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Nightbitch September 8, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Nightbitch had its World Premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Searchlight Pictures will release it in theaters on December 06. “Motherhood is a bitch” reads the tagline for Nightbitch , the feature film adaptation of author Rachel Yoder’s much-raved 2021 novel. It comes as a warning to us all, but not in the form the overzealous marketing (including an incredibly divisive trailer ) would have led us to believe. Motherhood can be a trapdoor for some people, with the promises of the beauty of fertility and providing for others being switched out for restless nights, little appreciation, and the slipping sense that you are your own person. It turns women into a primordial version of themselves, a state where self-preservation triumphs over self-actualization. And in the case of Nightbitch (both the novel and the film), motherhood being a bitch is also a warning that there may be a slight chance you start turning into a dog after having children. Only slight! It first starts with patches of fur and a heightened sense of smell for our unnamed Mother (Amy Adams). Her newborn boy is now a two-year-old, and those very long two years have worn her down. When she sees a friend in the supermarket, they ask her if she loves being a mother. In one of several instances of writer/director Marielle Heller’s comically-intuned editing, Mother goes into a long tirade about its pitfalls akin to America Ferrera’s speech in Barbie . But once she’s gotten that off her chest, we cut back to reality and at the start of the initial question, only for Mother to answer with a simple “I love it!” This exchange represents the heart that Heller is digging for in the next 90-ish minutes. There is so much about motherhood that cannot be discovered until it is experienced, with society not allowing women to talk about what they have to go through every day. Or, if someone does lend an ear, it’s usually in the form of her husband (Scoot McNairy), who, while always having a loving interest, never gives the full attention and consideration required. Both of them just float through their existence, one shouting into the void and the other turning the other way. Once the breaking point is reached for Mother, that’s when her animal instincts come out. In a page out of the Animorphs book series, Mother transforms into a red husky at night, running with a pack of dogs doing all sorts of canine things. She comes back to the human world covered in leaves and smelling of blood, and also with a sense of freedom that could only be achieved by fully cutting loose. Is this transformation literal, or just a metaphorical representation of postpartum depression and body changes? The clues lead to it being literal, but Heller never dives enough into the deep end for it to be conclusive. There are more than a few moments of kookiness (the ones promised in the trailer) where this movie could distance itself from the many other stories about womanhood and maternity, but there’s a refusal from Heller to really through us for a loop. Her intentions and emotions are authentic, something that shouldn’t be a surprise considering her filmography which includes Can You Ever Forgive Me? and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood . Someone who does cut loose is Adams, devouring the meat of this performance with gusto. Her character fears becoming invisible, but it’s impossible not to see what Adams is bringing to the table, which ranges from soulfully teary monologues to devouring rabbits on the front lawn. Backing her up is an enigmatic performance from Jessica Harper as the local librarian and a trio of neighborly moms (Zoe Chao, Mary Holland, and Archana Ryan) that provide some excellent moments of comic relief. They often say less is more, but in the case of Nightbitch , more would have been more. A little more zaniness here and a little more directness there would have lifted this well-meaning story out of the crowded category labeled “just fine.” A woman turning into a dog isn’t exactly doing just fine, and neither should a film with such promise as this. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Created by Hunter Friesen, The Cinema Dispatch is your one-stop-shop for all reviews, lists, awards updates, and essays relating to the world of cinema. About The Cinema Dispatch is founded, owned, and operated by Hunter Friesen. While attaining a Master’s Degree in Accounting and Finance at the University of Northern Iowa, Hunter was also a student of cinema. He was president of the Film Appreciation Club for three years, programming weekly screenings that aimed to entertain and educate the student body. He also served as the film critic for The Northern Iowan newspaper and co-hosted a biweekly campus radio show called Your World with Nick & Hunter on 94.5 KULT-FM. While the perpetually cold weather of Minnesota usually forced him to hunker down and enjoy so many great movies, Hunter has also used his passion for cinema to travel the world. He covers several international film festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and Sundance Film Festival. He also covers the local Twin Cities Film Fest and the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival. Hunter currently serves as the president of the Minnesota Film Critics Association and is an active member of the International Film Society Critics , Online Film & Television Association , Independent Film Critics of America , and The Critics Circle . Hunter publishes a weekly film review column at the Eden Prairie Local News and Woodbury News Net .

MSPIFF 2023 Recap April 29, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF, or “Ms. Piff” as it’s said here) is a much-awaited annual event for cinephiles in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Every year, the festival showcases a diverse selection of films from around the world, ranging from documentaries to independent films, and even cult classics. As a movie enthusiast, I had the opportunity to attend the festival this year and watch several films. In this article, I will be ranking the films I saw at the MSP Film Festival. From thought-provoking dramas to hilarious comedies, these films left a lasting impression on me, and I hope to provide you with an insight into the best of the festival. 9. Dreamin' Wild Writer/director Bill Pohlad’s sophomore feature may be a slightly inferior carbon copy of his debut outing Love & Mercy . Still, his love and appreciation for the Emerson musical duo is always evident, almost as if he made the movie more for them than the paying audiences. That emotional reverence is what I walked away from the movie feeling the most, which is more than I can say about the majority of biopics these days. Full Review 8. The Beasts The central themes within The Beasts are both specific to its setting and universal within every country on Earth. It’s what makes it both compelling to a worldwide audience, and also why it lacks depth below the surface. The back-and-forth arguing and vitriol pads out most of the runtime until the expected climactic moment, where writer/director Rodrigo Sorogoyen allows himself to flourish with a creative perspective shift. The production values and directorial skill are always abundant, with the actors relishing in the extended scenes and long takes. If only there was more meat on this skeleton of a story. 7. Showing Up In its low-key nature, Showing Up can be a comforting ode to small artists persevering to put their creations into the world. Unlike Lizzy’s clay creations that start as wet messes and end up as fully formed creations, Reichardt’s work stops just short of the kiln and ends up feeling more like a shallow puddle of good ideas. I’ve seen this movie twice now, and I wouldn’t be that opposed to another watch somewhere down the road. Full Review 6. Somewhere in Queens After so many years of being lost in the Ice Age films, comedian Ray Romano returns to his Italian-American roots with Somewhere in Queens. The idea of a parent molding their child into a reflection of themselves may not be the most unique theme, but Romano finds both the humor and heart within the situation. Laurie Metcalf plays the mother, bringing great comedic energy and some surprising pathos to a character that easily could have been a throwaway cutout. 5. Polite Society Polite Society is an impressive debut from all those involved (writer/director Nida Manzoor and star Priya Kansara), as it’s only slightly undone by minor problems that are symptoms of its ambitions. It’s both a takedown and love letter to the works of Jane Austen, making a delectable time out of having its cake and eating it too. Full Review 4. R.M.N. Featuring five different spoken languages (Romanian, Hungarian, German, French, and English) and characters from all different walks of life, Cristian Mungiu’s newest visual essay tells a universal story within one specific Transylvanian village. As is tradition for Mungiu, each scene is realized in unbroken takes, with the climactic town-hall meeting unfolding across 17 minutes and featuring dozens of characters. While there are no clichés, this is a story that has been told time and time again, unfortunately, led by the least interesting character of the ensemble. The naturalism is abruptly broken by the ambiguous final shot, leaving you with a disquieting outlook on this specific village, as well as the entire world. 3. Tori and Lokita The newest film from the Belgian brotherly duo of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne finds them once again examining the miscarriages of social justice within their native country. Their handheld long takes and lack of score capture the harsh reality of society. There’s also a propulsive energy to the film, with the semi-criminal elements keeping the 85-minute feature (a staple length for the brothers) moving at a brisk pace. The realism of the situation and themes are slightly undone by the script, which paints everything in such mutually exclusive strokes. But there is power in those overbearing moments, as you’re left with another stark reminder of how the laws of the Western world provide little aid to those who need them the most. 2. BlackBerry Time has not been an ally for the BlackBerry phone, but I believe it will be for this movie. While the other movies in this growing subgenre built themselves largely around the iconography of the brand, Johnson always has his sights set on the people behind the machine, which is what makes this specific story that much more compelling and rewatchable. Full Review 1. Cairo Conspiracy Corruption runs rampant in the holiest of places within Cairo Conspiracy , as faith is used to broker further advances of power. Writer/director Tarik Saleh tells an overlapping story of politics and religion, molding his message within the old-fashioned espionage thriller genre to fantastic results. It’s both entertaining and enlightening, leaving you with something to ponder long after the credits roll. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Cannes 2025 Recap May 27, 2025 By: Tyler Banark This year, I was honored to attend the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. It was my first time attending the festival and being in Europe, and it truly was a wonderful experience. The sights, views, and movies were all something to behold and made me grateful that I could be in the presence of great people working in the industry. I saw eight films during the last three days, so here are my brief thoughts on everything I saw on the Croisette, in the order I watched them in. Sound of Falling One of the most hyped-up non-English-language movies of the festival, Mascha Schilinski’s Sound of Falling , will likely be on many people’s radar later this year. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy it as much as everyone else at the festival. It was boring, and I had no idea what it wanted to be. It does try to make a valid commentary on childhood trauma across different generations, but it gets convoluted in doing so. It also ended suddenly as I got into the moment and was eager to see where it would go. How this movie tied for the Jury Prize (third place) is beyond me. I would advise avoiding it. (2/5) The History of Sound The History of Sound sees Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor, two actors at the top of their game, collide in a love story driven by folk music. The two are excellent, but the rest of Oliver Hermanus’ film is dull as it tries to mask itself with performances and enticing music moments.. There is a great movie somewhere underneath this movie’s surface, but whether that core can be reached is a stretch to see and may require a second viewing. For now, The History of Sound is a miss for Hermanus. (2.5/5) Eddington Eddington is a daring and complex film that challenges viewers to reflect on the societal divisions exacerbated by the pandemic. Its potent performances and atmospheric direction make it a standout entry in Aster's filmography, even if its political messaging occasionally lacks precision. It's the latest example of that and is a compelling film that provokes discussion and introspection about the pandemic, no matter how comforting or discomforting it may be. (4/5) Resurrection Bi Gan’s latest epic, Resurrection , is the big movie of the year that people will either love or not get. It’s best to go into it knowing little of the plot other than it falls into the genre of a love letter to cinema. Resurrection sees Gan passionate as ever, as it’s a visual feast. Bookended with a remarkable opening sequence and a final twenty minutes that will stun audiences, Gan should have audiences wrapped around his finger. (4/5) Sentimental Value Joachim Trier’s follow-up to his 2021 hit The Worst Person in the World sees him slowly reaching the Western Hemisphere. He’s back with Renate Reinsve and has Stellan Skarsgård on board. But in terms of Hollywood, he recruited American actors Elle Fanning and Cory Michael Smith in supporting roles. The actors make Sentimental Value what it is as we see a father look to reconnect with his adult daughter, but an American actress poses a threat. If Sentimental Value is looking to accomplish anything, it’s being a heavy awards season contender as the leading trio is all wonderful. If there are any flaws, it’s in the pacing, as it tends to drag for much of the movie’s runtime. Nevertheless, be on the lookout for this soon. (3.5/5) Die, My Love Lynne Ramsay’s long-awaited return to the silver screen is a bleak slice-of-life film starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson as a lowly couple living in the countryside of Montana. Lawrence performs daringly as she’s in a weird phase of looking to reinvent herself. As a fan of hers, I’m all for it, but I don’t know if others will see it that way. Don’t get me wrong, I want to see Lawrence back in the limelight, but I don't know if this will work for her due to the subject matter of the love. It’s a raw, physical performance, and she can do it. But when the rest of the movie isn’t as consistent as she is, where will the general viewers fall? (3/5) Honey Don't! The second film in Ethan Coen’s follow-up lesbian trilogy after last year’s Drive-Away Dolls , to Honey Don’t is another step down for his solo director career. While watching this film, I realized which past Coen brothers projects were helmed mainly by him and which were done by Joel. Margaret Qualley is looking to be his muse as she leads this queer crime comedy, and she owns the screen. She fits the mold of the Coen aesthetic, and is far from the most significant issue I had with Honey Don’t. The writing is the suspect here as Coen co-wrote this with his wife Tricia Cooke, and it leaves audiences unamused with lamely written characters. The only good thing to come out of the script is the humor. Still, even that didn’t do much to save. He wastes a stacked cast of Aubrey Plaza, Charlie Day, Chris Evans, and Talia Ryder with ho-hum character development, making the previously mentioned typecast. If there’s anything Ethan Coen should take away from Honey Don’t , it’s that he needs to reunite with Joel. (3/5) The Phoenician Scheme Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme sees the director at a crossroads. His style is unique and can't be replicated, no matter how much people try. However, the relationship between Asteroid City and The French Dispatch has become stale in the past few years . Luckily, moviegoers and Wes heads can put this fear to rest as The Phoenician Scheme is a bold, genre-blending espionage comedy that both honors and subverts his signature style. For a while now, Anderson has been making the narrative approach of having a story within a story. And while it worked at first, it slowly got boring. Have no fear, as The Phoenician Scheme reverts to that and gives a direct plot that feels like a breath of fresh air for viewers like me. (4/5) More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Fair Play February 2, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Fair Play had its World Premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Netflix will it in theaters on September 29, followed by its streaming premiere on October 13. Netflix must have had big Promising Young Woman prospects when spending a festival-record $20 million on writer/director Chloe Domont's debut feature, Fair Play . Fennell's 2020 Oscar-winning film has laid the path for similarly biting films to gain recognition, and Domont follows close to that model with her thrilling examination of gender politics and relationships within the corporate world. But while Fair Play is quite provocative with its mixture of sex and violence, much of it comes to its detriment when the credibility of its authenticity comes into question during the third-act climax. Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) are the usual extremely-motivated Wall Street up-and-comers that you've come to expect. Along with their undying motivation for their careers, they also can't take a break from each other. Their physical passion is unmatched, evidenced by an impromptu hookup in the bathroom at Luke's brother's wedding, which Luke wildly takes as an opportunity to propose. Despite now proving their undying love for each other in private, they must keep their relationship a secret in public, as they both work for the same high-stakes hedge fund where office romance is strictly forbidden. The couple makes it work most of the time, professionally speaking to each other and only passing glances when no one is looking. But all bets are off when a senior employee is fired and his position is up for grabs. The pair must juggle their ambitions with their loyalty to each other, along with keeping their indiscretions under the rug. Domont depicts the world of high finance as a pressure cooker that melts even the brightest people down into monsters. If Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street (smartly) glorified the life of wheeling and dealing, Fair Play offers a sobering reality. A glaring Eddie Marsan sits in his corner office, ready to berate his employees at any moment. The underlings are constantly pitted against each other, with loyalty disintegrated whenever the slightest hint of upward mobility comes into play. Emily and Luke initially try their best to sidestep the rat race, with each offering the usual "may the best man win" rhetoric. But when Luke makes that statement, he means it literally, as it slowly starts to dawn on Emily that he sees a significant difference between them based on their gender. Ehrenreich brings that toxic alpha-male energy to Luke. He's someone that says all the right things to your face (usually laced with an unhealthy amount of curse words), but you know he doesn't believe any of it. This is a world where the man usually gets what he wants, and their inflated egos come crashing down when they’re "unfairly" passed over. Domont doesn’t portray Emily as a saintly female in a sea of testosterone, with Dynevor, already a Netflix star through Bridgerton , packing a hard edge in her performance. There are no heroes in this story, only those that get their hands dirty and those that get them dirtier. The carnal influence of Adrian Lyne (who marked any unceremonious return last year with Deep Water ) 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. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Mufasa: The Lion King December 17, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Mufasa: The Lion King is a terrible sequel, a half-decent prequel, and a continuation of the failed excuse for the flawed existence of this version of the iconic story of the animal kingdom. Those may be harsh words to fling at a children’s film, but that’s what the property deserves when it trades its soul and respectably for cash. And that’s not even considering the fact that Barry Jenkins, writer/director of such foundational films of this era as the Best Picture-winning Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk , got roped into this, years of his finite career gone for nothing more than a commercial for merchandise and theme park attractions. Of course, it’s wrong of me to sit here and armchair theorize about the reasons for Jenkins’ position as the film’s director. This is a free market after all, and the pitfalls of the film industry have been made so clear since its inception that it would be foolish to judge someone for accepting work on the biggest stage. And there’s no denying that Disney hired the best possible candidate for the job, a visionary whose presence at the helm was the sole reason I ventured back into this photorealistic version of Africa. Neither party comes out of this project having harnessed their full potential. Jenkins, a filmmaker with a masterful understanding of quiet observation, finds himself saddled with a story that always feels the need to be loud to resonate with audiences, specifically the younger ones. Case in point: the entire sequel subplot that is the shell to the nut of this story. Donald Glover and Beyoncé reprise their roles as Simba and Nala, respectively. Well, “reprise” would be a strong word considering the latter speaks less than ten words, shifting the focus of the future onto the lioness princess Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter). While Mom and Dad are away, she hears the origin story of her grandfather Mufasa from Rafiki… with some additional thoughts by Timon and Pumbaa. Between the strain of removing Simba and Nala as quickly as possible and the constantly unfunny gag of Timon and Pumbaa’s fourth-wall-breaking interjections, this section is ripe for removal, or, at the very least, fast-forwarding once this lands on Disney+. It would certainly help trim the fat off this 120-minute beast and maintain the dramatic heft of the prequel storyline. The past finds Mufasa as a lost cub, taken in by another pride of lions and given a brother named Taka, heir to the throne. The story of Moses and Rameses continues from there, with a great journey forcing Mufasa to face his destiny as king despite his hesitancy to ascend past his adopted brother. A few members of Jenkin’s usual crew came with him for this blockbuster. Cinematographer James Laxton finds more life in both the vast landscapes and the faces of his feline subjects. The hyperrealism of the visual effects has been slightly toned down, lessening (but not eliminating) the nagginess of the uncanny valley. Dave Metzger’s music backs up a race sequence between Mufasa and Taka that finds the magic and power of the original film, the cubs sprinting through the grass and ascending jagged rocks and trees. The music cedes itself to cues from Zimmer’s original track from there on out, a crutch to rekindle those nostalgic feelings. Wholly original are the lyrical songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, although none reach the exceedingly high bar that the famed multi-hyphenate songwriter has set for himself. Adding insult to injury is their placement within the story, many shoe-horned at the worst possible moment. Did we really need a chintzy tune about how evil the main villain (Mads Mikkelsen) is right before he murders a peaceful pride of lions? All of these less-than-ideal elements make it seem as if we’re settling. We already did a near-perfect version of this story thirty years ago (and subsequent variations of it on VHS) with a quarter of the runtime, so what could possibly be accomplished now? If someone like Jenkins can’t find that much-needed spark, then it truly is time to throw in the towel. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Love Lies Bleeding March 13, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen From its neon-drenched cinematography, pulpy story, casting of Jena Malone, and Clint Mansell’s electronic score, one could be fooled into thinking that Love Lies Bleeding is the cinematic return of Danish bad-boy filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn. Blood red tinges over the studio logos, and the opening shot traverses up an abyss so deep that it would make James Cameron blush. The camera keeps moving into a gym at the center of a podunk desert town. Sweat is dripping off every face, muscles are firm and perpetually flexed, the cardio machines are always whirring, and the clanging of weights punctuates each roid rage-induced grunt. Writer/director Sean Durkin showed the peak of the male physique with The Iron Claw , and now it’s time for Rose Glass to do the same for the ladies in her sophomore feature. At the helm of the gym is Lou (Kristen Stewart), a lonesome and frantic person who’s never had a life outside the ten square miles that surround her. Her job is demeaning, dealing with alpha bros “getting their gains” and cleaning toilets by hand. All that changes when Jackie (Katy O’Brian) blows in with the tumbleweeds. Lou has never met anyone like Jackie, which is unsurprising since no one in the world is like Jackie. She’s an aspiring bodybuilder on her to the national championships in Las Vegas, this town being just another stop on her solo journey. Also in the mix is Lou’s father (Ed Harris), the proprietor of a gun range that’s riding high off the gun fetishization in Die Hard . But that’s just a front for all the criminal activities that go in behind the backdoor, with Lou’s POS brother-in-law (Dave Franco) also participating. Glass does show many similarities to Refn in her direction. Improving on what she displayed with her 2019 debut Saint Maud , Glass wrings tension out of each and every scene. The sound effects are ratcheted up to eleven, with pumping of blood through veins and flexing of muscles being treated with both reverence and horror. Every character is ready to pop at any moment, each outburst promising gory results that beg you to look away. As a corkscrew rollercoaster, it makes sense that Love Lies Bleeding also packs a steamy love story between Lou and Jackie. Their power dynamics may be obvious physically, but there’s never a moment where either is fixed in their position. Stewart and O’Brian have excellent chemistry together, both emboldened by Glass to crank up the heat. Neither of them are one-note; with Stewart displaying repressed strength for the timid Lou, and O’Brian showing compassion to counter her hulking physique. With his long flowing mane (just cut it off, man!), Harris is a deadbeat criminal genius from hell. He fills in the gaps of characterization for his antagonistic role, and so does Franco with his nasty mullet. Glass may also swing for the fences a little too much near the end, resulting in some foul balls instead of the expected hits. But it’s easy to forgive the ambition, as there’s a lot here that you haven’t seen much of before. And with Refn out of the picture for now (and not in his peak form), there’s a vacancy for the role of delivering the unhinged pulp we so desperately crave. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Taste of Things October 29, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen The Taste of Things screened at the 2023 Twin Cities Film Fest. IFC Films will release it for an Oscar-qualifying run in December, followed by a limited release on February 09, 2024. Is there a more perfect way to wake up in the morning than to the smell of sizzling eggs, crackling bacon, and onions soaked in butter? It’s what Dodin (Benoît Magimel) has awoken to every day over the past twenty years, the aroma of the fresh ingredients crawling its way from the kitchen all the way to his grand bedroom within the vast manor. “This is the best moment of the day,” he thinks as he flies down the stairs, ready to be embraced by the food and woman that he loves. Eugénie (Juliette Binoche) has always been the head of her kitchen domain, crafting famous meals with quiet determination. She too is in love with Dodin, yet she always refuses his proposals for marriage on the grounds that matrimony will only complicate the good thing they have going for them. He’s always disappointed in her rejections, and yet he also slightly agrees with her. Together they are unstoppable; him the mastermind of intricate recipes and menus, and her the hands-on artist who brings those ideas to life. If you were to eliminate all the scenes of cooking within The Taste of Things , you would be left with maybe thirty minutes of “plot.” I put that last word in quotations because those extended sequences of cooking tell just as much, if not more, of the story as the scenes filled with dialogue. Cooking is an intimate process for the central pair, a time when they communicate without saying a word. A scene early on sees Dodin entertaining guests with Eugénie preparing all the courses downstairs. Once it is over, all the men congratulate Eugénie and ask her to dine with them next time. She happily says that would be redundant as “what I say is already in the food.” Writer/director Tran Anh Hung (winner of the Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival) entrances you in this process of creation. There’s a sweet harmony in witnessing the journey of the garden to the plate. The camera swerves around the kitchen, capturing the in-process cookery with sumptuous detail. Meat sizzles, water boils, spoons clank against the brass pots, the doors of the woodfire oven creak open, and the bread cracks when cut open. It’s a total ASMR experience, one that fully earns the simplistic description of “food porn” that has lovingly been bestowed upon it. 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 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. The scenes outside the kitchen are just as sumptuous as the food itself. The warm cinematography makes the gardens and fields feel like Eden. The seasons are picturesque in their beauty, leaves turning from vibrant green to bright orange, replaced by a freckling of snow. Binoche and Magimel are an electric pair within their surroundings. They project a consistent feeling of serenity, both of them aware that their love for each other is intertwined with their craft. You know what they say, the quickest way to a person’s heart is through their stomach. 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. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

TIFF25: Tyler's Time at the Festival September 20, 2025 By: Tyler Banark The most wonderful time of the year has come and gone with the 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. What TIFF and the city of Toronto never fail to do is be welcoming. It’s the time of year when the city comes to life, welcoming film lovers like myself from around the world to see some of the biggest upcoming releases. I’ve always found it wonderful that TIFF offers a variety of movies, both good and bad. Regardless, the various trips to the theatres of King Street provided for some memorable adventures. Without further ado, here’s a look back at what I saw at TIFF50! Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon opened the first day, with Ethan Hawke delivering one of the year’s standout performances as lyricist Lorenz Hart navigating his fractured partnership with Richard Rodgers. Hawke’s flamboyant yet restrained turn anchors this brisk, 100-minute chamber piece, with Linklater keeping the pacing tight enough to avoid the lulls typical in similar films. The rest of the day was devoted to Cannes catch-ups: Sirāt , The Secret Agent , and Palme d’Or winner It Was Just an Accident . Sirāt emerged as the best foreign entry of the festival, cleverly twisting the road-trip formula with a shocking second half. It Was Just an Accident is impressively portrayed as a dark comedy with an unexpected bite. The weakest of the trio, The Secret Agent , still offered value by showcasing Wagner Moura’s growing stature as one of Latin America’s most compelling rising talents. Day two featured Oliver Assayas’ The Wizard of the Kremlin , a political thriller that traces Vladimir Putin’s 15-year rise through the eyes of an associate, played by Paul Dano. Despite its ambition, the film lacks the intrigue of stronger political dramas, and the unconvincing Russian accents from Dano and Jude Law don’t help. Park Chan-Wook followed with No Other Choice , a biting satire about an unemployed man plotting revenge on his job rivals. Dark, shocking, and hilarious, it sparked endless debate and was a strong contender (and eventual winner) for the inaugural TIFF International People’s Choice Award. Closing the day was Paul Greengrass’ The Lost Bus , starring Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera. Based on the 2018 Paradise wildfires, it delivered an emotional, crowd-pleasing finale that earned thunderous applause. While weakened by clunky dialogue and uneven writing, its powerful climax and heartfelt performances kept it engaging. The weekend brought a mix of highs and lows at the festival. David Mackenzie’s Fuze , Mark Jenkin’s Rose of Nevada , and Romain Gavras’ Sacrifice ranked among the weakest. Fuze squandered a strong premise and cast on thin writing and a pointless ending. Rose of Nevada , a sluggish drama with a failed mystery thread, disappointed despite George MacKay’s billing—he didn’t even appear at my screening, though Callum Turner and Jenkin did. Sacrifice strained to be a biting satire but only came off as a hollow imitation of 2022’s The Menu . In the middle sat David Michôd’s Christy , buoyed solely by Sydney Sweeney’s committed turn. Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire fared better, a gripping crime thriller powered by Bill Skarsgård’s continued momentum and Dacre Montgomery’s sharp presence. Fortunately, the festival’s best stood out among these: Maude Apatow’s assured directorial debut in the comedy Poetic License , and David Freyne’s fantastical romantic dramedy Eternity . Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet proved a gut-punch of a drama. For most of its runtime, it’s a meditative, steady work, but the final 15 minutes, paired with Max Richter’s haunting “On the Nature of Daylight,” elevate it into something unforgettable. Rarely have I heard so many sniffles at a 9 a.m. screening—it’s an experience I’ll carry into my next watch of it. Next came Peter Ho-Sun Chan’s She Has No Name . Like last year’s Harbin , I sought it out for its intriguing synopsis, but it ultimately left little impression despite its potential. I closed the day with Dwayne Johnson, first at his In Conversation With… panel, then with the North American premiere of The Smashing Machine . The film marks a bold pivot for Johnson, an attempt to move beyond his The Rock persona. While his performance shows promise, the script’s uneven writing keeps it from fully landing. My final day at TIFF was a Netflix marathon with Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery , Frankenstein , and Ballad of a Small Player . Rian Johnson’s third Benoit Blanc outing remains enjoyable, though it lacks the sharpness of Knives Out and Glass Onion . Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein stood out as a faithful, fascinating retelling of Mary Shelley’s novel. Oscar Isaac brings gravitas as the scientist, but Jacob Elordi steals the film with one of the year’s finest performances as the creature. While Del Toro’s artistry is undeniable, his films remain hit-or-miss for me personally. Unfortunately, the festival ended on a sour note with Edward Berger’s Ballad of a Small Player . Despite Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton being attached, the film’s bombastic style and grating score made it feel like a chaotic blend of Uncut Gems and Casino —a frustrating finale to an otherwise memorable TIFF. At the end of the day, it won’t matter how I ended things because TIFF always makes for a wonderful time, regardless of the quality of certain movies. This year was a buffet as the 20 movies I saw in six days ranged from everything and came from everywhere. The people of TIFF know how to cater to everyone, although I wish I had found a Midnight Madness screening to attend, as those are usually a highlight. That being said, happy 50 years to Cameron Bailey and company! Here’s to 50 more!! FULL RANKING 1. Eternity (4.5/5) 2. Poetic License (4.5/5) 3. Hamnet (4.5/5) 4. Sirāt (4/5) 5. Blue Moon (4/5) 6. Frankenstein (4/5) 7. No Other Choice (4/5) 8. Dead Man's Wire (3.5/5) 9. The Smashing Machine (3.5/5) 10. It Was Just an Accident (3.5/5) 11. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (3.5/5) 12. The Lost Bus (3.5/5) 13. Christy (3/5) 14. The Wizard of the Kremlin (2.5/5) 15. The Secret Agent (2.5/5) 16. Fuze (2/5) 17. She Has No Name (2/5) 18. Sacrifice (2/5) 19. Rose of Nevada (1.5/5) 20. Ballad of a Small Player (1/5) More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera January 10, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen January has never been a month known for quality when it pertains to the yearly cinematic timeline. While everyone's eyeballs are trained on the artier Oscar contenders, the studios dump their unwanted offspring into the multiplexes (this time last year featured such "classics" as Nightswim, I.S.S., Founders Day , and Miller's Girl ). Every once in a while you get a better-than-expected gem like my beloved The Beekeeper , an indulgent slice of junk food that hits the spot after months of vegetables. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera , the sequel to the 2018 crime film that has amassed a decent following over the years, aims to be that greasy burger you hate yourself for loving, although it leans a little too close to gas station quality rather than fast food. Donnie Wilson (O'Shea Jackson Jr.) has moved up in the world since we last saw him, graduating from the banks of Los Angeles to the diamond district of Europe. "It's the most secure building in continental Europe," says the concierge to Donnie as he goes undercover as a diamond seller to provide surveillance for his crew, a line that tells us all that we need to know about the outcome of this heist. 'Big Nick' O'Brien (Gerard Butler), on the other hand, is pissing his life away (both literally and figuratively) since Donnie outsmarted him. His divorce has been finalized and his job security is hanging by a thread, giving him enough of a reason to embrace the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mantra and become part of Donnie's crew. Sequels are about doing more than the original, which Pantera does in a literal sense. The locations are swankier, the stakes are higher, and the plan is more complicated. However, all the supporting details are less valuable than before. The cast is less interesting and the plot is less comprehensible, leaving you yawning throughout the first half of this 148-minute beast. The only thing there's more of in those departments is the clichéd elements of previous heist films: people standing around the blueprint table explaining their roles, then later leaning over a balcony giving their backstory for why they got into this line of work. Those missteps can be slightly forgiven once the sun sets and the black ski masks are donned. Writer/director Christian Gudegast showed some remarkable chops as a first-time director of set pieces with the 2018 predecessor. He levels up his game here, trading in the loud bangs of gunfire for the silence of a job that goes according to plan. There's a great amount of tension as the crew shimmies across rooftops, moves through rooms undetected by security cameras, and places barriers at just the right angles to avoid motion detectors. Of course, things still go boom. Fast cars and machine guns become the weapons of choice, making this a gnarlier version of a Fast & Furious movie. Jackson Jr. and Butler match that brute explosiveness fairly well, although their chemistry works much better as antagonists as opposed to reluctant allies. All of this felt a little outdated in 2018, making it straight-up ancient in 2025. But that creakiness is part of the charm, flooding in rose-tinted memories of the heist movie of yesteryear. And as long as Michael Mann keeps taking his sweet time to deliver Heat 2 , these retrograde knockoffs are the best we're going to get, so we might as well be content with them. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Shazam! April 4, 2019 By: Button Hunter Friesen I would have called you crazy if you had told me that we get both a Captain Marvel and Shazam film in the same year. But stranger things have happened, which is something we’ve had to get used to over the past couple of years. So now the year is 2019 and both of these films have premiered within the span of a month. Unfortunately, as much as I am happy to see these films get their moment to shine, the experience that I got out of both of them didn’t match well with my expectations. This superhero origin story centers around Billy Batson, a troubled kid that has committed his whole life to running away from foster homes and finding his real mom. On one fateful day, Billy is approached by an all-seeing wizard that wishes to transfer his power to him so that he may fight off the seven deadly sins that seek to destroy humanity. By speaking the wizard’s name, Billy is suddenly transformed into the unstoppable superhero Shazam that possesses the combined powers of the Greek gods. With his nearly unlimited new powers, Billy must now set out to do good in the world, while still trying to find his real home. Shazam! is directed by David F. Sandberg, who has made his name with the horror films Annabelle: Creation and Lights Out . One admirable thing that can be said of Sandberg is his intention and ability to make this film a moderately fun ride throughout as it pokes fun at itself from time to time. To my regret, that is probably the only good thing that can be said about his directing, which has a consistent pattern of him pacing so much smaller material into an already overstuffed main narrative. The biggest issue that plagues Shazam! is that it always acts like it’s different from all the other superhero films, even though it really isn’t. This problem can be glaringly seen in the egregious 132-minute runtime, which follows the generic origin path where the hero gets their powers, has some struggles along the way, and then vanquishes evil in a climatic CGI battle. The one thing that this film does differently lies within its effects, which are a lot worse when compared to the competition. Written by Henry Gayden, Shazam! tries really hard (and fails) to be the family-friendly version of Deadpool . The problem that this film repeatedly runs into stems from the fact that Deadpool ’s style works solely on the effortless charm of Ryan Reynolds and its ability to be R-rated, two things that Shazam! sorely lacks. To be fair, a few of the jokes are actually quite funny, but the majority just fall flat and feel like a pale imitation. Another problem with Shazam! is the terrible one-dimensional villain, whose name I couldn’t remember until the credits rolled by. Basically, he’s a supervillain that does bad things because that’s what a supervillain does. Clear motives for his actions or any other defining character traits are nonexistent Retouching on the point of needless subplots, the whole storyline about the missing mother is handled quite amateurishly and laughably underwhelms in its conclusion. Part of the blame can be placed on Sandberg for spending too much time on it, but most of it should go to Gayden for not cutting this tedious and unimportant plot out of an already bloated story. Maybe the finest quality that this film has lies within its lead actor, Zachary Levi, who brings a lot of energy to the titular role. He’s no Ryan Reynolds, which he tries really hard to be, but he does a good enough job to cover many of the storytelling faults. Asher Angel plays Billy and does a below-average job. His performance of Billy as an insufferably meddling kid wildly contrasts with Levi’s and makes it really hard to believe both of them are playing the same core character. The villain role of Sivana is played by Mark Strong. Just like his character, Strong’s dull performance is immediately forgotten after watching. Lastly, Djimon Hounsou underwhelmingly stars as the wizard, who can best be described as a dollar-store version of Gandalf. After seven entries, the DCEU has yet to put out one above-average film. And although Shazam! falls prey to many of the same problems that have besieged the other films in the universe, the one thing that it can hang its hat on is its ability to be quite entertaining for a portion of its runtime. Still, don’t expect to be blown away, just moderately surprised. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

La Grazia December 5, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Inside Italian auteur Paolo Sorrentino lie two wolves, each representing a near equal amount of his quarter-century spanning filmography. On one side lies a man fascinated by the complexities of love and beauty, often expressed through hedonistic behavior. His most acclaimed and awarded work, The Great Beauty , follows a man who fills the dark emptiness of his heart with the debauchery of the Roman nightlife. Excess is often the name of the game, with the visuals matching the grandiosity of the experience. On the other side is an examination of the church and state. Supreme powers are held by flawed men who lie within the halls of the Vatican and the Quirinal Palace. Loro and Il Divo center themselves on famous prime ministers, the former on Silvio Berlusconi, the latter on Giulio Andreotti. The closest these two sides came to merging was in the HBO miniseries The Young Pope , where a brash American cardinal played by Jude Law is unexpectedly elected as one of the youngest popes in Catholic history. He’s disruptive to the old ways, his actions spurred by the love he never received throughout his orphaned childhood. 2025 is also a year where everything comes together, although still in a mutually exclusive fashion. Released in February in the United States after playing internationally in 2024 was Parthenope , led by the most beautiful woman in the world, as she discovers desire and determination in Naples. Coming now in December, after stops at the Venice, Telluride, and New York Film Festival, is La Grazia , a sobering drama about a sunsetting Italian president dealing with a complex executive decision and the sadness he endures after his wife’s passing. The opening is cold and austere, listing out the contents of Article 87 of the Italian Constitution against a plain blue sky. Within the president lies the ultimate legal powers, instilled so that he may be a righteous symbol for the Italian people (something that America has lost sight of). After commendably serving as a lawyer and judge for many years, Mariano De Santis (Tony Servillo) has become the man for the job. He’s a stately person, self-described as boring and clinical. He’s not perfect, as he indulges in cigarettes as he stands atop the palace late at night, overlooking the millions of Romans that he has sworn to serve. Just as a leader needs a strong mind, he also needs a strong heart. Mariano’s has been crushed by the death of his wife ever since he took office. He leads out of a sense of duty, but can no longer find the gratification in the work. He falls asleep every time he prays, and is starting to have doubts about all things both spiritual and literal. This is the eighth occasion that Servillo has appeared in a Sorrentino film, a collaboration that has been wonderfully fruitful for the pair. Servillo displays a wealth of sadness with each look, his soul conflicted as he has lost purpose while occupying the most important job in the country. To sign or not to sign. That is the central question for Mariano, as his daughter and assistant, Dorotea (Anna Ferzetti), presents him with a bill to legalize euthanasia and a trio of options for pardons. She is aggravated by his stubbornness, his nickname within the halls being “reinforced concrete.” As always, Sorrentino finds immense beauty in these proceedings. The frames are cool and calculated, like pristine marble. The soundtrack is elegant, with the prominent inclusion of “Le Bimbe Piangono” by Guè Pequeno included for an extra bit of spicy levity. “Who owns our days?” is a question that is brought up on numerous occasions throughout the film. Is it the best version of ourselves, or the version racked with doubt and guilt? The road to perfection is one marked by pain and heartache. Yet, it’s what makes us stronger, winning the battles in a never-ending war. La Grazia takes a roundabout way to illustrate that theme, mixing in Sorrentino’s in-the-moment, flashy style with a sneaky amount of depth. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen