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The Flash June 5, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen One of the first things you’ll notice about The Flash is how much of a lighter affair it is compared to Zack Snyder’s vision. I mean that on both a metaphorical and literal level, as director Andy Muschietti opens his film with the titular hero in such a ludicrously stupid situation, it almost has to be interpreted as a middle finger to Snyder’s doom and gloom. Carrying over from that dark place is Ben Affleck’s Batman, who looks a little ridiculous in the full daylight (almost as if his entire aesthetic was created with a different visual style in mind…) and still doesn’t have the time to put up with Flash’s personality (you and me both). But even if the tone and colors have been lifted from the shadows, the stakes are still as high as ever. Zack Snyder’s Justice League gave us a glimpse of Flash’s ability to enter the Speed Force and reverse the flow of time, which he did to save the entire world from Darkseid’s Mother Boxes. Being a jittery and perpetually inquisitive person, Barry extends that logic into the implication that he could go back far enough in time to save his mother from being murdered, for which his father was falsely blamed. It’s an extremely dangerous gamble, as even the slightest alteration could have unforeseen consequences on not just his own timeline, but innumerable timelines spread across the space-time continuum (the new industry-approved term is “multiverse,” which I’m sure you're very familiar with by now). To Barry, the risk is worth the reward. But instead of going back in time to make a paradise, he makes a new hell on earth. Because of his actions, the world has been rendered without metahumans, meaning no Superman, Wonder Woman, or Aquaman. But it does have a General Zod, who now stands unopposed in his destruction of Earth. Thankfully, the exclusion of metahumans doesn’t apply to Batman, who’s now in the form of Michael Keaton. Every comic-book franchise, whether live-action or animated, has dabbled in the multiverse at this point. There are some that haven’t gone far enough with it ( Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ), and some that have done it just right ( Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ). The Flash takes its concept and gives way to its worst impulses. The opportunity for endless possibilities is mostly spent on jingling car keys in front of your face in the form of cameos, line readings, and music stings that you recognize, many of which dramatically undercut the physical and emotional stakes of the situation. This is The Rise of Skywalker all over again, so desperate in its attempt for you to like it by flashing as many pleasure-inducing sights as possible that you don’t have time to think about what’s going on behind the scenes. It’s not like what’s on the surface hiding that rotten core isn’t good either. Ezra Miller continues to be the kid in high school who tried way too hard to be the class clown, devolving every “humorous” moment into an eye-rolling groan fest. I understand how it’s nearly impossible to look at them and not think about his heinous off-screen persona, but it’s also nearly impossible to like them on-screen. What’s their appeal? Being annoying? And now there are two of them! It also can’t be understated how undercooked several visual-effect-heavy sequences look. Characters move around weightlessly, CGI doubles look as natural as the actors from Tom Hooper’s Cats , and some “unbroken takes” might as well qualify for the Best Animated Short Film category at the Oscars (although I would harshly refrain from using the term “best”). Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania still takes the cake for the worst-looking blockbuster in recent memory, but this gives it a run for its money. To give Muschietti a smidge of credit, he does come up with some inventive ways to show off Flash’s powers without just ripping off the Quicksilver scenes from the X-Men movies. The distortions of time and physics may put physicists in a coma, but it’s mildly interesting to see how bad guys can be dispatched within the blink of an eye. The Flash is the straw (a heavy one nonetheless) that breaks the camel’s back when it comes to multiverses in blockbuster franchises. Instead of using its unlimited potential to deliver something unique, it sinks to the lowest form of pandering by just waving around what you already know. What’s the point of boasting about the oceanfront view if you’re only ever going to swim in the kiddie pool? More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Lost Bus October 3, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen The Lost Bus had its World Premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Apple TV+ will release it in theaters on September 19, followed by its streaming premiere on October 03. A sad truth came to light the other day when I was having dinner with a friend. I was recounting my recent trip to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), divulging the good, the bad, and the ugly. I eventually got to the part of my schedule that included The Lost Bus , which I described as the new Matthew McConaughey film about the California wildfires. "Which one?" my friend asked, a question that immediately contextualized the climate situation we're increasingly facing. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, nine of the ten largest wildfires in California history have occurred within the last ten years. As I'm writing this review on September 24th, three new wildfires have been reported in the state. The most destructive and deadliest wildfire in California history was the 2018 Camp Fire. This is where The Lost Bus gets its story from, beginning one day earlier on November 07, 2018. McConaughey plays Kevin McKay, a down-on-his-luck school bus driver in the town of Paradise. He's been divorced from his wife for a few years, his teenage son doesn't like him, his mom requires increased medical care, and he just had to put his dog down due to old age. He's begging for extra shifts at work to help with financial problems. The roads can be windy as he takes the kids to and from school, and his bus is in dire need of maintenance. In short, everything is already hanging on by a thread. A faulty utility tower sets off a spark among some brush. A passerby on the highway calls in the small fire, and the trucks are on their way. By the time they get there, the dry conditions and gusty winds have already made this nuisance into a problem. From there, the area of danger keeps getting bigger... and bigger... and bigger. The situation eventually got so bad that the strategy shifted from fighting the fire to saving lives, as doing both became mutually exclusive. By the end, eighty-five were killed and tens of thousands of homes were destroyed. Co-writer/director Paul Greengrass is the perfect person to helm this harrowing story on a macroeconomic level, having previously explored the matter-of-fact horrors of modern history with United 93 , Captain Phillips , and 22 July . Multiple scenes are dedicated to the logistics of fighting a fire of this size. How big is the area of containment right now, and where will it be in a few hours? When should the public be alerted, and what roads need to be cleared for a safe evacuation? How many trucks need to be requested as backup from the neighboring districts? The list goes on and on, and the time crunch gets progressively more severe. It's propulsively taut, with a no-nonsense lesson about how these situations have been dangerously exacerbated by a lack of accountability and preparation by our country's leaders and corporations. Once the microscope is zoomed in on Kevin, things get a lot more Hollywood-ized. Greengrass and co-writer Brad Ingelsby hammer home Kevin's status as an underdog and reluctant hero. He's just trying to get back home as the alerts start going out, and is the only bus within the vicinity of an elementary school with a class of twenty-two children whose parents couldn't pick them up. America Ferrera plays their teacher, essentially herding cats as everyone starts to sense that things are about to get much worse. The bus plows through smoke and debris as the rendezvous point constantly changes, with communication getting increasingly difficult. Greengrass overplays his hand during these moments. The camera snakes through a very digital fire, treating it like the shark from Jaws on its way to eat the children. All of them are just statistics for the plot, blankly reacting in fear to what's going on around them. McConaughey and Ferrera do decent work as their characters trade stories about their hopes and dreams. It's the same beats we've seen in every inspirational story "based on true events," ending on a small note of positivity about overcoming this tragedy. A decision was probably made at the pre-production stage to commit more to that angle than the docudrama about how hope is getting thinner by the day. I'd say they made the wrong choice, as Mother Nature continually proves that we're well past the point of wrapping these horrors with neat little bows. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Wolfs September 26, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen In Wolfs , both George Clooney and Brad Pitt’s characters go unnamed. It’s a requirement of the trade, both of them holding the title of “fixer,” someone you call when you’re in a jam and need help. A person who finds themself in this occupation needs to have a certain type of monasticism, explains Clooney’s character. They have no name, possessions, or past. They are a ghost… a lone wolf among a city full of sheep. The city in this scenario is New York, a familiar stomping ground for writer/director Jon Watts after his trilogy of MCU Spider-Man films. Here he finally gets to turn the brightness down and send some characters to the morgue, although that Marvel-y banter has stuck around in his DNA. Prominent DA Margaret (Amy Ryan) is enjoying a night on the town. She picks up a young man (Austin Abrams) at the bar, gets a penthouse suite for the two of them, and starts drinking her troubles away. Except, new trouble arises when the man falls off the bed and crashes through the glass table, killing him. She can’t call the police, as the scandal would ruin her career. So, she calls the unnamed contact on her phone, with Clooney appearing at her door with assurances that he’ll make everything disappear. The swanky hotel fears a scandal just as much as Margaret does, which is why they send in their fixer (Pitt). Just as it is annoying to find out that your Airbnb host double-booked you with another person during your weekend getaway, so is it for these two solitary professionals. But the only way to get the job done is to work together, a task that gets exponentially hard once drugs are discovered and the supposedly dead man suddenly wakes up. A lot of the early pages in Watts’ script are meant for blowing smoke up the asses of the two fixers. Several speeches about how they are one of a kind and that no one can do what they do. Of course, that whole angle gets demolished pretty quickly as these two are pretty much a mirror of each other. They dress in the same slick black outfits, talk in the same confidently hushed tone, and have bad backs. One could surmise this ironic humor is meant for Pitt and Clooney just as much as it is for the characters. They’re two identical movie stars from the same generation who could easily swap roles without much difference in outcome. I’d guess that Clooney would have nailed Moneyball just as much as Pitt did, and vice versa for Gravity . Luckily, the animosity and distrust between these two clones aren’t shared by Pitt and Clooney. Four movies together and a lifelong friendship go a long way to sell their instant chemistry here. The wisecracks and insults they share get tiring very quickly, but they always work on a basic level because of the infectious love the two of them have for each other. It’s Newman and Redford for the modern age, with some crime caper elements to keep the studio-mandated plot chugging along. Everything Everywhere All at Once cinematographer Larkin Seiple makes this look good for a streaming film, which is a backhanded way of saying it doesn’t look like a pile of digital garbage. Yes, there is a car commercial sheen to this that cannot be ignored, but the smoky shadows and nighttime gloominess of late winter New York sell the intriguing underworld that these characters dabble in. Theodore Shapiro provides a lofi techno soundtrack that’ll go great with any study session. None of this amounts to much of anything that will be memorable. I haven’t thought about it at all in the 24-hour gap between watching it and writing this review. It’s fun in the present and harnesses the power of movie stars in a time when that magic has steadily faded. For that, it gets a half-thumbs-up seal of approval. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Invisible Man March 5, 2020 By: Button Hunter Friesen The Invisible Man opens on a secluded waterfront mansion. Inside it, Cecilia Kass is executing her plan to run away from her abusive boyfriend, Adrian. She successfully escapes, but not without Adrian running after her in a violent fury. A few weeks after her departure, Cecilia is notified that Adrian has committed suicide. Her relief at his demise doesn’t last long as a series of coincidences begin to take shape. Cecilia starts to hear noises and has the constant feeling she is being watched. After some time, she discovers that Adrian isn’t dead, but invisible. He’s gaslighting her into submission, playing vicious tricks around the house, and tormenting others connected to her. With no one believing her situation, Cecilia must work to defend herself and the people she loves from unseen harm. As the writer/director behind several horror franchises such as Saw and Insidious , Leigh Whannell once again proves his chops here. He commands the material with his expert use of the camera and lighting. A multitude of slow pans and still shots imbue each scene with a lingering sense of terror that never ceases to grab hold of you. The dark, shadowy lighting puts a magnifying glass on Cecilia’s isolation as she battles her internal and external demons. And because the assailant cannot be seen, Whannell also relies on some expert sound design that is similar to the style used in A Quiet Place . Silence is the most abundant and effective sound device as it fills the gaps between the creaks and rumbles. It becomes clear throughout that hearing nothing is much scarier than hearing something. But what Whannell can be respected for most is his refusal to stoop to jump scares, especially considering the story allows for that. Sure, a jump scare here or there would have jolted some energy into the often overly-slow pacing, but Whannell’s insistence on taking the high road makes for a more complete horror experience. Of course, the concept of someone turning themself invisible is a little silly. The movie doesn’t totally defend against that criticism either, only mustering a quick line about how Adrian was “a leader in the field of optics”. However, once you get past that barrier of disbelief, you’ll open yourself up to what this movie has to offer under the hood. The script for The Invisible Man , penned by Whannell himself, has more on its mind than just scares. The movie does a great job of conveying the torment and aftermath that an abusive relationship can have on someone. Cecilia as a character is given a full arc as we follow her journey of slow recovery from beginning to end. This added layer brings a deeper meaning that is both used to educate about a serious topic and make the horror material pack a bigger punch. Portraying our heroine is the commanding Elisabeth Moss. It’s another unhinged performance similar to her previous roles in Her Smell and The Handmaid’s Tale . Moss’s all-in attitude helps suspend our disbelief of the material and grounds her character in the real world. She’s utterly believable in even the most bewildering of situations and carries the emotional weight of the film. Commendable supporting performances come from both Aldis Hodge as a sympathetic detective and Michael Dorman as Adrian’s brother, Tom. Through inventive storytelling and craftsmanship, Leigh Whannell and Elisabeth Moss have quite possibly created the definitive version of this ludicrous premise. Released at a time of year infamous for forgettable horror movies, it’s a breath of fresh air to see quality original content have its time to shine. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Poor Things December 4, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Stripping away the artifice of society and the exertion of power over another person are two things that director Yorgos Lanthimos, the lead figure behind the Greek Weird Wave movement, has consistently explored throughout his wacky career. Whether it be parents going to extreme lengths to manipulate their children’s worldview in Dogtooth , the threat of being turned into an animal if you don’t fall in love in The Lobster , or an omniscient Barry Keoghan terrorizing Colin Farrell’s family in The Killing of a Sacred Deer , Lanthimos has always taken the road less traveled to tell his twisted tales of morality. Marking as his reunification with The Favourite star Emma Stone and writer Tony McNamara, Poor Things attempts to wrap all of Lanthimos’ earlier work into one lavishly produced feature, a move that both creates a wondrously unique film and wholly exemplifies the idea of having too much of a good thing. In another life, Bella Baxter (Stone) could have been the world’s greatest poker player. She’s a master at calling out people’s bluffs through her inquisitive nature and unfamiliarity with modern life. Why don’t people have sex all the time? Why do we eat things that are revolting? Why do we make meaningless small talk with people we care little about? Everyone regurgitates the usual “because it’s polite” or “because that’s just the way things are” answer, but both they and Bella know that it’s all bullshit. Bella is a science experiment by the mad scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Once she was a woman named Victoria who threw herself off the London Bridge because of perinatal depression. The opportunistic doctor seized the moment to do something that had never been done before, something that “was obvious once I thought more about it”: Take the brain out of Victoria’s unborn child and put it into her own skull. She is now a woman with a clean slate, unchained from the tethers of Victorian society and free to form a path of her own. This version of London has the usual trademarks we expect: smog, brick roads, and cockney accents. But then there are electrified cable cars, dogs with duck heads, ducks with dog heads (brought to you by our boundless doctor), and cruise ships emitting green smoke. The influences of Terry Gilliam are apparent, even down to cinematographer Robbie Ryan’s employment of peephole lenses and crazy angles to go along with his reintroduction of the fisheye lens from The Favourite . Those orgiastic visuals go hand-in-hand with Bella’s extraordinary journey around Europe. Her companion for much of the adventure is Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a chauvinistic lawyer who whisked her away from her safely guarded cage. He’s a himbo who thinks of himself as an intellectual, which makes him the antithesis of Bella’s burning passion to understand the world. Fortunately, there are other people (Hanna Schygulla, Jerrod Carmichael, Suzy Bemba) who are more open to uncovering the backwardness of the patriarchy. There does become a point where McNamara’s script starts to run out of ideas. A few too many retreads about Bella’s observations artificially elongate the 141-minute runtime and grind down the final third, a common minor problem within Lanthimos’ filmography (I say that as one of his biggest fans). But then he always closes the book with gusto, this being no exception. Poor Things is also not an exception to the rule that Stone and Lanthimos have formed one of the most exciting actor-director partnerships of the modern era. Stone turns in one of the finest performances of the year, playfully illustrating the transition from an amusing child to a full-fledged intellectual, all while flawlessly carrying the film’s emotional core. Her burden is lightened by her great supporting cast: Dafoe an idyllic partner for Lanthimos’ vision, Ruffalo appears as if he thought this was a Monty Python sketch, Ramy Youseff plays the terrifyingly intrigued rookie doctor, and Kathryn Hunter’s brothel owner opens up Bella’s view on pain and pleasure. It’s a true testament to Lanthimos’ pedigree as a director for me to say that this is my least favorite of his English-language features. It will surely land somewhere at the tail end of my Best of 2023 Top 10, and will just as surely pick up a bevy of nominations and wins at the Oscars. Lanthimos has already finished production on his next film, AND (Also starring Stone and Dafoe), which will presumably be released sometime in 2024. If that film continues this winning streak, we may very well need to start having the conversation about him being the best director working today. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever November 9, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen To paraphrase James Cromwell’s Captain Dudley Smith from L.A. Confidential : “I wouldn't trade places with Ryan Coogler for all the whiskey in Ireland.” Just on a purely basic level, the bar for the sequel to the box office smash / Oscar-winning / pop culture phenomenon that was Black Panther was almost insurmountable. Add in the untimely death of lead star Chadwick Boseman and the overall decline in reception to the preceding bunch of Phase Four, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for an anxiety attack. To Coogler’s credit, he makes a valiant effort to craft something unique out of his unfortunate situation. It’s just that his efforts didn’t turn into results, with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever feeling more like MCU entry #30 rather than a distinct work by a talented filmmaker. Just as Boseman is tragically gone from this world, so is King T’Challa from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film opens with Shuri (Letitia Wright) unsuccessfully attempting to cure her brother of an unknown illness. She blames herself for his death, leaving her unable to properly grieve the loss. With Wakanda stripped of its chief protector, the superpowers of the world see an opportunity to seize their coveted vibranium resources, leading to hostile relations for Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) to deal with. But, as it turns out, vibranium is not solely located within Wakanda. It’s also found near the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean thanks to a detector built by MIT student and overall wunderkind Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne). Unbeknownst to all, the underwater civilization of Talokan, led by the ankle-winged (an objectively silly concept) Namor, has observed the surface world for centuries and treats their underwater vibranium excursions as the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Namor wishes for Wakanda to join him on his crusade, but his request is swiftly denied. Knowing that the Wakandan forces are the only ones powerful enough to stop him, he wages war on the briefly vulnerable kingdom. The premise of Wakanda Forever is awfully by-the-numbers, especially when compared to its ever-interesting predecessor. The complex arguments from Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger have been replaced by surface-level (pun intended) anecdotes about how “humans are bad” by Namor, who falls far down the MCU villain power rankings. It also doesn’t help that his motives and the design of his underwater kingdom look and sound scarily similar to 2018’s Aquaman , which actually performed better on a technical level. Of course, James Cameron will probably have the last laugh with Avatar: The Way of Water next month. The blandness that Namor suffers from can also be found in Riri, aka Ironheart. Along with America Chavez from this year’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Kate Bishop from Hawkeye , Riri fills the role of the “young protege who needs to be saved by the current hero so that she can take their place.” Florence Pugh’s Yelena remains the cream of that crop, with Riri being adequate, yet entirely forgettable. Still, there are many things that Coogler does within Wakanda Forever that give it just enough personality. One of those things is the emotional heft he conveys through T’Challa’s passing, with the talented cast more than up to the challenge. Wright effortlessly takes on a leading role in this story, and Bassett brings her signature gravitas to every bit of dialogue. Barring the final battle, which, like the first Black Panther , looks shockingly poor, and some off-putting uses of slow motion, the action set pieces are thrilling. Danai Gurira as Okoye remains a venerable badass, wielding her spear with fury. Her introduction out of the shadows is one of the countless beautiful shots. Even with all its shortcomings, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever closes out a beleaguered Phase Four as one of its best entries thanks to its emotional honesty and quality action. Except those commendable attributes are in service to a lacking plot and an (at this point, expectedly) uninteresting villain. This return to the land of Wakanda was a welcome one, but it could have been so much more fruitful. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Sentimental Value November 7, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen You will not find a more emotionally intelligent film this year than Sentimental Value . Writer/director Jocahim Trier's follow-up to his decade-defining film The Worst Person in the World produces each tear, gasp, and laugh at exactly the right moment. Yet, it's never manipulative, always proudly wearing its heart on its sleeve. By the time the credits start rolling, you’ll have been on a journey with not just these characters, but also with yourself. That's a lot of praise right off the bat, so let's back up to the very beginning. An unseen narrator, voiced by Bente Børsum, welcomes us to a house in Oslo. Both the walls and the family inside are fracturing, with two sisters caught in the middle of their parents' rapidly impending divorce. The oldest, Nora, wonders if the house feels happiness as children run through the halls, and pain as doors are slammed and objects are broken. Those squeaks and creaks become powerfully identifiable, becoming long-term storage for memories created within these confines. Decades pass, and the matriarch of the family has died. This leaves the house to an adult Nora (Renate Reinsve) and her younger sister Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleas). Neither of them wants to live there, so they must reconcile with letting go of a piece of their past. Their estranged father Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård) reappears in their lives, looking to make amends. His version of an olive branch is to offer Nora, now a successful actress on the stage, the lead role in the new film he will direct. She doesn't contemplate saying yes, flatly refusing to enter into a situation where he has power over her. So the part is handed to an American star named Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning), who makes a strong impression on Gustav after praising his early films at a career retrospective. Trier and co-writer Eskil Vogt's script does an excellent job at examining the past, present, and future dynamics of this quartet. Gustav's film is very much based on his upbringing with his mother in that same house during World War II. She eventually committed suicide, something that Gustav has never been able to explain. Some of those feelings have been passed along to Nora, who constantly flips out before each performance and emotionally shuts down in her apartment. And when Rachel cuts and dyes her hair to look exactly like Nora, it's clear that Gustav sees those similarities as well. Comparisons to Ingmar Bergman's long-held fascination with identity are fully warranted. Even with all these serious themes, this is not a dour film. It's actually quite funny, with plenty of jabs at these characters and the industries they have planted themselves in. Gustav hasn't made anything of worth in almost twenty years, which is why, despite his fervent attitude of still being a serious auteur, he must beg Netflix to finance the film. He buys his eight-year-old grandson DVDs of Irreversible and The Piano Teacher for his birthday, telling him that those two films will teach him all that he needs to know about women. Trier maintains this balance with the help of editor Olivier Bugge Coutté, flawlessly buoying between the light and the dark. Each of the four actors is an absolute delight to watch, with Oscar nominations surely deserved. Returning as Trier's lead after The Worst Person in the World , Reinsve continues her rise to becoming the best actress working today, combining tactility and grace with unparalleled ease. Skarsgård always keeps his prickly son-of-a-bitch character on the right side of our feelings, slowly revealing the pain behind his attitude. Fanning's role could have easily been a caricature, a selfish American looking to use this family's pain for her own professional gain. But that's far from the truth, as she also has feelings of regret and personal expectations that she wants to live up to. I'm saving the best for last, which is Lilleas as the daughter/sister who is caught in the middle of all of this, and who must reconcile her present motherhood with her family's history. Without making a single direct piece of commentary, Sentimental Value may be the best case study on why AI can't be the driving force of a film. Despite all of her good intentions and training, Rachel isn't the right person for the part in Gustav's film because she hasn't experienced the emotions that the role entails. The same logic applies to Trier and his film, as something this rich could only be created by someone who has experienced the agony and ecstasy of life. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

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. 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. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Influence of Howard Hawks in 'Assault on Precinct 13' April 5, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen Bridging over the changes of New Sentimentality in the late 1960s, the early 1970s was a time of seismic cinematic change. It was a time when a new batch of filmmakers was looking to create something new while also honoring those that came before them. This new group, better known as The Film School Generation, consisted of names like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Brian De Palma, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorsese. They were heralded around for making films such as The Godfather, Carrie, Taxi Driver , and Star Wars . Each of these films took clear inspiration from its predecessors. Lucas mentioned the influence of Akira Kurosawa’s samurai films, Spielberg was indebted to David Lean and John Cassavetes, and Scorsese revered Federico Fellini. This same period also saw the rise of the career of John Carpenter, who broke onto the scene with his action crime-thriller, Assault on Precinct 13 . Like those in The Film School Generation, Carpenter lovingly borrowed several elements from those that influenced him to be a filmmaker. But he also wanted to be an auteur, reimaging and adding new aspects to classic stories. Carpenter’s film took inspiration from a few different sources, most notably the works of Howard Hawks. Hawks was one of the most prolific filmmakers of the 40s and 50s, churning out top-notch John Wayne westerns and a few comedies. Carpenter took particular interest in Hawks’ Rio Bravo when finding inspiration for his film. Hawks’ Westerns were always known for how they branded their heroes through a rite of passage. The good guys had to prove to the other characters, and the audience, that they were good. Dean Martin’s character in Rio Bravo isthe central character who goes through this arc. Carpenter directly uses this within his film, having his characters prove their heroicness through acts of valor against the odds. We as the audience identify and lift these characters who are good at their job and do it in the name of honor. Physically, Carpenter also uses Hawks’ model of staging his film within a limited number of locations. A fact that can be hinted from the title of the film, the majority of the action takes place within Precinct 13. The setting becomes familiar and we understand why the police are protecting it. The precinct almost becomes a castle that must be defended from invaders. Speaking of invaders, Carpenter directly took a page out of another filmmaker's book when he decided how to portray the gang members. While Hawks was the older teacher, Carpenter’s contemporary George Romero was the inspiration for that element. Only a few years earlier did Romero make waves with his independent horror film, Night of the Living Dead . Like how Romero dehumanized the zombies in his film, Carpenter adopted that style for his villains. By not giving them any dialogue and never showing their faces, Carpenter strips the gang oftheir humanity, creating them into a pack of remorseless killers. At the same time being indebted to Hawks and Romero, Carpenter was still able to add his spin. Hawks also had the trademark of the “Hawksian woman”, often a tough character who acts more like “one of the guys” rather than a pure damsel in distress. Most of the women in Hawks films were progressive for the time, but still often seen as weaker than the men and needed saving from time to time. Carpenter took that idea a step further, making his women characters equal to the men. In Precinct 13 , Leigh is an equal badass compared to her male co-stars. She shoots bad guys, takes charge of situations, and even takes a bullet for her troubles.She even gets her moment at the end of the film when she walks off without medical help. By honoring the past and blazing a trail for the future, John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 is a timeless classic. Its handling of themes, setting, depiction of villains, and women stereotypes make it a perfect example of how movies can be inspired by the past and how they can inspire the future. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Maestro November 23, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen “A work of art does not answer questions, it provokes them; and its essential meaning is in the tension between the contradictory answers.” This quote by Leonard Bernstein flashes before Maestro commences. It’s a mission statement for writer/director/producer/star Bradley Cooper, who’s made it his life’s work to bring this story to the silver screen. It’s a warning to any Bernstein acolytes who come to this seeking untold answers about the famed conductor’s artistry. And it’s also a blessing to anyone bemoaning another musician biopic, the likes of which have haunted our multiplexes the past few years with their cookie-cutter rise-and-fall stories. There is nothing cookie-cutter about Maestro , which is its absolute greatest strength… and occasional weakness. Cooper is like a high school theater kid who’s just landed the role he’s always dreamed of, so giddy and overstimulated that he’s almost leaping off the screen. It’s almost too showy, making the Old Hollywood aesthetic and mountains of makeup and prosthetics feel like even more of an illusion than it already is. Of course, the creative talent being too passionate about their work is near the bottom of the list of problems a film can have. It’s also how Cooper sees himself tethered to Bernstein: two geniuses who often became overwhelmed with passionate joy in their craft. Lenny is just an upstart assistant conductor at the beginning of the movie, but his legend becomes born when he’s summoned at the last minute to replace the sickly guest conductor. Hearing his name during the loudspeaker announcements is what gives him the most pleasure, a small sign of how highly this man viewed himself. It’s hard to blame someone for seeing himself next to God when he has been blessed with such talent. A wide variety of music constantly pours out of him: musical theater (at one point it’s mentioned he’s working on a Romeo and Juliet story with Jerry Robbins, I wonder what that could be?), film scores, classical pieces, and everything in between. Cooper’s filmmaking is just as confident and classical as Bernstein’s musical arrangements. It possesses great power to evoke a film made during the 1940s, complete with stark black-and-white and technicolor-infused Academy ratio cinematography. Reteaming after A Star Is Born , DP Matthew Libatique is in lockstep with Cooper’s direction, creating sweeping scenes through long takes and impeccable framing. It all crescendos at the Ely Cathedral in 1973 when Bernstein famously conducted Mahler’s second symphony, “Resurrection.” It’s spiritually transcendent, the camera capturing every enrapturing moment as it weaves its way through the choir and orchestra. The inescapable mantra during the film’s press tour is that Cooper prepped for this scene for six years, which is quite evident in the final product. Fortunately for him (and us), Netflix is committed to a substantial theatrical rollout (at least to their standards), offering audiences the chance to see this moment in the proper setting. This moment isn’t all about Bernstein though, as the final camera movement during the impressive long take pans to reveal his wife Felicia Montealerge (Carey Mulligan) standing off to the side, ready for Lenny to walk over and embrace her after his performance. It’s emblematic of how Cooper frames this entire biopic, the music and their relationship always intertwined. The pair are magnificent together at every turn; with a jovial banter during the early stages, and a more mature understanding during the middle periods of their marriage. While Felicia is sidelined later in life as Lenny continues his affairs with younger men, Mulligan maintains her placement front and center through sheer emotion and her ability to elevate past the typical “tortured wife of a great man” role. For something that has and will continue to be labeled as “Oscar bait,” Maestro is, more than anything, a confidently unique entry in a well-worn genre. It makes A Star Is Born seem like only the appetizer, and this is the main course. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to label Cooper as this generation’s Warren Beatty: a movie star interested in grown-up stories whose oversized ambition is matched by their incredible skill both in front and behind the camera. If there’s anything modern cinema needs more of right now, it’s someone like that. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Mastermind October 23, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen “For us to live any other way was nuts. To us, those goody-good people who worked shitty jobs for bum paychecks and took the subway to work every day, and worried about their bills, were dead. I mean, they were suckers… If we wanted something, we just took it.” Above almost any other line in his nearly sixty-year career, this one from GoodFellas , spoken as narration from Henry Hill to the audience, is the one that solidified director Martin Scorsese’s unparalleled ability to understand a way of life, specifically that of organized crime. It’s what made people incorrectly assume that he glorifies that lifestyle, with its “live fast, die young” mentality full of excess and greed. Deep down inside all of us is probably a juvenile desire to be free of all the rules and restrictions that we’ve placed on ourselves. But whether it's morals or laws, we keep the course and tough it out. It’s why we’re jealous of criminals, as they get to live the lives we can’t… except for the parts about getting caught, killed, or ruining the lives of everyone who’s become entangled with such schemes. Writer/director Kelly Reichardt is the type of filmmaker who loves to grasp onto those exceptions, twisting them into revelations that deconstruct what we’ve long assumed. Meek’s Cutoff is a female-centered western, Night Moves is an ecothriller stripped of a fast pace and righteous protagonists, and Showing Up displayed the untold pains that must be endured to create art, all without much expectation for reward. Inside all of these films are characters who want to escape their current situations, caught in a cycle of pre-established norms that prevent them from being their best selves. James Blaine “JB” Mooney (Josh O’Connor) is one of those characters, a failed architect who can’t bring himself to trudge through the basic life he’s built for himself. He has two boys with his wife, Terri (Alana Haim), and eats dinner with his disapproving parents (Bill Camp and Hope Davis) each week. It’s all so boring, except for the moments he spends at the local art museum. Rob Mazurek’s upbeat, jazzy score illustrates the gears turning in JB’s brain, the sleeping guard and disregard for any other security measures convincing him that he can easily become Henry Hill and take whatever he wants. He concocts a plan to steal four valuable paintings, carefully recruiting his team and giving them instructions on how the heist will go. It’ll be so easy, with no one getting in the way or caring about what’s being taken. JB certainly didn’t account for the “if it sounds too good to be true” part of the equation, which is how the whole thing falls apart and sends his life into a tailspin. It probably would have taken three “and then what?” questions from an outside party to see the many gaps in this master plan. To both Scorsese and Reichrdt, this examination of the Dunning-Kruger effect revolves around misplaced entitlement. In Scorsese’s eyes, it’s a tragic rise and fall from grace, littered with highs that convince the characters to withstand the lows. In Reichardt’s, the whole thing is just plain pathetic. The simplest description for the logic behind this criminal act is that a privileged man would rather steal from the public than do any amount of hard work for himself and his family. Reichardt twists this knife even deeper by setting the story in 1970, the shadow of the Vietnam War looming large. The theme of choice is frequently touched upon. Some people, mostly the underprivileged, don’t have a choice about being drafted to serve in this unjust war. Others are choosing to protest, with flyers posted on every corner and demonstrations being broadcast each night on television. JB makes a snide remark about draft dodgers harboring in Canada, as if he shouldn’t have to stoop that low in his current on-the-run predicament. And yet it seems all these people chose to do something with their lives, or made the most of their inability to do so. JB chose to make things worse, and everyone else has to pay a price. O’Connor’s incredible performance makes JB’s overall shittiness palatable. We don’t want him to fail, although everyone would probably be better off once he is caught. It’s the other half of the coin to his work in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery , with his portrayal of preacher Jud Duplentis being about finding a higher purpose after being lost in the wilderness. In GoodFellas , Henry states that “your murderers come with smiles, they come as your friends, the people who've cared for you all of your life. And they always seem to come at a time that you're at your weakest and most in need of their help.” JB is one of those murderers, killing the image of the American dream at a time when it was most vulnerable, all with a smile and a masked spirit of innocence. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The 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 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen