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Magpie October 23, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Magpie screened at the 2024 Twin Cities Film Fest. Shout! Studios will release it in theaters on October 25. Early on in Magpie , Annette (Daisy Ridley) feels trapped in her home in the English countryside. Her husband, Ben (Shazad Latif), is chaperoning their young actress daughter, Matilda, during a movie shoot. Playing Matilda’s on-screen mother is Alicia (Matilda Lutz), an actress who’s been involved in a number of tabloid sexcapades. Paparazzi snaps some photographs of her and Ben together on set, and Ben’s phone constantly buzzes from Alicia’s texts when he’s home. Annette stares at herself in the mirror, seeing nothing but a blank face. She presses her hands upon the glass, incrementally applying pressure until the whole thing shatters. The floor is a mess with shards, a few of them still stuck in her hands. But she doesn't seem to notice as the blood starts to drip. This scene is emblematic of director Sam Yates’ approach to the material. A veteran stage director, most notably for 2023’s Vanya starring Andrew Scott, Yates has dabbled a few times in film with some shorts and television. Magpie marks his feature directorial debut, and the results could be the start of a promising career. Nothing about his work is flashy (“flat” would be the derogatory term), but his approach to the material builds a tightly wound atmosphere. The gloominess of the setting, both literally and emotionally, is reflected in the cinematography. Distance and uncomfortable closeness are mixed for a revolving door of claustrophobia, with quite a few of those shots being reminiscent of the POV shots that Jonathan Demme made so famous in The Silence of the Lambs . It’s tough to distinguish between Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter in Annette and Ben’s relationship, an intentional blurring of the lines by screenwriter Tom Bateman. Similar to Yates, he’s making his feature screenwriting debut here, having previously appeared as an actor in Kenneth Branagh’s two initial Hercule Poirot films (he met Ridley on the set of Murder on the Orient Express ) and other British productions. The idea for this story came from Ridley herself, influenced by her experience as an on-screen mother in The Marsh King’s Daughter (at least something came out of that movie). Annette doesn’t want to jump to conclusions about Ben and Alicia’s relationship. And yet, it’s the only thing she can do as she sits at home looking after her newborn. There are hints of depression and manic behavior within her due to Ben’s past behavior. Bateman initially plants this as a potential conversation starter about the pressures of motherhood and burrowed trauma. That all gets morphed into something much more kitschy as time progresses, with late revelations making me laugh both with and at the movie. It wants to please you, even if that doesn’t please the movie as a whole. Ridley is fierce in the lead, maintaining a steely presence that keeps you on edge. There’s both sympathy and guilty pleasure you put upon her as she grapples with her domestic situation. Latif and Lutz display great confidence in their increasingly villainous roles. The whole thing feels like a throwback, while also having its cake and eating it too about so many modern topics. It’s a delectable cake, with just a bit too much sugar added. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Cannes 2025 Recap May 27, 2025 By: Tyler Banark This year, I was honored to attend the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. It was my first time attending the festival and being in Europe, and it truly was a wonderful experience. The sights, views, and movies were all something to behold and made me grateful that I could be in the presence of great people working in the industry. I saw eight films during the last three days, so here are my brief thoughts on everything I saw on the Croisette, in the order I watched them in. Sound of Falling One of the most hyped-up non-English-language movies of the festival, Mascha Schilinski’s Sound of Falling , will likely be on many people’s radar later this year. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy it as much as everyone else at the festival. It was boring, and I had no idea what it wanted to be. It does try to make a valid commentary on childhood trauma across different generations, but it gets convoluted in doing so. It also ended suddenly as I got into the moment and was eager to see where it would go. How this movie tied for the Jury Prize (third place) is beyond me. I would advise avoiding it. (2/5) The History of Sound The History of Sound sees Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor, two actors at the top of their game, collide in a love story driven by folk music. The two are excellent, but the rest of Oliver Hermanus’ film is dull as it tries to mask itself with performances and enticing music moments.. There is a great movie somewhere underneath this movie’s surface, but whether that core can be reached is a stretch to see and may require a second viewing. For now, The History of Sound is a miss for Hermanus. (2.5/5) Eddington Eddington is a daring and complex film that challenges viewers to reflect on the societal divisions exacerbated by the pandemic. Its potent performances and atmospheric direction make it a standout entry in Aster's filmography, even if its political messaging occasionally lacks precision. It's the latest example of that and is a compelling film that provokes discussion and introspection about the pandemic, no matter how comforting or discomforting it may be. (4/5) Resurrection Bi Gan’s latest epic, Resurrection , is the big movie of the year that people will either love or not get. It’s best to go into it knowing little of the plot other than it falls into the genre of a love letter to cinema. Resurrection sees Gan passionate as ever, as it’s a visual feast. Bookended with a remarkable opening sequence and a final twenty minutes that will stun audiences, Gan should have audiences wrapped around his finger. (4/5) Sentimental Value Joachim Trier’s follow-up to his 2021 hit The Worst Person in the World sees him slowly reaching the Western Hemisphere. He’s back with Renate Reinsve and has Stellan Skarsgård on board. But in terms of Hollywood, he recruited American actors Elle Fanning and Cory Michael Smith in supporting roles. The actors make Sentimental Value what it is as we see a father look to reconnect with his adult daughter, but an American actress poses a threat. If Sentimental Value is looking to accomplish anything, it’s being a heavy awards season contender as the leading trio is all wonderful. If there are any flaws, it’s in the pacing, as it tends to drag for much of the movie’s runtime. Nevertheless, be on the lookout for this soon. (3.5/5) Die, My Love Lynne Ramsay’s long-awaited return to the silver screen is a bleak slice-of-life film starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson as a lowly couple living in the countryside of Montana. Lawrence performs daringly as she’s in a weird phase of looking to reinvent herself. As a fan of hers, I’m all for it, but I don’t know if others will see it that way. Don’t get me wrong, I want to see Lawrence back in the limelight, but I don't know if this will work for her due to the subject matter of the love. It’s a raw, physical performance, and she can do it. But when the rest of the movie isn’t as consistent as she is, where will the general viewers fall? (3/5) Honey Don't! The second film in Ethan Coen’s follow-up lesbian trilogy after last year’s Drive-Away Dolls , to Honey Don’t is another step down for his solo director career. While watching this film, I realized which past Coen brothers projects were helmed mainly by him and which were done by Joel. Margaret Qualley is looking to be his muse as she leads this queer crime comedy, and she owns the screen. She fits the mold of the Coen aesthetic, and is far from the most significant issue I had with Honey Don’t. The writing is the suspect here as Coen co-wrote this with his wife Tricia Cooke, and it leaves audiences unamused with lamely written characters. The only good thing to come out of the script is the humor. Still, even that didn’t do much to save. He wastes a stacked cast of Aubrey Plaza, Charlie Day, Chris Evans, and Talia Ryder with ho-hum character development, making the previously mentioned typecast. If there’s anything Ethan Coen should take away from Honey Don’t , it’s that he needs to reunite with Joel. (3/5) The Phoenician Scheme Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme sees the director at a crossroads. His style is unique and can't be replicated, no matter how much people try. However, the relationship between Asteroid City and The French Dispatch has become stale in the past few years . Luckily, moviegoers and Wes heads can put this fear to rest as The Phoenician Scheme is a bold, genre-blending espionage comedy that both honors and subverts his signature style. For a while now, Anderson has been making the narrative approach of having a story within a story. And while it worked at first, it slowly got boring. Have no fear, as The Phoenician Scheme reverts to that and gives a direct plot that feels like a breath of fresh air for viewers like me. (4/5) More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

The Witches October 29, 2020 By: Button Hunter Friesen I’ve always wondered what Robert Zemeckis thinks of his career. From 1984 to 2000, he was an A-level director who could seamlessly blend visual wizardry with fantastical stories. His output during that time consisted of the Back to the Future trilogy, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump (for which he won the Best Director Oscar), and Cast Away . Since then, Zemeckis has still incorporated fantastical ideas into his films, but his effects work has gotten progressively worse as time goes on. The Polar Express is only remembered for its acid-trip-inducing digital-capture performances. Beowulf , A Christmas Carol , and Welcome to Marwen were visual eye-sores. Even his adult-oriented films such as Flight and Allied - which are decent - came and went with barely a peep. Zemeckis has returned once again to the silver screen (or silver television since it’s being released on HBO Max) with The Witches , another movie filled to the brim with computer effects and a crazy story. Unfortunately, this new feature follows right in line with the latter of his filmography and again makes you wonder if we'll ever get the old Robert Zemeckis back. The Witches is narrated by Chris Rock, who in the opening segment explains to the audience that witches are real and are here to prey on little children, especially cute ones. This claim is supported by our narrator’s encounter with witches back in his childhood. From here we travel back in time to 1960s Alabama. Our narrator, named Charlie, has just become an orphan after a freak car accident. He moves in with his grandmother, a lady who would “ spank you when you deserved it and hug you when you needed it”. After some time, Charlie eventually comes face to face with a witch, which brings up memories from grandma’s past as well. As a precaution, the two of them head to a swanky resort to hide away for awhile. Unfortunately for them, this resort is the same location where a coven of witches are planning their nefarious scheme of turning every child into a mouse so that they can be easily squashed. It’s up to Charlie and his grandma to stop these witches before they cause the extinction of all children. Despite being in a slump for nearly two decades, Robert Zemeckis is still a capable director when it comes to blockbuster filmmaking. The Witches still showcases his talent with the camera as he uses a few tricks such as long tracking shots that dip and dive throughout the resort setting. It is kind of cheating since it’s obvious the camera and much of the set are digitally created, but it’s still nice to look at nonetheless. While the visual style of the film is in line with Dahl’s authorial vision, their quality is not up to the technological standards of 2020. With their razor-sharp teeth, hanging talons, and bald heads, the witches are pure nightmare fuel that will surely haunt small children (and adults) for days after. They may not look convincing, but they sure look frightening. Even though the witch effects kept things scary, the mouse effects did not hold up their end of the deal. The entire second half of the film is soiled because of the poor effects work on the rodents. Shockingly, mouse special effects have not progressed in the slightest since Stuart Little ( Ratatouille doesn’t count since that’s all digital). Filling in the role of the Grand High Witch is Anne Hathaway, who gives a no-holds-barred performance complete with heavy accent work and villainous speech patterns. She’s more cartoonish than most cartoons, which makes her the most memorable of the cast. Octavia Spencer as the grandmother and Stanley Tucci as the resort manager are much more subdued in their roles, which makes Hathaway stick out even more from the rest of the cast. The child actors that play both their human selves and voice their mouse counterparts rely too much on overacting to get the point across. Their performances can be both blamed on themselves and Zemeckis’ lackluster acting direction and screenplay, which was co-written by monster aficionado Guillermo del Toro of all people. Nearly all their dialogue is said in all caps with three exclamation points. The Witches may not live up to its print and celluloid predecessors, but it has just enough campiness and visual splendor that keeps it exciting from start to finish. It’s not a good film - or even one I wholly recommend - but it’s something that can be semi-enjoyed by the whole family during the waning days of spooky season. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

The Nun September 13, 2018 By: Button Hunter Friesen Over the last five years, the Conjuring Universe has taken the horror genre by storm. This has been made possible by having great directing and inventive scares that defy expectations. The Nun , the newest film in the series, has none (pun intended) of those quality traits. Instead, it ends up being one of the most generic and forgettable horror films in recent memory. Set in 1952 Romania, the body of a young nun is found outside a monastery. The nun committed suicide by hanging, but the purpose is unknown. The Vatican sends Father Burke and Sister Irene to investigate the nun’s death and find out if the monastery is still holy ground. Once there, Burke and Irene are met with many different types of supernatural evil, all of which spawn from a spirit that has been recently awoken. Marking only his second feature, director Corin Hardy fails miserably to make this film different than other supernatural horror films. He relies way too heavily on jump scares and doesn’t establish a creepy atmosphere. Despite having only a 96-minute runtime, The Nun is surprisingly boring. Hardy keeps the pace very slow and doesn’t allow for anything interesting to develop. Not much really happens until the very end when we get a quick final showdown that ends in the campiest way possible. Speaking of campiness, the film tries to interject the scares with a few slight one-liners. They make no sense in the context of the story and always fail miserably, invoking groans rather than laughter. One slight nod that can be given to Hardy is his average camerawork. Some of the overhead and pan shots are interesting to look at, but that’s about it. Written by Gary Dauberman with help from James Wan, The Nun could already take the cake for the worst writing of the year. The overall premise of the film is decent, but any resemblance to a story after that is downright terrible. Important elements have very little background and anything that happens is given no reasoning whatsoever. Each character is very dull. They have tragic generic backstories that try (and fail) to make us connect with them. They also make some of the dumbest decisions, such as splitting up multiple times and trying to fight a demon head-on. Similar to the directing, the writing fails to make the film scary in any way. Almost every “scare” is a jump scare that just startles you. After that, nothing really happens as the film cycles to the next jump scare. It’s very predictable and restricts any element of surprise. Completing the trifecta of horribleness is the acting. Demián Bichir plays Father Burke. Just like his character, Bichir is very bland and lacks any trace of personality. All he does is have a concerned look on his face and barely makes any meaningful interaction with the other characters. Taissa Farmiga, sister of franchise star Vera Farmiga, plays Sister Irene. Unfortunately, Taissa shares no quality acting traits with her superior sister. She constantly looks out of her element and isn’t able to be more than a one-note character. Last, and certainly least, is Jonas Bloquet as Frenchie, a local farmer who acts as a guide to Burke and Irene. Frenchie is the arrogant tough guy in every horror film that you just want to punch. He’s the source of all the painful one-liners and is just flat-out terrible to watch. The Nun is a boring and frightless mess that fails on all levels. By the time the credits roll, any audience member should feel insulted that they wasted both time and money on this pitiful excuse of a horror film. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Dune October 25, 2021 By: Button Hunter Friesen Like humanity’s search for the missing link or the cure for cancer, movie studios have unsuccessfully tried and failed to adapt Frank Herbert’s daunting 1965 science fiction novel, which laid the framework for several subsequent entries in the genre such as Star Wars and Blade Runner . Cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky tried in the early 1970s, but financial troubles stopped him from getting past pre-production, a story which has now become immortalized in the critically acclaimed 2013 documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune . Over a decade later, David Lynch, armed with the mega millions of super-producer Dino De Laurentis, was utterly crushed by the weight of the material, which was forcibly squeezed into a two-hour runtime. Years went on as names such as Ridley Scott and Peter Berg were attached to the project, but nothing ever came to fruition. Now in 2021, it’s time for Denis Villeneuve – director of Sicario, Arrival, and Blade Runner 2049 – to attempt what has been thought to be impossible. To prevent the mistake of Lynch’s adaptation, the 412-page novel has been split into two parts. Despite not bearing that moniker in the official title, the phrase “part one” does flash underneath the main title in the opening sequence. This comes as a warning to those expecting a complete narrative. Like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 , Dune is here to establish the major events that will come in the sequel, which has yet to be officially confirmed. But rather than faring like those two examples, Dune falls more in line with The Divergent Series: Allegiant , which shuddered the series before the conclusion could be filmed. Now, that’s not to say that Dune shares all the same qualities as that cinematic failure. Villeneuve is one of the most financially efficient directors working today, as he gets maximum value out of every dollar within his budget. With $165 million at his disposal, Villeneuve has crafted a universe of mythological proportions. From desert landscapes crawling with sandworms to interstellar cruisers, the scale that Villeneuve and cinematographer Greig Fraser work with is something to behold. Seeing this in IMAX brings a reward worth far more than the ticket price. But for all its grandiosity on a technical level, what’s at the heart and soul of Dune is shockingly small. Taking place in the year 10191, the story centers on Paul Atreides, prince of the great house who rules over Caladan. Soon, the family is ordered by the unseen Emperor to govern Arrakis, which overflows with the precious mineral known as “spice.” The natives of the planet called the Fremen, resent their colonial oppressors, a feeling that Paul slowly begins to understand. After the imperial betrayal, Paul’s loyalty and place within the universe begin to be tested as he is led down an unfamiliar path. That plot description may be admittedly light, but a proper one would require much more precious margin space. Villeneuve (his first writing credit since coming to Hollywood) along with veteran Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts seem to have punted all the interesting material for the latter edition. What’s left is a shallow plot with dangling thoughts on colonialism, the chosen one, and religious allegories. Ironically, the groundbreaking material within the novel has been mined so many times by other properties that this film adaptation feels like a carbon copy of others. That feeling of emptiness stretches into the cast as well, despite it being filled with a roster of immense international talent. Boiling down to being described as space Jesus, the character of Paul Atreides is one of awkwardness and enlightenment. Timothée Chalamet is fitting in the role, working his gawky frame and soft voice past the limitations of the script. Through no fault of their own, the rest of the cast aren’t able to shine as much as they should, with interesting actors such as Oscar Isaac, Stellan Skargård, Jason Momoa, and Charlotte Rampling being brushed aside for umpteen amounts of landscape shots. At some point, those beautiful vistas begin to feel empty, as the human element has been restricted to a minimum. Dune is an odd case of style over substance, in that the substance is there but was intentionally left out for another time. It’s a gamble that may pay off once Part 2 is released, but until then it leaves this first part as a desert-sized disappointment. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

After Yang March 7, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen After Yang played at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. A24 will release the film in theaters and online on March 04. What does it mean to be human? It’s a question that has baffled the greatest minds for thousands of years. There is no single answer, and just about every possible answer produces another exponential round of questions. But despite the daunting task set upon by any sedulous searcher, 2021 and 2022 have seen several filmmakers offer their own opinion on the matter. Revered master Apichatpong Weerasethakul gave us Memoria , a film with a meditative atmosphere that not so much answers questions, but leads the viewer down their path of contemplation. Through the process of human cloning, Benjamin Cleary’s Swan Song begged the question, can human identity be passed on and perfectly emulated by inorganic beings? Through the use of two brilliant Mahershala Ali performances, Cleary’s delicate parable of lost love showed the power of interconnectedness. And now, debuting before and after the previously mentioned films with its early Cannes world premiere and its U.S. premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, comes After Yang , a mixture of reality and poetry that breathes through its slow brew atmosphere. The second half of the title comes from the name of the perfectly human-like android within the multi-racial household of father Jake (Colin Farrell), mother Kyra (Jodie Turner-Smith), and child Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja). Yang was brought into the fold at the same time as Mika was adopted from China as a way to connect her to her ancestral roots. For years, life has gone by as planned with Jake overseeing his tea shop, and Yang acting as Mika’s main point of contact for her identity crises. One day, that peaceful cycle breaks down when Yang enters a catatonic state. As they attempt to bring him back, Jake and Kyra learn more about Yang’s deeper connection to their daughter and the memories he harbored in a life outside his family. Writer/director Kogonada started out in video essays examining the themes of some of cinema's greatest auteurs such as Alfred Hitchcock, Yasujirō Ozu, and Ingmar Bergman. And now, with only two films to his name, Kogonada is already entering the conversation as one of the best humanistic directors of the modern era. His previous feature, Columbus , made use of precise visuals that synchronized with the gentle storytelling. It was a highwire act of writing and directing made to look remarkably simple. After Yang maintains that same level of stillness as it transplants its setting from modern Indiana to the distant future where all of humanity has melded into a semi-perfect homogenous society. Production designer Alexandra Schaller takes an East Asian inspiration for the architecture, complete with straight lines, tranquil gardens, and minimalist spaces. The stillness transfers to the performances as well, with Farrell at his most introspective and compelling. It harkens back a bit to his work with Yorgos Lanthimos in The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer , with the dialed-back emotions and an everyman disposition. He serves as a perfect gateway into this strange, new world. The parts where the film reaches its peak are the sequences where Jake accesses Yang’s memories. In those moments, everything within the film seemingly comes together, as Kogonada (also serving as his own editor) leans into the humanistic side of Alexander Weinstein’s 2016 short story. From his memories, Jake sees the empathy and compassion that Yang experienced and shared over time, and how he passed them onto Mika through everyday lessons. The string-filled music of ASKA brings overwhelming emotional power when it gets paired with heartbreaking visuals. After Yang is full of grace and compassion, with a touch of melancholy to make it a truly reflective experience of the human soul. It merges American sci-fi with the softer side of independent cinema, which makes it a perfect project to be under the A24 umbrella. An official release date has yet to be announced, which has justifiably angered cinephiles that have been left out in the cold. But when the day comes that this gem is opened for all to see, that patience will be greatly rewarded. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Here October 29, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen The right concept meets the right creative person in Here , the film that finally breaks Robert Zemeckis from the hellish CGI hole he dug himself with his previous three features of Welcome to Marwen , The Witches , and the Disney+ Pinocchio . I shouldn’t get too ahead of myself though, as that wish has come true in monkey paw fashion, with Zemeckis veering his sights on the next step in the technological evolutionary cycle: artificial intelligence. It only makes sense that the two words that have invaded every aspect of our lives in such a short time finds its way onto the silver screen. And, most surprisingly, it’s only one of a handful of notable gimmicks that run amok in this intergenerational story that will surely be a sweeper at this year’s AARP Movies for Grownups Awards. The rabbit hole concept of place and time are at the heart of this story, itself adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by Richard McGuire. What would you see if you could turn back time on one single spot? Did dinosaurs roam proudly? Did Native Americans hunt and gather on this land? Did the first colonial settlers lay claim to it? All that and more happened in the living room of Richard (Tom Hanks) and Margaret (Robin Wright), a baby boomer couple who serve as the anchor throughout the millennia. Small windows into the past are interspersed throughout: Benjamin Franklin’s son planting his estate on the land, an aviation enthusiast who buys the property at the turn of the twentieth century, the couple who invent the La-Z-Boy recliner in the living room, and a present-day African-American couple dealing with the pandemic and raising a son in politically charged times. All of this freely flows nonlinearly, the dots of each timeframe being connected by literal rectangular frames that similarly overlap each other to the source material. The camera is fixed in an observational position within one corner of the room, never moving for a moment. It’s a way for Zemeckis and his Forrest Gump writer Eric Roth to zoom out from all the commotion of details and take a big-picture look at how we’re part of the circle of life. It’s a bold concept tangentially akin to Richard Linklater’s Boyhood , although Zemeckis opts for the shortcut of visual effects here. Hanks and Wright first appear in the frame as their characters at seventeen years old, their faces de-aged by artificial intelligence and their bodies slightly animated to hide away all the mileage. It’s certainly a showcase for how far the technology has come over the years, more convincing than what Martin Scorsese tried to do with The Irishman and Ang Lee with Gemini Man , mostly due to Hanks and Wright still carrying a youthful energy. But it’s still an uncanny valley, and at no point can you fully buy famous actors in their sixties playing characters under the legal drinking age. With the implication of imagery and traditional editing stripped away, the actors are forced to pick up the slack. They perform their parts as if they are in a black box theatre production, a scenario that might not have been foreign to them as the sets often look shoddily digitally created through green screens. Details about their lives and circumstances are announced with such cornily dramatic effect that’d be impossible to forget, which would have probably been a real threat considering such little time is spent with certain characters. How else can Michelle Dockery illustrate an entire chapter in the adult life of her character, the wife of the aviator, in just a few short minutes without overacting? The drubbing of the message doesn’t take away from its effectiveness, especially as Alan Silvestri’s heart-tugging score works overtime. Richard allows his dreams to fall by the wayside due to words like downsizing, taxes, and mortgages. As time flies by, those things seem less and less important, with only the people closest to him and the memories he shared being what’s left behind. Even though we say “Yeah, yeah, I got it,” to every person older than us insisting that we cherish the time that we have, we never really seem to properly do that. For some people, this might be the wake-up call they’ve always needed. For others, it’s just another hokey life lesson from people that the world has passed by. Even if you think you might fall in line with the latter camp, the concept, and potential to be touched by its message, is simply too great to nonchalantly pass up. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

She Said October 29, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen She Said screened at the 2022 Twin Cities Film Fest. Universal Pictures will release it in theaters on November 18. Of the hundreds of cinematic subgenres, investigative journalism seems to have the highest bar set by its predecessors. All the President’s Men set the stage with its punctual retelling of Woodward and Bernstein’s reporting of the Watergate scandal, which earned itself four Oscar wins from eight nominations. Then came the equally Oscar-coveted films The China Syndrome, Reds, The Killing Fields , and The Insider . Of course, then there was Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight , which, with its win for Best Picture, will perpetually be the model of comparison for any future movies in the genre. The Post and Bombshell , while good in their own right, cracked under the newly lifted weight of expectations. So, let’s get the inevitable question out of the way. Is She Said , Maria Schrader’s new film about The New York Times’s reporting on the Harvey Weinstein scandal, as good as Spotlight ? The answer to that question is “no.” But hold on a minute! Even with its deficiencies, this is still a more than worthy (and timely) addition to the genre, and the 2022 movie culture. Coming off her Outstanding Directing Emmy win for Netflix’s Unorthodox , Schrader delivers a tense thriller that never ceases to let up. From the get-go, we’re introduced to Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) as she’s publishing a story about a series of sexual assaults by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. While the story picks up traction, the intended result doesn’t come to fruition, sewing doubt about what can be done to stop this problem. Working on a similar story is Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan). Hers is about the perverse reign of Harvey Weinstein at Miramax Pictures, a figure and place synonymous with Oscar success and launching the careers of young actresses. But you don’t have to even peek under the covers to know that something is wrong, with several stars such as Rose McGowan and Ashely Judd coming out against Weinstein’s rampant sexual abuse. From there, the dots are connected to several other female employees within the Miramax machine, all of which were silenced by an intricate system designed to destroy anyone who opposes those in power. Written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz ( Ida , Disobedience ), the film packs in quite a lot of details within its two-hour-plus runtime. We watch as Twohey and Kantor make phone calls, collect leads, corroborate stories, meet with superiors, and dodge disruptors. It’s an all-consuming process that endangers their work-life balance, which was already in jeopardy with Twohey’s newborn and Kantor’s two young kids. Weeks and months go by as the two try to unshroud events that everyone is terrified to speak about. Some of the ones that offer their side of the story are Zelda Perkins and Laura Madden, former assistants to Weinstein. Each is played by Samantha Morton and Jennifer Ehle, respectively, both delivering terrifically heartbreaking work within their limited screen time. While Lenkiewicz and Schrader are deftly able to handle those moments with the lesser-known victims, the same cannot be said for the bigger stars. A few cringe-worthy name drops, such as one mentioning Lena Dunham, and workarounds of showing the actual figures deflate some of the authenticity. And there is a slight sense of the script spinning its wheels as we cycle through similar stories and expository journalist jargon meant to keep us up to speed. Along with those mentioned in the introduction, She Said will be a film that is taught in journalism classes for years to come. Maybe a drinking game will be created out of all the tropes it crosses off the list? Even so, there’s power in its message and a bit of hopefulness within the heartbreak. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Sinners April 15, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen 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. Gangsters, musicians, preachers, conjurers, and vampires collide on one hot summer night, all of them ready to shake away the demons under the power of liquor, the blues, and sweat. Vampires, you say? Yes, those bloodsuckers that have ruined pretty much every protagonist’s day since the birth of cinema are in the Deep South too, and they possess just as much bark as they do bite. Although they live in the shadows very literally, those demons also represent themselves metaphorically through Coogler’s rotational use of the Ultra Panavision 70mm 2.76:1 aspect ratio. Normally reserved for epically scoped projects like The Hateful Eight and Ben-Hur , Coogler and cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw flip the technique on its head, the black bars heavily weighing down on our mortal characters as the grainy photography captures the humid restlessness. Many of them fear that their lives are being drained away by the society that keeps them down, the chains of slavery from just a few generations ago replaced by the invisible shackles of Jim Crow in the 1930s. For Sammi (Miles Caton), the son of your usual movie preacher who warns about the dangers of sex, drugs, and rock & roll, there's a world of opportunity outside of Mississippi. But for the Smokestack twins (Michael B. Jordan as both Smoke and Stack), they know that those promises of a land of milk & honey where all men are created equal is just a bunch of fool’s gold. They’ve seen a thing or two to know a thing or two, which is that Jim Crow is a worldwide recipe, the only variable being the intensity of the flavor. The best strategy in a world set against you is to plant yourself where you know your enemy best. That means they’ve returned to their birthplace of Clarksdale, Mississippi after nearly a decade of ripping off gangsters in Chicago, a city that everybody asks them if it is as good as the legends say it is. The twins leave that question mostly unanswered, as they know the preciousness of hope and that they never were set on honest work to begin with. Fortunately for them, everybody in Clarksdale is a sinner, filling themselves up on liquor and fleshly desires. What’s the point of the future when the outlook is just more of the same shitty present? For as much as the marketing team has cranked up the promise of death and destruction, Coogler spends a large chunk of the first act examining the death and decay of the American dream. “The Klan doesn’t exist no more,” says the heavily assumed racist white owner of the sawmill the twins buy to refurbish into a juke joint. It’s a line that elicited uneasy chuckles from my audience, everyone knowing underneath that’s as much a lie in 2025 as it was in 1932. Between his two Black Panther films and Creed , Coogler has illustrated a near-masterful skill for diffusing incisive social commentary into the muscular frame of a popcorn blockbuster. Jack O'Connell’s vampire Remmick spins a yarn of a vampire world where everyone lives together in harmony, although his appearance signals that the only thing that will change is the ownership of those at the top of the social hierarchy. Without spoiling its specific contents in fear of robbing you of the experience of witnessing it with a clean palette, there’s a certain long take that merges the past, present, and future in an exhilaratingly fresh way that I didn’t think was possible for a $100 million studio film. Even if, for some odd reason, you’re coming into Sinners looking to turn your brain off, Coogler supplies more than a sizable portion of R-rated gnarliness. This is still a horror movie down to the bone, filled with characters who make dumb decisions and moments that will make you jump out of your seat. That long take also shows off the immaculate craft of his production crew: Hannah Beachler’s rich sets, Ruth E. Carter’s snazzy costumes, and Ludwig Göransson’s banjo and electric guitar layered score. Each of them is able to both open and rip out your heart at the drop of a hat, something the cast also replicates. If I had a nickel for every time a 2025 Warner Bros. film had its lead actor play multiple identical-looking characters, I’d have three nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened thrice. Luckily, this nickel goes to the top dog that is two Michael B. Jordans, and not the multiple clones of Robert Pattinson from Mickey 17 or the double De Niro in The Alto Knights . As twins, Jordan doesn’t play two totally different personas, just a closely overlapping Venn diagram. Hailee Steinfeld, who, believe it or not, hasn’t been in a live-action feature film since 2019, showcases why we shouldn’t have let that fact come to fruition and kept her on the path of being a full-time movie star. In a time when America is having an identity crisis (then again, when aren’t we?), Sinners looks back and ahead with the gumption that only a wild premise such as this could achieve. Coogler has shown you on multiple occasions a new path as part of a well-worn map, so now let him redraw the whole thing in blood and brimstone. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

The Best Military Movies for Veterans Day November 11, 2022 By: Hunter Friesen With America’s lengthy involvement in armed combat over the past century, it’s no surprise that there is a bountiful supply of war films, ranging from small-scale character dramas to epic recreations. To honor those that have served, I’ve compiled a list of war films that I recommend you check out. All of them pertain to war from an American point-of-view (so don’t expect Come and See or 1917 ), with each doing it in their special way. They’ll be listed in chronological order according to their release date. The Longest Day (1962) The Longest Day is an interesting piece of military and cinematic history. We have plenty of movies about the American perspective of landing on Omaha Beach, but we don't have any that tell the entire macroeconomic story relating to that fateful day. Through a style that has long been abandoned, three different directors each tell a side of the story: American/British, French, and German. We get unique perspectives because of this tactic, with an all-star cast of John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Richard Burton, and Robert Mitchum providing larger-than-life performances. Patton (1970) Patton is a film caught between two time periods of both Hollywood and real-life history. In 1970, the golden age of Hollywood was coming to an end as studios were moving away from lavishly epic productions and leaning more into auteur-driven stories that reflected the harsh realities of life. That year also was the height of the unpopularity over the war in Vietnam. Protests occurred regularly, and patriotism was no longer seen as a virtue. The brilliance of Patton is that it can appeal to everyone. Francis Ford Coppola's script sees Patton for who he was, warts and all. He was a genius on the battlefield, achieving victory with historical speed and precision. The Germans feared and respected him. He was also a tyrannical brute. He berated soldiers both verbally and physically (an act that nearly cost him his career), and pushed his men to the absolute limit. He got the nickname "Old Blood and Guts" for his bloodthirsty campaigns that, while successful, were incredibly dangerous. George C. Scott's performance is one of the finest biographical portrayals ever. Because the film has no side plots or heft supporting characters, Scott's electrifying performance is what drives the three-hour runtime. But Scott isn't alone as director Franklin Schaffner assists him with well-composed battle sequences and startling imagery. The film is epic in scope like in the past, but it is also intimate in detail and character. It's a balancing act that entertains the viewer with production and theatricality but also educates them about one of the most complicated men in American history. Born on the Fourth of July (1989) Centering on the loss of innocence and the façade of the American dream for the Vietnam-era youth, Oliver Stone returns to his Platoon roots. There's even some of the original crew returning here, like Willem Dafoe in a small role that doesn't occur until almost 2/3 through the movie. Stone crafts several ingenious individual scenes with his might behind the camera. The prom, the Vietnam battle scene, the protest at Syracuse, and Tom Cruise playing the loudest game of chicken by exclaiming the word "penis" are some of the great moments. John Williams' score supplements the sweeping nature of the story. Cruise makes you forget about those problems from time to time as he effortlessly runs the gamut of Kovac's life from wide-eyed patriot to battle-weary realist. His performance is a reminder that he is a real actor, even if we tend to disagree with that sometimes. Saving Private Ryan (1998) The firm ideals of bravery and good ol' American patriotism are not traditionally found within Saving Private Ryan . Instead, Steven Spielberg , along with screenwriter Robert Rodat, offers something not usually found within a war film: humanity. While still an action film at its heart, the mind of the film is centered on philosophy, as opposed to pure entertainment. The titular mission of extracting Pvt. James Ryan isn't an honorable one. It doesn't take a genius to see the flawed math of risking the lives of eight men to save one. Spielberg and Rodat don't dance around that thought, and also find time to analyze the themes of doing your duty and the futility of war. None of this is to say that the men in this movie aren't brave. It takes a lot of guts and courage to do what they did, which is why we have a day to honor them. But they don't carry out their mission out of their love for the stars & stripes. They do it because they have to. It's an order, and orders must be followed. There's a character named Upham in the film. He's the squad translator and doesn't have the same fighting spirit as the rest of his fellow compatriots. There are times when you get mad at him for not being tough or getting the job done flawlessly. But I would bet many of us would be more like him than John Wayne when the time comes. Within the film, there are no individual heroes, only real men fighting to keep themselves alive for just another moment. The opening set piece is one of the greatest ever produced, with chaotic camerawork, editing, and sound design. It's no wonder no film has attempted to portray D-day since, as Spielberg has set the bar at an unassailable height. The Thin Red Line (1998) While released in the same year and covering the same war, Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line and Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan could not be any more different. Marking his return to filmmaking after a 20-year absence, Malick imbues the film with his usual philosophical ruminations on life and the futility of violence. “What difference do you think you can make, one single man, in all this madness?” is a line that is often repeated, sometimes with brutality and sometimes with lyrical beauty. Of course, Malick still excels at giving action fans what they came for. With one of the most stacked casts ever assembled - including, but not limited to, George Clooney, John Travolta, Adrien Brody, Sean Penn, Jim Caviezel, and Nick Nolte - the action set pieces are awe-inspiring in their ability to convey the confusion and hopelessness within combat. Soldiers weep as they know they are taking their last glances at the living world, and others question the ethics of killing someone in the name of your country. Some war films claim to have more on their mind than just action, but none pontificate and leave with as much to chew on as Terrence Malick does with The Thin Red Line . Black Hawk Down (2001) Each great director has quite a few stinkers that blemish their track record. But each great director also has a few or many great movies that perfectly showcase why they are great. Case in point, Black Hawk Down is one of the finest works by Ridley Scott and his tactical style of direction. In real-time, the Battle of Mogadishu rages on with bullets whizzing, men screaming, and the overall frenzy rattling everyone down to the bone. It's amazing how Scott and his team, which includes an amazing score by Hans Zimmer and genius editing by Pietro Scalia, were able to take this daunting puzzle and piece it together. The Hurt Locker (2009) Kathryn Bigelow won the Oscars for Best Director and Best Motion Picture for this Iraq War thriller. Screenwriter Mark Boal, who won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, based much of the story on his experiences being an embedded journalist on the front lines. Jeremy Renner stars as a bomb defuser who seems to have a death wish, much to the distress of his squad mates that just want to make it to the next day. Bigelow’s full-throttle direction lends itself to some incredibly tense action set pieces. It’s an exhausting experience enduring the 130-minute film, which, to Bigelow and her team’s credit, puts you right in the mental and physical shoes of the characters. Causeway (2022) Shifting away from the battlefield and towards the home front, first-time director Lila Neugebauer sensitively delivers a personal story that avoids much of the PTSD/trauma clichés we’ve come to expect. Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry each deliver powerfully subtle performances, with their characters striking up an interesting connection that goes deeper than something purely platonic or romantic. For viewers that tend to steer away from violence, this new film on Apple TV+ will offer a semi-fresh take on the well-worn genre. Full Review More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World March 4, 2019 By: Button Hunter Friesen Without many people noticing, the How to Train Your Dragon series has become one of the most highly regarded modern trilogies. The first two films struck a chord between audiences and critics by telling the beautiful story of a friendship between a boy and his dragon. The third and final film in the franchise, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World meets the bar set by its predecessors and caps off a series a decade in the making. Now the leader of Berk, Hiccup has transformed the island into a dragon sanctuary. Due to their vulnerability and approaching enemies, Hiccup decides to search for an underground dragon paradise known as the Hidden World. At the same time, a new Night Fury mysteriously appears, catching the eye of Toothless. With both their physical and emotional fortitude being tested by new outside forces, both Hiccup and Toothless will have to re-examine their bond and decide what truly matters to them. First and foremost, this is an absolutely gorgeous movie with several stunning shots. In association with the great Roger Deakins, cinematographer Gal Zimmerman has crafted a beautiful breathing world filled with vivid colors. Director Dean DeBlois uses outstanding cinematography to its fullest potential as a large part of the film takes place in the foreground of majestic vistas. He also uses stages in many of his scenes with single camera movements that make for more believable action. DeBlois proves to work best without dialogue as he creates great emotional depth through movement and expression. The dragons benefit the most from this as they are developed into full characters, with most being more fleshed out than the humans. And as always, composer John Powell delivers another amazing score. The mix of epic and tenderness makes Powell’s score quite possibly the best part of the film as it combines with the sweeping imagery. Serving as the sole writer, DeBlois isn’t as good on paper as he is behind the camera. The script for this entry follows beat for beat with the previous two installments. The main theme of dragons and humans learning how to coexist is heavily touched on, but this time to the point of boredom. I realize it's the essential crutch of the trilogy, it's just tiring to tread the same points for the third film in a row. There’s only so much that can be said until it becomes monotonous. The film also feels quite overstuffed as too many supporting characters fight for a small number of good jokes. Most of them turn out to be quite irritating as they only get one trait that wears thin incredibly quickly. The thread of single-trait characters can also be extended to the main villain, Grimmel, whose one defining characteristic is that he’s evil. Instead of developing him and creating justifications for his actions, DeBlois back up everything Grimmel does with the explanation that he’s a bad guy that does bad things. Even with all his faults, DeBlois does do a great job with the final act. He effortlessly ends the series on a high note through sequences of heartfelt character interaction that will bring tears to audiences of all ages. Compared to most other animated films, the voice acting is not as high of quality as one would expect. Jay Baruchel as Hiccup is still pretty good. His voice perfectly captures the character both physically and emotionally. America Ferrera does equally decent work as Astrid. Her best scenes are the more intimate ones she shares with Baruchel. F. Murray Abraham does a respectable job as Grimmel. Unfortunately, his perfectly menacing voice kind of goes wasted on a paper-thin character. Weighing the rest of the cast down is the comedy sidekick trio of Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig, and Justin Rupple. They each sound like their on autopilot mode and end up becoming progressively more annoying throughout the length of the film. For lovers of the first two films, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is another instant classic. While it isn’t perfect, this finale to a solid trilogy will leave dazzled by its imagery and touched by its story. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Three Thousand Years of Longing August 26, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen Resting somewhere between David Gordon Green and Steven Spielberg, Australian filmmaker George Miller ranks as one of our most chameleon filmmakers (to Miller’s benefit, he’s much closer to the latter than the former). Ranging from the harsh brutalism of the Mad Max quadrilogy to the familial wholesomeness of Babe: Pig in the City and Happy Feet , Miller’s career has never had a straight trajectory. Rather, it darts from one end of the cinematic spectrum to the complete other side, with the only consistent thing pattern being that he always remains on the high side of quality. So naturally, when asked how he would describe his newest film, the first to follow his magnum opus of Mad Max: Fury Road , Miller called it “anti- Mad Max .” But fret not all you War Boys (and girls)! For all of its intimacy and small scale, Three Thousand Years of Longing contains dazzling imagery and set pieces that make for an engaging cinematic experience. After all, this is still the same filmmaker who gave us a blind character that plays a flaming guitar atop a monster truck. Just as the title implies, our story spans nearly three millennia. Beginning in the present, acclaimed narratologist Dr. Alithea Binnie is on a work-related trip to Istanbul. By her definition, she’s a solitary creature that has no partner, no parents, and no children. She buries herself in her work, which includes giving lectures on how ancient civilizations would explain the phenomena of the universe through stories. As she puts it during one of her talks, “How else would you explain the changing seasons if you had no idea the Earth rotated the Sun?” Her fascination with stories leads her to purchase a less-than-stellar bottle at a local shop. “Whatever it is, it must have an interesting story, '' she explains as she takes it back to her hotel room. That turns out to be the understatement of the century, or, more accurately, the past three millennia. Quickly, the bottle is broken, and out comes a djinn, whose existence is based on granting three wishes to whoever frees him from the bottle. Now Alithea’s predicament revolves around the question everybody has asked themselves at least once in their lives: If you had three wishes, what would you wish for? To help Alithea (and the viewer) answer one of life’s hardest philosophical questions, the djinn regales his life story, which spans from ancient Arabia in the time of King Solomon, to Suleiman the Magnificent's reign of the Ottoman Empire, all the way to the modern day. It’s no wonder what brought Miller to this short story by A.S. Byatt. Reportedly, he had read it in the ‘90s and was set on making it into a film, but the scope he wanted to achieve just wasn’t possible (a sentiment many filmmakers shared at the time). Miller’s patience was rewarded, with the final product being a gorgeous melding of visual effects and practical magic. Each of the djinn’s tales contains aspects of lust and betrayal, each more visually arresting than the last. It’s in these sequences that the film reaches its heights. And it’s not just Miller himself that is a chameleon, it’s also his production crew, which has been entirely reunited after the overwhelming success of Mad Mad: Fury Road . Miller’s eye for popping visuals is wonderfully captured by legendary cinematographer John Seale, who announced this project as his final one (although Seale has as much respect for retirement as Daniel Day-Lewis, as came out of retirement for Mad Max: Fury Road , only to retire again and then return for this film). And then there’s Tom Holkenborg, who trades in his drum core for a passionate string orchestra. For all its extravagance on a technical level, Three Thousand Years of Longing still has overflowing emotion at its center. This is the part that Miller described the film as “anti- Mad Max .” Swinton and Elba carry the heartfelt moments with ease, even if the script itself can’t fully justify what direction it’s going in. A modern fairytale that is both epic and intimate, Three Thousand Years of Longing is a wildly original re-welcoming for George Miller, who brings the spirit and passion of a filmmaker much younger than him. It’s a story about the power of storytelling, with Miller playfully executing his role as the storyteller with all the tricks at his disposal. For any filmmaker of Miller’s age (nearing 80) and stature, one would think that he would treat this film as a starting point to make more smaller-scaled features. But Miller isn’t just any filmmaker, and it only seems natural that he’s currently in his native Australian Outback shooting Furiosa , the epic prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen