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Nickel Boys December 24, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Every once in a while, there comes a film that breaks your preconceptions on how a story can be told. The Jazz Singer, Jaws, Star Wars, Pulp Fiction, The Blair Witch Project, The Avengers , and The Zone of Interest are such films, leaving you with the impression that you've seen much more than just a single piece of work. It might not happen right away, but RaMell Ross' Nickel Boys is destined to join those ranks. It's 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. Imagery is Ross's weapon of choice, with much of the words within Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning 2019 novel being either reduced or omitted altogether. But he doesn't stop there, opting to fully dismantle the debate of objective vs. subjective within storytelling and literally placing us within the eyes of the two leads: Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson). 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, especially once you consider the added challenge of the audience not being able to control where and when they look. Ross and co-writer Joslyn Barnes' adaptation goes even further once the layers of time start to fold on top of each other, trapping us in a series of undefinable dreams and nightmares, each one crashing into the other without warning. The central timeline places itself within 1962 Tallahassee. We see and hear the world through Elwood's eyes and ears: A television playing Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech, his reflection in a steaming iron, a white officer giving him a dirty look, and his grandmother (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) raining tinsel upon him as he lays under the Christmas tree. These sequences play out through the prism of memory, all of them fragmented and extremely brief. They 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 experiences are carried with us to the end of time. Elwood's experience worsens when he accepts a ride from a kindly stranger. The car turns out to be stolen, a fact that the aggressive officer probably used to pull over any African American he could that day. Elwood's punishment is a trip to the Nickel Academy reform school, a place where the term "school" is nothing more than window dressing. The White and Black kids are segregated into different buildings, the latter group mostly all here for some bullshit reason or another, their ages ranging from preschool to high school. What could a preschooler have done to deserve this level of punishment? Turner is the Red to Elwood's Andy Dufresne, quickly offering the sobering tips of what life is like here. The system is rigged, and a few boys disappearing every once in a while is not something out of the ordinary. This place is a microcosm of America itself, pushing down its most disenfranchised citizens while simultaneously scolding them for not being able to climb the barbed ladder. Cinematographer Jomo Fray's camera stays locked within the eyes of the two boys, freely moving between them. This deprivation of the traditional cinematic gaze makes them blank slates, especially Elwood, who we don't get a good look at until over an hour in. There's a newfound sense of discovery as we witness the good and the bad through them, everything real enough that you can't excuse it as just a piece of entertainment. Whitehead's novel was based on the Dozier School for Boys, a place where bodies are still being uncovered. Ellis-Taylor often provides those small semblances of warmth as the kindly matriarch. Her beaming eyes and smile nestle into your heart when they're fixed directly at you. A smattering of scenes with Daveed Diggs recontextualizes the events of the past, with the camera now fixed on his back as if he were in a film by the Dardenne brothers. In one of those later scenes, two of the men reopen their past at school. They talk as if they went to war together and came back with PTSD, with reintegration into society being a constant struggle. A more Hollywood-ized version of this story would make this moment feel a little hokey, but Ross' vision makes it authentic. They, and, by extension, us, have been on a tumultuous journey in a way that we've never seen before. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Twisters July 17, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Is it a good or bad sign if the most interesting aspect of a disaster movie is the humans? Twisters may be the first film to buck a decades-long trend within the disaster/monster subgenre where our species has been the superficial window to view the events within our world that hold dominion. The occasional glances at the watch here are reserved for the moments of tornado-based destruction, with the character-driven scenes coming in like a knight in shining armor to break up the monotony. I guess that’s what you get when you hire the director of one of the most tender human dramas of the decade. Lee Isaac Chung’s inability to fully flex his filmmaking muscles is definitely the lesser of two evils, as none of the traditional journeymen that could have been hired to fill the chair would have a percentage of the heart he instills here. A ragtag group of Oklahoman storm chasers has replaced his Arkansan family from 2020’s Minari , each ready to risk their lives in the name of science. But the risk turns out to have exactly that asking price, with the only two survivors of the five-person team being Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Javi (Anthony Ramos). It’s another startling reminder Mother Nature is undefeated in any attempts to tame her. That fatal error of judgment was enough to send Kate behind a desk in the New York office of a weather service. She’s put her wild days behind her, which we all know isn’t true because we’re only ten minutes into a two-hour movie. Javi calls her back into the fold once an even deadlier series of storms starts ripping through her state. This time they’ve got the advantage of upgraded technology and a team full of PhDs, a combination that could help them answer the elusive question of how to prevent and stop these storms. The implementation of serving the common man as a reason to be in this line of work is sold well by Edgar-Jones and Ramos, both of whom carry a small amount of traumatized weight in their performances. Screenwriter Mark L. Smith doesn’t give them much of anything to work with, nor does he have regular Joes like you and I do anything more than get swept up in storms and look solemn after their towns have been destroyed. There’s an underdeveloped subplot about Javi’s boss acting as an ambulance chaser, buying up the ripped-up land at rock-bottom prices under the guise of offering a fresh start to those who have nothing left. That aspect could essentially be mirrored onto the film itself, with Smith and Chung always talking about their love for people, yet the way they walk illustrates otherwise. This is where Glen Powell enters the scene as “tornado wrangler” Tyler Owens, his good-ol’-boy charm and looks implemented to distract from the film’s mental problems. That strategy works more times than it doesn’t, with Powell’s movie star swagger perpetually threatening to burn a hole through the screen. It’s no surprise that the most impactful moment of weather is just a drizzle of rain while he dons a cowboy hat and white T-shirt while striding to his mammoth pickup truck. But the simplicity of that breathless moment instantly becomes a double-edged sword, as the weightless scenes with millions of dollars worth of special effects feel even more disappointing in comparison. The theater roars and the screen fervently flashes, but the bone-chilling feeling of real danger is never felt. There’s a moment where Kate and Tyler rescue a mother and child by clinging for dear life at the bottom of a hotel pool. Chung holds the camera on their fear-stricken face as an act of humanistic connection, yet the CGI debris and wind effects rob those feelings from truly bubbling to the surface. To incorrectly apply a famous phrase: it’s full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Twisters may still end up being one of the better blockbusters of the summer on account of it’s central characters being the secret main attraction, although I’m not exactly sure that’s how the plan was drawn up at the Universal offices. The rusty old door has been opened with care that it needed, while the well-greased one seems to be giving the most trouble. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Twin Cities Film Fest 2025 Preview October 14, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen From late August through mid-September, the fall film festival corridor reaches its apex of influence and popularity with the overlapping of the trifecta that is the Venice International Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, and Toronto International Film Festival. Dozens of A-list movie stars and auteurs debut their newest projects, walking the red carpet and shaking hands to attract as much attention as possible. It’s all a game, with the victor being showered with praise in the form of box office earnings and industry awards. While those headlining festivals are mostly exclusive events, a democratization of this process begins in October with the blitz of the regional festivals. All across the country (and the world), smaller festivals gather a collection of the best that world cinema has to offer, curating for local tastes and building narratives that carry on throughout the rest of the year. Notable festivals that take place during this time include the New York Film Festival, the Chicago International Film Festival, the Philadelphia Film Festival, and AFI Fest. Also a part of that mix is the Twin Cities Film Fest (TCFF), now celebrating its “Sweet 16” anniversary with its lineup of blockbusters and headliners. Distributor Focus Features retains its opening night slot for the third year in a row after The Holdovers and Conclave , respectively. Both of those films placed for the Best Feature Film Award, something that this year’s selection, Hamnet , could very likely do, considering its rave reviews and awarding of the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Tissues will be needed for the audience of this tear-jerker, which features Oscar-worthy performances by Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. It will then be released in theaters around the Thanksgiving holiday. Also from Focus Features is Bugonia , the newest collaboration between director Yorgos Lanthimos and star Emma Stone, whose previous works include The Favourite , Poor Things , and Kinds of Kindness . Stone plays a CEO who is kidnapped by two conspiracy-obsessed young men who believe that she is an alien who has been sent to destroy the planet. Amazon MGM Studios will bring Hedda , writer/director Nia DaCosta’s reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play, starring Tessa Thompson. Aziz Ansari, Seth Rogen, and Keanu Reeves headline Ansari’s directorial debut, Good Fortune , which will play at the Edina Mann 4 Theatre as part of the festival’s new partnership to expand its programming capabilities. Searchlight Pictures will be pulling double duty during the festival’s final days with the dramedies Rental Family and Is This Thing On? . In the lineup press release, Executive Director Jatin Setia said that he wanted to “put a brighter spotlight on the independent spirit.” That sentiment is illustrated by the selection of The Floaters as the Spotlight Centerpiece. Marking its Minnesota Premiere at the festival, the indie dramedy features an eclectic cast of performers like Jackie Tohn, Seth Green, Aya Cash, and Steve Guttenberg. Director Rachel Israel and producer Shai Korman will conduct a Q&A following the screening. The Closing Night Gala, Lost & Found in Cleveland , will also bring together its cast and crew, including directors Keith Gerchak and Marisa Guterman, as well as actors Santino Fontana and Benjamin Steinhauser. The festival received a record number of submissions this year, with over 150 films set to screen at the Marcus West End Cinema, Edina Mann 4 Theatre, or virtually via the TCFF streams platform. The selection runs from October 16 to the 25th, with information about scheduling and tickets available at twincitiesfilmfest.org . More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Running Man November 11, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Does a joke get funnier the more times you say it? Does a piece of music get richer if you play it louder? Does food taste better if you chew it more? Does a painting become more beautiful if you paint harder? Lessons in moderation are all around, each protecting us from the consequences of having too much of a good or bad thing. Edgar Wright is an excessive filmmaker, always keeping his editing zippy, set pieces cued to a hip piece of music, and comedy at its most deadpan. His indulgences had been held in check by a creative partnership with stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, or at least harnessed towards their fullest potential in a worthwhile endeavor. Now, in The Running Man , they’ve been tangled into their most off-putting form, all in service of a story that’s been beaten to the punch many, many, many times before. Set in the dystopian world of 2025 (hey, they got that right!), America is a vast land of the haves and have-nots. Ben Richards (Glen Powell) is one of the have-nots, forced to work in radiation-laced factories for less than minimum wage. But he’s the kind of poor you only find in the movies, which means that despite a dire physical and financial situation, he still has chiseled abs, pearly white teeth, and an expensive haircut. Those qualities, plus his hair-trigger temper, make him the perfect candidate for The Running Man , a game show where a contestant wins one billion dollars if they survive for thirty days while being hunted down. No one has ever won the game before, which practically means it's suicide. That’s already the situation Ben is in (his neighborhood is called “slumicide”), and his toddler desperately needs medicine for a fever. If you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, you might as well get paid to suffer. Granting credit where it's due, the story of The Running Man is based on the novel by Stephen King, first published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982. A few years later, it was adapted for the screen as an Arnold Schwarzenegger action vehicle. That predates all the other dystopian stories revolving around games like The Hunger Games , Ready Player One , and Battle Royale . But in modern movie form, it’s already been lapped by those properties, plus adjacent stories like Ready or Not , Self Reliance , and The Hunt . It’s bad to come late to the party; it’s worse to also not come with a gift in hand. If Wright and co-writer Michael Bacall aren’t going to be first, they’re going to make damn sure they’re the loudest. You’d need more than two hands to count the number of speeches made about the 1% pushing their thumbs down on the little guy, and how the game, and, by extension, life, is rigged against all of us. Everything is a pre-packaged, corporate-sponsored meal to keep us in line for the slaughter, and we’re all too weak to do anything but swallow it whole. Neverminding the retreading of these very timely themes, Wright might have had the audience raising their fists in solidarity if everything else about the film wasn’t so… lame. Fitting to his name, Ben Richards is a generic protagonist whose only sin is that he cares too much. His anger is righteous, and every supporting character’s sole occupation is to tell him how much of a hero he is for the commoners. That means a supporting cast of William H. Macy, Michael Cera, Lee Pace, and Emilia Jones is wasted. At least Colman Domingo brings a robust amount of charm to his duties as the game’s emcee, the lone supply of humor in this shockingly unfunny script. It’s hard to judge if this is a success or a failure in the test of whether Glen Powell is a bona fide A-list leading man. On one hand, he’s saddled with a nothingburger character and a shallow story. On the other hand, he doesn’t do much to rise above those limitations, mostly meeting the project on its level. If you can’t decide if something is good or bad, then you’ve probably already answered the question. Unfortunately for me (and us), it didn’t take long to decide that The Running Man is an extreme disappointment. It’s a fitting film for the time: grotesque, unapologetically brash, and always looking to send a message. A famous man once said that “I know writers who use subtext, and they are all cowards.” You know what’s also cowardly? Selling a prime steak, and then serving reheated hamburger. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Top 10 Martin Scorsese Films October 16, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen In the realm of American cinema, few names resonate as powerfully as Martin Scorsese. With a career spanning over five decades, he has crafted a body of work that is as diverse as it is profound. He’s bigger than the gangster films he’s mainly known for, adapting himself to deliver quintessential entries within the sports, noir, biopic, and kids subgenres. It was an extreme challenge to narrow this list down to only ten movies, as a director of his stature has so many masterpieces that even the great ones don’t make the cut. A ranking of the 11-20 entries would still tower over 99% of other filmmakers. Honorable mentions that just missed inclusion were Raging Bull , Hugo , and New York, New York . 10. Gangs of New York Gangs of New York is an epic about the battle for American democracy, often paralleling some of the modern struggles within our government. It features some of Scorsese’s best world-building as he weaves us in and around the catacombs and rickety tinderbox buildings of 1860s New York. Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance may not rank as the highest in his filmography, but it doesn’t matter when Daniel Day-Lewis is chewing every scene as the violently charismatic Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting. 9. Taxi Driver Taxi Driver sees New York as it truly was in the 1970s: a cesspool of crime and villainy that no decent person should visit, let alone live in. Scorsese bridges the gap between our thirst for the unseen on screen and how it plays out in reality. There’s a smoky focus on the physical and mental damage done, and how the media can twist evil into a morbid story of vigilante justice. 8. Silence Faith-based movies are often met with skepticism, but the power of Scorsese’s filmmaking is always able to appeal to both sides of the coin. He transports us the 17th-century Japan, a place of clashing cultures that becomes the backdrop for the soul-searching journey of Father Rodrigues. Andrew Garfield painfully captures the inner turmoil of a man battling his faith and the system that surrounds him. 7. The Departed Not many directors can claim that their seventh-best film was the one that netted them both the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture. Scorsese blends a taut and intricate plot with stellar performances from its ensemble cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, and Martin Sheen. It was, and still is, one of his most straightforward films, offering escapist thrills through a refined lens. 6. The Irishman At 209 minutes, The Irishman is a true-crime epic. Telling the story of mob hitman Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, the long-gestating project is packed with an all-star cast of Robert De Niro as the titular character as well as Joe Pesci and Al Pacino in career-defining roles. Instead of rehashing his usual gangster formula, Scorsese flips the script and fully exposes the audience to the doom and gloom that a life of crime brings to someone. 5. Goodfellas Goodfellas is the shining testament to Scorsese’s unparalleled brilliance at bringing the world of organized crime to life on the silver screen. It showcases an unapologetic and unflinching portrayal of the mafia lifestyle. We are in the same position as Lorrain Bracco’s Karen Hill, always weary of what’s going on and what’s around the corner, but too blinded by lights to do anything about it. And even when we spin out of control, there’s still a piece of us that wants to do it all over again. 4. The Wolf of Wall Street The exuberance and moral decay of 1980s Wall Street never felt more alluring than it does in The Wolf of Wall Street . But that excitement is also a powerful teacher, showcasing that greed isn’t good. It’s a car crash that you can’t look away from, filmed so kinetically that almost want to be in the driver’s seat. It also took extreme talent from Scorsese and his whole team to set a Guinness World Record for the most instances of swearing in a film, with the word “fuck” said 506 times. 3. Casino Like the story itself, Casino is as excessive as possible. It was the most Scorsese-like movie Scorsese had made up to that point, featuring all the hallmarks: Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, the rise and fall of the mob, smooth camera movements, an absolute fuckton of swearing, and a roaring soundtrack. It’s compelling and thrilling to watch from minute one to minute one-hundred and seventy-nine. 2. The Aviator This biographical masterpiece flawlessly captures the tumultuous life of aviation pioneer Howard Hughes. Leonardo DiCaprio is perfectly cast here as he was miscast Gangs of New York , brilliantly showcasing Hughes's genius, eccentricity, and inner demons. Scorsese’s meticulous attention to detail recreates Classical Hollywood as we witness the rise and fall of one of cinema’s first titans. 1. The Age of Innocence The costume drama is not a genre one would normally associate with Martin Scorsese. But Scorsese is not a director confined to certain genres. Tender, yet brutal, The Age of Innocence burns with fiery passion while also being extinguished by icy repression. It's a battle of yin and yang that Scorsese perfectly balances with his sumptuous staging and set design. But what always separates Scorsese from the pack is the performances he can bring out. He always seems to find a new level for even the very best such as Daniel Day-Lewis. Winona Ryder radiates and Michelle Pfeiffer incites yearning with her performance. Never has such a naked performance been given under so many layers of clothes. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Tár October 8, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen “Lydia Tár is many things” exclaims New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik (playing himself in one of many ways writer/director Todd Field grounds this purely fictional story within our reality) as he introduces the titular composer for an interview as part of a cultural festival. Listing off her various achievements, which include being the first person to lead each of the Big Five symphony orchestras and one of the few to reach EGOT status, Gopnik labels Tár as a revolutionary within the classical composing world, a sentiment the audience - likely filled with rich patrons of the arts - reflects as they hang on to her every word. In the hands of lesser filmmakers and leading stars, this opening 10-15 minute scene, which merely consists of a Q&A about Lydia’s position on some issues within the industry, would seem pedantic and expository as we’re meant to quickly understand why people would fall head over heels for the genius of this fictional character. But when you cast Cate Blanchett, who’s incapable of delivering a bad scene, let alone a bad performance, that task becomes as easy as breathing. And when you combine her with Todd Field, returning to the silver screen for the first time in sixteen years, that breath is one of the freshest ones you’ll take this year. From that scene, which brilliantly gives us the nudge needed to descend further into the rabbit hole that is this character’s psyche, Field takes us on a fascinating journey through the unraveling life of Lydia Tár. She has a personal assistant named Francesca (Noémie Merlant, one half of Portrait of a Lady on Fire ) who is by her at every stop, most notably a seminar at Juilliard where Lydia gets into an argument (all done in one long continuous take, one of many scenes that flow uneasily in real-time) with a student about how today’s generation has to separate the art from the artist and that “if you want to dance the mask, you must service the composer.” The controversy that emerges from that is only the tip of the iceberg for Tár. Along with unceremoniously pushing out her assistant composer and a burgeoning predator/prey dynamic with her lead cellist, there are also legal threats after Lydia’s former protégé committed suicide, with possible motives linked back to her. 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 (supplied here by Florian Hoffmeister and Monika Willi, respectively), 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.” Any post-screening conversation surrounding will no doubt be as intellectually stimulating as the film itself. As our guide during that examination, Blanchett reaches another echelon in a career that peaks have only marked. One could not be ridiculed for mistaking Lydia Tár as a real person, as the details and nuances Blanchett infuse the character with are ones usually found within Oscar-bait biopics, which she’s already conquered with The Aviator, Elizabeth (the less said about its sequel the better), and I’m Not There . Surrounding her is an impressive European supporting cast of Nina Hoss, Mark Strong, and Sophie Kauer. If TÁR is meant to mark the second coming of Todd Field’s career, then we should all be in for a lengthy treat for the mind, body, and soul. But if this was only a brief blip and we’re subjected to another sixteen-year absence, then I at least know what my most anticipated film of 2038 will be. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Burial October 11, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Director Maggie Betts’ The Burial feels as if it was engineered in a lab specializing in making crowd-pleasing movies. You’re supposed to laugh, cry, boo, and applaud at every moment it wants you to, almost as if you’re playing a game of Simon Says. It’s impossible not to be aware that you’re being sold to with the tactics of a used car salesman. And yet it hardly becomes a hindrance because the calculations made by Betts and co-writer Doug Wright were made with genuine emotion, which effortlessly translates off the screen. That’s not to say that Betts and Wright are perfect in their endeavors, far from it. Almost all of the characters are thinly drawn, most notably Bill Camp’s mustache-twirling billionaire bad guy who literally says he wants more elderly people to die so he can make more money. He’s the head of the Lowen Group, a corporate behemoth that owns hundreds of funeral homes in the southern United States. Jeremiah “Jerry” O'Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones) owns about a dozen homes in Mississippi and he plans to pass them down to his thirteen children just like his father and his grandfather did. Money is a bit tight right now, so Jerry decides to sell three of his homes to the Loewen Group. A handshake deal was struck, but months have now passed and the corporation still hasn’t signed the contract. It seems the sharks are waiting for Jerry to drown so they can snatch up his whole lot for pennies on the dollar. Jerry’s freshly graduated attorney Hal (Mamoudou Athie) persuades him to sue and bring on the help of power player Willie Gary (Jamie Foxx). Despite Jerry’s mission of doing what’s right, Willie is only initially here because he sees dollar signs and a chance to join Johnnie Cochran as the nation’s most famous lawyer. The O.J. Simpson case runs parallel to the film’s events, which is largely why this prototypical David vs. Goliath story has gone unnoticed in the American culture. Like O.J., this case is not just about contract law, it is also about race. You see, Jerry filed suit in Hinds County, Mississippi, a city with a 70% Black population. It’s not a coincidence that Jerry hires Willie and the Loewen Group hires Mame Downes (Jurnee Smollett) to represent their white selves. As opposed to many other movies that tackle racism in the South, Betts never lets her film feature a “white savior” or “magical negro” narrative. There are some small handlings of microaggressions (Jerry’s previous lawyer, played by Alan Ruck, constantly refers to Hal as “son”) and the revelation that the National Baptist Convention, the largest arm of the Black Chuch, was the main target of the Loewen Group’s schemes. There isn’t an attempt to solve these problems, as both we and Betts know that these issues are just as prevalent in 2023 as they were in 1995. The courtroom scenes are a bit perfunctory, mostly fast-forwarding past all the stuff we’re well acquainted with to get to the good parts. Foxx is at his movie star peak as Willie, parading himself around as he treats the courtroom as a one-man performance. Betts knows that all she needs to do is let Foxx work, and she does by giving him several one-take speeches. The Burial gets the spirit of the ‘90s inspirational courtroom dramas just right, pitching down the middle to every demographic. It shouldn’t work, and yet it does thanks to sound filmmaking and entertaining performances. To be honest, the worst thing about it is the title. Is it too late to change that? More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

American Fiction November 1, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen American Fiction screened at the 2023 Twin Cities Film Fest. MGM will release it in limited theaters on December 15, followed by a nationwide expansion on December 22. American Fiction is this year’s Triangle of Sadness : a social satire that somewhat succeeds because it’s undeniably hilarious and that it’s practically shooting fish in a barrel. Both films also claimed ironic victory when making their world premieres at their respective festivals. Triangle of Sadness , a brutal takedown of the uber-rich, nabbed the Palme d’Or at the exclusive black-tie Cannes Film Festival, while American Fiction , an examination of the reduction of the Black experience by white people, won the People’s Choice Award at the mostly-white Toronto International Film Festival. We’s Lives in Da Ghetto is a bestselling book in the world that Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) inhabits. Its author, Sintara Golden (Issa Rae), was born to lawyer parents and received an Ivy-league education, making her claims about the novel’s poverty-stricken protagonists being modeled after “her people” dubious at best. This is all happening while Monk can’t find anyone to publish his newest book, another in a long line of rigorously intellectual academia on Black life in America. There’s also Monk’s mother (Leslie Uggams), who’s beginning to show signs of rapidly progressive dementia. Being a literature professor at West Coast University doesn’t pay enough to cover her medical costs, and neither does having an unsold manuscript, so, in a drunken stupor, Monk decides to write the most panderingly simplistic “Black novel” that he can. Predictably, the trashy piece of work is a sensation to all the white liberal publicists. Six-digit offers come flying through the door, along with movie deals. Becoming part of the problem is now making Monk extremely wealthy. Does he continue the charade, or do his morals persuade him to pull the plug? Spike Lee’s Bamboozled would be a more literal comparison to what writer/director Cord Jefferson is aiming for in his debut feature film. There are also several connected elements between this and Charlie Day’s Fool’s Paradise from earlier this year, which aimed at Hollywood. Much of the satire there and here revolves around the protagonists doing/saying something ludicrously stupid and, to their bewilderment, being met with immense applause from the gullible idiots. The world happens around them, and they react with disdain. We’re in on the joke with them, pointing and laughing at the idiots while thinking there’s no way we’re like them. Unfortunately, like Day, Jefferson doesn’t seem to have much to say outside of the obvious as Monk digs himself deeper into a hole of lies. It’s correct in everything it’s saying, but everything it’s correct about has already been agreed upon by the audience that will watch it. It’s nearly impossible to start a conversation when most everyone is already on the same page and your material is too neatly packaged to confront the ideals of anyone on the other side. What’s missing is Spike Lee’s ability to provoke and make you uncomfortable, as that’s when you’re at your most critically minded. There’s also the presence of several other subplots along with the ailing mother. Monk strikes up a charming, yet frustratingly thin, romance with his mother’s neighbor Coraline (Erika Alexander). Monk’s erratic younger brother Cliff (Sterling K. Brown), who just came out of the closet, is also in town. He isn’t much help with their mother’s medical needs, but he does know how to show Monk the error of his ways. None of these plotlines coalesce neatly, and very few of them reach a satisfying conclusion. Ironically, Jefferson launched his career as a magazine editor, a role sorely needed here. Still, Jefferson has made a very funny movie littered with many witty one-liners. And he’s given a substantial leading role to the great Jeffrey Wright, who hasn’t received top billing in nearly three decades. Just as he’s proved in the two Wes Anderson films he’s been in, Wright shows an incredible talent for wordplay and physical comedy. Brown and John Ortiz, playing Monk’s agent, often threaten to steal the show with their exuberance. American Fiction may be a victim of expectations as winning the People’s Choice Award at TIFF certainly raised the bar. Whether that’s fair or not is a different story. All I know is that I can only write about what I felt, which was slight disappointment mixed with great optimism about what Jefferson will do next. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

A Good Person March 22, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen For both good and bad reasons, Zach Braff’s A Good Person proudly wears its heart on its sleeve, which is about the size of The Grinch’s when it grew three sizes that eventful day. It’s Braff’s first writing and directing credit since 2013’s Wish I Was Here , which didn’t make quite the same splash as his 2004 debut Garden State . The acoustic/folksy soundtrack and big emotional moments have been lifted from the past and into the present with A Good Person , with Braff staying behind the camera in favor of allowing Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman (reunited with Braff after Going in Style in 2017) to chew the scenery, and then some. Braff sadly found the inspiration to write A Good Person during the pandemic. He went through a series of tragic moments, losing close friends and family, some specifically to COVID-19. His pent-up grief and anger manifested themselves onto the page in the form of a young woman who has to pick herself back up after an unimaginable loss. Pugh plays that woman, Allison, who is very soon to be married to Nathan (Chinaza Uche). On her way to try on wedding dresses with her soon-to-be sister-in-law and her husband, Allison is involved in a fatal car accident, with her being the only survivor. The guilt sends her down a dark path filled with pills and alcohol, with her relationship with Nathan also coming to an end. There is some light at the end of the tunnel as Allison seeks help for her problems at AA meetings, where she runs into Nathan’s father Daniel (Morgan Freeman, actually given something to do outside of bad B-movies). The only way forward for these two lost souls is to face their fears together, which promises to bring about complicated feelings of regret and loss. Braff may not wallow in the pivotal car accident, but he sure does pound the keys during the aftermath. The first third almost surpasses Darren Aronofksy-levels of melodrama as Allison goes through the clichéd stages of grief. Braff doesn't have Aronofsky's theatrical flair though, with his attempt to keep things grounded only making it soapier. The cutesy song choices and mismatched comedy doesn’t help either, with the tone never finding a consistent throughline. Braff may not wallow in the pivotal car accident, but he sure does pound the keys during the aftermath. The first third almost surpasses Darren Aronofksy-levels of melodrama as Allison goes through the clichéd stages of grief. Braff doesn't have Aronofsky's theatrical flair though, with his attempt to keep things grounded only making it soapier. The cutesy song choices and mismatched comedy doesn’t help either, with the tone never finding a consistent throughline. Things do get better as time goes on, both for the characters and Braff’s capabilities as a storyteller. The beats begin to be less predictable and the pace lets the actors breathe in the moment. Pugh and Freeman are fantastic in the quiet scenes they share together, breaking down their complicated relationship and building it back up again with honest conversations. But just as the story and performers are reaching their peak, Braff sends them back down the ski hill with some over-the-top scenes that further push the already strained boundaries of authenticity. Pugh and Freeman handle it fine, but it feels like a waste to saddle two generational talents with some of the most well-worn material known to the cinematic medium. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Extraction 2 June 9, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Between Tom Cruise, the John Wick franchise, and the newly minted Extraction franchise, a constant battle of one-upmanship is going on within the stunt industry (at least in the Western hemisphere, as Asia has already established itself as a master of the art form). The jumps are getting higher, the setpieces are getting longer and more complicated, and the violence is being doled out through more creative avenues. It’s a buyer’s market, with all of us being happy customers. The continuous rejection by AMPAS to include a stunt category within the Oscars may be a blessing in disguise, as someone (we all know it’s Cruise) may go a bit overboard in pursuit of that gold trophy. “Going overboard” is the name of the game when it comes to Extraction 2 , at least within the elaborate set pieces. Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) proves that good viewership (and having a distributor hellbent on burning as much cash as humanely possible) is the best medicine. He’s miraculously survived the mortal wounds he suffered at the end of the first entry, with his handler, Nik (Golshifteh Farahani), putting him into forced retirement. Of course, no action hero can stay out of the game for long. A mysterious messenger arrives at Tyler’s doorstep with a mission: extract his ex-wife’s sister and her two children from an infamous Georgian prison. After a few minutes of soul-searching and one Rocky training montage, Tyler is back in fighting shape, ready to bulldoze an unquantifiable amount of bad guys in his path. Extraction established itself in the summer of 2020 with its focus on the brutality of close-quarters combat through methodical long takes and gruesome violence. Stuntman-turned-director Sam Hargrave mixed the smoothness of John Wick with the gruffness of Jason Bourne , delivering semi-mindless carnage at a time we all needed a bit of escapism. This sequel doesn't lose sight of that identity, with the opening set piece unfolding across an eye-watering 21-minute long take, beginning from a jail cell and ending with a train derailment. Of course, just like Sam Mendes’ 1917 , the single take here is digitally stitched together from various smaller takes spread across various locations. Nonetheless, it’s a sight to behold as it lunges from a stealth mission to a prison yard brawl to a car chase to a train heist without ever losing an ounce of energy. The athleticism of the actors is tested, with Hemsworth reaching peak physical performance just as about anyone else would be on the ground gasping for air. Hargrave may have broken Hemsworth free of the shackles of Marvel fight choreography and editing, but the script by frequent MCU director Joe Russo goes through a speedrun of every action movie cliché in the book. We’ve got a badass hero with a tragic past that he revisits by watching old footage from a family vacation at a beach; a stereotypical Eastern European villain that waxes poetically about the value of family; “one last job” that gets the hero out of retirement; and the sacrifice of a comrade (no spoilers of course). You’ve seen this all before, both in better and worse movies. But neither you nor I are watching Extraction 2 for the plot, so it’s best not to dwell on its shortcomings. The action is here in all its bombastic glory, and you don’t even need to leave the couch to enjoy it. What more could you want on a Friday night? More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

2022 Losers January 2, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen Now that the winners of 2022 have been crowned, it’s time to shift our focus to the bottom of the ladder. These are the ones that will probably look back at their output with disdain, and, hopefully, will use it as motivation to do better in the future. Like the winner's list, some tough decisions had to be made for the finalists here, so your preference might not be found here. Remember, this is all good fun, so don’t take it personally. DCEU DC fans have always thought it was the DCEU vs. MCU, but this year proved that it was never really a competition, because at least Marvel has consistency when it comes to delivering on what's promised and pleasing the fans. Black Adam was a box office disappointment, made all the more embarrassing by Dwayne Johnson’s insistence otherwise. Henry Cavill announced his return as Superman, filmed a post-credit scene for Black Adam , and then was let go only a month later. Adding insult to injury was Matt Reeves’ The Batman , which, like Joker , showed that DC characters can be used to make great movies if the right people are put in the driver’s seat. Maybe James Gunn and Peter Safran can right the ship? Warner Bros. Discovery Let’s take it one step further than just DC and examine the bigger fish. Along with having to plan out a painstaking rebuild process for their superhero franchises, Warner Bros. also has the Fantastic Beasts franchise in crisis mode and had to endure the entire Don’t Worry Darling tabloid mess. They also pissed off a swarm of creators and fans by shelving completed projects and removing content from HBO Max as part of their costly merger with Discovery. Harry Styles Of course, Styles’ music career may have continued to flourish in 2022, but we’re focusing solely on his work in movies. Both Don’t Worry Darling and My Policeman didn’t live up to the weight of expectations, with Styles’ acting being mostly described as wooden and amateurish. I wonder if Kevin Feige is starting to worry about how he’s going to be utilized in the MCU going forward? Christian Bale On paper, Christian Bale’s actions of reuniting with David O. Russell and joining the MCU don’t seem all that bad. But in reality, both moves came nowhere close to reaching their potential. Amsterdam was a critical and financial disaster, and Thor: Love and Thunder didn’t give him the villain spotlight that he deserved. Bale would reteam with director Scott Cooper for the third time in The Pale Blue Eye , but Netflix’s muted release of the film kept its impact to a minimum. Oscar Movies at the Box Office Unless you were a superhero or horror movie, chances are you didn’t make much of a dent at the box office. Unfortunately, the films geared more toward the awards race don’t fall into those two categories. She Said posted one of the worst opening weekends ever for a movie in wide release, and James Gray’s Armageddon Time could only muster $1 million domestically despite strong reviews and a starry cast. Steven Spielberg, the most financially successful director of all time, could only attract $8 million for one of the best-reviewed films of the year, The Fabelmans . You could claim The Banshees of Inisherin as a success with $20 million worldwide, but Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri made over $150 million just five years ago, so there’s only so much positivity that can be spun. Liam Neeson Another year, another serving of forgettable action movies by Liam Neeson. Maybe the success of the Taken franchise was a mistake, as it has pigeon-holed Neeson into these generic “tough guy” roles. Blacklight and Memory proved to be nothing more than Redbox quality, and they also didn’t make much money at the box office either. Neeson didn’t have much success on the prestige side of the spectrum either, as his reunion with writer/director Neil Jordan in Marlowe was greeted with tepid reviews after its extremely muted premiere at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. Kevin Hart Hart may have attracted large viewership with his two Netflix movies The Man from Toronto and Me Time , but that doesn’t mean anybody who watched them actually enjoyed themselves. Both films were met with overwhelmingly negative critical reactions and didn’t help Hart expand his range as an actor or comedian. With Adam Sandler gaining positive notices for Hustle and returning to the Safdies for a future Netflix film, it seems that Hart has been kicked down to the bottom level of the Netflix content creation factory. Judd Apatow Speaking of Netflix and career low points, writer/director Judd Apatow released his worst movie to date in The Bubble . As a needlessly long two-hour movie that felt like four hours, this Netflix “comedy” took a group of talented actors and forced them to work way below their pedigree. Apatow also didn’t do well in his producing role for Billy Eichner’s Bros , with that movie (undeservedly) failing to register at the box office. Disney Animated Movies It was a pretty crummy year all-around for the Mouse House, but there was nowhere it hurt more than in their animation department. After the two most recent Toy Story movies grossed over $1 billion each, Lightyear cratered to just over $200 million. Strange World will be an even costlier mistake, with losses expected to rise above $150 million. And their most critically acclaimed film of the year, Turning Red , was shuttered off to Disney+, angering many of the creatives over at Pixar. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Lost King March 21, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen The Lost King had its World Premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. IFC Films will release the film in theaters on March 24. 2013's Philomena was the stealth contender of that year's Oscar race as it slowly built up a head of steam from its Venice and Toronto International Film Festival screenings. Judi Dench seemed to be the only initial likely contender from the creative team, who was ready to get out of her "slump" after receiving six acting nominations between 1997 and 2006. Lo and behold, the film overperformed with additional nods for Best Original Score (coming at a time when Alexandre Desplat couldn't be kept out of the Oscar mix), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture. The nominations were the victory, with the film expectedly going home empty-handed after that. Now ten years later (or nine if you saw the film at the Toronto International Film Festival as I did, or live in the United Kingdom, where it was released back in October), the entire creative team of director Stephen Frears, co-writers Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, and composer Desplat, have reunited for another history lesson centering around forgotten figures. But while Philomena shined a light on the recent past with a mother in search of her lost son, The Lost King aptly follows a woman on her quest to unearth the nearly 700-year-old remains of Richard III. Substituting for Judi Dench is Sally Hawkins, with Coogan continuing as the supportive co-star along the journey. Little known to much of the non-literary world, including Philippa Langley (Hawkins), is that Shakespeare's titular play about King Richard III is one of the biggest hit pieces ever set on the stage. Unlike the bloodlust and madness The Bard infused within his tragic tale, Richard's reign was filled with more modestly good occurrences, such as implementing the "innocent until proven guilty" legal system, and the more widespread adoption of the printing press. These accomplishments don't merit his status as one of the best in the history of the monarchy, but it also makes his shameful legacy look extremely unfair compared to other rulers. As she digs deeper down the rabbit hole of conflicting theories about Richard's life, Philippa stumbles upon a fan club whose main goal is the uplifting of his name, which would be accomplished by the finding of his lost remains and a royal burial with a coat of arms. Frears has never had a distinct style as a director, which may be why the presenter at TIFF confused his filmography with that of fellow countrymen Tom Hooper. But while Hooper's quirks may have won him Best Director and Best Picture for The King's Speech , they've also landed him in director's jail for Cats , where he still resides to this day. His lack of gimmicks has allowed him to be steady-as-she-goes for over thirty years now, never being constrained to a single genre or delivering a dud so monstrous that the ship runs off course. The Lost King , however, may have needed a little more personality from the person in the director's chair, as the "excitement" it tries to produce barely registers. Only out-and-proud history nuts (like me) will find much to walk away with, even if Desplat's overdone thriller-esque score is trying its best to lift up the pace. Still, the quiet nature of Frears' work matches Hawkins, who does well to exude a confident nature in the face of many obstacles, which include chronic fatigue syndrome and the dismissal of her search by several people. The "villains" of this story come off a bit cartoonish, but they seem a bit more believable when compared to the moments when Philippa is greeted by the ghost of Richard III. The Lost King is a by-the-numbers semi-pleasant British piece, directed and acted with a slight amount of class and wit. It's by no means a must-see, but it's just charming enough to meet the standards of all those involved. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen