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Cannes 2024 Predictions- Part 2: The Regulars April 7, 2024 By: Hunter Friesen With Oscar season firmly behind us (although it never really ends), it’s time to set our sights on the next white whale barreling toward us: festival season! Sundance and SXSW have provided the appetizer with their concentration of indies and spring studio releases, opening the doors for Cannes to take center stage with glitzy red carpets and world-class talent. Last year’s edition proved to be one of its best, with Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall and Grand Prize winner The Zone of Interest being two of the most acclaimed and rewarded films of the year. Also featured were About Dry Grasses , Fallen Leaves , La Chimera , May December , and The Taste of Things . Last year’s SAG and WGA strikes will likely put a damper on the presence of Hollywood on the Croisette (and potentially at the later fall festivals), but it shouldn’t prevent Delegate General Thierry Fremaux and his team from assembling some of the best that world cinema has to offer. The festival will announce its full lineup on April 11. Until then, I’ll take a closer look at some of the films that are generating buzz and predict which ones are likely to make it up the coveted steps this year. This middle part of the series is where we find the directors with a decent Cannes and/or festival background. They may not have the ability to grab the headlines like some of their contemporaries, 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. Preference will be given to directors who have displayed a commitment to Cannes before. So stuff like Luca Guadagnino’s Queer , Pablo Larraín’s Maria , and Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada won’t be included on account of all three of them having heavy ties to Venice. The Most Precious of Cargoes Michel Hazanavicius took Cannes by storm in 2011 with The Artist , which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director. He’s had three films at the festival since ( The Search , Godard Mon Amour , and Final Cut ), all of which disappointed. He’s venturing into animation for his new film, an adaptation of a best-selling French book set during WWII. Production began just before the pandemic, with some footage and a 2024 release date being announced at the 2022 Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival. Hazanavicius’s spotty record and the festival’s aversion to animation in the Official Selection hints that if this does show up, it’ll be out-of-competition or in the Cannes Premieres section. Inside Out 2 It’s a partnership that may seem a little strange on paper, but the collaborations between Pixar and Cannes have always borne fruit (well, until last year’s Elemental ). Up opened the festival in 2009, and Inside Out was one of the most acclaimed titles of the 2015 edition. Soul was even given the honorable laurels for the 2020 edition. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Inside Out 2 is taken overseas to generate buzz ahead of the film’s worldwide release in June. Those Who Find Me Georgian filmmaker Dea Kulumbegashvili made one of the most acclaimed debut films of 2020 with Beginnings . It was part of the honorary selection at that year’s canceled edition, instead premiering months later in Toronto. Her sophomore feature tells a timely story of a “gynecologist-obstetrician working in the only hospital in a provincial town, who is unconditionally committed to her Hippocratic Oath, even if it means carrying out illegal abortions.” Fremeaux and his selection committee might have sympathy for Kulumbegashvili not getting her time to shine in 2020, so an invite into the main competition could very well be in the cards. Serpent's Path Kiyoshi Kurosawa will likely be pulling double duty this year as he’s already debuted the 45-minute-long Chime at the Berlin International Film Festival. He’s been a Cannes regular over the past three decades, but recently won the Best Director prize at Venice for 2020’s Wife of a Spy . His latest is a French remake of his own 1998 Japanese film that stars Matthieu Almaric. Partenhope Despite his Italian heritage, Paolo Sorrentino has opted to debut nearly all of his feature films on French soil His previous film, The Hand of God , was forced to skip Cannes because of its distribution by Netflix. No such worries are present for his new film, set within his native Naples. Gary Oldman is part of the sprawling cast that will travel through different eras in a dreamlike state, all (at least based on the first images) captured in crisp black and white. C'est Pas Moi Cannes is a party, and you can’t have a party without Leos Carax. He started the 2021 festival off with a bang with Annette , netting him the Best Director prize. His latest escapade is a short film that reunites him with Holy Motors frontman Denis Lavant for a self-portrait of Carax’s life and filmography. Expect something wholly strange and out-of-this-world. The End Despite only having two films to his name, director Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence have made him a marquee name on the festival circuit. He’s stepping outside the documentary structure for his third feature, which has been described as “a Golden Age-style musical about the last human family. Festival favorite Tilda Swinton leads the cast along with Michael Shannon and George MacKay. Neon holds distribution rights, giving the company a chance to nab their fifth consecutive Palme d’Or. Furiosa (*CONFIRMED*) The speed bump that was Three Thousand Years of Longing won’t be able to slow down George Miller from storming the Croisette with another story set in the world of Mad Max . He’ll be bringing along Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth for this origin story of the titular character. The Second Act (*CONFIRMED*) Along with Gaspar Noe, surrealist filmmaker Quentin Dupieux often is the provider of the strange and wild, most notably with Smoking Causes Coughing and Deerskin . He’s assembled his starriest cast yet for his new film, with Léa Seydoux, Louis Garrel, and Vincent Lindon playing actors appearing in a terrible film. Filming was completed before the public was aware of the film’s existence. Dupieux has only ever appeared in the sidebars, with the most likely landing spot being an out-of-competition midnight slot. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Twin Cities Film Fest 2022 Preview October 19, 2022 By: Hunter Friesen After partaking in this year's Sundance, Cannes, and Toronto Film Festivals, I'm glad to be finishing off with one close to home. This year's edition of the Twin Cities Film Festival promises to be a great one with it's mixture of high-performing indie titles and awards hopeful studio projects. Here six films that I'll be seeing over the next week. Look forward to a review of each one shortly! Till Till is a profoundly emotional and cinematic film about the true story of Mamie Till Mobley’s relentless pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till, who, in 1955, was lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi. In Mamie’s poignant journey of grief turned to action, we see the universal power of a mother’s ability to change the world. My Policeman A tale of forbidden romance and changing social conventions, My Policeman follows the relationships between three people - policeman Tom (Harry Styles), teacher Marion (Emma Corrin) and museum curator Patrick (David Dawson) - and their emotional journey spanning decades. Aftersun At a fading vacation resort, 11-year-old Sophie treasures rare time together with her loving and idealistic father, Calum (Paul Mescal). As a world of adolescence creeps into view, beyond her eye Calum struggles under the weight of life outside of fatherhood. Twenty years later, Sophie's tender recollections of their last holiday become a powerful and heartrending portrait of their relationship, as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn't, in Charlotte Wells’ superb and searingly emotional debut film. She Said Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan star as New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, who together broke one of the most important stories in a generation— a story that helped propel the #Metoo movement, shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood and altered American culture forever. Women Talking A group of women from a remote religious community deal with the aftermath of sexual assault perpetrated by the colony’s men. A film of ideas brought to life by Polley’s imaginative direction and a superb, fine-tuned ensemble cast—including Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand, Ben Whishaw, and Judith Ivey— Women Talking is a deep and searching exploration of self-determination, group responsibility, faith and forgiveness, philosophically engaging and emotionally rich in equal measure. The Inspection In Elegance Bratton's deeply moving film inspired by his own story, a young, gay Black man, rejected by his mother and with few options for his future, decides to join the Marines, doing whatever it takes to succeed in a system that would cast him aside. But even as he battles deep-seated prejudice and the grueling routines of basic training, he finds unexpected camaraderie, strength, and support in this new community, giving him a hard-earned sense of belonging that will shape his identity and forever change his life. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

26 Most Anticipated Films of 2026 January 12, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Heading into 2026, there are so many existential questions that Hollywood has to grapple with. Between Netflix and Paramount, which will become the new owner of Warner Bros.? With the May 1st deadline for a new labor deal between the studios and guilds fast approaching, will we see a repeat of the industry-stopping strikes of 2023? Can the box office finally bounce back after years of accelerated depression from the COVID-19 pandemic? The answers to all these questions remain shrouded in mystery, although the past few years haven't instilled much room for optimism. But a new year also brings a new wave of possibilities for the road ahead. 2025 saw big-name directors cashing in their blank checks for career-defining projects: Paul Thomas Anderson with One Battle After Another , Ryan Coogler with Sinners , and Guillermo del Toro with Frankenstein . 2026 will (hopefully) contain more of the same, with Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, and David Fincher returning to the silver screen. International directors have also garnered increased attention over the years, with numerous great films emerging from every corner of the globe. To get you all excited as I am, listed below (in alphabetical order) are the twenty-six films I'm most looking forward to in 2026! Honorable Mentions: Animals, Cry to Heaven, Enemies, Hope, Ink, Mother Mary, Sense and Sensibility, The Bride!, The Uprising, Wild Horse Nine All of a Sudden Between Drive My Car being an unexpected Oscar heavyweight and Evil Does Not Exist sneakily being one of the best films of last year, Japanese auteur Ryûsuke Hamaguchi has rapidly ascended to becoming one of the most sought-after voices in international cinema. With the lights being the brightest that they've ever been, he's shifting over to France for a story about two female scholars who form a deep connection as they exchange letters. Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto will star, with the former promising that the film will contain some “astonishing formal choices” during a recent interview. Artifical Artificial intelligence has taken over nearly every facet of our lives, so it’s only natural that it's made its way into the cinema as well. Thankfully, I’m not talking about an artificially generated movie, but a biopic about Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI. Cinema’s premiere workaholic, Luca Guadagnino, is taking the reins, and he’s reuniting with Andrew Garfield. Supporting him will be a cast comprised of Monica Barbaro, Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Mark Rylance, and Yura Borisov. Avengers: Doomsday (December 18th) On the one hand, the return of the Russo brothers to the director’s chair, along with Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr., feels like an act of desperation and a slight betrayal of the finality of Avengers: Endgame . On the other hand, the films directed by the Russos solely occupy my MCU Mount Rushmore, and I haven’t been interested in continuing the stories of any of the characters introduced over the past few years. A multi-billion-dollar empire hangs in the balance, so this will be quite the spectacle whichever side the coin lands. Behemoth! Most famous on the silver screen for his directorial debut of Michael Clayton , Tony Gilroy hasn’t helmed a film since 2012’s The Bourne Legacy , the continuation of the Matt Damon-starring trilogy that he penned. In the meantime, he’s proved to both Disney and the fandom that Star Wars can still be relevant with Andor . He’s pairing up with another Disney+ star, Pedro Pascal, for a movie about a cellist composing music for the big screen. It’s described as a “love letter to the music of the movies and the people who make it,” so expect some sentimentality attached to the tunes that helped those images soar. Burning Rainbow Farm The Australian Justin Kurzel has become the preeminent gritty filmmaker over the past decade, exploring the darkness within Shakespeare ( Macbeth ), as well as real-life tragedies within his native country ( Nitram ) and America ( The Order ). His next film comes from that same mold, with Sebastian Stan (his first of a few appearances on this list) and rising star Leo Woodall appearing as a marijuana advocate couple who endure a five-day standoff against the FBI at their farmstead. The climactic shootout in The Order was some of the best work Kurzel has produced, so I can only imagine what he'll be able to pull off with a wider scope. Butterfly Jam After nabbing the Best Director prize from the Un Certain Regard section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival for his sophomore feature, Beanpole , it seemed like writer/director Kantemir Balagov would become one of the top young voices in cinema. His disagreements with the current regime in his Russian homeland stalled his ability to make another project there, and he eventually was transplanted to New Jersey. He'll be exploring that area's Circassian community, centering on Barry Keoghan as an aspiring professional wrestler who gets caught up in his father's criminal schemes. Digger (October 2nd) When the world needs saving, that means it’s time to call in Tom Cruise. It looks like he’ll be up to that task again for a “comedy of catastrophic proportions.” Although judging by his hairpiece and shovel dancing in the recent title announcement, his titular character won’t be as suave as Ethan Hunt or Maverick. Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki won back-to-back Oscars in their respective fields for Birdman and The Revenant . Each of those films also netted nominations for their lead stars, with Leonardo DiCaprio finally nabbing that elusive trophy in the latter film. Here’s hoping the same happens for Cruise, who hasn’t been nominated for acting since Magnolia . Disclosure Day (June 12th) Steven Spielberg has solely made movies based on preexisting material or history in the forty-plus years since E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial . That makes it extra fitting that the streak will be broken for an original story about aliens walking among us. Spielberg has enlisted his trusted screenwriter, David Koepp, to flesh out the details, as well as a cast consisting of Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Eve Hewson, Colin Firth, and Colman Domingo. Morbidly, this film will likely feature the final compositions by legendary maestro John Williams. Dune: Part Three (December 18th) The first two parts of Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi franchise were adaptations of the initial book in the famed series by Frank Herbert. This third chapter will leap ahead to Dune: Messiah , which contains several story elements that could take this series in bold directions. It’s unclear how strongly Villeneuve will follow the source material. What is clear is that much of the same cast and crew return, with new additions in Robert Pattinson and Anya Taylor-Joy. After The Odyssey , this will be the second film shot entirely in IMAX, a naturally epic canvas for Villeneuve to paint with. Fjord While he has yet to break into the mainstream, Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu has consistently been one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of the 21st century. He won the Palme d’Or in 2007 for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days , and will likely compete again with his starriest film to date. Coming off their work in A Different Man , Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve will play an immigrant Romanian couple who are persecuted shortly after settling in Norway. Judging by Mungiu’s continuous critiques of the flawed justice system, it’s doubtful that this will be a happy tale. Her Private Hell True to his nature, Nicolas Winding Refn's first film in ten years promises "lots of glitter, sex, and violence." The Danish bad boy director is the epitome of style over substance, sending Ryan Gosling down a path of bloody crime in Drive and Only God Forgives . His two leading ladies this time around are Sophie Thatcher and Havana Rose Liu, who, between their looks and acting styles, seem like perfect additions to his intoxicating world. Jack of Spades Since the breakup of the Minnesota-born brothers, Ethan has released two wacky comedies ( Drive-Away Dolls and Honey Don’t! ), while Joel has dabbled in Shakespeare ( The Tragedy of Macbeth ). This second solo effort from the latter brother will probably give us enough evidence to solidify any theory about the dynamics of their working relationship. As with every Coen project, specific details are closely guarded, with the only known information being that it’s set in London during the nineteenth century, and will star Josh O’Connor, Frances McDormand, Damian Lewis, and Lesley Manville. Madden Between the slight disappointment of Joy and the outright disaster of Amsterdam , there’s been quite a cooling off for David O. Russell since his early-2010s hot streak of The Fighter , Silver Linings Playbook , and American Hustle . Despite those most recent failures, he’s attracted a star-studded cast for this story of the birth of the chart-topping football video game series. Nicolas Cage will be caked in makeup to play the turducken-loving coach, and so will Christian Bale as he portrays longtime Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis. This will probably be a mess, but entertaining nonetheless. Paper Tiger Not that it can be taken too seriously, but Rodrigo Teixeira, a producer on Paper Tiger , claims that it’s the best work that writer/director James Gray has ever done. Bias aside, that kind of enthusiasm is what Gray deserves, whose consistently remained underappreciated despite his near impeccable filmography, which includes Ad Astra , The Lost City of Z , and We Own the Night . He's got his starriest cast yet with Adam Driver and Miles Teller playing brothers caught up in the violence of the American dream, with Scarlett Johansson also involved. Parallel Tales Sandwiched between his Oscar-winning dramas of A Separation and The Salesman , Iranian writer/director Asghar Farhadi dipped his toe into the Parisian waters with the equally acclaimed The Past . Thirteen years later, he's back in France, this time with an all-star cast comprised of Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Cassel, Virginie Efira, and Pierre Niney. The plot is under wraps, so we'll just have to wait and see what’s in store. Sheep in the Box and Look Back Hirokazu Kore-eda has arguably been one of the greatest filmmakers of this millennium, with even his recent "lesser" films like The Truth, Broker , and Monster being near the top of my list in their respective years. He has two films in the can for this year, the first being set in the near-future as a couple takes in a state-of-the-art humanoid into their home as their son. The second is a live-action adaptation of the immensely popular manga, which recently received a highly acclaimed anime version. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw the TV Glow felt like a defining film of the 2020s, containing a voice that stemmed from several influences, yet was entirely its own. They'll be staying in that liminal space for their third feature, which follows a queer director (Hannah Einbinder from Hacks ) making a modern sequel to an iconic 80s slasher franchise. Gillian Anderson stars as the original film's 'final girl,' who becomes psychologically and sexually tangled with Einbinder. The Adventures of Cliff Booth Between a novelization and now a sequel script, it seems that Quentin Tarantino really wants to stay in the world of Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood before he finally ventures into making his tenth and final film. And for the first time in thirty years, he won’t be directing his own screenplay, having personally hired David Fincher for that task. It’s an odd pairing of the cold and calculating Fincher with a potentially shaggy comedy. But the talent both on and off the screen is too immense for those doubts to cloud my excitement. The Dog Stars (August 28th) Ridley Scott has continually defied the notion that age should slow a person down. Since he turned 80 years old in 2017, he has directed four blockbusters and several television pilots. Even at 88, he’s still lining up projects that will not be filmed for many more years. For now, he’s got an adaptation of the popular sci-fi novel set in a post-apocalyptic world after a virus wipes out most of humanity. Jacob Elordi stars as Hig, a pilot who survived the plague and must scavenge the desolate wasteland in order to preserve what’s left of our species. The Entertainment System Is Down In the year since he started production on his newest film, Ruben Östlund has been claiming that it will cause the most walkouts in the history of the Cannes Film Festival, where he recently won consecutive Palme d'Ors for The Square and Triangle of Sadness . A real Boeing 747 was acquired specifically for the production, with a cast that includes Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst, Daniel Brühl, and Vincent Lindon, stuck on a long-haul international flight where the titular scenario occurs. While the characters will certainly be bored as they must grapple with life free of distractions, we will not, as Östlund doles out another helping of his outlandish social commentary. The Last Disturbance of Madeline Hynde Although he has yet to share any plot details, writer/director Kenneth Branagh has been very open about his admiration for star Jodie Comer, even going so far as to compare her to Meryl Streep. That’s a lofty pedestal to place her on, and a funny coincidence since Branagh will be starring as Streep’s husband in The Devil Wears Prada 2 . Branagh has always been an inconsistent director, with his more successful films being the ones he wrote. Let’s hope that streak continues here. The Odyssey (July 17th) I may not have approved of the practice, but I did cave and buy a year-ahead ticket for the first IMAX 70mm showing of The Odyssey at AMC Lincoln Square. It only felt right for me to witness Christopher Nolan's new film on the biggest screen in the country. His retelling of the epic that started it all will be presented entirely in IMAX, making this not just a film, but also a cultural event. The Social Reckoning (October 9th) The scope of The Social Network feels quaint compared to what Facebook has become in the fifteen years since. That’s why original screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is returning to the subject for a follow-up investigation, which will include data leaks, invasions of privacy, and how it became connected to the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Mikey Madison will mark her return to the screen after winning her Oscar, and Jeremy Strong replaces Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg. It is somewhat of a shame that Sorkin is now directing his own scripts instead of entrusting them to a top-tier filmmaker. But if that’s the price that must be paid to experience his signature masterful dialogue, then so be it. The Way of the Wind Now that we’ve reached the seventh consecutive year of this film appearing on this list, the joke has more than run its course. Although it does seem fitting for a film about the life of Jesus Christ to continually test my faith in its existence. I worship at the altar of Terrence Malick, so I’ll continue to say my prayers. Werwulf Between Guillermo del Toro and Robert Eggers, the classic movie monsters have been receiving the respectful modern adaptations that they deserve. While Eggers’ newest film is technically not a story about the famous werewolf, it will definitely have those familiar elements. He’s working again with his The Northman screenwriter, Sjón, as well as a majority of the cast of Nosferatu . Likely to be bathed in darkness and blood, this will be the feel-bad movie of Christmas. Wuthering Heights (February 13th) Emerald Fennell has become something of a prestige provocateur this decade with Promising Young Woman and Saltburn . The latter film may not have fared as well as the former, but it still packs a lot of messy glitz and glamor. How will those sensibilities mesh with literature's most famous love story, which has amassed a loyal fanbase in the nearly two centuries since its publication? It's hard to tell, with the imagery from the trailer looking ravishing and the passion between stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi seemingly being off the charts. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Poitier and Hoffman: The Dueling Kings of 1967 Hollywood February 23, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen In all the years that cinema has been alive, 1967 is undoubtedly one of the most pivotal. After years of jealousy towards the European model of thinking, America finally opened itself up to a new wave of filmmaking, one heralded by auteurs who subscribed to the ideas of new sentimentality. Films such as Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate spoke to the younger audience of American cinema, offering exploration into forbidden topics such as sex, violence, and social change. Even though these films made their mark both critically and financially, it did not mean the death of old sentimentality in film, quite the contrary. In the Heat of the Night and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner both were nominated for Best Picture that year, with the former taking home the prize. These two films appealed to the older generation through their use of star power and production values. What’s most striking about the dichotomy between these two sets of films is the leading men at the center of them. On one side sits Dustin Hoffman; a short (only standing 5’5”) aloof brown-haired boy. On the other side is Sidney Poitier, who stands tall at 6’2” and is both exceedingly handsome and elegant. Both of these actors represented different generations of cinema and were hugely important in the turning point of 1967. Dustin Hoffman had no screen presence before being cast in The Graduate . He had no major previous roles and did not possess the classic movie star looks such as the blonde hair of Robert Redford and Paul Newman or the towering charisma of Warren Beatty. Hoffman was of Jewish descent, which could be easily discerned from his looks, making him even more of an outsider to his contemporaries. Director Mike Nichols saw something in Hoffman, an opportunity to use Hoffman’s “flaws” to tell a more authentic story to a younger audience growing tired of Hollywood perfectionism. In The Graduate , Benjamin’s detachment from every aspect of life is something that connects with younger viewers. In 1967, the Vietnam War was still raging, and the American optimism that had been so prevalent since World War II had started to wane. Kids didn’t have their entire futures planned out and were starting to see the flaws within American society. Because of Hoffman and The Graduate , no longer does the main character have to have a goal to achieve or a lover to swoon over. Instead, they can be aimless and enter into an adulterous relationship with an older woman. This performance spurred Hoffman’s career further, with equally down & dirty roles in Midnight Cowboy and Straw Dogs just a few years later. Sidney Poitier, on the other hand, was, through his involvement in the projects, a proponent of old sentimentality in Hollywood. Where Hoffman’s popularity was beginning to boom, Poitier’s reached its peak and would soon come crashing down. His roles in both In the Heat of the Night and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner shined a light on race relations within America but did it through the old lens of conventionalism. Of course, a black man leading a Best Picture winner and garnering acclaim for his performance isn’t something to shortchange. But Poitier played by Hollywood’s rules, playing stoic, calm, and poignant men that appealed to a generation that stood for professionalism and the status quo. In the Heat of the Night has Poitier play Virgil Tibbs, who solves a murder case in the deep south and confronts the town’s ideals through his merit as a detective and ability to withstand undeserved ridicule. In Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner , Poitier is John Prentice, seemingly the world’s greatest doctor who rests the solution to his marital problem in the hands of Spencer Tracy, one of the great screen legends of the past. While both these roles allowed Poitier to address social change in intermittent radical ways, such as his retaliatory slap against Endicott and his fiery speech about thinking of himself not as a colored man, but just a man. Both of these movies portrayed the white savior narrative that had grown out of favor among the younger generation. Unlike Hoffman, Poitier’s appeal was, ironically, only to the people that had been holding him back all those years, and not to the people who were looking to create change within the nation and Hollywood system. This is why Poitier never stayed at the same level post-1967, as New Hollywood emerged and the old conventions started to die off, both literally and figuratively. Both Dustin Hoffman and Sidney Poiter were exciting actors for an exciting time in American cinema. Through their physical and personality traits, they appealed to different sets of ideals within the American psyche at a time when both sides came to a crossroads. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Cassavetes & Newman: Hollywood Stars, Art Cinema Auteurs March 11, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen As actors, John Cassavetes and Paul Newman worked within the Hollywood studio system. Cassavetes starred mostly in miliary movies, while Newman was one of the biggest stars in the world with hits such as Cool Hand Luke and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid . While both of them were prevalent on the multiplex screens, they were much different behind the camera. As directors, they veered into unfamiliar territory, creating films more in line with the auteur theory that wasn't present in the movies they starred in. Through the films Faces and The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds , both Cassavetes and Newman created films one would consider part of the arthouse crowd. In his essay “The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice," David Bordwell writes that arthouse films are “a distinct mode of film practice, possessing a definite historical existence, a set of formal conventions, and implicit viewing procedures.” Hearing the word “convention” when describing arthouse cinema sounds like an oxymoron as everything within this specific industry is meant to be in contrast to the usual conventions within Hollywood. But every movement and genre has to have rules, whether written or unwritten. These rules can be seen in both Cassavettes’ and Newman’s films. Bordwell writes that the narratives within art cinema pride themselves on two things: realism and authorial expressivity. Life is to be shown as realistically as possible, with real locations and problems. In Faces , shot in grainy 16mm, Cassavetes makes it seem as if the viewer is a fly-on-the-wall as we watch a marriage decay. There is no gloss and the music doesn’t swell our emotions, instead, we are bombarded with closeups and technical inconsistencies. It’s the cinéma vérité style commonly found within Europe at the time. Cassavetes’ camera doesn’t glamorize American life, it shines a light on the reality of middle-class suburban life. Richard and Maria fight about their sexual desires and their discontent for one another. Instead of finding solace in each other, they find it in the bottle and strangers. It’s highly unconventional for the time and way ahead of anything that was coming shortly. Like Faces , Marigolds is filled with imperfect characters stuck in a realistically depressing situation. Beatrice has aspirations, but she doesn’t have the means to accomplish them. She’s also an embarrassment to her daughters and is an alcoholic. But the story isn’t about her, it’s actually about Matilda coming to terms with her downtrodden life. She and her mother are determined to push past their social convention offenses. Newman doesn’t treat the situation as misery porn, he simply follows the story. He’s connecting his audience, who most likely share the same circumstances, with the characters. Like Cassavetes, Newman’s visual style is pulled back, never reveling in the situation and the performances are also more reflective of the characters you would see on your street block. With both Faces and The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds , John Cassavetes and Paul Newman pushed back against the Hollywood system they had inhabited for many years. Through technical and thematic intrusiveness, they were able to tell real stories for real people, something the big machine out in California simply didn’t want to do. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

'Night of the Living Dead': The First Liberal Horror Film March 22, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen The 1960s and 1970s marked an era of transformation within cinema. No longer did the studio system out in Hollywood dominate the industry as it had in the previous decades. A new era of auteur-driven cinema was burgeoning around the world, starting in Europe with François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard in The French New Wave. America finally showed up to the party in the 1960s, as directors John Cassavetes, Mike Nichols, and Arthur Penn made films for a different generation of moviegoers, a generation that was at the forefront of social change. Also adding him to this exclusive list is George Romero. At first glance, you would think Romero’s Night of the Living Dead was nothing more than a cheap horror movie looking to make a quick buck and fade from existence. But through ingenious directing and writing, Romero and co-screenwriter John Russo were able to elevate the horror genre and tell a compelling story that incorporates elements from today’s society. First and foremost, Night of the Living Dead is a B-picture that was part of thedime-a-dozen crowd back in the drive-in era. It has an ultra-low budget and is almost filled with no-name amateur actors. For 99% of films, those characteristics would be the death knells, but Night of the Living Dead is part of that 1% where its “faults” are part of its charm. I’m also not trying to say having a low budget and no movie stars is a bad thing. Even with the low budget, Romero shows off technical prowess with his grainy camera. He incites genuine fear with tilted close-ups and manipulation of the sound effects. The musical score (if you can even call it a “score”) fades in and out of the movie as it intercuts with the horrifying diegetic sound effects. This technique peaks with the infamous trowel scene where the camera shakes and careens as we follow a zombie child as she murders her mother, whose screams are amplified as she is repeatedly impaled by a blunt object. It’s a terrifying scene to watch because of the technical and shock-value aspects. It’s inspirational to see someone make an effective movie for little money. At a timewhen Hollywood was spending tens of millions of dollars on giant productions, someone was able to make something just as good (if not better), for a fraction of the cost. Even though the word “zombie” is never used within the film, Romero also laid out the groundwork for the ever-popular zombie subgenre. The idea of going for the head, burning them with fire, and zombies eating brains are a few of the ideas that he either originated or popularized. But what makes this film stand out from the rest after all these years is the socialmessaging that works in conjunction with the horror elements. Throughout his career, Romero often cast African-Americans as the heroes in his movies, going against the stereotype at the time where the black character dies first. For our hero, Ben, the horror comes from two different fronts. The first is obvious as the world is being attacked by zombies. The second is a problem one wouldn’t think he'd have to face in a world-gone-mad scenario, which is that he is a black man being discriminated against by other white survivors. Despite being the calmest and skilled survivor of the group, Ben is still regarded assecond-class by the whites who are also trapped in the house. Ben must battle for his life against the zombies and his humanity against the prejudiced survivors. Romero shows the deep prejudice that America shows for African-Americans as Ben is never fully given the respect he deserves by his group members. Romero caps this point off with the shocking ending. An earlier line from the filmdescribes the zombies as “...looking like people, but acting like animals . " As the sole survivor after a night of endless death, Ben is about to leave the house and regroup with the local police. As he climbs out the window, the police shoot and kill him, thinking him a zombie. That description of the zombies earlier can be seen both literally and metaphorically as a way that white people have put down black people for centuries. The police treat Ben’s death like putting down an animal, laughing and walking away as nothing happened. It’s an infuriating way for ourhero to meet his demise. As entertaining and as it is timeless, George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead shows that society can be even scarier than zombies. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Top 10 Films of 2018 January 24, 2019 By: Hunter Friesen With political and social upheaval, natural disasters, and the overall feeling of optimism fading away, 2018 was a rocky year that really never seemed to end. Fortunately for moviegoers, the year did offer a way of escape through some great films, ranging from record-setting blockbusters to genre-defying indies. Now that the year is finally over and all the films have been released, I can finally release my list of what I thought were the ten best films of 2018. Honorable Mentions They Shall Not Grow Old The Sisters Brothers Mission: Impossible - Fallout Thoroughbreds Wildlife 10. Private Life Coming out of Sundance, this film written and directed by Tamara Jenkins illustrates the challenges a forty-something couple goes through in order to start a family. Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti star as the couple as they go through treatments, adoption, and every method to have a child. The gripping performances from the leads along with Jenkin’s touching screenplay gave this film a ton of comedy and tragedy that led to one of the most emotional films of the year. 9. Vox Lux Dubbed by many as the anti- A Star Is Born , this film tracks the unsettling career of Celeste as she becomes famous through tragedy and chooses to live in that dark moment. Raffey Cassidy and Natalie Portman play Celeste as a teenager and adult, respectively. They each do an incredible job of creating a conflicted character that holds a mirror up to a society that worships celebrities. With a soundtrack by Sia, this pop tale has some great music to go along with its disturbing subject matter. 8. First Man Damien Chazelle and Ryan Gosling follow up La La Land with another equally great film. Trading in his piano for a rocket ship, Gosling stars as Neil Armstrong and gives us an accurate look into the turbulent life of one of America’s most famous figures. Chazelle's impeccable directing made for some of the most terrifying sequences of the year and allow us to bear witness to the immense danger that many brave men experienced in the name of exploring the unknown. Full Review 7. Roma Probably one of the best directors working today, Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma is his most personal and epic film to date. The sweeping story is centered around a housemaid named Cleo. Through her eyes, we watch the domestic struggle a large family must go through in 1970s Mexico City. Along with directing, writing, and editing, Cuarón also manned the camera and gave us some of the most awe-inspiring cinematography of the century. Available on Netflix, this film is the most accessible must-see of 2018. 6. First Reformed One of the most influential writers of American cinema, Paul Schrader both writes and directs this film about a tortured priest and the inner turmoil he struggles with as he examines the world we currently live in. Boasting some of the best dialogue of the year along with a career-best performance by Ethan Hawke, this dark and metaphorical film challenges its audience to see the effects humans have had on this planet and how we cope with our misdoings. 5. BlacKkKlansman Spike Lee returns to form with a true story of black cop Ron Stallworth infiltrating the KKK in 1970s Colorado Springs. Both John David Washington and Adam Driver deliver great performances, and Lee’s powerful editing near the end of this comedy/drama serves as both a history lesson and a modern commentary on how our society really hasn’t changed as much as we think it has. Full Review 4. Leave No Trace Also out of Sundance, This small film also is a quiet character study of a father and daughter that have chosen to live in the woods rather than within the confines of civilization. Sporting spectacular performances from breakout star Thomasin McKenzie and Ben Foster, the film expertly explores the idea of how we identify with home and how society reacts to the life choices we have made. 3. Avengers: Infinity War The more you think about it, Infinity War had no right to even work, let alone be great. Credit should go to directors Joe and Anthony Russo who were able to take a project that culminated eighteen films rostering twenty-five characters and make it into a high-stakes thriller that never felt overstuffed. It also delivered the MCU’s best villain and was able to leave a permanent mark on pop culture with just one snap. Hopefully, Endgame will be just as good. 2. A Star Is Born More of a 1B than a clear #2 , Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut more than lived up to its lofty expectations. The pairing of him and Lady Gaga in the lead roles was a match made in heaven as their chemistry lit up the screen both on and off the stage. With one of the best songs of the year in “Shallow”, this pitch-perfect retelling of a classic story left no dry eyes after its endearing tribute ending. Full Review 1. The Favourite My favorite film of the year (pun intended), this 18th-century piece can best be described as Barry Lyndon meets Mean Girls . The plot follows a spiteful struggle between two women, Abigail (Emma Stone) and Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz), as they battle for the affection of the unhinged Queen Anne (Olivia Colman). Combining three excellent actresses, a whip-smart script, and the uniquely awkward style of director Yorgos Lanthimos, this dark comedy was by far the most enjoyable and unforgettable film of 2018. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Final 2026 Oscar Nomination Predictions January 15, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Is it just me, or is awards season getting longer? Now with the Cannes Film Festival firmly planted as a major Oscar launching pad, the offseason lasts a mere four weeks. Nearly eight months later, we’re finally putting away our pencils and using pens to lock in nomination predictions. The time between now and then has been either an asset or a liability for so many contenders, displaying the adage that you never quite know how the cards are going to be dealt. When making the final Oscar nomination predictions, you have to know that you’re going to be incorrect on at least 25% of them. And that’s okay, because there are so many unknown variables that can tip the scales in either direction. Because of this, I go in with a very pragmatic approach. It’s best not to overcomplicate things. Stick to what’s been favorited, and don't be a hero with out-of-left-field predictions. You may get one of those right, but probably more wrong. As a focus tool, I’ve devised each category into three levels of likelihood for a nomination: Locks, Safe, and Shaky. Here’s a breakdown of how those categories are defined: Locks are virtually guaranteed to get a nomination. They’re more focused on winning the Oscar, with the nomination only being a formality. The only time you should spend on them is what it takes to write their names down on your predictions. A lock being snubbed is cause for headlines, and that’s something you can’t predict. Safes seem likely to happen, and a snub would be a major talking point. They’ve hit pretty much every precursor they could, and displayed support from the voting body. But there might be a hiccup in their campaign or a nagging feeling that there’s reason for doubt. Someone like Viola Davis in The Woman King fits this description. She was nominated at every precursor and is a titan in the industry. But the film just wasn’t landing in other categories, which led her to come up short at the finish line. Shaky is where you find a group of people fighting for those spots. They’ve hit some places and missed others, or their work goes against what the branch tends to favor. They might also have legitimate reasons for being a surprise nomination or a not-so-surprising snub. As a matter of transparency, I will not be predicting the three short categories: Live-Action Short, Animated Short, and Documentary Short. It’s a fool’s errand to try to provide analysis for a category where I’ve seen none of the contenders and have no precursors to guide the way. I’ll just be going with the GoldDerby consensus. Without further ado, let’s get started! Best Picture Locks One Battle After Another Sinners Hamnet Frankenstein Marty Supreme Sentimental Value Safe Bugonia Shaky It Was Just an Accident Train Dreams The Secret Agent One distributor getting three films into Best Picture is quite an accomplishment. Having all of those films in a foreign language makes that a historic achievement. Fresh off winning Best Picture last year with Anora , Neon seems poised to do just that with Sentimental Value , It Was Just an Accident , and The Secret Agent . F1 seems to be the only potential spoiler, likely trying to copy the package of Ford v Ferrari . That’s still weaker than what I have in the ‘Shaky’ category, which is why I have it just missing. Best Director Locks Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another) Safe Chloé Zhao (Hamnet) Shaky Ryan Coogler (Sinners) Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value) Jafar Panahi (It Was Just an Accident) We have eight directors fighting for five spots. Actually, it’s more like seven for four spots since we all know Paul Thomas Anderson is going to win the Oscars. As a former winner who recently had her film win the Best Motion Picture - Drama category at the Golden Globes, Zhao feels pretty safe. Coogler would normally be safe as well, as he has yet to miss a nomination anywhere. There’s just too much PTSD from this branch snubbing blockbuster directors for me to fully believe he’s locked in. International contenders are this branch’s bread and butter. Joachim Trier just picked up the European Film Award for Best Director as part of Sentimental Value ’s sweep of the above-the-line categories. Seven of the last eight winners of that prize went on to receive an Oscar nomination, so I’m keeping him in. I’m still clinging to Jafar Panahi for that last spot, who I feel has always been making work that directors love, and has a super compelling narrative for how he had to craft this film. I haven’t even mentioned DGA nominees Josh Safdie and Guillermo del Toro, who shepherded films likely to receive double-digit nominations. There’s also Kleber Mendonça Filho for The Secret Agent , which has shown to have a ton of passion behind it. Anyone who goes 5/5 in this category should immediately go out and buy a lottery ticket. Best Original Screenplay Locks Sinners (Ryan Coogler) It Was Just an Accident (Jafar Panahi) Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt) Marty Supreme (Josh Safdie & Ronald Bronstein) Shaky The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonça Filho) The top four can all be predicted with certainty. I have The Secret Agent in my Best Picture predictions, so I need another strongly correlating nomination to support that claim. That’s kind of a backwards way of looking at it, but I also think the film is stronger than the closest competition of Blue Moon and Sorry, Baby . The writer’s branch is also not afraid to go international. However, 3/5 non-English nominees does seem a bit excessive. Best Adapted Screenplay Locks One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson) Hamnet (Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell) Safe Frankenstein (Guillermo del Toro) Train Dreams (Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar) Bugonia (Will Tracy) These five were all nominated at Critics' Choice and made the BAFTA longlist. Also making CC was No Other Choice , which was absent from the BAFTA longlist. It also won’t have the benefit of a Best Picture nomination. Neither will Rian Johnson, who will likely see his streak of writing nominations for the Knives Out films come to an end. Best Casting Safe Sinners One Battle After Another Marty Supreme Hamnet Shaky Sentimental Value There are no locks here, simply because we have no precedent to make estimations on. By using the combination of the precursors that have either casting or ensemble prizes, we can find five films that have regularly been nominated. Best Lead Actor Locks Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme) Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another) Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon) Safe Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent) Shaky Michael B. Jordan (Sinners) Despite showing up at every precursor, I’m still classifying Michael B. Jordan as a shaky contender since his next closest competition, Jesse Plemons, is making quite the surge at the moment. Wagner Moura would definitely be in the same boat as Jordan had he not won the Golden Globe. The only thing that separates Jordan and Plemons is Critics' Choice, which was before Bugonia really started to show its true strength. While I’m not going to predict it, I think Jordan could be this year’s big acting snub, falling in line with recent examples like Margot Robbie ( Barbie ), Lady Gaga ( House of Gucci ), Viola Davis ( The Woman King ), and Tom Hanks ( Captain Phillips ). Best Lead Actress Locks Jessie Buckley (Hamnet) Safe Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value) Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You) Shaky Emme Stone (Bugonia) Chase Infiniti (One Battle After Another) Which four ladies want to lose to Jessie Buckley? Rose Byrne and Renate Reinsve seem to be up to the task, strongly showing up at nearly every precursor. Unlike Best Leading Actor, this category is favorable to younger, less-known performers. It worked wonders for Mikey Madison last year, and I think it will help Chase Infiniti get nominated. That leaves Emma Stone and Kate Hudson for the last spot. Already with two Oscar wins, I think Stone has become this generation’s Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, or Kate Winslet when it comes to regularly getting nominated. Plus, she’s in a secure Best Picture nominee, while Hudson will be her film’s lone representative. Best Supporting Actor Locks Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value) Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another) Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein) Safe Paul Mescal (Hamnet) Sean Penn (One Battle After Another) It’s been a steady crop of nominees all season, with all five appearing at the Golden Globes, SAG, Critics' Choice, and the BAFTA longlist. Well, Stellan didn’t get nominated at SAG, but I’m chalking that up to guild discrimination against foreign language performances, which is not a thing for the Oscars. Best Supporting Actress Locks Amy Madigan (Weapons) Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another) Safe Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Sentimental Value) Shaky Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners) Odessa A’zion (Marty Supreme) We started this season with a pretty weak slate of potential nominees, seemingly making this a cinch for Ariana Grande. To my surprise, I now have her out, a symptom of Wicked: For Good taking a beating over the past few weeks. Then again, she’s made it everywhere she could so far. Every year, someone always gets in with less when compared to those they beat out. In this case, that would be Odessa A’zion, whose late SAG nomination could push her in. Best Cinematography Locks Sinners One Battle After Another Safe Train Dreams Frankenstein Shaky Marty Supreme This is a repeat of the nominees at the American Society of Cinematographers Awards. It’s not wise to perfectly replicate their choices, but it did just happen in 2023. I originally had Hamnet in here, but it was notably missing at ASC (where Łukasz Żal previously won with Cold War ) and at its home turf of the British Society of Cinematographers. Everywhere Hamnet missed, Marty Supreme was there to fill the void, aided by Darius Khondji’s increased stature amongst the branch. Best Film Editing Locks One Battle After Another Sinners Marty Supreme F1 Shaky Frankenstein The American Cinema Editors Awards will announce their nominees the week after the Oscar nominations. That makes things rather difficult, leaning more on CC and the BAFTA longlist. Thankfully, the films in the “Locks” category got in at both. A House of Dynamite also accomplished that, although I’m really not sensing the passion for that film to get a lone nomination in this category. The next best would be Frankenstein , which is already going to be nominated in almost every other craft category. Best Original Score Locks Sinners One Battle After Another Safe Frankenstein Hamnet Shaky Marty Supreme Best Picture nominees have never fully represented this category since the expansion of the Best Picture category. But I also think that’s just a coincidence aided by the fact that we used to have composers who would be nominated regardless of the film’s quality. If anything were to get in over Marty Supreme , it would be Hans Zimmer with F1 , which showed up at both the Golden Globes and CC. Best Original Song Locks “Golden” (KPop Demon Hunters) “I Lied to You” (Sinners) Safe “Dear Me” (Diane Warren: Relentless) Shaky “Train Dreams” (Train Dreams) “The Girl in the Bubble” (Wicked: For Good) Before last year’s nominations were even announced, we already knew that Diane Warren was going to be nominated at this year’s Oscars. Most likely done for very strategic purposes, her documentary, Diane Warren: Relentless , was released in January, only a few days after the new Oscar qualification season started. It doesn’t matter that she wasn’t nominated at either the Globes or CC, as she has friends where it matters. This category has also shifted away from documentary songs, with the only non-Diane Warren nomination since 2016 being last year’s “Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late . Best Sound Locks F1 Sinners Safe One Battle After Another Avatar: Fire and Ash Shaky Sirât In the days of the split sound categories, Best Sound Mixing tended to favor music, while Best Sound Editing favored loud explosions. When we combine that precedent into one category, we have our nominees. Sirât is a bold prediction that should pay off because of how much sound is integral to the narrative. Best Production Design Locks Frankenstein Wicked: For Good Safe Sinners Marty Supreme Hamnet After combining the Art Directors Guild, CC, BAFTA longlist, and category precedent, we can come to a pretty safe set of nominees. The previous two Avatar films have been nominated here, but I think this is where the lesser enthusiasm for Fire and Ash is going to bite it. Best Costume Design Locks Frankenstein Sinners Wicked: For Good Safe Hamnet Shaky Hedda We have a very period-centric list of nominees, almost all of them Best Picture contenders. Going through the history of this category, the voters do not like contemporary costuming. Almost all lone nominees are for period work, which bodes well for Hedda , which also showed up at CC and the Costume Designers Guild. There’s still a very distinct possibility that One Battle After Another could be nominated, especially when the work comes from 4-time Oscar winner Colleen Atwood, who is also represented by Kiss of the Spider Woman . Best Makeup & Hairstyling Locks Frankenstein Sinners Wicked: For Good Safe The Smashing Machine Shaky Kokuho We have three big players at the top, each with makeup being central to their stories. Then there’s the transformation required for The Rock to become Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine , which was shepherded by category mainstay Kazu Hiro ( Darkest Hour , Bombshell , Maestro ). Going down that line of logic, the sneaky nominee would be Kokuho , a story set in Japanese kabuki theater, which recently became the country’s highest-grossing live-action film ever. This branch has also shown favor to international contenders like Society of the Snow, Pinocchio, Border , and A Man Called Ove . Best Visual Effects Locks Avatar: Fire and Ash F1 Safe Superman Shaky The Lost Bus Sinners The good thing about this category is that we already know which film is going to win. The bad news is that we’re really not sure who the rest of the losers will be. It’s usually good to go with at least one Best Picture nominee, which, in this case, would be Frankenstein and Sinners . In the case of the former, even fans such as myself will tell you that the visual effects are not that good. It was also totally omitted from the Visual Effects Society nominations, where The Lost Bus picked up several nominations. Best Animated Feature Locks KPop Demon Hunters Zootopia 2 Arco Safe Little Amélie or the Character of Rain Shaky Elio It’s been a very weak year for this category, which means there’s been hardly any movement. In any other year, a bomb such as Elio would not even be considered. Luckily, it received a leading number of nominations at the Annie Awards, which has just as strong a Pixar cohort as the Oscars do. Best International Feature Locks Sentimental Value (Norway) It Was Just an Accident (France) The Secret Agent (Brazil) Safe Sirât (Spain) Shaky No Other Choice (South Korea) Could Neon do the unthinkable and get all five of its foreign language films nominated? Given that this category hardly goes fully as expected, I’d say the odds aren’t that good. Then again, there are so many alternatives that it’s almost impossible to accurately predict who exactly it will be. At this point, I’m just going to hedge my bet and go with the full Neon sweep. 4/5 is still a very good score for this category anyway. Best Documentary Feature Safe The Perfect Neighbor 2000 Meters to Andriivka Shaky The Alabama Solution My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow Cover-Up As time has shown us, there is no such thing as a “lock” in this category, with the closest thing this year being The Perfect Neighbor and 2000 Meters to Andriivka . Tangentially related to the latter film is My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow , which has gained some great headway through the major critics' prizes. Rounding out the rest of the category are two American political documentaries. Those choices could be a mistake by me since this category has increasingly leaned international, but I think the fact that these films are very critical of America is an asset that will get them in. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen

'Bonnie & Clyde' and New Sentimentality February 1, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen Immediately upon its release, film critic Roger Ebert claimed Bonnie and Clyde to be alandmark in American cinema. The film attracted a love/hate relationship with critics, with the love side eventually winning out in the long run. Ebert was right in that Bonnie and Clyde was a milestone for American cinema, as this was one of the earliest and most successful films that embraced the idea of “counterculture." Through the use of their idea of new sentimentality, screenwriters David Newman and Robert Benton took Hollywood by storm by defying the oldways in favor of charging down a new path. The idea of “new sentimentality” laid out by Newman and Benton tried to explain the cultural and generational differences that were taking place in America during the 1960s. The ways of Old Sentimentality, which preached about the good ol' days of American patriotism and love for others, were now fading away in favor of a more tough and self-empowering way of thinking. Bonnie and Clyde illustrated this new way of thinking in multiple ways. The main factor that created controversy around Bonnie and Clyde , and for why it is apiece of new sentimentality, is the unrivaled amount of violence inflicted by and onto the characters. Obviously, with a movie about bank robbers, there has to be a few shootouts thatwould get butts in seats. Bonnie and Clyde does deliver the shootouts that one would expect and pay to see at the time, but it does it in such a way that it sucks out all the guilty joy we get out of watching it. Instead of dropping dead instantly after one shot, characters bleed and writhe around in extreme agony. The old way of gun violence was quick and didn’t allow for us to think aboutthe ramifications. This new way forces us to see the effects violence has on every day people, the physical damage it does to the person hit and the emotional damage it does to the people watching it, for which we the audience must participate. This idea somewhat borrows from the French and Italian new-wave of thinking that placed importance on telling stories that reflected our reality that is filled with real people. The violence comes to an incredible climax at the very end when our titular characters are gunned down in a hail of never-ending bullets. All you can do during the scene is sit there incomplete shock as their bodies are riddled to shreds. It’s not fun to watch or heroic in any nature. The old sentimentality had gun-toting heroes like Humphrey Bogart and John Wayne who killed quick and clean. They symbolized a time when America was in a righteous war to protect theworld from the Nazis. Bonnie and Clyde is the new idea that violence is something that lingers inthe moment and for many moments after. America was in Vietnam at the time, a war that waspropelled by American self-interest. Apart from violence, another element that must be delivered to sell a movie is sex. Like violence, sex was shown in only its tamest forms in film. Hitchcock famously had to dance around the subject in Notorious by having his characters kiss and peck at each other over time. Bonnie and Clyde engages with sex on a much more open scale. Bonnie and Clyde have sex multiple times throughout the film and even discuss it with each other. It’s a part of their relationship as opposed to being kept under the rug like before. We even get a tiny storyline about Clyde being impotent and then finally overcoming this. The idea of impotence before that time wasn’t one to be discussed as it clashed with the idea of what a real man was. John Wayne would never be impotent! The idea of new sentimentality changed what it meant to be a man, filled with imperfections and perversions. Bonnie and Clyde marked the mainstream beginning of new sentimentality within cinema. Through its unflinching approach to violence and sex, the film sparked a debate that isstill being felt today. As Ebert said, the film was made in 1965 about people in 1934, but it will always be made for us here and now. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Top 10 Films of 2025 (So Far) July 5, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Most years, I begin this list by commenting on how fast time flies when you're not paying attention to it. But this year has been anything but normal. Through a combination of several political, social, and economic factors, every second seemed to last an eternity. Unfortunately, the film industry followed that theme, failing to provide the same quantity of top-tier films that we're used to. I usually have to kill some darlings due to precious margin space. This year, I had to stretch a little bit, with most titles unlikely to repeat their placement on my end-of-year best list. Still, every film listed here is one that I enjoyed, and we should always be thankful for what we have. 10. Caught by the Tides Watching Caught by the Tides without seeing the rest of Jia Zhangke’s filmography is a bit like taking a test without doing any homework. Sparked by the limitations set by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese director decided to revisit two decades' worth of footage from his previous works, mixing and matching to create a documentary-fiction hybrid that explores a love story and China's social transformation. While largely incomprehensible for the uninitiated, it's still marvelously fascinating to watch it all weave together, kind of like a puzzle in a language you can't understand. 9. Presence To label Presence as a horror film feels a bit misleading. The scares are never in your face, with director Steven Soderbergh using his bold experimental camerawork to craft a voyeuristic feeling of unease. The actors are all fine, especially Callina Liang and Chris Sullivan, and the technical experiment is perpetually interesting. This is more than a VR experience, although it could be a more than worthwhile starting point for something of that caliber in the future. Full Review 8. Parthenope As evidenced by his previous works of Youth and The Great Beauty , the complexities of love, youth, and beauty are not newfound themes for Italian writer/director Paolo Sorrentino. Newcomer Celeste Dalla Porta is radiantly beautiful and intriguing in the lead role, imbuing Parthenope with much more depth than the script reluctantly presents. Even if this amounts to style over substance, the performances and overwhelming seductiveness are temptingly attractive. For Sorrentino, the style is just as much the substance as the substance itself. Full Review 7. Thunderbolts* The theme of Thunderbolts* is recovering from driftlessness through finding a purpose alongside friends and family. For as much as a gun or a fist can accomplish, some nice words and a hug can do a lot more. To be talking about ideas and themes instead of easter eggs and cameos is a breath of fresh air for the MCU, one that I dubiously hope that they’ll maintain as they wade into their ensuing behemoth chapters. Full Review 6. The Gorge The Gorge is a B-movie with A-level talent. Known for delivering grisly violence, one would think that the PG-13 rating here would tie director Scott Derrickson’s hands behind his back, but the interesting creature design and expert overall craftsmanship never let that thought occur. Cinematographer Dan Laustsen and composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross create an unsettling atmosphere through Cold War aesthetics. For those who have regularly played the Zombies game mode in the Call of Duty video game series and have longed for it to be brought to the silver screen, this is your dream come true. Full Review 5. Materialists It’s natural and odd that after writer/director Celine Song tenderly explored the concept of destiny and love in Past Lives , her follow-up takes a cold, hard look at the facts. Fortunately, Song still makes sure there are a lot of laughs to be had along with all the nonsense that is modern dating. But everything is funny because people are saying the quiet parts out loud, and deep down, we all know we do it too. Honesty is still the best policy, and Song continues to show that she’s a master of telling us how it is in the ways we want to hear it. Full Review 4. Sinners Shot and marketed with IMAX cameras akin to something only Christopher Nolan would do, Ryan Coogler’s Sinners plays big and tall as it spans both centuries and genres to tell a story you’ve never quite seen before. Coogler has illustrated a near-masterful skill for diffusing incisive social commentary into the muscular frame of a popcorn blockbuster. In a time when America is having an identity crisis (then again, when aren’t we?), Sinners looks back and forward with the gumption that only a wild premise such as this could achieve. Full Review 3. Black Bag The latter entry in this year’s David Koepp-Steven Soderbergh double feature, Black Bag illustrates that the greatest weapon in a spy’s arsenal is not a gun or some nifty gadget, but the ability to have an open conversation. Making the traditionally important aspects of a story the least interesting thing about them is a common practice for Soderbergh. That decision could, should, and would disappoint those looking to be greeted by the familiar trappings of the spy. But Soderbergh is always one step ahead, using subversion to his own benefit and ours. And even when you strip away all the fancy artistry and subtextual analysis, you’re still left with something extremely entertaining. Full Review 2. The Phoenician Scheme Wes Anderson is a lot like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At this point, you’re either in or you’re out. I’m so deep in the bag that it might as well be the one from Mary Poppins . I’ve seen a lot of films, and the majority of them all follow the same pattern. Anderson’s films certainly aren’t an exception, but there is always something magical about their sameness. And like Nicole Kidman always says: We come to this place [the cinema] for magic. Full Review 1. April Nowadays, almost every movie that brags that it needs to be seen in theaters is filled with extravagant visual effects and booming sound effects. The beauty of the cinema is not just in the sheer size of the speakers and screen, but the opportunity it gives us to break away from our world and be transported to a different one. Georgian writer/director Dea Kulumbegashvili has crafted a film where absolute patience and concentration are a prerequisite, with any glances at your phone or minor distractions at home stripping away the spellbinding effect. Between the unsettling abstract visuals at the beginning of the film and the brutal real-life truths about bodily autonomy, this is one of the most bone-chilling films of the year. After seeing it at TIFF 2023, The Beast was the wire-to-wire winner last year. I first saw April at TIFF 2024, and at this point, a miracle would need to occur so that it would not repeat that achievement. Full Review More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Ranking the Films of Christopher Nolan July 14, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen As quite possibly the most famous director working today, Christopher Nolan has repeatedly pushed the boundaries of cinema, captivating audiences with his thought-provoking themes, mind-bending concepts, and stunning visual spectacles. His filmography is a tapestry of iconic movies that have left an indelible mark on popular culture. From the mind-bending puzzles of Memento to the gripping exploration of dreams in Inception and the epic superhero saga of The Dark Knight trilogy, each film offers a unique cinematic experience. Whether you are a long-time fan or a newcomer to his works, this ranking will provide a comprehensive exploration of Nolan's filmography, celebrating his unparalleled creativity and his lasting impact on the world of cinema. 11. Following Whether you're Martin Scorsese, Damien Chazelle, Barry Jenkins, or Christopher Nolan, everyone starts their career with a small black-and-white movie they crafted with the tools available to them: sweat and determination. Like most Nolan movies, this can be overcomplicated just for the sake of it. But there are some impressive things going on, especially when you consider how Nolan was able to continue his ambitions within the studio system. 10. Batman Begins On paper, this is just another well-known origin story that we’ve seen before. Nolan doesn’t totally transcend that pitfall, but he skillfully elevates the comic book genre into the real world. He immerses the audience in the griminess of Gotham City, a place that can only be saved by a man willing to meet the criminals on their terms. It remains an important stepping stone that would be used to fulfill the much grander scope of its sequels. 9. Insomnia Truth and guilt come crashing together in Nolan’s first foray into studio filmmaking. While it’s the only film that he didn’t have a hand in writing (at least officially), Nolan still is able to instill psychological depth into the material through his atmospheric cinematography and heightened editing. Al Pacino applies his mid-2000s sleepiness to a role that suits it, and Robin Williams skillfully transforms into a role against type. 8. Tenet Tenet is a full-on assault of the senses that contains unparalleled moments of spectacle and ambition. It surely takes multiple rewatches to comprehend, with the lack of interesting characters and convoluted stakes making that a bit of a tall order. But if you are brave enough to take on that mission, make sure to pack some ibuprofen and prepare to have your mind twisted in ways you never thought possible. Full Review 7. Interstellar Nolan has always claimed 2001: A Space Odyssey to be his favorite movie, and 2014’s Interstellar seems to be the clearest illustration of its influence. The accuracy and scientific detail are unparalleled compared to most blockbusters, with visually stunning sequences that demand the biggest screen possible. Its ambitious narrative can be a bit of a challenge to follow, but the emotional payoff (not something Nolan is known for), makes the difficulty all the more worth it. 6. The Dark Knight Rises Each entry in Nolan’s Batman trilogy is bigger than the last, with this finale seeing The Dark Knight going out on the epic stage he deserves. Batman is at his most vulnerable here as he battles a broken body and spirit at the hands of Tom Hardy’s Bane. No sequel would have been able to match the heights of 2008’s The Dark Knight , but this one has its moments and still flies high above most of the entries within the superhero genre. 5. Memento Serving as the beginning of his trademarked enthralling bewilderment, Memento captivates with its unique narrative structure, thought-provoking themes, and exceptional performance by Guy Pearce. You piece together the past and present with Leonard, never sure what’s reality and what’s all in your head. The stripped-down scale (at least compared to other Nolan mind-benders) makes it all the more impressive and makes it easy to see why studios were falling head over heels to hire him for their blockbusters. 4. Inception Inception is Nolan’s magnum opus in terms of visual ingenuity, made clear by the film winning the Oscars for both Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects. The seamless shifting between the dream levels creates a sense of unease and uncertainty that complements the film's psychological undertones. Hans Zimmer delivers probably his most signature score to date, with Leonardo DiCaprio in peak movie star form as our guide through this maze of the mind. 3. Dunkirk Dunkirk is an immersive, visceral experience that conveys the horrors of war without relying on excessive violence and gore (or even showing the enemy). Instead, it focuses on the psychological toll of the events, capturing the fear, desperation, and camaraderie among the soldiers as they face impossible odds. Hans Zimmer's haunting and relentless score serves as an additional character within this large ensemble, intensifying the sense of urgency and heightening the emotional impact of each ticking moment. 2. The Prestige Cinema is a form of magic by itself, and Nolan is one of its greatest magicians. The Prestige is probably his most rewatchable movie, not just because of the theatrical twists and turns, but because it's such a well-put-together production that keeps you on your toes as Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale’s obsessive war of one-upmanship progressively gets more dangerous as it goes along. 1. The Dark Knight Being able to deliver top-notch entertainment while still touching on interesting ideas is what separates the legends from the lepers during the busy summer movie season. Nolan’s masterful direction has the movie fly at a breakneck pace while still savoring all the details. No further words need to be said to honor Heath Ledger’s towering performance, with Aaron Eckhart’s portrayal of Harvey Dent being a standout second-fiddle. There’s been nothing like it since, and likely won’t for a very long time. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Awards Update: The First Oscar Predictions of the Season June 13, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Welcome to an ongoing series where I cover the 2025/2026 awards season. On a regular basis, I will update my Oscar predictions, taking into account the new information that has been received since the last update. Full predictions in every category can be found on the Home and Awards page. The summer movie season is in full swing, packing the multiplexes with big blockbusters and nine-figure box office grosses. The warm winds also mean it's time to scratch the burgeoning itch that is the upcoming Oscar season through some early scouting and shot-in-the-dark predictions. Luckily, two of the major film festivals of the year, Sundance and Cannes, are in the books. The former featured little to no contenders beyond the usual smattering of documentaries, while the latter debuted a few seemingly strong contenders. As we've learned over the years from Parasite , Triangle of Sadness , Anatomy of a Fall , The Zone of Interest , The Substance , and Anora , to be a Best Picture contender born at Cannes, you must leave there with a prize in hand. That leads us to first look at this year's Palme d'Or winner: Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident . As evidenced by the assortment of festival prizes, Panahi is a revered auteur in the cinephile sphere of influence. This victory was part of a natural progression for him. That momentum and the film's potent political messaging are the main ingredients that could bring it into the Best Picture race. However, there are also several drawbacks. Iran will certainly not be submitting it for Best International Feature, and coproducers France and Luxembourg have previously illustrated that they won't submit non-native films. This will also be a tough sell at the box office, with a low ceiling that might not be high enough to gather public momentum. Distributor Neon clearly has a lot on their plate, and were in a similar situation last year with the Iranian thriller The Seed of the Sacred Fig , which turned out to be an awards disappointment. The company has grown as a campaigner over the years, but it remains to be seen if it can handle pushing multiple films into the top categories. Between the reported 15-19 minute standing ovation, enthusiastic reviews, and headlining stars, Sentimental Value will be Neon's main priority. They bought the film at last year's Cannes Film Festival before production had commenced, so they've had their eggs in this basket for a while now. They also just announced the same mid-fall release date as Anatomy of a Fall and Anora , so there's little reason to doubt that it will be a major player. I expect it to appear at all the major fall festivals before then. From there, it’s hard to gauge how the other prize winners will perform. Rigorous features like Sirât , Sound of Falling , and Resurrection each received acclaim and were picked up by reputable distributors. They likely won't appear in any major Oscar categories, but could factor into the Best International Feature race, should they be submitted to compete. Leaving empty-handed was Die, My Love . The reviews were mixed-positive, with all praise going to Jennifer Lawrence's lead performance. That would normally be enough for an Oscar favorite like her, but it's difficult to predict a lone acting nomination for a film that will be quite hostile towards audiences. Mubi did part with a chunk of change for the distribution rights, so they'll be making a big effort to get the film recognized in more categories. Other than the already premiered films, the rest of the predictions are a patchwork of educated guesses. As a reminder, this phase is solely about the nomination. We won't be thinking about winners until the new year. At this time last year, I had Joker: Folie à Deux , The End , and The Piano Lesson in my Best Picture lineup, so everything here is written with pencil. TIFF already announced its opening night film ( John Candy: I Like Me ), so the fall festival train has already left the station and will be accelerating over the next few months. My next update will come later this summer once we have a clear picture of what will be competing. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen