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Blue Moon October 13, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Despite being smack dab in the middle of World War II, March 31st, 1943, was a day for celebration, specifically on the streets of Broadway. The stage musical Oklahoma! premiered that night, the first of 2,212 total performances, not including multiple revivals, domestic and foreign tours, youth productions, and a feature film adaptation. The reviews were enthusiastic raves, a special Pulitzer Prize was awarded, and the partnership of composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II was cemented in glory right from the start. Over the next few decades, the team would create some of the most important productions of the 20th century, including Carousel , South Pacific , The King and I , and The Sound of Music . But as one door opens, another closes. Before there was Rodgers and Hammerstein, there was Rodgers and [Lorenz] Hart. The latter pair was the most celebrated songwriting duo of the early decades of the century, raising the profile of the art form through their complex rhymes and wit. It’s a bit of a punchline for director Richard Linklater’s chamber piece about Hart to take its title after one of his most popular songs, one that he looks down on as a piece of shallow populism for the masses. Although, as played by Ethan Hawke and written by Robert Kaplow, it’s difficult to pinpoint what Hart liked and didn’t like. He bemoans some of the Hollywood-y writing in Casablanca , yet endlessly quotes it with his favorite bartender, Eddie (Bobby Cannavale). He spends the whole night tearing Oklahoma! to shreds, all while endlessly praising Rodgers as a musical genius. That dichotomy is what defined Hart. Hammerstein said that he was “alert and dynamic and fun to be around,” while singer Mabel Mercer thought that “he was the saddest man I ever knew.” Both of those quotes come alive in their purest form as Hart sits down at his favorite bar, Sardi’s, after walking out midway through Oklahoma! . Is he jealous that the first show that Rodgers does without him is going to be one of the biggest hits in the history of Broadway? “Fuck yes!” He’s extremely vulgar throughout the rest of the night, steadily downing a bottle of whiskey, all while babbling about how he needs to stop drinking. It only takes a few minutes for us to understand why Rodgers might have needed a change of pace after more than two decades of being with Hart. This whole “performance” that Hart puts on would be much more grating if it weren’t filtered through Hawke’s incredible performance. It’s a full-body transformation, complete with a comb-over hairpiece and visual trickery to make the 5-foot-10 actor appear almost a foot shorter. It’s often a bit of a gimmick, with a couple of blurry full-body shots drawing too much attention below the waist rather than to what Hawke is doing with his eyes and mouth. The camera matches the actor’s nonstop energy, steadily gliding on a track, transfixed on every syllable he ingeniously twists in his favor. Linklater and his longtime editor, Sandra Adair, quickly cut back and forth between Hart, Eddie, and piano player Morty Rifkin (Jonah Lees) as they playfully banter about art and women. Hart fancies Elizabeth (Margaret Qualley), a beautiful college student whom he foolishly believes could fall in love with a short, balding, forty-seven-year-old man. Blue Moon comes out around the same time as Linklater’s other 2025 film, Nouvelle Vague , which chronicles the creation of the film Breathless . Be it a coincidence or not that both of these films focus on mercurial geniuses, Linklater explores the conflicting areas where art is born. But while Nouvelle Vague is (charmingly) preoccupied with answering “how?” through fanciful homage and recreation, Blue Moon finds itself more interested in “why?” Kaplow, whose only other credit is as the author of the book that Me and Orson Welles is based on, finds the reasons why such a depressed and profane man could write such cheery tunes. His failure to get backing for his challenging projects illustrates that he was born in the wrong era; his genius wordplay dulled by the wants and needs for everything to be served with a smile. Rodgers and Hammerstein knew that fact, leaving Hart to be a bit of an also-ran in the annals of Broadway history. Andrew Scott appears as Rodgers about halfway through the film, glowing from the reception of Oklahoma! . He and Hawke have a wonderful rapport, cracking jokes and making playful stabs while one is trying to cling to their relationship, while the other is getting ready to leave it. Linklater and Hawke feel like they occupy a similar comfortable space, with a major difference being that it doesn’t seem like their thirty-year relationship is any danger of ceasing. And if the fruits are going to be this sublime this many years in, I can only imagine how sweet they’ll be another thirty years from now. 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

Nuremberg November 3, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen As the screenwriter for the all-around masterpiece that is Zodiac , James Vanderbilt essentially gets a lifetime free pass. Unfortunately, he milked that freedom for all its worth with some doozies like the Adam Sandler-led Netflix whodunnit Murder Mystery (and its sequel ), White House Down , and this year's most forgettable blockbuster, Fountain of Youth . Nuremberg might just be what the doctor ordered to get things back on track, a by-the-numbers World War II courtroom drama packed with an all-star cast. Although Vanderbilt seems to have focused too much on the vegetable portion of that prescription, delivering a film so stately and sturdy that it might as well be a long-lost HBO made-for-television movie. That's not a far-fetched comparison, considering that the Nuremberg trials have already been depicted on television in a two-part TNT miniseries, airing in the summer of 2000. Brian Cox won an Emmy for his portrayal of Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, the second most powerful official in Nazi Germany, behind only Adolf Hitler. Russell Crowe steps into that role for Vanderbilt's film, an adaptation of Jack El-Hai’s 2013 book that features a few of the same historical figures as the miniseries. One of the first images lensed by DP Dariusz Wolski is that of an American soldier urinating on a Nazi sign as he escorts civilians to safety in the spring of 1945. The war is winding down, leaving over 70 million dead in its wake. Göring's civilized and half-hearted attempt to drive away from the scene of the crime leads right into American hands, where he is arrested and jailed with the rest of the Nazi high command. But that was just the easy part, with the decision of what to do with him being exponentially more difficult. For as much as everyone would like to see it happen, immediately killing him would send a far too vengeful message than the world needs at this moment. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson (Michael Shannon) has the idea to put them all on trial, an Allied coalition effort that would unequivocally prove the Nazi's guilt in their crimes against humanity, thereby diminishing their power throughout the future. While the allies are preparing their case, the United States military has brought in hotshot psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek) to assess the prisoners' mental stability and ensure they are fit to be put on trial. Sensing an opportunity for professional and monetary gain, Kelley decides to focus his efforts on Göring, meeting with him on several occasions to gather material for an eventual book on the psychology of evil. But what he doesn't expect to discover is a man not so different from him, one who genuinely cares for his wife and daughter, and probably eats and drinks more than he should. He flawlessly served his country, raising Germany from the destitution it was subjected to after World War I to a world superpower. He doesn't have hate in his heart for a specific group of people, just the general enemies preventing him from doing his duty. That sense of banality to some of the most inhumane acts in human history is a similar theme that director Jonathan Glazer explored in his Nazi-centered film, The Zone of Interest . Like Göring, several other Nazi officials simply saw themselves as cogs in the war machine, following orders for the service of their country. It was like a corporation, with lower-level individual ideologies being subsumed by the orders of higher-ups. Clashing with your boss is a bad idea for anyone trying to make a name for themselves in the new world order. But while Glazer let our minds vividly paint the horrifying picture through a neutral point of view, Vanderbilt is much more heavy-handed in his approach. There are endless speeches about the importance of this occasion and how this has to work so it can never happen again. There does come a point when it would be more beneficial for Vanderbilt to cut to the chase and have the characters stare directly into the audience as they make their grand statements, all while holding up a newspaper with today’s prescient headlines. Still, there’s some charm to how old-school this all feels. It could also be my bias for any period piece that eclipses a runtime of two and a half hours. John Slattery plays the colonel in charge of overseeing the prison. Brian Tyler’s score swells as he gives each Nazi their own Suicide Squad-esque intro, complete with cheesy archival footage. He ends the sequence by rousingly announcing, “Gentleman, welcome to Nuremberg!” as if this is the beginning of some grand adventure. If this were to be considered an adventure, then it would have needed to find a better lead, as Malek is woefully miscast as the playboy doctor. He’s introduced by wooing a female passenger on his train with a card trick, except that no chemistry has been created to produce an inkling of attraction. Tom Cruise played this role best in A Few Good Men , with Crowe aptly supplying this movie’s version of Jack Nicholson’s Col. Nathan R. Jessep. He’s exacting in his words and confident in his methods, always seemingly one step ahead of what the Allies are planning. High school history teachers will have a field day with Nuremberg over the next few years, although they’d still be much better off by sticking with Stanley Kramer’s 1961 classic Judgment at Nuremberg . Rather than shy away from controversy, as was customary for Hollywood at the time, Kramer always dove headfirst into the thorny battles in America’s conscience, applying a showman’s touch to stories centered on morals rather than stars. Vanderbilt has modestly succeeded in living up to that expectation, although increased politicization of cinema in the decades since has sanded the edges off this story. 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

80 For Brady January 20, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Lighter than a feather and filled with enough New England Patriots propaganda to get itself banned in Atlanta, Buffalo, New York, and Miami, 80 for Brady would probably have cleaned up at this year’s AARP Movies for Grownups Awards if it had been given a timely qualifying release. Of course, there’s always next year, where there’s potential for Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon to be upstaged in the categories of “Best Buddy Picture” and “Best Intergenerational Film.” At the time of the film’s announcement, famed Patriots/Buccaneers Quarterback Tom Brady had just announced his retirement from football after 22 seasons, which included 7 Super Bowl titles, 3 NFL MVP honors, 15 Pro Bowl selections, as well as an extended list of other career achievements. It does take a certain amount of hubris on Brady’s part for his first post-football move to be the commissioning of a movie about four fans who worship him as a god. Granted, this is inspired by a true story, even if the script by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins, part of the writing team behind 2019’s Booksmart , takes some very creative liberties with the truth. The 80 in 80 for Brady denotes the ages of four friends who have centered their strong friendship over their love of Tom Brady and his New England Patriots. It all started on September 23, 2001 (a date celebrated every year by Patriots fans) when Lou (Lily Tomlin) was stuck at home recovering from her last round of chemotherapy. Her close friends Trish (Jane Fonda), Maura (Rita Moreno), and Betty (Sally Field) tried to entertain her by getting the TV to work, but it was stuck on one channel. At that exact moment, young Tom Brady steps into the pocket after regular starter Drew Bledsoe was taken out of the game due to a nasty sack. From there, the rest is history, for both Brady and his cohort of dedicated octogenarian fans. Fast forward to 2017 and the Patriots are going to another Super Bowl. Instead of staying home like they always do, the group decides to make the trip down to Houston for the big game. “The Super Bowl is no place for four old women,” says Maura, who happens to be right. But that statement being true is what makes for the most of the fun within 80 for Brady , as four Hollywood legends with effortless charm and chemistry blaze through the biggest event of the year. Much of the material is light and fun, made to purely entertain you for the ninety-eight-minute runtime and nothing more. And compared to most of the entries in this specific genre, which include Book Club (plus its upcoming sequel) and Poms , this one works fairly well. Moreno, who technically doesn’t qualify for the club considering she’s 91, clearly has the most fun within the ensemble. It’s unfortunate that the only dance routine within the film is poorly choreographed and doesn’t allow the original cinematic Anita to show off her long-lived talent. There are some attempts at drama, but it’s all so clean and shallow that it barely even registers. The stakes are pretty much nonexistent, and the jokes can be seen from a mile away. Director Kyle Marvin keeps everything breezy, and cinematographer John Toll (recipient of two Academy Awards) makes the Super Bowl festivities look as appealing as possible. Football fans may not be totally won over by 80 for Brady , but its intended audience of retirees will undoubtedly eat it up. And in a time when one of the largest sustainers of adult theatrical programming is not returning to the cinema, we’ll take all the help we can get. So, take your parents and/or grandparents out for a nice time, and maybe try to convince them to get back into their old cinemagoing habits. 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

Sundance 2023 Preview January 19, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen After months of Oscar movies from leading auteurs, the Sundance Film Festival offers a nice break to discover some of the brightest talent of the future. The festival has also been one of the most accessible since the start of the pandemic, with the entire 2021 and 2022 lineups being available online throughout the world. Unfortunately, that amount of openness is being slightly pulled back for the 2023 edition, with some of the "bigger" films being in-person only. No matter, there are still plenty of exciting films that I plan to catch as part of the online platform from January 24-29. You can read about each one below, and pay attention to this site for reviews and other coverage. *Descriptions and images for all films supplied by the Sundance Film Festival program* Bad Behaviour Lucy (Jennifer Connelly) seeks enlightenment. The former child actress makes a pilgrimage to join her guru, Elon Bello (Ben Whishaw), for a silent retreat at a beautiful mountain resort with a Tesla-crammed parking lot. Before she shuts off her phone to the world, Lucy reaches out to her daughter, Dylan — a stunt person training for a dangerous fight scene — to interrupt her concentration and announce that she will be unavailable and out of range, and that she is very worried about her, and that she might extend her stay. It is codependent, bad behavior. When a young model/DJ/influencer at the retreat is paired up with Lucy to do a mother/daughter role-playing exercise, hellfire stokes Lucy’s bad behavior to an astonishing low. Run Rabbit Run Fertility doctor Sarah begins her beloved daughter Mia’s seventh birthday expecting nothing amiss. But as an ominous wind swirls in, Sarah’s carefully controlled world begins to alter. Mia begins behaving oddly and a rabbit appears outside their front door — a mysterious birthday gift that delights Mia but seems to deeply disconcert Sarah. As days pass, Mia becomes increasingly not herself, demanding to see Sarah’s long-estranged, hospitalized mother (the grandmother she’s never met before) and fraying Sarah’s nerves as the child’s bizarre tantrums begin to point her toward Sarah’s own dark history. As a ghost from her past re-enters Sarah’s life, she struggles to cling to her distant young daughter. Magazine Dreams Killian Maddox (Jonathan majors) lives with his ailing veteran grandfather, obsessively working out between court-mandated therapy appointments and part-time shifts at a grocery store where he harbors a crush on a friendly cashier. Though Killian’s struggles to read social cues and maintain control of his volatile temper amplify his sense of disconnection amid a hostile world, nothing deters him from his fiercely protected dream of bodybuilding superstardom, not even the doctors who warn that he’s causing permanent damage to his body with his quest. The Starling Girl Seventeen-year-old Jem Starling (Eliza Scanlen) struggles to define her place within her fundamentalist Christian community in rural Kentucky. Even her greatest joy — the church dance group — is tempered by worry that her love of dance is actually sinful, and she’s caught between a burgeoning awareness of her own sexuality and an instinctive resistance to her mom’s insistence that the time has come to begin courting. She finds respite from her confusion in the encouragement of her youth pastor Owen, who is likewise drawn to the blossoming Jem’s attention. Theater Camp As summer rolls around again, kids are gathering from all over to attend AdirondACTS, a scrappy theater camp in upstate New York that’s a haven for budding performers. After its indomitable founder Joan (Amy Sedaris) falls into a coma, her clueless “crypto-bro” son Troy (Jimmy Tatro) is tasked with keeping the thespian paradise running. With financial ruin looming, Troy must join forces with Amos (Ben Platt), Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon), and their band of eccentric teachers to come up with a solution before the curtain rises on opening night. Fair Play Hot off the heels of their new engagement, thriving New York couple Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) can’t get enough of each other. When a coveted promotion at a cutthroat financial firm arises, supportive exchanges between the lovers begin to sour into something more sinister. As the power dynamics irrevocably shift in their relationship, Luke and Emily must face the true price of success and the unnerving limits of ambition. Sometimes I Think About Dying Lost on the dreary Oregon coast, Fran (Daisy Ridley) wastes her daylight hours in the solitude of a cubicle, listening to the constant hum of officemates, occasionally daydreaming to pass the time. She is ghosting through life unable to pop her bubble of isolation. And then Robert starts up at the company. He is new to town and the dynamics of the office. He is a naturally friendly person who keeps trying to chat with Fran. Though it goes against every fiber of her being, she may have to give this guy a chance. Cat Person Margot (Emilia Jones), a college student working concessions at an art house theater, meets frequent filmgoer — and rather older local — Robert (Nicholas Braun), on the job. Flirtation across the counter evolves into continuous texting. As the two inch toward romance, shifts between them, awkward moments, red flags, and discomforts pile up. Margot feels both attached and reticent, as her gnawing hesitations blossom into vivid daydreams where Robert realizes his most threatening potential. As her distrust and uncertainty mount, an evening, their relationship, and possibly their lives unravel. 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

Gran Turismo August 25, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Screenwriters Jason Hall and Zach Baylin make it their main objective to never let you forget that Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) is an underdog that no one believes in. “This isn’t a game, this is real life,” “You’re just a gamer, what do you know about driving cars?” “This time there isn’t a reset button,” are just a handful of lines that you'll become increasingly tired of hearing. It seems Hall and Baylin never took the lesson on diminishing returns, as all the suspense surrounding Jann’s outcome is completely evaporated by the fifth scene where someone tells him he can’t accomplish his dream. To cut them some slack, this is based on a true story, a fact that the producers REALLY want you to know, going so far as to rename the movie Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story in some markets. Mardenborough is a real person who became obsessed with racing at a young age. But he didn’t have a similar upbringing to the other drivers on the professional circuit, filled with fame and easy access to the best cars money can buy. Jann’s window into the racing world was through the PlayStation game “Gran Turismo” (don’t call it a game in front of Jann because it’s a “racing simulation”). The opening scene (or commercial if you want to be more accurate) introduces us to the immense detail and precision that went into making the game as realistic as possible. Unlike other gaming series like “FIFA” and “Madden,” “Gran Turismo” is generally accepted as the most authentic portrayal of the sport it represents. No one seems to believe that Jann’s world-class gaming abilities can translate into real racing, least of all his former soccer pro dad (Djimon Hounsou). Nissan marketing executive Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) sees potential in the kid. If Jann can be made into a serious racer, it will make Nissan one of the most popular car companies among the untapped gaming demographic. Put in charge of the training process is Jack Salter (David Harbour), who’s also a non-believer in “sim racers.” Over time his cold heart begins to thaw, with Jann proving himself to be just as good as he says he is. Upon the announcement, one would think that former wunderkind Neill Blomkamp is serving his time in director jail with this assignment. There are no signs of that here, fortunately, with the District 9 and Elysium director crafting some stunning racing sequences, even if there are so many that they end up blurring together. The roaring of the engines fills the theater corner to corner, and cinematographer Jacques Jouffret captures some decent shots. It’s old-fashioned studio craftsmanship applied to a sport that values tradition. Even with all the underdog cliches I mentioned earlier, there’s still a strong emotional connection to Jann and Jack’s partnership. Madekwe and Harbour have great chemistry as they play to the tune of “young upstart and grizzled veteran” we’ve heard many times before. But it’s been done so many times because it works, and it works here. The lows are bitter and the highs are sweet. Gran Turismo is a product of brand synergy, meant to push the overall awareness of a product just as much as it's supposed to tell a cinematic story. It’s part of a worrying trend of corporations taking on the role of their own biggest fan (see Tetris and Flamin’ Hot ). But there’s also stuff like Air and Barbie that can make the most out of propaganda and entertainment. Blomkamp’s film doesn’t reach those heights, but it still does just enough to cross the finish line in a respectable fashion. 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

Ballad of a Small Player September 14, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Ballad of a Small Player had its Canadian Premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Netflix will release it in theaters on October 15, followed by its streaming premiere on October 29. Contrary to its title, there is nothing small about Ballad of a Small Player . The locations are grand, with the skyscrapers and luxurious casinos of Macau providing the backdrop. The stakes are high as Colin Farrell’s Lord Doyle has to pay his debts within three days or face dire consequences. And the method of acquiring the cash is all flash, the swing of hundreds of thousands of dollars dependent on the value of the two cards sitting next to their player. Director Edward Berger knows a thing or two about grand storytelling. He’s been on a hot streak as of late with the one-two punch of All Quiet on the Western Front and Conclave . Five Oscars are shared between the pair, although Berger was unfairly snubbed for a nomination in the Best Director category on each occasion. He has a masterful control of his craft, applying an intelligent touch to large-scale commercial filmmaking. There are tinges of Spielberg and Alan Pakula in his sensibilities, with drama wrung out of a simple conversation just as effectively as one filled with bullets and bombs. Unfortunately, Ballad of a Small Player cannot be perceived as anything but a failure, a minor pothole on this road to success. All those qualities I just mentioned are wrong here, a fundamental flaw in the film’s DNA that stems from a miscasting of its creatives. Lawrence Osborne’s story and Rowan Joffe’s screenplay are all about depravity and addiction, how low Doyle would sink into the gutter in the hopes of a windfall. It doesn’t matter that he loses a dozen card games in a row, emptying his pockets as if the cash has an expiration date. What matters to him is that there’s a chance that he could win it all back, and then some. It’s a grubby, self-destructive way to go about life, dodging creditors and delaying responsibilities until the last possible moment. Berger can’t get down into the mud, which is why everything is as forced as a clean-mouthed conservative saying their first curse word. The sound design is cranked aggressively loud, the frames swirl and crash, and the garish colors of Doyle’s green and orange suit insult every neon sign in the city. Volker Bertelmann’s score may be his best one yet, a high bar considering his recent work with Berger. It’s thunderously operatic, the strings and horns blasting as if they’ve been tasked with breaking down the walls to Jericho. But, again, it’s all wrong, a mismatch of tone that will make it much easier to appreciate on Spotify rather than within the film itself. And yet, I much preferred the unnecessary bombast to the quieter scenes. It’s one thing to have style over substance; it’s another to have neither. Doyle falls into the grace of the kindly casino employee Dao Ming (Fala Chen), who interrupts his debauchery with introductions to the parts of Macau not intended for tourists. The problem is that their relationship is both unbelievable and unsatisfying, a tedious distraction that keeps the film’s heart on ice. There’s also Tilda Swinton as detective Cynthia Blithe, who’s been on Doyle’s tail ever since he “miraculously” came into all this money. It’s another one of her performances where she dons a gaudy wig and costume, an antithesis to the usual shady demeanor required in this line of work. Farrell is committed to the bit, chowing down on the scenery just as much as he does on a lobster later in the film. Somebody like Nicolas Cage or John Travolta would have turned this all into a complete farce, but Farrell maintains a sense that he’s a lost soul stuck on this cycle. Comparisons to Adam Sandler’s turn as Howard Ratner in Uncut Gems are appropriate, although he at least had the benefit of being better served by his director. Baccarat is a game of pure chance, relying on nothing from the player but just the ability to flip the cards that have been dealt. It’s a hard action to instill with tension, much as Berger tries. You either have the right cards, or you don’t. Ballad of a Small Player doesn’t have the cards, and all the bright lights and noise it shoves in your face to convince you that it does just makes the whole thing even more unappealing. 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

25 Most Anticipated Films of 2024 January 15, 2024 By: Hunter Friesen Here we are at the top of the year with nothing to do but look ahead to what awaits us. As always, there’s so much on paper that looks appetizing, with just as many more still unknown. Some of the movies on this list should have come out last, and some of these still might not come out until 2025. The double WGA-SAG strikes have put a dent in the normal flow of business, with the only remedy being time. Everything is a guessing game, a fun one nonetheless. This takes us to the first ground rule for this list, which is that there must be some sort of verifiable evidence that a film is going to be released this year. It either must be in production, post-production, completed, or even mentioned in a reputable article that it’s on its way. We also won’t count films that have already been seen in public, whether that’s at festivals or theatrical releases in other territories. Join me as I delve into the most anticipated movies of 2024, each poised to leave an indelible mark on the cinematic landscape. Get ready to navigate the sea of upcoming releases that promise to redefine the art of storytelling and captivate audiences worldwide. Honorable Mentions C’est Pas Moi (dir. Leos Carax) Juror #2 (dir. Clint Eastwood) In the Hands of Dante (dir. Julian Schnabel) Civil War (dir. Alex Garland) Wolfs (dir. Jon Watts) Emanuelle (dir. Audrey Diwan) 24. Rebel Ridge Writer/director Jeremy Saulnier reteams with Netflix for another tense and violent thriller. Aaron Pierre ( Foe ), Don Johnson, James Badge Dale, and James Cromwell lead the cast in this small-town conspiracy actioner that follows an ex-marine taking on a group of dirty cops. Saulnier’s last film was Hold the Dark in 2018, with his earlier films, Blue Ruin and Green Room , netting him some serious acclaim. Expect this to hit the fall festivals. 23. The Shrouds Even at the age of 80, David Cronenberg hasn’t lost an ounce of energy. He’s recently finished production on his follow-up to 2022’s Crimes of the Future , with the most likely landing spot being this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Diane Kruger will feature in three roles, with Vincent Cassel starring as a wealthy widower who builds a machine to connect with the dead. 22. The Rivals of Amziah King Writer/director Andrew Patterson made one of the best directorial debuts of the past few years with 2020’s The Vast of Night . He’s both writing and directing his follow-up, which is a crime thriller starring Matthew McConaughey as the titular character. The plot is still under wraps, with filming finishing last year in Oklahoma. Kurt Russell and Rob Morgan also star. 21. Voyagers Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones reteam after Under the Banner of Heaven for this biopic directed by Sebastián Lelio ( A Fantastic Woman, Gloria Bell ). Garfield will play Carl Sagan, with Edgar-Jones as Cosmos filmmaker Ann Druyan. Before the pair married, they worked together on The Golden Record, the ultimate message of humanity to extraterrestrial life for the 1977 NASA interstellar probe. 20. Here Robert Zemeckis is in desperate need of a hit, and this reteaming with Forrest Gump stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, as well as writer Eric Roth, seems to be his best chance yet. Based on the graphic novel of the same name, this ambitious yet intimate drama “covers the events of a single room and its inhabitants spanning from the past well into the future.” And it wouldn’t be a Zemeckis film without some sort of technical wizardry, with generative A.I. providing face swap and de-aging technology for the actors. 19. Horizon: An American Saga Kevin Costner is going the Matrix and Rebel Moon route by releasing both parts of his Western epic within the same summer. Costner co-writes, produces, directs, and stars, with Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, and many more rounding the sizable cast. It’s been 20 years since Costner last directed (2003’s Open Range ), so here’s hoping he’s still got the magic from Dances with Wolves in him. 18. Eden Ron Howard has assembled one of his finest casts yet for this sprawling story of several people leaving society to converge on the Galapagos Islands. Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby, Ana de Armas, Sydney Sweeney, and Felix Kammerer comprise the group, with Tetris writer Noah Pink penning the script. Distribution is still up for grabs, with the best possible scenario being that it doesn’t go to Amazon after they executed an insulting release for his excellent Thirteen Lives just a few years ago. 17. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga My faith in George Miller is enough to overcome the lackluster trailer for this Mad Max prequel. The 77-year-old Australian director is fearless when it comes to the desert, with Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth venturing out with him. The film will likely repeat the path of the 2015 film, bowing at Cannes before making a scene in theaters. 16. Gladiator 2 Ridley Scott is on a bit of a period-piece hot streak (I guess it depends on who you ask) between The Last Duel , House of Gucci , and Napoleon . He’s previously done the sequels for the Alien and The Silence of the Lambs franchises, and now he’s returning to one of his most famous properties: Gladiator . Paul Mescal plays the nephew of Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus, with Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal lending their movie star names to the cast. 15. Untitled Mike Leigh Film After his last two films were period pieces ( Mr. Turner and Peterloo ), famed British director Mike Leigh is “returning to his ongoing exploration of the contemporary world with a tragicomic study of human strengths and weaknesses.” The film was originally set to film in 2020 before being delayed by the pandemic, finally starting and wrapping this past summer. Leigh has been a Cannes staple over the past several decades, so expect him to try and make a grand return to the Croisette. 14. Havoc Writer/director Gareth Evans is the mastermind behind the two The Raid films, both of which have a legitimate claim to be the best action movie of the past decade. Shot in 2021 and supposedly set to come this year, his latest action feature stars Tom Hardy as a “bruised detective who must fight his way through the criminal underworld to rescue a politician's estranged son, unraveling a deep web of corruption and conspiracy that ensnares his entire city.” Evans’ latest film was 2018’s Apostle from Netflix, and he’ll team up with the streamer again for distribution. 13. Mother Mary As one of the first films to secure a production waiver during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, David Lowery’s Mother Mary should be all set to bow this year. Anne Hathaway stars as a musician as we follow her relationship with a fashion designer, played by Michaela Coel. Hunter Schafer also stars in this A24 epic pop melodrama, with an original score and songs by Daniel Hart and Charli XCX. 12. Maria Pablo Larraín concludes his biopic trilogy consisting of Jackie and Spencer by moving further east to Paris, specifically in the 1970s. Angelina Jolie stars as Maria Callas, one of the world’s greatest opera singers, during her final days in The City of Light. Spencer scribe Steven Knight returns to pen the script, and El Conde cinematographer Ed Lachman will stay behind the camera. 11. Mickey 17 Not much explanation is needed for the reason behind the hype for Bong Joon-ho’s follow-up to Parasite . The South Korean writer/director has been patient ever since hoisting the Academy Award for Best Picture, finally returning to Hollywood for an adaptation of Edward Ashton’s sci-fi novel. Robert Pattinson, Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette, Steven Yeun, and Naomi Ackie are the on-screen talent; with Jung Jae-il (composer), Darius Khondji (cinematographer), and Jinmo Yang (editor) headlining the crew. 10. The Order Assassin’s Creed aside, Australian director Justin Kurzel has crafted one of the most underrated filmographies of the past fifteen years. His striking visuals and bold direction lifted both Macbeth and Nitram into my Top 10 of their respective years, and that grittiness will only continue with his newest film. Nicholas Hoult plays an FBI agent tracking down a group of domestic terrorists robbing banks in the Pacific Northwest who are led by Jude Law. Kurzel has bowed his films at both Cannes and TIFF in the past, so a glitzy premiere at either location seems to be in the cards. 9. Nosferatu Between his first three features, Robert Eggers has proved himself to be a master of gothic horror, so it makes sense for him to tackle one of the most famous gothic characters in cinema history. A great cast comprised of Emma Corrin, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgård, Lily-Rose Depp, and Willem Dafoe has already featured in some kick-ass first-look images. With a planned Christmas Day release, here’s hoping for this to become the feel-bad movie of the holidays. 8. Dune: Part Two While I respected and appreciated the first part more than I actually liked it, there’s never a moment where I’m not excited about a new Denis Villeneuve film. It also doesn’t hurt to have new cast additions in Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Léa Seydoux, and Christopher Walken. Will this be the conclusion of Paul’s story, or be the second chapter in a trilogy? Either way, there’s so much to look forward to here. 7. Blitz After detours into television ( Small Axe ) and documentaries ( Occupied City ), director Steve McQueen is returning to feature filmmaking with a drama set during The Blitz bombing campaign of London in early WWII. Saoirse Ronan, Harris Dickinson, and Stephen Graham lead the ensemble cast. Cannes boss Thierry Frémaux presumably let it slip last year that the film was going to premiere at the 2024 edition of the festival, along with the fact that Apple will be making it their top awards priority. 6. Conclave I only need to read the logline to know that this film will be right up my alley: “It follows Cardinal Lomeli as he oversees the group of Cardinals responsible for selecting a new Church leader while trying to uncover a secret from the late Pontiff.” Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rosellini pack the cast, with All Quiet on the Western Front director Edward Berger at the helm, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy scribe Peter Straughan writing the screenplay. 5. The Brutalist Brady Corbet made one of the most divisive films of 2018 with Vox Lux , which turned out to be one of my favorite films of that year. His next feature has been stuck in development limbo for years, finally breaking last year with a cast led by Adrien Brody as an architect who moves to America after WWII to rebuild his life and career. Felicity Jones plays his wife, with Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, and Raffey Cassidy also part of the cast. Based on Corbet’s previous works, there will definitely be more under the surface that won’t be revealed until the projectors start churning. 4. Joker: Folie à Deux In a similar vein to Dune , the original Joker wasn’t one of my most beloved films of 2019. And yet; bringing back Joaquin Phoenix while adding Lady Gaga, and crafting this sequel in the form of a Liza Minnelli musical is too irresistible to ignore. While the majority of comic-book movies are cookie-cutter and forgettable, here’s something that sounds like it’s going to challenge its audience. 3. The Way of the Wind Terrence Malicks’s upcoming film about the life of Jesus Christ makes its fourth consecutive appearance on this list (They shot this movie in 2019!). And to be honest, I’d say it’s more likely than not that it’ll be here again next year. Religion has always played a large role in Malick’s filmography, so the prospect of him going straight to the source will make for an unforgettable spiritual experience. 2. Megalopolis Sure, Francis Ford Coppola hasn’t made a decent movie in over 25 years. But when you’re the director of The Godfather trilogy, The Conversation , and Apocalypse Now , you get a free pass for life. He’s poured over $100 million of his own money into his likely final film, with a script he’s been trying to film for almost four years. Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Fishburne, Forest Whitaker, Giancarlo Esposito, and Shia LaBeouf lead the cast. Driver supposedly plays the lead, an architect looking to rebuild New York City after a disaster. For better or for worse, this will be an experiment that any self-proclaimed cinephile has to witness. 1. Kinds of Kindness Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone aren’t letting the success of Poor Things slow down their collaborative process one bit, with the pair having already shot their third feature together this past year. Poor Things cast members Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley star alongside Jesse Plemons, Hunter Schafer, Hong Chau, and more. Lanthimos co-wrote the screenplay with his usual partner Efthimis Filippou, their first collaboration since The Killing of a Sacred Deer . Three separate stories will be told, with the cast playing different characters in each one. 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

Violent Night November 30, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen Do you remember that Saturday Night Live sketch from 2019 where they took the cast of Sesame Street and imagined what they would be like in the world of Todd Philip’s Joker ? If you don’t, here’s the link to it. Go ahead and watch it and come back to this review. I won’t mind. In that sketch, David Harbour, who was hosting that week, plays the human version of Oscar the Grouch, making fun of Hollywood’s new incessant need for “dark and gritty” adaptations of beloved characters. Seeing a dark version of Sesame Street is fun for a couple of minutes, but we all know there’s only so much that can be done with that ironic concept. I just wish the producers for Violent Night had come to that realization before they decided to make a 100-minute “edgy” take on Santa Claus. Of course, along with an overall rise in darkness in blockbuster filmmaking (and society as a whole, but I’m not going down that meme-ified road), a violent Santa movie shouldn’t be all that surprising given the uptick in classical icons being presented their own dark stories filled with blood and crude language. The filmmakers behind the upcoming Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey have already announced their next feature to be Bambi: The Reckoning , which will see Bambi become “a vicious killing machine” after the death of his mother. These Asylum-level adaptations sound, and will probably be pure garbage. But they’ll make a quick buck purely based on the surface-level irony they create, even though you can get the same amount of enjoyment in much less time through the countless amateur YouTube videos out there. But, even with all the lumps of coal I received from Violent Night , the one thing I can certainly claim as a gift is David Harbour’s committed performance to the bit of playing a Santa that knows how to kick ass and slam down more drinks than Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa . His version of Santa is fed up with the greediness of our modern world, always wanting to get more rather than appreciate what we have. On one of his several billion stops on Christmas Eve, Santa becomes stranded in the mansion of Gertrude Lightstone (Beverly D’Angelo, cast for the chuckle you’ll give after remembering she’s in the MUCH better National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation ). The Lightstone family is being held hostage by a terrorist group led by Scrooge (John Leguizamo) who wishes to rob Gertrude of the $300 million in cash in her vault. Santa must become the John McClane of this story, using a bit of Christmas magic to punish those that are on the naughty list. Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola has already become accustomed to this unique subgenre where subversion of initial expectations is the selling point. His two Dead Snow films saw a group of young adults fight a recently risen division of Nazi zombies, and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunter had the fairytale twins do a lot more damage than just stuffing witches in ovens. Even if he was the right person for the job, Wirkola can’t find anything interesting about this concept other than just seeing Santa beat some goons to a bloody (and snowy) pulp. The first action scene is funny enough, especially with it nearly all taking place in one extended take, showcasing Santa’s inexperience at this sort of thing. But subsequent set pieces leave a lot to be desired, often taking place in dim lighting and rapidly edited to a jolly holiday tune. And writers Pat Casey and Josh Miller think that there's a direct correlation between the number of curse words in your movie and how funny it is. There’s also an extreme overabundance of Christmas puns and wordplay, almost rivaling Batman & Robin for levels of groan-worthy dialogue. I probably come across as a Grinch with this review, but Violent Night did nothing to bring me yuletide cheer. It desperately wants to be the Christmas movie your weird uncle tells the whole family about at dinner but does nothing to achieve that beyond doing the bare minimum that we expect. Ho ho... no. 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

Napoleon November 15, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Petulant, disagreeable, prideful, ugly, childish, insecure, genophobic, and impatient. These are the adjectives that can be used to describe one of the most powerful men in the history of the world: Napoleon Bonaparte. He saw himself as Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great, and yet he lacked all the qualities that allowed them to etch their names in the history books. But what he lacked in the personality department he made up for with his tactical genius, orchestrating tens of thousands to swift victories over armies twice as large. Napoleon was an able opportunist, as is illustrated in the opening title cards that set the stage for the French Revolution. Marie Antoinette and the rest of the royalists are being sent to the guillotine, opening up quite a few positions in the French nobility. The young gunnery commander stuck himself to Paul Barras, who sought to recapture the Port of Toulon. A resounding victory gave Napoleon his first taste of real power and respect, something he would feverishly seek to protect through the rest of his days. Fortunately for him, this period was ripe with arrogant leaders seeking to establish their claims through military might. England, Austria, Germany, Poland, Italy, and Russia are each pieces in a puzzle that constantly changes shape and size, with some of the pieces aligning one year, and then fighting the next. Napoleon is a finely sharp sword, outgrowing anyone else’s ambition for him until he plants himself atop the throne of Europe. With his vast historical drama background that includes the likes of The Duellists, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven , and The Last Duel , director Ridley Scott knows a thing or two about setting the stage for global conflicts. Even at the age of 85, he’s never taken a moment to slow down, crafting projects that seem to only get bigger the older he gets. It’s no surprise that both he and fellow octogenarian director Martin Scorsese ( Killers of the Flower Moon ) have found themselves at Apple with their latest historical dramas, the streaming giant plunking down $200 million for each project. While it may not have been the wisest financial decision, it was a fortuitous one for the art of epic filmmaking. Scott paints a wide canvas for each of the climactic battle scenes. It’s as close to a replica as one could get to the work of director Sergei Bondarchuk in the Soviet version of War and Peace where literally thousands of extras marched across plains as hundreds of cannons engulfed them in carnage. To be fair, Scott does have the benefit of robust visual effects, which are used seamlessly. There is never a feeling that these battles are just one giant CGI army crashing into another. The stakes and violence are real, emboldened by the careful application of strategy; such as cornering the Austrians and Russians at The Battle of Austerlitz through false fronts, hidden calvary, and perfectly timed infantry charges. The director has never turned in a poorly crafted film, but what does often hold back both his and our engagement is a less-than-ideal script. It’s no coincidence that some of his best films in this later period sprouted off the page through talented screenwriters like John Logan ( Gladiator ) , Steven Zaillian ( American Gangster ), and Matt Damon/Ben Affleck/Nicole Holfcener ( The Last Duel ). Napoleon marks the second collaboration between Scott and writer David Scarpa after All the Money in the World , with the results here being quite the improvement over the former. While there are repeatable inklings of this being a Wikipedia entry condensed down to 158 minutes (the reported future four-hour cut will greatly alleviate this minor problem), Scarpa finds plenty of avenues to dissect Napoleon down to the bone. Much of this is done through the prism of his relationship with his lover Josephine, herself an opportunist who knew what needed to be done to survive in an era where women had little to no autonomy. Both of them are vindictive towards the other, yet they cannot help being addicted to their shared love, as if they realize they are two identical souls that have reached far beyond what they thought they could accomplish. Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby are wondrous as the couple. Obviously, if you need someone to portray an emotionally and physically troubled genius, you get an emotionally and physically troubled genius like Phoenix. It’s as if his version of Napoleon watched Taxi Driver and totally missed the point, but still tries to emulate the Travis Bickle archetype. But while the other world leaders look down upon him, it’s not like they’re much more mature. All of them treat the world like a recess playground, all while millions of lives are casually thrown away. Kirby finds herself in and out of the emperor’s favor, mostly secluded in various castles and palaces. That is where her battles with Napoleon take place, battles of wit and sex, two things she has in spades over him. The world still properly bemoans what could have been had Stanley Kubrick been allowed to make his Napoleon biopic. There are surely semblances of it in Scott’s film, which continues his string of blockbusters propelled by smart filmmaking and collaborative artistry. It’s timely and timeless in its craft and examination of history, ready to raise the bar just that much higher for later entries in the genre. 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

In a Violent Nature May 28, 2024 By: Button Tyler Banark For the second time this year, Shudder has unleashed a horror film that is making waves and igniting discussions among moviegoers. Two months ago, it was Late Night with the Devil , a film that injected a fresh twist into the found footage subgenre. Now they’re bringing In a Violent Nature , a horror film not for the faint-hearted. It's a thrilling ride, uniquely told from the killer's perspective. Meditative is a word I would not normally use to describe a horror movie, but In a Violent Nature has a meditative quality. Director Chris Nash penned a script that reflects this method, instilling a tragic backstory to a killer who knows nothing but death. Supposedly named Johnny, he fell victim to a terrible accident, leaving him stranded beneath the ground with only a makeshift breathing tube to sustain him. When a locket is stolen from the tower he’s buried under, Johnny emerges from the ground and goes on a rampage to get it back. As the plot unfolds, the movie gets to the gritty kills as Nash and DP Pierce Derks heavily use long-tracking shots to set up the scene. They usually consist of Johnny slowly creeping up to his next victim(s) as they talk about his urban legend in some form or another. It’s a decent way to build suspense and have audiences guessing where’s Johnny (no pun intended). Many of the faces of the victims remain obscured, an initially odd choice that over time illustrates itself as a way to communicate Johnny’s dehumanization of these people. The kills make this into one of the bloodiest splatter fests I have seen in a while, almost to the point where some viewers may regret having an appetite during or after watching. Outside of the cinematography, In a Violent Nature ’s methodical aura is also felt in its pacing, which is no surprise. Although the movie clocks in at 94 minutes, it’s in no rush to have the plot go from point A to point B. In one instance, we see a group of campers sharing stories around a campfire. As one of them shares a story correlating to Johnny, it’s all told in an uninterrupted take with a circling shot of the group sitting around the fire. While it’s an auteurist approach (Nash says Terrence Malick is an influence), the film does get carried away in the act and intermittently tests patience. In a Violent Nature is brutal in its scares and pacing, both of which prove to be its best and worst elements. Time will tell if this is able to break out into the culture, or remain an underground feature for the horror-centric service. Hopefully, there will be further conversation and attempts at brutal stories told from the perspective of evil. How will that all pan out, you may ask? Who knows, but heads may roll nevertheless. You can follow Tyler and hear more of his thoughts on Twitter , Instagram , and Letterboxd . 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

William Tell September 5, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen William Tell had its World Premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Samuel Goldwyn Films will release it in theaters on April 04, 2025. William Tell, not the historical figure, but the character within writer/director Nick Hamm’s newest film, is a protagonist we’ve seen several times before. He’s a veteran who’s been scarred by battle, with PTSD flashbacks of his younger and more violent days ravaging him each time he lays eyes on a weapon. But he’s made peace with his past, settling in the serene Swiss mountains and tending to his farm and livestock with his wife and son. However, trouble comes knocking one day in the form of the Austrian tax collectors, servants of the ruthless Hapsburg king. One thing leads to another, and Tell is forced to choose to pick up arms again to fight against tyranny, or leave that part of his life good and buried. Of course, history and the laws of cinema would tell you that our reluctant hero will do what is right and join his brothers, even if it means going against his creed of reformation. Hamm makes damn sure that we as the audience agree with Tell’s stance on the possibility of a Swiss revolt against their Austrian oppressors, opting for a litany of analogies centering on fire, streams, and bee stings, all of which boil down to the old saying about an eye for an eye. The rest of the dialogue gets even clunkier, with characters always entering by coyly stating their purpose and motivations, and most conversations repeating themselves until their theses have been hammered home. Even with several attempts across the 133-minute runtime, Hamm never strikes oil, with his insistence on violence being soulless never being properly communicated through the action. There’s always a modicum level of enjoyment to be had in the set pieces, with Hamm speaking out of both sides of his mouth as he declares that war is hell, but that we should still have some fun while pondering its ramifications. And if Tell is Batman, then Viceroy Gessler is his Joker, a bloodthirsty lieutenant of the king who’s hellbent on quelling the hope that Tell incites within the Swiss masses. His cruelty knows no bounds, with his devious acts being the spark that ignites this initially small movement into a declaration of war. The comparisons to Braveheart and The Outlaw King are too hard to ignore at this point, something that also extends to the film’s strengths and weaknesses. Hamm’s first foray into screenwriting might not be successful enough for him to continue down that path, but his prowess in the director’s chair is still something to behold. There’s an old-school sweep to this story, with a rousing score by Steven Price and, except for a few establishing shots furnished with gaudy digital backdrops, some handsome cinematography by Jamie Ramsay. Despite not hailing from a big studio, a chunk of change has been invested and efficiently used for this production, something that fans of historical epics will certainly find enjoyment in. Claes Bang maintains his physique from The Northman as the titular character, this time trading a spear for a crossbow. His particular set of skills aids him in downing several enemies in short order on the battlefield, and his stoic sense of honor rallies those to his cause from all over the land. He does have a well-rounded supporting cast to support him, with Ben Kingsley harnessing his star power as the Hapsburg king and Ellie Bamber shining as his niece, who longs for the two lands to be reunited through anything but bloodshed. The big screen is where William Tell will thrive best, as the saving grace that is its cinematic qualities will lay waste on even the biggest television. At the moment, when and how that will happen is a mystery, but Hamm and his production have made enough of a case for it to be sooner rather than later. Now all we need to do is wait and come up with a way for the “William Tell Overture” to be incorporated into the marketing. 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

Enola Holmes 2 November 1, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen Can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that the title of the Enola Holmes sequel is simply Enola Holmes 2 ? In this day and age, studios seem to be allergic to putting numbers in their titles. It happened to the John Wick series, which inexplicably felt the need to tack on the Parabellum subtitle for the third chapter. Based on the quality of the series, the barrage of subtitles makes it damn near impossible to remember all of them or keep them straight. I’ll bet anyone a billion dollars that they can’t sequentially order the Resident Evil films. I’d also place the same bet for someone to properly explain to me why Star Trek Into Darkness doesn't have a colon. Thankfully, the producers of Enola Holmes 2 (which includes star Millie Bobby Brown) felt that it would be better for everyone if they just used a number to denote this newest edition to the franchise. It’s a doubly impressive move considering that each of the books in the Enola Holmes series contains subtitles, so there were ample options to pick from. It’s just a shame the simplicity of the title doesn’t translate to the story within, which falters from a hurried script that tries to do too much at nearly every turn. Leaping right from where its predecessor left off, Enola Holmes 2 finds the titular character opening her own detective agency. Unfortunately, she still lives in the shadow of her famous older brother, who makes the headlines every time he cracks an “unsolvable” case. Just as she’s about to pack up and head back home in failure, a young girl comes knocking at Enola’s door. Her dear friend from the match factory has gone missing, and foul play seems to be involved. After some digging, the clues surrounding Enola’s case have an alarming connection to that of Sherlock’s newest mystery, which, for the first time in his life, is beyond his comprehension. Despite their reluctance to accept help, the siblings agree to pair up, sending them on a deadly game throughout the highs and lows of Industrial Age London. Enola Holmes 2 brings the whole gang back together, which includes stars Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill, as well as director Harry Bradbeer and writer Jack Thorne. Along with her role in Stranger Things , Brown continues to climb as a movie star. She brings excellent energy to the role, including Fleabag -inspired fourth wall breaks and numerous improvised quips. The real mystery is how she hasn’t been gobbled up by the MCU machine at this point. But that’s one I’d like to remain unsolved. Cavill maintains his moniker as the hunkiest Sherlock to date. He’s been promoted from supporting to an almost co-lead, making room for some unnecessary scenes where we learn more about Sherlock’s psyche, which we’ve already covered numerous times across novels, plays, television, and film. That inclusion of more Sherlock is just one of the many symptoms of the sequel-itis that Enola Holmes 2 suffers from. Introductions to more new characters, including one played by David Thewlis in his millionth “creepy British guy” role, and returning old characters make for a crammed cast. Also crammed is the story, which features too many subplots and stops along the way to the final destination. It’s all amusing but can often get quite tiring. Enola Holmes 2 exemplifies the old adage that more is not always better. Thankfully, the overabundance of charm and style makes its nearly 130-minute runtime go by without much bother. For the next one, let’s hope they focus on quality rather than quantity. 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