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Eddington May 30, 2025 By: Button Tyler Banark Eddington had its World Premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. A24 will release it in theaters on July 18. Ari Aster has had the most interesting evolution over the last decade. Going from elevated horror hits in Hereditary and Midsommar to whatever genre you want to place upon Beau is Afraid , many people, including myself, didn’t expect this specific shift from him. His latest film, Eddington , is a bold and provocative entry in the 2025 cinematic landscape that sees him continuing the march down the further end of the spectrum he started with his previous film. Premiering at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, it has sparked intense debate among critics and audiences alike. Set in the fictional town of Eddington, New Mexico, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the film delves into the societal fractures and political tensions that defined that era. It calls out everybody, with nobody being safe. At the heart of Eddington is the escalating conflict between Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix), a defiant lawman opposing pandemic restrictions, and Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), a progressive leader striving to maintain order. Their personal and political clash serves as a microcosm for the broader national discourse, highlighting themes of misinformation, racial injustice, and institutional distrust. The movie acts as an honest mirror to how COVID-19 messed up American society, especially those in small towns. The execution of this mirror is better than 2021’s Don’t Look Up , which was too satirical and went completely off the rails. Eddington , on the other hand, doesn’t force anything on its viewers except the memories you have of that time period. Phoenix delivers a compelling performance as Cross, capturing the character's descent into paranoia and authoritarianism. He doesn’t do anything bizarre that some may come to expect after seeing Beau is Afraid . Pascal's portrayal of Mayor Garcia provides a nuanced counterbalance, embodying the challenges of leadership amid chaos. Aster's direction is ambitious and unsettling. It blends elements of Western, noir, and dark comedy to create a genre-defying experience. He’s established that his films are their most eerie when nothing scary is happening on screen. Hereditary and Midsommar are elevated horror at its strongest, while Beau is Afraid is a comedic thriller of sorts. The film's cinematography, led by Darius Khondji, captures the stark beauty of the New Mexico landscape while emphasizing the town's isolation and tension. While Eddington succeeds in its atmospheric storytelling and character development, it occasionally falters in its political commentary. In terms of the former, whenever a fearful aspect of COVID-19 is on screen (i.e., a large gathering, someone coughing, two people arguing over their beliefs on the matter), it feels rightfully jarring, and Aster accomplishes this effortlessly. Meanwhile, the film's satire lacks clarity, and its portrayal of contemporary issues may feel premature. It may be because it’s been five years since the COVID-19 pandemic took over the world. However, I will give the benefit of the doubt that movies about COVID-19 have to have a starting point eventually, and that’s what Eddington set out to do. Nevertheless, the film's willingness to confront uncomfortable truths and its refusal to provide easy answers make it a thought-provoking watch. Some viewers may not feel ready to see the pandemic addressed on screen, but Eddington had to be one of the first to do it. It honestly goes to show how daring Aster is as a filmmaker. Whether you like it or not, it’s at least worth acknowledging that he knows his craft. He has a knack for making something worth talking about, regardless of the baggage that comes with it. Eddington is the latest example of that, provoking discussion and introspection about the pandemic, no matter how comforting or discomforting it may be. You can follow Tyler and hear more of his thoughts on Twitter , Instagram , and Letterboxd . More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Oppenheimer July 19, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Last week, in preparation for Oppenheimer , I ranked all of the films within Christopher Nolan’s filmography . As per usual, The Dark Knight reigned supreme, followed by The Prestige and Dunkirk . Now after watching Oppenheimer , I feel that I prematurely released that list, as now the best entry of his entire career has been left off it. I admit, I am still a bit overstimulated as I type this out a mere hour after the credits “written for the screen and directed by Christopher Nolan” flashed upon the screen. But with each passing second since then, I have become more and more convinced that I’ve seen something extraordinary. Quantum mechanics is full of paradoxes and puzzles that continue to elude the best and brightest of mankind. It’s one of the main reasons it beckoned to J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), a man who never met a challenge he couldn’t overcome with his mind. The boundlessness of theoretical physics was where he made his name, his brain wandering into the stars and unlocking the secrets of the universe. The paradoxical nature of his work also bled into his personality. He was precise and exacting within the lab, but a naive socializer and an unhealthy womanizer. “Brilliance makes up for a lot of that” is his excuse for why he continues to climb within the scientific community and was recruited to head the Manhattan Project. Nolan cited Oliver Stone’s 1991 masterpiece JFK as one of his main inspirations when adapting this material. He drops you into the middle of the action from frame one and keeps you there. Separate timelines begin to form, each folding into each other with increasing frequency. There’s the future besmirching of Oppenheimer’s legacy; the prideful past where we see his rise; and the roaring present where he must develop the atomic bomb before the Nazis. Similar to Dunkirk , Nolan, and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema define these periods through the imagery. Whether it’s in bright color or stark black-and-white, what you’re seeing is always a work of beauty. Never has IMAX been used to capture the small moments with as much gravitas as the climatic detonation. And never has Nolan commanded the pacing of his films as much as he does here. Time passes more quickly or slowly depending on when the narrative takes place, with editor Jennifer Lame crafting those drastic differences into an intellectual exercise. It can become quite challenging (to near impossible) to cling to all the details. But this is not like Tenet , which ditched its audience because of its incomprehensibility. This is more like a Wes Anderson film, where there’s just too much going on within the frame and on the page to be fully comprehended in real-time. Kenneth Branagh plays Danish physicist Niels Bohr, who gives a sturdy piece of advice to Oppenheimer early in his career: “It’s not important that you can read music, only that you can hear it.” Even if I couldn’t read all that was being presented right in front of me, I could definitely feel it. Ludwig Göransson’s tremendous score does a lot to convey the spectacle and terror within these moments of history. There are palpable feelings of anxiety and suspense, despite already knowing the outcome. You feel both a sense of patriotism in seeing this American achievement, and also a deep sense of guilt as a weapon without a defense was unleashed upon an untrustworthy world. There are just as many stars in this movie as there are in the sky. Robert Downey Jr. takes the reins in most of the later scenes as Atomic Energy Commission chairman Lewis Strauss. It’s the best work he’s done in years as he engages in a game of palace intrigue within a congressional hearing. There’s also Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Benny Safdie, and Jason Clarke standing out in decently sized supporting roles. And also Casey Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Dane DeHaan, and Gary Oldman in extended cameos. Of course, the bulk of the praise should go to Cillian Murphy as the titular character, who capitalizes on the opportunity to be at the forefront of a Nolan film rather than on its sidelines, which he’s done honorably on five previous occasions. There’s always a blankly haunted look in his eyes as if he’s both an all-seeing prophet and a blind fool. Oppenheimer is as entertaining as it is enlightening, emboldened by Nolan’s unparalleled vision and craftsmanship. It’s possibly his magnum opus, grabbing hold of history with fiery conviction, never letting you go until you’ve experienced all that cinema has to offer. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

TIFF23 Dispatch - Part 2 September 17, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen All of the films were screened at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Click here for additional full reviews and dispatches. Select films below will receive separate full-length reviews at a later date, most likely in connection to their public releases. The Royal Hotel It’s adapt or die for Hanna (Julia Garner) and Liz (Jessica Henwick) as they take jobs as bartenders in the only pub in a remote Australian mining town. The temp agency warned the girls that they needed to be “okay with a little male attention,” which turns out to be quite the understatement as their first night is filled with nasty jokes, unruly stares, and just general douchiness. Choosing adaptation is a death sentence, as there’s no reward for allowing this toxic mob to take control of their mind and body. Director Kitty Green announced her talent with the matter-of-fact The Assistant in 2019 (also starring Garner). This sophomore effort is a leveling up of her prowess behind the camera, lining every scene with a grimy sense of dread. It feels like a thrill ride, except none of the thrills are satisfying. Green greatly elevates her script, written by Green and Oscar Redding, which never packs the depth needed and tends to loop around as it tries to sustain the 90-minute runtime. Garner and Henwick are powerful anchors, “supported” by some convincing creeps. I have no doubt Green will be hitting it big within the next few years. (3/5) The Beast Bertrand Bonello’s The Beast is the pretentious European version of Cloud Atlas , which is a statement that tells you everything you need to know about whether you’ll like it or not. I was all in on this movie, even if its ultimate message and specific story beats are hard to follow. Bonello jumps between 1904, 2014, and 2044, intersplicing the three time periods to tell a story about love conquering time. Léa Seydoux and George MacKay play characters in each period, navigating the unknowable connection they feel for each other. It’s overindulgent and excessive, but Bonello displays a mastery of tone and vision across the 146 minutes. There’s passion, fear, humor, drama, and everything in between. I’d love to see it again sometime down the line. (4/5) Les Indésirables Ladj Ly's sophomore effort is not an answer to a question, but a further examination of it. There's dissatisfaction at the end of the road, both intentionally through Ly's honest depiction of political warfare and unintentionally through the overloaded script that tries to combine too much. Even with this slight slump, Ly's voice continues to grow, and I can't wait for it to click sometime in the future. (3/5) Evil Does Not Exist Drive My Car writer/director and all-around arthouse superstar Ryûsuke Hamaguchi makes his most outspoken work with Evil Does Not Exist . The tranquility of a Japanese village is being threatened by the introduction of a “glamping” (glamorous + camping) site proposed by a talent agency. The site would negatively impact much of the environment around it, with many of the village resident’s livelihoods being forever altered. Despite being clear in his message, Hamaguchi never eviscerates the villains of this story. The extreme slow cinema approach will test the patience of many expecting a return to the leanness of Drive My Car . Those who embrace the molasses will find themselves powerfully transported to one of the few places left that hasn’t been bulldozed by capitalism. Eiko Ishibashi delivers a magnificent score. It angers me that I’ll have to wait several months until it’s available to stream on Spotify. (4/5) Finestkind Writer/director Brian Helgeland told the TIFF audience that he wrote the script for Finestkind thirty years ago, a fact that becomes glaringly obvious the longer the film goes on. The story is stuck in the past in the worst ways possible, soaked with cheesy sentimentality, a laughably underdeveloped female character that Jenna Ortega somehow signed up for (did she owe someone a favor?), and an out-of-nowhere crime plot that undermines all the heart and soul mined in the first half. As per his contract demands these days, Ben Foster goes crazy a few times, and so does Tommy Lee Jones as he realizes he’s appearing in a stinker. It’s a Paramount+ production, meaning it’ll play well to the “guys being dudes” crowd that has been gorging on Taylor Sheridan's diminishing machismo these past few years. (2/5) More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Mulan September 14, 2020 By: Button Hunter Friesen For over a decade now, Disney has been mining their animated catalog of magical stories and remaking them into live-action movies. This trend has had its ups (the visual spectacle found within The Jungle Book ) and its downs (last year’s joyless photorealistic The Lion King ), but each one has made buckets of money for the house of mouse. Originally set to join the line of remakes back in March was Mulan . For obvious pandemic reasons, that release didn’t go as planned and now the film has been released straight to Disney+ at the exorbitant fee of $29.99, which is on top of your regular monthly payments. It’s a price point no one should come close to thinking of paying, especially considering that the movie they are buying pales in comparison to its animated predecessor. If you’ve seen the original 1998 version of Mulan , then you’ve already seen this newer adaptation as the story follows the same path. The film opens in Imperial China as we are introduced to Mulan, a young adventurous girl that is often a disappointment because she does not fit her predestined gender role. In this opening sequence, we are dazzled with all the things money can buy. At a budget of $200 million, it’s no surprise that the sets are luscious, the costumes are pristine, and the makeup is vibrant. Further illustrating the power of money is the locations used by director Niki Caro and cinematographer Mandy Walker. The duo beautifully gives life to the rural and urban landscapes, even if some moments can be ruined by an overabundance of computer effect meddling. After an invasion by the villainous Bori Kahn, the emperor conscripts an army made up of one man per family. Unfortunately for Mulan’s family, the only man is their war-wounded father who surely will not survive. Under the cover of night, Mulan takes her father’s gear and sets out in his place for the army. Upon reaching the training grounds, we are introduced to the lot of supporting characters, first of which is Commander Tung. The rest of the gang are younger lads that only possess one character trait to set them apart. The training sequence is where Caro exemplifies her chops as a director. She creates bold imagery that gives off a sense of power and courage. Caro also injects a bit of wuxia (a Chinese action genre that suspends physics in favor of more fantastical action) into the action. Even if it is over-edited, the stunt work is something to admire as elaborate set pieces are constructed in various interesting locations. And while it’s no “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”, composer Harry Gregson-Williams does deliver a terrifically epic score to punctuate the action scenes. What clouds over this newest version of Mulan and negates many of its accomplishments is the shocking lack of fun within the movie. Stripping itself of the musical numbers and talking animals, and then adding on a dour tone about warfare doesn’t make for a very inspirational or entertaining time. Of course, a war movie doesn’t have to be all sunshine and rainbows, but it's next to impossible to take this movie seriously when there’s an identical bright, animated version that’s superior in nearly every way. Chinese star Yifei Lu plays the titular character with both grace and ferocity. She expertly tackles the language barrier and carries the majority of the film’s emotional weight on her shoulders. Her interactions with her father (brilliantly played by Tzi Ma) are the highlights. Playing a new character in the story is Gong Li as the conflicted witch Xianniang. She’s as mysterious as the dark side of the moon and often toes the line between hero and villain with her inventive powers. It’s a shame that she and Jason Scott Lee’s Bori Khan were given little to work with. Chinese megastars Donnie Yen and Jet Li play Commander Tung and Emperor, respectively. Yen and Li lend star power to their minor supporting roles, which was probably the only reason they were cast. The newest version of Mulan is a passable film that fares better than most of the assembly line remakes that have preceded it. But at the same time, it still falters to the original and lacks the entertaining bite that has never been in short supply within Disney films. At the high price required to view it, the best option would be to wait until December 04, when the movie is available at no extra cost to Disney+ subscribers More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

The Greatest Beer Run Ever October 5, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen Peter Farrelly, the newly claimed king of oversimplification of American history, has made his grand return from his fruitful Green Book campaign to bring us a, you guessed it, oversimplified take on American history. Staying within the same period as Green Book , but shifting locations across the world, Farrelly’s The Greatest Beer Run Ever (which he was able to rope Apple TV+ into fully funding, which has now completely abandoned with an unceremonious dump onto their streaming platform) is here to tell you that the Vietnam War was bad for everyone involved, America included. Cue the dramatic reveal music . Of course, I’m only half-kidding. But that ironic reaction is understandable (and one that many critics share ) for a film that has such broadly low ambitions and often overplays the same beats across a slightly bloated 126-minute runtime. Fortunately for Farrelly, just as he had two Oscar-caliber performances from Viggo Mortensen and Maherhshala Ali to shield him from some of the flack within Green Book , he has a more-than-capable Zac Efron to deflect most of the negatives here. The High School Musical alum has been willing to step outside of his comfort zone in the past couple of years, handing his dashing good looks over to filmmakers that can use them to their film’s advantage. Both Joe Berligner and Harmony Korine were able to deliver a wild one-two punch in 2019 with Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile and The Beach Bum . The Greatest Beer Run Ever seems to be the culmination of that hard work, as he delivers an effortlessly comedic performance with tinges of tragedy when required. Efron stars as John “Chickie'” Donahue in this wild true story. It’s 1967 and America is at war… again. But unlike every other war in our nation’s history, no one, including the patriotic Chickie, knows who we’re fighting for, or who we’re against. Many of his friends have already been killed, each one of them labeled as heroes for “dying for their country,” a sentiment that Chickie’s rebellious sister doesn’t share as she conducts protests within the community. Since he doesn’t agree with protesting the war, Chickie (half-drunkenly) decides that the best way to show his support for our troops would be to go over to Vietnam and bring them a beer. Just like any friend who shoots their mouth a little too much, no one believes Chickie will go over there, which, in turn, makes him want to go even more as a way to prove that he’s not a big-mouth screw-up. So, he boards a vessel to complete, as the title would suggest, the greatest beer run ever. Reteaming with his Green Book co-writer Brian Currie and Hall Pass co-writer Pete Jones , the trio finds many moments to showcase Chickie’s overoptimism about his odds of survival, which gets him labeled as “a guy too dumb to get killed.” The first hour exemplifies this quite well, with a few set pieces, such as one where Chickie fakes being a CIA agent or another time when he hides under some blankets to surprise his friend who just ran through a field of bullets to meet him. Efron’s enthusiasm is contagious, even if it often leads to moments where you question how much danger his mission is putting other people in. Farrelly pivots away from slapstick to a darker brand of comedy once we pass the hour mark, giving us an uneven morality tale of how war is hell. There are some odd musical choices for serious scenes, and just an overall sense of “been there, done that” with the messaging. Russell Crowe’s late integration as a wartime photographer offers an interesting buddy dynamic between him and Efron, but Farrelly dispatches him too quickly before any lasting impact can be felt. Did critics put out the hit on Farrelly after he “stole” the Oscar for Best Picture from Alfonso Cuarón and Roma ? That may be a minor part of the truth, but there’s also the fact that Farrelly has once again taken an interesting true story and accomplished nothing more than turning it into a feel-good story about how obviously bad things were bad. There could be worse things in the world, such as watching Farrelly’s recent work of Dumb and Dumber To and Movie 43 . There’s not enough beer to make me want to do that again. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

A Quiet Place: Day One June 27, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen A Quiet Place , the franchise that suffers the most from sound bleed within multiplexes, returns to nearly four thousand screens this weekend. Any fan needs to pray that they’re not seeing it in a room next to a showing of either Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga or Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire . A24’s newest little indie, Janet Planet , would actually be the perfect companion piece, with its sweet sounds of summer barely registering over a whisper. But the absolute silence that A Quiet Place: Day One dwells in may be a necessary method of cracking down on the loud talkers, creaky seats, and loud munching that goes on in today’s theatrical environment. A lost battle today may mean a victorious war later. That's probably wishful thinking, though. Taking over the reins from previous writer/director/star John Krasinski, who was busy with IF , is Michael Sarnoski, who burst onto the independent scene in 2021 with the incredibly unique Nicolas Cage vehicle, Pig . As par for the course, Sarnoski finds himself leading a film with a budget 20x that of his previous one, a task that many before him have crumbled from. But the sophomore director, who also pens the screenplay (story credit shared with Krasinski), doesn’t fault under the pressure, finding a few paths to breathe life into this franchise, one that is further proving itself to be a one-trick pony. Those who have seen Pig will find it unsurprising that the best scene within this story of aliens and bloodshed comes relatively early on at a marionette show. A puppet blows up a balloon and dances around with it for a little while, Alexis Grapsas’ score twinkling as the stage light gives it a soft glow. It’s a scene that ranks relatively low in terms of significance, yet there’s something powerful about the stillness it creates just before fire starts raining down from the sky. From there, we pretty much go through the motions laid down by the previous two entities, as well as other creature features like Jurassic Park . Steven Spielberg’s 2005 remake of War of the Worlds came to mind a few times, with the fear of the unknown being just as spine-chilling as the ashy destruction. Sarnoski and his sound team make you see, or, in this case, hear, the world differently. The opening text states that the noise of New York City registers around 90 decibels at all times, which nearly equates to a constant scream. Everything that makes up that figure becomes a death sentence in this new apocalypse. A rip of a shirt or opening a briefcase too quickly is all that it takes to have the monsters descend the skyscrapers. For as well as they pull it off, this franchise still only pedals the same set piece for the monsters. It’s the one where the characters are walking quietly, someone accidentally knocks over a can or piece of glass, the monsters start chasing them, and then the characters sit in silence for a few moments until the monsters hear something else. We’ve seen it over a dozen times now, and the five to six times we experience it here are no different. While the story of Day One answers the “how” question of what happened to the world in the previous two entities, the characters within it answer the “why.” More specifically, they answer the question of why people try to exist in this world, why they’re clinging on when hell has taken over. Centering that is Lupita Nyong’o’s character Samira, who is terminally ill and already checked out on life. Nyong’o has already proved her masterful horror chops in Us a few years back, her facial expressions and body movements excellently developing the doppelganger premise. The minimalist dialogue here does her no harm, with her strengths as a performer being even more evident. The cat that accompanies her journey may as well be third billed just behind Joseph Quinn, who also puts in some good work. The world of A Quiet Place is not a place for dogs, that’s for sure. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare April 18, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen With each subsequent entry in his ever-growing filmography, Guy Ritchie seems to make it a mission to make the most Guy Ritchie-esque film yet. The rough edges of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch have been streamlined over the decades, which may be the primary reason why the British writer/director has been one of the most prolific filmmakers since the pandemic, pumping out five feature films since the beginning of 2020. Hell, he already has one in the can titled In the Grey that’s dated for January of next year (reuniting Ritchie with Jake Gyllenhaal, Henry Cavill, and Eiza González), and is in the process of shooting another Apple adventure movie with Natalie Portman and John Krasinski. Some may cry foul at Ritchie essentially becoming an institution rather than a distinct filmmaker, but his brand of mid-budget action comedies is something that our current movie market sorely lacks. It’s also commendable how mindless they are, like a Michael Bay movie without the migraines. I couldn’t tell you much about the plots of the Sherlock Holmes films, The Gentlemen , or Wrath of Man , but I can recall how entertained I was watching them. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is no different as it partakes in a giddy showcase of violence. Luckily for you and me, there is no guilt to be felt at the sight of knives slashing throats, bullets shredding torsos, and axes severing limbs; as all these victims are the stormtroopers of the Nazi regime (producers love this cheat code!). We first find our heroes, Gus March-Phillips (Henry Cavill) and Anders Lassen (Alan Ritchson), posing as Swedish fishermen as they’re being raided by the most punchable Nazi officer the movie has to offer. But the sight of over a dozen Nazi foot soldiers pointing guns at them doesn’t inspire fear in our burly warriors, rather, it whets their appetite for German blood. Also along for the ride is their demolition expert (Henry Golding), pilot (Hero Fiennes Tiffin), and strategist (Alex Pettyfer). Their mission, apart from general Nazi ass-kicking, is to locate and destroy the ships that supply Germany’s U-boats that sink anything that dares to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The ships are located off the coast of West Africa at Fernando Po, where two undercover agents (Eiza González and Babs Olusanmokun) have already been stationed to set the trap in motion. Between the yellow-colored subtitles, the Ennio Morricone-esque score by Christopher Benstead, the casting of Til Schweiger as a Nazi, and general vibes, there’s no sense in arguing the heavy influence of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds . This imitation even has its own Mike Meyers in the form of Cary Elwes as Brigadier Gubbins 'M', who has Ian Fleming (yes, that Ian Fleming) as his right-hand man. While Tarantino’s suicide mission perpetually hanged in the balance, Ritchie’s feels like watching the ‘95 Chicago Bulls going up against your local junior college. Our heroes’ indestructibility and inability to be deterred is sometimes a feature, allowing for maximum carnage and the clichés that come with missions going wrong. But there’s also a lack of tension, leaving little to the imagination. Not every joke lands (or was even that good in the first place), and almost all of the characters are pretty one-note. Cavill and Ritchson let their frames do most of the talking, and it’s certainly a sight to behold. Fans of Cavill’s M:I - Fallout arm reload and Prime Video’s Reacher are certainly getting more than what they asked for here. I won’t complain if we just keep getting more of these good-but-not-great actioners from Ritchie for the next half-decade or so. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

80 For Brady January 20, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Lighter than a feather and filled with enough New England Patriots propaganda to get itself banned in Atlanta, Buffalo, New York, and Miami, 80 for Brady would probably have cleaned up at this year’s AARP Movies for Grownups Awards if it had been given a timely qualifying release. Of course, there’s always next year, where there’s potential for Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon to be upstaged in the categories of “Best Buddy Picture” and “Best Intergenerational Film.” At the time of the film’s announcement, famed Patriots/Buccaneers Quarterback Tom Brady had just announced his retirement from football after 22 seasons, which included 7 Super Bowl titles, 3 NFL MVP honors, 15 Pro Bowl selections, as well as an extended list of other career achievements. It does take a certain amount of hubris on Brady’s part for his first post-football move to be the commissioning of a movie about four fans who worship him as a god. Granted, this is inspired by a true story, even if the script by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins, part of the writing team behind 2019’s Booksmart , takes some very creative liberties with the truth. The 80 in 80 for Brady denotes the ages of four friends who have centered their strong friendship over their love of Tom Brady and his New England Patriots. It all started on September 23, 2001 (a date celebrated every year by Patriots fans) when Lou (Lily Tomlin) was stuck at home recovering from her last round of chemotherapy. Her close friends Trish (Jane Fonda), Maura (Rita Moreno), and Betty (Sally Field) tried to entertain her by getting the TV to work, but it was stuck on one channel. At that exact moment, young Tom Brady steps into the pocket after regular starter Drew Bledsoe was taken out of the game due to a nasty sack. From there, the rest is history, for both Brady and his cohort of dedicated octogenarian fans. Fast forward to 2017 and the Patriots are going to another Super Bowl. Instead of staying home like they always do, the group decides to make the trip down to Houston for the big game. “The Super Bowl is no place for four old women,” says Maura, who happens to be right. But that statement being true is what makes for the most of the fun within 80 for Brady , as four Hollywood legends with effortless charm and chemistry blaze through the biggest event of the year. Much of the material is light and fun, made to purely entertain you for the ninety-eight-minute runtime and nothing more. And compared to most of the entries in this specific genre, which include Book Club (plus its upcoming sequel) and Poms , this one works fairly well. Moreno, who technically doesn’t qualify for the club considering she’s 91, clearly has the most fun within the ensemble. It’s unfortunate that the only dance routine within the film is poorly choreographed and doesn’t allow the original cinematic Anita to show off her long-lived talent. There are some attempts at drama, but it’s all so clean and shallow that it barely even registers. The stakes are pretty much nonexistent, and the jokes can be seen from a mile away. Director Kyle Marvin keeps everything breezy, and cinematographer John Toll (recipient of two Academy Awards) makes the Super Bowl festivities look as appealing as possible. Football fans may not be totally won over by 80 for Brady , but its intended audience of retirees will undoubtedly eat it up. And in a time when one of the largest sustainers of adult theatrical programming is not returning to the cinema, we’ll take all the help we can get. So, take your parents and/or grandparents out for a nice time, and maybe try to convince them to get back into their old cinemagoing habits. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Top 10 Films of 2019 January 23, 2020 By: Hunter Friesen Well, the year has passed and we can finally let out a sigh of relief. The only thing left to do now is to look ahead to fresh beginnings in the new year and decade. But before we do that, let’s take some time to appreciate all the good that happened to us this last year, specifically within the movie theatre. From the biggest of blockbusters to the smallest of indies, several cinematic offerings were made that deserve attention and praise. So in an effort to give credit where credit is due, here is a list of my favorite films of 2019. Honorable Mentions A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Ford v Ferrari The Farewell The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part The Lighthouse 10. 1917 In a move of pure boldness, director Sam Mendes decided to stage his World War I film as one continuous shot. Roger Deakins’ masterful cinematography never once faults as it fully immerses us into the action on a level not seen in war films before. Adding Thomas Newman’s score and two excellent lead performances on top of that give this blockbuster an unrivaled sense of grandiosity. 9. Uncut Gems Adam Sandler returns to form with his role as Howard Ratner in Uncut Gems . But it's not just The Sandman himself who takes the spotlight in this anxiety-inducing tale of one man trying to gamble himself a fortune within the New York diamond district. Supporting players Julia Fox, LaKeith Stanfield, and even basketball legend Kevin Garnett show off their talent as directors Josh and Benny Safdie take that screen presence and combine it with an intensely paced story to deliver one hell of a ride. 8. Marriage Story Written and directed by Noah Baumbach, this Netflix divorce drama made for the biggest emotional punch of any film in 2019. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson commandingly take the lead and deliver a film that has never been so pleasantly depressing and genuinely funny at the same time. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, or you’ll do both at the same time. And by the time the credits start rolling, you’ll have been on a journey with not just these characters, but also with yourself. Full Review 7. Parasite South Korean director Bong Joon-ho returns home for his newest feature. Winner of the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the film follows the escapades of the poverty-stricken Kim family as they infiltrate the household and lives of the wealthy Parks. Genre-defying to the highest degree, Parasite is never what you think it is as it twists back and forth between comedy, horror, and drama within the blink of an eye. Fortunately, the one thing that stays constant throughout is the immense talent of all involved to make this wholly original and unforgettable film. 6. Ad Astra The 2010s have been a renaissance for space movies as several top directors and stars have lent their craft to tell stories beyond our planet. Joining that list are James Gray and Brad Pitt as they take the road less traveled with the unique Ad Astra . Almost a one-man show by Pitt, the film tells his character’s deeply humanistic story within the cosmic scale of its setting. It’s deeply moving and altogether something different than what has come before, which is why it deserves a place on this list. Full Review 5. Climax The most unsettling and stressful movie released this year, Gaspar Noé’s Climax is a hypnotic nightmare. Set in a remote French school, the film follows a group of dancers as they celebrate after a successful show. Unfortunately, someone spiked the punch with LSD and everyone is in for an agonizing trip. As expected the dance numbers are fantastic and the inventive long-take cinematography never lets you go no matter how many times you want to look away. Be sure to take some ibuprofen before embarking on this strange ride. 4. Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood Perfectly led by an all-star cast of Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt (what a year he’s having!), and Margot Robbie, Quentin Tarantino’s ninth feature turned out to be his most comedic and mature work. The esteemed writer/director’s tale of a fictional TV cowboy in the waning days of Hollywood’s golden age acts as both a time capsule for a bygone era and as an allegory for the state of filmmaking in modern times. But don’t let the laughs fool you into thinking Tarantino won’t indulge in his trademarked ultraviolence as he delivers what may be his most challenging and squirm-inducing finale. 3. The Irishman At 209 minutes, Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman is a true-crime epic. Telling the story of mob hitman Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, the long-gestating project is packed with an all-star cast of Robert De Niro as the titular character as well as Joe Pesci and Al Pacino in career-defining roles. Instead of rehashing his usual gangster formula, Scorsese flips the script and fully exposes the audience to the doom and gloom that a life of crime brings to someone. Released on Netflix, there’s no excuse not to see this historic work. Full Review 2. The King Available on Netflix (are you starting to see a pattern?), The King is a period piece for the modern age. Director David Michôd elegantly crafts a sweeping drama centered on the early reign of King Henry V - brilliantly played by a brooding Timothée Chalamet - as he navigates through murky political waters. Technically immaculate through its cinematography and score, the drama also boasts a well-rounded supporting cast of characters looking to raise their rank through either loyalty or betrayal. All these factors and more (including Robert Pattinson’s bonkers accent) make for an incredibly engaging watch. All hail King Henry indeed. 1. Little Women With a modern twist on a timeless classic, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women is an absolute delight. From its non-linear narrative to its glowingly warm cinematography, everything on the screen does wonders as it forces tears that are then brushed away with a smile. That also includes performances from the ensemble that bring the March sisters to life in a way not seen before. Arriving on Christmas Day as a gift to all, there was no better way to cap off the year (and decade) than with this absolute masterpiece. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Jojo Rabbit November 14, 2019 By: Button Hunter Friesen If you’re going to make a movie about the Nazis, you better make sure it’s going to be good. Multiply that rule by infinity if you’re going to make it a comedy. Because of this strict rule, only a select few have been able to take the greatest human atrocity of the modern era and turn it into a joke. Charlie Chaplin did it in 1940 with The Great Dictator (although he wasn’t fully aware of the horrors), followed by Roberto Benigni with Life is Beautiful in 1998. Now in 2019, Taika Waititi has added his name to that illustrious list with his newest film, Jojo Rabbit . Set in the waning months of World War II, this “anti-hate satire” follows the life of Jojo Betzler, a young boy growing up in the Hitler Youth. His patriotism runs so high Adolf Hitler himself acts as his imaginary friend. One day, Jojo discovers that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl named Elsa in their walls. This bewilders the boy, putting him in a quandary over what to do with his foreign guest. With an enemy in his home, Jojo must confront his nationalistic ideals and learn for himself what truly lies within the people he was born to hate. Apart from a few problems structurally and tonally, Jojo Rabbit is near faultlessly helmed by New Zealand native and Thor: Ragnarok director, Taika Waititi. From the often symmetric shot composition to the sumptuous production design, Jojo Rabbit is the most Wes Anderson-esque film that Wes Anderson didn’t direct. It does feel like Waititi is copying a little too hard from time to time, but the distinct whimsical style he employs effortlessly immerses the audience into the satirical world. Aiding this immersion, Waititi does what he knows best and interweaves comedy with drama as he pokes fun at the Nazis while also using them as a smaller target for his much grander message. That message is of peace and love, which can be authentically found within this story, especially in the interactions between Jojo and Elsa. A negative side effect of Waititi’s fluent directing is that it makes his middling writing stick it like a sore thumb. His risque plot eventually gets boiled down to a slightly over-simplistic message that isn’t able to land its punches as hard as it should. Weirdly, it all feels a little too safe for this kind of setting with these types of characters. The film also starts to lose its way around the middle third as a few of its many ideas and characters get lost in the shuffle. A few reveals are shocking, but only because not enough time was put into them to make us believe they were important enough in the first place. Even with these problems looming throughout the runtime, the script does have its shining individual moments. The slapstick one-liners mostly all land and the heart-tugging dramatic lines do hit close to home. With an assembled all-star cast, Jojo Rabbit is filled with great performances from A-list stars and fresh discoveries. The biggest hidden treasure that has been unearthed is the talent of Roman Griffin Davis. In his first-ever role, Davis perfectly translates his precocious character from the page to the screen. The future will be deservedly bright for him. Young star Thomasin McKenzie also does excellent work as Elsa. She already made a name for herself with last year’s Leave No Trace and her role here further solidifies her strong track record. Scarlett Johansson plays Rosie, Jojo’s sympathetic mother who takes in Elsa for hiding. Away from her usual Marvel role, this may be Johansson’s best work in years as she is both hilarious and endearing. In more purely comedic roles, Taikia Waittiti and Sam Rockwell are a blast as Adolf Hitler and Captain Kenzendorf, respectively. Taking the horrors of humanity and turning it into a comedic moral lesson is no small feat, especially when you target the worst of the worst. So even with his struggles here and there, immense credit should go to Waititi as he has crafted one of the better films of the year and made something that will be timeless in its message and morals. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

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 One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Gemini Man October 17, 2019 By: Button Hunter Friesen Henry Brogan (Will Smith) is the most elite assassin the U.S. government has ever had. He has 72 confirmed kills and is even able to hit a target on a moving train from over two kilometers away. Disillusioned and fatigued from years of killing, Henry decides to put it all away for a quiet retirement. Unfortunately for him, the life he’s lived the past few decades doesn’t just go away. After figuring out some dark secrets about his last job, Henry is betrayed by his government and made an enemy of the state. Knowing that Brogan is the best there ever was, the government decides to send their most valuable asset, Gemini; a direct clone of Brogan that “possesses all his strengths without his pain.”Pitted against a seemingly perfect version of himself, Henry must go on the run and fight to clear his name. Directed by two-time Academy Award winner Ang Lee, Gemini Man is both a marvel and a tragedy on a technical level. Repeating the technique he used in his previous feature Billy Lyn’s Long Halftime Walk , Lee uses a frame rate of 120 frames per second, five times more than the traditional 24. This results in a give-and-take situation where the technology grants unparalleled picture quality at the expense of your eyeballs. The glorious images become physically hard to watch and induce headaches, especially when paired with 3D. Another technical innovation that Lee incorporates is the use of de-aging on 51-year-old Will Smith to allow him to play the 23-year-old clone. Just like the frame rate, this technique has its ups and downs. During the early and darker-lit scenes, the effects look great and don’t cause any distraction. Near the end of the film is when things start to slide downhill. Scenes taking place in the daylight show off the imperfections in facial movements. The final scene is the most guilty as the effects are laughably atrocious and make the clone look more like a character from “The Polar Express” than an actual living human. And even with these technical innovations, Lee still isn’t able to make full use of them in the action set pieces. The larger shootouts are handled pretty well as they flow together with steady camerawork and tight blocking. The hand-to-hand combat sequences are when Lee loses focus, leaning heavily on the Jason Bourne style of choppy editing and shaky cam. It becomes hard to tell what’s going on and who’s winning a fight, especially since the two Will Smith characters look and dress exactly alike. With three credited screenwriters and countless that have come and gone over the years, the script for Gemini Man is a mess that feels like it was ripped straight from the 1990s. That feeling is fitting since the screenplay was first written in 1997 and seems to have never been updated. It is heavily laden with cliches and hammy dialogue that are impossible to recover from despite the cast’s best efforts. The plot is pretty simple on paper, but on film, it's a confusing mess. It’s a strain to keep all the facts straight and follow the reasoning for anything to happen. There’s also a lack of humanity and character development. Will Smith does his best in his dual roles, but the writing gives him nothing to work with. By the end, most characters are just shells of a person. As noted before, Will Smith turns in one of his better performances and does a great job in his dueling roles. As Henry, Smith is closed off and mature. When playing the clone, he’s more vulnerable. Even with writing’s severe limitations on what he can do, Smith can sell you on the idea that these are two separate characters. Mary Elizabeth Winstead stars as Dani, Henry’s sidekick who’s forced to join him on the run. Winstead does a nice job as a companion to Smith. Unfortunately, she also falls prey to the writing and gets saddled with a cliched backstory and overly expository dialogue. Lastly, Clive Owen plays Verris, the leader of the Gemini Project and the supposed villain of the film. I say supposed because the film never really figured out if he is a bad guy or not. Owen does fine, but mostly because it's a role he’s been playing the last decade in subsequently worse films. Gemini Man is neither a good nor a bad film. Mainly it’s a tech demo that may lead to better films using these innovations in the future. It also teaches a valuable filmmaking lesson: all the bells and whistles money can afford are no match for a good story, which is something this film sorely lacks. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen