Search Results

Boy Kills World April 25, 2024 By: Button Tyler Banark Something is going on in Hollywood right now that should be discussed more, which is the rise of stuntpeople being promoted to the role of director. It’s been stunning in the John Wick films, Netflix’s Extraction series, and the films of David Leitch ( Bullet Train and the fittingly titled upcoming The Fall Guy ). There’s a gritty essence to each of these films, with action choreography that always goes above and beyond what’s been done before. While Boy Kills World director Moritz Mohr didn’t have the same upbringing as Leitch or Chad Stahelski, he lets his previous dabbling in special effects and editing allow him to pose in an adjacent camp. Having witnessed the murder of his family and stripped of his ability to talk at a young age, Boy (physically played by Bill Skarsgård, voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) is found and raised by a mysterious shaman who trains him to be a lethal killing machine. Boy only has one goal in mind: kill the powerful Van Der Koy family, who prey on the weak and are responsible for his family’s death. Once a year, the family puts on a Hunger Games-esque show called The Culling where they hunt down twelve unlucky contestants. “Graphic” would be an understated word to use to describe the nature of Boy Kills World . Mohr brings a chaotic absurdity akin to the Terrifier series, with blood and guts spraying out in a silly, sadistic manner. Call it stolen, call it made better, but there’s no denying that the action here delivers on its promise without tipping into overkill. The vicious fight choreography is a sight to behold, with its influences from the John Wick films and various forms of martial arts unlocking an arsenal for Boy to play with. Whether it’s a necklace or a cheese grater, the impromptu use of such regular everyday items as weapons in hand-to-hand combat effectively adds to the film’s overall intensity. There is a sense of having been there, done that, such as the use of the cheese grater in last year’s Evil Dead Rise . But if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Skarsgård is the centerpiece as Boy, cementing himself as an action star without uttering a single word. He does the (literal) heavy lifting, while Benjamin expresses his inner monologue in a mostly humorous fashion. We’ll have a full sample of Skarsgård’s action chops once this year’s reboot of The Crow comes out. The rest of the cast is fairly underutilized, something not wholly unexpected considering the marquee positioning of Boy as our protagonist. But much of the satisfaction in the revenge against the Van Der Koys has to come from the characters, who just don’t meet the grade. Brett Gelman is in his usual showmanship mood as the weird member of the family, Michelle Dockery’s girl boss of a sister is a knockoff of Shiv Roy, and Famke Janssen kind of phones it in as the tyrannical matriarch, Hilda. There’s also June 27 (yes, that’s the character’s actual name), played by Jessica Rothe, who acts as both the family enforcer and voice of reason. There are attempts to have her bridge the gap between Boy and the family, but the script co-written by Tyler Burton Smith and Arend Remmers (with a story credit to Mohr) can’t make the connection. The tasteless (in a good way) action set pieces are at the forefront of Boy Kills World , but that lack of a coherent substantive drive doesn’t make it the cult classic it so desperately wants to be (as evidenced by the film’s world premiere as part of the Midnight Madness section at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival). But even if this doesn’t get etched into history, there’s still a lot of fun to be had in the present with it. You can follow Tyler and hear more of his thoughts on Twitter , Instagram , and Letterboxd . 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 Apprentice June 1, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen The Apprentice had its World Premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Briarcliff Entertainment will release it in theaters on October 11. Whether we like it or not, a Donald Trump biopic was always going to be one of the hottest projects to be eventually announced. The headlines practically write themselves, and the free publicity from all the controversy would be too much for any producer to resist. But what filmmaker would have the audacity and enough screws loose to saddle themselves with such a divisive project? The Vegas odds would have most likely leaned on Adam McKay mining the same territory that he did with Dick Cheney in Vice . Or maybe HBO would have tapped company man Jay Roach to make a prestige made-for-television movie to help maintain their brand. Oliver Stone recently said he had “one more” in him during an interview with IndieWire after the Cannes premiere of his new documentary Lula . Stone has always fashioned himself as a mainstream provocateur and has had a fascination with Republican presidents ( Nixon , W. ), so what better way to go out than with the most attention-grabbing Republican president in history? Well, all the smart money bets would have been dead wrong, as Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi, helmer of the Swedish fairytale Border and the Iranian crime thriller Holy Spider , turned out to be the one given the keys to the kingdom. But as it turns out, the most unlikely candidate for the job actually pulls it off quite well, with Abbasi and writer Gabriel Sherman (working off his original screenplay) excellently threading that dangerous gap between airless history lesson and alluring endorsement. An important disclaimer is the first to appear on the black screen: the people you will see on-screen are real; their stories might have been fictionalized. The text isn’t meant to be read in a winking fashion or seen as some sort of excuse by the filmmakers for missing a few details here and there. It’s more of a stage setter to understand the figure at the heart of this story, a man we have all come to know as a serial manipulator of his origin. The story then takes off in New York circa the 1970s. The Trump family business is currently facing a Justice Department discrimination lawsuit for its dilapidated rental units and young Donald (Sebastian Stan) is desperately seeking a way into the upper echelons of New York royalty. A chance meeting at the swanky Le Club with Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) immediately becomes the answer to Donald’s troubles, as the infamous lawyer - who would be the main inspiration for Mr. Burns in The Simpsons - takes a shine to the lovable loser energy that Donald exudes. Cohn gives three simple commandments for Donald to follow: (1) Always be on the attack, (2) Never settle and always be ready to counterattack, and (3) Never accept defeat and always claim victory. Do these tactics sound familiar to you? Armed with these principles and the tenacity to make them work at any cost, Cohn slowly morphs Trump from that sadsack kid with a dream into the person we know today. Hey, at least we have someone else to throw on the pile of blame now. The legend of Roy Cohn in popular culture has been dominated by Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Angels in America , with the role most famously played by Nathan Lane in the 2018 Boadway revival and Al Pacino in the 2003 HBO miniseries. Their Cohn is brash and larger-than-life, spitting in the face of his terminal AIDS diagnosis. Sherman and Strong opt for something subtler, a quietly menacing presence that coldly seduces you. His head pops out like a turtle after every other fourth word and he may as well have been voiced by Ray Romano, but the power he wields at every moment cannot be denied. There’s a reason that Donald hung on to his every word and loved him like a father. Stan also shifts away from the umpteen portrayals of Trump we’ve seen over the past decade. His performance is absent of all the exaggerated impressionistic ticks of Alec Baldwin on SNL , instead leaning on his inner battle between superiority and insecurity to drive the physical energy. The hair and prosthetics are never necessary to the performance, only there to seal the deal for any still images. Abbasi does make prominent use of differing visuals within the film, opting for a grainer look during the 1970s that morphs into a retro VHS aesthetic in the ‘80s. Kasper Tuxen’s camera is perpetually in documentary (or mockumentary) mode, supplying much of the humor with some nicely timed zooms and visual gags. But then the high-drama string score will remind you of the implications of this buffoonery. Coupling those two technical aspects with the presence of Strong does make for some strong (no pun intended) comparisons to Succession , which definitely isn’t a bad thing in this case. There is still some biopic-y writing (they literally stumble into saying "the art of the deal" at one point) and Maria Bakalova’s presence as Ivana Trump mostly gets sidelined to the archetype of “long-suffering wife.” But those faults could have been only the tip of the iceberg in the multitude of other versions of this project that were likely in the pipeline. I didn’t have it on my 2024 bingo card that the most accurate adjectives to describe a Donald Trump biopic would be “restrained” and “insightful.” 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

Sundance 2023 Recap February 10, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen The Sundance Film Festival has officially come to a close, with several films and filmmakers making their impact both in-person and online. I've compiled a ranking of all the films I watched as part of the virtual portion. You can go more in-depth about each film by reading my review for it on the page. And you can also look forward to several of them this year as many have been picked up for distribution by major companies. 6. Bad Behaviour Bad Behaviour would at least be tolerable if the problems it had were interesting. But mostly it comes across as tedious and frustrating, making it far worse than it has any right to be on paper. Full Review Run Rabbit Run It's almost a surface-level cliché at this point to compare this film to The Babadook , but the parallels are so on-the-nose that I feel like I wouldn't be fulfilling my professional duties if I didn't. Plenty of good horror movies have been copies of those that came before them, but they had to earn their keep through inventive ideas surrounding well-worn topics. Run Rabbit Run doesn't do any of that, pedaling the same "elevated" scares that we've partially become numb to at this point. Full Review 4. The Starling Girl If not for Scanlen’s performance, The Starling Girl would fall much further into the realm of obscurity its middling writing and direction had it heading for. If not for anything else, Parmet’s film has given one of our brightest young talents room to shine. Those with a deeply religious background may find more depth to it, but they may also find it dryly conventional. Full Review 3. Theater Camp Theater Camp is by theater kids for theater kids. Those that have never found themselves stung by the acting bug may not come away with a huge smile on their face, but they will be given an enjoyable peek into this world of make-believe and harsh reality. Full Review 2. Fair Play The carnal influence of Adrian Lyne is apparent, with Domont blending the dower and gleeful to semi-positive results. There's a hearty (and unhealthy) amount of excitement you get out of people taking down one another, even if the reasoning behind all of it is morally corrupt. Things do come off the rails alarmingly quickly during the climax when the theatricality of the situation greatly overpowers the reality. The messaging is obvious in volume, but a bit murky in tone, leaving things not as nicely wrapped as the presentation would signal. Full Review 1. Sometimes I Think About Dying Sometimes I Think About Dying is a small movie with a small scope, buoyed by some intriguing visuals and a standout performance from an actress who looks ready to take on this new side of her career. As a twelve-minute short film, it’s a bit too short. And as a ninety-minute feature film, it's a bit too long. Somewhere out there is a perfect 45-60 minute version of this story. 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

Thunderbolts* April 30, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen At this point in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I often ask why I even bother. Why put up with the casting announcements, release date changes, rumors, and debates? Why sit through the endless credits for a small tease of what’s to come next, which, at this point, will likely be less than what it advertised? Why drift over to Disney+ to watch the required supplemental material? That’s a task I quickly gave up on after WandaVision vastly overstayed its welcome. I’ll tell you why. Because, like every Minnesota sports fan who's lived through countless seasons of agony and deep soul searching, there comes a time when the clouds lift and you feel as if you’ve been placed upon the highest mountain. The release of Thunderbolts* (no, that asterisk is not a typo) marks that time for the MCU. Of course, as any Minnesotan will tell you, the vast majority of those peaks still came just short of a championship. Thunderbolts* is also not a championship-worthy film for the MCU, more akin to the new era of the Minnesota Timberwolves after the doldrums of the early 2010s (I’m writing this analogy while doped up on the adrenaline of a 3-1 opening playoff series lead over the evil empire that is the Los Angeles Lakers). It’s also a movie that made me wish I was less forgiving of Captain America: Brave New World just a few months ago. I wrote that that movie was “a semi-comforting reminder that it’s okay for a movie to be just fine and forgettable.” Now I’d recalculate that allocation much more in the latter’s camp than the former. After some gloomy studio logos, everyone’s favorite raised-from-the-womb assassin, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), speaks that “there’s something wrong with me… an emptiness… a void.” She’s going through the motions, completing missions and erasing targets with nothing more than a blank stare. Thankfully, director Jake Schreier doesn’t share her sentiments when it comes to manning this $200 million behemoth. The helmer of the Netflix series Beef gives the opening proceedings a more flavorful edge, opting for a much-marketed practical skyscraper jump and longer-take in-camera fight choreography. In Yelena’s world, there is no such thing as loyalty, so a chance encounter between her, John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) in the belly of a secret underground bunker housing the secrets of CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is definitely not a pleasant coincidence. Everyone’s supposed to kill each other, leaving no more loose ends for the impeachment trial that’s digging up all of their involvement in Valentina’s off-the-book endeavors. Since they all realize that they have a common enemy, the loners decide to team up to increase their chance of survival, which, in this case, just means that they’d like to prolong the inevitable delay until their fate catches up with them. But unlike the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, this ragtag group does not consist of heroes looking to strengthen their commitment to protecting humanity or lovable misfits who just needed a chance to do good. These are all bad people, leaving miles of bodies in their wake. They’re also characters that don’t immediately scream that they’re all that interesting. Walker and Valenita are from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier , a show I never watched. Ghost and Taskmaster respectively appeared as the antagonists in Ant-Man and the Wasp and Black Widow , two films I’ve completely memory-holed. Yelena did make an impression in Black Widow and her successive appearances in the MCU, much of that coming from Pugh’s innate charm and pathos. Much credit goes to the performers, as well as co-writers Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, for making these less-than-desirable characters into compelling people. The quips have been dialed back, and the ones that do stick around land at a much more consistent rate. David Harbour’s Red Guardian does throw off that balance on a few too many occasions, with the character’s lovability being sabotaged by an overwhelming eagerness. There’s also the presence of Bob (Lewis Pullman), a Valentina-sponsored human experiment who has the power to make those that he touches relive their worst nightmares. With the aid of the A24 veteran duo of cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo and production designer Grace Yun, there’s a more natural balance to the emotional depth of these characters. That “Absolute Cinema” trailer touting the indie credentials of all the talent involved may have reeked of cinemaphile desperation, but the final product illustrates that the marketers weren’t lying about the goods they’ve assembled here. The theme of the film is recovering from driftlessness through finding a purpose alongside friends and family. For as much as a gun or a fist can accomplish, some nice words and a hug can do a lot more. To be talking about ideas and themes instead of easter eggs and cameos is a breath of fresh air for the MCU, one that I dubiously hope that they’ll maintain as they wade into the titans that are this summer’s Fantastic Four: First Steps and next year’s Avengers: Doomsday . 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

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story September 9, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen Weird: The Al Yankovic Story had its world Premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Roku will release it on its streaming platform on November 04. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story asks one of the most important questions in cinema: why can’t musician biopics be fun? For decades this genre has been spinning its wheels (it’s closer to a century considering the first edition of A Star Is Born popularized this genre way back in 1937) churning the same old tired formula of humble beginnings, meteoric rise to fame, drugs & alcohol causing the downfall, and a final redemptive arc where our hero wises up and becomes the person they’re meant to be. Booooooooooring! In the same vein as how he built his musical career, by parodying popular songs with his wacky lyrics, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story parodies the musical biopic genre by playing the same beats, but changing up the lyrics to make it something original and, you know… fun to watch. Of course, our hero's journey has to start with an authoritarian figure disapproving of his accordion fixation. Al’s stern father, who works at “the factory,” forbids accordion playing in the house, calling it “the devil’s box.” Their relationship remains strained, prompting Al to move to California to pursue his niche dreams. It turns out California is the place to be for accordion lovers, as Al finds himself rooming with three other enthusiasts who support his dreams. And in a moment of destiny, Al’s task of making sandwiches for the group produces his first “original” hit, “My Bologna.” With the lyrics of “Oo my little hungry one! Hungry one! Open up a package of MY bologna…,” Al’s rise to fame is set. I mean, who wouldn’t want to rock out to that? Just as his father disapproved of his lifestyle, so do the record companies. They can’t comprehend why anyone would take a perfectly good song and change the lyrics to it. It’s blasphemy! So, Al’s fame stays underground, where he falls under the tutelage of Dr. Dimento (a charming Rainn Wilson, easily using his The Office chops for great effect). From there, Al falls in line with the rest of the grungy and off-beats starts of the late-70s/early-80s, including Andy Warhol, Divine, and Peewee Herman (all of which are played by a cavalcade of celebrity cameos, which eventually becomes a game of how many you can name in the short amount of time they have on-screen). I’m guessing you know the rest of the story. And your assumption would be right, partially. Madonna’s entrance into the film brings about our hero's downfall but with the added twist of a hilarious escapade into the jungle for a gunfight against Pablo Escobar. Co-writer/director Eric Appel, who adapts his 2010 Funny or Die sketch (which Al used as a trailer for his concerts), lifts this above being just another SNL parody movie that overstays its welcome. Sure, the rapid-fire in-jokes and ribbings get a little stale by about the middle third, but there’s enough cleverly written material between that portion that makes up for it. And with Daniel Radcliffe tickling those ivory keys, you’ve got one hell of a show. Although he doesn’t provide the vocals (which are still done by the real Al), Radcliffe brings the zealous energy he’s been honing since his retirement from the Harry Potter series. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a near-perfect movie for midnight madness fans (which is where it premiered at this year’s TIFF), as it takes Weird Al's eclectic catalog and turns it against the tired music biopic genre. That's not to say this doesn't still fall into those same traps, but it is done with a little more ingenuity. Grab your accordion and get ready to rock! 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

Hostiles February 21, 2018 By: Button Hunter Friesen Christian Bale is one of the best actors working today. He has the ability to do so much with so little, raising the bar each time he takes on a new character. But, Bale is only a mortal man. He alone cannot carry a film alone, which is exactly the task that is set upon him in Hostiles . Bale does an excellent job, but he doesn’t get much support and his performance becomes almost wasted in a film that is middle of the road at best. The story takes place in 1892, a time when Native and American tensions were at their highest. Revered army captain Joseph Blocker (Christian Bale) is close to retiring with a kill count well over one hundred. For his last mission, to his dismay, he must escort a dying native chief (Wes Studi) and his family so he may be buried in his homeland. Blocker and his section must saddle up to make the treacherous journey, which treks from New Mexico to Montana. They quickly meet up with Rosalie (Rosamund Pike), a country woman who recently lost her family to a native raid, leaving her in an elongated state of mental shock. Along with battling elements and the discontent within themselves, the troops must also fend off warring tribes that are out for blood. The film is a conventional western through and through, boasting gorgeous shots of the landscape and plenty of shootouts. It tries to call back to the times of John Wayne. While this film tries to harken back to the golden era of Westerns, it fails to incorporate one vital component; simplicity. Old Westerns were straightforward and to the point, this one isn’t. The film is slow and meandering, often taking breaks from the main plot in an effort to build up the epic scale. So much has happened by the end that it becomes impossible to connect at all to the characters or story. Also to the detriment of connectivity is the high body count. Tons of characters are either introduced or half-developed, and then killed off to try and force you into caring about them. What director Scott Cooper doesn’t understand is that if you don’t care about a character when they are living, then you are not going to care about them when they’re dead. Now with a couple of successful films under his belt, Cooper tries here to illustrate the brutality of Western life. He emphasizes the blood, sweat, and tears of each character and how they deal with their seemingly miserable lives. Unfortunately, Cooper overplays his hand as constantly watching 134 minutes of emotional suffering begins to bore quickly. Characters incomprehensibly mutter nonstop about how sad they are and how they wish they could just end it all. The cinematography is beautifully done by Masanobu Takayanagi, marking his third collaboration with Cooper. Takayanagi keeps the camera motionless most of the time and allows the characters to move within the frame. This technique gives the Western world a sense of stillness, almost like the people are the only thing inhabiting the cruel setting. But people are not the only physical inhabitants. Takayanagi has an eye for the surrounding scenery that makes the characters almost feel insignificant compared to the vastness of the land and wildlife. The film touts some great actors in both leading and supporting roles. Some meet and exceed the lofty demands, while others struggle to make a difference. Christian Bale is definitely the best part of the film as he carries most of the emotional weight. He has so much in his acting arsenal and is able to switch from gruff killer to stoic hero in the blink of an eye. Rosamund Pike does well with her conflicted character, who is forced into a new, harder life after the butchering of her family. Finally, Wes Studi and Jesse Plemons do respectable jobs with the limited time they get. For the most part, the actors that struggle to make an impact are the ones whose characters are underdeveloped. Ben Foster cameos as a soldier accused of murder, which is part of a side plot that serves no real purpose. Foster doesn’t do anything new as he plays the character that gives the same old “we’re not so different” speech a couple of times. Timothée Chalamet surprisingly turns up here, trying to add to his already fabulous 2017. His silly French accent and his four total lines of dialogue make him laughably bad. Fortunately for him, most people won’t bring this film up when talking to him. While it is ambitious, Hostiles can be slow and rambling as it hopelessly tries to keep your full engagement. No fingers or blame can be pointed, only wishes that there could have been something more. It’s not good, it’s not bad, it’s just alright. 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

You People January 25, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen In a recent interview she did with Indiewire centered around the world of You Hurt My Feelings at the ongoing Sundance Film Festival, star Julia Louis-Dreyfus had an astute observation about the power of film editing: “...when it comes to timing, both for drama and comedy but specifically for comedy if it’s not in place, it can be a butchery. It can be total nails on a chalkboard if you’re not with the right person.” If only she had shared that wisdom sooner with You People editor Jamie Nelsen and director Kenya Barris… Barris, co-writing with star Jonah Hill, makes his feature directorial debut with this film. He’s already spent years on television as the creator of the hit ABC sitcom Black-ish (along with its subsequent spin-offs Mixed-ish and Grown-ish ), as well as the Netflix series #BlackAF . Much of that sitcom energy spills into You People , with almost all of the scenes playing out as individual components that are awkwardly stitched together to deliver a less-than-compelling narrative. You People is essentially an unofficial remake of 1967’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner , except with none of the seriousness and intention to actually make a difference. The story, while believable in concept, is delivered with such simplicity that it might as well be titled You People Have Got to be Kidding Me?!?!? Things start off sweet as the white, Jewish Ezra (Jonah Hill) and the black, Muslim Amira (Lauren London) fall in love despite their many outward differences. Standing in the way of their love fully blossoming into marriage are their parents, namely Ezra’s mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Amira’s father (Eddie Murphy), who both can’t get over the fact that their child is marrying someone of a different race. Much of the “humor” within You People is that the characters don’t want to outwardly offend others by bringing up what they're really thinking, so they dance around the subject with endless rambling. It’s as if you’re binging five episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm where Larry David gets himself into a bad situation and makes it worse by trying to talk his way out of it. Except here there are no Larrys as Barris and Hill don’t outwardly vilify their characters, keeping the conflicts superficial. All you get is an excessive amount of second-hand embarrassment and little first-rate sense of stakes or personal investment. If any of the characters sat down for more than five minutes and talked honestly, then none of this would be a problem. It seems like that was the intention that Barris and Hill had with their script, to show that all these racial problems could be solved with some understanding and truthfulness. But if Green Book erroneously taught us anything a few years ago, it’s that this problem doesn’t just go away with a quick heart-to-heart as it does here. Even Eddie Murphy, who can usually be depended on to spin comedy gold out of straw, can’t salvage what he’s given here. He’s given a movie star entrance as James Brown plays overhead, but then just sits back and bemoans about Ezra being white for the next ninety minutes. Louis-Dreyfus is probably worse served as she’s forced to recycle the same “older white woman who’s not in touch with today’s racial climate” bit on and on until it almost becomes offensive to comedy. You People tries way too hard to do way too little, becoming a “film for everyone” that no one will enjoy. Barris abruptly exited his $100 million multi-year deal with Netflix in 2021 for another lucrative pact over at Paramount. Somewhere in a Hollywood bar right now there are two executives, one from Netflix and the other from Paramount drinking together, except one is downing shots much happier than the other. 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

Deadpool & Wolverine July 23, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Deadpool & Wolverine may be the most Marvel thing Marvel has ever produced, which is saying a lot considering they have a whole character who carries that moniker. And considering just how long and intensive this machine has been going, that’s also a statement you already know how to interpret for yourself. This isn’t going to win over any outsiders, nor does it serve as the self-dubbed “Marvel Jesus” that will offer a hearty course correction that the passengers on this increasingly derailing train so desperately need. But even if it can’t turn water into wine, it can easily turn two hours into a solidly entertaining time, something that has become a valuable currency at this stage in the game. Director Shawn Levy, the biggest rival to Hugh Jackman and Mint Mobile for the role of Ryan Reynold’s best friend, takes a page out of his namesake brother Sean Baker’s playbook for how to energetically open a movie about a motor-mouthed scumbag. NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” kicks us into music video mode as Deadpool spills more literal blood in thirty seconds than the MCU has done in its past thirty features. It’s a cheap trick akin to using “I Need a Hero” during a training montage, but clichés are only born because they work, and the sight of dismembered limbs and the Merc with a Mouth sensually dancing did put a somewhat sadistic smile on my face. That grin stayed in a fixed position throughout the next two hours, although my eyebrows were raised a few times, the majority occurring during the timey wimey exposition dumps where the two seasons of Loki become a prerequisite. Just as the MCU is in critical condition, so is Deadpool’s timeline after the death of Logan in his 2017 titular movie. He was one of those figures whose universe lives and dies with them, so his departure gives the TVA the authority to speed up the deterioration process by pruning it off the tree of time. But for what the multiverse takes away, it also gives back in the form of countless iterations of our favorite heroes. Wade thinks that any Wolverine can fill the shoes of his Logan, which he unintentionally puts to the test when he pulls the worst one from another universe. Hugh Jackman reprising his most famous character after beautifully concluding that chapter in his career sounds sacrilegious by itself, but it’s less offensive once you start factoring in that Wolverine has only ever been the lead of large ensembles or solo features. It’s refreshing to see him equally billed with someone so different, and the real-life friendship of Jackman and Reynolds adds that extra bit of oomph to the expletive-laden one-liners. Another treat comes from the comic-accurate yellow jumpsuit that he gets to don. It also wouldn’t be too far-fetched to theorize that a few dump trucks of money helped sway Jackman’s decision to return. It’s money well spent, which can’t be said for the other hundreds of millions that went into securing such scenic locations as a drab wasteland, a nondescript forest, and your usual New York subway station. You can feel the layers of irony coming together as this initially scrappy franchise has become the megaton freighter it points and laughs at. A Honda Odyssey serves as an equally deflating vehicle of choice, although it gets a few bonus points for serving as the setting for an amusing action setpiece. Just as there’s no problem in the MCU that can’t be solved with cash and gratuitous quips, there’s also no moment that can’t be an opportunity to crack open the vault and play with the toys. The writers have read all the Reddit threads and think pieces, watched all the hours-long YouTube rants, and listened to all the podcasts about the state of comic-book movies. But more importantly, they saw how successful Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness were at creating viral moments through cameos and winks. No movie has been higher on its own supply than this one, with nearly a dozen slow-motion reveals and pauses for applause that will be immediately spoiled after the Thursday afternoon previews. It also means that the actual supporting characters like Emma Corrin’s villainous Cassandra Nova and Matthew Macfadyen’s Mr. Paradox are continually sidestepped in favor of further digs at Fox. Fan service can only take you so far, which is why Deadpool & Wolverine stops plenty short of being the MCU’s redeemer. There was a clear opportunity for this to be much more than just the thirty-fourth entry in this universe: a true game-changer that recontextualizes the past, revamps the present, and paves a new road for the future. Oh well, fun is fun, and this is summer after all, so it’s best not to overthink things. That’s the biggest benefit of this neverending story, as all our hopes and fears can be punted onto the next chapter. Good luck, Captain America: Brave New World ! You’re going to need it! 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

Unstoppable December 30, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen As someone born in central Iowa and has spent his entire life cheering for Iowa State athletics - including attending dozens of basketball and football games - the sight of Anthony Robles fawning over Iowa Hawkeye wrestling within Unstoppable was enough to make me sick. Luckily, I was sitting in the back of the theater, so the other audience members didn’t notice the metaphorical birds I was flipping to the screen. It was also a Saturday in the fall, so I was naturally donning an Iowa State sweatshirt and quickly checked the football score before and after the screening. How many Olympic gold medals does Iowa have in wrestling? Six. How many does Iowa State have? Also six. Never mind that Iowa has 24 National Championships and Iowa State only has 8. All kidding aside, the sarcastic look of disgust I had on my face was not caused by the film itself. It’s a standard sports drama pitched (or, in this case, pinned) down the middle, complete with enough compelling performances and authentic emotion that you can easily forgive the clichéd elements that I thought we would have moved past at this point in cinema history. One of those groan-worthy moments comes right at the top when a pair of girls in the crowd make fun of Anthony’s missing leg (he was born without his right leg) and wonder if it was some sort of DEI decision for him to compete. I guess they were blind to the fact that they’re spectators for the NHSCA High School Nationals and that Anthony was coming into this event with a 96-0 record during his junior and senior years. Anthony dominates the match, which he hopes will attract the scouts at Iowa. The Hawkeyes pass him by, leaving his collegiate options to a full ride at Drexel or a walk-on position at his local Arizona State. It’s an easy decision on paper, but not so much in reality when you factor in that Anthony’s mother (Jennifer Lopez) is stuck in an abusive relationship with the toxically masculine Rick (Bobby Cannavale) and has to raise four other younger children. Anthony can’t in good conscience move away to Philadelphia for four years, so he takes the challenge of earning his spot as a Sun Devil. It’s extremely commendable to see Anthony’s determination to do the right thing, especially when a scan through his Wikipedia page proves that screenwriters Eric Champnella, Alex Harris, and John Hindman hardly embellished any of the facts. There have been obstacles placed before him since birth, many of which would be classified as insurmountable by most people. And yet he always perseveres, earning the respect of everyone around him. In times like these, a few extra degrees of warmth hit my heart. Jharrel Jerome is exceptional as Anthony. An Academy Award nomination would be well-deserved to go along with his Emmy award for the 2020 miniseries When They See Us . The digital effects to erase his leg are near perfect, and so is his physical commitment to the performance. But it’s also the quieter moments that illustrate his status as one of our finest rising stars. His scenes with his high school (Michael Peña) and college (Don Cheadle) coaches show the burning pride he has for what he accomplishes daily. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon serve as producers on this story through their production company Artists Equity. They made their debut under that banner with last year’s Air . The editor of that film, and several of Affleck’s directorial efforts, was William Goldenberg, who makes his debut in the director’s chair here. The glass-half-full approach would be that his workmanlike production doesn’t overshadow the quality performances he gets out of his cast. The glass-half-empty version would say that it’s rather flat, leaving everyone else to pick up the slack. The editing around the wrestling sequences is predictably solid, yet they lack the get-up-off-your-seat verve that many other sports dramas have been able to deliver. In the end, it’s all still done well enough to honor someone who deserves their story to be told on this scale, just not well enough to be as memorable as it should be. 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 Great Musical War of 2021 December 28, 2021 By: Hunter Friesen Besides the expected superhero films, the genre that seemed to be all the rage in 2021 was the movie musical. With Broadway shut down for a majority of the year due to the ongoing pandemic, the movies had to pick up the slack when it came to delivering the musical joy that audiences crave. 2021 saw several different variations of the movie musical, featuring original concepts ( Annette ), musical interpretations of classic tales ( Cinderella ), Broadway adaptations ( In the Heights , Tick, Tick… Boom! & Dear Evan Hansen ), and new adaptations of Broadway shows (Steven Spielberg's West Side Story ). Like Darwin's law of natural selection, some came and went with a whisper, and some were enjoyed and may become classics of the genre in the future. In this article, we'll look at why so many musicals were released this year and how each one fared in both a critical and commercial sense. Why were there so many musicals in 2021? When analyzing a trend, the first question that needs to be asked is why it happened in the first place. It's not like musicals are some newfound genre, like found footage movies. Musicals used to have the same market dominance that the superhero genre holds today. In 1930 alone, Hollywood released 100 musicals, most of them offering escapism from the doldrums of the Great Depression. There was even an Academy Award for Best Dance Direction from 1935 to 1937. As time went on, the number of musicals grew thinner, while their quality grew much bigger. Lavish and extravagant productions of well-known properties were made to compete with the growing popularity of television, with West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins , and The Sound of Music being some of the highest-grossing films of their respective year. Eventually, the market turned away from escapism and more towards realism. The big-budget hits of the past were now becoming hugely expensive bombs, as Doctor Doolittle, Hello, Dolly! , and Paint Your Wagon all lost millions within the span of a few years. Apart from Disney animation and a few hits here and there ( Grease ), the musical genre took a backseat role for a few decades. That is, until the 2010s when studios were chasing pre-branded hits. Mamma Mia! grossed over half a billion dollars in 2008, and its 2018 sequel grossed nearly $400 million. These impressive results encouraged studios to mine for Broadway intellectual property and bring it to the big screen. Tom Hooper's (whose Cats adaptation was interestingly the last musical to be released before the pandemic) Les Misérables nabbed several Oscar nominations (including a Best Supporting Actress win for Anne Hathaway) along with $438 million worldwide. Into the Woods made half of that and gave Meryl Streep another acting nomination to add to her record tally. But it wasn't just Broadway adaptations that were becoming hits. Original titles, such as La La Land and The Greatest Showman , made millions mainly because of their soundtracks. With the rise of music streaming, a hit song could make cultural waves even before the movie came out. The soundtrack for La La Land reached number 2 on the US Billboard 200, and the album for The Greatest Showman was the best-selling album of 2018. Along with the market's driving forces, the other reason why there are so many musicals this year is a more obvious one: the pandemic. By the time everything went to hell in March 2020, nearly every studio had at least one, if not multiple, musicals somewhere along the pipeline. Plans were thrown into chaos, and many movies, like West Side Story and In the Heights , could not recoup their costs solely through streaming. They had to play the most boring game imaginable, which was the waiting game. And so, many other musicals followed suit, condensing the steady stream of releases into a cascading waterfall. Musicals were no longer competing with other genres; they were now competing with themselves. This in-fighting bred a more fierce competition style, making 2021 a war for the finite amount of consumer time and money. Now that the dust has finally settled, let's take a look at how each of the 2021 releases fared... In the Heights Before there was Hamilton , there was In the Heights . Lin-Manuel Miranda's 2008 Broadway musical about Hispanic and Latino characters living in the neighborhood of Washington Heights won the Tony Award for Best Musical and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Universal Studios was initially set to adapt the musical back in 2008 but had to wait another decade for things to come together finally. A victim of the pandemic, the film was originally set to debut in the summer of 2020. It eventually was seen by audiences with a simultaneous HBO Max release in June of this year. The critical acclaim was through the roof, especially for Jon M. Chu's direction and Olga Merediz's supporting performance. Unfortunately, the film was a box office bomb, grossing a meager $43 million on a $55 million budget. That tepid response seems to have cratered the film's awards chances, with a Golden Globe nomination for Anthony Ramos seemingly being the best the film will net over the season. Annette Coming from the mind of Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks, and director Leos Carax of Holy Motors fame, Annette is a truly unique vision. Starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard as parents of a child with a unique gift, the film is more of a psychological drama than an escapist fantasy. It's a wild ride that divided critics and audiences, with the Cannes Film Festival awarding Carax the Best Director prize. While Amazon (who financed and released the film) will be a bit disappointed with the awards results, those familiar with Carax's filmography won't be shocked to see that the awards trajectory of Annette has (and will be) mostly relegated to critics' circles. The idiosyncratic Cahiers du Cinéma named the film the second-best of 2021 (behind First Cow ), and the Golden Globes gave a surprise nomination to Cotillard. Time will tell if this becomes a cult classic down the road. Come From Away Of all the historical events one could do a musical about, the 9/11 terrorist attacks would be one of the last to come to mind. But that hurdle didn't stop Irene Sankoff and David Hein from writing this musical about the true story of 7,000 passengers who become stranded in a small town in Newfoundland. Similar to Disney's Hamilton , Apple TV+ released this as a stage recording on September 10th. Critics immensely enjoyed the material, heaping praise for its ability to find joy and compassion in such a tragic time. Everybody's Talking About Jamie Going under the radar for the majority of audiences worldwide, this adaptation of the British stage musical (itself an adaptation of a BBC documentary) received positive reviews from both critics and audiences alike. Much of Everybody's Talking About Jamie's quiet release had to do with the pandemic, as its original date of October 2020 was scuttled due to the effects of COVID-19. Disney eventually sold it off to Amazon, who unceremoniously dumped it in early September. Following the true story of a 16-year-old boy fulfilling his dream of becoming a drag queen, the film has an infectiously giddy spirit as it sends a heartwarming message of inclusion for LGBTQ audiences and anyone who has had to deal with stigmatization. The British Independent Film Awards nominated Max Harwood for Best Breakthrough Performance for his titular role, along with the film's costumes and make-up. Cinderella It's a tale as old as time and one that has been told several times before in a much better fashion, according to both critics and audiences. Despite offering a few updates to the classic material, such as Billy Porter as the nonbinary fairy godmother, Kay Cannon's ( Blockers ) adaptation of Cinderella was flatlined by poor performances and character development. This was another Amazon disappointment, even though it was the most-streamed musical of the year as of its Labor Day weekend release. By the time the next rendition of this princess is released, this one will surely be forgotten. Dear Evan Hansen This adaptation of the multiple Tony Award-winning musical was mired with controversy since its inception through the casting of 27-year-old Ben Platt to reprise the role of the titular 17-year-old. There was also the problem of Stephen Chbosky's Dear Evan Hansen being unfaithful to the material and the lackluster handling of the touchy subject matters of suicide, depression, and self-discovery. The film had its world premiere as the Opening Night Gala Presentation for the Toronto International Film Festival, a decision that festival director Cameron Bailey may regret. Upon release, it was savagely ridiculed by critics and fans, grossing only $18 million worldwide, a far cry from the lofty expectation Universal had. Even the Golden Globes, who have come through for misbegotten films in the past, stayed far away from this disaster, refusing to give it a single nomination. " You Will Be Found" may be one of the most acclaimed songs from the soundtrack, but the only place this movie will be found is on several critics' worst-of-the-year lists. Diana Despite The Crown and Spencer taking up most of the oxygen about the life of Diana Spencer, Netflix felt that there was still room for a musical rendition about the life of the Princess of Wales. Their hunch proved to be incorrect, as this stage recording of the short-lived Broadway production was met with harsh criticism from critics, some of which went so far as to claim it was so bad, it's good. Other critics felt it was extremely immoral and disrespectful to Diana's life, and as a result, audiences stayed far, far away. Tick, Tick... Boom! The world got not one but two Lin-Manuel Miranda projects this year as the Hamilton and In the Heights creator made his feature film directorial debut with this semi-autobiographical telling of the life of Jonathan Larson, who wrote the famed production of Rent . Andrew Garfield received some of the best reviews of his career for his portrayal of Larson, bringing panicked energy as he attempted to jump-start his career with a show that consumed most of his life in 1990s New York City. By depicting the turbulent creative process, Miranda has made a love letter to all those who have poured their hearts and souls into their work. And unlike the fates of so many other musicals this year, this one has serious awards prospects. Garfield is firmly in the Best Actor race, and so is Steven Levenson's script and the film's editing. With a locked ten nominees for Best Picture starting this year, Tick, Tick… Boom! may find itself in good company come nomination morning. West Side Story Another pandemic victim that sat on the shelf for nearly a year, Steven Spielberg's first foray into the musical genre has been touted as one of the year's best films. Despite adapting one of the most beloved stage musicals (which was turned into a Best Picture-winning film in 1961), Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner found a new way to harmonize the past and the present, giving the original material fresh life. West Side Story also made stars out of new and exciting talents such as Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, Mike Faist, and David Alvarez. Alongside Belfast and The Power of the Dog , Spielberg's film is a serious contender to win Best Picture and will more than likely be the nomination leader come Oscar nomination morning. Cyrano Unlike the majority of the films that were delayed due to the pandemic, this adaptation of the classic tale of Cyrano de Bergerac did not commence production until October 2020, when the pandemic was in full swing. Famed literary director Joe Wright ( Atonement ) helmed the musical, with multiple Emmy winner Peter Dinklage portraying the titular wordsmith. Reviews from the film's festival run have been quite positive for Dinklage, who garnered some of the best reviews of his career, and the craftsmanship from Wright despite having to operate under such restricting circumstances. United Artists Releasing holds domestic distribution and is playing a high-risk, high-reward game by giving the film a qualifying release, followed by a limited national release in mid-January. So far, the strategy seems to be working as both the film and Dinklage have picked up several critics group nominations, including Best Actor nominations from both the Golden Globes and Critics Choice. In a year with so many movie musicals, Cyrano 's late-release strategy is helping it to stand out and carry the movie musical genre's momentum into 2022, where hopefully we'll continue to see a trend of more of these films continue to get released. 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 Electric State March 12, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Have you ever wondered why Netflix keeps hiking up the price of its streaming service? Beyond the simple answer that they can do whatever they want now that they’re the top dog in streaming (What are you gonna do? Go over to Peacock?), all that extra cash is needed to fund their quarterly ventures into blockbuster filmmaking. Q1 2025’s splashy title for the next investor meeting is The Electric State , which reportedly comes at a cost of $320 million, putting it within shouting distance of some of the most expensive movies ever made. This comes as no surprise considering directors Anthony and Joe Russo are at the helm. They’ve displayed their expertise in creating entertainment out of the GDPs of small island nations numerous times before with their Captain America and Avengers films. Seeing all those box office dollars flowing like Niagara Falls, Netflix quickly snatched up the brothers, but not before they took forgettable detours to rival streamers Apple TV+ and Amazon with Cherry and Citadel , respectively. The Gray Man didn’t start the franchise that Netflix desperately needed, even with Captain America himself Chris Evans as a headliner. And now with Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon films and Red Notice failing to do the same, the steamer is back to the Russos in another attempt to become one of the big boy studios. But just as one could tell once video games and other tie-ins were announced before the film had even been seen by the public, the desperation for this film to be in the first of a franchise permeates through each unremarkable frame, cloying emotional moment, and generic punchline. The Russos may be great at getting stuff over the finish line, but this is another reminder that they’re pretty inept when it comes to starting from scratch. Loosely adapting from the 2018 illustrated novel by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag of the same name, the Russos and their ever-dependable screenwriting team of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely center the story around Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown), a teenage girl all alone after her family was killed in a car crash. While she was in the hospital recovering, humanity waged a war against the worker robots that Walt Disney created back in the 1950s to lighten our load. These bots wanted personal freedom, something we weren’t willing to accommodate. Humans won the war thanks to the obviously evil techno billionaire Ethan Skate (Stanley Tucci), and all robots were deemed illegal and cast off to the Exclusionary Zone in the deserts of the southwest. As it turns out, Michelle’s brother is alive, his unconscious brain being used as the battery that powers the entire neural network that Skate’s corporation uses to control the masses. Yes, this plot is pretty much as dumb on celluloid as on paper. To break him out of his prison, Michelle will have to break the downtrodden veteran robots out of their prison, led by an animatronic Mr. Peanut. It’s obvious that the war chest Netflix threw at this production didn’t go the screenplay, a dime-a-dozen story of a messianic teenager who leads the unlikely forces of good against an evil domineering superpower. Even the relationship between Michelle and her brother is delivered in shorthand flashback scenes where the siblings only speak in big emotions as Alan Silvestri’s score reaches for the heavens. Silvestri is famous for being Robert Zemeckis’ go-to composer, a director who could have brought something interesting to this material if it were published back in his heyday. The effects/animatronics are very impressive, with robots of all shapes and sizes given a unique design and personality, providing several opportunities for famous actors to appear as voiceovers. Ke Huy Quan as a makeshift Windows PC and Jenny Slate as Penny Pal the Mailwoman are notable highlights. Unsurprisingly, Chris Pratt has great chemistry with his CGI robot sidekick Herman, exceptionally and sneakily voiced by Anthony Mackie. There’s also blink-and-you-miss-it roles for Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter, Hank Azaria, and Colman Domingo. Watching all of this never come to fruition was not an enjoyable experience, but it wasn’t a total waste of time, either. This is a prototypical four-quadrant film aimed to attract the maximum amount of eyeballs from around the world. While I don’t think anyone will be offended by what it offers, I also doubt anyone will be wholly pleased. 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 Wizard of the Kremlin September 5, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen The Wizard of the Kremlin had its North American Premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. It is currently seeking US distribution. Zigging and zagging between an international remake of Les Vampires in Irma Vep , the exploits of the most wanted man in the world, Carlos the Jackal, in Carlos , and a Cuban espionage ring in Wasp Network , writer/director Olivier Assayas’ fascination with the theme of globalization knows no bounds. After taking some time off from the subject during the COVID-19 pandemic to look inward with Suspended Time , Assayas has saddled himself with his biggest subject yet in The Wizard of the Kremlin , a decades-spanning look at the rise of modern Russia and Vladimir Putin. However, Putin is not the central or most important figure in this tale, which comes with a forewarning about how none of this should be misconstrued as pure fact. Our titular “hero” in this story is Vadim Baranov (Paul Dano), a soft-spoken and unassuming spin doctor who secretly held the world in his grasp. He’s now retired to his wintry chalet, giving him plenty of time to host and recount his career to an American foreign correspondent named Rowland (Jeffrey Wright). Their initial meeting is spurred by a mutual admiration for Bolshevik writer Yevgeny Zamyatin, who laid the groundwork for George Orwell’s 1984 . Baranov’s tale starts in the early 1990s when counter-culturalists ran amok, the Soviet Union was dismantled, and Moscow citizens were able to breathe a little easier. But politics and cultural movements hang by a pendulum. Time has allowed some people to look back on Stalin’s tenure through rosier glasses, a time when Russia was at the forefront of geopolitics and thought of as a superpower on par with the United States. Jude Law appears halfway through the 156-minute mini-slog as Putin, the iron fist to Dano’s reserved wit. As exciting as the revitalization of a modern empire might sound (at least to me), Assayas’ film lacks the energy required to keep this engaging and memorable. The central structure of Baranov’s monologue to Rowland lacks any sense of discovery, mostly because Rowland seems to already know all of this. They chat for a while in one room, and then walk to another place on the estate to talk some more. Dano’s narration is long and laborious, taking us through thinly defined episodes that have as much dramatic weight and insight as the chapters in a high school history textbook. The cast sometimes brings up the energy, such as Tom Sturridge as the flashy Dmitri Sidorov, who steals Baranov’s first love, Ksenia (a woefully underused Alicia Vikander), with promises of endless revelry. The weight and presence that Law instills within his portrayal of Putin is just as impressively convincing as the makeup. We may never get to see him bare-chested like the real Russian president, but he does go water skiing and prepares a delectable barbecue dinner. None of the famous faces speaks with a Russian accent, with a vague British tone being used as shorthand. Baranov is persuaded to join Putin’s rising regime when he’s told to “stop making up stories, and start inventing reality.” Assayas clearly sees a link between Putin’s rise to power and Donald Trump’s, with Baranov being his Roy Cohn. Unfortunately, The Wizard of the Kremlin doesn’t have the same level of entertainment and enlightenment as last year’s The Apprentice , leaving its credible points of comparison to land with a thud. 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