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Better Man December 26, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen You know what they say: when in doubt, add a monkey. The producers of Better Man , the new biopic on Robbie Williams, certainly took that often parodied advice to its most literal form, supplanting the famous British pop star with an anthropomorphized CGI ape. Yes, you read that correctly, for nearly 150 minutes, which includes his time as a little boy growing up in Stoke to his later days topping the charts, Williams ditches our flesh and blood for the fur of a primate. One may think that that's enough of a gimmick to differentiate this film from any of the multitude of musician biopics we've gotten over the years. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong, although I will say that the sight of an anthropomorphized monkey doing cocaine and getting a handjob at a club does go a long way in making this a unique experience. Blame it on my American DNA as to why I was fully unfamiliar with Robbie Williams before Paramount Pictures scheduled this for a Christmas Day release. "Don't you have to be famous to get a $100 million biopic made about you?" I asked as I read the headlines. It turns out that level of blindness is something that almost all North Americans suffer from, something we might need a university study on considering that British stars have invaded the American music landscape on several occasions before. A quick scan of Williams' extensive Wikipedia page opened my eyes, and a few ventures down the Spotify rabbit hole attuned my ears. For once, I was going into a biopic having not already known the complete story of the titular subject. You can only so much engagement with a journey where you know every sight along the way, and exactly when you'll see them. So, what did I learn about Robbie Williams after sitting through Better Man ? Well, not much that the Wikipedia page couldn't have told me, or any other musician biopic has already given me the impression of. At some point, I have to ask: How special are these singers if they all have the same life story? Young Robbie is constantly picked on at school, always chosen last on the playground, and being told he's a freak. But it's not because he's a monkey, as no other character seems to notice that they're interacting with an extra out of the Planet of the Apes films. His life at home isn't much better, as his father has just left the family after determining that his wife and child were holding back his chances of being famous. Along with his mother and grandmother, Robbie still has his Sinatra records in his corner, and they're enough to help him realize his destiny as a singer. Fame comes quicker than he thought in the form of Take That, Britain's most sensational '90s boy band. From there it's the usual rapid rise and fall filled with sex, drugs, and pop music. Williams' explanation for his appearance as a monkey, which Paramount was pragmatic enough to use in the film's first trailer and create a whole featurette around, is that he's always seen himself as a little less evolved than everyone around him. He's been a trained monkey since his teenage years, both on the stage and in the tabloids. The effect isn't as jarring as you would expect, most likely due to the fact that we've become accustomed to seeing human and CGI apes sharing the screen in the recent Planet of the Apes films. The same WETA visual engineers from that series worked on this film, and the results are full of the same vibrancy and expressiveness. Jonno Davies dons the motion-capture suit for the majority of the runtime, with Williams voicing the role near the adult years. It's a concept that's all well and good on paper, and even a few times in execution. But as the central conceit that distances the project from being just another genre copycat, it's too thin. Every person who gets a biopic made about them feels that they're different than everyone else, so seeing it literalized is putting a hat on a hat. What often breaks this film free from its formulaic trappings is director Michael Gracey's desire to claim the titular title that he bestowed upon Hugh Jackman's P.T. Barnum in his directorial debut, The Greatest Showman . Just as you'll never see him in public without his trademarked beanie (seriously, see how long you have to scroll through Google Images until you see him without it), you'll also never catch one of his scenes lacking in energy. I can bemoan the problematic nature of The Greatest Showman all I want, but I'll never deny that it wasn't extremely entertaining to watch. That same vibe runs through every moment of Better Man , the doldrums of a cliched story perpetually being papered over by visual splendor. “Rock DJ” blasts from every window as Take That celebrates their success with a flash mob dance in the streets, the whole thing captured in one (very digital) take. And “She’s the One” serenades Williams and Nicole Appleton as they seal their love. As someone who didn’t know anything about Williams and was ready for another boring biopic, I walked away from Better Man with quite a few of his songs in my Spotify playlist and a higher-than-expected urge to see it again. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Master Gardener May 17, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Master Gardener , the latest continuation of Paul Schrader’s “tormented souls with a past” series, opens as predictably as one would expect. A black-clothed man sits at his lamp-lit desk, writing down his daily thoughts in a journal while downing a glass of whiskey. The man talks about gardening as “the belief in the future, that the plans you make and execute will come through.” The man, in this case, is Narvel Roth (Joel Edgerton, taking over from Ethan Hawke and Oscar Isaac as Schrader’s lonely jaded protagonist). He’s the head gardener for Gracewood Gardens, a renowned botanical heaven run by the estate of Norma Haverhill (Sigourney Weaver). Despite being located within the heart of New Orleans, Gracewood feels like it’s cut off from the rest of the world. There’s a stillness in the air as the ritualistic gardening processes are performed year in and year out. But that sense of serenity begins to waver with the arrival of Norma’s grandniece Maya (Quintessa Swindell, last seen in front of umpteen greenscreens for Black Adam ). Life has not been kind to Maya, nor has she made the right decisions as of late. Norma assigns her as Narvel’s appreciative, in the hopes that the diligence of the master will rub off onto the student. If First Reformed was Schrader’s take on the climate crisis, and The Card Counter was about unregulated military cruelty, then Master Gardener is about the rise of the Alt-Right. Except for Norma, no one knows about Narvel’s past, which can all but be explained with one look at the litany of crosses, iron eagles, and swastikas tattooed all over his body. Narvel may be a completely different person now, but like his tattoos, the sins of his former self will always be with him. Similar to what he did for Oscar Isaac’s character in The Card Counter , Schrader offers glimpses of those bad days with brief flashbacks. But unlike The Card Counter , which delivered those windows through uncanny and inventive filmmaking, Master Gardener spells it all out without much fanfare. There’s an alarming lack of nuance in both the specific beats of the plot and the way Schrader delivers them, always keeping us at an arm's length distance and with a raised eyebrow. The world and its characters feel much shallower this time around, with the “climax” being completely unsubstantiated and unceremonious. Edgerton is more than capable of picking up this slack, especially in the first half as his narration and stoicism command the screen. His interactions with Weaver, who is as enchanting and domineering as the red dress she often dons, are hypnotically enticing. Even the occasional overly flowery (pun intended) line of dialogue (of which there are many) is sold with at least a little bit of authenticity. Just as MCU films can only really be recommended to already-established MCU fans at this point, Master Gardener is a film that I can only recommend to those that have an understanding and appreciation for Schrader’s previous works. And even then, I wouldn’t get my hopes up for much. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Bad Behaviour January 28, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Bad Behaviour had its World Premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Gravitas Ventures will release it in theaters on June 14, 2024. “Never give in to hope. Just be,” says Ben Whishaw’s mysterious spiritual self-help guru to a group of strangers that have gathered to solve their deepest and darkest problems. That Yoda-esque saying was primarily aimed towards Lucy (Jennifer Connelly), a former child actress who feels ashamed that she still lives a comfortable life from the money she earned from a trashy television series that was more interested in her body than her character. Attaining fame at an early age affects both the relationships in her past and future, namely with her parents, who clung onto her as a meal ticket, and her now-adult daughter Dylan, who entered the film industry by being a stunt performer. It’s an extremely difficult tightrope walk to create unlikable and complicated characters that make you want to learn more about them and sympathize with their troubles. Only a single false action may tip the scales in the wrong direction, robbing the audience of an interesting study of the human experience. Unfortunately for writer/director/star Alice Englert, she doesn't make just one wrong move, she makes several over the course of this exponentially grating film about broken relationships. Englert, daughter of famed filmmaker and most recent winner of the Academy Award for Best Director Jane Campion, packs a lot of ideas within Bad Behaviour , yet none of them come to fruition. Lucy is riddled with generational trauma passed down by her parents, who also made her feel like she wasn’t good enough. That abusive relationship instilled a deep depression, leading to a neglectful relationship with her daughter later on in life. Englert doesn’t provide much detail into the mother-daughter relationship, save for a few awkward phone calls and a tedious exposition dump later on. Much of the potentially intriguing ideas within her script follow that same trajectory. We’re told more than shown, with the telling coming across as a cop-out. Connelly acts her heart out in the central role, but not in the most positive way. Her eccentric mannerisms and ticking-time-bomb attitude are always front and center, serving as a constant reminder of the artificiality of this character. Things only get worse as the narrative leans more into the absurd near the latter half, with implausible story beats and wild directorial flourishes taking away from any authentic emotion that could have been mined from this situation. Bad Behaviour would at least be tolerable if the problems it had were interesting. But mostly it comes across as tedious and frustrating, making it far worse than it has any right to be on paper. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

36 Most Anticipated Films of 2023 December 23, 2022 By: Hunter Friesen 2022 marked another year of recovery for the film industry after the immense struggles of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. And with a new year approaching, we should adopt a forward-thinking mindset that looks ahead to new possibilities. With its mixture of exciting new projects from both new and established talent, 2023 has the power to be even better than 2022. To get you all excited as I am, this article will detail several of my most anticipated films expected to be released sometime in the next calendar year. Films will be listed in alphabetical order, with known release dates and distribution strategies (i.e. streaming or not) provided. A Haunting in Venice (September 15) Kenneth Branagh once again dons the famous mustache of detective Hercule Poirot, who must solve a murder that involves Tina Fey, Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Dornan, and Kelly Reilly. Air Jordan Ben Affleck directs Matt Damon for the first time in this true story about how Sonny Vaccar was able to sign Michael Jordan to his Nike shoe deal. Asteroid City (June 16) Wes Anderson returns with Asteroid City , said to be set during an astronomy convention, with Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston, and Jeff Goldblum being a few names within the starry cast. Barbie (July 21) Writer/director Greta Gerwig offers a presumably original story on the life of the plastic doll. Margot Robbie will play Barbie, with Ryan Gosling as Ken. Blitz (Apple TV+) Small Axe writer/director Steve McQueen shifts from Amazon to Apple for his World War II story about several Londoners during the Nazi blitzkrieg bombings. Saoirse Ronan and Stephen Graham star. Challengers (August 11) Luca Guadagnino directs Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist as three tennis players who reignite old rivalries on and off the court when they compete in a world-class tournament. Chevalier (April 07) Kelvin Harrison Jr. plays Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, who rises to heights in French society as a composer before an ill-fated love affair. Civil War Alex Garland continues his A24 relationship after Ex Machina and Men . Kirsten Dunst stars in his original epic action movie that is set in the United States in the not-so-distant future. Creed III (March 03) Michael B. Jordan pulls double duty as director and star in the conclusion of this trilogy. Jonathan Majors plays Damian Anderson, a long-lost friend of Adonis, who now seeks revenge for the sins of the past. Disappointment Blvd. Hereditary and Midsommar writer/director Ari Aster’s “nightmare comedy” on the life of a successful entrepreneur, starring Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role. Dune: Part Two (November 03) Denis Villeneuve concludes the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Ferrari Adam Driver continues to play Italians after House of Gucci , this time starring as the famed Enzo Ferrari. Michael Mann ( Heat, The Insider ) writes and directs, with Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, and Jack O’Connell filling out the supporting cast. Flint Strong Black Panther and Mudbound cinematographer Rachel Morrison steps into the director chair for the true story of Olympic boxer Claressa Shields. Barry Jenkins supplies the screenplay, with Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry topping the cast list. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 05) Writer/director James Gunn finishes his trilogy about the most lovable misfits in the galaxy. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (June 30) Even at 80 years old, Harrison Ford continues to crank out the adventures of the titular archaeologist. Time travel is rumored to be a part of this James Mangold-directed film, with Mads Mikkelsen, Antonio Banders, and Phoebe Wall-Bridge along for the ride. John Wick: Chapter 4 (March 24) Keanu Reeves returns as the titular ass-kicker, who must continue his fight out of the violent world he finds himself in. Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple TV+) Martin Scorsese’s true-crime western surrounding the mysterious murders of the Osage tribe in the 1920s. Jesse Plemons, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Robert De Niro star. Maestro (Netflix) Bradley Cooper writes, directs, and stars in this retelling of the life of Leonard Bernstein, often considered the greatest American conductor ever. Carey Mulligan will play his wife Felicia. May/December Julianne Moore and director Todd Haynes reunite for the fourth time, bringing in Natalie Portman as an actress who arrives to do research for an upcoming role on Moore’s character’s life. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (July 14) Tom Cruise (supposedly) closes his Mission: Impossible series with this first in a two-part story. Rogue Nation and Fallout writer/director Christopher McQuarrie is back at the helm, promising more unbelievable stunts. Napoleon (Apple TV+) Director Ridley Scott and writer David Scarpa reunite after All the Money in the World for this personal look at the immense life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Joaquin Phoenix stars as the French emperor, with Vanessa Kirby as his empress, Josephine. Next Goal Wins (April 21) Jojo Rabbit and Thor: Ragnarok writer/director Taika Waititi tells the true story of the American Samoa soccer team, who suffered the worst loss in World Cup history, losing to Australia 31-0 in 2001. Oppenheimer (July 21) Christopher Nolan’s biopic of the father of the atomic bomb. Nolan veteran Cillian Murphy plays the titular figure. Poor Things / AND Weirdo writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos tells the story of Bella Baxter, a Victorian woman who is brought back to life by an eccentric scientist. Emma Stone stars as Ms. Baxter, with Willem Dafoe as the brilliant madman. Both Stone and Dafoe will feature in AND , a rumored anthology that will tell three separate stories; each letter representing a different tale. Priscilla Sofia Coppola responds to Ban Luhrman’s Elvis biopic with her own take on the life of Priscilla Presley. Relative newcomer Cailee Spaeny stars as the titular figure, with Euphoria star Jacob Elordi as the King of Rock and Roll. Spaceman (Netflix) Adam Sandler looks to maintain his dramatic streak by starring as the first Czech astronaut. Carey Mulligan and Paul Dano also star. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (June 02) The multiverses collide again, and Spider-Man and Gwen Stacey must come together again to stop an even bigger threat than before. The Bikeriders Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Norman Reedus, Michael Shannon, and Jodie Comer lead writer/director Jeff Nichols’ story of a Midwestern motorcycle club. The Brutalist Vox Lux writer/director Brady Corbet recruits an all-star cast composed of Joel Edgerton, Vanessa Kirby, Marion Cotillard, Sebastian Stan, and Mark Rylance for his mysterious story of an architect immigrating to New York in 1947. The Color Purple (December 20) Fantasia Barrino takes over the role of Celie from Whoopi Goldberg in this musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s epic novel. The Holdovers Alexander Payne looks to make a comeback after the disappointment of Downsizing . He reunites with Sideways star Paul Giamatti for this small-scale story of several students and teachers who are stuck at school over the holidays. The Iron Claw Zac Efron, Harris Dickinson, and Jeremy Allen White star as the Von Erich brothers in Sean Durkin’s retelling of the family dynasty, and their impact on the world of wrestling. The Killer (Netflix) David Fincher ( The Social Network, Gone Girl ) directs Michael Fassbender as an assassin who slowly begins to lose his mind. The Way of the Wind Revered auteur Terrence Malick retells several episodes in the life of Jesus Christ. The Zone of Interest Under the Skin writer/director Jonathan Glazer returns to feature filmmaking with an adaptation of Martin Amis’ novel about a Nazi officer who becomes enamored with the wife of a concentration camp commander. Wonka (December 15) Paul King, director of the Paddington films, provides a musical origin story of the famed candy maker (Timothée Chalamet). More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Uncharted February 21, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen In terms of adapting a video game to film, Uncharted should have been the easiest one yet. The cinematic sequences are all there, from the plane ejection and sinking cruise ship in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception , to the train sequence in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves . These levels contained some of the most impressive moments in video game history, with the sound and visuals delivering enough excitement to please even the most adventurous of spirits. Even though it seemed like a slam dunk on paper, publisher Sony struggled for years to get a film adaptation off the ground. They tried to get the ball rolling in 2008, only a year after the first game in the series was released. Things stagnated for a while until The Fighter and American Hustle writer/director David O. Russell was announced to be helming the project in 2010. In hindsight, Russell was an odd choice, and both parties were better off going their separate ways. Little did Sony know that Russell would only be the first of six directors to be attached to the project before leaving shortly after. Eventually, in 2017, Tom Holland was announced for the lead role of Nathan Drake, with Mark Wahlberg, the original choice for Nathan back in the Russell days, playing his older partner, Sully. Zombieland and Venom director Ruben Fleischer came aboard, and the film was finally completed after a decade of turmoil. And yet after all this time, I still would much rather play the Uncharted games a second time than watch the Uncharted movie again. Working as a mix-and-match of different story elements within the game series, Uncharted starts with the street-smart orphan Nathan Drake working at a bar. There he meets Sully, who offers to make Nathan his partner in a search for lost Spanish pirate gold worth nearly $5 billion. Also on the hunt for the treasure is Santiago Moncada, an heir to the family that funded the pirate’s expedition, who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. From there, the two parties bounce off each other in their hunt, which takes them from New York to Barcelona to the Philippines. Except it’s obvious that much of this movie never took place in any of those locations, with dubious green screening utilized as a cheap shortcut. The Uncharted games were often seen as the video game equivalent of the Indiana Jones series, with the bonus that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End was a great fourth entry while Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull gets worse the more that hindsight allows. Both those series made great use of locations, taking the audience around the world on death-defying journeys. 2022’s Uncharted doesn’t have that authentic feeling of adventure, as everything is kept bottled up. The characters in the film are in disbelief at what’s happening, but we as the audience feel none of that. It’s all weightless and formulaic, plodding from one beat to the next. What saves Uncharted from being a total trainwreck is the relative likeability of its cast. No one can argue that Tom Holland has been one of, if not the best portrayals of Spider-Man. But the jury is still out if he can carry a film outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He’s had little success over the years shedding his boyish looks in streaming titles such as The Devil All the Time or Cherry . Even if that same boyishness makes Holland a bit of a miscast, his charm and banterous chemistry with Wahlberg keep the film light on its toes. As far as video game adaptations go, Uncharted is one of the better ones if the bar it has to jump over is generously low. It makes a slightly amusing two hours, with nothing exceptional to make it stick once the credits roll. If you have more time to spare, I’d recommend playing the games. But if you only have two hours, you could do worse than seeing this. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The United States vs. Billie Holiday March 4, 2021 By: Button Hunter Friesen Another awards season, another tortured celebrity biopic. Last year was Judy and the year before that was Bohemian Rhapsody . A few years earlier was La Vie En Rose . Before that was Walk the Line , and before that was Ray , and so on and so on until the beginning of time. Why do these movies keep being made if they all use the same recycled formula? The answer is the Oscars. All of those movies I just listed won an Oscar for a leading performance by an actor portraying a real-life celebrity. Biopics are the baitiest of genres when it comes to the Oscars. There’s no purely objective way to critique a performance, but it sure is a lot easier to judge a performance by comparing it to a real person than it is to judge a fictional character. Is that lazy and unoriginal? Of course! But it works so well and requires a lot less effort than the alternatives. Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Speaking of lazy and unoriginal, The United States vs. Billie Holiday is the newest entry into this tirelessly imitated genre. Lee Daniels of Precious and The Butler fame directs this true story of the persecution singer Billie Holiday faced from the federal government because of her anti-lynching song “Strange Fruit”. Holiday also struggled with a heroin and alcohol addiction, something that the government constantly used as blackmail against her. The framing of this grand story surrounds an interview Holiday takes just before she dies. She’s questioned about many things, most notably why “Strange Fruit” was a song she was willing to kill her career, and eventually herself, for. It’s a question Holiday has no peace of mind to answer, as she’s already given her answer by living a life filled with hate and bigotry. Daniels treats Holiday as a martyr; someone who died because of the wickedness of others. While that approach has worked in several biopics before, the barrier that Daniels refuses to even attempt to overcome is to give his martyr some humanity. Unlike every other musician's drug addiction film, Daniels doesn’t seem all that interested in learning about the character of Holiday. He’s simply a con artist taking someone’s true pain for his personal gain. He offers little sympathy for Holiday’s condition, which can be seen by the endless barrage of close-ups of needles being stuck in arms. It becomes pure misery porn that doesn’t contextualize Holiday’s present with her past. Brief flashbacks here and there give glimpses into her childhood, one filled with whorehouses and abuse, that only aim to shock and traumatize the viewer. Similar to Daniels’ exploitative directing is the screenplay by Suzan-Lori Parks, which has the same quality as a high school play. There is nothing in this script to deviate from other biopics about black singers such as Ray and Get On Up . It’s the same old story of success, tragedy, and redemption that you and I have seen a thousand times before and will see another thousand times again. Only this time, it’s just plain boring to watch as the two-hour runtime feels like three, and the message about racism and drug addiction boils down to “it’s bad, don't do it”. Sure, the cinematography and production design is top-notch. There’s one brief sequence seemingly done in one take that blew me away with its inventiveness and tonal ignorance. But all those window dressings mean nothing when the core is empty. So, who’s the person looking to win an Oscar for their titular portrayal? That would be Andra Day, already a Grammy nominee. Ms. Day has recently won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama and is looking to claim her spot in the Oscar race. Her performance is about the only thing that is worth praise as she both acts and sings circles around her contemporaries. It’s absolutely stunning that this is her first lead role in a film. The rest of the supporting cast pale in comparison as Trevontae Rhodes is disappointing as conflicted federal agent Jimmy Fletcher and Garret Hedlund is downright embarrassing as bureau head Harry J. Anslinger, who acts like the identical twin of Dick Dastardly. The United States vs. Billie Holiday is a tiring and soapy entry into the neverending genre of musician biopics. Except for a great Andra Day lead performance, this is an entirely forgettable and shameful attempt to cover such an iconic time and figure in American history. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Presence September 6, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Presence had its International Premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Neon will release it in theaters on January 24, 2025. To label Presence as a horror film feels a bit misleading, as is the indication of quality with the flag for the film’s January release having already been firmly planted by distributor Neon. The scares are never in your face, although the camera (also helmed by Soderbergh under his now-famous pseudonym Peter Andrews) does get quite close to the actors. That’s because the camera is a character, not just in the metaphorical sense, but in the literal sense that the camera acts as the first-person perspective for a character. This character can’t be seen or heard by anyone else in the cast, as they are a ghost roaming the halls and rooms within an upscale house residing in a suburban neighborhood. The story is told entirely from their perspective, a silent protagonist who observes everything, yet (mostly) takes no action. This bold experiment is another in a long line of Soderbergh’s forays into altering the perception of what stories should be told in this age of digital cinema. iPhones were used as cameras for his one-two-punch of Unsane and High Flying Bird , and Mosaic allowed the audience to experience the mystery through an app. But while those projects were meant to radicalize the process of making films, Presence opts to change what’s right in front of your eyes. There’s a Michael Haneke-esque feeling of tension and voyeurism to every scene, each unfolding in a single take and being broken up with cuts to black. Some of the characters can feel that they are being watched, while others are totally oblivious to it. The most sensitive is teenaged Chloe (Callina Liang), the youngest in the newly moved-in family. She’s dealing with the trauma of recently losing two of her friends, both of them dying under mysterious circumstances. Her feelings of unease are only exasperated by the happenings around the house, such as doors creaking shut and objects suddenly falling off shelves. The rest of the unit is either in some stage of denial or acceptance of what’s going on around them. None of them know the 5 Ws and H for this entity, but they all realize deep down that something is happening. The initial buildup to the mystery is where Soderbergh and veteran screenwriter David Koepp (also the writer for Soderbergh’s Kimi and upcoming Black Bag ) flex their creative muscles to their fullest potential. As the homeward-bound camera weaves its way around, we gather snippets of the dynamics between the family. Mom (Lucy Liu) is controlling and pushy, obviously showing greater favor to the oldest son (Eddy Maday), while the dad (Chris Sullivan) tries to keep the peace. Secrets and subplots start interweaving from there, with mundane lines of dialogue from one scene acting as the hidden puzzle piece to unlock something later. Even at 85 minutes, nothing about Presence can be described as brisk, with the latter half of the film not following through with as much vigor as the setups would promise. A few reveals and twists are not as satisfying as they should be, with a little bit of a “Is that it?” energy permeating the entire experience as you walk out of the theater. The actors are all fine, especially Liang and Sullivan, with their characters sharing a deeper bond, 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. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Devotion November 19, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen There have been several instances of two nearly identical movies released questionably close to each other. 1998 saw both the A Bug’s Life/Antz and Armageddon/Deep Impact debacles, with the former winning out in each scenario. And 2013 had both Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down , with the former winning again as it gained two sequels in London Has Fallen and Angel Has Fallen . Now in 2022, we have Top Gun: Maverick and Devotion , two aviation-centered films that star Glen Powell and feature a sequence where one fighter pilot has to save his buddy after they crash land in a snowy forest. And just like all the other examples, the former (clearly) wins out in this case, with Maverick soaring high above the clouds while Devotion never gets off the ground. To give both movies the benefit of the doubt, their similarities in both plot and release dates are due to circumstances mostly outside of their control. Maverick was shot in 2019 and ready to go in early 2020, but was held for release until this summer on account of Tom Cruise’s insistence on a full-scale theatrical release (a bet that paid off in full as the film became the highest-grosser of the year and Cruise’s career at $1.5 billion). Devotion didn’t sit on the shelf as long, with filming taking place in early 2021 and normal visual effects work taking place afterward. And to Devotion’s credit again, its story is based on actual people and events during the Korean War, while Maverick is entirely fictional. But the one thing that Maverick has (in spades) that Devotion doesn’t is a sense of energy and thrill. That unparalleled theatrical experience is why Maverick will likely outgross franchise blockbuster staples like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Avatar: The Way of Water . Director J.D. Dillard doesn’t try to replicate that for Devotion , instead giving it a more dignified sense of importance through slower pacing and subtlety. It’s an admirable angle, at least on paper. But in execution, it strips the film of all forward momentum and makes the 138-minute runtime feel like 1380 minutes. Jonathan Majors stars as Jesse Brown, one of the only African-American aviators within the Navy. Jesse is the strong and silent type, mostly because he knows that standing up to anyone or lashing out in anger will destroy all his life’s work. Transferring in as his new wingman is Tom Hudner (Glen Powell, also an executive producer). The pair don’t become fast friends, but they do become brothers born in combat as they get shipped off to the frontlines of Korea as the threat of a third World War becomes evermore present. Like Dillard’s direction, Jack Crane and Jonathan Stewart’s stilted screenplay doesn’t play above the military tropes we’ve come to expect. There’s flyboy camaraderie, a racist bully, a mission with 1000/1 odds, and a spouse back at home getting teary-eyed as she reads letters on the front step. Majors and Powell do their best to inject a little life from time to time, but there’s nothing they can do to battle the mundanity of everything surrounding them. It’s hard to imagine who Devotion will fully satisfy. Enthusiasts of historical dramas (such as myself) will find it all too simplistic and clichéd; action junkies won’t walk away awed by the CGI-tainted flight set pieces, and Majors and Powell fans won’t get anything from their by-the-book characters. Just as the Korean War holds the moniker “America’s forgotten war,” Devotion will have to make do with being “America’s forgotten 2022 aviation film.” More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Apprentice June 1, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen The Apprentice had its World Premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Briarcliff Entertainment will release it in theaters on October 11. Whether we like it or not, a Donald Trump biopic was always going to be one of the hottest projects to be eventually announced. The headlines practically write themselves, and the free publicity from all the controversy would be too much for any producer to resist. But what filmmaker would have the audacity and enough screws loose to saddle themselves with such a divisive project? The Vegas odds would have most likely leaned on Adam McKay mining the same territory that he did with Dick Cheney in Vice . Or maybe HBO would have tapped company man Jay Roach to make a prestige made-for-television movie to help maintain their brand. Oliver Stone recently said he had “one more” in him during an interview with IndieWire after the Cannes premiere of his new documentary Lula . Stone has always fashioned himself as a mainstream provocateur and has had a fascination with Republican presidents ( Nixon , W. ), so what better way to go out than with the most attention-grabbing Republican president in history? Well, all the smart money bets would have been dead wrong, as Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi, helmer of the Swedish fairytale Border and the Iranian crime thriller Holy Spider , turned out to be the one given the keys to the kingdom. But as it turns out, the most unlikely candidate for the job actually pulls it off quite well, with Abbasi and writer Gabriel Sherman (working off his original screenplay) excellently threading that dangerous gap between airless history lesson and alluring endorsement. An important disclaimer is the first to appear on the black screen: the people you will see on-screen are real; their stories might have been fictionalized. The text isn’t meant to be read in a winking fashion or seen as some sort of excuse by the filmmakers for missing a few details here and there. It’s more of a stage setter to understand the figure at the heart of this story, a man we have all come to know as a serial manipulator of his origin. The story then takes off in New York circa the 1970s. The Trump family business is currently facing a Justice Department discrimination lawsuit for its dilapidated rental units and young Donald (Sebastian Stan) is desperately seeking a way into the upper echelons of New York royalty. A chance meeting at the swanky Le Club with Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) immediately becomes the answer to Donald’s troubles, as the infamous lawyer - who would be the main inspiration for Mr. Burns in The Simpsons - takes a shine to the lovable loser energy that Donald exudes. Cohn gives three simple commandments for Donald to follow: (1) Always be on the attack, (2) Never settle and always be ready to counterattack, and (3) Never accept defeat and always claim victory. Do these tactics sound familiar to you? Armed with these principles and the tenacity to make them work at any cost, Cohn slowly morphs Trump from that sadsack kid with a dream into the person we know today. Hey, at least we have someone else to throw on the pile of blame now. The legend of Roy Cohn in popular culture has been dominated by Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Angels in America , with the role most famously played by Nathan Lane in the 2018 Boadway revival and Al Pacino in the 2003 HBO miniseries. Their Cohn is brash and larger-than-life, spitting in the face of his terminal AIDS diagnosis. Sherman and Strong opt for something subtler, a quietly menacing presence that coldly seduces you. His head pops out like a turtle after every other fourth word and he may as well have been voiced by Ray Romano, but the power he wields at every moment cannot be denied. There’s a reason that Donald hung on to his every word and loved him like a father. Stan also shifts away from the umpteen portrayals of Trump we’ve seen over the past decade. His performance is absent of all the exaggerated impressionistic ticks of Alec Baldwin on SNL , instead leaning on his inner battle between superiority and insecurity to drive the physical energy. The hair and prosthetics are never necessary to the performance, only there to seal the deal for any still images. Abbasi does make prominent use of differing visuals within the film, opting for a grainer look during the 1970s that morphs into a retro VHS aesthetic in the ‘80s. Kasper Tuxen’s camera is perpetually in documentary (or mockumentary) mode, supplying much of the humor with some nicely timed zooms and visual gags. But then the high-drama string score will remind you of the implications of this buffoonery. Coupling those two technical aspects with the presence of Strong does make for some strong (no pun intended) comparisons to Succession , which definitely isn’t a bad thing in this case. There is still some biopic-y writing (they literally stumble into saying "the art of the deal" at one point) and Maria Bakalova’s presence as Ivana Trump mostly gets sidelined to the archetype of “long-suffering wife.” But those faults could have been only the tip of the iceberg in the multitude of other versions of this project that were likely in the pipeline. I didn’t have it on my 2024 bingo card that the most accurate adjectives to describe a Donald Trump biopic would be “restrained” and “insightful.” More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The French Dispatch July 17, 2021 By: Button Hunter Friesen The French Dispatch had its World Premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Searchlight Pictures will release it in theaters on October 22. With each subsequent entry into his distinct filmography, Wes Anderson seems to make it a mission to make the most Wes Anderson film. The intricacies of 2001’s The Royal Tenenbaums seemed quaint around the time The Grand Budapest Hotel was released in 2013. Even his side ventures into stop-motion animation contain a great distance in production quality between 2009’s Fantastic Mr. Fox and 2018’s Isle of Dogs . Anderson’s tenth feature film, The French Dispatch towers over all of his previous works with its masterful production qualities and international ensemble cast. Set in 20 th century France in the fictional city of Ennui-sur-Blasé, The French Dispatch opens with the untimely news that the editor of the titular magazine, Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray), son of the magazine’s founder and holder of a supreme eye for talent, has died. As per his wishes, his life is to be tied directly to that of the magazine, meaning that the publication dies with him. His team of writers – an eccentric bunch of expatriates all recruited over the years by Howitzer in one way or another – are granted one final issue, which they decide will contain “an obituary, a brief travel guide, and three feature stories.” The obituary is, of course, for Arthur, while the travel guide takes one through the historic village that has acted as the publication’s home for nearly half a century. The three retrospective stories selected are considered to be the best in the publication’s long history: an account by the paper’s art critic (Tilda Swinton) of the deranged painter Moses Rosenthal (Benicio Del Toro) and a brash art dealer (Adrien Brody); an on-the-ground report by political correspondent Lucinda Krementz (Frances McDormand) of the student revolution led by the charismatic Zeffirelli (Timothee Chalamet); and a retelling by food critic Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright) of how he got entangled in a kidnapping involving the son of the chief of police (Matthieu Almaric). While there is no central story to fully move the film from start to finish, the anthology-style structure still allows Anderson to explore several of the themes found within his previous works, such as human curiosity and the ironic relationship we share with the world and its other characters. The final story of the food critic ranks as the best in terms of what’s on the page, giving Jeffrey Wright a wonderfully complex character who unintentionally learns several valuable lessons about his place in the world. Some will find that the anthology structure limits the emotional connection one can have to the characters, especially since Anderson has built his career on wonderfully layered characters such as Royal Tenenbaum and M. Gustave. On the contrary, while many of his characters tend to overstay their welcome in a 100-minute narrative, the anthologies force Anderson to be as efficient as possible with character development, creating several sequences of mise-en-scène where the direction tells just as much of the story as the script. After gradually becoming more confident as a director, Anderson has finally allowed himself to fully unleash his unique brand of filmmaking. Visually, this is one of the most accomplished works ever made as Anderson toys with aspect ratios (very similar to the strategy within The Grand Budapest Hotel ), color and black & white cinematography, ingeniously hilarious freeze frames, and a period-accurate soundtrack that seems to always be perfectly queued. Ironically, the major complaint I have against the film is that there are dozens of expertly crafted shots that come and go in mere seconds even though they could be dissected for hours. Every frame truly is a painting as several hidden treasures can be found in every nook and cranny. This is a film that demands to be rewatched several times over to soak in every last detail. There are no weak links within the Robert Altman-sized cast, with players such as Adrien Brody (who seems to only deliver a good performance nowadays when directed by Anderson), Frances McDormand, and Jeffrey Wright. The phrase “there are no small parts, only small actors” doesn’t apply here as people such as Christoph Waltz and Saoirse Ronan are reduced to minuscule cameos. Still, Henry Winkler and Willem Dafoe are able to do a lot with the little that they are given. A visual masterpiece bursting at the seams with talent both on and off the screen, The French Dispatch is a film by a director working at the absolute height of his powers. More importantly, the film gave me one of the most enjoyable theatrical experiences in a long time, with several rounds of applause from the Cannes crowd that seemed to be in love with the film as much as I was. I worry about how Anderson will be able to top this with his next film. But until then, I’ll stay in the present and be thankful that something this magical is allowed to exist in a world that only seems to get bleaker More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Mulan September 14, 2020 By: Button Hunter Friesen For over a decade now, Disney has been mining their animated catalog of magical stories and remaking them into live-action movies. This trend has had its ups (the visual spectacle found within The Jungle Book ) and its downs (last year’s joyless photorealistic The Lion King ), but each one has made buckets of money for the house of mouse. Originally set to join the line of remakes back in March was Mulan . For obvious pandemic reasons, that release didn’t go as planned and now the film has been released straight to Disney+ at the exorbitant fee of $29.99, which is on top of your regular monthly payments. It’s a price point no one should come close to thinking of paying, especially considering that the movie they are buying pales in comparison to its animated predecessor. If you’ve seen the original 1998 version of Mulan , then you’ve already seen this newer adaptation as the story follows the same path. The film opens in Imperial China as we are introduced to Mulan, a young adventurous girl that is often a disappointment because she does not fit her predestined gender role. In this opening sequence, we are dazzled with all the things money can buy. At a budget of $200 million, it’s no surprise that the sets are luscious, the costumes are pristine, and the makeup is vibrant. Further illustrating the power of money is the locations used by director Niki Caro and cinematographer Mandy Walker. The duo beautifully gives life to the rural and urban landscapes, even if some moments can be ruined by an overabundance of computer effect meddling. After an invasion by the villainous Bori Kahn, the emperor conscripts an army made up of one man per family. Unfortunately for Mulan’s family, the only man is their war-wounded father who surely will not survive. Under the cover of night, Mulan takes her father’s gear and sets out in his place for the army. Upon reaching the training grounds, we are introduced to the lot of supporting characters, first of which is Commander Tung. The rest of the gang are younger lads that only possess one character trait to set them apart. The training sequence is where Caro exemplifies her chops as a director. She creates bold imagery that gives off a sense of power and courage. Caro also injects a bit of wuxia (a Chinese action genre that suspends physics in favor of more fantastical action) into the action. Even if it is over-edited, the stunt work is something to admire as elaborate set pieces are constructed in various interesting locations. And while it’s no “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”, composer Harry Gregson-Williams does deliver a terrifically epic score to punctuate the action scenes. What clouds over this newest version of Mulan and negates many of its accomplishments is the shocking lack of fun within the movie. Stripping itself of the musical numbers and talking animals, and then adding on a dour tone about warfare doesn’t make for a very inspirational or entertaining time. Of course, a war movie doesn’t have to be all sunshine and rainbows, but it's next to impossible to take this movie seriously when there’s an identical bright, animated version that’s superior in nearly every way. Chinese star Yifei Lu plays the titular character with both grace and ferocity. She expertly tackles the language barrier and carries the majority of the film’s emotional weight on her shoulders. Her interactions with her father (brilliantly played by Tzi Ma) are the highlights. Playing a new character in the story is Gong Li as the conflicted witch Xianniang. She’s as mysterious as the dark side of the moon and often toes the line between hero and villain with her inventive powers. It’s a shame that she and Jason Scott Lee’s Bori Khan were given little to work with. Chinese megastars Donnie Yen and Jet Li play Commander Tung and Emperor, respectively. Yen and Li lend star power to their minor supporting roles, which was probably the only reason they were cast. The newest version of Mulan is a passable film that fares better than most of the assembly line remakes that have preceded it. But at the same time, it still falters to the original and lacks the entertaining bite that has never been in short supply within Disney films. At the high price required to view it, the best option would be to wait until December 04, when the movie is available at no extra cost to Disney+ subscribers More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

2025 Golden Globe Awards Nomination Predictions December 7, 2024 By: Hunter Friesen Buoyed by interesting nominees and big-name winners, last year's Golden Globe Awards was a major success in the rebirth process for the once-disgraced awards body. The group formerly known as the HFPA will be looking to keep that ball rolling this year, although they'll have a tougher time finding the same level of notoriety amongst the contenders. This year's crop is much more independent-focused than in years past, which could lend the Globes more influence in this chaotic Oscar race. With nominations set to be announced on Monday morning, here are my predictions on what names will be called in each category, complete with a full breakdown detailing the seemingly endless combinations. Best Motion Picture - Drama Conclave The Brutalist Dune: Part Two Nickel Boys Sing Sing A Complete Unknown Last year's nomination in this category for The Zone of Interest lends strength to the equally challenging and universally acclaimed Nickel Boys . Something like A Complete Unknown would have been a slam dunk under the previous Globes regime, which makes it a little vulnerable to being subbed out for more esoteric titles like Queer and Babygirl . Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy Anora Emilia Pérez Wicked A Real Pain Challengers The Substance The top three films are virtually guaranteed to receive Best Picture nominations at the Oscars, and A Real Pain has continually risen in its stock. That leaves Challengers , The Substance , Saturday Night , and Hit Man as the four likeliest titles jockeying for the final two slots. Challengers and The Substance have been two of the buzziest and most acclaimed films of the year, so it would be surprising for them to be left out. Best Director Sean Baker (Anora) Jaques Audiard (Emilia Pérez) Brady Corbet (The Brutalist) Edward Berger (Conclave) Denis Villeneuve (Dune: Part Two) Coralie Fargeat (The Substance) The Directors branch at the Academy tends to favor more arthouse sensibilities as opposed to the Globes, which is why it wouldn't be a surprise for an Oscar contender such as RaMell Ross ( Nickel Boys ) snubbed for someone like Ridley Scott ( Gladiator II ). The Globes have also been kinder to female contenders, giving nominations to Maggie Gyllenhaal ( The Lost Daughter ) and Celine Song ( Past Lives ) when the Oscars didn't. Coralie Fargeat will be that nominee this year, with Denis Villeneuve representing the blockbusters. Best Screenplay Conclave Anora A Real Pain The Brutalist Sing Sing Emilia Pérez The funneling of both original and adapted screenplays into one category makes it impossible to have confident predictions. Deserving contenders will be left off this list come nomination morning, and there's rarely a correlating factor that gives us a clue about what this group likes. The best strategy is to replicate the nominees from the Best Director category, and then swap out 1-2 based on how writerly they are. The narratives behind Dune: Part Two and The Substance have been very director-focused, which is why bigger writing contenders like A Real Pain and Sing Sing will likely slide in. Best Lead Actor - Drama Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) Ralph Fiennes (Conclave) Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown) Colman Domingo (Sing Sing) Daniel Craig (Queer) Jharrel Jerome (Unstoppable) It's pretty much all chalk within this category, with my currently predicted five for Best Lead Actor at the Oscars being represented here. It's already hard enough to fill out five slots, so adding another one doesn't help the guessing game. Sebastian Stan is hurt by the poison that surrounds The Apprentice , and Paul Mescal didn't have that many positive notices for Gladiator II . I'm going to reach a little bit and give the edge to Jharrel Jerome for Unstoppable , a very physical performance from a crowd-pleasing film that has been campaigning nonstop since its TIFF premiere. Best Lead Actress - Drama Nicole Kidman (Babygirl) Angelina Jolie (Maria) Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths) Saoirse Ronan (The Outrun) Fernanda Torres (I'm Still Here) Kate Winslet (Lee) This category is surprisingly thinner among Oscar contenders than in most years, which is a testament to the increased competition within the Comedy/Musical category. Last year's nomination for Alma Pöysti showed that the Globes will consider a foreign-language performance that isn't firmly in the Oscar race like Sandra Hüller was, which bodes well for Fernanda Torres in I'm Still Here . I can't decide between Tilda Swinton or Julianne Moore for The Room Next Door , so I'll leave both of them out. Kate Winslet in Lee would have been a lock years ago, and I think there's still enough of that voting body left for her to nab the final slot. Best Lead Actor - Musical or Comedy Jesse Eisenberg (A Real Pain) Glen Powell (Hit Man) Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) Sebastian Stan (A Different Man) Hugh Grant (Heretic) Jesse Plemons (Kinds of Kindness) Jesse Eisenberg and Glen Powell sit comfortably at the top competing to win the trophy. Michael Keaton as the uber-successful and iconic character in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice feels like a safe bet, as does Hugh Grant in Heretic and Sebastian Stan in A Different Man after idiosyncratic nominees like Joaquin Phoenix ( Beau Is Afraid ) and Nicolas Cage ( Dream Scenario ) last year. That vibe leads me to pick Cannes Best Actor winner Jesse Plemons ( Kinds of Kindness ) for the final slot over more conventional contenders like Gabriel LaBelle ( Saturday Night ) and Ryan Reynolds ( Deadpool & Wolverine ). Best Lead Actress - Musical or Comedy Mikey Madison (Anora) Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez) Cynthia Erivo (Wicked) Demi Moore (The Substance) Zendaya (Challengers) June Squibb (Thelma) This is pretty much a repeat of the Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical category, sans A Real Pain for obvious reasons. I've got June Squibb nabbing that last slot in a surprise upset over eight-time nominee (and two-time winner) Amy Adams. It's not the smartest move on paper, but the buzz for Nightbitch and Adams' performance has been nonexistent, at least in comparison to her previous work. That might not matter for someone so beloved as her, but I think Squibb is much more deserved and makes for a better narrative. Best Supporting Actor Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain) Denzel Washington (Gladiator II) Guy Pearce (The Brutalist) Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing) Stanley Tucci (Conclave) Yura Borisov (Anora) Two of the best narratives this year have been the rise of previously unknown performers Clarence Maclin and Yura Borisov. Maclin has been firmly in the Oscar conversation for months, while Borisov has seen a quick rise over the past few weeks. That might be too short of a window to get him in here, especially with an established player like Edward Norton ( A Complete Unknown ) right on his tail. Best Supporting Actress Zoë Saldaña (Emilia Pérez) Ariana Grande (Wicked) Danielle Deadwyler (The Piano Lesson) Felicity Jones (The Brutalist) Margaret Qualley (The Substance) Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Nickel Boys) I'm feeling pretty confident in the first five slots. The final slot could easily go to Selena Gomez for Emilia Pérez . She's been loved by the television side of this group, being nominated for the previous two seasons of Only Murders In The Building , which will likely continue with the fourth season. There's the possibility of Saoirse Ronan fulfilling the promise of a double nomination morning with Blitz , although that film has faltered at every step so far. I have confidence behind my choice for Nickel Boys in Best Motion Picture - Drama, so I'll reverse engineer my way into predicting Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. Best Foreign Language Film Emilia Pérez (France) All We Imagine as Light (India) The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Iran) I'm Still Here (Brazil) The Girl with the Needle (Denmark) The Count of Monte Cristo (France) The Globes have far fewer restrictions on this category as opposed to the Oscars, which is why we could get two nominees from France despite Emilia Pérez being the official submission. There's bound to be an outlier choice within the final two slots, so I'm hoping my roll of the dice will generate at least one correct guess. Best Animated Feature Film The Wild Robot Inside Out 2 Memoir of a Snail Flow Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl Moana 2 I'm going with the currently predicted lineup at the Oscars, with Moana 2 following the same trajectory as Wish last year of being a namecheck nominee. The former has slightly better reviews and a vastly better box performance than the latter, so that's a good enough reason to crawl in. Best Original Score Conclave The Brutalist Dune: Part Two Emilia Pérez Challengers The Wild Robot This category is stacked with heavy hitters across the Drama and Comedy/Musical categories. The outlier amongst the group is The Wild Robot , which shouldn't have any problems considering the Globes nominated two animated films ( Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Boy and the Heron ) in this category last year. Best Original Song El Mal (Emilia Pérez) Mi Camino (Emilia Pérez) Kiss the Sky (The Wild Robot) I Always Wanted a Brother (Mufasa: The Lion King) Piece by Piece (Piece by Piece) Never Too Late (Elton John) I'd consider it a success if I get 3/6 correct in this category. Some wild picks were made last year with "Peaches" and “Addicted to Romance," both of which featured big stars behind their campaigns. I'm going to run with that theme in my nominees this year, predicting people such as Elton John, Pharrell, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. They'll be joined by two of the popular numbers from Emilia Pérez . Cinematic and Box Office Achievement Inside Out 2 Deadpool & Wolverine Wicked Dune: Part Two Moana 2 Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Despicable Me 4 It Ends with Us Introduced as the "Barbenheimer" last year, this category serves as a last resort for the Globes to feature movies that the casual audience will recognize. That means I'm working my way down the domestic box office charts, including the films that got at least decent reviews. I don't have much respect for this category, so I won't have any pride in how many I get right or wrong. More Reviews Wicked: For Good November 19, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Rental Family September 7, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Jay Kelly November 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Train Dreams November 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen