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Ad Astra September 23, 2019 By: Button Hunter Friesen You may not have noticed, but the 2010s have been a renaissance for space movies. It all started with Gravity in 2013, followed by Interstellar, The Martian , and First Man . The one thing each of these great movies has in common is their ability to tell a story of perseverance and triumph on a universal scale with the bonus of mind-blowing visual effects. Another addition to that list, but not entirely for the same reasons, is James Gray’s Ad Astra . Set in the near future, a catastrophic power surge travels across the solar system and strikes the Earth, killing thousands. SpaceCom (the new NASA) has tracked down the source and believes it to most likely be from Dr. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones), whose last known location was near Neptune sixteen years ago. The doctor’s son, Maj. Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) happens to be the most respected engineer/astronaut in the world. Realizing the personal and planetary stakes this mission will have, Roy is recruited by the higher-ups to travel to the surge’s source and destroy it before our planet is wiped out. James Gray has always been a more high-brow filmmaker that has been able to take big stars and concepts and use them for projects that reach beyond the tropes of the genre. Just like in his previous film The Lost City of Z , Gray here centers the story on a man on a journey, ending with the protagonist discovering more about himself than the destination he set out for. But don’t worry, the destination here is well worth your time as Gray makes full effect of the two things most scarce in space: light and sound. Hoyte Van Hoytema illuminates every vast beauty through his awe-inspiring photography and Max Richter’s soothingly intimate score perfectly complements the most emotional moments. Despite centrally being a very emotional film, Gray does liven things up from time to time with a few action set pieces that are both extremely creative and tense. Each one encapsulates the perils of space and the feeling that we humans are way out of our element once we go beyond our atmosphere. The writing of Ad Astra is what makes this film unique. Having more in common with Solaris and 2001: A Space Odyssey than the films mentioned in the beginning, Ethan Gross and Gray’s screenplay delivers an introspective and philosophical story that increasingly gets more human as the setting gets more cosmic. The story is centralized through McBride as we follow his POV through the dangerous mission. The narration by Pitt is used to convey his character’s inner thoughts. Against all norms of narrative storytelling, the narration works for the betterment of the film as it gives us an in-depth view of his perception of the unfolding events. Gray’s scripts have always had another layer to them. There is always a sense of something deeper underneath that’s slowly coming to the surface throughout the film. Ad Astra is another example of this trend as each line of dialogue or new information learned tends to serve dual purposes and lead to something bigger down the road. There do end up being a few frayed storylines that don’t get the attention they deserve, but the overall story makes up for that fault by ending up being more than the sum of its parts. Already having a banner year with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood , Brad Pitt possibly delivers his greatest performance here. While Hollywood used Pitt’s movie star power to its full potential, here he is at his most subtle and whole. He carries the emotional weight of the film and never holds back or gives too much, leaving with just the right amount of characterization. Tommy Lee Jones is also great in his supporting role as the father, Clifford McBride. He’s more haunting than Pitt as we see the full effects that decades of claustrophobic space travel can have on the human mind and spirit. Liv Tyler shows up as Roy’s significant other in a small supporting role that, judging by the trailers, was supposed to be a lot more central to the story before being edited down. Reserved more to flashbacks, Tyler gives a more emotionally heavy performance that contrasts with Pitt. James Gray’s Ad Astra is part of the space renaissance of this last decade. But instead of following in the footsteps of those films it has joined, it charges down its own path and tells a deeply humanistic story on a cosmic level. Make no mistake, this is one of the best films of the year. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Foe October 25, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Five years from now Saoirse Ronan and/or Paul Mescal will have an Oscar in their hands. When that happens we’ll look back through their careers, highlighting all the films that led them down this path. For Ronan, we’ll be starting with her groundbreaking child performances in Atonement and Hanna . Then we’ll fondly remember her navigating female adolescence with Greta Gerwig in Lady Bird and Little Women . For Mescal we’ll start on television with Normal People , and then the explosion of Aftersun and All of Us Strangers . And then for both of them, we’ll see a movie titled Foe that came out in 2023 that they starred in for writer/director Garth Davis. We’ll sit back and think long and hard because we can’t remember if we have or haven’t seen it. Eventually, the memory of seeing it (probably on Amazon Prime) will come back, followed by a sad thought about how a movie starring two of the best actors of a generation amounted to absolutely nothing. Taking a page out of Jane Campion’s (whom he directed alongside for the television series Top of the Lake ) playbook from The Power of the Dog , Davis has his native Australia stand in for the barren American Midwest. The year is 2065 and things are as predictably bleak as we expect them to be. Water and fertile land are some of the most valuable resources, making farming a near-extinct occupation. Hen (Ronan) and Junior (Mescal) still hold on to that way of life in their own way. They live in a crumbling farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, with Hen working as a waitress and Junior as a line worker at the local poultry farm. They seem content with each other, which makes the arrival of a stranger (Aaron Pierre) all the more unnerving. This stranger has a proposal: Junior has been selected (conscripted would be the better word) to be a part of a mission on a space station far above Earth. Hen wouldn’t be left alone, instead, a perfect clone would be made of Junior to take his place while he’s away. This stranger must stay with the couple for a while to gather all the information needed to make this person-to-clone transition as seamless as possible. Adapted from the novel by Iain Reid, Foe can’t decide between being a parable about relationships and A.I., or a literal story about life on a desolate Earth. It picks somewhere in the middle, dooming both sides as they each need full commitment in order to work. The introspection of clones taking the place of humans has been done better in Blade Runner and Swan Song starring Mahershala Ali. Does it really matter if a clone is just as lifelike as a human when the characters aren’t interesting? There are also so many facts about this world that leave so many open questions. Why is Junior so special for this program? What exactly is this mission? If the clone is so perfect, why can’t they just send it into space? Why do Hen and Junior only listen to music from the mid-1900s and drive a beat-up pickup truck that would barely be worth anything in 2023? Some of these questions are nitpicks, but the lack of any gravitas surrounding the thematic material makes these stand out even more. The two leads do everything they can to keep things interesting, a job they can do with ease. They run the entire emotional gamut with their performances, but none of it registers due to Davis’ detachment from the material. Each of them is forced to overact once the third-act twists come into play. Everything feels so forced by then that it’s almost comical. But it’s not a total trainwreck, so it’s just rather tediously bad. Son of Saul cinematographer Mátyás Erdély captures the landscape beautifully, showcasing the mystifying wonder that keeps people like Hen and Junior tethered to this patch of dirt. If only Davis could have done the same with his direction and script, as most of his decisions steer away from that intrigue and end up being as interesting as dirt itself. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

The Monkey February 17, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen The tagline for The Monkey , the new film by writer/director Oz Perkins, says that "everybody dies, and that's fucked up." You know what else is fucked up? Watching a filmmaker you've admired over the years torch all that goodwill with the same hellbent rage that Adam Scott has for the titular toy monkey during the film's cold open. This is not Longlegs , both in terms of the tone and overall quality. How and why Scott came to hate this monkey is a bit of a mystery. Even he's not exactly sure what it does, only that bad things happen whenever you turn the key on its back and let it bang its drum. And the definition of "bad" here isn't just a stubbed toe or missing the bus. It's the kind of bad that results in an extremely gruesome death in a series of events that would even make Rube Goldberg blush. The simplicity and inevitably of the threat that this primate possesses is where Perkins - adapting from the 1980 short story of the same name by Stephen King - finds his kernel of truth about the balance between life and death. Any of us could die at any time by any combination of causes. "It's like life" reads the box that the monkey comes nicely wrapped in, a sentiment echoed by the mother (Tatiana Maslany) of twin brothers Hal and Bill (played by Christian Convery as kids, and Theo James as adults). The boys learn firsthand on several instances the cruel power that life has to give and take away from you at any moment. Like me, just being aware of the concept of the Final Destination and Dumb Ways to Die franchises gives you more than enough familiarity with this concept. Perkins doesn't offer much of anything beyond the surface-level observations, opting for the comedy-horror tonal balance to do much of the heavy lifting. But between several horribly unfunny and/or funnily unscary sequences, the only facial expression you'll be making is one of annoyance. That weightless unpleasantness also applies to the deaths that litter the runtime. While everything that is happening to the people around the boys is horrifying, Perkins always dons a dastardly smile. A falling shotgun here, a slippery kitchen knife there, it's all supposed to make you simultaneously wince and howl with laughter. The suspense of the unknown in Longlegs has been replaced with the suspense of the inevitable. Granted, that is the point. It just makes everything feel so tedious, with a filmmaker taking us on several extra laps around a track that wasn't that good the first time. What is good is James' dual performance. Most of his time is spent as Hal, the smaller of the twins who constantly gets bullied and belittled. His ruggedly good looks and tall frame are submerged under glasses and a sheepish demeanor. Between him, the physical monkey doll, and the frames concocted by Nico Aguilar, The Monkey does at least have some visual splendors to enjoy. But the occasional treats for my eyes do not make up for the wretched experience that the rest of my body and soul were put through. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Cannes 2023 Predictions - Part 4: The Irregulars and Up-and-Comers April 11, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen As one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, the Cannes Film Festival always attracts the attention of cinephiles and industry professionals alike. Each year, the festival presents a diverse lineup of films that represent the best of international cinema, including both established and emerging filmmakers. With the 76th edition of the festival set to take place in May, film enthusiasts around the world are eagerly anticipating the announcement of the official selection on April 13th. While the festival organizers keep their cards close to their chest, there are already some strong players emerging as likely contenders for the coveted Cannes spotlights. In this four-part series, I’ll take a closer look at some of the films that are generating buzz and predict which ones are likely to make it to the Croisette this year. Each part will represent a category of films, which are: The Festival Masters Hollywood Makes a Splash The Festival Mainstays The Irregulars and Up-and-Comers The fourth and final part of my prediction series has us looking deeper into the fog. The directors listed are usually the most hungry and ambitious, as they are still looking to make a name for themselves at both the festival and within the world of cinema at large. Their projects may also still have a lot of questions, such as production status or release strategies. But miracles have happened and many of these deserve a coveted spot, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed. Which of these films are you most interested in? I'll be keeping you all posted on my adventures and sharing my thoughts on the films that I see. Stay tuned for more updates! The Iron Claw Indie filmmaker Sean Durkin has already impressed both domestic and international critics with his spellbinding psychological exercises. His feature debut of Martha Marcy May Marlene made the trek to the Croisette after its premiere at Sundance, and his next film (distributed by A24) seems Cannes-appropriate. Zac Efron, Harris Dickinson, and Jeremy Allen White star as the Von Erichs, a dynasty of wrestlers who made a great impact on the sport from the 1960s to the present day. Club Zero Little Joe director Jessica Hausner had her last film stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing it from being ready in time for last year’s festival. Things are looking much better this year, with Hausner ready to make her second appearance in the competition. She teamed up once again with her usual co-writer Géraldine Bajard in this story about a teacher (Mia Wasikowska) who takes a job at an elite school and forms a strong bond with five students - a relationship that eventually takes a dangerous turn. Memory Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco has split his time between Cannes and Venice when it comes to premiering his films. His last two works have made the Italian festival their home, but Fremeux may be able to tempt him to return to the Croisette due to the star wattage of Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard leading his new film. How Do You Live? With a planned July release date in his native Japan, all signs point to Hayao Miyazaki debuting his latest (and presumably) final film at Cannes. Despite several of his previous films playing at the festival, How Do You Live would mark his first film to premiere before its theatrical release. The titular book has long influenced Miyazaki, who cites it as his favorite childhood read. It’ll tell the story of a teenage boy and the interactions he has with his friends and uncle. Eureka A part of the New Argentine Cinema movement, Lisandro Alonso and his films have moved at a deliberate pace. He’s only directed six feature-length films since 2001, with nearly all of them playing at Cannes. His most recent film, Jauja won the FIPRESCI Prize as part of the 2014 Un Certain Regard selection. He’ll be reteaming with Viggo Mortensen for a story about a man on the search for his daughter after she has been kidnapped. No word has been given on production status, so it remains a mystery if the film is ready. Salem Jean-Bernard Marlin made a name for himself in 2018 with his Shéhérazade , netting him the award for Best First Feature at that year’s César Awards after its premiere at Cannes Critics’ Week. His next feature will continue to be set in the ganglands of France as it centers on a former gang member who believes his daughter is the only one who can save his Marseille community from an apocalyptic curse uttered by a rival gang member in his dying breath. Anatomy of a Fall Justine Triet made her festival debut in 2019 with Sibyl , which was met with mixed reviews. Those reactions would be cause for demotion to one of the sidebars for most filmmakers, but Triet is packing a punch in her sophomore effort with Toni Erdmann star Sandra Hüller leading as a mother accused of killing her husband. Her blind son is the sole witness to the murder, putting him in a grave moral dilemma. Strangers After taking a slight detour in television, 45 Days and Lean on Pete writer/director Andrew Haigh is back to feature filmmaking, and he’s brought together an all-star UK cast to mark the occasion. Andrew Scott will lead the film as a screenwriter who has a chance encounter with his neighbor (Paul Mescal), which pulls him back into his childhood home, where his long-dead parents are mysteriously still alive (Jamie Bell and Claire Foy). Haigh has premiered films at both Venice and Berlin, so it may be time he heads to Cannes, whether it be in competition or one of the sidebars. Occupied City Documentary films may not always pack the biggest red carpet potential, but plenty of them have broken out, notably Michael Moore’s Palme d’Or winning Fahrenheit 9/11 . Steve McQueen will try to recreate that success with his retelling of the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam from 1940-1945. Carrying a blockbuster budget of $5 million, joint distributors A24 and Film4 will likely want a big splashy premiere. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

A Thousand and One March 30, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Through the grainy filter capturing the hustle and bustle of the streets of Harlem, writer/director A.V. Rockwell, making her feature directorial debut, showcases her skillfulness at creating a lived-in setting for her story. Initially set in the mid-1990s, you see people with beepers, boom boxes, gold chains, and ripped jeans. The World Trade Centers are still standing, signaling how different of an era this was. But not everything has changed since then, with the aggressive “anti-crime” (a code word for racial profiling) politics of former mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg being a consistent threat over the decades. People get stopped for random frisks, neighborhoods become gentrified, and the police presence is always felt. Inez (singer Teyana Taylor) is one of those people living on the fringes of this world. She just got back from an extended stay at Rikers Prison and is in the process of figuring out how to move on. One of the first people she sees from across the street is her sort-of young son, Terry (it’s complicated), who’s been shuffling around foster homes since she left. Inez is a child of the foster care system as well, and she’s a lot of herself within Terry. She knows that he’ll end up just like her if he continues to be stuck on this path. To break the chain, Inez illegally “kidnaps” Terry from his foster home and moves him uptown, giving him a new name, Daryl, and a fake birth certificate in the process. Years eventually go by, with Inez and Terry making the most out of their makeshift situation. But Inez knows this lie will come crashing down once someone starts to wiggle that bottom block. Similar to how she creates the world around her characters, Rockwell has the world push back against them. Inez is always having to fight for what she has, whether it's the landlord’s shady attempts at getting her to leave so he can flip the building or being unable to support herself through a job she cares about like hairstyling. Years and years of that wear on her, with Taylor being a great illustrator of this. Those hardships burrow into Terry as well, with Rockwell taking the Moonlight approach of having three different actors (Aaron Kingsley Adetola, Aven Courtney, and Josiah Cross) play the boy between the ages of six and seventeen. The choice may not work as well compared to what Barry Jenkins did for his Best Picture-winning film, but all three performers here find a connective thread that they weave together. While the influence of Moonlight becomes more heavily evident as A Thousand and One marches on with its slightly overextended 116-minute runtime, none of it feels like a secondhand imitation. Eric K. Yue’s beautiful cinematography and Gary Gunn’s fluttery score give warmth in the most tender moments. The coldness is always present as well, being an aching reminder of how close to the edge these characters live. A Thousand and One tells a story of the past and the future, with each character having to reckon with where they stand in their timeline. Rockwell has delivered an impressive debut, worthy of the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize awarded to her at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Between her career behind the camera and Taylor’s in front of it, there’s an immense amount of talent on the rise. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Awards Update: The First Oscar Predictions of the Season June 13, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Welcome to an ongoing series where I cover the 2025/2026 awards season. On a regular basis, I will update my Oscar predictions, taking into account the new information that has been received since the last update. Full predictions in every category can be found on the Home and Awards page. The summer movie season is in full swing, packing the multiplexes with big blockbusters and nine-figure box office grosses. The warm winds also mean it's time to scratch the burgeoning itch that is the upcoming Oscar season through some early scouting and shot-in-the-dark predictions. Luckily, two of the major film festivals of the year, Sundance and Cannes, are in the books. The former featured little to no contenders beyond the usual smattering of documentaries, while the latter debuted a few seemingly strong contenders. As we've learned over the years from Parasite , Triangle of Sadness , Anatomy of a Fall , The Zone of Interest , The Substance , and Anora , to be a Best Picture contender born at Cannes, you must leave there with a prize in hand. That leads us to first look at this year's Palme d'Or winner: Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident . As evidenced by the assortment of festival prizes, Panahi is a revered auteur in the cinephile sphere of influence. This victory was part of a natural progression for him. That momentum and the film's potent political messaging are the main ingredients that could bring it into the Best Picture race. However, there are also several drawbacks. Iran will certainly not be submitting it for Best International Feature, and coproducers France and Luxembourg have previously illustrated that they won't submit non-native films. This will also be a tough sell at the box office, with a low ceiling that might not be high enough to gather public momentum. Distributor Neon clearly has a lot on their plate, and were in a similar situation last year with the Iranian thriller The Seed of the Sacred Fig , which turned out to be an awards disappointment. The company has grown as a campaigner over the years, but it remains to be seen if it can handle pushing multiple films into the top categories. Between the reported 15-19 minute standing ovation, enthusiastic reviews, and headlining stars, Sentimental Value will be Neon's main priority. They bought the film at last year's Cannes Film Festival before production had commenced, so they've had their eggs in this basket for a while now. They also just announced the same mid-fall release date as Anatomy of a Fall and Anora , so there's little reason to doubt that it will be a major player. I expect it to appear at all the major fall festivals before then. From there, it’s hard to gauge how the other prize winners will perform. Rigorous features like Sirât , Sound of Falling , and Resurrection each received acclaim and were picked up by reputable distributors. They likely won't appear in any major Oscar categories, but could factor into the Best International Feature race, should they be submitted to compete. Leaving empty-handed was Die, My Love . The reviews were mixed-positive, with all praise going to Jennifer Lawrence's lead performance. That would normally be enough for an Oscar favorite like her, but it's difficult to predict a lone acting nomination for a film that will be quite hostile towards audiences. Mubi did part with a chunk of change for the distribution rights, so they'll be making a big effort to get the film recognized in more categories. Other than the already premiered films, the rest of the predictions are a patchwork of educated guesses. As a reminder, this phase is solely about the nomination. We won't be thinking about winners until the new year. At this time last year, I had Joker: Folie à Deux , The End , and The Piano Lesson in my Best Picture lineup, so everything here is written with pencil. TIFF already announced its opening night film ( John Candy: I Like Me ), so the fall festival train has already left the station and will be accelerating over the next few months. My next update will come later this summer once we have a clear picture of what will be competing. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark

Afire August 2, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen With international films receiving awards attention more than ever, American audiences are becoming increasingly aware of the auteurs of global cinema, many of which have gone unappreciated for decades. Michael Haneke, Bong Joon-ho, Paweł Pawlikowski, Thomas Vinterberg, and Ryûsuke Hamaguchi are just a few of the names that have become prevalent within the North American cinephile lexicon over the past decade. But one name that has always seemed to elude the bright lights of Western media is German filmmaker Christian Petzold. This streak of unappreciation has become part of his narrative in the United States, with The New York Times running a piece on how he “may be the best German filmmaker you’ve never heard of.” As one of the leading figures in the Berlin School movement within German independent cinema, Petzold’s films often explore themes of identity, displacement, and the impact of German national history on personal lives. He’s been a staple of his native Berlin International Film Festival, winning awards for best director in 2012 for Barbara and the FIPRESCI Prize in 2020 for Undine . His latest feature, Afire , played at the festival, winning the Silver Bear grand jury prize. While on the surface it may seem that Afire has less to do with Germany’s past compared to Petzold’s earlier works of Phoenix or Transit , it still finds a way to interweave the ramifications of National Socialism on German culture, specifically its works of literature and poetry. The story begins with Leon (Thomas Schubert) and Felix (Langston Uibel) on their way to Felix’s summer house to work on their artistic endeavors. Leon is an author who’s been published once before and is struggling to put the finishing touches on his follow-up manuscript. Felix is a photographer trying to assemble a portfolio to submit to an art school. However, the promise of solitude is interrupted by the introduction of additional parties: Nadja (Paula Beer) and Devid (Enno Trebs). It turns out Felix’s mom double-booked the house for the weekend, much to Leon’s displeasure as he endlessly lectures about the importance of his writing and process. But there’s also one other thing, which is the raging forest fires going on not too far away. The evening sky is red (hence the German title translating to “Red Sky”) and the warning signs are everywhere, yet these characters deny the danger and press on. Petzold took inspiration from Anton Chekhov for this summer story. Besides Leon and Felix, all of these people are new to each other, prompting discovery and conflict around certain behaviors and actions. But Petzold never finds something unique to say in this story, mostly due to the characters lacking enough interest to make up for their unlikeability. Leon continually bemoans about his past and present, eventually learning the predictable lesson of self-humility. Still, the performances are quite nice, especially Paula Beer, whose red dress symbolizes her radiance. She’s the sunshine that breaks through Leon’s dark clouds. It’s a slight shame that Petzold rarely lets her blossom out of that subservient role. There’s a great fire going on within the story, but nothing seems to crackle off the screen. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Opus March 14, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Had Opus been released a decade prior, it might have had a chance to be a decent movie. Probably not, as that conversation would have needed the film to have a single redeeming element. But by coming out in 2025 and after the likes of Get Out , Midsommar, Blink Twice , The Menu , and Don’t Worry Darling , the weight of comparison killed Opus right from the start. This is an A24 film in the derogatory sense, tailor-made to have ironic memes generated and tongue-in-cheek merchandise consumed (if it sounds like I’m venting, it’s because I am). It came as no surprise to witness three of the four other audience members at my screening immediately open Letterboxd to log this as soon as the credits started scrolling. Unfortunately for Opus , that kind of crowd has definitely seen the other mentioned movies, leaving not many green stars to be granted here. I guess I was a little harsh when I said that this film didn’t have any redeeming elements to it. That’s not wholly true, as Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich delivered decent enough performances to keep me in my seat. She plays Ariel Ecton, a young journalist for a major music magazine. We first see her in a pitch meeting, the rest of the room eating up her every word as she pitches a new story on some faded singer. Editor Stan Sullivan (Murray Bartlett) likes the idea but passes Ariel over and hands it off to some other writer. Fate then reaches out and extends its hand in the form of an invite for Stan, and, surprisingly, Ariel, to join the legendary and long-reclusive popstar Alfred Moretti (Malkovich) at his secluded Utah compound for an unveiling of his new studio album. Considering her rookie status, especially when compared to all the other attendees like TV personality Clara Armstrong (Juliette Lewis) and paparazzo Bianca Tyson (Melissa Chambers), Ariel’s presence immediately stands out. It’s that sense of otherness that keeps Ariel on her toes as the weirdness of Moretti and his assembled cult followers gradually becomes too loud to ignore. The comparisons to Midsommar and The Menu also become too loud to ignore right as Ariel and co. arrive at Moretti’s self-proclaimed slice of heaven. Because every cult member smiles all the time and speaks of having their inner selves finally unlocked, you and I both know this is all bullshit and that something sinister is about to go down. First-time writer/director Mark Anthony Green takes his sweet time getting to the destination, littering his script with lectures on celebrity worship and the integrity of entertainment journalism. Besides already being beaten to the punch, Green never feels willing to make a fine point about any of his talking points, leaving everything in a morally muddled mess. I assume he thought the stylization would be enough, a kind of shorthand that forces us to fill in the logic gaps. Worse than the confusion Opus incites is the fact that it never registers as interesting or sensical. What’s the point of asking questions when you never cared what the answer was to begin with? More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Creed III February 24, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen With Creed III , the reins (or should I say gloves?) of the Rocky franchise have been fully passed down from Sylvester Stallone's The Italian Stallion to Michael B. Jordan's Adonis Creed. And in typical Rocky fashion, Jordan plants himself further into this universe by stepping into the director's chair, taking over after Ryan Coogler successfully revived this tired franchise in 2015 and Steven Caple Jr. adeptly continued that ascending trajectory in 2018. Fortunately for Jordan, he displays a higher quality of skill both in front and behind the camera than Stallone did with his sequels, which have the added benefit of decades worth of nostalgia to make it palatable. For the first time in this now nine-film franchise, the character of Rocky Balboa is totally absent from the story, with no mention of how he's doing in Vancouver with his estranged son and grandson. Adonis now sits somewhere in between his shoes from the first two films, and that of Rocky's, as he decides to hang up the gloves after a successful career. But while he deals with his new post-retirement future, a figure from the past shows up unannounced. It's Damian Anderson, Adonis' older brother figure from when he was moving between group homes and running from the law. An incident from their youth caused Damian to spend the next eighteen years in prison, stripping him of his "rightful" opportunity to become the best boxer in the world after making a name for himself on the amateur circuit. Adonis tries to make up for lost time by extending an olive branch to Damian in the form of taking him under his wing and preparing him for a title shot. Quickly things get out of control as Damian's pent-up rage and resentment take over, threatening to destroy Adonis' legacy as a boxer and the future he hopes to build as a leader. So, in the spirit of brotherly love, Adonis must protect what's his through the only means he knows how to: with his fists. It may come as a shock to you, especially after that plot description, to know that Creed III spends just as much time debating the morals of fighting vs using your words as it does delivering those bone-crunching blows to the head. But while Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin's script may take its time talking about why fighting doesn't solve everything, the overall narrative and kinetic work delivered by Jordan as a director say otherwise. A small subplot appears in the form of Amara dealing with bullies at school, an on-the-nose metaphor for Adonis and his situation, one that is quickly abandoned as soon as it could really mark a shift in the philosophy in this franchise. Maybe it was foolish of me to think that things could change even a little at this stage because we know that all the talk of not wanting to fight means nothing once the going gets tough. The going doesn't really need to get tough here either for Adonis to lay down the challenge, just a few inconveniences and shots at his ego, which is subtly examined by Damian as he mentions the privilege the Creed surname has afforded Adonis. Jordan has mentioned repeatedly the inspiration that the anime genre had on the filming of the boxing scenes, a statement that he capably backed up with the final product. Gone is Coogler's fluid camerawork and long takes (except for one modest sequence early on), replaced with a not-egregious-but-still-considerable amount of Zack Snyder slow motion. It's used sparingly, mainly to focus on the split-second decisions made in the ring that can win or lose a fight. The sound of blows landing does rumble throughout the theater, with the final moments having the same raw power as a fighting game character unleashing their combo meter. Majors fills out the role of the final boss with immense theatricality, displaying the unbelievable threat he is with his cagey movements and fighting style. Jordan is the more composed one of the pair, preaching how boxing is more about control and strategy than it is about violence. And the always-great Tessa Thompson is regretfully sidelined to merely being a support figure to Adonis rather than the richer character she was in the original. Creed III may be the weakest of its trilogy, but the fact that the seventh, eighth, and ninth entries are all the best of a franchise is an accomplishment by itself, even more so when you factor in the inherent limitations of the boxing genre. Jordan and Coogler (and Stallone to an extent) have found a way for this cycle of storytelling to remain relevant, even if it sometimes punches below its weight class. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Snow White March 19, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen At this point in the Disney live-action remake cycle, the only way to grade Snow White would be on a curve. “That’s not fair!” says Pinocchio , Dumbo, The Lion King , and The Little Mermaid . To them, my response is simple: Be better (or release later). Their faults have become Snow White ’s blessing, a bar lowered so that even something with as many conceptual flaws as this can pass for good enough. Now, it’s not all doom and gloom, nor does this remake of the famed 1937 Walt Disney animated film (itself a much cheerier adaptation of the fairy tale by The Brothers Grimm) get by purely on the benefit of comparison. First and foremost, Rachel Zegler is simply wonderful as the titular princess. I’d call it a star-making performance if she hadn’t already proved those bonafides with turns in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbird & Snakes . Instead, I’ll just call it a case of perfect casting. Zegler fills her role with grace and composure, endlessly likable and charming. Her character’s disposition is natural goodness, a lesson taught by her royal parents. But tragedy struck the young Snow White in the form of her mother dying from illness and her father disappearing after he led some of his troops to fight in some unspecified war off-screen. This power vacuum allowed the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot) to take command of the kingdom, forcing Snow White into servitude and taking away all sense of hope and optimism amongst the citizens. Look, you don’t need me to rehash this plot. Screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson doesn’t make many changes to the original’s story and structure. Her main goal was likely to remold some of the creakier elements with modern sensibilities, such as making the original Prince into Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), a somewhat wisecracking Robin Hood-type whose initial cold heart is melted by Snow White’s kindness. Burnap’s casting is less than ideal, with the Tony winner always looking exactly like his real age of thirty-four despite all the strenuous work done by the hair and makeup department. There’s never any predatory or creepy intonation between him and Zegler; it's just that seeing them side-by-side raises a slight eyebrow when I should be immediately swooning. Not changing from the original film is the fact that the seven dwarves are animated… although I prefer the original style to whatever this is. It’s not the same uncanny valley from the recent The Lion King films, as that had the detriment of being compared to real-life animals. But there’s still some creepiness permeating from them in each frame, and I can confirm that one child had to leave the screening in fear during the dwarf's initial introduction (the correlation can’t be confirmed, but the evidence is pretty strong). It’s no surprise that they’ve been heavily reduced in the marketing campaign and that no 3D prints were made. Something that is two-dimensional is Gadot’s performance. We all know she’s not a gifted thespian, with her turn here never clearly defining itself as strained or campy. I’m leaning towards the former, although her evil musical number makes a strong enough case for this to be seen as an elaborate wink for the parents. Director Marc Webb doesn’t stage many of the setpieces well, overcutting and giving more attention to the fake sets rather than the performances. Luckily, the music by musical superstars Benj Pasek and Justin Paul is catchy and empowering, so I could at least just close my eyes and still be entertained. Kids will definitely not wear out this VHS tape (I guess the term for this in this day and age would be “overload the Disney+ server”) as they did with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves . Internet trolls will also be disappointed to find out this isn’t an unmitigated disaster. Avoiding a catastrophe probably wasn't Disney’s strategy when they put down so much cash for this, but that’s about the best we’re all going to get. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Top 10 Films of 2023 December 31, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen If you could use one word to describe this list, it would be “predictable.” That word comes with both positive and negative connotations. On the bright side, it means that several of the films that had high places in my Most Anticipated of 2023 list from the beginning of the year were able to meet, or even exceed, my expectations. That also means there were fewer surprises, movies that were true hidden gems just waiting for me to discover them. I can’t see every movie in the year it is released, so I’m sure something will come out of nowhere down the road. And please don’t assume that I think 2023 was a bad year for movies, as that couldn’t be further from the truth. Anyone who says that a certain year was a bad year for movies clearly hasn’t seen enough. Some years are better than others, but none are ever bad if you dig deep. I’ll admit as a caveat this was a pretty bad year for the blockbusters that have come to dominate the multiplex this past decade, many of which took up several spots in my Worst of 2023 list. But if you ventured to the back of the multiplex, your local arthouse theater (assuming it’s still standing after the pandemic), or beyond the attention-grabbing titles on streaming, you’d be exposed to some truly great stuff. 2023 turned out to be the best year for movies since I started taking this site seriously, with a record number of 60 positive reviews (>=3.5 stars) being written. But I can’t (and don’t want to) talk about all 60 movies I thought were good, I want to talk about the 10 I thought were the best, plus 5 honorable mentions for good measure. Without further ado, join me as I recount the works of art (not content) that left the biggest impression on me as a cinephile. Honorable Mentions Enys Men Chevalier Past Lives Poor Things The Boys in the Boat 10. Monster Hirokazu Kore-eda makes his third consecutive appearance on this list following The Truth in 2020 and Broker in 2022. The Japanese writer/director has always found the most tender ways to navigate the moral quandaries that often surround us. Deferring his writing credit for the first time in decades, Kore-eda brings Rashomon into the modern age with Monster , a movie that is both more gentle and deadly than its title implies. The script comes from Yûji Sakamoto, with that separation of duty not turning out to be a bug as the pair craft an endearing story about differing perspectives and the misconceptions we surround ourselves with. Legendary composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who tragically passed away earlier this year, delivers one of his best works through his fluttery piano. 9. 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 highwire 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. Full Review 8. The Holdovers Between its retro production titles, popping sound, dissolved editing, and grainy cinematography, Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers is not just a film that is set in 1970, it looks and feels like it was made during that time. The Omaha-born writer/director (only directing in this outing) returns from a six-year hiatus after the disappointing Downsizing , delivering one of his best films through a great story and equally great characters. This is a Christmas classic for adults. It's a melancholic film, with Payne knowing that the holidays are not full of yuletide cheer for everyone. But there are still seasons greetings to be had, just enough to make you want to be a better person and stay close to those that matter most. What more could you ask for in times like these? Full Review 7. Asteroid City Asteroid City is Wes Anderson’s weirdest movie to date, always keeping your eyebrow in a raised position. 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. At this point in his filmography, you’ve probably made up your mind about Anderson. I’m somewhat of an apologist, with those instantly recognizable production qualities and whimsical tones being music to my ears (and eyes). Asteroid City is another healthy dose of what I’ve come to love, with the bonus of seeing an auteur continue to find new ways to channel what they do best. Full Review 6. Killers of the Flower Moon What is surprising about Killers of the Flower Moon is 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. Full Review 5. 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. It’s no surprise that both he and fellow octogenarian director Martin Scorsese ( Killers of the Flower Moon ) have found themselves at Apple with their latest historical dramas, the streaming giant plunking down $200 million for each project. While it may not have been the wisest financial decision, it was a fortuitous one for the art of epic filmmaking. 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 film, 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. Full Review 4. Maestro “A work of art does not answer questions, it provokes them; and its essential meaning is in the tension between the contradictory answers.” This quote by Leonard Bernstein flashes before Maestro commences. It’s a mission statement for writer/director/producer/star Bradley Cooper, who’s made it his life’s work to bring this story to the silver screen. It’s a warning to any Bernstein acolytes who come to this seeking untold answers about the famed conductor’s artistry. And it’s also a blessing to anyone bemoaning another musician biopic, the likes of which have haunted our multiplexes the past few years with their cookie-cutter rise-and-fall stories. For something that has and will continue to be labeled as “Oscar bait,” Maestro is, more than anything, a confidently unique entry in a well-worn genre. It makes A Star Is Born seem like only the appetizer, and this is the main course. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to label Cooper as this generation’s Warren Beatty: a movie star interested in grown-up stories whose oversized ambition is matched by their incredible skill both in front and behind the camera. If there’s anything modern cinema needs more of right now, it’s someone like that. Full Review 3. 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 (yeah, I said it). 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 to outstanding results. Full Review 2. 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, The Zone of Interest 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. Full Review 1. Oppenheimer Christopher Nolan cited Oliver Stone’s 1991 masterpiece JFK as one of his main inspirations when adapting this material. He drops you into the middle of the action from frame one and keeps you there. Separate timelines begin to form, each folding into each other with increasing frequency. There’s the future besmirching of Oppenheimer’s legacy; the prideful past where we see his rise; and the roaring present where he must develop the atomic bomb before the Nazis. Similar to Dunkirk , Nolan, and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema define these periods through the imagery. Whether it’s in bright color or stark black-and-white, what you’re seeing is always a work of beauty. Never has IMAX been used to capture the small moments with as much gravitas as the climatic detonation. Oppenheimer is as entertaining as it is enlightening, emboldened by Nolan’s unparalleled vision and craftsmanship. It’s possibly his magnum opus, grabbing hold of history with fiery conviction, never letting you go until you’ve experienced all that cinema has to offer. Full Review More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey September 16, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen True to its title, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is big and bold. Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie embark on a journey through space and time, weaving in and out of their respective past and present lives, looking back on successes and failures with the gift of hindsight. Farrell gets to perform again in his high school musical, trying to win the heart of his crush. Robbie has to rekindle her relationship with her mother just before and after she dies alone in the hospital. That doesn’t exactly sound like a fair deal… But this film is not beautiful. In fact, it’s quite ugly. Not from a visual standpoint, as DP Benjamin Loeb effectively employs all the colors of the rainbow for the eye-popping production design by Katie Byron (she worked on the equally vibrant Don’t Worry Darling ). A bright red door beckons our leads down their first whimsical wormhole, blue and yellow umbrellas protect the soaked attendees of a wedding, and Farrell’s dark green cardigan blends well with the lush fields and trees. The only complaint I had was the sight of Burger King being used as the meet-cute launch pad for this adventure. However, my opinion about how nothing good ever comes from a Burger King remains true, as this treacly story makes a case for why we shouldn’t treat everyone’s life story as something special. I can only assume that writer Seth Reiss picked up one of those sappy self-help inspirational quote books and challenged himself to place each one into a script. It worked for him, pulling in two A-listers and a major studio to fork over tens of millions of dollars to make those pieces of paper into a visual reality. But we’re the ones who have to pay a bigger price, and I’m not just talking about the $10 ticket price. Despite their insanely good looks, David (Farrell) and Sarah (Robbie) have been single almost their entire lives. He’s too afraid of being heartbroken, a nearly fifty-year-old man still being called by his parents about getting out there and meeting the right person. She’s afraid to break other people’s hearts, a serial cheater who would rather pull the ripcord than plunge deeper into commitment. Both of them rent a car from the aptly titled “Car Rental Agency” run by a German-accented Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Kevin Kline. The GPS has a mind of its own, taking them on a detour towards a series of mysterious doors that serve as a portal into their memories. You know the old saying: Once you’ve gone through one time-traveling door, you’ve been through them all. That’s certainly true here, with each of Farrell and Robbie’s stops offering the same sentimental lessons on life, death, and the opportunities that can only be seized by opening ourselves to risk. Director Kogonada supplies a deft touch, but his humanistic instincts that were wonderfully displayed in his first features of Columbus and After Yang have been buried under the implicit studio requirement that everything stays neat and tidy. Seeing his name along with Joe Hisaishi as the credited composer made me even more depressed, as a more personal collaboration would likely yield amazing results. My main takeaway from A Big Bold Beautiful Journey was that the screening room in the new Bill Pohlad Cinema at the FilmNorth building more than lived up to its touted status as the most high-tech and pristine screening room in Minnesota. The images were sharp, the sound design was precise, and the 50-person seating capacity positively lent to an intimate atmosphere. It was unfortunate every time I refocused myself to watch the film projected in front of me, a reminder that not all movies enhance the theatrical experience. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen