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The Last Thing He Wanted February 27, 2020 By: Button Hunter Friesen Netflix has been on a roll these past few years. While changing the idea of how television can be consumed, the streaming giant has also financed dozens of films from revered auteurs and budding talent. This level of investment has paid dividends with films such as The Irishman and Roma . But like all portfolios, there are some stinkers such as Bright and The Ridiculous 6 that blemish the hits. Joining the latter pile of garbage is the newest film to be dumped unceremoniously on Netflix: The Last Thing He Wanted . A journalist for The Atlantic Post , Elena McMahon made her mark with hard-hitting investigative pieces detailing the revolutions in 1980s Central America. One day, her secretive father attempts to reconnect with her after years apart. It’s revealed he’s rekindling their relationship because he has fallen victim to Alzheimer’s. With his final days winding down, he confesses that he is a gun smuggler for the Nicaraguan Contras and asks her to complete his final deal. To fulfill her father’s dying wish, Elena must go back to the place where everything began for her. Only this time she’s on the opposite side of the law than before. Reteaming with Netflix after the critical success of Mudbound , director Dee Rees makes some of the most shocking failures a respected filmmaker could make. Her command of the material is nonexistent as the plot and characters move along without any rhyme or reason. For a two-hour movie (that feels twice as long), Rees offers little in terms of suspense and subtlety. The choppy editing lacks any cohesiveness between its revolving door of throwaway characters and locations. Even when Rees is supplied with quality supplemental material, such as the score by Tamar-kali, she cues it at the most obvious times, turning it against her intentions. She does throw in a nice camera movement every once in a while, but it’s painfully obvious that it’s only being done to try and cover up the catastrophe that is being filmed. An example is the laughably bad final shot that looks ripped straight from a parody movie. Adapted by Rees and Marco Villalobos from the book of the same name, The Last Thing He Wanted is one of the most incomprehensible movies ever made. I would feel safe betting someone a billion dollars to watch this movie and then properly explain what they had just seen. The dialogue is both cliched and flowery as it makes even the smallest detail hard to comprehend. Characters speak English in a way so cryptic that it seems they aren’t even speaking English at all. No amount of rewinding or looking through a dictionary could help me understand what exactly someone was saying. Fortunately, the poor sound mixing makes half of the dialogue muddled, saving me from further anguish. Also part of the problem is the script’s overabundance of half-baked storylines and details. I would say that almost every one of these plots and subplots is filled with holes, but I’m not sure of what the plot was, to begin with. Characters and locations come and go, barely leaving a mark on the overall narrative. That is, until the end when Rees wraps a dozen different things up in the final three minutes, ending the film in a pile of disjointed pieces that produces more questions than answers. I know it’s a tired trope to say that a movie should have been a mini-series... but this seriously should have been a mini-series. Anne Hathaway is mediocre as our supposedly tough main character. Hathaway tries her best, but she is woefully miscast and can’t muster a sliver of enough fortitude to convince us of her believability. Ben Affleck plays a CIA agent hot on Elena’s trail. Affleck seems to have been on set for less than a week and has as much energy as someone who just woke up from a nap after downing a bottle of NyQuil. Factoring in his minuscule screen time, it’s safe to say that the main reason he was cast was to put his name on the poster. Playing the ailing father is Willem Dafoe, who has recently been on a career resurgence. Disappointingly, Dafoe falls into the type of hammy overacting that plagued the middle third of his career. The Last Thing He Wanted is a glaring misfire on the careers of the usually dependable cast and crew. It will surely land on many worst-of-the-year lists and may even take the top spot on a few. Thinking about this awful movie is the last thing I ever want to do. 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

Lisa Frankenstein February 7, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) isn’t your typical 1980s teenager. Instead of being fascinated with “football or basketball bodies,” she’s fallen head over heels for a guy whose body is six feet under. The subject of her admiration was a Victorian-era musician who unluckily met his demise when lightning struck a tree branch above him. Lisa tends to his tomb nearly every day, sharing her deepest secrets and longings to no longer be a part of the living world. It wouldn't be far-fetched to envision her as a distant cousin to Wednesday Addams. But what lightning takes away, it also gives back. A major storm occurs one night right above the old cemetery, with a peculiar amount of ball lightning sending bolts down into the grave of Lisa’s undead lover. Just as the title implies; she is now Dr. Frankenstein, and he is her monster. And together, they will rebuild his body by whatever means necessary. Writer Diablo Cody has long had a fascination with the lives of teenagers ( Juno, Jennifer’s Body ), and the lives of people who can’t let go of their teenage selves ( Young Adult ). She likes to exploit her genres as metaphors for adolescent angst and female sexuality. But unlike Juno - which netted her an Oscar - and Jennifer’s Body - later reappraised as a cult classic after initially being met with harsh criticism - Lisa Frankenstein whiffs considerably on whatever message it was going for, so much so that it feels impossible for anyone to discover some secret genius that was too ahead of its time. When I said “by whatever means necessary” earlier; I meant killing people for their body parts, which can then be sewn on the creature and fused by Lisa’s defective tanning bed. Lisa half-heartedly justifies the victims as people who deserved their punishment, mostly by wronging her in some sort of teenage way. But it’s all laid out too logically, as if killing people for their hands and ears was a no-brainer next step for a moody teenager. There’s no sense of ethical edginess, no sense of danger in Lisa getting caught, and no sense of thrills in seeing cosmic revenge. That lack of energy falls just as much on the feet of first-time director Zelda Williams. There is a prevalent feeling of passion for this project during its creation, but none of it permeates off the screen. Giddy uses of Tim Burton-esque animation and classic horror movie references land flat, with any needle drop of a 1980s crowd-pleaser feeling too obvious. Newton is a capable leading actress for this sort of thing, with her performance here being one of the few bright spots. Sprouse doesn’t get much of anything to do besides let out some grunts and some comedic mugging. He’s not an altogether talented physical comedian, but it’s hard to blame him when there just isn’t anything interesting beyond the basic premise of his character. By trying to be a lot of things, Lisa Frankenstein can never manage to be good at anything. There are moments of competence splashed throughout, but the overall sum of these tiny moments is far less than what the promising trailer sold. 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

Death of a Unicorn March 25, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen A few weeks ago, I panned the A24 film Opus because of its derivativeness. It was nothing more than a half-assed copycat of the "regular person finds themselves surrounded by a cult" movies we've been avalanched by over the years. And now, as if they didn't learn their lesson (or didn't care), the studio is back again with another venture down a well-trodden road, this time making the lateral movement into the territory of eat-the-rich and late-stage capitalism. From first-time writer/director Alex Scharfman, Death of a Unicorn is exactly the type of movie you'd expect based on the trailer; or if you've seen any of the combinations of Glass Onion , Parasite , The Menu , or Triangle of Sadness . You've got your obviously corrupt wealthy family the Leopolds, pharmaceutical billionaires who've secluded themselves in the Canadian Rockies under the guise of philanthropy. The leader of the pack is the terminally ill Odell (Richard E. Grant), watched over by his wife (Téa Leoni) and buffoonish son Shep (Will Poulter). Beleaguered father Elliot (Paul Rudd) is sent to handle some paperwork before Odell passes, his daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) in tow in an effort for them to use the weekend as a way to reconnect after the death of his wife/her mother. But even in this tranquil slice of natural paradise, death still seems to follow the duo. They strike a horse with their rental car, leaving Elliot to bludgeon it out of its misery with a tire iron. Except this horse is much bigger than expected, has a glowing horn attached to its head, and has magic blood that cured Elliot's vision and Ridley's acne when it splattered on them. Nobody can get themselves to admit what they all think it is, except until Ridley just comes out and says "It's a fucking unicorn!" Of course, when nature hands humanity a gift, we immediately look to exploit it for the wealthy. Odell calls up his fellow members of the 1% of the 1% club, making millions per minute as he promises vials of blood, horn shavings, and all the different kinds of cuts of unicorn meat. Scharfman's script hits all the familiar beats through these initial proceedings. We're supposed to laugh at the absurdity of it all, except that the jokes just aren't funny enough, and the collective public mood isn't game for something like this anymore. That's not to say the material is unfunny, as actors like Poulter and Barry star Anthony Carrigan, appearing as the Leopold's mistreated butler, spin this straw into a few light chuckles here and there. There's also some slight amusement to be had in witnessing the violent dismemberment of bad people at the hands (or, in this case, hoofs and horns) of unicorns. Killing one of their own will not go unpunished by these mystical creatures, a warning Ridley tries to instill after she uses her art history degree to do some research. But as the people we want to die get picked off one by one, we're only left with the people that we're supposed to be rooting for. Except Rudd and Ortega are underused and flat, leaving not much room to care about their problems. A horror movie filled with purely guilty pleasures is fine by itself, just don't try to sell me spoonfuls of social commentary and trauma if you aren't going to put in the effort to make it taste good. 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 Upside January 31, 2019 By: Button Hunter Friesen In the film industry, January is usually the month that big studios dump films that they have lost confidence in. A large majority of these films come and go without anyone noticing they even exist. One of the biggest films of this January is The Upside , which tells the unlikely true story of a wealthy quadriplegic hiring an ex-con to be his caregiver. Starring Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart, this film isn’t as bad as its release date would suggest, but it also isn’t anything special enough to justify your attention or hard-earned money. Directed by Hollywood workman Neil Burger, The Upside is both structured and shot in the typical fashion that one would come to expect from studio comedies. Everything feels like it was assembled from a template and has been done dozens of times before by more competent directors. Burger middlingly works with the more emotional aspects of the film as any moment of dramatic tension can be seen coming from miles away and follows the usual cues of the genre. Even the tonal shifts become quite predictable and create an endless cycle of half-hearted storytelling. While it may have been unintentional, the one thing that Burger does well at is letting the actors do what they do best. Hart and Cranston take over every scene they appear together in and use their chemistry to distract from many of the film’s faults. Being as this is a remake of the 2011 French film The Intouchables , the story very much follows closely with the source material. The biggest thing that the script lacks compared to the original is a sense of emotional weight between the main characters. This problem mainly stems from a thin plot with lofty intentions that only offers tepid results. The writers try to tackle the racial and economic divide between the main characters but end up putting in so little effort that it feels disjointed and a waste of time. Insightful commentary is tossed aside for one-liners and sly remarks that end up feeling overly safe and tedious. Despite being over two hours long, the film continually runs into the problem of having too little to work with, especially from the two weak subplots; one being Hart trying to reconnect with his son and the other with Cranston battling his limitations to find love. Both the side stories felt quite empty and gave each actor little to work with. This resulted in a muddied overall narrative that fought and tore itself down rather than building to something meaningful. Probably the biggest saving grace for the film (and the only reason anyone would watch it) is the performances of the two leading actors. Kevin Hart does what he does best as Dell and shows that he is still a master of comedy, whether it be physical or through his fast-paced banter. Even though the script is mostly to blame, Hart does struggle with the dramatic parts that require him to slow down and break away from his usual tricks. Acting as the dry humor to Hart’s energy is Bryan Cranston as the extremely wealthy and depressed quadriplegic, Phillip. While he does serve up some funny remarks from time to time, Cranston more or less just goes through the motions and knows that he is above a project of this quality. Lastly, Nicole Kidman intermittently shows up as Phillip’s executive assistant, Yvonne. Kidman really feels out of place as her skills go unused on a character whose only purpose is to be a disapproving foil to Hart’s shenanigans. Except for Kevin Hart or Bryan Cranston, there really isn’t much in this film to make things interesting. There are some comedic elements that incite some chuckles, but more times than not a feeling of emptiness will lay dormant in your head. Best described as a filler movie to waste some time, The Upside is something you’ll watch and most likely forget about twenty-four hours later. 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

Top 10 Films of 2025 (So Far) July 5, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Most years, I begin this list by commenting on how fast time flies when you're not paying attention to it. But this year has been anything but normal. Through a combination of several political, social, and economic factors, every second seemed to last an eternity. Unfortunately, the film industry followed that theme, failing to provide the same quantity of top-tier films that we're used to. I usually have to kill some darlings due to precious margin space. This year, I had to stretch a little bit, with most titles unlikely to repeat their placement on my end-of-year best list. Still, every film listed here is one that I enjoyed, and we should always be thankful for what we have. 10. Caught by the Tides Watching Caught by the Tides without seeing the rest of Jia Zhangke’s filmography is a bit like taking a test without doing any homework. Sparked by the limitations set by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese director decided to revisit two decades' worth of footage from his previous works, mixing and matching to create a documentary-fiction hybrid that explores a love story and China's social transformation. While largely incomprehensible for the uninitiated, it's still marvelously fascinating to watch it all weave together, kind of like a puzzle in a language you can't understand. 9. Presence To label Presence as a horror film feels a bit misleading. The scares are never in your face, with director Steven Soderbergh using his bold experimental camerawork to craft a voyeuristic feeling of unease. The actors are all fine, especially Callina Liang and Chris Sullivan, and the technical experiment is perpetually interesting. This is more than a VR experience, although it could be a more than worthwhile starting point for something of that caliber in the future. Full Review 8. Parthenope As evidenced by his previous works of Youth and The Great Beauty , the complexities of love, youth, and beauty are not newfound themes for Italian writer/director Paolo Sorrentino. Newcomer Celeste Dalla Porta is radiantly beautiful and intriguing in the lead role, imbuing Parthenope with much more depth than the script reluctantly presents. Even if this amounts to style over substance, the performances and overwhelming seductiveness are temptingly attractive. For Sorrentino, the style is just as much the substance as the substance itself. Full Review 7. Thunderbolts* The theme of Thunderbolts* 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 their ensuing behemoth chapters. Full Review 6. The Gorge The Gorge is a B-movie with A-level talent. Known for delivering grisly violence, one would think that the PG-13 rating here would tie director Scott Derrickson’s hands behind his back, but the interesting creature design and expert overall craftsmanship never let that thought occur. Cinematographer Dan Laustsen and composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross create an unsettling atmosphere through Cold War aesthetics. For those who have regularly played the Zombies game mode in the Call of Duty video game series and have longed for it to be brought to the silver screen, this is your dream come true. Full Review 5. Materialists It’s natural and odd that after writer/director Celine Song tenderly explored the concept of destiny and love in Past Lives , her follow-up takes a cold, hard look at the facts. Fortunately, Song still makes sure there are a lot of laughs to be had along with all the nonsense that is modern dating. But everything is funny because people are saying the quiet parts out loud, and deep down, we all know we do it too. Honesty is still the best policy, and Song continues to show that she’s a master of telling us how it is in the ways we want to hear it. Full Review 4. Sinners Shot and marketed with IMAX cameras akin to something only Christopher Nolan would do, Ryan Coogler’s Sinners plays big and tall as it spans both centuries and genres to tell a story you’ve never quite seen before. Coogler has illustrated a near-masterful skill for diffusing incisive social commentary into the muscular frame of a popcorn blockbuster. In a time when America is having an identity crisis (then again, when aren’t we?), Sinners looks back and forward with the gumption that only a wild premise such as this could achieve. Full Review 3. Black Bag The latter entry in this year’s David Koepp-Steven Soderbergh double feature, Black Bag illustrates that the greatest weapon in a spy’s arsenal is not a gun or some nifty gadget, but the ability to have an open conversation. Making the traditionally important aspects of a story the least interesting thing about them is a common practice for Soderbergh. That decision could, should, and would disappoint those looking to be greeted by the familiar trappings of the spy. But Soderbergh is always one step ahead, using subversion to his own benefit and ours. And even when you strip away all the fancy artistry and subtextual analysis, you’re still left with something extremely entertaining. Full Review 2. The Phoenician Scheme Wes Anderson is a lot like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At this point, you’re either in or you’re out. I’m so deep in the bag that it might as well be the one from Mary Poppins . I’ve seen a lot of films, and the majority of them all follow the same pattern. Anderson’s films certainly aren’t an exception, but there is always something magical about their sameness. And like Nicole Kidman always says: We come to this place [the cinema] for magic. Full Review 1. April Nowadays, almost every movie that brags that it needs to be seen in theaters is filled with extravagant visual effects and booming sound effects. The beauty of the cinema is not just in the sheer size of the speakers and screen, but the opportunity it gives us to break away from our world and be transported to a different one. Georgian writer/director Dea Kulumbegashvili has crafted a film where absolute patience and concentration are a prerequisite, with any glances at your phone or minor distractions at home stripping away the spellbinding effect. Between the unsettling abstract visuals at the beginning of the film and the brutal real-life truths about bodily autonomy, this is one of the most bone-chilling films of the year. After seeing it at TIFF 2023, The Beast was the wire-to-wire winner last year. I first saw April at TIFF 2024, and at this point, a miracle would need to occur so that it would not repeat that achievement. Full Review 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

Kneecap July 30, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen If there’s any lesson that’s been beaten over our heads in the hundreds of music biopics that Hollywood has churned out, it’s that nothing good happens after the protagonist is introduced to sex and drugs. The once-promising star quickly goes off the rails, resulting in their friends and family telling them that they’ve changed and the producers to turn off the money faucets. But what if the sex and drugs had been there from the beginning and served as the main catalyst for their work? Would that person spiral out of control before they even got started, or would that rambunctious free spiritism catapult them into stardom with the younger generation? In the case of Kneecap , the outcome to that question seems to align closer to that of the latter portion. Formed in 2017, the titular hip-hop trio continues to sell out stadiums and other high-profile gigs, a far cry from the lowly pubs they originated from. Their lyrics, often filled to the brim with drug references and cursing, resonate with the youth of their native Belfast, a city that’s seen its fair share of political and social troubles. Although the aspect of drugs helps this fictionalized origin story from falling into the same traps of every other music biopic, it doesn’t fully exonerate the film from often striking all the other same notes. As a playful and endearing middle finger to Kenneth Branagh’s Osar-winning Belfast , we open with a record-scratch piece of narration where we’re told that this isn’t going to be the story of Belfast that Hollywood loves. Car bombings and IRA shootouts are reserved only for archival footage, although the ramifications of the violence are still present decades later. Arlo (Michael Fassbender) was one of those freedom fighters, and he teaches his son Naoise Irish Gaelic as “every word of Irish spoken is a bullet fired for Irish freedom.” That kind of rough patriotism sticks within the boy as he grows up, eventually merging with his love of rap/hip-hop. Taking the stage name Móglaí Bap, he partners with his best friend Liam Óg to come up with the lyrics, while school music teacher JJ mixes the beats. The mixture of Gaelic and English lyrics represents the clashing of identities within Belfast. Despite being the native language of the land and its people, Gaelic is endangered and nearing extinction. While others are forming campaigns teaching classes, Kneecap is bringing the language to the youth in a way they can understand, and in a manner that matches the brutality the Brits have enacted. The relevancy and immediacy of this story bring authenticity, which writer/director Rich Peppiatt and the group increase by having the members play themselves and the majority of the dialogue being in Gaelic. Just as you wouldn’t be able to tell that the boys are gifted rappers just by looking at them, the same goes for their acting chops. That swagger from their music is always present in their demeanor. Their underdog story of defying the establishment is a bit cliché, especially with the demeaning authority figures and Fassbender’s uneven appearances that only serve to hammer home the political repercussions of the group’s actions. Still, it’s infinitely better than any studio-funded, estate-approved biopic, something that the market is oversaturated with. 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

Fountain of Youth May 22, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Guy Ritchie is a very busy man. Since 2020, the British writer/director has released five feature films ( The Gentlemen , Wrath of Man, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre , The Covenant , and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare ) and directed multiple episodes of The Gentlemen and MobLand for Netflix and Paramount+, respectively. He's also got two more feature films already in the can ( In the Grey , Wife and Dog ), and recently signed on to direct the sequel to the Jake Gyllenhaal starring Road House reboot and a Sherlock Holmes origin story television series for Amazon Prime. The only stone left to acquire in his streaming service Infinity Gauntlet is Apple TV+, which is where his newest film, Fountain of Youth , comes into play. And just like the Avengers had to suffer for Thanos to get his final stone in Infinity War , so do we across the 125-minute lifespan of this ultra-bland adventure film. I'm a fan of Ritchie, with his swaggering, self-assured brand of filmmaking being effortlessly entertaining. There's a slickness to everything he does, usually just a cut above what a standard director would produce. Based on his blitz of output over the last half-decade, I could almost forgive him for coasting a little bit here. Everyone needs a break, or has an off day where they just didn't have their head in the game. Except I don't think Ritchie had his head within the vicinity of the stadium for this project, let alone near the court. Take, for instance, the cookie-cutter opening chase scene set within the alleyways of Bangkok. We're meant to feel like we've been dropped right in the middle of a chaotic situation, except there isn't an ounce of energy to pull us in. The overcooked editing seems to be a symptom of the need to hide the stunt performers, their presence being quite obvious anytime the camera catches their face. The motivation for this chase stems from Luke Purdue (John Krasinski) having stolen a piece of artwork from a notorious gangster. Except he didn't take it for the money, just the clue hidden on its backside. Once he finds the other five paintings and puts together the pieces of the puzzle, he'll unlock the location of the mythical Fountain of Youth and possess all the treasures it promises. But just like he doesn't care about the value of the artwork he has to steal, Luke also doesn't prioritize the pot of gold at the end of the journey. The journey is a big enough reward by itself, and there's never been a bigger and more thrilling one than this. His sister Charlotte (Natalie Portman), on the other hand, finds herself on a journey towards divorce. She left her high-flying life with Luke a decade ago to raise a family, although everyone knows she hasn't been nearly as happy since. Almost like destiny, her job as the curator of an art museum housing one of the paintings Luke needs brings the siblings together again. Krasinski and Portman are both good actors, but they're ill-suited for this type of film. For Krasinski, he's going way overboard with his Indiana Jones audition/impression. Harrison Ford was effortlessly charming, and Krasinski seems to never stop trying here. And the more you try to make something happen, the less it will. Portman has always been a performer who loses her edge once the budgets for the projects creep into eight figures. She's someone who thrives on making big, risky choices for assured directors like Todd Haynes ( May December ) and Pablo Larraín ( Jackie ). Ritchie doesn't possess that skill, leaving Portman lost at sea. To the actor's defense, there isn't much within James Vanderbilt's script to lift them out of the depths. Everything feels designed to be viewed through the prism of a streaming service. New locations and set pieces are introduced every fifteen minutes, and characters speak only in plotlines. Luke and his team even have a fancy PowerPoint presentation pre-made for Charlotte, themselves taking turns explaining the history and importance of their mission. It's the bare minimum to keep you from turning it off, but never enough to keep you interested in what's happening next. That mantra might as well be extended to the whole project, although I'd recommend not even bothering to begin with. 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

Wonka December 13, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Have you ever wanted to know the origin story of Willy Wonka? No? Well too bad! The good chaps on the Warner Bros. executive board needed a four-quadrant product to help boost the Q4 2023 earnings report and good ol’ Willy was the character on the board that the dart landed on. It was either him or Will Ferrell’s Buddy the Elf. But don’t worry too much, as you might actually enjoy this piece of commerce, as writer/director Paul King of the Paddington films brings enough whimsical charm to make it all go down as smoothly as the titular character’s chocolate. Debts, ledgers, profits, margins, fine print, cartels, bribes, and monopolies. These are the words you would be familiar with finding in a film about The Great Recession or about drug trafficking, not a film about Willy Wonka. But the candy on the island where Willy (Timothée Chalamet) sets his sights on making his fortune might as well be drugs, as it rules over the economy and everyday life of its citizens. The decadent Galeries Gourmet is where you go to sell your chocolate. But you need a shop to legally sell it, and the three main chocolatiers/tycoons - Slugworth, Prodnose, and Fickelgruber - have an iron-clad grip on the trade through police influence and price fixing. “The greedy beat the needy” is the motto of the town’s poor, whom Willy joins when he’s swindled into indentured servitude by the mean laundry woman Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Colman). This all sounds a bit depressing, doesn’t it? There’s a clear Dickensian feel to everything, with King and co-writer Simon Farnaby never shying away from the darkness that often appears in Roald Dahl’s stories. Willy is an orphan just like Noodle (Calah Lane), a young girl Mrs. Scrubbit took in as a baby and forced to be her eternal personal servant. The one thing Willy has that sets him apart is his optimism, which he often lets out through some jovial songs. The marketing department at WB may not have wanted you to know that this was a musical, but King and Chalamet are more than ready to knock your socks off through the power of showmanship. The songs are not all hits as Chalamet acts like a kid on a high school stage, speaking out to the crowd with glee. His version of Willy veers a little closer to Johnny Depp than Gene Wilder, packing enough mystery into his abilities that you sometimes wonder if he’s even human. Paddington alums Sally Hawkins and Hugh Grant followed King over here, with the former playing Wonka’s deceased mother and the latter an Oompa Loompa. It’s hard to look away from Grant as the four-foot-tall green-haired creature on account of his inherent charm and the awkwardness of his face being superimposed on a CG creation. It’s only about two steps better than what Corey Stoll got as MODOK in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania back in February. There’s also a bevy of likable supporting players like Keegan-Michael Key, Jim Carter, and Rowan Atkinson as Father Julius, the leader of a group of corrupt monks who guard the stolen chocolate for the cartel. Paul King’s Wonka is possibly the best version of such a depressingly deep-rooted concept. It’s harmless, regularly fun, and offers a little something for both kids and adults. It doesn’t have the rewatchability of the 1971 original, but it’s got a lot more than Tim Burton’s crazed (and sometimes underappreciated) 2005 remake. 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

Highest 2 Lowest August 15, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Matter cannot be created or destroyed. To receive something, you must be willing to give something up. For record mogul David King (Denzel Washington), a man dubbed to have “the best ears in the business” and a trophy cabinet filled with dozens of Grammys, receiving his golden nest egg after decades of work building an empire may come at the cost of his legacy. The offer from a private equity firm will ensure long-term financial resources for the label, but will also squeeze out every last drop of respectability. That push-and-pull is the most interesting aspect of director Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest , which also happens to involve a central plot about David’s son being kidnapped and held for ransom. Going the same route that Steven Spielberg ventured with his 2021 version of West Side Story , Lee and screenwriter Alan Fox side-step Akira Kurosawa’s legendary 1963 film High and Low to instead readapt the source material that was Ed McBain’s 1959 novel King’s Ransom . It’s a wise move considering that Lee’s previous interaction with a celebrated piece of Asian cinema was his 2013 direct remake of Park Chan-wook’s 2003 South Korean film Oldboy , which ended up being a spectacular failure. The setting has returned home to New York City, a place that only Martin Scorsese could potentially rival Lee as its most loyal cinematic artist. “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” booms as the camera glides across the aerial skyline of the concrete jungle that is our nation’s biggest and most culturally influential city. The opening credits are tinted with the orange and blue color scheme of the New York Knicks. Yankees fans openly yell expletives defaming Boston, and the city’s Puerto Rican population comes alive for a performance by the Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra. King stands upon his Olympic penthouse balcony overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge when he gets an anonymous call from someone claiming to have kidnapped his son, Trey (Aubrey Joseph). The $17.5 million ransom would eat up all the liquidity King needs to execute a secret plan to buy enough shares to stave off the sale of his company. “There’s more to life than making money,” is something that King says early in the film when his business partner begs him to accept the sale offer. He bemoans that the latter word in the term “show business” has grown exponentially more powerful. One can feel Lee and Washington, marking their fifth collaboration in a partnership spanning over thirty years, personally decrying where the film industry is headed. Tweets about box office results, online debates about profitability, and articles about who’s making the most money illustrate that people are following dollar signs more than the art. And yet, the money always seems to be the most important thing to King in this situation of life and death. In the same sentence where he asks the police how they’ll bring Trey home, he also asks how he’ll get his money back. All money ain’t good money, and this specific bag of money sets off a chain reaction of mayhem. Lee steers a lean and mean machine during the film’s later stretches as King is on the hunt for the perpetrator. The hour it takes to get to that point is much creakier. Lee’s penchant for a big score backfires as Howard Drossin’s intrusive instruments pull away our ears. Fox’s script is littered with rote dialogue, leaving performers like Ilfenesh Hadera as King’s wife to be nothing more than a mouthpiece for the plot. And Matthew Libatique’s digital cinematography (likely done as a business decision due to Apple TV+ housing the film after a brief theatrical run) doesn’t contain any of Lee’s trademark vibrant textures. Washington is still our greatest living actor, endlessly entertaining with a performance that contains the might of King Lear and the lyricism of NLE Choppa. He’s a master of controlling the chaos, something that King reckons with as his usual tight grip is rapidly loosened by external forces. Washington goes toe-to-toe with A$AP Rocky in a battle of bars, the pair each showing a new side to themselves. There’s also Jeffrey Wright nicely balancing weariness and wit as King’s right-hand man, Paul, who’s grateful that he’s been given a second chance after his imprisonment. To have followers, you have to be a leader. Lee is a leader, still doing what he loves through methods only he could pull off, which is what art is all about. He’s still got plenty left in the tank, even as he comes to a point where time comes at a premium price. I’ll follow him up to the highest mountain, and down to the lowest valley. 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 Current War October 31, 2019 By: Button Hunter Friesen In the late nineteenth century, Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse were the two titans of American innovation. With the country modernizing at a rapid pace, both of them figured that there needed to be a better way to power society than just candles and gas. After some years of development, they both discovered different ways to transmit electric current. Edison stood behind his Direct Current (DC) and Westinghouse championed his Alternating Current (AC). They were similar designs, each with their unique benefits and costs. But the country wasn’t big enough for both of them and only one method could prevail. Out of this situation sprang a fierce competition between the two men, a rivalry that was labeled as “the war of the currents”. This war lasted years as they battled endlessly to see whose technology would be the one to forever power and illuminate America. After having a tumultuous time getting to theaters (that’s a whole other story to look up), The Current War finally arrives two years after intended. Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, the film moves like electricity, zipping from scene to scene. The use of sharp camera work and montages oozes kinetic energy that keeps everything moving at a frantic pace, never ceasing to slow down or end. You’re gripped within the race and linked to the main characters as they tirelessly persist to be the one on top. If you’re not a natural history lover, this technique will keep you endlessly entertained without boring you with historical details. If you are a fan of history, this technique will still entertain you but leave you disappointed as moving the film at the speed of light (or current for that matter) doesn’t allow for deeper learning about the events or people attached to them. Anything that is learned is only surface level as there just isn’t enough time to develop any factual depth. It also doesn’t help that these shallow details become increasingly hard to keep straight, especially as the years go by in minutes and characters are split up into several intertwining storylines. While a miniseries would be the better way to tell this story, The Current War is an exciting way to convey history on the screen. Just like Gomez-Rejon’s use of rapid pacing, writer Michael Mitnick’s screenplay is expeditious and Sorkin-like. The rivalry between our two main giants is fierce as they snap dialogue to beat each other in the labs and the presses. And just like the outcome of the directing, the writing here is entertaining but very hard to follow. Mitnick tries to do too much in too little time as he crams the script to the brim with historical facts. As more information is heaped on, it becomes information overload, and gets increasingly impossible to keep things straight. By the end, you’ll feel like you’ve read a Wikipedia page and will only be able to remember fragments here and there Also, Nikola Tesla shows up in the story and participates in the race. While Tesla does deserve to stand with Edison and Westinghouse in the history books, he doesn’t belong in this already overly-stuffed movie. Starring as the brash Thomas Edison is Benedict Cumberbatch, whose American accent isn’t as convincing as one would think. Like most of Cumberbatch’s performances, you can see the genius of the character within his speech and mannerisms. Thankfully, the genius he plays here isn’t as cold as Sherlock Holmes or Alan Turing. There’s some warmth under Edison’s surface that you can sense through Cumberbatch’s performance. Michael Shannon plays the opposite of Cumberbatch as he is calmer and calculated in his performance of George Westinghouse. He’s the more businessman-like of the two as he carries himself more professionally. Nicholas Hoult plays Nikola Tesla. Just like Cumbertach, Hoult’s Eastern European accent isn’t on point, but it’s fine enough to pass. Hoult does well at making you see the frustration within Tesla as his brilliant ideas are never allowed to flourish. Lastly, Tom Holland does supporting work as Edison’s secretary. As it was filmed before his star power ballooned from Spider-Man, Holland’s role is minor and doesn’t give him much to work with. The Current War is the most entertaining and needlessly confusing movie of the year. All the talent involved makes a great effort, but their good intentions just come up short of making a great movie. But it’s still quite good and deserves to be seen, even if you’d be hard-pressed to absorb and remember most of what it’s trying to teach you. 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

After the Hunt October 7, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Luca Guadagnino's After the Hunt opens with the sounds of a ticking clock. With each tick, a routine is established for Alma Imhoff (Julia Roberts). She's woken up in the morning by a kiss from her husband Frederik (Michael Stuhlbarg), takes two pills as she shuffles through their classy apartment, and then struts across the Yale campus to teach her philosophy course. Days go by like the seconds on that looming clock, almost as if you could blink and fast-forward through weeks of monotony. And then, one day, that clock stops, jolting your eyes wide open as you scratch and claw to hang onto all that you have. That occurs the day after Alma and Frederik host a party for the students and faculty. Hank (Andrew Garfield) is the department's resident bad boy, poking and prodding at the generational divide between the guests. He and Alma are good friends, and both are up for the same tenured position. Hank especially likes to mischievously pick on Maggie (Ayo Edebiri), Alma's favorite student, who just submitted her PhD dissertation. Barbs are shared, wine is copiously consumed, and everyone goes home having flexed their favorite philosophical jargon. Maggie appears on Alma's doorstep the next day. She explains that Hank came up to her apartment after walking her home. A few more drinks were shared, and then he "crossed the line." Hank denies the whole thing, spinning a yarn about confronting Maggie for plagiarizing her dissertation, and this being her way of covering it up. Between what she should believe and what she chooses to believe, Alma becomes the third point in this triangle, which opens up old wounds from her conflicted past. Guadagnino and first-time screenwriter Nora Garrett don't allow a single door to be kept open, always half or fully closed. Sightlines are blocked and voices are muffled, leaving assumptions to fill in the gaps. “I’m in the business of optics rather than substance,” says the school dean, a poignant summarization of how these issues are handled. A young male student tells Alma that she will get tenure because higher education now favors women in the post-#MeToo climate. Maggie is a black, queer student in a largely white populous, and she comes from rich parents who have made a handful of sizable donations to the university. These things initially carry as much weight as the facts of the case, eventually growing to bury the truth of the matter underneath layers of excuses and conjecture. But the truth by itself is just as slippery. Guadagnino takes after David Fincher, specifically his idea that “language was invented so people could lie to one another.” Everyone goes into a conversation with an agenda, twisting and turning every syllable beyond its face value. What they can’t control is their body language, which Guadagnino and cinematographer Malik Hassan Sayeed capture under a microscope. Hands fold at the end of a sentence, and eyes dart once a question is asked. Jonathan Demme’s famous close-ups take a new life here, with the 180-degree rule being broken as characters talk directly towards the camera. In those moments, you can no longer hide from what’s been bubbling over, almost as if you’ve been slapped back awake after spacing out. Roberts is fantastic, presumably taking a lot of inspiration from Cate Blanchett’s performance in Tár . There’s even a similar scene where she scolds a student who dares to question her teachings. Her conviction is supported by her sharp outfits and blonde hair, with every confrontation being a battle she has every intention of winning. But she also carries a loose thread, one that completely unravels her once someone starts to pull on it. Garfield is slimily charming, so full of himself that you’re confident that he is capable of doing bad. And Edebiri finds the gap between naivety and confidence, knowing that she hasn’t been fully stripped of power in this situation. As evidenced by the Woody Allen-inspired credits, Guadagnino isn’t interested in making things comfortable or easy for us. That doesn’t come as much of a surprise, considering the tangledness of previous works like Suspiria and Queer . Any answer will have to be formulated on your own, and subjected to assumptions and doubts. Even the ending betrays what we were left to speculate, fittingly illustrating that a maze can never be solved by going in a straight line. 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

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