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Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Button Hunter Friesen When the world needs to send someone to space, they depend on Ryan Gosling. He’s done it twice now: initially in 2018, portraying Neil Armstrong in director Damien Chazelle’s First Man , and now in 2026 in Project Hail Mary . His first venture might have been one giant leap for mankind, but it’s much more quaint than his follow-up trip. Instead of a three-day journey in the name of human advancement, he’s eleven light-years away from home, the fate of the world depending on the success of his mission. Gosling was also incredibly internal as Armstrong, perpetually reluctant to display any emotions as he performs the world’s most dangerous mission. While making his historic strides on the lunar surface, he chose to commemorate the moment by letting go of the bracelet made by his young daughter, who died years earlier from a brain tumor. Here, as Ryland Grace, he’s a bumbling bufoon, comedically vomiting, slurring his speech, and losing his balance as he awakes from hypersleep. He talks back to the computer, attempting to console him, questioning how and why he got on this ship. Normally, I’d simply say that these are two vastly different ways of telling a generally similar story, with neither being the objectively right or wrong path. There are no absolutes in art, but Project Hail Mary definitely feels as close as one could get to an incorrect answer. It's the worst type of crowdpleaser, its overeagerness at becoming the be-all and end-all entertainment product quickly turning into desperation, as if there's a five-second ticking time bomb on the film print that can only be restarted each time you're smitten by its "charm." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m08TxIsFTRI Phil Lord and Christopher Miller return to the director’s chair after a twelve-year hiatus, which included being fired and replaced by Ron Howard for Solo: A Star Wars Story and creatively leading the two animated Spider-Verse films. They have an extreme mile-a-minute approach to their stories and the humor laced within them, seemingly inspired by Adam McKay and Will Ferrell’s early days of Anchorman and The Other Guys . McKay grew out of his juvenile era, coincidentally harnessing Gosling’s persona in The Big Short . Lord and Miller haven’t matured and yet want to appear like grown-ups, always infantilizing their narrative and audience. It’s a classic have your cake and eat it too scenario, except, surprisingly, the cake isn’t even well-baked. The humor solely consists of the subversive quips the Marvel Cinematic Universe drove into the ground, trying to convince us it was cooler than its inherently silly concepts. What is Ryland’s response to the awe-inspiring view of outer space? A quip. What does he do when he makes contact with extraterrestrial life? He quips. How does he provide the emotional background for his character? He quips. Are you laughing yet? I sure wasn’t. I was exhausted by this love-me-or-I 'll-die style of humor, something that Hollywood has increasingly pigeonholed Gosling into doing once it was discovered that he was funny. Gone are the days of interesting performances in Blue Valentine or Lars and the Real Girl , replaced by the increasingly diluted goofy masculinity of Ken from Barbie . You wouldn’t know it by Ryland’s or the film’s demeanor, but Project Hail Mary is about a very serious subject. A mysterious infrared line known as the Petrova line is slowly dimming the sun, causing Earth’s temperature to cool by about 15-20° over the next few decades. Crops will fail, thick sheets of ice will form on the oceans, and hundreds of wildlife species will die out. Ryland works as a middle school science teacher, trying to put on a brave face as he inspires the next generation. Unfortunately, kids these days are just as plugged into the news and rumor mill as adults, aware that humanity’s handling of greenhouse gases over the last half-century proves that there probably isn’t much hope for this situation. That is, until Sandra Hüller shows up one day as Eva Stratt, leader of the international task force to stop this threat. She recruits a reluctant Ryland because of his past as a molecular biologist, believing he has the skills to produce a workable solution. Ryland’s theory proves to be correct, placing him aboard a spaceship on a one-way mission to a faraway star. Once there, he comes in contact with a spider-like alien seemingly made of rocks, which he dubs “Rocky.” It turns out that Rocky’s alien species is in the same boat, so the pair must work together to save all life in the universe. For as much as Rocky is treated as the second coming of Baby Yoda, which means no harm will come to him, as that would threaten future merchandise sales and memeability, he is skillfully performed and voiced by puppeteer James Ortiz. To circumvent the fact that the atmosphere on Ryland’s ship would kill him, Rocky is placed in a hermetic bubble, rolling around as he pleases. His language is made from vibrations, the long process of translating it into English offering several moments of humorous wordplay. Just as a blank check was written to get Ryland to his destination, so was it by Amazon MGM to bring this novel to the screen. Greig Fraser, cinematographer for the Dune films and The Batma n , once again employs the epic scale of IMAX, the entire spectrum of light sprawled across the vastness of space. His camera often appears to be in zero gravity, rotating and swerving around the expansive sets. Still, putting $200 million worth of lipstick on a pig doesn’t allow it to evolve beyond its nature. Project Hail Mary wallows in the filth of mediocrity, treating its audience with the shallow showmanship of a used car salesman. It’s one small step in the pantheon of blockbusters, one giant leap backwards for blockbuster filmmaking. Amazon MGM Studios will release Project Hail Mary in theaters nationwide on March 20th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Normal April 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Exit 8 April 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Button Hunter Friesen In the last few years, I’ve come to (re)appreciate Vince Vaughn’s work as a movie star. Maybe it’s due to some burgeoning nostalgia for the “Frat Pack” era of comedies, many of which Vaughn was prominently featured in: Old School , Starsky & Hutch , Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story , and Wedding Crashers . His sardonic sense of wisecracking humor allowed him to play the straight man role better than the rest of the members of the pack. I’ve also respected his later career choices, such as flipping the script and playing the chaos agent against Mel Gibson in the ultra-violent and dark-hearted Dragged Across Concrete . Seemingly coming out at the right moment is Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice , which, as the title suggests, with Vaughn playing the character of Nick, offers a double dose of the actor. That’s possible because this is a time-travel movie, another in an ever-growing recent line that includes Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die , Totally Killer , The Adam Project , Palm Springs , and about one hundred other direct-to-VOD movies you’ve never heard of. Is the increasing popularization of this subgenre a symptom of the chaotic messiness of our current present and impending future? Could everything be fixed if we went back and did it differently? Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is not the film to answer those questions, with the futuristic technology mostly being used for hijinks and some surface-level ruminations on regret. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEmdfX8BdHA Ben Schwartz, an actor who has never played a competent character, appears as Symon (yes, that’s how it’s spelled). As you guessed it, he’s a total idiot. Well, not totally, because he did successfully build a time machine. He had to borrow money from Nick, who runs a typical mafia loan-sharking operation. When Nick comes to collect payment, he stumbles into the machine and goes back six months, creating the situation of “Present Nick” and “Future Nick.” Present Nick is furious that his best friend/crime partner Mike (James Marsden) is hooking up with his wife Alice (Eiza González), a situation he uses to frame Mike for snitching to the police and have him killed. Future Nick regrets that decision, so he decides to use this opportunity as a way to make things right by saving Mike before Present Nick can do the deed. Also mixed in are the rest of the criminals, each played by Hollywood’s favorite idiot character actors like Jimmy Tatro, Arturo Casto, and Lewis Tan. After two minutes on a chalkboard, this whole plot would probably crumble to pieces. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter, as writer/director BenDavid Grabinski’s only objective is for you to have a fun time. It’s something he really wants to accomplish, making everything feel a little forced. The millennial nostalgia soundtrack is cued from a cassette player, the frames slow down every time something “cool” happens, and the jokes are crammed with references out of a Tarantino joint. To borrow Peter Griffin’s infamous critique of The Godfather : It insists upon itself. The central trio (or quartet?) is fun to hang out with. As one of the few people in the world who has seen Easy’s Waltz , a TIFF premiere back in September that has yet to resurface, and made the claim that Vaughn was some undiscovered musical talent, it was a bit more fun for this film to include a bit that correctly asserts that he is not blessed with golden pipes. I mean this with no disrespect, but this is a Hulu original, so it’s not like I was expecting high art. For something that is being released with the intention of watching it for “free” on the couch, it gets the job done. 20th Century Studios will release Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice on Hulu on March 27th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Exit 8 April 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Explore a captivating collection of must-watch films on our curated list page. Lists MSPIFF 2026 Preview April 6, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Top 50 Films of the 2020s February 23, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen 2026 Sundance Film Festival Preview January 19, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen 26 Most Anticipated Films of 2026 January 12, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen 2022 Losers Button 2023 Losers Button 2026 Sundance Film Festival Preview Button 25 Most Anticipated Films of 2024 Button 26 Most Anticipated Films of 2026 Button A Brief History of Presidents' in Film Button Cannes 2022: 50 Films That Could Premiere Button Cannes 2023 Predictions - Part 2: Hollywood Makes a Splash Overseas Button Cannes 2023 Predictions - Part 4: The Irregulars and Up-and-Comers Button Cannes 2023 Recap Button Cannes 2024 Predictions - Part 3: The Loyalists Button Cannes 2025 Lineup Predictions Button Every Spider-Man Movie Ranked Button MSPIFF 2023 Recap Button MSPIFF 2025 Preview Button MSPIFF 2026 Preview Button Omaha Film Festival 2024 Recap Button Ranking the Films of Adam McKay Button Ranking the Films of Michael Haneke Button Ranking the Planet of the Apes Franchise Button Sundance 2023 Recap Button TIFF23 Recap Button TIFF24 Recap Button TIFF25 Preview Button TIFF25: Tyler's Time at the Festival Button The Best Hollywood Screenwriters of All-Time Button The Biggest Flops in TIFF History Button The Greatest Irish Filmmakers Button The Worst Cannes Premieres Ever Button Top 10 Films of 2018 Button Top 10 Films of 2020 Button Top 10 Films of 2022 Button Top 10 Films of 2023 (So-Far) Button Top 10 Films of 2024 (So Far) Button Top 10 Films of 2025 (So Far) Button Top 10 Oliver Stone Films Button Top 10 Steven Spielberg Films Button Twin Cities Film Fest 2022 Preview Button Twin Cities Film Fest 2023 Recap Button Twin Cities Film Fest 2025 Preview Button 2022 Winners Button 2023 Winners Button 25 Most Anticipated Films of 2022 Button 25 Most Anticipated Films of 2025 Button 36 Most Anticipated Films of 2023 Button Cannes 2021: All The Films That Could Premiere Button Cannes 2023 Predictions - Part 1: The Festival Masters Button Cannes 2023 Predictions - Part 3: The Festival Mainstays Button Cannes 2023 Preview Button Cannes 2024 Predictions - Part 1: The Question Marks Button Cannes 2024 Predictions- Part 2: The Regulars Button Cannes 2025 Recap Button MSPIFF 2023 Preview Button MSPIFF 2024 Preview Button MSPIFF 2025 Recap Button Movies That Made More Money Than You Think Button Predicting the Cannes Jury President Button Ranking the Films of Christopher Nolan Button Ranking the Mad Max Franchise Button Sundance 2023 Preview Button TIFF23 Preview Button TIFF24 Preview Button TIFF24: Tyler's Time at the Festival Button TIFF25 Recap Button The Best Cinematographers Working Today And Where To Find Them Next Button The Best Military Movies for Veterans Day Button The Great Musical War of 2021 Button The Most Successful Directors at Cannes Button Top 10 DreamWorks Animated Movies Button Top 10 Films of 2019 Button Top 10 Films of 2021 Button Top 10 Films of 2023 Button Top 10 Films of 2024 Button Top 10 Films of 2025 Button Top 10 Martin Scorsese Films Button Top 10 Pixar Films Button Top 50 Films of the 2020s Button Twin Cities Film Fest 2023 Preview Button Twin Cities Film Fest 2024 Preview Button Tyler's Favorite Musicals Button

Predicting the Cannes Jury President February 6, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Next to winning an Oscar, presiding over the jury of the Cannes Film Festival is one of the highest honors an artist can receive. Names such as Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, Wong Kar-wai, Cate Blanchett, and Spike Lee have achieved this illustrious status, bestowing one of cinema's biggest prizes, the Palme d'Or, on one of the twenty films within the competition section. Last year's edition was headed by Juliette Binoche, who awarded the first-place prize to Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident , which illustrated a strong creative spirit in the face of political repercussions. With this year's festival right around the corner, it's time we start speculating on who will be granted the presidency. Using a mixture of acclaim, popularity, and festival history, I've come up with a list of ten names that have a viable shot of being chosen. A few ideal candidates, like Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, or Asghar Farhadi, were not predicted because they either would be too busy to dedicate the time, have previously filled the position, or are speculated to have a film in competition this year. Bong Joon-ho In his last two ventures to the Croisette, Bong Joon-ho has joined the very exlcusive clubs for people who have premiered a Netflix production ( Okja ) and won a unanimous Palme d'Or ( Parasite ). The South Korean auteur rivals Guillermo del Toro for the claim of being the most beloved filmmaker in the industry. He tirelessly shares his passion with audiences and his fellow artists, which would make him an ideal candidate for presiding over the jury. Sean Baker France only recently amneded their law stipulating that films must wait at least three years after its theatricla release before they can debut on a streaming service. That dogged rigidity aligns well with Sean Baker's recent statements that he will require his films to be given a 100-day theatrical window in the United States. His apex of four Academy Awards for Anora was consistently aided by Cannes, with that film, along with Red Rocket and The Florida Project , premiering at the Grand Theatre Lumiere. Penélope Cruz Winner of the festival's Best Actress prize for Volver and an Honorary César, Cruz has been one of this century's biggest stars of international cinema. Her frequent pairings with festival legend Pedro Almodóvar have made her a mainstay over the years, always the biggest presence on the buzzy red carpet. Now seems like the right time to have her graduate above being a competitor, with her impeccable taste for projects hinting at a strong case for being president. Jacques Audiard As conflicting as his status might be in America for Emilia Pérez , Jacques Audiard is France's most accomplished director, holding the record for most individual wins in the history of the César Awards with thirteen. He's also premiered six films in competition, winning Best Screenplay ( A Self-Made Hero ), Grand Prize of Jury ( A Prophet ), Jury Prize ( Emilia Pérez ), and Palme d'Or ( Dheepan ). With that many accomplishments over a lengthy career, it seems only right that he be given the keys to the kingdom. Richard Linklater Having returned to the Croisette last year with the ten-time César Award-nominated Nouvelle Vague - a story that fawns over the influence of Cannes and French Cinema - Richard Linklater's popularity within France is certainly at an all-time high. As the defining filmmaker of "hangout movies," he certainly would be a friendly and welcoming presence for the jury. Tilda Swinton Swinton has amassed one of the most impressive filmographies of any working actor, working on multiple occasions with Cannes royalty like Pedro Almodóvar, Joanna Hogg, Jim Jarmusch, Wes Anderson, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. She's the kind of actor every actor dreams of being, even founded her own film festival in the Scottish Highlands. Alfonso Cuarón Cuarón served on the jury once before for the president Sean Penn in 2008. He was also a special guest for the 2022 award ceremony, receiving a strong round of applause. Roma was heavily tipped to have premiered at Cannes had Netflix not go in the way, showing that the festival and filmmaker would like to deepen their relationship. Viggo Mortensen Outside of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Mortensen has always shown an aversion to blockbuster filmmaking, preferring to work with the kinds of international auteurs that Cannes prides itself on. He's also written and directed his own projects, displaying a deft touch that would lend well to the wide range of films that fill the competition section. Plus, he's fluent in six languages (English, Danish, Spanish, French, German, and Norwegian), so he'd be able to form a deeper bond with nearly every jury member! Jodie Foster Not that Jodie Foster was ever in a slump, but she is definitely on a winning streak between her Oscar nomination for Nyad and Emmy award for the fourth season of True Detective . She was also awarded an Honorary Golden Palm by the festival in 2021, and displayed her fluency in French last year with A Private Life . The world could always use more Jodie Foster, so why not put her atop the biggest stage? Guillermo del Toro As much as he loves to campaign for his films, Guillermo del Toro equally loves to champion the works of others. That level of compassion makes him an ideal candidate, as do his ties to the festival, with Pan's Labyrinth still holding the record for the longest standing ovation at 22 minutes. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Top 50 Films of the 2020s February 23, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen With the 2020s heading into their second half, it’s time we take a temperature check on this decade in film. In only a few short years, the landscape of the movie industry has been forever transformed by a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, narrowing margins, increased competition from other forms of entertainment, and the inevitable threat of artificial intelligence. Still, through it all, many films have pushed past the struggle and defined our times. That last word, “time,” is the most important factor for my rankings. Time allows for reflection, with a film staying with you long past its initial two hours. Many films are on this list because of that, surging past contenders that were ranked higher in their original year of release. Of course, that puts 2025 films at a disadvantage, requiring them to make a more immediate impact. Then again, the films of 2020 and 2021 had to face their own set of logical nightmares. When I double this list at the end of the decade, I’m sure it will be completely different. Nickel Boys Every once in a while, a film comes along that breaks your preconceptions about how a story can be told. While video games and virtual reality have brought the first-person perspective to televisions for years, it's still a relative stranger to the silver screen. Ramell Ross and co-writer Joslyn Barnes' adaptation of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning 2019 novel folds the layers of time on top of each other, trapping us in a series of undefinable dreams and nightmares, each one crashing into the other without warning. There's a newfound sense of discovery in Nickel Boys as we witness the good and the bad through the eyes of protagonists Elwood and Turner. Their experiences create the dots that we connect through our history and understanding of the time period. We only remember bits and pieces of our past, but the feelings are carried with us to the end of time. This was one of the most important films of the year, both in terms of the substance it carries over from the pages of its source material and in how it elicits your emotional response to it. Napoleon With his vast historical drama background that includes the likes of The Duellists, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, and The Last Duel , director Ridley Scott knows a thing or two about setting the stage for global conflicts. Even at the age of 85, he’s never taken a moment to slow down, crafting projects that seem to only get bigger the older he gets. Scott paints a wide canvas for each of the climactic battle scenes. It’s as close to a replica as one could get to the work of director Sergei Bondarchuk in the Soviet version of War and Peace, where literally thousands of extras marched across plains as hundreds of cannons engulfed them in carnage. The world still properly bemoans what could have been had Stanley Kubrick been allowed to make his Napoleon biopic. There are surely semblances of it in Scott’s Napoleon , which continues his string of blockbusters propelled by smart filmmaking and collaborative artistry. It’s timely and timeless in its craft and examination of history, ready to raise the bar just that much higher for later entries in the genre. The Tragedy of Macbeth From bloody beginning to bloody conclusion, Joel Coen's adaptation of The Scottish Play holds you in its talons with its impressive mood and visuals. Shot in stark black-and-white on a soundstage, the film had an otherworldly quality to it, which adds to the overall theatricality. Jump to any time stamp, and you will have yourself a new desktop wallpaper. As expected, Denzel Washington was utterly captivating as a man so ready to jump off the deep end, yet so unequipped to wade into those waters. His only hope for survival is through deceit and bloodshed, a plight that seemingly encapsulates the human experience once a modicum of power enters anyone's eyesight. Judas and the Black Messiah Directed and co-written by Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah meets both criteria of a biopic, which is to be entertaining and informative beyond the top-layer Wikipedia facts. We learn about Fred Hampton through William O’Neal as he ascends from the bottom to the top within the Black Panther Party. Daniel Kaluuya elevated his game even further as he channels both the powerfulness Hampton carried in public and the tenderness he had in private. LaKeith Stanfield rises close with a twitchy and layered performance that was nothing short of a career-best. King carries his film with great energy from beginning to end. Expertly filmed action is interspersed throughout, as well as sharply edited speeches that contain more action than the actual shootouts. He delivers an utterly spine-chilling and infuriating ending that properly uses the usual clichéd element of the postscript. Mank Mank is an out-and-out technical masterpiece from start to finish. Filmed in dreamy black-and-white, scored with period-accurate instruments, and recorded with the finest sound equipment 1930 could buy, David Fincher's COVID-released film was his version of a love letter to old-school Hollywood. The film talks the talk as much as it walks the walk, with a complex script that investigates the backrooms of power and manipulation that have perpetually conjoined Hollywood and politics at the hip. Gary Oldman's titular screenwriter is our court jester guide, with Amanda Seyfried along for the ride as famed actress Marion Davies. It may not be Citizen Kane for the modern age, but it's a richly layered of how such a masterpiece was able to sprout out of so much commotion. Dune: Part Two Although I was extremely disappointed by the first part of Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of the iconic sci-fi novel, the concluding chapter more than lived up to expectations. This was no longer a desert of humanity, but an oasis of philosophy and hard-earned emotion. Every moment, from the biggest of set pieces to the smallest of character moments, is given an incredible amount of weight and importance. The dialogue is just as action-packed as the action itself, with the introduction of a deeper roster of characters building to that feeling of grandiosity. For all its meditative qualities, there are still several moments for Villeneuve to show off his brawn as a filmmaker. Chaos is often met with chaos as the action is more bombastic this time around, with rockets, lasers, and tips of knives being readily exchanged. Just as he did with Blade Runner 2049 , Denis Villeneuve accomplished what has long been thought to be impossible with Dune: Part Two . Fear is the mind-killer to all those on Arrakis. But there is no fear for those of us on Earth, as one of the best films of the science fiction genre was bestowed upon us. The Worst Person in the World The Worst Person in the World packs a richly emotional story fitting to its hyperbolic title. Through a killer soundtrack and a spotlight performance from Renate Reinsve, director Joachim Trier and his dependable co-writer Eskil Vogt were able to balance tone and time to deliver something that rises way above the sum of its individual pieces. It’s a perfect piece for anyone dealing with the crisis of not knowing where they are in life. The Boy and the Heron Hayao Miyazaki's (supposedly) final film allowed him to explore rather mature themes, offering lessons on life applicable to all ages. The boy’s fantastical journey, slightly similar to Chihiro’s from Spirited Away , is full of danger and intrigue at every turn. Animation is a medium that allows for endless possibilities, and Miyazaki is a filmmaker who pushes it to its limits. The question I always want to ask during a film is “What’s going to happen next?” So many movies don’t incite enough wonder for that question, nor do their answers provide the necessary satisfaction. The Boy and the Heron made me ask that question out loud more times than I can count, and each answer was filled with more passion than I could have hoped for. There are animated films for children, and there are animated films for adults. This is an animated film for everyone, and the world is a much better place because of it. One of the greatest, if not the greatest, figures in animation history has provided us with his swan song, and now it’s time for us to continue his legacy with the pieces left behind. Asteroid City Sure, there may now be umpteen TikTok and AI-generated videos replicating Wes Anderson’s distinct style. But all of them contain just the window dressing of a Wes Anderson movie, and not the emotion. Just as his box of tricks has constantly evolved, so has Anderson’s ability to find the heart in his richly defined characters. While on their methodically placed tracks, each character veers off in different directions, exploring the fear of death, finding connections in a barren land, cutting through the messiness of life, and paying homage to those kitschy B-movies you grew up watching late at night on the public access channel. The term “this is the most Wes Anderson movie Wes Anderson has ever made” has been used to describe nearly every new entry in his filmography. That cycle didn't stop with Asteroid City , as the traits you’ve come to love (or hate) are all here: symmetrical framing, varying aspect ratios, color and black & white cinematography, and steady camera movements. Anderson’s usual designer, Adam Stockhausen, once again creates a doll-house world filled with too many sights and sounds to be absorbed in one viewing. The Father A triumphant directorial debut by Florian Zeller, The Father puts us within the deteriorating mental state of the main character, Anthony (Anthony Hopkins). Conversations are repeated several times from different perspectives, adding another layer to the complex task of discerning fact from fiction. Anthony’s physical surroundings seem to be rearranging at impossible speeds, and the chronology of events is becoming increasingly muddled. It’s like watching a balloon being inflated and waiting for it to pop, yet it never does as your anxiety keeps building. With a nearly sixty-year career in the rearview, Hopkins’ performance here may be his very best. He is charismatic, fierce, and vulnerable, sometimes all at the same time. The subject matter may hit too close to home for some viewers or be an introduction for others. No matter your familiarity, the film’s take on dementia and the toll it places on everyone involved is so incredibly well done that it demands to be seen. The Taste of Things There’s little drama or stakes within The Taste of Things , which is one of its best features. There are plenty of movies ( Burnt ) and television shows ( The Bear ) that showcase the anxiety-inducing high-wire act that cooking can be. There is great skill under pressure here, but writer/director Tran Anh Hung is more interested in the slowly drawn method and how it all comes together when you are comfortable in your element. Time seems to stand still, your body and mind totally connected as one. It’s like a conductor guiding a symphony, every note being hit perfectly with reassuring calmness. There continues to be a need for stories that reflect the increasing bleakness of this world. But that means there’s more room for projects that remind us of the beauty in the timeless things we all experience and often take for granted. The Taste of Things is one of those films, as it illustrates both the simplicity and complexity of sustaining ourselves through food. Just make sure to plan your meals carefully before and after seeing it. You owe your stomach (and other senses) that much. Nitram Making a biopic about a country’s worst human offender brings with it a lot of trap doors. Director Justin Kurzel avoids those as he approaches the story of Tasmanian native Martin Bryant, who killed 36 people at Port Arthur in 1996, with a matter-of-fact style that lets the actors and simple camerawork tell the story. There is not a singular grand answer to why this happened and how it could have been stopped, simply because there isn’t a one-size-fits-all response. All we can do is look back on what happened and see what can be done for the future, which Kurzel doesn’t seem to have much hope for, as his postscript explains how the gun laws enacted as a result of Bryant’s actions have not been properly enforced, opening the possibility of this happening again. American Caleb Landry Jones plays the titular character with brilliance, showcasing how far someone can go down the rabbit hole. In his first major leading role, he knocked it out of the park, producing the fear one gets from a horror movie villain while still bringing enough authenticity to fit the film’s grounded tone. While my body hated the experience of watching Nitram because of the stiff muscles I was left with due to the intensity, my mind was left with a better understanding of this dark chapter in human history. Train Dreams Impressionistically swaying between the past, present, and future, director Clint Bentley captures the life of Robert Grainier, a humble lumberjack who lived and died in the Pacific Northwest throughout the early to mid-20th century. His existence is a drop in the ocean of time, with exponential growth in technology pushing the world past the point of recognition. Years go by in the blink of an eye, yet we understand what took place between then and now. Like life itself, Train Dreams is a film that often sneaks up on you in its profundity. It may take days or weeks for you to realize just how much one image or piece of sound has stuck with you, offering a new outlook on the existence we carve out for ourselves. The Substance If there’s one thing writer/director Coralie Fargeat’s sophomore feature hates more than attached limbs and unspilled blood, it’s subtlety. The obsessive and borderline inhumane treatment Hollywood (and the public at large) has towards aging actresses is material that’s been mined several times before. Fargeat understands this and the assignment in front of her. If you’re not going to be first or the most insightful, then you might as well make damn sure you’re going to be the most audaciously unforgettable. The only thing bolder than the production is Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley’s dual performances as Elizabeth/Sue, later to become Monstro Elisasue. Moore maintains a headstrong presence even as things get increasingly deranged, fully trusting in Fargeat’s vision. Qualley balances her physical schoolgirl perfectionism with her demented inner self as Elizabeth tries to maintain control of the situation. With Julia Ducournau and Fargeat rising through the ranks of international cinema, the no-holds-barred corner that they occupy is looking like a mighty fine place to camp out for a while. The Batman At its core, The Batman is not much of a Batman movie, and that’s what makes it so great. Director Matt Reeves took all the familiar superhero trappings and gave them a fresh new look, finding inspiration from the grungy films of David Fincher. There’s a restless edge to his version of Batman, something that's been eating away at the character’s soul after years of sleepless nights. 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. In those sleepless nights, DP Greig Fraser 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. Enys Men Enys Men is the kind of film you stumble upon late at night as a kid on a public access channel while you are staying over at your grandparents’ old summer house. That description may be too ultra-specific for most people to relate to, but watching this movie lovingly took me back to those youthful nights when you had no idea what you were watching and if it was any good, but you couldn’t help but be endlessly transfixed by it. Unsettling imagery and sounds slowly burn into your memory. There’s nothing purely horrifying about the hallucinations and strange events that fall upon our main character. Still, there is a heavy amount of discomfort and dread that they instill, keeping you in fearful excitement of what’s coming next. Just as he did with his 2019 debut feature Bait , Jenkin goes ultra-low tech by shooting on scratchy 16mm and recording all sound in post-production. It’s as if this were a lost film that had just been unearthed on an abandoned island, rotting away for years until being saved at the last minute. Sentimental Value You will not find a more emotionally intelligent film than Sentimental Value . Writer/director Jocahim Trier's follow-up to his decade-defining film The Worst Person in the World (also placed on this list) 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. And 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, movie star Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) wasn't the right person for the part in Gustav's (Stellan Skarsgård) film because she hadn'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. The Fabelmans Through the opening scene of The Fabelmans , we get a thesis statement on Steven Spielberg’s approach to filmmaking. He’s a born storyteller, pouring his mother’s heart into every frame. And he’s also a master craftsman, leaning on his father’s engineering mindset to construct fantastic sequences that defy belief. The further the film progresses, the more the thesis becomes clear. We learn how one man could be attracted to making movies about a killer shark, a world-traveling archeologist, friendly and unfriendly aliens, the Holocaust, American presidents, World War II, and even modern-day dinosaurs. The Fabelmans is a collection of Spielberg's greatest hits, all delivered to their greatest effect. There’s laughter, tears, and wonder in this story that is much more than the sum of its parts. Gabriel LaBelle began his streak of greatness here, ensuring that this specific story contains a universal message about understanding your parents and finding your place in the world. Aftersun Aftersun is devastatingly powerful in the moment and long after. In comparison to standard films, it has no plot, no stakes, and no drama. It's all emotion, with wonderful direction by Charlotte Wells in her feature directorial debut. "Under Pressure" is recontextualized through her immense vision, which lies outside of the normal filmmaking grammar. Paul Mescal received one of the most pleasant, unexpected Oscar nominations for his powerful lead performance, and Frankie Corio displayed a depth of maturity beyond her years. This seemed destined to be a perennial entry in every "Best A24 Films You Haven't Seen" article, but I think the cult of appreciation has continued to grow exponentially in the years since. The Vast of Night The Vast of Night was a director's showcase for Andrew Patterson. With long takes and tracking shots that are near Cuarón's level, Patterson fully immerses us in this 1950s-set small-town alien invasion mystery. Spookier than any conventional horror movie and brimming with an abundance of talent from its cast and crew, it was a startlingly well-made debut that will surely lead to fruitful careers for all those involved. Never Rarely Sometimes Always Written and directed by indie darling Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always is an authentic and upsetting coming-of-age story. Taking place over a trip to New York City to abort an unwanted pregnancy, Hittman did an impeccable job of exuding sympathy and connecting me to a process I am biologically unable to relate to. The title of the film comes full circle near the end in a scene that left me with no dry eyes. Annette From the visionary minds of The Sparks Brothers and director Leos Carax comes a rock musical of pure boldness. Stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard grab onto that boldness and run with it. creating several musical numbers that need to be seen to be believed, such as a puppet baby being the halftime performance at the Super Bowl. With Carax’s output being so irregular, each of his features is something to treasure, especially when they’re this good. “We Love Each Other So Much” is the recurring rendition throughout the film, a saying that illustrates the relationship this film and I share. Origin At times both a narrative feature film and a long-form visual essay, Ava DuVernay's film is the closest anyone has come to blending entertainment and academia. Her sprawling epic adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson's acclaimed novel investigates the ideology of racism in America. The connection between it and social caste systems throughout history sprawls across locations throughout Germany, India, and the United States. Each of them is blended for a story that spans time into a series of repeating lessons that humanity was unable to realize and learn from. DuVernay's formally ambitious direction is what made this patchwork of theories so compelling. It asked big questions, with Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor capitalizing in her first solo lead performance. The film was unfairly handicapped during its initial release, and I think time will become its greatest asset. Evil Does Not Exist Drive My Car made writer/director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi an arthouse superstar. Made nearly in secret, his follow-up feature became his most outspoken work on the plights of contemporary society. The tranquility of a Japanese village is being threatened by the introduction of a “glamping” (glamorous + camping) site proposed by a talent agency. The site would negatively impact much of the environment around it, with many of the village residents’ livelihoods being forever altered. Despite being clear in his message, Hamaguchi never eviscerates the villains of this story. The extremely slow cinema approach will test the patience of many expecting a return to the leanness of Drive My Car . Those who embrace the molasses will find themselves powerfully transported, a task that becomes much simpler with the aid of Eiko Ishibashi’s magnificent score. West Side Story Leave it to Steven Spielberg to make his first outing into the musical genre, one that completely crushes the competition. The camera swoons and cranes in extended takes, capturing the incredibly choreographed dance numbers conceived by famed ballet dancer and director Justin Peck. The narrative about the immigrant experience has been made more profound, with the Spanish dialogue - accounting for nearly one-third of the total spoken lines - going unsubtitled in a move that Spielberg and Kushner described as an effort to respect the language. Perfectly melding the work of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim with the newfound talents of Ariana DeBose, Mike Faist, and Rachel Zegler, the new West Side Story made the case for why some remakes should be allowed to happen. Because sometimes, they can meet or surpass the original, such as how this one does by bringing classic cinema into the modern world. Monster Hirokazu Kore-eda brought Rashomon into the modern age with Monster , a movie that was both more gentle and deadly than its title implies. For the first time in his career, the revered Japanese auteur didn't write the script, deferring that duty to Yûji Sakamoto. Kore-eda crafts an endearing story about differing perspectives and the misconceptions we surround ourselves with. Ryuichi Sakamoto's posthumous score is mostly comprised of previous compositions, as he was unable to create a full body due to his terminal cancer. However, he did contribute two new piano pieces, both mournful and warm. Decision to Leave Phantom Thread meets Vertigo in Park Chan-wook’s deliciously twisted Decision to Leave . For many directors, that combination would come together as well as oil and water. But for the famed South Korean auteur, whose previous works of Oldboy and The Handmaiden have exemplified his unparalleled ability to combine the traditional with the gonzo, it’s a heavenly pair that you immediately want more of. Much like Paul Thomas Anderson’s film, the characters within Decision to Leave can’t be tied down with simple explanations. Manipulation and intrigue are the names of the game, with the unspoken sexual tension tinging the edges of every scene. As the playfully dangerous duo, Park Hae-il and Tang Wei are more than up to the task, with their unmatched chemistry doing wonders for the film’s emotional themes. Resurrection As beautiful as it is incomprehensible, Bi Gan’s magnum opus operates on a different plane of logic. In a future where humanity has lost the capacity to dream, a woman enters the six different dreams of a monster, representing one of the five senses and the mind. Each dream illustrates a piece of 20th-century Chinese and cinematic history, told in the style of the time. The opening segment is reminiscent of silent German expressionistic monster movies, while the final chapter is captured in a single long take, telling the story of a vampiric romance on the last night of the millennium. How these puzzle pieces logically coalesce is nearly impossible to understand. But to focus on the science of dreams is the wrong way to experience them, as their unexplained majesty is what lures us into a deep sleep each night. A Complete Unknown What Mozart is to classical music in Amadeus , Dylan is to folk music in A Complete Unknown . Co-writer/director James Mangold learned a thing or two about the musician biopic subgenre since his first foray with Walk the Line . He trusted his audience a little more and painted around his protagonists just as much as he does within the lines. Those brushstrokes are big and broad, creating a rich experience that soothes our eyes and ears. The constant pouring of musical genius from Dylan lends itself to nearly fifty music sequences, all of them featuring star Timothée Chalamet's vocals and hands on the guitar. Mangold never lets us forget that fact, keeping his camera steady on the target and the editing to a minimum. It allows the performances to breathe, matching the more mellow wavelength that folk songs operate on. In a time where more than one of these ventures down the Wikipedia page landed with a sour note, there's a comforting feeling to seeing the old reliable go off without a hitch. The Girl with the Needle An ultra-grim fairy tale comes to life in writer/director Magnus von Horn’s loose retelling of Denmark’s most heinous and prolific serial killer. The depressing gloom of post-WWI Copenhagen is lensed in claustrophobic black-and-white, and the dread drip-fed through abstract visuals and a deeply haunting score. Vic Carmen Stone and Trine Dyrholm are standouts in their lead roles, guiding not just through this literal story, but also the universal lesson of the nightmares women have endured throughout history. The Last Duel Bolstered by spectacle and substance, The Last Duel is one of Ridley Scott’s finest films. It’s one of the few blockbusters of the modern age to be propelled by collaborative artistry, rather than preconceived properties and overblown budgets. Broken up into three chapters, the film follows the unique perspectives of the central individuals as it tracks the events that led to the titular duel. This Rashomon -inspired structure is where Scott, along with screenwriters Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Nicole Holofcener, show off their brilliance. The greatness of the film’s structure is that it creates a puzzle where the pieces are constantly shifting in size and placement. Even a simple act, such as a handshake, is seen from three angles, each eliciting a different response. It’s fascinating to watch as the web of lies and truth becomes increasingly difficult to parse, with Scott supplying the necessary inertia to keep the film moving at a great pace. And the final duel more than lives up to expectations, especially when compared to the high bar Scott has set for himself within his filmography. There have been only a handful of final battles that weren’t already decided by the plot before they begin, and this is one of them. There’s an exciting amount of tension as the knight's exchange blows in agonizing brutality. Frankenstein Guillermo del Toro, the filmmaker most in love with monsters, finally got the chance to adapt the story of the most famous one of all. Mary Shelley and, by extension, del Toro, share great sympathy for The Creature, his plight being a reflection of humanity's cruel backwardness. Already a star in the making, Jacob Elordi cemented himself as one of his generation's best actors with a performance that instilled enormous emotional depth beyond just the pounds of makeup and effects. Surrounding him and the rest of the cast are sumptuous sets and costumes, with del Toro's roaming camera soaking up each pristine detail. With a lifespan recently crossing over into two centuries, Shelley’s Frankenstein has long suffered the plague of becoming a copy of a copy of a copy. Endless adaptations and inspirations have taken only the elements that are deemed the most commercially muscular, leaving out the heart and mind. Del Toro has picked up those discarded pieces and made it whole again, reminding us why stories like these have and will withstand the test of time. The End Even in the darkest depths of the Earth at the end of humanity, you can still find a reason to sing and dance. Co-writer/director Joshua Oppenheimer, famed for his one-two documentary punch of The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence , makes sure his fiction feature debut is as bold and audacious as one would expect. The Golden Age influences of Jacques Demy and Vincent Minnelli supply the bravura; the cast's confidence is more important than their physical abilities. The joys and guilt of still being alive merge through the dozen-ish musical numbers, all of them allowing the characters to momentarily express the deep feelings they perpetually repress. The End could have so easily been an “eat the rich” satire in the same vein as Triangle of Sadness . There are several opportunities where Oppenheimer could have taken a cheap shot at these characters, putting them through the wringer while having us point and laugh at them. This is an absurdist concept with humorous moments, but it’s also so deftly sincere that you can’t simply excuse it. These are rich characters, both emotionally and financially, with their inner delusions offering a complex lesson on how we handle the horrors that are right in front of us. Broker As is tradition within his impeccable filmography, Hirokazu Kore-eda's Broker tells a touching story about families forming in the most unlikely of circumstances. A baby has been left in a deposit box used by mothers who can’t, or won’t, keep their babies. Two of the employees at the facility, Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho) and Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won), have formed a partnership to circumvent the rules of the establishment by taking the babies into their protection and selling them under the table to needy couples. Purely based on this introductory premise, Kore-eda has laid a field filled with moral quandaries. Is it right to break the law and sell a child if it means they will potentially have a better life? Who is worse, the mother who disposes of the baby, or the people who sell the child? Who’s responsible for the child once the mother has disowned them? Similar to his magnum opus, Shoplifters , Kore-eda makes plenty of time to instill lessons on how we don’t often get to choose the family we have. A direct reference to Paul Thomas Anderson’s mosaic, Magnolia , reminds us how the best-laid plans never truly turn out the way we envision. Even though each character may have their agenda behind the act, their shared journey is what binds them together. Blonde Is this film's placement near the top of this list meant to provoke a reaction? Perhaps. But it's that exact spirit that makes Blonde so memorable, a hard-edged rebuke of the sanitized biopics we've increasingly been served. They're merely brand extensions, with more loyalty to the central figure than the creatives telling the story. Andrew Dominik's only loyalty is to himself as an artist. Facts can be found on Wikipedia, but the emotional truth can only be found on the silver screen. It's a nightmarish and surreal experience that highlights the beautiful tragedy that was the life of Norma Jeane, channeled through a spectacular performance by Ana de Armas. Marty Supreme Marty Supreme is as exhausting as it is exhilarating, the kind of movie where you let out a huge sigh of relief once you leave the theater. With this film added to his oeuvre of Good Time and Uncut Gems , director Josh Safdie became a master of depicting addiction, the agony and ecstasy of gambling everything for the chance to win anything. Timothée Chalamet’s Marty Mauser is the John McEnroe of table tennis, his mouth moving as fast as his backhand volleys. Lucky for him, his money is where his mouth is. The kineticism and composure he displays during those scenes of athleticism are thrilling to watch. The thing I wanted most of all from this film was for it to never end. The two and a half hours both do and don’t fly by. You feel every minute of it, yet I was never thinking about when this would be over. It’s what I love about long movies, as there’s a certain amount of belief and ambition a filmmaker must have in themselves to warrant trapping an audience for that long. An even more extended runtime would probably put people in the hospital from stress/anxiety. Still, it would have been well worth it for those who survived. Killers of the Flower Moon What is surprising about a blockbuster like Killers of the Flower Moon is Martin Scorsese’s ability to bring in the qualities of his lesser-known films, which is the capacity to take a step back and observe a culture. There’s a delicate balance between getting in the thick of the action and letting it wash over from a distance. For every street race and moment of shocking violence, there’s a chance to witness a piece of this land and its people. There are key moments where an Osage wedding or ceremonial tradition is recreated, shedding light on what’s ultimately at stake. Excess is the name of the game within Scorsese’s filmography, and Killers of the Flower Moon has that in spades. But it’s not the flashy kind of excess that we’re used to seeing; it’s an excess that overwhelms your soul just as much as your senses. As the debate over what is and isn’t cinema rages on (and I pray to God it ends soon), let this be a clear illustration of what it can be: something powerful enough to enrapture you in the present and pleasantly linger with you long into the future. The Brutalist The Brutalist is a full-course cinema meal, requiring an afternoon to consume and much longer to digest. It’s easy to savor every moment of it in real-time because of its boundless beauty, and just as easy over time, thanks to its long lingering themes on the ideals that modern America convinced itself it was built upon. With a record-breaking runtime of 215 minutes (including an intermission!), each scene flows with more freedom and weight, all of them simultaneously epic and intimate as the camera glacially passes through the years. One could imagine director Brady Corbet employing the persuasiveness of Toth’s design and vision in the pitch meetings for the film as a whole. Nothing about The Brutalist screams commerciality. But like László Toth and his indescribable monument, every dollar that Corbet’s behemoth sacrificed at the box office was used to better the art form. The only currency that matters in cinema is the experience you carry with you long after the viewing. Conclave Saints and sinners live among us, even in the holiest of places. A cardinal asks if he can keep the deceased pope’s chessboard as a memento, a bold signifier of the game of succession that’s about to be played. No sane man would desire the papacy, and no man who seeks it deserves it. Director Edward Berger has a great command of the literary material he inherited. The tension is wound tight enough to cut through steel, with sequences of backdoor politics and revelations of long-buried secrets maintaining a slow-burning, yet propulsive energy. Longstanding acting royalty fill the cast, with the highest laurels going to Ralph Fiennes, who maintains a quiet dignity as a web of lies and deceit begins to unspool right in front of him. The balance between thrills and social critique is kept just as pristine as it was in Robert Harris’ novel. Conclave is a soap opera with as much page-turning substance as it has a prestige-like style, perfect for both the faithful and skeptics alike. Maestro There is nothing cookie-cutter about Maestro , which is its absolute greatest strength. Writer/director/producer/star Bradley 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 how he sees himself tethered to Leonard Bernstein: two geniuses who often became overwhelmed with passionate joy in their craft. 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. 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. 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 forever intertwined. April The beauty of the cinema is not just in the sheer size of the speakers and screen, but the opportunity it gives us to break away from our world and be transported to a different one. Georgian writer/director Dea Kulumbegashvili crafted a film where absolute patience and concentration are a prerequisite. Between the unsettling abstract visuals and the brutal real-life truths about female bodily autonomy through abortion, it's one of the most bone-chilling films of the decade, anchored by an iron-willed performance by Ia Sukhitashvili. Unlike many films on this list, Kulumbegashvili was not bestowed with the laurels that she so richly deserved beyond the Special Jury Prize at the film's premiere at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. The film was banned in its home country and barely released in the United States due to the dissolution of its distributor. It was a great shame, as one of the most important and prescient films of the decade was kept hidden from the people who might need it the most. The Beast Bertrand Bonello’s sci-fi epic was the clear wire-to-wire winner of its respective year. Bonello displays a mastery of tone and vision across his 146-minute adaptation of Henry James’ genre-defying novella. There’s passion, fear, humor, drama, and everything in between as Léa Seydoux and George MacKay play characters in three different periods – 1910, 2014, 2044 – as they navigate the unknowable connection they feel for each other. It’s a greatly demanding work exploring the fear of opening oneself up to risk and the unknown, something that all audiences will have to conquer if they want to claim the reward that this film offers. The Killer The Killer is a descent into bloody madness told by a director in complete control of their craft. Every frame is perfectly lit, every cut perfectly placed and executed, and every piece of sound is perfectly engineered to rattle your bones. It’s a pulpy, uncomplicated story about revenge being a dish best served cold. For anyone who enjoys the Hitman video game series and laments the two laughably bad movie adaptations, this is the answer to all your prayers. This is Fincher at his most surface level, playfully cutting loose from ambition and delivering his best film to date. Don’t expect to learn any life lessons or have your perspective changed on an issue. Just sit back and be entertained. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing a straightforward process being executed with pinpoint precision, and both our protagonist and Fincher accomplish their mission with outstanding results. Hamnet The story of the death of William Shakespeare's young child may be a tear-jerker (it was the most I’ve cried during a movie in years), but there isn’t a single moment where it's cloying at those ducts. Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell’s Hamnet depicted an honest collision course of pain, featuring two of the best actors working today. Jessie Buckley was nothing short of transcendent, encapsulating the entire human experience, what it means to be your true self, and then producing an extension of that through children. It was heartbreakingly cathartic to witness Mescal channel his torment into his work, recontextualizing the most celebrated works of the English language for those who were previously uninitiated. By staging “Hamlet,” Shakespeare preserved his child. His body may have only been a part of this for a mere eleven years, but his spirit has lived on for over half a millennium, adapting to serve different cultures and contexts. Zhao’s film is a single drop in an ocean; the mightiest one that pushes the waves in a bold new direction. TÁR For all you completionists who demand films answer the questions they raise, both literally and metaphorically, TÁR will seem like an exercise in futility. Because if there’s one thing Field learned as the protégé of Stanley Kubrick (for which Field played the piano-playing character Nick Nightingale in the master’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut ), aside from impeccably precise visuals and dread-filled drip editing, it’s the ability to make the unsatisfying loose ends of a story seem so naturally satisfying. There are no easy answers within Field’s film as he meticulously studies his central character, for whom he shares no predisposed love or hatred. It’s for the audience to decide if Lydia’s fate, which is sealed with a visual setup and punchline so hilarious that it might as well have been ghost-directed by Mel Brooks, matches her “crimes.” As our guide during that examination, Cate Blanchett reaches another echelon in a career that has only been marked by peaks. One could not be ridiculed for mistaking Lydia Tár as a real person, as the details and nuances Blanchett infuses the character with are ones usually found within Oscar-bait biopics. At the moment, it does not seem that the film was meant to mark the second coming of Todd Field’s career. But if we’re subjected to another sixteen-year absence, then I at least know what my most anticipated film of 2038 will be. All Quiet on the Western Front By combining many elements from some of the best films within the genre, director Edward Berger's All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the few anti-war films, something that French New Wave film critic and director François Truffaut famously declared to be impossible. The large-scale and gruesomely detailed battles harken back to Saving Private Ryan . We see more mud than blood as the soldiers fight for nothing more than to survive another second. As a slight departure from the source material, writers Berger, Lesley Paterson, and Ian Stokell juxtapose the scenes of carnage with those of the “fat pigs” that wield power. Going back and forth between this and Paul’s storyline on the battlefield, we get the sense that this war did not involve winners and losers. Everybody was a loser as they lost something mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or physically. And in the end, there was no point to any of it. In the film’s harrowing opening sequence, we follow a coat worn by a German soldier. The man dies in battle, and the coat is plucked off his corpse. It’s then shipped back to a factory to be washed of the blood, mended, and given to a recruit. It’s moments like this, of which there are many, where Berger masterfully illustrates the futile self-fulfilling cycle of death that war creates. The Zone of Interest There isn’t a single moment in The Zone of Interest that takes place within Auschwitz, but its presence is always felt. The family will be sunbathing in the garden when a faint gunshot goes off on the other side of the wall. Both you and the characters know what that sound means, but only you care about the implications of it. For the family, those gunshots are just as much a part of everyday life as the birds chirping in the trees above. They go about their daily lives without a hitch, leaving you stranded in the fear of your imagination. Sickening in the most calculated way possible, this is Jonathan Glazer's ode to Stanley Kubrick. He answers the question of how evil can exist unchecked, holding all of your senses in a sterilized vice. Be sure to soak it all in during your first watch, because I doubt you'll ever want to view the world this way again. Babylon With dashes of Singin’ in the Rain, Boogie Nights, The Wolf of Wall Street, Uncut Gems , and Mulholland Drive , Damien Chazelle’s Babylon is a true auteurist epic in every sense of the word. It’s a 188-minute deconstruction of Old Hollywood mythology, complete with cocaine, fast cars, projectile vomit, glitzy actors, underground sex dungeons, and buckets of style. There wasn't anything like it the year of its release, or any year for that matter. Five characters have their stories cross paths on several occasions, featured in some of the biggest moments of the Silent Era as it hurtles towards its downfall. The rise of talkies will bring about a new style of filmmaking, one that’ll benefit some and destroy others. But through it all, they found a way to create a legacy that lives beyond their mortal lives. Chazelle may have made his generation's Heaven's Gate : an overly ambitious epic that proved to be too much for audiences and critics. But born out of that chaos was a passionate cult fanbase, a Babylon Hive that has embraced this grand slam of self-indulgence and outrageousness. Oppenheimer With each passing second since I walked out of the 70mm presentation of Christopher Nolan's biopic on the American Prometheus, I became more and more convinced that I had witnessed something extraordinary. Oppenheimer is as entertaining as it is enlightening, emboldened by Nolan’s unparalleled vision and craftsmanship. It’s his magnum opus, grabbing hold of history with fiery conviction, never letting you go until you’ve experienced all that cinema has to offer. Kenneth Branagh plays Danish physicist Niels Bohr, who gives a sturdy piece of advice to Cillian Murphy's titular character early in his career: “It’s not important that you can read music, only that you can hear it.” Even if I couldn’t read all that was being presented right in front of me, I could definitely feel it. Ludwig Göransson’s tremendous score does a lot to convey the spectacle and terror within these moments of history. There are palpable feelings of anxiety and suspense, despite already knowing the outcome. You feel both a sense of patriotism in seeing this American achievement, and also a deep sense of guilt as a weapon without a defense was unleashed upon an untrustworthy world. The French Dispatch With each subsequent entry into his distinct filmography, Wes Anderson seems to make it a mission to make the most Wes Anderson-iest film. His tenth feature film - also referred to as The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun - towers over all of his works with its masterful production qualities and international ensemble cast. While there is no central story to fully move the film from start to finish, the anthology-style structure still allows Anderson to explore several of the themes found within his previous works, such as human curiosity and the ironic relationship we share with the world and its other characters. There are no small parts, only small actors, with a robust cast given their individual moments to shine amidst the dazzlingly symmetrical production design. I've seen this film a dozen times since the initial screening at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021, even pausing this write-up for another rewatch. That's love that money can't buy, and a loving testament to what Louis B. Mayer crassly said about the movies being a business where "the buyer gets nothing for his money but a memory." Anderson will probably always live in the shadow of this film for me, but I'll still be thankful that something this magical is allowed to exist in a world that only seems to get bleaker. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

2026 Sundance Film Festival Preview January 19, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen A melancholic mood will permeate the air at this year’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Now in its forty-second year, this will be the first without the presence of its main founder and spokesperson, Robert Redford, who died back in September. Originally founded as the Utah/US Film Festival in 1978, the festival was eventually renamed after Redford’s most famous character. As much as Redford was a titan of Hollywood, he was a champion of independent films, using his immense stature to find the next great American artist. Redford was Park City, and Park City was Redford. Now that Redford has left Sundance, so must Sundance leave Park City. Announced a month after last year’s edition was the fact that the festival would be leaving its forever home and moving east to Boulder, Colorado, starting in 2027. It makes this edition of the festival feel even more special, a final celebration of the past and present before jetting off into an uncertain future. While a member of the unofficial “Big Five” along with Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Toronto, Sundance doesn’t have the advantage of on-paper pedigree when it comes to the talent it showcases. It also can’t boast about stunning movie stars ascending a red carpet surrounded by palm trees, or arriving on a gondola through a canal. But what it can brag about is that it was the place that gave many iconic filmmakers their start before they graduated to the international limelight. Quentin Tarantino debuted Reservoir Dogs at Sundance in 1992, two years later winning the Palme d’Or for Pulp Fiction . Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape was able to compete for the Palme d’Or in 1989 because of the enthusiastic reviews it received at Sundance a few months earlier. Likely finding no distinction between the Utah mountains and their native Minnesota, the Coen brothers took the festival by storm in 1985 with their debut feature, Blood Simple . Of course, every festival requires a certain amount of star power in order to keep the lights on, and Sundance is no exception. Nestled outside of the competitive sections are the ‘Premieres,’ featuring the stars and directors who grab the headlines when it comes to lineup announcements. Returning to the birthplace of his generational-defining films of The Living End and The Doom Generation is director Gregg Araki, who also hasn’t helmed a feature film since 2014’s White Bird in a Blizzard . He has I Want Your Sex , starring Cooper Hoffman, who becomes a sexual muse to Olivia Wilde. The latter star is also featured in her third directorial outing, The Invite , along with Edward Norton, Seth Rogen, and Penélope Cruz. There’s also In the Blink of an Eye from Pixar leader Andrew Stanton, The Gallerist from Cathy Yan, The Weight with Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, and Charlie XCX’s sort-of documentary The Moment . Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Sundance has been the one festival that has opened its doors to an online audience. Sure, gone are the glory days of 2021 and 2022, when literally every festival selection was made available online. Bad apples who leaked films like Twinless and Selena y Los Dinos last year have pushed away most of the big titles from being available online. Still available are the films in the competition sections, which have played host to acclaimed films like CODA , A Thousand and One , Good One , A Real Pain , and Sorry, Baby . Two musical-related films can be found in this year’s U.S. Dramatic Competition. The first is aptly titled The Musical , starring Will Brill as a playwright putting on a chaotic high school musical. Run Amok has a nearly identical premise, this time with a high school student putting on a musical to commemorate the “one day her high school wishes it could forget.” Director Rachel Lambert’s uber-quiet Sometimes I Think About Dying has grown on me since I saw it at Sundance 2023. She’s back with Carousel, a dramedy starring Chris Pine and Jenny Slate as old flames refinding themselves years later. Writer/director Beth de Araújo had her film Josephine selected for the 2018 Sundance Institute Screenwriting and Directing Lab. After pandemic delays, she’s bringing the finished product to this year’s edition. Gemma Chan and Channing Tatum star as parents of the titular girl, who witnesses an assault near her home. Will Poulter and Noah Centineo star in Union County , a story about an adult-recovery program. Films that I have my eye on that were selected as part of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition include Shame and Money , Big Girls Don’t Cry , Extra Geography , and Levitating . Of course, Sundance wouldn’t be what it is today without its bevy of documentaries. Every year, there are too many to mention, with several likely to feature in the following year’s Oscar race (see The Perfect Neighbor , 2000 Meters to Andriivka , and The Alabama Solution ). As a member of the virtual press, I’ll be cruising through the Dramatic Competition sections during the viewing window of January 28-February 01. It’ll likely be a repeat of my days at TIFF, averaging about three to four films per day. Luckily, this will be from the comfort of my couch, with bathroom and writing breaks scheduled at my leisure. Full reviews for titles will be posted throughout that week, along with a full recap article at the conclusion of the festival. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

MSPIFF 2026 Preview April 6, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen April showers bring May flowers. But what April also brings is the annual Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF, pronounced "EM-spiff”), which is celebrating its forty-fifth year of showcasing an eclectic range of films to Minnesota moviegoers. In my brief time attending the festival, the programming has only gotten stronger, and so has the festival's attendance and its place within the great cinema landscape. Of course, the majority of the 200 films within the lineup will be screened at The Main Cinema, which was recently renovated with new seating in a few of its theaters. Other venues for select screenings include the Edina Theatre, Pop’s Art Theater, Capri Theater, Landmark Center, and FilmNorth. Opening the festivities on April 8th is a screening of the documentary feature Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story , which focuses on the Duluth-born comedian and her inspiring story about struggling with mental health. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival back in January and is co-directed by Judd Apatow and Neil Berkeley. The latter will be in attendance with Bamford herself for an introduction and post-screening conversation. Also screening at the same time is another timely documentary, called Everybody to Kenmure Street , about protestors disrupting illegal immigration enforcement. One of MSPIFF’s biggest selling points is its consolidation of many notable independent and foreign language films released in the late spring and early summer. Debuting in Minnesota now, after world premiering at the Cannes Film Festival last May, are Two Prosecutors , Young Mothers , The Little Sister , Exit 8 , Renoir , Eagles of the Republic , Romería, and Mother and Child . Each was met with positive acclaim and came from notable filmmakers who have rarely steered audiences wrong. There’s also plenty to offer for those looking for some late-night, genre features. Premiering in the Midnight Madness section at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival were Obsession and Normal . The former became the talk of the festival with its dark, supernatural twist on unconditional love. The latter stars Bob Odenkirk as the new police chief of a quaint Minnesota town that harbors many secrets underneath its blanket of snow. Adam Scott stars in Hokum as a horror writer who is haunted by a witch at a creepy Irish inn. And writer/director François Ozon adapts the famed novel The Stranger , about a man who exacts a series of unfeeling crimes. Upping the star wattage throughout the eleven days will be screenings of The Christophers , directed by Steven Soderbegerh and starring Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel; Late Fame , starring Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee; Silent Friend , starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Léa Seydoux; Power Ballad , with Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas; and Rose of Nevada , with Callum Turner and George MacKay. After becoming a box office sensation back home in the UK and nabbing several awards at the BAFTAs, the inspirational real-life drama I Swear finally lands in American theaters. After honoring legends such as Roger Deakins and Ang Lee in the past, this year’s Milgrom Tribute is being bestowed upon cinematographer Dean Cundey. With a career spanning nearly 50 years and collaborations with directors such as John Carpenter, Robert Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg, and Ron Howard, Cundey has been the eyes for many of Hollywood’s defining films. He’ll accept the award during a conversation about his career on April 12th. It will then be followed by screenings of two of his films: Escape from New York and Jurassic Park . Cundey will conduct a Q&A session following the screening of the latter film. To access the full list of films and secure tickets, you can visit the MSP Film Society website . In addition, there will be several panels hosted by industry insiders, and parties to network with fellow cinephiles. The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival runs from April 08-19th at The Main Cinema. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

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

The Phoenician Scheme May 28, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen For his review of the 2005 Steven Spielberg film, Munich , film critic for The New York Times , A.O. Scott, began with the title: “An Action Film About the Need to Talk.” It’s a succinct way to describe the main theme of Spielberg’s underseen docudrama masterpiece that recounts Israeli operatives hunting down the people responsible for the Black September capture and massacre of their athletes at the 1972 Olympics. Were the retaliation measures justifiable, or were they just blind vengeance? And even if they could be justified, wouldn’t the cycle of violence just be perpetuated by the other side until they each go blind? Although it substitutes slapstick and levity for the blood and bullets of Spielberg’s film, Wes Anderson’s newest work, The Phoenician Scheme , goes about those ideas in a pretty identical manner. And although the lack of dialogue between the warring factions was part of the problem in Munich , too much talking on the part of this film’s main character, Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro), sets everything in motion here. Middle school history students would describe him as a “robber baron” or a “tycoon” on account of his shrewd business practices. Famines? He’s started them. Slavery? He’s indulged in it. Hand grenades? He has enough lying around that he offers them to all guests like cookies. Fiddling with deals and going back on his word is largely why he’s amassed his fortune, and probably why so many attempts have been made on his life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEuMnPl2WI4 That’s exactly where we meet Korda in this story: surviving his sixth recorded airplane crash. At some point, the house is going to win, which is why he’s made the precautionary move to have his estranged novitiate daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), returned home so that she can assume possession of his estate should the unthinkable happen. But before he can defy his enemies by retiring, he must tighten the final screws on a massive infrastructure project in the fictional Middle Eastern territory of Phoenicia that will bring him and several future generations enough passive income to stay atop the throne. On this journey, we stop to meet each of the members who comprise this wall-to-wall A-list cast. Many of them have previously featured in Anderson’s films, such as Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston returning from their live-action debut in Asteroid City to play American train tycoon brothers who prefer to settle disputes over a game of H-O-R-S-E. I will jump the gun here and say that the scene where they challenge Zsa-zsa and the prince of Phoenicia (Riz Ahmed) to said game might be the funniest moment Anderson has ever created. There are also multi-film veterans like Mathieu Amalric (coincidentally, also in Munich) , Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, and Rupert Friend. “The story of a family and a family business” is the plot summary provided. It’s apt, as a full explanation of all the machinations that go on here would require many more paragraphs. I was never quite sure who everyone was, why they were important, and what needed to happen between them for the conflict to be resolved. But I also don’t think Anderson wants us to pay that much attention to the nitty-gritty details. I suppose you could if you really wanted to, as there’s plenty of information doled out through the trademarked sumptuous production. What’s really important here is not the 5 Ws, but the 1 H. Spurred on by a combination of Liesl’s objections to his malpractices and the gradual melting of his cold, Grinch-like heart, Zsa-zsa begins to see the error of his ways. “Let’s communicate,” is a punchline he says in each encounter, all caused by everyone’s instinctual failure to bring their best intentions to the table. In a time when the terms “trade war” and “tariffs” have become shorthand for an outdated and backward way of conducting business, here’s a story that preaches the value of being simultaneously kind and successful. Del Toro is quite excellent, making Zsa-zsa a thornily interesting character. There are a lot of laughs to be had from his line deliveries, and his command of the scenery Anderson places him in. Except for cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman, who’s been discreetly replaced by the equally fantastic Bruno Delbonnel, all the usual craftspeople align the credits. Anderson continues to prove that he has total dominion over a world that only he can create and perfect. So many have tried and failed to replicate, but there can only be one. Anderson is a lot like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At this point, you’re either in or you’re out. I’m so deep in the bag that it might as well be the one from Mary Poppins . I’ve seen a lot of films, and the majority of them all follow the same pattern. Anderson’s films certainly aren’t an exception, but there is always something magical about their sameness. And like Nicole Kidman always says: We come to this place [the cinema] for magic . Focus Features will release The Phoenician Scheme in limited theaters on May 30th, followed by a nationwide expansion on June 6th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Memoria July 15, 2021 By: Button Hunter Friesen The work of Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul (try saying that five times fast) has never fully been able to register with audiences outside of the festival circuit. He has amassed universal critical acclaim since he graced the Cannes Riviera in 2004 with Tropical Malady . He creates gaps between his feature films by creating several short films, some of which eventually spawned into feature-length films, such as the 2009 short A Letter to Uncle Boonmee, becoming the 2010 Palme d’Or-winning Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives . Now in 2021, Weerasethakul is stepping outside of his native Thailand for Memoria (translated from the Latin word “memory”), which prompted another return to Cannes, this time netting him the Jury Prize. The first English-language film for Weerasethakul, Memoria, is set in Colombia, following Tilda Swinton from destination to destination. The film opens with a surprising jumpscare illustrating our main character’s problem, which is that she often hears a loud crashing noise that seems to be confined entirely within her head. This noise confounds her, leading to an investigation into what exactly it is and why it is happening, which puts her in contact with a sound engineering student, a morgue doctor, and a strange fisherman offering profound insights on memory and identity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDU6B93ltds Those familiar with the work of Weerasethakul will know that the plot is not the driving force behind the ultimate narrative. Instead, the visuals and sound work do the bulk of the heavy lifting. Within Memoria , dialogue is seldom found for long stretches at a time, leaving the viewer to look at the screen like one would look at a painting, soaking in as much information as possible. This restriction of information will irritate those looking for answers to the questions the film raises, which Weerasethakul doesn’t have any intention of addressing. The Cannes World Premiere garnered nearly fifty walkouts from disgruntled viewers, and several nodding heads from the slow pacing that were often reawakened by the mysterious crashing noise, which shook the theatre. Swinton acts less like a character and more like a wandering observer. Never shot in closeup and always present in the world around her, she moves from place to place, learning new information about her condition, all without much dialogue from her end. The first half of the film is where Swinton does most of her traveling, which keeps the film moving at a steady, yet still slow, pace. Much of the “action” within these journeys would be considered filler in most mainstream projects, such as Swinton waiting patiently for the sound engineer to finish his work before addressing her, or an unbroken take consisting solely of car alarms going off. The last hour of the film is where some will applaud, and others will boo (just as they did at the world premiere). Swinton’s final journey takes her to a remote village housing a fisherman who claims to remember everything about his life. The two of them engage in an extended conversation that explores the strange connection they share. To an extent, the conversation acts as a vessel for Weerasethakul to talk to his audience about his ideas about cinema and life. It’s a bold move by a director not known for boldness, and it reshapes the way you look at the world at its best, and teeters on self-aggrandizing at its worst. Weerasethakul ties his thesis up in a perfect bow with an ultimate answer that is fittingly incomprehensible and produces several more questions. Memoria is a work for the cinephiles who need an escape from the noise of the modern world. It’s wildly beautiful and imaginative, all while challenging your patience and viewpoints. Go in with an open mind, and you find yourself enlightened. This review was originally published from the world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Neon will release Memoria in select theaters on December 26th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Alien: Romulus August 14, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen With each passing year, the meeting scene from The Matrix Resurrections gets more and more prescient. Focus group research, marketing trends, brand imaging, and keyword association are the tools of the trade nowadays, especially when you’re working with a franchise as long in the tooth as Alien . It’s not hard to imagine what was yuppied around the 20th Century corporate office when devising the concept for Romulus , which essentially serves as a grab bag of all the recognizable (and liked) aspects of the previous movies. It had to have a Xenomorph skulking around the pitch-black corridors of a steel-trap spaceship. It had to have a face hugger, which would eventually lead to someone’s chest bursting open. While people weren’t generally fans of Prometheus or Alien: Covenant , they did enjoy Michael Fassbender’s portrayal of a calculating android companion, so that also has to be an element. There also needs to be a woman in a tank top running around with a gun, and a bunch of crew members that become more expendable as the movie goes on. However enthusiastically co-writer/director Fede Álvarez goes about ticking off all these boxes on his studio-mandated to-do list, there is always the feeling that he’s bowling with the bumpers on. It’s hard to truly appreciate a strike (or, in this case, a modest spare) when the risk of rolling a gutter ball was never there to begin with. But after quite a few missteps in the nearly forty years since the original Alien and Aliens , the thought of “playing it safe” should come as no surprise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzY2r2JXsDM There are also no surprises in the methodology Álvarez and co-writer Rodo Sayagues employ to move our central characters into the claustrophobic spaceship housing the most terrifying life form in the universe. Five young individuals have been born and raised in a mining colony, none of them ever laying eyes on the sun. Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her android brother Andy (David Jonsson) have been continually denied permission to leave the planet on account of corporate greed and malfeasance. When a deserted station is found floating right above their heads by some of her fellow poverty-stricken friends, Rain reluctantly sees it as the escape opportunity she’s always been denied. From there, we discover that this station was not abandoned willingly, but taken over by force by an unknown killing machine. Production designer Naaman Marshall does an excellent job of recreating the cold interior through practical means, complete with enough tech to identify the extraterrestrial foe, but never enough to put it down for good. The leisurely pacing of the initial half instantly ramps up once blood and guts start spilling, with Álvarez leaning on his visceral skills from his 2013 Evil Dead remake to make you squirm in your seat. Bones crunch loudly as limbs become unattached, and creaks and groans occupy every corner of the ship as the aliens lurk around waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The thought of this original being planned for a Hulu release is almost as sickening, as no home could compare to the sensory-deprived fear you get from the cinema. For both good and bad reasons, “for the fans” would be the correct way to define the energy that Álvarez instills within every moment. Homages, callbacks, and blatant winks occupy much of the foreground and background, creating an unavoidable stench of desperation as the studio hopes your Pavlovian responses kick in at the sight of franchise favorites. A certain famous phrase is reintroduced for climactic effect, although the context of the moment instills more groans than cheers. The young cast hold their own against the decades-old trapping they’re up against. Spaeny has become one of the most dependable young actresses working today, with her work in Civil War marking quite the impressive double bill this year. While androids don’t figuratively possess a soul, Jonsson brilliantly finds the compassion necessary for Andy. He is, without a doubt, the highlight of the film, fully living up to the robotic work that Ian Holm and Michael Fassbender previously did within the franchise. Romulus doesn’t have the benefit of being ambitious, which is why it can count itself lucky for executing well on its surface-level objectives. Ridley Scott’s last two ventures into this universe may have been better for its overall health, but this provides the much-needed steroid for it to continue at all. 20th Century Studios will release Alien: Romulus in theaters nationwide on August 16th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Bad Times at the El Royale October 25, 2018 By: Button Hunter Friesen A priest, a singer, a vacuum salesman, and a drifter walk into a hotel. They all have a story and need a room for a specific reason, but only one of them is telling the truth. Each one is untrusting of the other and plans out how to survive the night as a severe storm moves in. Then enters a crazy cult leader who wants to exact revenge on the one who wronged him. With five seedy characters and a suspicious bellhop, a one-night stay at the El Royale may come with a fatal price. Bad Times is directed by Drew Goddard, who previously directed and wrote the comedy/horror The Cabin in the Woods and wrote the screenplay for The Martian. Goddard does well at directing this film. He does make some mistakes from time to time, but they aren’t too severe. The first of his mistakes comes from the pacing and overall length of the film. The 141-minute runtime is weird, as the film felt like it could easily have been cut to two hours or justifiably stretched to three hours. This is due to some areas of the story being dragged on more than needed to be, and some areas not getting as much attention. The first act of the film slowly builds up each separate character with their backstory and motives. Then the second wizzes by, and the third needlessly slows everything back down again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7wzBVARwaU Goddard does do good work with the camera as he gives the film a dark washed overtone to match the 60s era feel. He also uses a wide array of camera techniques to tell the layered story. Some scenes are played out multiple times from different angles to convey each character's viewpoint. There is also a hefty amount of symbolism and thematic imagery within each frame that pushes the narrative along without the use of words. One scene that really stands out is a seven-minute tracking shot where the camera follows one character as they go room by room and spy on the others. It’s a suspenseful sequence that gives a good amount of insight into each character in a short span of time. Along with directing, Goddard also serves as the sole writer for the original story. He divides the film into chapters based on the room a certain character is staying in. The technique works well to distribute time to develop each character. Not everyone gets equal time, but everyone gets enough to make them important to the overall narrative. The intersection of many different characters’ stories leads to the script being filled with lots of fun twists and surprises that continually come out of nowhere. Some of them are predictable once revealed, but many aren’t and keep you on the edge of your seat. There are some plot holes and untidy loose ends that are quite obvious near the end. However, they really don't harm the quality of the story and are more of an afterthought. Bad Times boasts a sizeable and star-studded cast. Most of the actors fare well, with some doing better than others. Jeff Bridges does pretty well as the elderly priest looking for a little vacation. Bridges is able to make his character believably evil as well as have a sympathetic heart. It’s not his best work, but nowhere near his worst. Cynthia Erivo is the best out of the cast as she plays the singer making her way to a gig in Reno. She provides her own voice to the role and confidently takes charge of each scene. Dakota Johnson and Jon Hamm kind of just skate through and don’t provide any real defining moments. They’re not bad, but it feels like anyone could have filled the roles. Lastly, Chris Hemsworth does good work as the Jesus-like cult leader who likes to preach with his shirt open. Hemsworth brings both his comedic and dramatic skills together and creates an uneasy character that keeps the suspense high throughout. Bad Times at the El Royale is a fun thriller that tells a complex story enjoyably. It doesn’t always work perfectly, but minor mistakes aren’t enough to ruin the overall product. In a fall season full of heavy films trying to send a message, it feels good to have a film that only wants its audience to sit down and have a good time. 20th Century Fox will release Bad Times at the El Royale in theaters nationwide on October 12th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen