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Lady Chatterley's Lover December 2, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen Life is coming together nicely for Connie Reid (Emma Corrin). She’s marrying the man of her dreams (or at least she thinks she is), Baronet Clifford Chatterley, who heads off to the British frontlines for the Great War the next morning. Connie awaits in London anxiously, knowing that Clifford will return home to take her to his estate of Wragby, where they will continue his family legacy. Clifford does return home, but not in one piece. He’s become paralyzed from the waist down, becoming a bit of a burden as Connie must tend to him, along with bringing the estate back to its former glory. There’s also now an absence of intimacy between the newlyweds, as Clifford’s paralysis also affects his you-know-what. The prospect of having an heir has all but vanished, sending Connie into a downward spiral of loneliness and feeling like a failure. Longing for companionship (and then some), Connie finds solace in the company of the estate’s gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors (Jack O’Connell). He seems to be the opposite of Clifford, with a rough exterior from the war, but a gentle soul underneath. Of course, things become steamy rather quickly, with the pair meeting in the woods quite often to indulge in their lusts. Before Fifty Shades of Gray lit up e-readers and books clubs around the world, D.H. Lawrence’s 1928 novel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover , had been banned and caused massive public uproar for its “sexual promiscuity” and use of a certain four-letter word that begins with F and ends with K. The 1955 French film adaptation was immediately banned for “promoting adultery,” (and also because it wasn’t very good). But with the Fifty Shades trilogy grossing over $1 billion, and Netflix becoming the new home for titillating material such as the 365 Days films, it seems appropriate for this classic novel to be told with modern sensibilities. Luckily, director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre - winner of several breakthrough awards for her debut feature, Mustang - doesn’t revel in the “smuttiness” within the sexually explicit material like the films mentioned in the preceding paragraph. There’s a true sense of character exploration, both physical and emotional, in the several sequences where the actors bare all. Benoît Delhomme’s cinematography is lush and dreamy, capturing these moments with shallow focus, exemplifying the character’s attitude toward living in the moment, not looking at the dangers that the future holds. Corrin and O'Connell are a great pair as the two free spirits in a land of stiff upper lips. It’s just a shame that the two of them are caught in material that can’t rise above conventionalism, nor has enough inertia to sustain interest across its two-hour runtime. Will the pair be caught in the act? How will Clifford react? Will they run away together to start a happier life? It’s all standard stuff, never breaking free from the Masterpiece Theater chains that have a grip on this specific British genre. Clermont-Tonnerre also butchers the film’s initially poignant cut-to-black final scene, ending this story on a mistimed note. Book club moms have a new film to swoon over in Lady Chatterley's Lover . Luckily, they can do it in the privacy of their homes on Netflix, and not out in public, where the prospect of a few gasps and quivers from the NC-17 material may cause embarrassment. People looking for more underneath the carnality might be a little disappointed, but there’s enough on the surface to keep attractions piqued. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Upside January 31, 2019 By: Button Hunter Friesen In the film industry, January is usually the month that big studios dump films that they have lost confidence in. A large majority of these films come and go without anyone noticing they even exist. One of the biggest films of this January is The Upside , which tells the unlikely true story of a wealthy quadriplegic hiring an ex-con to be his caregiver. Starring Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart, this film isn’t as bad as its release date would suggest, but it also isn’t anything special enough to justify your attention or hard-earned money. Directed by Hollywood workman Neil Burger, The Upside is both structured and shot in the typical fashion that one would come to expect from studio comedies. Everything feels like it was assembled from a template and has been done dozens of times before by more competent directors. Burger middlingly works with the more emotional aspects of the film as any moment of dramatic tension can be seen coming from miles away and follows the usual cues of the genre. Even the tonal shifts become quite predictable and create an endless cycle of half-hearted storytelling. While it may have been unintentional, the one thing that Burger does well at is letting the actors do what they do best. Hart and Cranston take over every scene they appear together in and use their chemistry to distract from many of the film’s faults. Being as this is a remake of the 2011 French film The Intouchables , the story very much follows closely with the source material. The biggest thing that the script lacks compared to the original is a sense of emotional weight between the main characters. This problem mainly stems from a thin plot with lofty intentions that only offers tepid results. The writers try to tackle the racial and economic divide between the main characters but end up putting in so little effort that it feels disjointed and a waste of time. Insightful commentary is tossed aside for one-liners and sly remarks that end up feeling overly safe and tedious. Despite being over two hours long, the film continually runs into the problem of having too little to work with, especially from the two weak subplots; one being Hart trying to reconnect with his son and the other with Cranston battling his limitations to find love. Both the side stories felt quite empty and gave each actor little to work with. This resulted in a muddied overall narrative that fought and tore itself down rather than building to something meaningful. Probably the biggest saving grace for the film (and the only reason anyone would watch it) is the performances of the two leading actors. Kevin Hart does what he does best as Dell and shows that he is still a master of comedy, whether it be physical or through his fast-paced banter. Even though the script is mostly to blame, Hart does struggle with the dramatic parts that require him to slow down and break away from his usual tricks. Acting as the dry humor to Hart’s energy is Bryan Cranston as the extremely wealthy and depressed quadriplegic, Phillip. While he does serve up some funny remarks from time to time, Cranston more or less just goes through the motions and knows that he is above a project of this quality. Lastly, Nicole Kidman intermittently shows up as Phillip’s executive assistant, Yvonne. Kidman really feels out of place as her skills go unused on a character whose only purpose is to be a disapproving foil to Hart’s shenanigans. Except for Kevin Hart or Bryan Cranston, there really isn’t much in this film to make things interesting. There are some comedic elements that incite some chuckles, but more times than not a feeling of emptiness will lay dormant in your head. Best described as a filler movie to waste some time, The Upside is something you’ll watch and most likely forget about twenty-four hours later. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Spaceman February 28, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen If you were to close your eyes and envision an Adam Sandler movie about a Czechoslovakian cosmonaut, you’d probably come up with some sort of Happy Madison production filled with lots of zero-gravity toilet humor and slightly offensive accents. And if I were to ask you to predict who would voice the giant CGI spider (we’ll get to that later); you’d say Rob Schneider, Kevin James, David Spade, or anyone else in the Sandler crew. Luckily for us, we at least live in a good enough timeline where a film where Sandler is a Czech cosmonaut does exist, but none of those other things are true. Chernobyl director Johan Renck is at the helm with a cast rounded out by Carey Mulligan, Paul Dano, and Isabella Rossellini, all of whom go the Ridley Scott route of maintaining their natural speaking for their Eastern European characters. But for all those right ingredients on paper, Spaceman grounds the Sandler dramatic winning streak, proving that the simple sight of the comedian in a lower register isn’t enough to cover up an oversimplified love story with liberally borrowed plot points. We first find Sandler six months into his solo journey to the outer reaches of the universe. Jakub Prochazka is the pride of Czechoslovakia, an invulnerable explorer who will answer our long-held questions. But that description is just what the populous is fed through the space program’s PR campaign. In reality, Jakub is nearing his mental abyss due to a mixture of isolation, a spacecraft that makes the Millennium Falcon look pristine, and his wife Lenka (Carey Mulligan) refusing to speak to him. Reality quickly begins to bend when a giant spider (voiced by Paul Dano) appears on the ship. Is this a real alien or just a figment of Jakub’s imagination? Either way, it has the ability to replay Jakub’s buried thoughts to help him through his unresolved emotional stress. If the plot synopsis of an emotionally detached astronaut working through their feelings sounds familiar to you, it’s because it is. Ironically, the final frontier has been the location for our Earthy problems several times before; most notably in Gravity , First Man , and Ad Astra . That last example gets extra points since both it and Spaceman feature eerily similar romantic situations and scores by Max Richter. But Renck and Sandler aren’t able to mine what director James Gray and Brad Pitt did with their 2019 film, settling on beats that come across more as conceptual ideas than lived-in moments. The back-and-forth bleeding of Jakub’s earlier memories with Lenka always stays on the surface, never answering the question of how and why these two fell in and out of love. They stare and kiss each other from time to time, yet never have a meaningful conversation. That banality is at least pretty to look at, with the camera swirling around Sandler with a boxy frame. What is sometimes annoying is the gimmicky use of excessive film grain for scenes set on Earth, as well as the fisheye distortion for the memories. The spider, named Hanuš, is created convincingly enough to scare any arachnophobe. Its eyes dart in different directions, and its legs dangle as it traverses around in zero gravity. Sandler has always been a very watchable performer, so the ability to pay attention is not diminished when half the scenes solely feature him. Unlike his dramatic work in previous films like Punch-Drunk Love and Uncut Gems , he’s not delivering his usual Sandler-isms in a different key. This is an entirely different performance altogether, stripped of anything you’ve come to expect. He’s perpetually glum and reserved, never saying or doing anything that could be inserted into a future YouTube compilation. There’s no denying the fact that he’s still one of the industry’s biggest stars if he can keep you glued to the screen without doing much of anything. Dano is a great piece of casting in his voice-only role, serving the melancholic curiosity that keeps the plot moving. Mulligan, on the other hand, is wasted in a doting role ripped straight out of a poor man’s version of a Terrence Malick film. She stares solemnly into the sky several times over, yet the emotional pull is as barren as the fields that surround her. It’s these scenes that epitomize the film as a whole: a pretty picture without much of a story to tell. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Omaha Film Festival 2024 Recap March 17, 2024 By: Tyler Banark Three weeks ago, I attended the 19th edition of the Omaha Film Festival. Smaller in scale compared to the likes of TIFF, Cannes, Venice, Sundance, and NYFF, Omaha focuses on telling Nebraska-based stories along with narratives from around the country and even the world. Although other somewhat big-named movies were part of the festival lineup, such as the documentaries Frida , Chasing Chasing Amy , and the Oscar-nominated short Red, White, and Blue , there were also various feature-length and short films. Here are my thoughts on some of the films I saw this year. Lousy Carter Lousy Carter is a comedy starring David Krumholtz as the titular character, a low-life college professor who finds out he has a terminal illness. He tries to sleep with a student of his graduate seminar on The Great Gatsby and sleeps with his best friend’s wife, all while trying to complete an animated film. Krumholtz turns in a dry but entertaining performance, making Lousy into a character that lets the audience decide whether or not he’s worth cheering for. The supporting cast of Martin Starr, Olivia Thirlby, and Jocelyn DeBoer do their parts well as the other people in his life. Although the movie didn’t offer much other than its dry, dark humor, it’s still a fun comedy thanks to Byington's script. Brave the Dark Following the true story of Pennsylvania teen Nathaniel Deen, Brave the Dark is about a troubled high school student who tries to turn his life around with the guidance of his English teacher (played by Jared Harris). Easily the best I saw at the festival this year, Brave the Dark also won Best Film and Audience Choice Feature Film prizes. The movie is fearlessly made to evoke a no-filter look into a troubled teen’s upbringing and how it transpired into his life. Nathan (played by Nicholas Hamilton, best known for playing Henry Bowers in 2017’s IT ) went through the wringer with his parents, who raised him as a little kid, leading him to the foster care system. Hamilton is great, but Jared Harris is the real MVP. He embodies the inspirational teacher trope we’ve seen (i.e., Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society , Sidney Poitier in To Sir, With Love ) and runs with it as he fights tooth and nail to ensure Nathan gets a second chance at life. The movie’s tone does feel a little melodramatic at specific points, but it still leaves a lasting impression on viewers as it’s a tearjerker that wins over their hearts. Guacamole Yesterdays A spin on Michel Gondry’s 2004 sci-fi romance drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , Guacamole Yesterdays follows a woman using a machine to manipulate memories of a relationship that ended in a painful separation. The two leads, Sophie Edwards and Randy Havens, showcase some excellent chemistry in not only the romantic side of their relationship but also in the darker moments. Hudson Phillips’ script benefits from this, and the movie acts as a meditation on grief and how people handle it differently depending on their situations. Guacamole Yesterdays does pull a plot twist in the vein of Shutter Island in the third act, preventing it from sticking to the landing. Overall, it’s a neat sci-fi drama that may be a bit on the nose regarding the movie it’s spinning off of, yet still gets the job done. Don't Get Eaten Don’t Get Eaten is a family comedy about YouTuber dad Noah, who takes his family on a weekend trip to a cabin in the woods. He hopes to unplug and reconnect with his wife, Rose, as their marriage is on the rocks due to his channel and her on-the-rise career as an entrepreneur. One night into the trip, he and his daughters are attacked by zombies and must hold them off before Rose finds out. This was hands down the worst movie I saw at the festival, as it was tailor-made for families to enjoy, with humor appealing mostly to the current generation of kids. Generational moments such as Noah using a GoPro or watching his videos on a live stream were some of the sight gags that don’t land. The other half of the movie’s head-shaking humor consists of dumb jokes viewers would expect to see from every other kid's movie ever (people getting severely injured from the smallest inconvenience, goofy noises, etc.). It’s a boring watch that families surely enjoyed at the screening, but for the typical viewer, it’s another headache-inducing mess. The Headliner Shot entirely in Omaha with a cast and crew entirely of Omaha natives, The Headliner is a comedy that follows a middle-aged comedian hoping to break out on the stand-up scene in Omaha. Director Tony Bonacci has been making several commercials and short films over the years, one of which is a short film version of this. He brings back Darrick Silkman to play the lead, Chad, a comedian who is out of touch with modern society and is estranged from his wife and daughter. Throughout the movie, audiences see various comedians doing their bits in the Omaha stand-up scene. Although it’s nothing compared to the likes of big cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City, Bonacci uses this chance to give comedians at this scale a platform to be seen. The choice is neat and does its job, but the film’s narrative is lacking because of it. Chad gets offered a stand-up gig in Montreal, which coincides with his daughter’s wedding on the same day. Screenwriter Christine Burright tries to juggle these subplots with others (Chad having an intimate relationship with one of his daughter’s besties and learning how to use an iPhone), but the result is messy. Chad comes off as a one-note character, which is partially Silkman’s fault and potentially Burright’s. In the big picture, The Headliner is a movie that highlights Omaha positively but doesn’t bring a story to keep audiences invested. You can follow Tyler and hear more of his thoughts on Twitter , Instagram , and Letterboxd . More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

A Brief History of Presidents' in Film February 15, 2022 By: Hunter Friesen February 15 marks President’s Day in the United States. Originally a holiday to celebrate George Washington’s birthday, the day was eventually changed to honor the service of all our nation’s leaders. In celebration of this national holiday, it’s time to look back at Hollywood’s history with the presidents and see which ones have been most prominently featured on the silver screen. Some of these men are portrayed by actors and some are merely a background figure in the movie. No matter the situation, their presence was felt both in front and behind the camera. Below are four presidents who, for better or worse, have had a major impact on cinematic history. Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) Regularly ranked among scholars as our nation’s greatest leader, it’s no surprise that Abraham Lincoln holds the record for the most portrayals in film at an astounding 130 times, nearly double George Washington’s second-place tally of 70. Honest Abe was the focus of one of Hollywood’s earliest biopics with director John Ford and leading man Henry Fonda telling the story of Lincoln before office in Young Mr. Lincoln . While the events in the film are fictional, the story of Lincoln early in his law career gets the spirit of him right. It was a little over seventy years later when Lincoln got the biopic treatment again with Steven Spielberg’s aptly named Lincoln . Centralizing the time frame in the months before the end of the Civil War as Lincoln struggles to pass the much needed thirteenth amendment, Lincoln boasts a mesmerizing turn by Londoner Daniel Day-Lewis as the titular character, which won him his third Oscar as part of the film’s twelve total nominations. Even with the pacifistic stoicism that he’s known for, Hollywood still couldn’t help themselves as they tried to turn the sixteenth president into an action star with the historically incorrect Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter . The less said about that movie, the better. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) The youngest president ever elected, John F. Kennedy was the first television president as he used the newfound technology to win appeal from the masses. Because of his popularity, Kennedy has made all sorts of appearances in film. He had the conventional biopic detailing his navy heroics during World War II with PT 109 . Cliff Robertson plays young Kennedy who leads his crew on treacherous resume missions in the Pacific. Bruce Greenwood portrays the president in 2000 as he navigates the Cuban Missile Crisis in Thirteen Days . Unfortunately for Kennedy, his most famous moment was his assassination on November 22, 1963. That date is also the focus of several movies such as Oliver Stone’s inaugural presidential movie JFK , which peeks behind the curtain and tries to expose the conspiracies that cloud over what actually happened that fateful day. While most of the facts within JFK have been debunked, there’s no denying the power of Stone’s direction and the stacked ensemble led by Kevin Costner. 2013’s Parkland is set entirely within the day that Kennedy was assassinated, weaving together the perspectives of several people who were thrust into an extraordinary situation. A few years later, director Pablo Larraín and star Natalie Portman view the assassination through First Lady Jackie Kennedy’s eyes in Jackie . Richard Nixon (1969-1974) Much like in real life, Hollywood’s relationship with the thirty-seventh president is rocky, to say the least. As the only president to resign from office, the story of Nixon has been tackled several times by prominent filmmakers. Keeping him in the background, Alan J. Pakula’s All the President’s Men and Steven Spielberg’s The Post frame his presidency around the Pentagon Papers and Watergate scandal. Peter Morgan and Ron Howard approach Watergate from a different angle with Frost/Nixon , as a post-presidency Nixon (played by Frank Langella) conducts a series of interviews with David Frost. Only a few years after making JFK , Oliver Stone gave Nixon the full cradle-to-grave epic biopic with Nixon . Surprisingly not as damning as one would think, Stone’s movie plays out like a Shakespearean tragedy as our “hero” rises to the highest mountain, only to be eventually brought down to the lowest valley. George W. Bush (2001-2009) The 43rd president, George Bush has never been portrayed as the smartest person to occupy the Oval Office. Adam McKay’s Vice , which takes a lot of influence from Oliver Stone, makes Bush a dimwitted supporting character with daddy issues that is puppeteered by his vice president Dick Cheney. Complete with a fake nose and hairpiece, Sam Rockwell received an Oscar nomination for his performance. Ten years earlier, Stone was able to complete his presidential trilogy with W. , a surprisingly tame biopic with Josh Brolin as the title character. Again, Stone paints Bush as simply stupid who didn’t understand the full consequences of an Iraq invasion. While Stone partially acquitted Bush of Iraq, equally brash filmmaker Michael Moore eviscerated Bush with his Palme d’Or winning documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 . Moore attacks the Bush administration for using fear and paranoia to justify a war in Iraq rather than going after those truly responsible for the World Trade Center attacks. Moore produced and released the film with the sole intention of preventing Bush from being reelected in 2004, which proved unsuccessful. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Next Goal Wins September 11, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Next Goal Wins had its World Premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. Searchlight Pictures will release it in theaters on November 17. Based on the overwhelming reactions at the Toronto International Film Festival premiere, Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins should be a shoo-in for the People’s Choice Award or at least a spot in one of the Runner’s Up positions. It felt as if there was a real soccer crowd in that auditorium, as each goal was met with rapturous applause and the boos reigned down after each mention of the opposing team. That immediate passion is a product of Waititi’s unmatched skill at creating sympathy for the underdog, something TIFF audiences are familiar with and have rewarded in the past (2019’s Jojo Rabbit was awarded the People’s Choice Award, ultimately resulting in an Oscar win for Best Adapted Screenplay). The only thing the American Somoan soccer team is known for is being the biggest loser in the world. They lost 31-0 in a 2001 World Cup qualifying match against Australia and had still not scored a single goal in all the games they’ve ever played. Fortunately for them, coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) is on the job market after being fired by the US national team. With no other options, Rongen reluctantly takes the position, setting up a battle between a man who gives up on everything and a team that gives up (even though they probably should). Shot in 2019, it’s a minor miracle that Next Goal Wins is finally seeing the light of day. During the post-screening Q&A, Waititi said he found the silver lining during the endless delays, as it allowed him to have more than enough time to perfect the editing. It paid off, with Waititi’s signature punchlines being delivered with precision. And the soccer matches have great energy to them, pulling you into the drama. Nothing is surprising about the plot, it’s just your average sports drama about an underdog team. Waititi embraces that concept rather than running away from it. Many of the jokes play off the clichés, such as Rongen giving the rousing pre-game locker room speech, only for one of the players to notice that he’s just ripping off the one Al Pacino gave in Any Given Sunday . The style and substance of these jokes never really change, meaning they get a little tiring the longer the film goes on. But even if their effect is progressively diluted, it’s still pretty funny throughout. Michael Fassbender hasn’t been in a film since 2019. Dark Phoenix was in theaters at the same time this was filming. He hasn’t lost a step during that hiatus, delivering the comedy he never gets to do, along with sprinkles of the grizzled drama we’ve come to know him for. Oscar Knightley often steals the show as the overly optimistic soccer federation chief, and Kaimana brings great emotion to her role as Jaiyah, the first openly non-binary and transgender international soccer player. It is a shame that Waititi and co-writer Iain Morris don’t invest enough in her story, leaving her importance a distant second to Rongen’s despite their similar screen presence. Next Goal Wins makes fans out of all of us, both thanks to Waititi’s skill and the simple goal it strives for. It’s effortlessly watchable, uncontroversial, and full of good vibes, making it one of the best options for the family this year. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Zombieland: Double Tap October 28, 2019 By: Button Hunter Friesen When the first Zombieland came out in 2009, it was a pleasant surprise. The zombie genre was in its initial rebirth stage and self-referential humor hadn’t reached its peak just yet. It became the talk of every middle and high school around the country, creating a rabid fanbase that launched the careers of several of its stars and creators. Now ten years later, the gang is back, still making their way through the undead infestation within America. But slaughtering zombies proves to create human relationship problems, ones that the survivors all thought they left behind. Also, there’s a new breed of zombie on the loose, tougher and smarter than ever before. With the physical and emotional danger ramping up by the day, the bond holding the misfit family together will soon be tested. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, helmer of the first film and Tom Hardy’s Venom , Zombieland: Double Tap is a breezy 99-minute comedy. The atmosphere is light and joyous as the characters always keep their sarcastic attitudes even in the most perilous of times. But that carefree attitude is also a symptom of the lack of depth and purpose to the story. Fleischer frames the narrative as a road movie, but without a meaningful destination or compelling journey to bring it all together. The comedy set-pieces here are more separate entities rather than part of a whole piece. Fortunately, some of those disjointed scenes contain some great action as Fleischer embellishes the gory fun of killing (or re-killing) the undead. Slow-motion and excessive blood and guts soak the screen and make for an amusing watch. And even though guns are the primary weapon of choice, there is one top-notch tracking shot sequence that deserves credit for its creative methods for killing. Written by the original duo of the first movie plus the addition of Dave Callaham, “Zombieland: Double Tap” still contains the same amount of self-referential humor as the first. This time though, the meta-jokes aren’t as fresh and are served through overly-expository narration. Just like the carefree atmosphere, this fault is part of a larger problem: staleness. Ten years ago, this story and these characters were original. But now with “The Walking Dead” and umpteen amount of video games, the zombie genre has run itself into the ground. The writers don’t try to solve this problem and merely just try to joke about it. That’s not to say that the jokes are bad, some of them are quite good. And the chemistry between the cast is just as good or even better than the original. It’s just a shame that all that talent is buried under a little-to-nothing plot that only serves the purpose of shuffling them between set pieces. It’s fine and all to watch the same great characters do funny stuff, but there also needs to be a story to tell. The lack of a story here showcases the prime reason this film was nothing more than an unnecessary cash grab. Ten years older and all Academy Award-nominated, the cast all return to do more of the same. Jesse Eisenberg is his usual fidgety and neurotic self as he spatters out his rules of survival. Woody Harrelson takes the top spot among the group and seems to be enjoying himself the most. It’s almost unfair to the others that he gets the best lines, but he makes the most out of them and is the main reason most of the jokes land. Emma Stone, away from serious roles for a little bit, also seems to be reveling in the zombie carnage. It’s nice to see her let loose, especially since she does have a knack for snarky comedy. Lastly, Abigail Breslin gets the short end of the stick as she doesn’t get anything to do or say that’s funny, even if she’s pretty good in her seldom moments to shine. Zombieland: Double Tap has some good moments, but they’re not enough to make it a good movie. But its inoffensiveness delivers just enough laughs to service those who have fond memories of the first one. Just like how Ghostbusters II isn’t remembered to this day, I feel this sequel will come and go without leaving the same lasting mark that the superior original was able to make all those years ago. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Best Hollywood Screenwriters of All-Time January 5, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen Happy National Screenwriters Day! Observed annually on January 5th, this day honors the often unnoticed and under-appreciated task force behind all those thrilling, adventurous, romantic TV or movie masterpieces. To show my appreciation for the people that build movies from nothing and make them into something special, I’ve compiled a list of some of the best screenwriters in cinematic history. This list will only look at writers who are not directors, so people like Paul Thomas Anderson, Woody Allen, or Spike Lee will not be featured. Some of the writers listed have directed films, but for the most part, they are not known for it, and mainly stick to writing scripts. And before you type in the comments about the omission of Charlie Kaufman or Aaron Sorkin, I have not included them because they have shown their intention to direct their own scripts for the foreseeable future. Plus, they’re probably featured on numerous other lists, so I’d like to give spots to other people that are less known. I will also not list anyone who is a frequent writing partner with a director, such as I.A.L Diamond or Charles Brackett, as the majority of their work was with Billy Wilder. So, without further ado, let’s dive into this list featuring some of the biggest wordsmiths of the cinematic art form. Robert Towne Widely regarded as the greatest script doctor in Hollywood history, Robert Towne’s fingerprints are on several of the best films of all time, whether you know it or not. Francis Ford Coppola thanked Towne during his Oscar acceptance speech for his uncredited assistance on The Godfather , and he kicked off the New Hollywood movement with his (also uncredited) work on Bonnie and Clyde . Towne did receive formal recognition in the form of an Oscar nomination for The Last Detail , and a win for Chinatown the following year. He would direct a few of his screenplays to vary success, with Tequila Sunrise and Without Limits being warmly regarded. And he would become Tom Cruise’s go-to writer for a few years, lending his pen to Days of Thunder, The Firm , and the first two installments of the Mission: Impossible franchise. Eric Roth As the recipient of six Oscar nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, including a win for Forrest Gump , Eric Roth towers over all in modern Hollywood when turning preexisting material into cinematic classics. He’s often been trusted by top directors to bring their biggest projects into the light: Michael Mann ( The Insider, Ali ), Steven Spielberg ( Munich ), David Fincher ( The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ), Bradley Cooper ( A Star Is Born ), Denis Villeneuve ( Dune ). He’s adding Martin Scorsese to that venerable list with the upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon , so a second Oscar may be on the horizon. Paddy Chayefsky At three wins from four nominations, Chayefsky is tied with Woody Allen and Billy Wilder as the most-winning screenwriter in Oscar history. His winning percentage is even more impressive when you factor in that it took Allen 16 nominations and Wilder 12 nominations to reach that win total. Chayefsky initially started in television in the 1950s with director Sidney Lumet, a partnership that would reach its apex with the scathing satire in 1976’s Network . Director Delbert Mann was another figure that Chayefsky frequently worked with during his television days, and they each picked up Oscars for their work in 1955’s Marty , which would also be awarded the prize for Best Motion Picture. Leigh Brackett Brackett was a trailblazer in Hollywood, repeatedly destroying the misconception that women could only write “feminine” dramas. She had no problem working across several genres, from 1940s noir ( The Big Sleep ), westerns ( Rio Bravo ), to 1970s new crime ( The Long Goodbye ). Even for all her genre-hopping, she always called science fiction her home. She would mentor Fahrenheit 451 author Ray Bradbury, and be personally hired by George Lucas to write the script for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back . Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to see her work on that film come to fruition, as she passed away in 1978 just after she handed in her script. But her work still lives on and remains an inspiration for anyone that wants to push boundaries. Steven Zaillian Along with Eric Roth, Zaillian is usually the first person studios call when they need someone to adapt existing material. He received an Oscar nomination for his second screenplay, 1990’s Awakenings . That was only the first of many large dominoes, as he won the Oscar for Schindler’s List , and would be nominated again for Gangs of New York, Moneyball , and The Irishman . Like Robert Towne, he’s also a go-to script doctor for many top directors. He’s done uncredited rewrites and polishes on films such as Crimson Tide, Patriot Games, Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down , and Road to Perdition . William Goldman As the author behind several best-selling books on the art of screenplay writing, it’s easy to see why Goldman is seen as one of the greatest writers ever. His critics would claim that he wrote for the director’s vision, and not for his own original ideas. But that would always be his biggest strength, as he could adapt to any genre between westerns ( Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ), political thrillers ( All the President’s Men ), and nerve-wracking crime dramas ( Marathon Man ). He would eventually become the most sought-after adapter of Stephen King’s work, with Misery, Hearts in Atlantis , and Dreamcatcher . And to top it all off, he even adapted his own novel, The Princess Bride , for the screen. John Logan Don’t let Logan’s directorial debut failure with They/Them last year fool you into thinking he isn’t one of the most lauded screenwriters working today. Whether he’s working with Martin Scorsese ( The Aviator, Hugo ), Ridley Scott ( Gladiator, Alien: Covenant ), or Sam Mendes ( Skyfall, Spectre ), Logan loves to work in pairs with leading auteurs. He’s also dabbled in animation ( Rango ), musicals ( Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street ), Shakespeare ( Coriolanus ), and even television ( Penny Dreadful ). Robert Bolt Between his works with David Lean on Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago , and Ryan’s Daughter, there probably isn’t anyone who writes bigger than Robert Bolt. His first notice would come before all that when he wrote the play A Man for All Seasons in 1954. He would adapt it for the screen himself, winning another Oscar just one year after he won for Doctor Zhivago . 1986’s The Mission , starring Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons, would be his next, and final, brush with awards success, with the film winning the Palme d’Or at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival along with several Oscar nominations. Ernest Lehman The only thing consistent about Ernest Lehman’s output is the excellence of its quality. One of his first scripts would be the 1954 romantic-comedy Sabrina for Billy Wilder. He would jump over to mystery thrillers with Northwest by Northwest for Alfred Hitchcock. Then came a brief settlement into musicals, as he adapted both the Best Picture-winning West Side Story and The Sound of Music from the stage to the screen. Another slight pivot came in the form of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and finally ending with a return to Hitchcock for 1979’s Family Plot . More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre March 3, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen You'll probably spend more time trying to pronounce "Ruse de Guerre" than thinking about the action... or the humor... or the characters... or the actual plot. Much like every entry within writer/director Guy Ritchie's increasingly diverse filmography, Operation Fortune is semi-stylish and entertaining in the moment, offering just enough guns going bang and characters cracking jokes to keep your butt in the seat. But any post-screening test would be immediately failed, as what goes in one ear comes right out the other. In his fifth collaboration with Ritchie, the most recent being the better-than-expected pandemic-released Wrath of Man , Jason Statham plays... Jason Statham. Technically he plays the comically named Orson Fortune, an ass-kicking, globe-trotting super spy that you'd be hard-pressed to distinguish from at least a dozen of his earlier roles. Fortune has a handler named Nathan (Cary Elwes), who's been tasked with a mission by high command to retrieve a stolen McGuffin named "The Handle," which promises to cause global havoc now that it’s fallen into the wrong hands. Nathan and Fortune aren't alone, as they've assembled a support team including sharp-shooting muscle J.J. (Bugzy Malone, no relation to the famous gangster) and hacker Sarah (Aubrey Plaza). But no real ruse would be complete without a bit of winking fourth wall breaks, as Josh Harnett plays movie star Danny Francesco, who gets recruited to lure in mega-fan arms dealer Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant). Even more characters become involved, such as Ukrainian gangsters (who are identified differently by ADR and clumsily edited down to avoid insult to injury with the ongoing war, which was one of the main reasons for the film being pulled from its original January 2022 release date), a rogue British task force, and Silicon Valley tech zillionaires. There's no time to play catch up within Ritchie's script, which he co-wrote with his usual writing partners Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies. The nothing-you-haven't-seen-before plot moves forward at an alarming rate, only ever so briefly stopping from time to time to recap what just happened through some hearty exposition. Ritchie is a confident and competent enough director to make up for most of the nothingness on the page, with some unique camera angles and edited fight sequences being a mini highlight. And Hugh Grant and Aubrey Plaza are chewing the scenery nicely. Their presence does elevate the fun more than the gruffness of Statham. Hartnett's performance may not be of the highest quality, but he's clearly having the most fun in the cast. In a move usually reserved for James Bond and early MCU movies, Operation Fortune was released overseas before making its way to the states. Normally this would be a small victory for international cinephiles, but in this case, I'd say there are no winners or losers as I'm sure no one will remember what the battle was fought over. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

First Man October 15, 2018 By: Button Hunter Friesen What do we as Americans really know about Neil Armstrong? Everyone can say that he was the first man to step foot on the moon, but what else? Most of us would be left blank and stuck realizing that we know so little about one of the most important American figures of the twentieth century. Stepping in to remedy this problem is director Damien Chazelle with his new film First Man . Instead of solely focusing on the moon landing, Chazelle decides to center the story on Armstrong. Spanning from 1961 to the 1969 landing, First Man daringly attempts to entertain and educate its audience about the trials and tribulations that one man went through in the name of human exploration. Hot off winning the Academy Award for Best Director in 2016 with La La Land , the thirty-three-year-old Chazelle again makes his case for being one of the best directors working today. He reteams with his La La Land cinematographer, Linus Sandgren, and the results are spectacular. The imagery of the film is engrossing and stirs a wide range of emotional responses. In order to give the film a 60’s look and feel, Chazelle opts to use a more grainy camera filter rather than the traditional smooth. He also uses a multitude of handheld close-ups to try and keep the story emotional and character-driven. As a space film, First Man more than delivers on the action and pushes the boundary on how movies can convey the overall experience of space travel. Chazelle shifts to IMAX cameras in space and fills the screen with both beauty and menace. The camera violently shakes as the rocket blasts off, engulfing us in the terrifying moment. Then everything steadies and the awe of outer space is revealed. It’s a balancing act that perfectly captures the immense danger that was involved in order to reach new heights. Chazelle also reteams with his regular composer Justin Hurwitz, who gives a compelling soundtrack that perfectly compliments the film. The best part comes during the lunar landing scene when a constant hard-charging drum beat takes over as the only sound we hear. Even though the outcome is already known, it’s still the most nerve-wracking part of the film. The one area where First Man struggles to make its mark is in the writing department. Josh Singer pens the script, based on the novel by James Hansen. The writing does well at establishing Armstrong in the beginning. He’s quiet and a bit standoffish, but also very loving. We see him as a family man, one who’s struggling to balance his piloting dreams with the welfare of his wife and kids. However, after the first act, not much time is spent on developing Armstrong’s character. The rest of the film centrally focuses on the mission in a straightforward way. The years go by, but we hardly see any change in his character. This lack of an arc goes against Chazelle’s intentions and undermines the great work he does to connect us to the characters. It also restricts the core theme of the film from being achieved as very little about Armstrong is actually revealed by the end. Marking his second time working with Chazelle, Ryan Gosling is spectacular as Neil Armstrong. Gosling plays against type and delivers a solemn and heroic performance. The camera is pressed to his face the whole time as we watch his perilous journey unfold on Earth as well as above it. Gosling controls each scene with his blank face and calmly keeps the audience connected to him. Playing Janet Armstrong is The Crown star Claire Foy, who trades in her British accent for a Texan one. Foy provides the emotion of the film as she plays the nervous wife who just wants to see her husband come home safely. She shares some great scenes with Gosling as their characters try to cope with the dangers of attempting history. Rounding out the A-list cast is Kyle Chandler, Jason Clarke, and Corey Stoll. Each one of them plays an important supporting character in Neil’s story. They all give commendable performances as they play well off of Gosling and Foy. Boldly going where no one has gone before, Damien Chazelle has changed the way space movies should be made. His expert use of all facets of production raises the bar for the future of commercial filmmaking. The combination of his powerful directing and the outstanding performances by Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy lifts First Man off the ground and into the upper echelon of both space films and biopics. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Instigators August 1, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Through the power of content quotas and streaming service overload, the phrase “it’s a streaming movie” has replaced “it’s a VOD movie” as the description of choice for all the disposable movies that choose to circumvent the physicality of the multiplex. That doesn’t apply to every streaming movie, as the lucky few (aka “the good ones”) get special treatment from their creators, usually in the form of modest theatrical footprints similar to The Irishman , Killers of the Flower Moon , and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery . No, when we’re using “streaming” as a pejorative, we’re talking about the films on Netflix’s Most Popular Films list: Red Notice , The Adam Project , Bird Box , The Mother , and The Gray Man . Sure, the quality is much better than we used to get during the VOD heydays, but to what end? If everyone watches your film - but no one remembers it - does it really count as a hit? Doug Liman’s The Instigators , his second streaming movie of the year after Amazon’s middle-of-the-road Road House remake earlier this spring, fits that “competent, yet forgettable” mold to perfection. I’d totally believe if Apple boasts about it being one of their highest-performing titles come the end of this year, all while no viewer could pass a memory test about the plot. Luckily, writers Chuck MacLean (creator of the very pro-Boston series City on a Hill ) and Casey Affleck ( Dunkin’ Donuts second-biggest fan behind his brother) aren’t concerned with wasting our time with such trivial things as building events, or character groundwork. The ticking time bomb encompassing the studio logos is replaced by the ticking of the clock on the wall within Dr. Rivera’s (Hong Chau) shabby office, where Rory (Matt Damon) is declaring that he needs to do something big or else he’s going “cash in all his chips.” That explosive action comes from a job offer from two local crime bosses (Michael Stuhlbarg and Alfred Molina). It’s simple: sneak in through the hotel kitchen hosting Mayor Miccelli’s (Ron Perlman) reelection party and steal the campaign donations in the safe in the back office. Of course, no heist plan ever goes according to plan (wouldn’t that be nice for a change?), which leaves Rory and his equally down-on-his-luck middle-aged partner Cobby (Affleck) on the run from every cop within the New England region. The derogative aspects of this “streaming film” come from the visuals, with the digital flatness and shoddy visual effects benefiting from the smallest screen possible. Liman has always prided himself on his scrappy indie filmmaking roots of Swingers and The Bourne Identity . That pedigree has certainly faded over the years, especially with Steven Soderbergh showcasing the benefits of digital filmmaking with his bevy of streaming films. A lot of comparisons between this and Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move could be made, none of them positive for the former. Damon and Affleck make a great pair, their decades-long friendship creating some instant sparks between their mismatched pair. Cobby is the more seasoned of the two, something he never lets each of them forget as he constantly runs his mouth about the absurdity of their situation. Their characters may not be all that interesting, with the running joke of Rory exploring his feelings while committing a crime being spread too thin, but the actors make it all entertaining enough. There’s also Jack Harlow, Ving Rhames, Paul Walter Hauser, and Toby Jones in smaller supporting roles that make this cast much more stacked than it has any right to be. One side of my brain is saying that a film with this much talent in front and behind the camera should be a lot better, while the other half knows that they almost always aren’t when they’re assembled for a product largely meant to bolster a digital catalog. Call it disappointment, call it an acceptance of the market. Either way, no one involved will look bad and no one who watches it will feel their time totally wasted, so everyone will just go about their business like nothing happened. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Outrun October 4, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen You’re midway through your standard musician biopic. The lead singer, who was doing so well for themselves, has now been introduced to drugs. “I just need to take the edge off,” they say repeatedly, all while their friends and family plead for them to return to how they used to be. They crash out, literally and figuratively, lying in a puddle of their stench and failure. But that low valley eventually leads them to the highest mountain, with sobriety presenting an opportunity to return to their roots and refind their passion for life. Chances are that it didn’t take much mental strain for you to think of at least a half dozen films that fit that exact description. It’s not hard when the path has been trekked so often that there’s nothing left to admire about it. Now, let’s take that 15-30 minute sequence from all those movies and laboriously stretch it out to 120 minutes. By doing that, you’ve created The Outrun , an addiction drama in which I could have used a couple of drinks to help numb the boredom. Granted, there is a ceiling to how much a biography can be railed for being formulaic, as they all retell the events in a person’s life, something I have no right as an (uninformed) viewer to criticize as fact or fiction. Who am I to tell someone that their personal journey doesn't ring true, or isn’t unique enough to be worth adaptation? The novel that The Outrun bases itself on serves as a memoir for author Amy Liptrot, tracing her alcohol-fueled days in London to her rehabilitation back in her native Scotland. Liptrot, Daisy Lewis, and director Nora Fingscheidt adapt the story for the screen, crafting a nonlinear structure that leverages the grip that the past will always have on Liptrot’s stand-in, Rona (Saoirse Ronan). Weeks into her recovery period, she will face a sudden and almost unquenchable urge to drink, coupled with a flashback to the allure that alcohol had in her boozier days. Those crashes of the past and present serve as the biggest flourishes within Fingscheidt’s directorial arsenal, although the past never illuminates more than the simple fact that Rona was a volatile alcoholic who alienated her friends and family. It’s all a bit generic, from the early party days when everything was great, to the later years when she’s stumbling down the street and everyone pleads with her to get help. Ronan dives headfirst into the material in the same way as someone like Gena Rowlands, grabbing the screen with their magnetic presence and never letting go for a second. She is the pulse that keeps this heart beating, albeit quite slowly for most of the runtime. One would have hoped that a stronger story would have supported her, as her performance, however strong it is, leaves little impression when compared to her previous work and the work of her genre contemporaries. Repetitive and labored are the traits most commonly found on the road to sobriety, although the authentic notion of translating them to the screen doesn’t favor the viewer. An addiction drama will be born, people will halfheartedly care about it, the performance will gain awards attention, and the world will move on. It’s the circle of life, and we’re just living in between stages of it. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen