Cannes 2021: All The Films That Could Premiere May 17, 2021 By: Hunter Friesen Often considered the most prestigious film festival globally, the Cannes Film Festival is your one-stop shop for some of the greatest works in international cinema. For the first time since 1968, the festival was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year's edition has the potential to be one of the best as dozens of projects from the world's greatest filmmakers jockey for the opportunity to be awarded the coveted first place Palme d'Or, which will be decided by a Spike Lee led jury. Twenty films will be selected for the Official Competition, with several others being placed in one of the festival's many sidebar sections. And quite a few unlucky films will have to set their sights somewhere else. Cannes also has its place in the Oscar race. To use a sports analogy, it is the preseason to the fall festivals regular season. Films such as Pulp Fiction, The Tree of Life, Amour and Parasite started their Oscar path at the festival. In this article, I will detail the films that have the potential to premiere at the festival. They are sorted into three categories based on their likelihood, which stemming from a combination of factors that are explained in each summary. The festival will announce the lineup for all sections on June 3rd. ALREADY CONFIRMED Annette This year's festival will start off with a bang as Leos Carax premieres his newest film on opening night. The movie stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard as parents to a young girl with a surprising gift. The film will contain no dialogue and be a completely sung-through musical, which is precisely something that should be expected from the man that brought us Holy Motors . Benedetta Dutch director Paul Verhoeven has shifted away from Hollywood this century in favor of European productions. His last film was the Isabelle Huppert-led Elle in 2016; a smash hit at Cannes, which led to an Oscar nomination for Huppert for Best Actress. His newest film, a holdover from last year, is a culmination of many topics found within his filmography, such as religion and eroticism, as a nun suffers from disturbing visions in 17th-century Italy. The French Dispatch Wes Anderson's newest idiosyncratic feature has been sitting on a shelf for over a year so that it would have its world premiere at this particular festival. Starring a cast of names too long to write, the film is a sort of anthology of stories told in the titular magazine. Looking to be a huge Oscar player this year, this may be Anderson's time to be rewarded for his unique body of work. VERY LIKELY A Hero Iranian-born Asghar Farhadi has won two Oscars for Best International Feature, doing it first for 2011's A Separation and then for 2016's The Salesman . He's also brought his last three films to Cannes, opening the 2019 festival with the Spain-set Everybody Knows . Plot details are still a secret for his new movie, with the only thing we know is that it is set in Iran and tackles several contemporary issues. The film was recently acquired by Amazon, who is planning an end-of-year domestic release and huge Oscar push for Farhadi. Bergman Island Filmed in 2018 and early 2019, Mia Hansen-Løve's ambitious film was delayed from the 2019 festival for a primetime slot at the 2020 festival. Obviously, that edition didn't happen, so the film sat for another year. The title Bergman Island refers to the famous Fårö Island, which housed Swedish-auteur Ingmar Bergman and was used for several of his movies, and is now a pilgrimage destination for cinephiles. Starring Vicky Krieps, Tim Roth, and Mia Wasikowska, the film follows an American filmmaking couple who retreat to the island to write their screenplays. And like a Bergman film, reality and fiction begin to blur as the couple becomes more ingrained into the magical island. Everything Went Fine Prolific director François Ozon has competed regularly at Cannes, and it is expected to do so again with his newest film. Adapted from a novel by Emmanuèle Bernheim, the film follows a daughter who rushes to help her father after he has a debilitating stroke. In a shocking turn of events, he pleads to have his life ended. Will the daughter be able to honor her father's request? Fire Starring French acting royalty Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon and directed by Claire Denis, Fire surrounds a love triangle that forces a woman to choose between her long-time partner and former lover. Denis has had a long relationship with the festival, as she was the president of the board of the Cinéfondation and short films in 2019. Memoria Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul will likely return to the festival where he won the Palme d'Or in 2011 with the indescribable Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives . Marking his English-language debut, Memoria stars Tilda Swinton as a Scottish woman traveling in Colombia who begins to hear eerily strange noises. This film is also a holdover from last year and is expected to fall in the same lane of Weerasethakul's previous filmography. Official Competition Just by the title alone, this seems like a Cannes selection. The film is by Argentinian duo Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn and stars Spanish superstars Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz. The synopsis is that of a wealthy businessman who impulsively recruits filmmaker Lola Cuevas (Cruz) to make a smash hit movie. Banderas plays the Hollywood heartthrob that will headline the picture. Expect a satirical comedy that pokes fun at the unglamorous task of creating a film. On a Half Clear Morning Bruno Dumont has been a staple of Cannes for nearly a decade, as he's premiered his last three films at the festival. Also, a recurring character at Cannes is actress Léa Seydoux, who stars in Dumont's newest film that he both wrote and directed. Listed as a comedy-drama, On A Half Clear Morning has Seydoux play a celebrity journalist who has her life turned upside down after she is in a freak car accident. Paris, 13th District A previous winner for Dheepan in 2015, Jacques Audiard returns with a new film that also happens to be co-written by Portrait Of A Lady On Fire director Celinne Sciamma and stars Noémie Merlant. The film follows four young adults as they navigate their friendships and love lives in modern Paris. Petrov's Flu Another holdover from last year, Russian writer/director Kirill Serebrennikov adapts the novel of the same name that follows a family living ordinary lives with extraordinary secrets. At the head of the family is the titular Petrov, who seems to be fading in and out of reality as he battles the flu. Serebrennikov wrote the movie under house arrest, and an early teaser trailer showcases some of the visual bizarreness. Three Floors Italian national treasure Nanni Moretti has had a very successful career at Cannes, winning the Best Director award for Dear Diary in 1994 and the Palme d'Or for The Son's Room in 2001. His newest film is a holdover from last year and follows the intersecting story of three families who each live on different floors of a bourgeois condo. Triangle of Sadness Expect Swedish auteur Ruben Östlund to return to Cannes after winning the Palme d'Or with The Square in 2017. His follow-up is said to be in that same satirical vein as the story takes place on an uber-rich yacht captained by a crazy Marxist (Woody Harrelson). The boat becomes shipwrecked, flipping the social hierarchy as everyone fights for survival. Tromperie With this movie, along with The French Dispatch and On a Half Clear Morning , the question becomes how many Léa Seydoux films will play at the festival? Seydoux is reteaming with another Cannes-favorite in Arnaud Desplechin, who's competed six times in the official competition. The title translates to deception, as the film is about an American novelist navigating his relationship with several women in his life, including his wife, mistress, and other characters he has dreamed up. LIKELY After Yang Starting with video essays, writer/director Kogonada had a remarkable feature-film debut with Columbus in 2017. That success allowed the enigmatic director to work with Colin Farrell and Jodie Turner-Smith on his newest film. Set in the near future, the story tracks a family as they must try to save the life of their A.I. helper, who unexpectedly breaks down. Given the low-key nature of Kogonada's work, an out-of-competition spot may be a more likely place for it to debut. Benediction It's usually Ken Loach's job to be the British representative at Cannes, but this year that duty may fall to Terence Davies, who premiered a slew of his earlier films at the festival. Davies' film tells the true story of Siegfried Sassoon, an English poet, writer, and soldier in World War I. Jack Lowden plays the younger Sassoon, while Peter Capaldi takes over in the later years. After A Quiet Passion made waves a few years ago, all eyes will be on what Davies can do with his next biopic. C'mon C'mon For his first feature since winning the Best Leading Actor Oscar for Joker , Joaquin Phoenix is teaming with writer/director Mike Mills ( 20th Century Women & Beginners ) for what seems to be another acting showcase. Phoenix plays an artist who must embark on a cross-country road trip after he is left to take care of his precocious nephew. Shot in black-and-white by the great Robbie Ryan, the movie was forecasted to premiere at the virtual Sundance Film Festival in January but was quietly absent. Was it because they wanted to premiere it at Cannes? De Son Vivant Catherine Deneuve is one of the finest French actresses ever to grace the silver screen. Any of the projects she's attached to surely deserves festival buzz. Her newest film is a reteaming with director Emmanuelle Bercot and tells the story of a mother coming to terms with her terminally ill son, who has one year to live. Flag Day Sean Penn is extremely loved by the Cannes brass, as he won Best Actor in 1997 for She's So Lovely and premiered two of his directorial efforts at the festival. His newest project stars himself, along with Miles Teller and Josh Brolin. It'll be interesting to see if Penn is welcomed back after his latest film, The Last Face , was one of the most reviled films in festival history. Huda's Salon Palestinian writer/director Hany Abu-Assad has had two previous films at the festival, winning the Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize in 2013 for Omar . His newest film is based on real-life events as a woman's experience entering a hair salon becomes a living nightmare after the owner blackmails her. The filmmaker has plans to return to Cannes, hopefully with the promotion that comes with being selected to the Official Selection. Joan Verra It's an unofficial rule at Cannes that at least one movie selected stars, Isabelle Huppert. This time she stars as the titular character who retreats to the countryside with her son when a figure from her past unexpectedly returns. Writer/director Laurent Larivière's last film, I Am a Soldier , premiered in Un Certain Regard in 2015. The coupling of Larivière's experience at the festival and Huppert's prestigious reputation gives the film a good shot of being selected. Mona Lisa and The Blood Moon Rumored to be a part of the selection in 2020, Ana Lily Amirpour's newest film promises to be unique. Set in contemporary New Orleans, a girl breaks out of a mental asylum and must use her supernatural powers to survive. Considering the stylism found within Amirpour's previous features, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night and The Bad Batch , it's safe to assume there is more than meets the eye here. The Card Counter Longtime Martin Scorsese scribe Paul Schrader received a career resurgence in 2017 with the critically acclaimed First Reformed premiering at the Venice Film Festival and received his first Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Schrader used his goodwill to stack the cast for his newest film, which has Oscar Issac starring as a reformed gambler who attempts to mentor a young man (Tye Sheridan) seeking revenge on a mutual enemy (Willem Dafoe). Also in the cast is Tiffany Hadish as a mysterious casino financier. The film has also been invited to Venice, so there is the likelihood it premieres there instead. The Souvenir Part II Joanna Hogg took Sundance by storm in 2019 with her semi-autobiographical take on young love in The Souvenir . With a UK release date set for late 2021 and A24 acquiring domestic rights, the time is right for Hogg to unveil the sequel. Filming has been completed for a while, with Honor Swinton Byrne and Tilda Swinton returning. This may be Hogg's time to shine under the brightest lights. The Tragedy of Macbeth The Coen brothers are the cream of the crop when it comes to Cannes royalty, winning the Best Director award a record three times and winning the Palme d'Or for Barton Fink . The last two films by the brothers that premiered at Cannes were No Country For Old Men and Inside Llewyn Davis , which both became prominent Oscar players, with the former winning Best Picture. For the first time, Joel Coen is the sole director of his upcoming adaptation of The Tragedy Of Macbeth , which stars Denzel Washington in the titular role and Frances McDormand as his wife. With its subject matter and leading stars, the film has high Oscar prospects, begging the question of whether Apple will wait to premiere it near a friendlier award season date. The Worst Person in the World Norwegian director Joachim Trier has debuted two films at Cannes, most recently his star-studded English-language debut Louder Than Bombs in 2015. Trier is returning to his native language for his newest film, which follows the life of Julie, who must take a hard look at herself after years of navigating love and careers. The cast comprises almost all newcomers, opening the possibility of the festival being a launchpad for a few young stars. Titane Writer/director Julia Ducournau made a splash at Cannes in 2016 with her debut, Raw , which won the first place prize in the Director's Fortnight section. After years away, she's back with Titane , a mystery film surrounding a child returning home after being missing for nearly a decade. There's also a murder element as a series of gruesome killings has been ravaging the area. The question is if Ducournau will be promoted to the official competition or if she'll remain in the sidebars. The Velvet Underground Todd Haynes' Velvet Goldmine made a splash for its cast and crew when it hit the Croisette in 1998. Twenty-three years later, Haynes is returning to rock music with a documentary on the famous titular American band. The documentary is an Apple TV+ production, and a big festival push may be just the thing the streamer needs to break into the awards conversation. UNLIKELY, BUT POSSIBLE Big Bug Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet delivered a one-two punch with Amelie and A Very Long Engagement at the beginning of the century. He hasn't done much since, meaning it could be time for Cannes to welcome him back to the international stage. His newest film is an adventurous comedy where an android uprising causes a bickering suburban family to be locked in their home. Like many other films in this section, Netflix holds the distribution rights. Given the lighter nature and Jeunet's inexperience at the festival, an out-of-competition spot may be possible. Blonde Andrew Dominik has made his way around the festival circuit, hitting up Venice in 2007 with The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford and going to Cannes in 2012 with Killing Them Softly . His next film looks to be a prime Oscar contender as it tells a fictionalized story about the inner life of Marilyn Monroe. Burgeoning superstar Ana de Armas plays the iconic Blonde Bombshell, with Adrien Brody, Julianne Nicholson, Bobby Cannavale, and Scoot McNairy rounding out the supporting cast. Again, this movie has a Netflix problem, so a Venice premiere seems to be the most likely outcome. Cry Macho Contrary to his all-American image, Clint Eastwood is quite beloved over in France, as he has debuted several films at the festival, such as Mystic River and Changeling . He even served as jury president in 1994, awarding Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction the Palme d'Or. Being as Eastwood's upcoming Cry Macho very well could be his final outing, it would be fitting for it to make a splash at the festival that has welcomed him for decades. Decision to Leave Along with Bong Joon Ho, director Park Chan-wook has helped popularize South Korean cinema in recent decades. Chan-wook has won the second and third place prizes at the festival, doing so with Oldboy in 2003 and Thirst in 2009, respectively. After some time away since his last effort, The Handmaiden , Chan-wook is diving into the detective genre with a story following an investigation about man's mysterious death and his equally mystifying wife. Filming began in October, making a Cannes premiere very difficult in such a short time. Soggy Bottom Sources say that Fremaux has been trying his best to get Paul Thomas Anderson to debut his newest film at the festival, a sentiment that Anderson also shares. This would mark the second time PTA has debuted a film at Cannes, as he first did it in 2002 with Punch-Drunk Love . Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman's son Cooper Hoffman, Benny Safdie, and Bradley Cooper, this would easily be the most anticipated premiere. The recently announced Thanksgiving release date does put a damper on things, as distributor MGM may want to wait a while to premiere the film closer to Oscar season. The Hand of God After helming both seasons of The Young Pope and The New Pope over at HBO, Italian auteur Paolo Sorrentino is making a return to the silver screen. Little is known about the plot, except that it is a very personal film set in Naples that centers on the legend of Diego Maradona and his miracle play. Toni Servillo, who has frequently participated in Sorrentino's movies such as the Oscar-winning The Great Beauty , leads the cast. Netflix holds the distribution rights for the film, which does put a dent in any premiere plans. With Sorrentino's lauded history at the festival, hopefully, some arrangement can be made. The Perfumed Hill Hailing from Mauritania, Abderrahmane Sissako has released only three films this century, but they all premiered at Cannes, with 2014's Timbuktu also being nominated for the Best International Feature Oscar. Little is known about his next film, except that production began in the fall of 2019. If filming were completed before the pandemic, Sissako would likely be invited back to the festival he has called home for so many years. The Power of the Dog New Zealander Jane Campion remains the only woman ever to direct a Palme d'Or winning film, doing it in 1993 with The Piano . Campion's newest film stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons as Montana ranching brothers who both pine after the affection of Kirsten Dunst. What makes this a tricky situation is that Netflix is treating this as their prize Oscar contender. It has also been invited to the Netflix-friendly Venice Film Festival, which could very well be its eventual landing spot. The Way of the Wind There's no way to figure out when a Terrence Malick film will be released. All you can do is wait and pray. Malick premiered his last movie, A Hidden Life , at Cannes in 2019, and he also won the Palme d'Or for his magnum opus The Tree Of Life in 2011. He once again has saddled himself with another weighty topic, as The Way Of The Wind will tell several episodes of the life of Jesus Christ, led by a cast of Mark Rylance, Ben Kingsley, Joseph Fiennes, and Matthias Schoenaerts. Several of Malick's films have been delayed for years as he endlessly tinkers in the editing room, so there's no telling when this film will be seen. Where is Anne Frank? Ari Folman took the world by storm with his 2008 animated documentary, Waltz With Bashir , which played at Cannes and was nominated for the Best International Feature Oscar. Announced just after that film premiered, Folman's newest animated effort will tell the story of Anne Frank through Kitty, the imaginary friend from Frank's diary. Considering the already long production cycle of the film and that no new information has been released in quite some time, it seems unlikely that the film would be ready. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Last Thing He Wanted February 27, 2020 By: Button Hunter Friesen Netflix has been on a roll these past few years. While changing the idea of how television can be consumed, the streaming giant has also financed dozens of films from revered auteurs and budding talent. This level of investment has paid dividends with films such as The Irishman and Roma . But like all portfolios, there are some stinkers such as Bright and The Ridiculous 6 that blemish the hits. Joining the latter pile of garbage is the newest film to be dumped unceremoniously on Netflix: The Last Thing He Wanted . A journalist for The Atlantic Post , Elena McMahon made her mark with hard-hitting investigative pieces detailing the revolutions in 1980s Central America. One day, her secretive father attempts to reconnect with her after years apart. It’s revealed he’s rekindling their relationship because he has fallen victim to Alzheimer’s. With his final days winding down, he confesses that he is a gun smuggler for the Nicaraguan Contras and asks her to complete his final deal. To fulfill her father’s dying wish, Elena must go back to the place where everything began for her. Only this time she’s on the opposite side of the law than before. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmrU6gMc1Lc Reteaming with Netflix after the critical success of Mudbound , director Dee Rees makes some of the most shocking failures a respected filmmaker could make. Her command of the material is nonexistent as the plot and characters move along without any rhyme or reason. For a two-hour movie (that feels twice as long), Rees offers little in terms of suspense and subtlety. The choppy editing lacks any cohesiveness between its revolving door of throwaway characters and locations. Even when Rees is supplied with quality supplemental material, such as the score by Tamar-kali, she cues it at the most obvious times, turning it against her intentions. She does throw in a nice camera movement every once in a while, but it’s painfully obvious that it’s only being done to try and cover up the catastrophe that is being filmed. An example is the laughably bad final shot that looks ripped straight from a parody movie. Adapted by Rees and Marco Villalobos from the book of the same name, The Last Thing He Wanted is one of the most incomprehensible movies ever made. I would feel safe betting someone a billion dollars to watch this movie and then properly explain what they had just seen. The dialogue is both cliched and flowery as it makes even the smallest detail hard to comprehend. Characters speak English in a way so cryptic that it seems they aren’t even speaking English at all. No amount of rewinding or looking through a dictionary could help me understand what exactly someone was saying. Fortunately, the poor sound mixing makes half of the dialogue muddled, saving me from further anguish. Also part of the problem is the script’s overabundance of half-baked storylines and details. I would say that almost every one of these plots and subplots is filled with holes, but I’m not sure of what the plot was, to begin with. Characters and locations come and go, barely leaving a mark on the overall narrative. That is, until the end when Rees wraps a dozen different things up in the final three minutes, ending the film in a pile of disjointed pieces that produces more questions than answers. I know it’s a tired trope to say that a movie should have been a mini-series... but this seriously should have been a mini-series. Anne Hathaway is mediocre as our supposedly tough main character. Hathaway tries her best, but she is woefully miscast and can’t muster a sliver of enough fortitude to convince us of her believability. Ben Affleck plays a CIA agent hot on Elena’s trail. Affleck seems to have been on set for less than a week and has as much energy as someone who just woke up from a nap after downing a bottle of NyQuil. Factoring in his minuscule screen time, it’s safe to say that the main reason he was cast was to put his name on the poster. Playing the ailing father is Willem Dafoe, who has recently been on a career resurgence. Disappointingly, Dafoe falls into the type of hammy overacting that plagued the middle third of his career. The Last Thing He Wanted is a glaring misfire on the careers of the usually dependable cast and crew. It will surely land on many worst-of-the-year lists and may even take the top spot on a few. Thinking about this awful movie is the last thing I ever want to do. Netflix will release The Last Thing He Wanted in select theaters on February 14th, followed by its streaming premiere on February 21st. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Instigators August 1, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Through the power of content quotas and streaming service overload, the phrase “it’s a streaming movie” has replaced “it’s a VOD movie” as the description of choice for all the disposable movies that choose to circumvent the physicality of the multiplex. That doesn’t apply to every streaming movie, as the lucky few (aka “the good ones”) get special treatment from their creators, usually in the form of modest theatrical footprints similar to The Irishman , Killers of the Flower Moon , and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery . No, when we’re using “streaming” as a pejorative, we’re talking about the films on Netflix’s Most Popular Films list: Red Notice , The Adam Project , Bird Box , The Mother , and The Gray Man . Sure, the quality is much better than we used to get during the VOD heydays, but to what end? If everyone watches your film - but no one remembers it - does it really count as a hit? Doug Liman’s The Instigators , his second streaming movie of the year after Amazon’s middle-of-the-road Road House remake earlier this spring, fits that “competent, yet forgettable” mold to perfection. I’d totally believe it if Apple boasts about it being one of their highest-performing titles come the end of this year, all while no viewer could pass a memory test about the plot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5oqpxi3U7M Luckily, writers Chuck MacLean (creator of the very pro-Boston series City on a Hill ) and Casey Affleck ( Dunkin’ Donuts second-biggest fan behind his brother) aren’t concerned with wasting our time with such trivial things as building events or character groundwork. The ticking time bomb encompassing the studio logos is replaced by the ticking of the clock on the wall within Dr. Rivera’s (Hong Chau) shabby office, where Rory (Matt Damon) is declaring that he needs to do something big or else he’s going “cash in all his chips.” That explosive action comes from a job offer from two local crime bosses (Michael Stuhlbarg and Alfred Molina). It’s simple: sneak in through the hotel kitchen hosting Mayor Miccelli’s (Ron Perlman) reelection party and steal the campaign donations in the safe in the back office. Of course, no heist plan ever goes according to plan (wouldn’t that be nice for a change?), which leaves Rory and his equally down-on-his-luck middle-aged partner Cobby (Affleck) on the run from every cop within the New England region. The derogatory aspects of this “streaming film” come from the visuals, with the digital flatness and shoddy visual effects benefiting from the smallest screen possible. Liman has always prided himself on his scrappy indie filmmaking roots of Swingers and The Bourne Identity . That pedigree has certainly faded over the years, especially with Steven Soderbergh showcasing the benefits of digital filmmaking with his bevy of streaming films. A lot of comparisons between this and Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move could be made, none of them positive for the former. Damon and Affleck make a great pair, their decades-long friendship creating some instant sparks between their mismatched pair. Cobby is the more seasoned of the two, something he never lets each of them forget as he constantly runs his mouth about the absurdity of their situation. Their characters may not be all that interesting, with the running joke of Rory exploring his feelings while committing a crime being spread too thin, but the actors make it all entertaining enough. There’s also Jack Harlow, Ving Rhames, Paul Walter Hauser, and Toby Jones in smaller supporting roles that make this cast much more stacked than it has any right to be. One side of my brain is saying that a film with this much talent in front and behind the camera should be a lot better, while the other half knows that they almost always aren’t when they’re assembled for a product largely meant to bolster a digital catalog. Call it disappointment, call it an acceptance of the market. Either way, no one involved will look bad, and no one who watches it will feel their time totally wasted, so everyone will just go about their business as if nothing happened. Apple Original Films will release The Instigators in select theaters on August 02nd, followed by its streaming premiere on August 9th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen 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 Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Cannes 2023 Predictions - Part 3: The Festival Mainstays April 8, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen As one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, the Cannes Film Festival always attracts the attention of cinephiles and industry professionals alike. Each year, the festival presents a diverse lineup of films that represent the best of international cinema, including both established and emerging filmmakers. With the 76th edition of the festival set to take place in May, film enthusiasts around the world are eagerly anticipating the announcement of the official selection on April 13th. While the festival organizers keep their cards close to their chest, there are already some strong players emerging as likely contenders for the coveted Cannes spotlights. In this four-part series, I’ll take a closer look at some of the films that are generating buzz and predict which ones are likely to make it to the Croisette this year. Each part will represent a category of films, which are: The Festival Masters Hollywood Makes a Splash The Festival Mainstays The Irregulars and Up-and-Comers The third part of my series reaches a little further down the pecking order. The filmmakers listed here may not have the pedigree of those from the first part, nor do their films command the headlines like the blockbusters. But many of them are in the process of being established as festival darlings and have projects that deserve attention on account of their immense potential. Which of these films are you most interested in? I'll be keeping you all posted on my adventures and sharing my thoughts on the films that I see. Stay tuned for more updates! Coup de Chance With a legendary career that now spans fifty works as a director, it would seem fitting to bid farewell to filmmaking in the country that has always adored him. Allen has brought several films to the festival, all of them playing out of competition. His latest work will be entirely in French with a local all-star cast. Of course, any mention of Allen brings along controversy, so Fremeaux will have a hard decision to make about what to do. La Chimera Alice Rohrwacher’s film made waves at last year’s festival when Neon picked up the project’s North American distribution rights. The company had a great run last with Triangle of Sadness taking the Palme d’Or, so it seems likely they’ll be gunning for a repeat. The film stars Josh O’Connor and Isabella Rossellini in a story about 1980s tomb robbers set in Italy. The Beast Bertrand Bonello has premiered nearly all of his films at the festival, so there’s no reason not to predict him to do the same this time around. Léa Seydoux and George MacKay lead the cast of this sci-fi romance revolving around a troubled young woman who decides to purify her DNA in a machine that will take her on a journey across a series of past lives. Jeanne du Barry Never one to shy away from controversy, writer/director Maïwenn has doubled down by casting Johnny Depp as King Louis XV in her palace drama. The casting itself will bring headlines, but not the kind the festival may want, especially with films by Woody Allen and Roman Polanski also in the mix. If selected, it’ll likely be placed in one of the sidebars. *UPDATE: CONFIRMED FOR OPENING SELECTION* Daaaaaali! Along with Gaspar Noe, surrealist filmmaker Quentin Dupieux often is the provider of the strange and wild, which he did last year with the wacky Smoking Causes Coughing . His new movie will certainly be a more fun story about Salvador Dalí than Mary Harron’s Dalíland at last year's TIFF. The logline is as follows: “A French journalist meets the iconic surrealist artist Salvador Dalí on several occasions for a documentary project that never came to be.” The Book of Solutions Michel Gondry has always kept himself incredibly busy between feature films, music videos, television shows, and short films. He’s done a tour of the festival sidecars throughout his career, so there’s little doubt he’ll be invited back if he decides to premiere his new film on the Croisette. The premise sounds Charlie Kaufman-esque as it follows a director who tries to vanquish his demons which are oppressing his creativity. Limonov While the Cannes leadership has ruled that they will not welcome any members of the Russian delegation or those linked to the government, that rule does not apply to Russian auteur Kirill Serebrennikov, who has had his problem with Putin’s government. Serebrennikov recently left the country after a three-year travel ban, which forced him to miss the premiere of Petrov's Flu in 2021. His next film will continue the biopic streak from Tchaikovsky’s Wife , this time in the English language and focusing on the life of Soviet poet Eduard Limonov. Serebrennikov co-wrote the screenplay with Cold War director Pawel Pawlikowski and Ben Hopkins, and Ben Whishaw will play the titular character. Promised Land While he doesn’t make as many regular appearances as Ken Loach, fellow Englishman Michael Winterbottom did make a name for himself at the turn of the millennium with a slew of rough-around-the-edges peeks into British life. His new film sounds like it might fit that description quite well, as it follows two Brit police officers in their hunt for charismatic poet and Zionist freedom fighter Avraham Stern, who was plotting to evict British authorities. Last Summer French provocateur Catherine Breillat looks to be coming out of her self-imposed retirement with her first film in almost a decade. The sexually charged auteur's new film may be her most squirm-inducing yet, as it follows the consequences on a family when a woman gets attracted to her underage stepson. The first image was released in December just as production wrapped. Given her pedigree within the French film industry and that this may be her last film, it seems highly likely Breillat makes her way into the competition. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Echo Valley June 9, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Echo Valley opens at the bottom of a lake. A wrapped-up dead body is adrift, the details as murky as the ethics of the person who put it there. How and why that body got to where it is is the central mystery that will be solved, unraveled, and resolved within the next two hours. It starts on Kate's titular Pennsylvanian horse farm (Julianne Moore). Due to her wife's tragically sudden passing earlier in the year, the farm is just downtrodden as Kate's emotional state. Doing the bare minimum to keep the place at least somewhat presentable is the only thing that gets her out of bed in the morning, which takes a little longer to accomplish with each subsequent day. A barn roof collapse doesn’t make matters any easier, forcing Kate to beg for the $9,000 to repair it from her ex-husband Richard (Kyle MacLachlan), who now has a much younger wife and daughter. The two of them share an adult daughter named Claire (Sydney Sweeney), who's been in and out of rehab several times over and is relatively estranged from her parents. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQiZ5zMhliw While Richard has stuck to the pledge they made in family therapy that they wouldn't interact with Claire until she got better, Kate can't completely go cold turkey. A few days later, Claire shows up at the farm. She still has a shitty boyfriend, but things seem to have drastically improved. That is, of course, until it's revealed that she has gotten involved in a drug debt and has no one else to turn to except for Kate. I'll stop the plot synopsis there to preserve the cover of who that dead body is, and how they got to be there. The script comes from Brad Ingelsby, who most recently created and wrote every episode of Mare of Easttown , alongside films Out of the Furnace , The Way Back , and American Woman . The pervasive themes of strained familial relationships within a crumbled America are present here, just in a frenzied manner. Stories like this have become dime-a-dozen streaming miniseries at this point, and there are more than a few instances here where that route would have lent to a more methodically structured story. Twists and turns come at a pretty rapid rate, leaving little time to question what's going on and how we should react. Then again, it's nice to watch a story dole out multiple swaths of information in minutes rather than chunking it out over several hours. Having great actors like Moore and Sweeney at the helm helps make it all go down more easily. There are years of melancholy in each of Moore's choices, grounding the high-wire choices she has to make as a parent. Despite not being present for large stretches, Sweeney makes the most of her opportunities. The frenetic energy she brought to her character in Euphoria is replicated here. A harrowing confrontation between mother and daughter becomes the standout scene, as each character unloads years of baggage on the other. The subsequent busyness of the plot loses focus on that raw emotionality, almost as if Ingelsby doesn't trust himself to reach the audience without a tried-and-true murder plot. Director Michael Pearce, the main discoverer of Jessie Buckley with Beast back in 2017, shoots this story with a gloomy palette. There are moments where it feels as if he didn't know that the final product would be watched on Apple TV+, with the overall darkness of the imagery requiring a pitch-black cinema to make out any of the details. On one hand, I blame myself for watching this on a summer afternoon, the sun being too powerful for my curtains. On the other hand, I lay some blame on an artist for not being considerate of his audience. It's that kind of dichotomy stretched across each department, keeping this film from lifting itself out of the realm of being respectably average. Apple Original Films will release Echo Valley in select theaters on June 06th, followed by its streaming premiere on June 13th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen One Battle After Another is a film chock-full of unexpected occurrences. It’s unexpected that it would contain the most thrilling car chase of the past few years. It’s unexpected that it would have a scene where a group of middle-aged white men would start their meeting by exchanging Christmas pleasantries, only to then be so disgusted by the existence of the mixed-race child they put a bounty on. It’s unexpected for a place called the “Chicken Licken Frozen Food Farm” to be the pivotal location for the film’s middle act. It’s unexpected that Leonardo DiCaprio would play such a burnout dirtbag after years as the most suave man in the world, a choice that allows him to once again flex his status as cinema’s most unconventionally funniest performer. And yet, being that this is the year 2025, nothing should really surprise us anymore. One Battle After Another is the apex of a string of 2025 films directly about the 2025 experience. This story involves themes of immigration, liberation, radicalization, and revolution, all seemingly ripped straight from the headlines and gloriously projected onto IMAX screens. The National Guard is dispatched to sanctuary cities, ICE encampments are crammed with unattended children, and marginalization is performed in the open without any remorse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg8AGTyYMBA But by also being a loose adaptation (“inspiration” is the label used in the credits) of the 1990 Thomas Pynchon novel Vineland , writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson illustrates that none of these issues are brand new to the American political landscape. It’s an endless cycle of progress and pushback, with each side digging its heels a little deeper with each subsequent turn. Case in point: The French 75 militant group, and its most outspoken comrade, Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor). The letters and protests weren’t getting the job done, so they’ve been substituted with raids and bombings. The liberation of an immigration detention center is where it all starts, with Perfidia initiating a dangerous dominant/submissive relationship with Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), and Pat (Leonardo DiCaprio) impressing her with his fireworks display. The blood of battle runs hot, and so does the passion between Perfidia and Pat. A baby girl is born, the next generation to carry the revolutionary flame. But before the light can even be passed, it’s extinguished when Lockjaw seizes the upper hand and picks off the group’s members one by one. Pat is renamed to Bob Ferguson, taking the baby (now named Willa) on the run to the backwoods of Baktan Cross. Fifteen quiet years go by, with Bob and Willa (Chase Infiniti) living a secluded life for reasons she doesn’t totally understand. Lockjaw’s mission eventually gets unpaused, with his pursuit of these two fugitives plunging the town into a hotbed of political turmoil. One Battle After Another is the outlier in Anderson’s filmography. It’s his first film in over twenty years to take place in the present day (assumedly, since a specific date isn’t given here). It’s also his costliest production by a wide margin, with a reported budget between $130 and $175 million. Anderson fully embraces both of those facts, reminding us why the artist responsible for Boogie Nights , There Will Be Blood , and The Master deserves to have a canvas just as expensive as Jurassic World: Rebirth . Catch me on a good day, and I’ll proclaim Magnolia to be the greatest film ever made. This is a frantic story for a frantic time, furiously rushing from one location to the next. Like Magnolia , Anderson just keeps pushing us along, never allowing for a moment for wrist watches to be checked. 161 minutes fly by, all of it subsumed by Jonny Greenwood’s score that might as well have been recorded as the piano was falling down the stairs. For all its serious earnestness, this is also a deeply silly and funny story. Lockjaw may as well be a description of the character rather than a surname. Penn walks around with the same mobility as a sunglass carousel, full of pent-up anger and jealousy. He’s the reason the Grindr Dating App always reports a massive increase in traffic at major Republican events. He desperately wants to be a member of the Christmas Adventurers Club, a group of wealthy white men who declare themselves superior solely because they deem it so. It’s easy to laugh at this ludicrousness, but we all know there probably is such a thing in our world. DiCaprio is also wonderfully buffoonish as a retired activist who can no longer remember secret passwords and see himself within the big picture. It might seem crass to talk about award prospects so soon after the film’s debut and so far from this year’s Academy Awards. But like Oppenheimer , a movie of this size and relevance doesn’t come around all that often, and that rarity needs to be celebrated. Anderson is one of the biggest losers in Oscar history, going 0-11 over a span of nearly thirty years. The time is now for a revolution within his film, and so it is for him to walk up that gilded stage, receiving one honor after another. Warner Bros. Pictures will release One Battle After Another in theaters nationwide on September 26th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Old Man & the Gun November 1, 2018 By: Button Hunter Friesen Robert Redford has built a successful decade-spanning career as a charming actor who can play any type of character with a heart of gold. It seems fitting that in his final performance in the new film The Old Man & the Gun , Redford plays Forrest Tucker, a man who was born to rob banks. Except he’s not your typical bank robber, he’s the most polite and happy criminal around. Now at the age of seventy-four, Tucker becomes nationally famous and must continue his passion while eluding the pursuit of detective John Hunt, who becomes enraptured by the legend of one man living his dream despite the consequences it may bring. Director David Lowery isn’t a household name, but the thirty-eight-year-old has made some quality films, such as his 2017 indie hit A Ghost Story and Pete’s Dragon in 2016 (also starring Redford). Lowery goes for the sweet and simple approach when it comes to directing this film. He keeps the feel of the film feeling like a cool, light breeze and keeps the main plot centered on detail at a time. He also nails the look and feel of the film to fit the 80s setting. The film doesn’t just feel like it's set in the 80s; it's like it was made during that time period. He uses very grainy film stock to shoot the movie, giving it a very nostalgic feel. There is also an abundance of old classic songs from that era that perfectly fit the tone. The simple approach Lowery uses also has its minor drawbacks. The overall story of the film felt a little shallow and could have used more buildup and stakes in order to build suspense. There could have also been more interaction between characters in order to develop relationships, as some don’t feel as genuine as they should have. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7rlUe-Thvk Lowery also adapts the screenplay from a real-life biographical article written about Forrest Tucker in The New Yorker by David Grann. Lowery matches his writing with his approach to directing. The script is filled with tender moments that work wonders with the actors involved. The diner scenes between Redford and Sissy Spacek are the best as they simply just enjoy each other and talk about life in old age. With only a little bit of effort and some magic, the two actors and the dialogue they share are able to keep us engaged throughout. Below the surface, however, is where Lowery’s script suffers from the same problems as his directing. The overall story told feels too simple to satisfyingly fit a feature-length film. More background and supporting details could have been used to tell the story with more depth. Many important events happen with little to no explanation, which proves very distracting by the end as they cut down on the overall believability. Redford essentially plays a culmination of every part he’s previously played in his fifty-plus-year career. He works magic with his confidence and overall physical presence in each scene. It’s a testament to his skill that you never actually see the gun he uses during the robberies; his charisma and charm are the only weapons he needs. Even with all his misdoings, you end up rooting for him by the end of the film. Partnering up with Redford in a supporting role is Sissy Spacek as Jewel, a widow whom Forrest takes an interest in. Jewel finds herself romantically caught up with Tucker and just can’t seem to shake him off despite knowing what he does for a living. Spacek and Redford have excellent chemistry together and keep us thoroughly entertained in even the most mundane of scenes. Every criminal needs a cop to be his nemesis, and filling that role is Casey Affleck as John Hunt. Affleck provides a counterbalance to Redford’s glee as his character glumly deals with the thought of getting older in a static career. Affleck middlingly works throughout but never matches Redford’s ability to make us care about his character. The Old Man & the Gun is similar to that of a Sunday drive out into the country. It doesn’t really know where it’s going from time to time, but it doesn’t really matter because the ride itself is more enjoyable than the final destination. In his farewell performance, Redford shows us that he can win over any crowd and rides out into the sunset and leaves us with his legend and unforgettable skill as an actor. Searchlight Pictures will release The Old Man & the Gun in select theaters on September 28th, followed by a nationwide expansion on October 09th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Top 10 Oliver Stone Films September 15, 2022 By: Hunter Friesen As one of the most controversial figures in American filmmaking, Oliver Stone has never been shy about wearing his politics on his sleeve, which were shaped by his experiences in the Vietnam War, and the American cultural turmoil of the 1960s. Films such as Platoon, Wall Street, Born on the Fourth of July , and JFK gave way to his meteoric rise as an outspoken voice against a country he loves so much. But even with all that success early on, Stone hasn’t been able to find a footing in the 21st Century, turning in subpar work that doesn’t contain the epic anger he once had. In honor of his 76th birthday today, here’s a look at Stone’s ten best films as a director, many of which remain American classics. 10. Salvador This biographical war drama went largely unnoticed in 1986 due to the fact it was released the same year as Platoon . In fact, Stone competed against himself at the 1987 Oscars as both Salvador and Platoon were nominated for Best Original Screenplay (both would lose to Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters ). Salvador falls right in line with Stone’s career ambitions as he critiques America’s involvement in Central American politics during the Reagan administration, which had been embroiled in controversy over the Iran-Contra Affairs. James Woods, who was Oscar-nominated for his leading role, doggedly carries the film as a burnt-out journalist who slowly begins to see the horrible truth the further he goes down the rabbit hole. 9. Talk Radio With Talk Radio , Stone had finally met his match with a protagonist that was as angry as he was. Eric Bogosian reprises his stage role from the Pulitzer Prize-nominated play he created, delivering a grotesquely unlikeable character that you dare not look away from. In a similar vein to Paddy Chayefsky’s Network , Stone’s film is a scathing critique of our mass media culture, a subject he would tackle again with Natural Born Killers . With Robert Richardson’s dizzying circular camerawork and Bogosian’s never-ending tirade of insults towards his listeners, Talk Radio is in-your-face entertainment from beginning to end and has only gotten more and more relevant in our age of clickbait media. 8. The Doors Similar to the fate of Salvador , The Doors has often been pushed under the rug due to it being released a mere nine months before JFK . Following the larger-than-icon of Jim Morrison and the formation of the titular band, Stone’s film was the perfect combination of the psychedelic style of the creators and the period. Critiqued for its historical inaccuracies (which Stone is no stranger to), the film is best remembered for Val Kilmer’s stunning performance as the central figure. Kilmer was reportedly mistaken several times for the real Jim Morrison and did his own singing in each of the film’s concert sequences (take that Rami Malek). 7. Wall Street Only a year removed from Platoon , Stone switched his sights from American foreign policy to the domestic financial industry with Wall Street. Most famous for coining the multi-meaning quote “Greed is good,” and giving finance bros a figure they (wrongly) looked up to, Wall Street is overly naïve and mostly just two hours of Stone yelling about how capitalism is broken. But that doesn’t mean his simple statements aren’t correct, nor does it make the film any less entertaining with its flashes of excess that would later become popular in films such as Boiler Room and The Wolf of Wall Street . It’s a shame the 2011 sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps wasn’t able to match the heights of its predecessor, especially considering the ripe material Stone was given with coming out of the Great Recession in 2008. 6. Any Given Sunday With enough light and noise to give even the audience a concussion, Stone makes Any Given Sunday into a war picture. He never lets you forget that football is not played on just a simple field, but a battlefield. The score is everywhere, the blood is spilling, and everybody is playing for their survival. Stone's direction is ambitious and loud, which is the sort of thing that works perfectly for this type of sports movie. Everything is heightened to the highest degree, both emotions and physicality. It's no wonder the NFL didn't approve of this movie as no viewer can come out of this and be motivated to watch football, let alone play it. 5. Born on the Fourth of July With a great Tom Cruise performance at its center, Born on the Fourth of July is an endearing, yet conventional, biopic. Centering on the loss of innocence and the façade of the American dream for the Vietnam-era youth, Stone returned to his Platoon roots. He crafts several ingenious individual scenes with his might behind the camera, which earned him his second Oscar for Best Director. The scenes at the prom, Vietnam, and the Syracuse protest are just some of the great moments. John Williams’ score perfectly supplements the sweeping nature of the story, as it contains trumpet swells that recall youthful patriotism and a string orchestra that signals the haunting moment reality has crushed those once bright dreams. 4. Nixon A few years after making JFK , Stone gave Kennedy’s 1960 election opponent the full cradle-to-grave epic biopic with Nixon . Surprisingly not as damning as one would think and turning out to be a box office bomb by grossing only $13 million against its $44 million budget, Stone’s film plays out like a Shakespearean tragedy as our “hero” rises to the highest mountain, only to be eventually brought down to the lowest valley. The Welsh Anthony Hopkins, who, unlike Val Kilmer, doesn’t share many resemblances to his counterpart, gives a great performance, complete with a foul mouth and overwhelming thirst for alcohol. Hopkins was Oscar-nominated for his portrayal, as was Joan Allen as First Lady Pat Nixon. 3. Platoon As the film that quickly raised Stone’s status as an American auteur, Platoon is a dizzying autobiographical masterpiece. There's no order to anything that happens, from the battle scenes to the doldrums of downtime. Along with your confusion, you feel despair and a loss of purpose. What's the point of any of this? Soldiers are sent to die, or they survive and wish they were dead. The film was an enormous box office hit, grossing nearly $150 million on only a $6 million budget. It would conquer the 1987 Academy Awards with a haul of four awards, including Best Director for Stone and Best Picture. It would also launch the careers of several of its stars, many of which would work with Stone again (Charlie Sheen in Wall Street and Willem Dafoe in Born on the Fourth of July ). 2. Natural Born Killers Making each of his previous films look tame in comparison, Natural Born Killers creates a hellscape within the mind of the viewer as Stone savagely takes down the true-crime obsession of the American public. Matching the bewildering chaos on-camera was a bevy of troubled stars behind-the-scenes, such as the drug-addicted Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Sizemore, and Juliette Lewis beginning to practice Scientology. You also had Quentin Tarantino - who had just won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Pulp Fiction - lambasting the film for its reworking of his original script. All that drama fueled public anticipation for the film as it became a box office success while being banned in several countries and demonized by politicians for its unflinching violence and gonzo style. With the 2010s seeing a boom in true-crime podcasts, scripted television, and reality shows, the film has only gotten more relevant as time went on, with several critics praising the film for its messaging during its 25th anniversary in 2019. 1. JFK Accurately described as a “mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma,” Stone’s magnum opus is his quest for truth and justice against the military-industrial complex that stole his innocence. It’s a masterwork of cinematography by Robert Richardson and editing by Joe Hutshing and Pietro Scalia, both of which won Academy Awards in their respective categories. Richardson employed 7 cameras and 14 film stocks during the production, ranging from 16mm to 35mm, as well as color and black and white. Despite some of the film’s claims being later debunked, the “counter-myth” Stone proposes is nonetheless enticing at the moment and makes you wonder what else could be lurking in the shadows. The meeting between Jim Garrison (wonderfully played by Kevin Costner) and Mr. X remains one of the most effective conspiracy scenes in cinematic history. While it was trounced by The Silence of the Lambs in each of the above-the-line categories it was nominated for at the 1992 Academy Awards, JFK remains one of the quintessential films of its time and genre. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Nightbitch September 8, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen “Motherhood is a bitch” reads the tagline for Nightbitch , the feature film adaptation of author Rachel Yoder’s much-raved 2021 novel. It comes as a warning to us all, but not in the form that the overzealous marketing (including an incredibly divisive trailer ) would have led us to believe. Motherhood can be a trapdoor for some people, with the promises of the beauty of fertility and providing for others being switched out for restless nights, little appreciation, and the slipping sense that you are your own person. It turns women into a primordial version of themselves, a state where self-preservation triumphs over self-actualization. And in the case of Nightbitch (both the novel and the film), motherhood being a bitch is also a warning that there may be a slight chance you start turning into a dog after having children. Only slight! It first starts with patches of fur and a heightened sense of smell for our unnamed Mother (Amy Adams). Her newborn boy is now a two-year-old, and those very long two years have worn her down. When she sees a friend in the supermarket, they ask her if she loves being a mother. In one of several instances of writer/director Marielle Heller’s comically tuned editing, Mother goes into a long tirade about its pitfalls, akin to America Ferrera’s speech in Barbie . But once she’s gotten that off her chest, we cut back to reality, and at the start of the initial question, only for Mother to answer with a simple “I love it!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=918prRymA-U This exchange represents the heart that Heller is digging for in the next 90-ish minutes. There is so much about motherhood that cannot be discovered until it is experienced, with society not allowing women to talk about what they have to go through every day. Or, if someone does lend an ear, it’s usually in the form of her husband (Scoot McNairy), who, while always having a loving interest, never gives the full attention and consideration required. Both of them just float through their existence, one shouting into the void and the other turning the other way. Once the breaking point is reached for Mother, that’s when her animal instincts come out. In a page out of the Animorphs book series, Mother transforms into a red husky at night, running with a pack of dogs doing all sorts of canine things. She comes back to the human world covered in leaves and smelling of blood, and also with a sense of freedom that could only be achieved by fully cutting loose. Is this transformation literal, or just a metaphorical representation of postpartum depression and body changes? The clues lead to it being literal, but Heller never dives enough into the deep end for it to be conclusive. There are more than a few moments of kookiness (the ones promised in the trailer) where this movie could distance itself from the many other stories about womanhood and maternity, but there’s a refusal from Heller to really throw us for a loop. Her intentions and emotions are authentic, something that shouldn’t be a surprise considering her filmography, which includes Can You Ever Forgive Me? and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood . Someone who does cut loose is Adams, devouring the meat of this performance with gusto. Her character fears becoming invisible, but it’s impossible not to see what Adams is bringing to the table, which ranges from soulfully teary monologues to devouring rabbits on the front lawn. Backing her up is an enigmatic performance from Jessica Harper as the local librarian and a trio of neighborly moms (Zoe Chao, Mary Holland, and Archana Ryan) that provide some excellent moments of comic relief. They often say less is more, but in the case of Nightbitch , more would have been more. A little more zaniness here and a little more directness there would have lifted this well-meaning story out of the crowded category labeled “just fine.” A woman turning into a dog isn’t exactly doing just fine, and neither should a film with such promise as this. This review was originally published from the world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Searchlight Pictures will release Nightbitch in theaters nationwide on December 06th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen 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 part of his filmography and again makes you wonder if we'll ever get the old Robert Zemeckis back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nlhmJF5FNI 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 a while. Unfortunately for them, this resort is the same location where a coven of witches is 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, its 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 who 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 to keep 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. Warner Bros. Pictures will release The Witches on HBO Max on October 22nd. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Black Bag March 13, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen A meeting on Friday, a dinner party on Sunday, a murder on Monday, and a movie on Tuesday—this is the cycle of events that the characters in Black Bag face with a cold attitude. All of them work in different departments within British intelligence (probably MI6; it’s never made clear). The actions of a traitor initiate this cycle, and the unflappable George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) is tasked with snuffing them out. On his list are the names of five suspects. There’s Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke), always confident in his skills despite just being passed over for a promotion by George; Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela), the youngest of the bunch who possesses much more skill than she lets on; James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page), the young colonel whose ascendancy at work is only matched by the height of his ego; Dr. Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris), the psychoanalysis who probably knows more everyone and everything than she should; and, most importantly of all, Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett), George’s wife and fellow spy. One of these people stole some sort of device that could destroy a nuclear reactor from the inside, inevitably leading to the radioactive deaths of every man, woman, and child within fifty miles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du0Xp8WX_7I Honestly, though, the world-ending stakes aren’t that important, especially once a generic Russian terrorist becomes involved later on. What’s important to director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter David Koepp is what George will do to the traitor once he finds them, and what kind of collateral damage the other four will have to endure before they’re exonerated. Everyone asks George if he’ll be able to pull the trigger if Kathryn turns out to be the culprit, a question that he always leaves unanswered. Making the traditionally important aspects of a story the least interesting thing about them is a common practice for Soderbergh. He took all the basketball out of his NBA movie High Flying Bird , focused on business over dancing in the Magic Mike films, and swapped out horror for familial dysfunction in his haunted house movie Presence . These decisions could, should, and would disappoint those looking to be greeted by the familiar trappings of a genre. But Soderbergh is always one step ahead, using subversion to his and our benefit. Black Bag illustrates that the greatest weapon in a spy’s arsenal is not a gun or some nifty gadget, but the ability to have an open conversation. But when you and everyone you know work in a profession that trades in deceit and lies, the truth becomes ungraspable. The titular phrase is famously used around the agency as an answer to any question that can’t or won’t be divulged. Where were you last night? Black Bag. What did you do today at work? Black bag. How much longer do you think you’ll need to stay at the office tonight? Black bag. George hates liars. His steely presence and precision in deciding whether to speak or remain silent allow every other character’s words to hang in the air just long enough to box themselves into a corner. Between this and The Killer and The Agency , Fassbender has clearly found his knack for playing the highly competent professional who finds himself flung in over his head. He plays the small moments with as much heft as the explosions, the retreatment keeping everything as tight as a piano wire. The supporting cast gets to cut loose a little more, but mostly from the benefit of comparison. Soderbergh always knows how to make the mundane feel smoky cool, something that comes with ease when you have the mega wattage of Cate Blanchett. Just the sight of her walking through an airport in sunglasses is enough to raise the temperature. But except for the opening long take that snakes George through an underground London club, Soderbergh never calls much attention to himself. The camerawork and editing (performed by himself under the famous pseudonyms Peter Andrews and Mary Ann Bernard, respectively) are ripped out of a surveillance system, blocking characters from each other in a playful game of back-and-forth. Koepp and Soderbergh have collaborated twice before on Kimi and Presence . I hope this partnership continues indefinitely, as each product twists our expectations through practical and thematic strategies. Even when you strip away all the fancy artistry and subtextual analysis, you’re still left with something extremely entertaining. Focus Features will release Black Bag in theaters nationwide on March 14th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen