets the act of putting those pieces together seem dull, with his quiet intensity and surprisingly physical athleticism making for an interesting outward character study. Along with Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton, he has amassed one of the most interesting careers of the past few decades, seamlessly moving between large-scale Hollywood productions and offbeat indies. If anything, Inside serves as a nice appetizer of Dafoe before the main course is served by Wes Anderson and Yorgos Lanthimos later this year with Asteroid City and Poor Things / Kinds of Kindness , respectively. The bluntness of Inside doesn’t make an immediately rewatchable experience, nor does the ho-hum narrative make for an immediate reason to see it in the first place. Katsoupis tries his best to make his film a work of art. But just like all the pieces hanging on the walls within the apartment, his work will quickly get tossed away in favor of anything that offers more sustenance. Focus Features will release Inside in theaters nationwide on March 17th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Batman March 7, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen It can be quite difficult these days to parse through the DC Cinematic Universe. While Marvel has been steady as she goes for nearly a decade and a half, DC has puttered along, shooting misfire after misfire. Man of Steel was certainly not the way things should have started, and neither was Justice League the way things should have come together. And then there’s the whole debacle around Zack Snyder’s Justice League (is it canon, or just a director’s cut?) and The Suicide Squad , which is somehow both a reboot and a sequel. Somewhere during their productions, Warner Brothers decided they should differentiate their slate from Marvel by producing smaller-scale, filmmaker-focused films (no disrespect to Marvel, but there isn’t a single film in their universe with a clear authorial voice). First came Todd Phillips' Joker , which, for better and for worse, made quite the statement. The next is Matt Reeves’ The Batman , which steps outside of the current cinematic universe hellscape and exists on its terms as an ultra-dark and ultra-noir-inspired thriller. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqqft2x_Aa4 Batman has been fighting crime for close to two years now, with not much to show for it. The streets are still filled with garbage, both in the form of flesh and debris. The criminals may fear Batman, but not enough to stop committing crimes altogether. So, the endless cycle of carnage continues. That is until a new face appears on the block in the form of The Riddler, who’s brutally murdering Gotham’s top officials, and also murders their reputations by exposing their scandals to the public. As his name would suggest, the culprit leaves behind riddles addressed “To the Batman,” made to mock The Caped Crusader as he pieces together this intricately pieced puzzle. Just like Phillips took (a little too much) inspiration from Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy when crafting his character study of the mentally insane for Joker , writer/director Matt Reeves borrows heavily from the work of David Fincher, particularly Se7en and Zodiac . The Riddler may as well be the Zodiac killer, as Paul Dano’s performance channels the character’s brilliance and insanity. The tension he builds is unparalleled and makes you feel that you're witnessing someone who’s truly gone off the deep end. And with a runtime just five minutes shy of three hours, The Batman has plenty of time to unravel its grand mystery. It’s a thickly layered plot tracing corruption back to the days of Thomas Wayne. The best compliment that I can give any comic book movie is that even if you replace the superheroes with regular people, you still have an interesting story to tell. It’s something that Christopher Nolan was able to accomplish with his Dark Knight trilogy, as well as Sam Raimi with his Spider-Man films. Things may get lost in the shuffle from time to time here, and the ending may leave a bad taste in your mouth, but there’s a lot to love on the page. But with Robert Pattinson as Batman, it’s hard to imagine him not in this movie, as he delivers yet another undeniable performance. Nearly every actor cast as Batman has had their fair share of naysayers, from Michael Keaton to Ben Affleck. With this role, Pattinson is finally able to show the general public his true talent, with most casual moviegoers remembering him only as the sparkly vampire from the T wilight series. Pattinson has always excelled at playing uncomfortable characters, with his work on Good Time and The Lighthouse being prime examples. There’s a restless edge to his version of Batman, something that's been eating away the character’s soul after years of sleepless nights. And in those nights, DP Greig Fraser, hot off his Oscar nomination for his work on Dune , crafts some immaculate imagery. Silhouettes and shadows haunt the dark city streets, with the neon lights drenched in rain providing stark contrast. This is not just one of the best-looking comic-book movies, it’s one of the best-looking movies ever. Fraser does get help from Production Designer James Chinlund, who seamlessly merges New York and Chicago architecture to make Gotham the cesspool that it is. At its core, The Batman is not much of a Batman movie, and that’s what makes it so great. Reeves has taken all the familiar trappings and given them a fresh new look. It may only be March, but the bar for the rest of the films this year just got raised a bit higher. And unlike every other DC film to come out in the past couple of years, I’m excited to see where this story goes next. Warner Bros. Pictures will release The Batman in theaters nationwide on March 4th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen