The United States vs. Billie Holiday March 4, 2021 By: Button Hunter Friesen Another awards season, another tortured celebrity biopic. Last year was Judy, and the year before that was Bohemian Rhapsody . A few years earlier was La Vie En Rose . Before that was Walk the Line , and before that was Ray , and so on and so on until the beginning of time. Why do these movies keep being made if they all use the same recycled formula? The answer is the Oscars. All of those movies I just listed won an Oscar for a leading performance by an actor portraying a real-life celebrity. Biopics are the baitiest of genres when it comes to the Oscars. There’s no purely objective way to critique a performance, but it sure is a lot easier to judge a performance by comparing it to a real person than it is to judge a fictional character. Is that lazy and unoriginal? Of course! But it works so well and requires a lot less effort than the alternatives. Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Speaking of lazy and unoriginal, The United States vs. Billie Holiday is the newest entry into this tirelessly imitated genre. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USi-ppCfxEA Lee Daniels of Precious and The Butler fame directs this true story of the persecution singer Billie Holiday faced from the federal government because of her anti-lynching song “Strange Fruit”. Holiday also struggled with a heroin and alcohol addiction, something that the government constantly used as blackmail against her. The framing of this grand story surrounds an interview Holiday takes just before she dies. She’s questioned about many things, most notably why “Strange Fruit” was a song she was willing to kill her career, and eventually herself, for. It’s a question Holiday has no peace of mind to answer, as she’s already given her answer by living a life filled with hate and bigotry. Daniels treats Holiday as a martyr; someone who died because of the wickedness of others. While that approach has worked in several biopics before, the barrier that Daniels refuses to even attempt to overcome is to give his martyr some humanity. Unlike every other musician's drug addiction film, Daniels doesn’t seem all that interested in learning about the character of Holiday. He’s simply a con artist taking someone’s true pain for his personal gain. He offers little sympathy for Holiday’s condition, which can be seen by the endless barrage of close-ups of needles being stuck in arms. It becomes pure misery porn that doesn’t contextualize Holiday’s present with her past. Brief flashbacks here and there give glimpses into her childhood, one filled with whorehouses and abuse, that only aim to shock and traumatize the viewer. Similar to Daniels’ exploitative directing is the screenplay by Suzan-Lori Parks, which has the same quality as a high school play. There is nothing in this script to deviate from other biopics about black singers, such as Ray and Get On Up . It’s the same old story of success, tragedy, and redemption that you and I have seen a thousand times before and will see another thousand times again. Only this time, it’s just plain boring to watch as the two-hour runtime feels like three, and the message about racism and drug addiction boils down to “it’s bad, don't do it”. Sure, the cinematography and production design is top-notch. There’s one brief sequence seemingly done in one take that blew me away with its inventiveness and tonal ignorance. But all those window dressings mean nothing when the core is empty. So, who’s the person looking to win an Oscar for their titular portrayal? That would be Andra Day, already a Grammy nominee. Ms. Day has recently won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama and is looking to claim her spot in the Oscar race. Her performance is about the only thing that is worth praise, as she both acts and sings circles around her contemporaries. It’s absolutely stunning that this is her first lead role in a film. The rest of the supporting cast pale in comparison as Trevontae Rhodes is disappointing as conflicted federal agent Jimmy Fletcher and Garret Hedlund is downright embarrassing as bureau head Harry J. Anslinger, who acts like the identical twin of Dick Dastardly. The United States vs. Billie Holiday is a tiring and soapy entry into the never-ending genre of musician biopics. Except for a great Andra Day lead performance, this is an entirely forgettable and shameful attempt to cover such an iconic time and figure in American history. Hulu will release The United States vs. Billie Holiday on its streaming service on February 26th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Bad Boys: Ride or Die June 4, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen It may seem like another lifetime ago, but we’re only four years removed from the third entry in the now long-running Bad Boys series, Bad Boys for Life , being the highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office. Of course, that year happened to be 2020, so more than a few asterisks should be applied to that record, especially since 1917 and Jumanji: The Next Level were not that far behind in the rankings. But the film’s lucky-as-hell January release date is not the only credit it should be given, as Michael Bay replacements, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, made the smart choice of dumping out the racist jokes and nihilism for coherent storytelling and bearable action. In other words, they actually made this franchise fun to watch. So, where does your sequel go when the previous entry had the benefit of being able to shake everything up? Not much of anywhere, it turns out, as Ride or Die pretty much peddles more of the same from the Bad Boys for Life . That’s not a bad thing considering the very real alternate reality we could have lived in where Bay kept digging this franchise into the ground, à la his Transformers pentalogy. We’ve been here and done this before, so there’s not much use in getting all worked up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRFY_Fesa9Q The attempt at uniqueness in this fourth entry comes from our main character’s age. The thoughts of mortality are starting to creep into the psyches of Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence), as the now AARP-qualified detectives are slowly being physically and mentally edged out of the game. Bad Boys for Life may have toyed with these ideas through obvious Gen-Z mockery in the form of the up-and-coming AMMO squad (all of them returning for this sequel), but this entry is where the pedal really hits the metal. For starters, Mike is transforming from a boy to a man by marrying Christine (Melanie Liburd), with Marcus suffering cardiac arrest on their wedding dancefloor. A new lease on life puts some perspective on Marcus, almost adopting a new zen-like “go with the flow” identity. There’s also Mike’s son, Armando (Jacob Scipio), still in prison after the events of the last movie. He gets brought back into the fold once the deceased Captain Howard is framed for corruption by some no-good goons that he can identify. Even though Michael Bay is out of the director’s chair, this is still a Jerry Bruckheimer production, which means the plot will be generic and the action will go boom. The bad guys may be hiding in plain sight to our characters, but we, as the audience, can spot them from a mile away, especially when they make vague speeches about rectifying the past and doing stuff for the greater good of the country ( Hot Fuzz just keeps getting more relevant by the day). All that really matters is that their faces and demeanor make it super satisfying when they get punched, or, in this case, shot in the head. The carnage is quite high and gruesome, with limbs and skulls being split by bullets and throats getting slashed on multiple occasions. Adil and Billal still keep everything flowing with jittering energy, almost like a kid hopped up on candy, a craving Marcus struggles to control after his operation. A drone camera becomes the director’s best friend during the firefights, ducking and dodging through smoke and a hail of bullets. A first-person POV is sometimes employed, with the camera swapping bodies at a moment’s notice. The giddiness of the production doesn’t always match the tone of the story. I can only take a scene where a bad guy forces someone to commit suicide so seriously when it’s immediately followed by a Fast & Furious montage of the finest bikinis in Miami. Smith and Lawrence do better with the balance, both of them never showing a single hint of losing a step after inhabiting these roles for almost three decades. The film grinds to a halt on several occasions for them to just stand around and bicker, but their unmatched chemistry makes it all tolerable. The script may start hinting at the end of the road for these characters, but everyone involved still has enough left in the tank for a few more rounds. Sony Pictures Releasing will release Bad Boys: Ride or Die in theaters nationwide on June 7th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Red Rocket July 16, 2021 By: Button Hunter Friesen American indie darling Sean Baker has always worked on the ground level when making his films. He often casts non-professional actors and plants his audience in the ironically unglamorous parts of America, such as the dingy Magic Castle motel located next to Walt Disney World. Baker’s budgets are small, with The Florida Project carrying a total cost of $2,000,000, which is roughly the amount spent to have Arnold Schwarzenegger speak one hundred words in T2: Judgement Day . Now in 2021, Baker is back to shine a light on lower America with Red Rocket , which debuted in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Opening with the catchy rhythms of NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye”, former pornstar Mikey Saber has returned to the deadbeat town of Texas City. Mikey had been at the top of the porn scene for several years, but eventually found his way out the door with some questionable career moves. With nowhere else to go, he begs and pleads his way into crashing with his former pornstar ex-wife Lexi, who, like him, was a shining star that has fallen back to the ground and lives with her poverty-stricken mother in the middle of nowhere. Mikey is a guy who always has a plan, but never a way to execute it. He does have a plan to get back to Los Angeles and revitalize his career, but it requires him to reconnect with some characters from his past who hate his guts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfndmy-6e28 Both literally and metaphorically, Red Rocket is a ballsy movie. Baker has always found a fascination with the seedier side of America, which is the side that is often unauthentically portrayed in Hollywood (I’m looking at you, Hillbilly Elegy ). His characters are often complicated and morally ambiguous, such as Halley from The Florida Project . But Baker doesn’t wallow in their pain and use it as a ploy for sympathy (again, looking at you, Hillbilly Elegy ). Instead, he wants us to understand their desperation and see how so many people in this situation can rationalize their actions. Red Rocket doesn’t break from that developmental mold when it comes to his supporting characters. In Mikey’s journey back to the top, he rekindles with a weed queen who sees her business as a safety net for her family. Lexi and her mother are both addicted to opiates due to her mother’s medical condition and the distracting peace that the drugs bring from the painful world. With these characters on the brink of society, Baker uses their situation to subtly explain the unforeseen popularity of Donald Trump in the run-up to the 2016 election. Characters are often seen slumped at home in their couches with the television set to Fox News and its never-ending coverage of the Republican candidate and his “mass appeal”. Baker’s illustration about the allure of Trump doesn’t try to be a grand statement for America itself, which turns out to be a good thing, as the message comes together cleaner than the hamfisted ones found in mainstream media. But while Baker respects his supporting cast, his relationship with Mikey is more complicated. Mikey is the cinematic combination of Dirk Diggler and Howard Ratner. He’s a person that you love that you hate and hate that you love. You find yourself intrinsically drawn to him because of his drive and charm. But as the film progresses and Mikey’s grand plan comes closer into view, your attitude towards him starts to waver. Much of that emotional response comes from Simon Rex’s brilliant performance, whose most prominent role up until now has been a recurring supporting part in the Scary Movie franchise and some pornographic solo scenes in a series of straight-to-video gay porn releases. Almost as if he has lived the life of Mikey throughout stretches of his career, Rex seems to instinctively know how to play this type of sleazy charmer. While it does contain perfect casting, Red Rocket is not a perfect movie as a whole. With a runtime of 124 minutes, the film contains enough material for a tighter 90-minute story. The middle hour is the victim of this bloatedness, with long stretches given for light material. Still, the overly fatty meat on this movie’s bones does give Rex and the cast more than enough to chew on, resulting in an emotional rollercoaster that couldn’t be replicated by bigger productions. Slotting in nicely with Baker’s filmography and that of distributor A24, Red Rocket is one hell of a ride from beginning to end. There may be some potholes along the way, but they’re not enough to stop this film from reaching its satisfying destination. This review was originally published from the world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. A24 will release Red Rocket in select theaters on December 03rd. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Better Man December 26, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen You know what they say: when in doubt, add a monkey. The producers of Better Man , the new biopic on Robbie Williams, certainly took that often parodied advice to its most literal form, supplanting the famous British pop star with an anthropomorphized CGI ape. Yes, you read that correctly, for nearly 150 minutes, which includes his time as a little boy growing up in Stoke to his later days topping the charts, Williams ditches our flesh and blood for the fur of a primate. One may think that that's enough of a gimmick to differentiate this film from any of the multitude of musician biopics we've gotten over the years. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong, although I will say that the sight of an anthropomorphized monkey doing cocaine and getting a handjob at a club does go a long way in making this a unique experience. Blame it on my American DNA as to why I was fully unfamiliar with Robbie Williams before Paramount Pictures scheduled this for a Christmas Day release. "Don't you have to be famous to get a $100 million biopic made about you?" I asked as I read the headlines. It turns out that the level of blindness is something that almost all North Americans suffer from, something we might need a university study on, considering that British stars have invaded the American music landscape on several occasions before. A quick scan of Williams' extensive Wikipedia page opened my eyes, and a few ventures down the Spotify rabbit hole attuned my ears. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVeH5T4wxkE For once, I was going into a biopic having not already known the complete story of the titular subject. You can only do so much engagement with a journey where you know every sight along the way, and exactly when you'll see them. So, what did I learn about Robbie Williams after sitting through Better Man ? Well, not much that the Wikipedia page couldn't have told me, or any other musician biopic has already given me the impression of. At some point, I have to ask: How special are these singers if they all have the same life story? Young Robbie is constantly picked on at school, always chosen last on the playground, and told he's a freak. But it's not because he's a monkey, as no other character seems to notice that they're interacting with an extra out of the Planet of the Apes films. His life at home isn't much better, as his father has just left the family after determining that his wife and child were holding back his chances of being famous. Along with his mother and grandmother, Robbie still has his Sinatra records in his corner, and they're enough to help him realize his destiny as a singer. Fame comes quicker than he thought in the form of Take That, Britain's most sensational '90s boy band. From there, it's the usual rapid rise and fall filled with sex, drugs, and pop music. Williams' explanation for his appearance as a monkey, which Paramount was pragmatic enough to use in the film's first trailer and create a whole featurette around, is that he's always seen himself as a little less evolved than everyone around him. He's been a trained monkey since his teenage years, both on the stage and in the tabloids. The effect isn't as jarring as you would expect, most likely due to the fact that we've become accustomed to seeing human and CGI apes sharing the screen in the recent Planet of the Apes films. The same WETA visual engineers from that series worked on this film, and the results are full of the same vibrancy and expressiveness. Jonno Davies dons the motion-capture suit for the majority of the runtime, with Williams voicing the role near the adult years. It's a concept that's all well and good on paper, and even a few times in execution. But as the central conceit that distances the project from being just another genre copycat, it's too thin. Every person who gets a biopic made about them feels that they're different than everyone else, so seeing it literalized is putting a hat on a hat. What often breaks this film free from its formulaic trappings is director Michael Gracey's desire to claim the titular title that he bestowed upon Hugh Jackman's P.T. Barnum in his directorial debut, The Greatest Showman . Just as you'll never see him in public without his trademarked beanie (seriously, see how long you have to scroll through Google Images until you see him without it), you'll also never catch one of his scenes lacking in energy. I can bemoan the problematic nature of The Greatest Showman all I want, but I'll never deny that it wasn't extremely entertaining to watch. That same vibe runs through every moment of Better Man , the doldrums of a cliched story perpetually being papered over by visual splendor. “Rock DJ” blasts from every window as Take That celebrates their success with a flash mob dance in the streets, the whole thing captured in one (very digital) take. And “She’s the One” serenades Williams and Nicole Appleton as they seal their love. As someone who didn’t know anything about Williams and was ready for another boring biopic, I walked away from Better Man with quite a few of his songs in my Spotify playlist and a higher-than-expected urge to see it again. Paramount Pictures will release Better Man in select theaters on December 25th, followed by a nationwide expansion on January 10th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Fantastic Four: First Steps July 24, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Simply by following an unreleased and illegal 1994 production from low-budget maestro Roger Corman, two so-so entries from the mid-2000s starring a pre-Captain America Chris Evans as Johnny Storm, and an embarrassing 2015 reboot that now mostly survives as a piece of mockery, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is… fantastic. Look, I knew I had to use that pun at least once throughout this review, so it made sense to get it out of the way. Beyond just the simple humor of the word play, it’s an apt description for this fourth official introduction to Marvel’s first family. In the thirty-seven entries of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there hasn’t been a film that has committed more to the bit than First Steps . Even the opening IMAX and studio logos are dressed with the retrofuturist space-age design akin to The Jetsons . On this version of Earth, specifically called Earth-828 (the rest of the MCU takes place on Earth-616), live The Fantastic Four. In a quick television special montage, we get their backstories, the origin of their superpowers, and their newfound purpose as protectors. They’re Earth’s mightiest heroes, with the public adoring them for their friendly neighborhood charm and upstanding morals. It was nice to see that director Matt Shakman and screenwriters Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer share our sentiment about pushing past all the cursory facts that we’ve had over sixty years to study. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAsmrKyMqaA Shakman helmed all episodes of WandaVision , everyone’s favorite pandemic comfort watch. His knack for mixing the stylistic influences of classic and modern television is mimicked here, with the art direction, costuming, and soundtrack greatly supporting the notion that this marks a new, separate entry in the MCU. The Thing casually walks around in a trench coat and fedora, with the rest of the team donning fashionable turtlenecks as their official uniform. The group’s robot butler, H.E.R.B.I.E., is an analog computer with artificial intelligence, zooming around a bit like WALL-E, making beeps and blips as comic relief. Through their mixture of brains and brawn, the Fantastic Four have been able to vanquish every threat that has come their way. That is, until the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) arrives with a warning that this Earth has been marked for death by Galactus (Ralph Ineson), the unstoppable god-like destroyer of worlds. His introduction feels plucked straight out of the concept art, with his sheer size and superior tone reminding these heroes that they are mere mortals. Initially, First Steps makes the refreshing decision not to devolve into an endless punch fest, or a fetch quest for the MacGuffin that will stop the threat from happening. This is not an action-packed movie, as it largely relies on its characters to carry our interest. The well-cast actors accomplish this task with ease. The internet may have officially deemed Pedro Pascal as overexposed (he can currently also be found in theaters with Materialists and Eddington ), but that doesn’t mean his popularity amongst casting agents is unwarranted. His version of Reed Richards takes the blame for the group acquiring what he refers to as ‘anomalies,’ and is frightened by the fact that his status as the smartest man on the planet isn’t enough to outthink the doom that Galactus brings. There’s also the impending addition of a new member to the family in the form of a baby with wife Sue. Vanessa Kirby affectingly portrayed birth and motherhood in real-time in Pieces of a Woman , making this version merely a walk in the park. Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach supply the best interpretations of Johnny Storm and The Thing, respectively. Each punches above their weight class when compared to the material handed to them, notably with the latter actor having to push through the barrier of motion capture performing. Of course, things do end with a variation on the giant sky beam, and there are just as many shoddy special effects shots as good ones. The Incredibles retains its title as the best version of this general concept. We’d have to dive into a thorny chicken-and-egg scenario to define who’s copying from whom. Still, that’s an incredibly high bar to clear, and this valiant effort is worth commending, especially with this serving as one of the final stepping stones until Avengers: Doomsday . Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures will release The Fantastic Four: First Steps in theaters nationwide on July 25th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Last Showgirl September 9, 2024 By: Button Tyler Banark When people look back on Pamela Anderson's legacy, what comes to mind first? The TV show Baywatch ? Her infamous marriage to Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee? What about her rise to fame through Playboy Magazine? Anderson has had the spotlight on her for decades, even if the past 15 years have kept her quiet. From being a sex symbol in the 90s to her work as an activist, she’s endured a lot of hard work. Her first major film role in years, in Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl, could be one. She gives a personal performance that audiences can tell comes straight from the heart, but the movie’s result is a little flat. Whether it’s Coppola’s direction or the film’s odd melancholia, The Last Showgirl is a mixed bag that’ll leave audiences, for the most part, unamused. Don’t be fooled by this movie and its intentions because it’s not just Anderson who has her heart in the right place; everyone involved has theirs, too. Anderson plays Shelley, an aged Las Vegas showgirl who has worked with the same traditional floor show for 30+ years. She may be the oldest performer in the room, but she’s a mother figure to her much younger castmates (Kiernan Shipka and Brenda Song). When stage manager Eddie (Dave Bautista) breaks the news that the show will close for good, she must face a new world without performing in one of the world’s biggest entertainment towns. In the film's opening scene and eventual climax, we see Shelley doing her first audition in years. She’s nervous, lying about her age, and claiming that she’s not used to the audition process. This could be a slight reflection of Anderson as she hasn’t been in the public cinema eye since 2008’s Superhero Movie (or 2017’s Baywatch, if you want to count that). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZDs_lLGrTU Anderson herself may have a poor track record regarding her acting outside of Baywatch . One of her most famous roles outside of C.J. Parker is the titular character in the 1996 flopped action flick Barb Wire , which earned her a Razzie, and Invisible Girl from Superhero Movie . That being said, her performance in The Last Showgirl is easily a standout. While Shelley isn’t a well-rounded character, Anderson captures her struggle to adjust to the new landscape. She’s lost, and the mentality she brings to the character is well-intentioned. There’s even a subplot present where Shelley tries to fix her relationship with her estranged daughter, Hannah, but it’s not developed enough to be relevant to the plot. Furthermore, Anderson’s physical execution of the character wasn’t strong. It may be her high-pitched voice and off-putting demeanor, but she gives a conflicting turn that’ll leave opinions right down the middle. Outside of Anderson, Gia Coppola has a nice supporting cast. Shipka and Song’s characters showcase different young generations looking up to Shelley. Shipka is the youngest and most optimistic about the future, looking to adapt to whatever’s coming her way (easy for her to say since she possesses the physical features to adapt). Meanwhile, Song poses as a somewhat seasoned vet who’s a little hardened but still caring. Jamie Lee Curtis and Dave Bautista play Shelley’s friends Annette, a former castmate, and Eddie. Both are reserved in their roles and offer little to the movie, but nothing to detract it from falling further down. Gia Coppola’s name may be enough to attract attention, being part of the famous Coppola family, but she’s not as strong a member compared to her grandfather, Francis, and aunt Sofia. The way she tackles this movie and Kate Gersten’s script is almost reminiscent of an obscure, indulgent auteurisitic filmmaker. Compared to another TIFF alum in Lila Neugebauer’s 2022 film Causeway , Coppola makes The Last Showgirl just as meditative and somber. Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s cinematography is grainy, questioning how much integrity Coppola had in her. If The Last Showgirl had looked visually stronger and not as bland, it would’ve been much stronger and left a better impression on audiences. How The Last Showgirl will pan out in the future will be a big question mark for Coppola as a filmmaker and for Anderson if she wants to make her way back into the public eye. Both ladies are looking to get something out of this movie, with the latter being the most well-intentioned. But the real challenge won’t be how it does on the festival circuit. Instead, it’ll be how it translates to general audiences and if it’ll be mentioned in awards season conversations. Time will tell what the future holds for Coppola and Anderson, but if both gain traction from The Last Showgirl , it’ll be a win for both. If Hollywood is willing to welcome Anderson back, she’ll be in for more than just one average movie where she gives a fitting role. One thing is for sure with Anderson, she’ll have a nice curtain call. This review was originally published from the world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Roadside Attractions will release The Last Showgirl in select theaters on December 13th, followed by a nationwide expansion on January 10th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Wrecking Crew January 26, 2026 By: Button Hunter Friesen As I sit at my computer typing this review, it is -32° F outside. A thin pane of glass separates me from the howling arctic winds, whose whistling is their warning call should I ever be foolish enough to meet them outside. Frost dresses every surface, making the whole state feel like one big hockey rink. The brief, constant need to stay indoors crafts a rift in time, blurring the days and reminding me of the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. That window of time bestowed the outdoors with the power of freedom. Now, it’s trying to kill us. All of that dramaticism is to say that I got some basic enjoyment (and jealousy) from the sights and sounds of the Hawaiian islands that serve as the backdrop for the new Prime Video action film The Wrecking Crew. The film opens over the ocean, with a helicopter-traversing camera that eventually descends onto the bustling streets of Honolulu. We follow a weathered man who continually looks over his shoulder as he walks to a mailbox within a market. He picks up the pace once he drops off the envelope, eventually crossing into an abandoned part of town. A mysterious van runs him down, and his corpse catalyzes his estranged sons to resume the hunt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8R0xDczERo One of them is James (Dave Bautista), a native son of the island who works as a trainer for the Navy SEALS. There isn’t an aspect of his life that he doesn’t control, which is why he didn’t want anything to do with his womanizing and reckless father. One of those apples that didn’t fall far from the tree is James’ half-brother Jonny (Jason Momoa), a wildcard who fled the island as a teenager, now living as a deadbeat detective in rural Oklahoma. These opposites attract once Jonny receives the mysterious letter from their father, which contains clues to a deeper conspiracy involving political corruption and criminal rings. Similar to last year’s John Cena and Idris Elba-starring Heads of State , this is a run-of-the-mill actioner that initially pits its two stars against each other until they must come together to stop a common enemy. And without spoiling the third-act reveal, it’s constantly obvious who the secret bad guy is here. Baustista and Momoa are fine together, their similar physical and comedic sensibilities not allowing for anything new to be brought to the table. Jonathan Tropper’s script or Momoa’s improvisation seems to think that ironically using terms like “gaslighting,” “triggered,” and “boomer” are the pinnacles of comedy, which they aren’t unless you're twelve years old. That demographic will probably get the most out of this movie, downing the surprisingly Hard R vulgarity and violence just as much as Momoa chugs a Guinness, a brand that he has a commercial partnership with. Director Angel Manuel Soto, last seen helming the most forgotten DC movie of the last few years, Blue Beetle , does bring some life to the film, opting for a mixture of handheld camerawork and long takes. It brings some complementary panache to the leads, their muscles flexing more in real-time than being cut around. All of that kind of gets thrown away for the big car chase set piece on a highway, which looks horribly digitally composited. The brothers are directly responsible for many civilian deaths from automobile accidents, showing little remorse for their actions, almost as if cops can cause as much collateral damage as they want and only get a stern talking to as their punishment. That kind of pick-and-choose energy permeates throughout the film’s many attempts at representation for the island’s native citizens. The brother’s father is given a ceremonial ocean burial, and an off-the-grid commune is highlighted. But then there are also several borderline racist jokes directed at the European and Asian bad guys. I’d be a little more up in arms about the hypocrisy if the film were more than a pile of nothingness. There’s certainly bigger fish to fry in this world, and better movies to watch. Amazon MGM Studios will release The Wrecking Crew on its streaming service on January 28th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Babylon December 16, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen With dashes of Singin’ in the Rain, Boogie Nights, The Wolf of Wall Street, Uncut Gems , and Mulholland Drive , Damien Chazelle’s Babylon is a true auteurist epic in every sense of the word. It’s a 188-minute deconstruction of Old Hollywood mythology, complete with cocaine, fast cars, projectile vomit, glitzy actors, underground sex dungeons, and buckets of style. There isn’t anything like it this year, or any year for that matter. Things kick off with a bang in 1926 at a house party in Bel-Air. Inside is a who’s who of Hollywood royalty and up-and-comers. Busting down the door and attracting all the eyes is Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), a Jack Nicholson-esque star who only seems to exude charm. Literally crashing through the gate is Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie), barely clothed and ready to get people’s attention. “You don’t become a star, you either are one or you aren’t, and I am,” she says as she struts to the dance floor where dozens of naked men and women perform acts of debauchery on par with Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom . Returning from his elephant (yes, the one you would find in the jungle or the zoo), delivery is Manny Torres (Diego Calva), a dreamer wanting to be part of something bigger, something that lasts. Providing the musical entertainment for the evening is Sidney Palmer (Jovan Adepo) on the trumpet and Lady Fay Zhu (Li Jun Li) with her sexually charged ballads. From this night on, these five characters will have their stories cross paths on several occasions. They’ll be featured in some of the biggest moments of the Silent Era, and also find themselves hurtling during its downfall. The rise of talkies will bring about a new style of filmmaking, one that’ll benefit some and destroy others. But through it all, they’ll find a way to create a legacy that lives beyond their mortal lives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5muQK7CuFtY This house party, with all its moral depravity and excessiveness, is only the tip of the iceberg of the messed-up stuff Chazelle has jam-packed within his rapid-fire screenplay. After the goodness of La La Land and the conventionalism of First Man (and I mean both of those in the best way possible), this film feels as if Chazelle has reached the teenage portion of his career, where curse words and sexual promiscuity flow as if he’s just discovered fire. Thankfully, Chazelle shows no signs of immaturity as a director. As a way to remind all of us why he became the youngest person to be awarded the Best Director Oscar, he adopts a wildly infectious form of controlled chaos, with simultaneous scenes crashing into each other to the beat of Justin Hurwitz’s blaring jazz score. It’s incredibly showy work, but something that perfectly fits within the unhinged glory often found in this period. The train does come off the rails from time to time, particularly in the closing five minutes, where Chazelle’s thesis statement becomes a bit too heavy-handed. And some characters get lost in the shuffle for extended periods, begging the question of whether some material was left on the cutting room floor. But I love messy films that aren’t afraid to swing for grand slams when there’s only one out, rather than go for the practical approach of a sacrifice fly ball. Chazelle has more than earned himself this exercise in self-indulgence and outrageousness, and we’re all better for witnessing it. And it also doesn’t hurt to have career-best performances from Pitt and Robbie, starring in their third movie together and finally being allowed to share scenes. Calva doesn’t get blinded by the star power around him as he acts as our guide through this deranged world. He eventually carves a spot for himself, influencing film history on a more profound level than he could ever imagine. Also along for the ride are supporting/cameo performances by Jean Smart, Olivia Wilde, Katherine Waterston, Max Minghella, Spike Jonze, and Tobey Maguire as a weasel-like sociopath. My biggest fear is that Chazelle may have inadvertently made his generation’s Heaven’s Gate : An overly ambitious auteur epic that proves to be too much for audiences and critics, leading to a decline in filmmaker power within the Hollywood studio system. Of course, I don’t believe this film will lead to something that dramatic, but I also can’t imagine casual moviegoers John and Jane Doe coming out of this film with their heads still on straight, nor Paramount recouping the $100+ million they've spent. So, if my worst fears become a reality, I only have one thing to say. To paraphrase Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs : If Babylon causes the downfall of auteurs in Hollywood, it will have been well worth it for those who watched the movie (and survived). Paramount Pictures will release Babylon in theaters nationwide on December 23rd. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Nouvelle Vague October 31, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen “Each film is made up of five different films: The film you write, the film you cast, the film you shoot, the film you edit, and the film you release.” That’s a line from Nouvelle Vague , spoken to Jean-Luc Godard as he’s about to begin production on his debut feature film, Breathless . Little did anyone know that it would become the apex not only of the French New Wave (for which this film takes its title), but also a pinnacle moment in the evolution of cinema. Sixty-five years later, director Richard Linklater, completing the back half of his 2025 double play after Blue Moon , is here to tell us all about. The film they wrote is a simple one. “All you need to make a film is a girl and a gun,” is Jean-Luc’s strategy for getting the necessary financing. He’s written a scenario with New Wave superstars and fellow Cahiers du Cinéma critics Claude Chabrol ( Le Beau Serge ) and François Truffaut ( The 400 Blows) , a fast-paced story of a crook and a girl on the run. Writers Holly Gent, Laetitia Masson, Vincent Palmo Jr., and Michèle Pétin find humor in the criminal behavior that is required to get a film off the ground. Jean-Luc evades securing permits, giving story details to his crew, and never keeps a regular working schedule. It’s all a mystery, maintain the magic that is needed to make a work of art. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UufRzKVFseg The film they cast was full of unknowns, except for the American expatriot Jean Seberg. Linklater applies the same logic, with Zoey Deutch, reuniting with the director after Everybody Wants Some!! , playing the Iowa-born star. She’s attracted to Godard’s whirlwind methods, mostly because they heavily clash with her recent work with the ultra-regimented Otto Preminger. Guillaume Marbeck marks one of the best feature acting debuts as Godard. He’s a dead ringer, complete with sunglasses that never come off and a partially receding hairline. There’s mischief in his (covered) eyes, and a sense of genius that persuades people to withstand his aloofness. A special shoutout should be given to Benjamin Clery as Jean-Luc’s assistant, Pierre Rissient, the comedic standout of the film. The film they shot was in French, with a 4:3 aspect ratio and high-contrast black-and-white. It was a fast and cheap solution, keeping the production light on its feet and giving the story a down-and-dirty aesthetic. David Chambille’s cinematography here is a near-perfect recreation, even down to the cigarette burn cue marks and slightly faded subtitles that also appear to introduce the dozens of famous historical faces. It’s boxy, yet vibrant, with an amateur quality that can only be made by someone who clearly understands what they’re doing. The sound pops, all of it recorded in post-production. The film they edited gave it the smoky, cool tone it’s most known for. Jump cuts excise all the “boring” bits, leaving only the parts we need to want to know more. Linklater could have leaned more on that technique, as a substantial chunk of the film is spent meticulously detailing the daily production process. The majority of the days in the twenty-three-day shoot meld together, leaving an impression that we’re running around in a revolving door. The film they released was in theaters, catching on like wildfire as a new generation of cinephiles gravitated towards its hip aesthetics and ideas. This film will not share that strategy or result, with its placement on Netflix isolating the experience. For as much fun as I had with the movie itself, an equal amount came from the collective awe-inspiring giddiness that spread throughout the room. We were all sharing the same projector light, the same sound system, and the same sequence of events. And there’s nothing as artistically pure as that. This review was originally published from the Canadian premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Netflix will release Nouvelle Vague in select theaters on October 31st, followed by its streaming premiere on November 14th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Button Tyler Banark Alex Helmer marks his feature film directorial debut with A Christmas Party , an ensemble piece that reminds us of the peaks and valleys of the titular occasion. At just twenty-three years old, Helmer already knows what kind of filmmaker he aspires to be, which is a testament to his maturity, as most directors still find their footing at such a young age. Speaking highly of his cast and crew, he’s got convictions that he’s got all the right pieces to his first puzzle. The result? A mostly spectacular effort capturing the agony and ecstasy of the most wonderful time of the year. Shot in Helmer’s hometown of Washington, D.C., A Christmas Party is not only a personal film. The D.C. backdrop adds another layer to a powder keg waiting to be lit and exploded. No matter how we feel about the holiday, one inevitable topic of conversation that’ll come up via your conservative uncle or liberal cousin is politics. While D.C. isn’t prominently featured in the film, there is a presence of a congressman arriving unannounced at the dinner and a partygoer who has just quit her job working for said congressman. After he shows up, disrupts the dinner, and storms out, chaos ensues. Helmer penned the script with longtime friend and comedian Guy Knoll, and the execution of this idiosyncrasy is daring. Amidst the partygoers, we meet many eccentric characters. In particular, there’s CJ (Joe Rashbaum), a man trying to sniff out whether his wife is cheating on him or not. While Rashbaum isn’t the leading man of the movie, he easily steals the show. Every interaction he has with another that involves him asking them if they know someone who possibly slept with his wife is genius, particularly one with Jack Wielar’s Danny, as the latter makes the clever choice to dart his eyes anywhere but directly at Rashbaum. Aside from him, another supporting highlight of the cast is Richard Sexton as Shaun, the godfather of our leading man, Adam (more on him in a bit). Sexton provides the moral compass Adam needs as he navigates his first family gathering since coming home from college. On the one hand, Shaun is written to be a character who knows how to light up a room. On the other hand, he’s a soul looking for help. Shaun is also a thespian looking to execute the perfect line in a play he’s about to be in. Every time he asks for input on how to say his one-liner, he receives various pieces of feedback. Then there’s our leading man, Adam Hartman, played by Jaxon Keller. Viewers see him navigate his way through every conversation like it’s a chore to eventually get one-on-one time with childhood friend Ally (Sarah-Grace Donelly). Keller fits right into Helmer’s style as the actor and director make a tight-knit duo. His chemistry with Donelly is wonderful, but what Helmer and Knoll do with the characters feels a bit forced and cheeky. Adam catches Ally at a bad time to profess his feelings for her as she brings home a new boyfriend from the UK, and while that love triangle finds resolution, it’s how it got there that should’ve been written better. As for Adam himself, he’s written one-dimensionally, never seeming to fulfill a true arc. This may partially be because of how ensemble-oriented A Christmas Party is. Still, even if there’s a central protagonist in a sea of characters, no viewer wants to see them be one-note. What A Christmas Party lacks the most is its script. Not only is Adam a thinly written lead, but subplots ran amok. Some become developed and resolved, while others get audiences wanting more. But the benefit of the doubt should be given to Helmer and Knoll. This is their first feature-length script together, and while their intentions as writers have the same end goal, they seem to still be working out the kinks in terms of finding which ideas to go with. On the plus side, they know exactly how to capture the in-your-face nature of holiday parties and all the cliches that could come with one. The approach feels earnest, and took a lot of effort to translate under one roof, as it not only knows what kinds of people you will find at one, but also the cultural mindsets of each character. Whether it’s having certain characters speak Czech or introducing what an American Christmas looks like for new faces at the party, Helmer and Knoll tie it all together. A Christmas Party is, through and through, a fitting holiday movie. It may not be on the same level as the greats like Elf , A Christmas Story , or National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation , but it has the heart and soul of what makes that time of the year what it is. Helmer has proven to be a man of great character, and what he has achieved here is courageous. I certainly hope he will be a name to look out for in the near future, as his next task with this movie will be distribution. I doubt anyone will be slow to grab it, but as long as it falls into the right hands, it’ll be a pleasant gift for us all. You can follow Tyler and hear more of his thoughts on Twitter , Instagram , and Letterboxd . More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Tetris March 28, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen If 2022 was the year of taking down the rich in Triangle of Sadness , Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery , and The Menu , then 2023 is the year for telling the story of the companies that made so many of those people rich. Corporations have already tied their hands around movies with product placement ( a favorite of David Lynch ), tie-ins, promotional screenings, and merchandising. Now they’ve cut out the middleman and made themselves the star of the show. Just on the docket within the next few months are Air , Blackberry , Flamin’ Hot , and Barbie . Of course, it’s not all doom and gloom, as for every glorified commercial ( Mac and Me ), there is a smart and interesting story about power and ambition ( The Social Network ). Landing somewhere in the middle (to be fair, it leans more towards the good side) is Tetris , which explores the complex origins of the simple game that has gone on to entertain billions of people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BLM1naCfME “Good ideas have no borders,” says Alexey Pajitnov, inventor of Tetris to Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton) as they embrace at a Moscow rave. The statement is especially true in this situation because there’s not much else that would make a Dutchman game designer, an American lawyer, and two British tycoons converge in the heart of the Soviet Union. To all these people, Tetris is the perfect video game, with the simple task of stacking blocks being incredibly addictive. However, it’s just as hard to get something out of Russia as it is to get in. To the Communist Party, a sale of Tetris to the West would be the start of a slippery slope, one where capitalism slowly poisons their socialist society. KGB operatives watch Henk all day and night, blackmailing and threatening him at every turn. What ensues is a suspenseful game filled with high stakes and tough negotiations Screenwriter Noah Pink (creator of the anthology series Genius ) initially struggles to seamlessly lay out the level, opting for an incredibly exposition-heavy opening where Henk explains the intricacies of video game distribution to his less-than-impressed banker. Director Jon S. Baird makes this more entertaining visually as Egerton’s narration goes over a series of 8-bit animated sequences. The gaming aesthetics don’t stop there, as Baird takes Henk’s line of how he “still sees blocks” after only playing the game for five minutes in its most literal form. The coldly gray Soviet buildings are outlined in blocks, ready to be toppled over once everything is aligned just right. Because of where and when it's set, Tetris finds itself at a pivotal showdown between traditional Communist loyalists and new-era Russian idealists. Many of the thinly drawn Russian villains are better capitalists than the actual capitalists themselves. But they’re no match for Henk’s relentless optimism, which overwhelms their natural pessimistic mistrust. Egerton brings a lot of charisma to his role, charging headfirst through every obstacle. The blocks may fall a little too easily for Tetris , but that doesn’t take away from the appreciation it deserves for guiding us through this concrete jungle of paperwork and legal minutia. Coincidentally, it also illustrates how far technology has come since then, as this story of arcade machines and handheld gaming consoles will be seen by everyone through Apple TV+’s streaming service. Apple Original Films will release Tetris on its streaming service on March 31st. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Predator September 20, 2018 By: Button Hunter Friesen The original Predator from 1987 was a film full of mindless action done in a smart way. Every other sequel, spin-off, and reboot following has just been mindless action done really dumb. The Predator , the new quasi-reboot/sequel, is no exception to that trend. The Predator tries to be a lot of things at once: an ultra-gory action thriller, a witty character comedy, and a relationship drama between family and friends. Instead, it’s none of these things as each piece is weighed down by the other until the whole thing falls apart into one lazy mess. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaG1KZqrLvM The Predator comes as the first failure by director Shane Black, who previously did well with Iron Man 3 and The Nice Guys . Black’s trademark use of witty banter doesn’t go over well here as it has in his previous films. Most of the jokes are shoehorned in for the sake of having them and are delivered with little effort. They also seem really out of place. Dramatic scenes have jokes in them for no reason and scenes that are supposed to be comedic end up being dry. Also, the whole tone of the film just feels off. It never settles and constantly keeps seesawing between hard action and silly over-the-top fun, which jarringly contrast each other. When the film is hard action, it’s ordinary gory action that’s been done better by others. Specifically, the whole third act of the film feels like a generic shoot ‘em up. It’s a huge disappointment considering that the film had been building up to this moment throughout the first two acts. Along with Fred Dekker, Shane Black also serves as a writer. Similar to his directing, Black’s writing is lackluster and a letdown when compared to his previous work. The overall plot comes off as lazy. There really isn’t a big picture for the film and how it connects to the rest of the franchise. We do get some connectors and facts, but mainly they’re just cast aside in favor of more action set pieces. Another misstep is the introduction of the main character’s son, Rory, who acts as a link between the aliens and humans. Just like every other kid in an action movie, Rory’s only purpose is to artificially raise the stakes and force us to care for him just because he’s a kid. The biggest gripe against the writers is how they take the Suicide Squad approach towards the characters. We go around introducing each character and learn one trait about them. Then the characters only act on that one trait the whole movie, which quickly gets tiresome. Half of them don’t even serve a point until they die at the end in a desperate attempt to make us care for them. Stemming from the bad writing is some equally bad acting from the main cast. Boyd Holbrook plays our lead character, Quinn McKenna, an elite stealth sniper. Holbrook is very boring in the role and plays the same “conflicted army character with a heart of gold” that we’ve seen over and over. Just like Holbrook, Olivia Munn plays her character, Dr. Casey Bracket, like every other action movie scientist. She gives some science mumbo jumbo every few minutes and doesn’t do much else. Sterling K. Brown lacks his usual confidence here. He always looks unsure of himself as he doesn't know how to play his character. He wants to be a multi-layered villain but ends up being a cartoon. One slight nod can be given to Keegan-Michael Key. His manic energy allows for some of the jokes to not totally fail. Everybody’s heard the saying, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.” Most films embody this statement, shooting too high and coming out average. The Predator , on the other hand, does the exact opposite of this statement. It seems like the filmmakers didn't care enough to shoot for the moon. They shot for average at best and missed badly, leaving us with a film that feels like an empty shell of what it could have been. 20th Century Fox will release The Predator in theaters nationwide on September 14th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen