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The Most Successful Directors at Cannes June 29, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen The Cannes Film Festival is renowned for its exclusivity to only the best filmmakers in the world. Every director’s dream is to climb the signature red carpet stairs and have their film compete for the Palme d’Or. Several have done it over the years, but only so many have been able to stick with it for so long. In this list, I’ll highlight the most successful directors in the festival’s history. In other words, these figures are the best of the best… of the best. Many of the aspects that come to mind when we think of the festival are relatively new, so almost everyone mentioned here is either still making films or recently retired. The criteria for placement on this list are as follows: The prominence of the director and their films. Do they grab headlines, or do they just kind of come and go? The number of films they've screened within the Official Competition. Films in the sidebars will be excluded. The number of awards they’ve won (Palme d’Or, Jury Prize, Best Director…) The consistency of their output. Do they have many duds within their resume, or are they steady as she goes? Honorable Mentions David Cronenberg Hou Hsiao-Hsien Sofia Coppola Paolo Sorrentino Mike Leigh 10. Quentin Tarantino Films in the Official Competition (4): Pulp Fiction (1994, Palme d’Or), Death Proof (2007), Inglourious Basterds (2009), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) Cannes is a Mecca for international cinema and the purity of filmmaking, but it’s also a business that needs to grab headlines with glitzy premieres filled with stars. Tarantino is the perfect marriage of art and commerce, supplying the festival with artistically unique movies filled with Hollywood A-listers. Every one of his movies is the talk of the town, even if they haven’t been the most well-received ( Pulp Fiction got a few boos after winning the Palme d’Or, and Inglourious Basterds received decidedly mixed reviews). With his final film soon to enter production, we can already predict what will be the hottest ticket for Cannes 2025. 9. Nanni Moretti Films in the Official Competition (9): Ecce Bombo (1978), Dear Diary (1994, Best Director), Aprile (1998), The Son’s Room (2001, Palme d’Or), The Caiman (2006), We Have a Pope (2011), My Mother (2015), Three Floors (2021), The Sun of the Future (2023) The director is always the star of the show at Cannes (they are awarded the Palme d’Or instead of the producer), and Italian auteur Nanni Moretti is one of the biggest on account of him writing, directing, and starring in nearly all his films. He’s been referred to as the Italian Woody Allen, with his quirky satires taking aim at Italian society and politics. He’s been a mainstay of the competition for almost thirty years, with 2001’s The Son’s Room winning the top prize. 8. Hirokazu Kore-eda Films in the Official Competition (8): Distance (2001), Nobody Knows (2004), Like Father, Like Son (2013, Jury Prize), Our Little Sister (2015), Shoplifters (2018, Palme d’Or), Broker (2022), Monster (2023) Described as a modern-day Yasujirō Ozu by Roger Ebert, Kore-eda has always been adept at delivering social realism with gentle tenderness. But that loving affection doesn’t come across as overly sentimental, with hints of melancholy aiding the authenticity. His films have often focused on the construction of a family, whether by blood or special bonds. All of his films have been warmly received, with 2018’s Palme d’Or winning Shoplifters being considered his magnum opus. 7. Nuri Bilge Ceylan Films in the Official Competition (7): Distant (2003, Grand Prize of the Jury), Climates (2006), Three Monkeys (2008, Best Director), Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011, Grand Prize of the Jury), Winter Sleep (2014, Palme d’Or), The Wild Pear Tree (2018), About Dry Grasses (2023) While his long (usually running over three hours), slow, and morally complicated films may not grab the headlines of his contemporaries, Turkish director Ceylan stands above almost all thanks to his impressive trophy case. He finished in the runner-up position twice (2003’s Distant and 2011’s Once Upon a Time in Anatolia ) before claiming his Palme d’Or in 2014 for Winter Sleep . He’ll be competing again this year with the equally long About Dry Grasses . 6. Lars von Trier Films in the Official Competition (9): The Element of Crime (1984), Europa (1991, Jury Prize), Breaking the Waves (1996, Grand Prize of the Jury), The Idiots (1998), Dancer in the Dark (2000, Palme d’Or), Dogville (2003), Manderlay (2005), Antichrist (2009), Melancholia (2011) Every major festival needs a provocateur to grab the headlines. While Michael Haneke and David Cronenberg may push people’s buttons, Danish bad boy Lars von Trier always takes it to another level, which was illustrated by him being excommunicated and labeled “persona non grata” by the festival after his Nazi comments at the press conference for 2011’s Melancholia . That banishment put a strain on the relationship between the festival and one of its star pupils, who had picked up a second-place prize ( Breaking the Waves ) and Palme d’Or ( Dancer in the Dark ) since he was admitted to the competition in the mid-’80s. Von Trier would return years later for The House That Jack Built , which appropriately caused one of the biggest walkouts in festival history 5. Pedro Almodóvar Films in the Official Competition (6): All About My Mother (1999, Best Director), Volver (2006, Best Screenplay), Broken Embraces (2009), The Skin I Live In (2011), Julieta (2016), Pain and Glory (2019) A relatively late bloomer to the festival, Almodóvar didn’t make his way into the competition until 1999’s All About My Mother . But he made his first shot count, winning the Best Director prize. He’s usually brought global stars like Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas along with him for his twisty stories filled with bright colors. Even with all his success on the Croisette, Almodóvar isn’t a hardcore festival loyalist, opting to sometimes debut his films at other festivals, such as Talk to Her at Telluride and Parallel Mothers at Venice. 4. Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne Films in the Official Competition (9): Rosetta (1999, Palme d’Or), The Son (2002), The Child (2005, Palme d’Or), Lorna’s Silence (2008, Best Screenplay), The Kid with a Bike (2011, Grand Prize of the Jury), Two Days, One Night (2014), The Unknown Girl (2016), Young Ahmed (2019, Best Director), Tori and Lokita (2022, 75 th Anniversary Prize) You only have to look at the made-up 75th-anniversary prize to know just how much the festival loves the Belgian brothers. Of course, they also have two Palme d’Ors, and awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay, sitting on their shelf to back up that claim. Self-described as one person who can do two things at once, their relatively short (running less than 90 minutes) morality tales about everyday people in Belgium have always struck a chord with whatever jury presides over them. 3. Michael Haneke Films in the Official Competition (7): Funny Games (1997), Code Unknown (2000), The Piano Teacher (2001, Grand Prize of the Jury), Caché (2005, Best Director), The White Ribbon (2009, Palme d’Or), Amour (2012, Palme d’Or), Happy End (2017) The angry Austrian has one of the best batting averages of any filmmaker at the festival, winning a substantial prize for four consecutive films, including back-to-back Palme d’Ors. As the yin to Quentin Taranitno’s yang, Haneke is usually the one to deflate the mood at the party with his no-thrills observations about violence and cruelty. But no one does it better than him, with those joyless lessons about the ugliness of humanity sticking with audiences long after the conclusion of the final reel. 2. Joel & Ethan Coen Films in the Official Competition (8): Barton Fink (1991, Best Director, Palme d’Or), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Fargo (1996, Best Director), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001, Best Director), The Ladykillers (2004), No Country for Old Men (2007), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013, Grand Prize of the Jury) The Minnesota-born brothers are the reason Cannes has a rule against a film winning more than two prizes, as their festival debut, Barton Fink , earned the awards for Best Actor, Best Director, and a unanimous Palme d’Or. The festival rules didn’t stop the duo from becoming the record holders for most wins for Best Director, repeating for Fargo and The Man Who Wasn’t There (tied with David Lynch for Mulholland Drive ). Shockingly, No Country for Old Men , the film that won them the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Screenplay (Adapted), and Best Picture, was not awarded any prizes when it premiered on the French Riviera. 1. Ken Loach Films in the Official Competition (17): Looks and Smiles (1981), Hidden Agenda (1990, Jury Prize), Raining Stone (1993, Jury Prize), Land and Freedom (1995), My Name is Joe (1998), Bread and Roses (2000), Sweet Sixteen (2002), The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006, Palme d’Or), Looking for Eric (2009), Route Irish (2010), The Angel’s Share (2012, Jury Prize), Jimmy’s Hall (2014), I, Daniel Blake (2016, Palme d’Or), Sorry We Missed You (2019), The Old Oak (2023) The only certain things in life are death and taxes… and a Ken Loach film will compete for the Palme d’Or. The famed British director has had seventeen of his films in the Official Competition, a record that he continues to expand. He’s also tied for the record of most Jury Prizes (3) and Palme d’Ors (2). His slice-of-life style has made him the director of the people, with him never being attracted by the beckonings of Hollywood. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

TIFF24 Preview September 1, 2024 By: Hunter Friesen Between the pandemic, dual SAG-WGA strikes, and a downturn in the sponsorship market, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has had its fair share of problems over the years. Even with these obstacles, the festival has continued to make every edition of its star-studded festival a memorable one, always brimming with headliners and under-the-radar gems. Still, there has been an unspoken agreement amongst festival goers that TIFF hasn’t been able to replicate its peak form that occurred between 2014 and 2019. That nagging feeling has seemingly subsided with the finalization of this year’s lineup, which, on paper, might be the best one ever assembled by CEO Cameron Bailey and his programming team. Considering that all three take place within the same relative time frame, the competition between the Venice International Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, and TIFF has always been strong. With Venice beginning in late August, Telluride over Labor Day weekend, and TIFF the week after, the Canadian festival has always been at a disadvantage in obtaining world premieres. The festival tried to leverage its enormous Oscar influence to sway some Venice and Telluride-bound projects over to TIFF, but that tended to backfire and keep projects out of the lineup. In several interviews, Bailey has stated that the programming team has loosened their restrictions on premiere statuses over the years, saying that, although a North American/International/Canadian premiere wasn’t as juicy, it was better than holding firm on world premieres and missing out on stuff altogether. This year’s lineup vividly illustrates that mindset, with almost every glitzy premiere at Venice and Telluride making their way over to TIFF immediately afterward, a welcome strategy shift for someone like me. Why spend thousands of dollars to fly to Italy or the Colorado mountains to get just an appetizer for the fall festival assortment when you can have the whole buffet in Toronto a few days later? Venice titles that will be making their North American premieres at TIFF include Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language debut, The Room Next Door , Luca Guadagnino’s Queer , Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist , Justin Kurzel’s The Order , Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here , and Halina Reijn’s Babygirl . Each of these films has a firm place on my schedule, especially The Brutalist , which I had little faith that TIFF would include considering its 215-minute runtime and dour subject matter. Thankfully, I won’t be seeing either of the Opening Night premieres ( Nutcrackers and The Cut ), so I can go to bed early and be energized for that 9:00 am press screening. Immediately after that screening, I’ll be hitting a trio of world premieres within the famed Visa Screening Toom at the Princess of Wales Theatre. First up will be Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl , starring Pamela Anderson. Then there will be a double bill consisting of Mike Flanagan’s starry The Life of Chuck and John Crowley’s We Live in Time from A24, featuring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh as star-crossed lovers. The next morning will feature two of the biggest titans of world cinema over the last few decades: Pedro Almodóvar and Mike Leigh ( Hard Truths ). Ron Howard’s Eden , the film with the starriest cast of the festival, will premiere that evening in Roy Thomson Hall, followed by Marielle Heller’s gonzo Nightbitch . It’ll be a double Ralph Fiennes day on Sunday as I catch Conclave and The Return . The former is the highly anticipated follow-up from director Edward Berger after the wild success of All Quiet on the Western Front , and the latter is an adaptation of the myth of Odysseus that marks the reunification of Fiennes and his The English Patient co-star Juliette Binoche. Sandwiched between those screenings is The Order , a film I’ve had my eye on for quite some time as Justin Kurzel has produced some of my favorite films of the past decades ( Macbeth , Nitram ). The next few days follow that same cadence, with the remainder of the Venice and Telluride holdovers making their northern premieres. While everyone else will be experiencing the madness of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis in Roy Thomson Hall on Monday night, I’ll be across the street seeing Queer . Then, the next night, I’ll see The Piano Lesson and Babygirl , with Wednesday’s headliners being Saturday Night and The End . Also on Wednesday are two under-the-radar Venice titles that I’m extremely intrigued by: Harvest and April . From there, my schedule will become more fluid throughout. There’ll still be plenty of screening opportunities for stuff like The Fire Inside , Unstoppable , Without Blood , The Shadow Strays , and The Friend , as well as other titles not on my watchlist that receive great buzz. Woman of the Hour was one of those films last year, as I didn’t secure a ticket for it until after many of my friends raved about it. All in all, I plan to see around 30-35 films throughout the ten-day festival, with a few of them likely to become some of my favorites of the year. There’s nothing like indulging in so much good cinema in such a short amount of time, all while mingling with friends and colleagues from around the world. I’ll be publishing full reviews for select titles, with others being condensed into dispatches and my post-festival recap. You can take a look at the full slate of festival titles on the TIFF website . More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Awards Update: Post-Cannes Realignment June 18, 2024 By: Hunter Friesen Welcome to an ongoing series where I cover the 2024/2025 awards season. On a regular basis, I will update my Oscar predictions, taking into account the new information that has been received since the last update. Full predictions in every category can be found on the Home and Awards page. Two of the Big Five (plus Telluride as the unofficial sixth member) film festivals have concluded for the year, which means it's time to take stock of where we are in the Oscar race. The chants of "U-S-A!" rang throughout the Palais a few Saturdays ago as Sean Baker’s New York-set Anora took home the Palme d’Or, the first American film to reign victorious since Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life in 2011. Having attended the festival and seen the film for myself, I can say that Anora is Baker’s best shot yet to gain some Oscar recognition. It’s his most commercial film, a laugh-out-loud comedy that manages to instill some social and political commentary along the way. It’s also overlong and not his most incisive work, but the sheer amount of fun it incites makes up for that. Given the recently announced October 18 release date by Neon, the film will most likely replicate the rollout strategy of Red Rocket . Splashy appearances at Telluride and the New York Film Festival are almost a given, with the biggest question being the possibility of a stop at TIFF. You’d have to go back to 2008’s The Class to find a Palme d’Or winner that didn’t make an appearance at TIFF, with, coincidentally, The Tree of Life being the exception as it released in theaters in June. You’d then have to go back to 2000’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to find a film that premiered in Cannes and then went on to win the TIFF People’s Choice Award. Parasite came close in 2019 as it won the Palme d’Or and then placed in the second runner-up position at TIFF. Given my audience’s reaction to Anora , and that of critics, I think there’s a strong possibility that it places well at TIFF, if it decides to show. Neon has taken each of their four previous Palme d’Or winners ( Parasite , Titane , Triangle of Sadness , Anatomy of a Fall ) to TIFF, with three of them earning a Best Picture nomination later down the line ( Titane was never going to be serious Oscar player). As for nomination outcomes Anora could replicate, I’d look towards the strictly above-the-line, overall low-nomination players such as Licorice Pizza , Women Talking , and Past Lives . An Original Screenplay nomination feels like a lock at this point, with Best Director being in the mix. I was hesitant about both Jonathan Glazer and Justine Triet last year, so Baker finding his way into the final five would not surprise me. Staying within the winner’s circle, Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light marked a triumphant return for India to the Croisette after a nearly thirty-year absence. Janus Films holds the domestic distribution rights, the same company that guided Drive My Car ’s hugely successful and influential underdog campaign in 2021. The reactions out of Cannes for Kapadia’s film are just as high as they were for Hamaguchi’s. We’ll just have to wait and see how much the critical enthusiasm for the film survives until later in the year, as Drive My Car didn’t announce itself as a serious Oscar player until it won the Best Picture prize from all three major U.S. critics groups (LAFCA, NYFCC, NSFC). There’s also the problem of Kapadia not being a popular figure by the Indian government , which dampens the film’s chances of being submitted for Best International Feature. The French/Mexican production Emilia Perez will surely find itself submitted by the former country, save for the unlikely possibility of another French film stealing the spotlight during the fall festivals. Netflix made the splashiest acquisition of the festival when it scooped up the domestic distribution rights, a move that bodes well for the number of eyeballs that will be fixated on this Spanish-language crime musical. At the moment, I’m still questioning what kind of Oscar player it will be. I could equally see a scenario where it nabs a half-dozen nominations, including Best Picture, and a scenario where it just finds itself with a single ho-hum placement in Best International Feature. While I certainly didn’t envision Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds of Kindness to be as dominant as The Favourite and Poor Things , I did think the vibe would have been a little more Oscar-friendly. The good-but-not-great reactions and quick release don’t bode well for the film, which is making me lower its overall nomination total from six (including Best Picture), to just a namecheck nomination in Best Original Screenplay, which I’ll likely drop once the fall festivals reveal more contenders. I can confidently say that Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis will not be an Oscar player in any category, as most of the negative aspects of my mixed review stemmed from the film’s poor production values and acting. Its recent acquisition by Lionsgate doesn’t add any strength to its chances, but it does make me happy that more people will be able to see it. Still stuck in destitution hell is Ali Abassi’s Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice , of which I was a big fan. I’d still be a bit skeptical of the film’s awards chances if it had landed a distribution deal at the festival, so the lack of one really puts a dent in any hope one might have for it. Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig was certainly my Palme d’Or prediction going into the final day, so walking away only with a Special Prize of the Jury certainly felt like a disappointment. I’m sure Neon felt the same way as they picked up the film midway through the festival. The critical reception is still quite high, so there’s a chance it could find some critics' group love later in the year. Iran will not be submitting it for Best International Feature, and I’m not sure Neon will be giving it the push it needs now that its eggs are firmly in the Anora basket. The rest of the summer season will be spent evaluating likely below-the-line players such as Twisters , Deadpool & Wolverine , and Alien: Romulus . We’ll also be getting a steady dripping of fall festival rumors and lineup announcements. I’ll have another update in a few months before the fall festivals commence. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen

Sundance 2023 Recap February 10, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen The Sundance Film Festival has officially come to a close, with several films and filmmakers making their impact both in-person and online. I've compiled a ranking of all the films I watched as part of the virtual portion. You can go more in-depth about each film by reading my review for it on the page. And you can also look forward to several of them this year as many have been picked up for distribution by major companies. 6. Bad Behaviour Bad Behaviour would at least be tolerable if the problems it had were interesting. But mostly it comes across as tedious and frustrating, making it far worse than it has any right to be on paper. Full Review Run Rabbit Run It's almost a surface-level cliché at this point to compare this film to The Babadook , but the parallels are so on-the-nose that I feel like I wouldn't be fulfilling my professional duties if I didn't. Plenty of good horror movies have been copies of those that came before them, but they had to earn their keep through inventive ideas surrounding well-worn topics. Run Rabbit Run doesn't do any of that, pedaling the same "elevated" scares that we've partially become numb to at this point. Full Review 4. The Starling Girl If not for Scanlen’s performance, The Starling Girl would fall much further into the realm of obscurity its middling writing and direction had it heading for. If not for anything else, Parmet’s film has given one of our brightest young talents room to shine. Those with a deeply religious background may find more depth to it, but they may also find it dryly conventional. Full Review 3. Theater Camp Theater Camp is by theater kids for theater kids. Those that have never found themselves stung by the acting bug may not come away with a huge smile on their face, but they will be given an enjoyable peek into this world of make-believe and harsh reality. Full Review 2. Fair Play The carnal influence of Adrian Lyne is apparent, with Domont blending the dower and gleeful to semi-positive results. There's a hearty (and unhealthy) amount of excitement you get out of people taking down one another, even if the reasoning behind all of it is morally corrupt. Things do come off the rails alarmingly quickly during the climax when the theatricality of the situation greatly overpowers the reality. The messaging is obvious in volume, but a bit murky in tone, leaving things not as nicely wrapped as the presentation would signal. Full Review 1. Sometimes I Think About Dying Sometimes I Think About Dying is a small movie with a small scope, buoyed by some intriguing visuals and a standout performance from an actress who looks ready to take on this new side of her career. As a twelve-minute short film, it’s a bit too short. And as a ninety-minute feature film, it's a bit too long. Somewhere out there is a perfect 45-60 minute version of this story. Full Review More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

2025 Golden Globe Awards Nomination Predictions December 7, 2024 By: Hunter Friesen Buoyed by interesting nominees and big-name winners, last year's Golden Globe Awards was a major success in the rebirth process for the once-disgraced awards body. The group formerly known as the HFPA will be looking to keep that ball rolling this year, although they'll have a tougher time finding the same level of notoriety amongst the contenders. This year's crop is much more independent-focused than in years past, which could lend the Globes more influence in this chaotic Oscar race. With nominations set to be announced on Monday morning, here are my predictions on what names will be called in each category, complete with a full breakdown detailing the seemingly endless combinations. Best Motion Picture - Drama Conclave The Brutalist Dune: Part Two Nickel Boys Sing Sing A Complete Unknown Last year's nomination in this category for The Zone of Interest lends strength to the equally challenging and universally acclaimed Nickel Boys . Something like A Complete Unknown would have been a slam dunk under the previous Globes regime, which makes it a little vulnerable to being subbed out for more esoteric titles like Queer and Babygirl . Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy Anora Emilia Pérez Wicked A Real Pain Challengers The Substance The top three films are virtually guaranteed to receive Best Picture nominations at the Oscars, and A Real Pain has continually risen in its stock. That leaves Challengers , The Substance , Saturday Night , and Hit Man as the four likeliest titles jockeying for the final two slots. Challengers and The Substance have been two of the buzziest and most acclaimed films of the year, so it would be surprising for them to be left out. Best Director Sean Baker (Anora) Jaques Audiard (Emilia Pérez) Brady Corbet (The Brutalist) Edward Berger (Conclave) Denis Villeneuve (Dune: Part Two) Coralie Fargeat (The Substance) The Directors branch at the Academy tends to favor more arthouse sensibilities as opposed to the Globes, which is why it wouldn't be a surprise for an Oscar contender such as RaMell Ross ( Nickel Boys ) snubbed for someone like Ridley Scott ( Gladiator II ). The Globes have also been kinder to female contenders, giving nominations to Maggie Gyllenhaal ( The Lost Daughter ) and Celine Song ( Past Lives ) when the Oscars didn't. Coralie Fargeat will be that nominee this year, with Denis Villeneuve representing the blockbusters. Best Screenplay Conclave Anora A Real Pain The Brutalist Sing Sing Emilia Pérez The funneling of both original and adapted screenplays into one category makes it impossible to have confident predictions. Deserving contenders will be left off this list come nomination morning, and there's rarely a correlating factor that gives us a clue about what this group likes. The best strategy is to replicate the nominees from the Best Director category, and then swap out 1-2 based on how writerly they are. The narratives behind Dune: Part Two and The Substance have been very director-focused, which is why bigger writing contenders like A Real Pain and Sing Sing will likely slide in. Best Lead Actor - Drama Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) Ralph Fiennes (Conclave) Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown) Colman Domingo (Sing Sing) Daniel Craig (Queer) Jharrel Jerome (Unstoppable) It's pretty much all chalk within this category, with my currently predicted five for Best Lead Actor at the Oscars being represented here. It's already hard enough to fill out five slots, so adding another one doesn't help the guessing game. Sebastian Stan is hurt by the poison that surrounds The Apprentice , and Paul Mescal didn't have that many positive notices for Gladiator II . I'm going to reach a little bit and give the edge to Jharrel Jerome for Unstoppable , a very physical performance from a crowd-pleasing film that has been campaigning nonstop since its TIFF premiere. Best Lead Actress - Drama Nicole Kidman (Babygirl) Angelina Jolie (Maria) Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths) Saoirse Ronan (The Outrun) Fernanda Torres (I'm Still Here) Kate Winslet (Lee) This category is surprisingly thinner among Oscar contenders than in most years, which is a testament to the increased competition within the Comedy/Musical category. Last year's nomination for Alma Pöysti showed that the Globes will consider a foreign-language performance that isn't firmly in the Oscar race like Sandra Hüller was, which bodes well for Fernanda Torres in I'm Still Here . I can't decide between Tilda Swinton or Julianne Moore for The Room Next Door , so I'll leave both of them out. Kate Winslet in Lee would have been a lock years ago, and I think there's still enough of that voting body left for her to nab the final slot. Best Lead Actor - Musical or Comedy Jesse Eisenberg (A Real Pain) Glen Powell (Hit Man) Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) Sebastian Stan (A Different Man) Hugh Grant (Heretic) Jesse Plemons (Kinds of Kindness) Jesse Eisenberg and Glen Powell sit comfortably at the top competing to win the trophy. Michael Keaton as the uber-successful and iconic character in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice feels like a safe bet, as does Hugh Grant in Heretic and Sebastian Stan in A Different Man after idiosyncratic nominees like Joaquin Phoenix ( Beau Is Afraid ) and Nicolas Cage ( Dream Scenario ) last year. That vibe leads me to pick Cannes Best Actor winner Jesse Plemons ( Kinds of Kindness ) for the final slot over more conventional contenders like Gabriel LaBelle ( Saturday Night ) and Ryan Reynolds ( Deadpool & Wolverine ). Best Lead Actress - Musical or Comedy Mikey Madison (Anora) Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez) Cynthia Erivo (Wicked) Demi Moore (The Substance) Zendaya (Challengers) June Squibb (Thelma) This is pretty much a repeat of the Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical category, sans A Real Pain for obvious reasons. I've got June Squibb nabbing that last slot in a surprise upset over eight-time nominee (and two-time winner) Amy Adams. It's not the smartest move on paper, but the buzz for Nightbitch and Adams' performance has been nonexistent, at least in comparison to her previous work. That might not matter for someone so beloved as her, but I think Squibb is much more deserved and makes for a better narrative. Best Supporting Actor Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain) Denzel Washington (Gladiator II) Guy Pearce (The Brutalist) Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing) Stanley Tucci (Conclave) Yura Borisov (Anora) Two of the best narratives this year have been the rise of previously unknown performers Clarence Maclin and Yura Borisov. Maclin has been firmly in the Oscar conversation for months, while Borisov has seen a quick rise over the past few weeks. That might be too short of a window to get him in here, especially with an established player like Edward Norton ( A Complete Unknown ) right on his tail. Best Supporting Actress Zoë Saldaña (Emilia Pérez) Ariana Grande (Wicked) Danielle Deadwyler (The Piano Lesson) Felicity Jones (The Brutalist) Margaret Qualley (The Substance) Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Nickel Boys) I'm feeling pretty confident in the first five slots. The final slot could easily go to Selena Gomez for Emilia Pérez . She's been loved by the television side of this group, being nominated for the previous two seasons of Only Murders In The Building , which will likely continue with the fourth season. There's the possibility of Saoirse Ronan fulfilling the promise of a double nomination morning with Blitz , although that film has faltered at every step so far. I have confidence behind my choice for Nickel Boys in Best Motion Picture - Drama, so I'll reverse engineer my way into predicting Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. Best Foreign Language Film Emilia Pérez (France) All We Imagine as Light (India) The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Iran) I'm Still Here (Brazil) The Girl with the Needle (Denmark) The Count of Monte Cristo (France) The Globes have far fewer restrictions on this category as opposed to the Oscars, which is why we could get two nominees from France despite Emilia Pérez being the official submission. There's bound to be an outlier choice within the final two slots, so I'm hoping my roll of the dice will generate at least one correct guess. Best Animated Feature Film The Wild Robot Inside Out 2 Memoir of a Snail Flow Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl Moana 2 I'm going with the currently predicted lineup at the Oscars, with Moana 2 following the same trajectory as Wish last year of being a namecheck nominee. The former has slightly better reviews and a vastly better box performance than the latter, so that's a good enough reason to crawl in. Best Original Score Conclave The Brutalist Dune: Part Two Emilia Pérez Challengers The Wild Robot This category is stacked with heavy hitters across the Drama and Comedy/Musical categories. The outlier amongst the group is The Wild Robot , which shouldn't have any problems considering the Globes nominated two animated films ( Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Boy and the Heron ) in this category last year. Best Original Song El Mal (Emilia Pérez) Mi Camino (Emilia Pérez) Kiss the Sky (The Wild Robot) I Always Wanted a Brother (Mufasa: The Lion King) Piece by Piece (Piece by Piece) Never Too Late (Elton John) I'd consider it a success if I get 3/6 correct in this category. Some wild picks were made last year with "Peaches" and “Addicted to Romance," both of which featured big stars behind their campaigns. I'm going to run with that theme in my nominees this year, predicting people such as Elton John, Pharrell, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. They'll be joined by two of the popular numbers from Emilia Pérez . Cinematic and Box Office Achievement Inside Out 2 Deadpool & Wolverine Wicked Dune: Part Two Moana 2 Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Despicable Me 4 It Ends with Us Introduced as the "Barbenheimer" last year, this category serves as a last resort for the Globes to feature movies that the casual audience will recognize. That means I'm working my way down the domestic box office charts, including the films that got at least decent reviews. I don't have much respect for this category, so I won't have any pride in how many I get right or wrong. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen

Top 10 Oliver Stone Films September 15, 2022 By: Hunter Friesen As one of the most controversial figures in American filmmaking, Oliver Stone has never been shy about wearing his politics on his sleeve, which were shaped by his experiences in the Vietnam War, and the American cultural turmoil of the 1960s. Films such as Platoon, Wall Street, Born on the Fourth of July , and JFK gave way to his meteoric rise as an outspoken voice against a country he loves so much. But even with all that success early on, Stone hasn’t been able to find a footing in the 21st Century, turning in subpar work that doesn’t contain the epic anger he once had. In honor of his 76th birthday today, here’s a look at Stone’s ten best films as a director, many of which remain American classics. 10. Salvador This biographical war drama went largely unnoticed in 1986 due to the fact it was released the same year as Platoon . In fact, Stone competed against himself at the 1987 Oscars as both Salvador and Platoon were nominated for Best Original Screenplay (both would lose to Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters ). Salvador falls right in line with Stone’s career ambitions as he critiques America’s involvement in Central American politics during the Reagan administration, which had been embroiled in controversy over the Iran-Contra Affairs. James Woods, who was Oscar-nominated for his leading role, doggedly carries the film as a burnt-out journalist who slowly begins to see the horrible truth the further he goes down the rabbit hole. 9. Talk Radio With Talk Radio , Stone had finally met his match with a protagonist that was as angry as he was. Eric Bogosian reprises his stage role from the Pulitzer Prize-nominated play he created, delivering a grotesquely unlikeable character that you dare not look away from. In a similar vein to Paddy Chayefsky’s Network , Stone’s film is a scathing critique of our mass media culture, a subject he would tackle again with Natural Born Killers . With Robert Richardson’s dizzying circular camerawork and Bogosian’s never-ending tirade of insults towards his listeners, Talk Radio is in-your-face entertainment from beginning to end and has only gotten more and more relevant in our age of clickbait media. 8. The Doors Similar to the fate of Salvador , The Doors has often been pushed under the rug due to it being released a mere nine months before JFK . Following the larger-than-icon of Jim Morrison and the formation of the titular band, Stone’s film was the perfect combination of the psychedelic style of the creators and the period. Critiqued for its historical inaccuracies (which Stone is no stranger to), the film is best remembered for Val Kilmer’s stunning performance as the central figure. Kilmer was reportedly mistaken several times for the real Jim Morrison and did his own singing in each of the film’s concert sequences (take that Rami Malek). 7. Wall Street Only a year removed from Platoon , Stone switched his sights from American foreign policy to the domestic financial industry with Wall Street. Most famous for coining the multi-meaning quote “Greed is good,” and giving finance bros a figure they (wrongly) looked up to, Wall Street is overly naïve and mostly just two hours of Stone yelling about how capitalism is broken. But that doesn’t mean his simple statements aren’t correct, nor does it make the film any less entertaining with its flashes of excess that would later become popular in films such as Boiler Room and The Wolf of Wall Street . It’s a shame the 2011 sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps wasn’t able to match the heights of its predecessor, especially considering the ripe material Stone was given with coming out of the Great Recession in 2008. 6. Any Given Sunday With enough light and noise to give even the audience a concussion, Stone makes Any Given Sunday into a war picture. He never lets you forget that football is not played on just a simple field, but a battlefield. The score is everywhere, the blood is spilling, and everybody is playing for their survival. Stone's direction is ambitious and loud, which is the sort of thing that works perfectly for this type of sports movie. Everything is heightened to the highest degree, both emotions and physicality. It's no wonder the NFL didn't approve of this movie as no viewer can come out of this and be motivated to watch football, let alone play it. 5. Born on the Fourth of July With a great Tom Cruise performance at its center, Born on the Fourth of July is an endearing, yet conventional, biopic. Centering on the loss of innocence and the façade of the American dream for the Vietnam-era youth, Stone returned to his Platoon roots. He crafts several ingenious individual scenes with his might behind the camera, which earned him his second Oscar for Best Director. The scenes at the prom, Vietnam, and the Syracuse protest are just some of the great moments. John Williams’ score perfectly supplements the sweeping nature of the story, as it contains trumpet swells that recall youthful patriotism and a string orchestra that signals the haunting moment reality has crushed those once bright dreams. 4. Nixon A few years after making JFK , Stone gave Kennedy’s 1960 election opponent the full cradle-to-grave epic biopic with Nixon . Surprisingly not as damning as one would think and turning out to be a box office bomb by grossing only $13 million against its $44 million budget, Stone’s film plays out like a Shakespearean tragedy as our “hero” rises to the highest mountain, only to be eventually brought down to the lowest valley. The Welsh Anthony Hopkins, who, unlike Val Kilmer, doesn’t share many resemblances to his counterpart, gives a great performance, complete with a foul mouth and overwhelming thirst for alcohol. Hopkins was Oscar-nominated for his portrayal, as was Joan Allen as First Lady Pat Nixon. 3. Platoon As the film that quickly raised Stone’s status as an American auteur, Platoon is a dizzying autobiographical masterpiece. There's no order to anything that happens, from the battle scenes to the doldrums of downtime. Along with your confusion, you feel despair and a loss of purpose. What's the point of any of this? Soldiers are sent to die, or they survive and wish they were dead. The film was an enormous box office hit, grossing nearly $150 million on only a $6 million budget. It would conquer the 1987 Academy Awards with a haul of four awards, including Best Director for Stone and Best Picture. It would also launch the careers of several of its stars, many of which would work with Stone again (Charlie Sheen in Wall Street and Willem Dafoe in Born on the Fourth of July ). 2. Natural Born Killers Making each of his previous films look tame in comparison, Natural Born Killers creates a hellscape within the mind of the viewer as Stone savagely takes down the true-crime obsession of the American public. Matching the bewildering chaos on-camera was a bevy of troubled stars behind-the-scenes, such as the drug-addicted Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Sizemore, and Juliette Lewis beginning to practice Scientology. You also had Quentin Tarantino - who had just won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Pulp Fiction - lambasting the film for its reworking of his original script. All that drama fueled public anticipation for the film as it became a box office success while being banned in several countries and demonized by politicians for its unflinching violence and gonzo style. With the 2010s seeing a boom in true-crime podcasts, scripted television, and reality shows, the film has only gotten more relevant as time went on, with several critics praising the film for its messaging during its 25th anniversary in 2019. 1. JFK Accurately described as a “mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma,” Stone’s magnum opus is his quest for truth and justice against the military-industrial complex that stole his innocence. It’s a masterwork of cinematography by Robert Richardson and editing by Joe Hutshing and Pietro Scalia, both of which won Academy Awards in their respective categories. Richardson employed 7 cameras and 14 film stocks during the production, ranging from 16mm to 35mm, as well as color and black and white. Despite some of the film’s claims being later debunked, the “counter-myth” Stone proposes is nonetheless enticing at the moment and makes you wonder what else could be lurking in the shadows. The meeting between Jim Garrison (wonderfully played by Kevin Costner) and Mr. X remains one of the most effective conspiracy scenes in cinematic history. While it was trounced by The Silence of the Lambs in each of the above-the-line categories it was nominated for at the 1992 Academy Awards, JFK remains one of the quintessential films of its time and genre. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

TIFF25 Recap September 17, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen For ten days at the beginning of September, the laws of time and space cease to exist. Days turn to night in an instant, getting three hours of sleep per night becomes a normal practice, and diets consist of Tim Horton’s donuts, movie theater popcorn, and hot dogs from that heavenly cart located at the corner of King Street W and John Street. If you’re not going home asking yourself why you put your mind and body through the wringer, then you haven’t fully experienced the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Of the two hundred plus films showcased throughout the fiftieth edition of this festival, I saw thirty-eight of them, an improvement over last year’s tally of thirty-seven. Before branding me with the crazy label, just know that I’ve met and observed people who have eclipsed fifty films without breaking a sweat. My streak started on a soaking wet Thursday with one of the best films of the festival: Sentimental Value by Joachim Trier. The recipient of the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, this Norwegian drama is one of the year’s most emotionally intelligent films. Every tear, gasp, and laugh is produced at the exact right moment. Yet it's never manipulative, always proudly wearing its heart on its sleeve. I expect a lot of Oscar attention to be placed upon Trier and his quartet of cast members, with Stellan Skarsgård likely to be the frontrunner for Best Supporting Actor. The second day began with a major disappointment as Olivier Assayas’ The Wizard of the Kremlin was a major bore. And that’s coming from someone who enthusiastically took a college elective course on modern Russian history. Luckily, Park Chan-wook’s wildly entertaining No Other Choice picked me right up only a few hours later. And then later that night, I caught the world premiere of The Choral , a comfortingly forgettable British dramedy starring Ralph Fiennes as a choir teacher who must inject new life into a town’s choir during the height of World War I. Sony Pictures Classics will release it in theaters on Christmas Day. After taking the festival by storm last year with The Brutalist , Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold returned with The Testament of Ann Lee . Fastvold takes her turn in the director’s chair in stride, presenting a quasi-musical about the titular character and the founding of the Shaker movement in colonial America. Amanda Seyfried is excellent in the title role, and I hope she’ll be a factor in this year’s Oscar race once a distributor picks up the film. It’s unfair to label Wake Up Dead Man as my least favorite of the now three Knives Out films, as I still had a lot of fun with it. Josh O’Connor is ostensibly the lead, taking an ever larger role as the audience’s guide than Ana de Armas and Janelle Monáe did in their respective entries. The cast is not as well served here, while Daniel Craig falls deeper into his Foghorn Leghorn routine, upping his comedic prowess as the proudly rational detective must come face-to-face with the realization that all the clues point to this murder being a miracle. I saw a lot of good/great films throughout the first few days, but I was still waiting for “the one” to appear. That happened early Monday morning in the form of Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet , which deservedly took home the festival’s coveted People’s Choice Award. There wasn’t a dry eye in the theater as the origin of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is told through the tragic prism of his young son, Hamnet. Jessie Buckley is nothing short of transcendent, practically engraving her Oscar with every moment of laughter and cries. It’s the best film of the year, and make sure to check it out in theaters this Thanksgiving. Netflix led the charge during the festival’s middle section. Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams are also two of the year’s best films, telling touching stories set against breathtakingly beautiful backdrops. Edward Berger couldn’t maintain the momentum as he delivered his worst film to date in Ballad of a Small Player . It’s still watchable thanks to his expert craftsmanship, but the DNA is all wrong. Ranging from “okay” to “good enough” during that span were Rental Family , The Lost Bus, Nuremberg , Hedda , The Secret Agent , and Good Fortune . Starring Dwayne Johnson, The Smashing Machine came into the festival with a ton of heat after Venice showered the film with positive reviews and the Silver Lion prize to director Benny Safdie. I’m a little puzzled as to what everyone saw in the film, as all I experienced was a standard sports biopic clothed in just enough rough production qualities so that distributor A24 could maintain their indie cred. The final few days are always a crapshoot in terms of quality. Chris Evans and Anya Taylor-Joy starred in the toothless capitalist satire Sacrifice , while Angelina Jolie led an international cast through Paris Fashion Week in Couture . Vince Vaughn may be a very likable actor, but he can’t carry a tune to save his life, which is why he’s horribly miscast as a Las Vegas lounge singer with untapped potential in Easy’s Waltz . The worst film of the festival was Scarlet , Mamoru Hosoda’s anime version of Hamlet (there he is again!) that trades away all of the wit and heart for obnoxious characters and never-ending yelling. Many of these films will be released in theaters or on streaming by major studios from now until the end of the year, while others will be trapped in limbo for years to come. It’s all a part of the big gamble we all partake in, experiencing the ecstasy and agony through stories projected on a giant silver screen. You’d assume I’d swear off movies for a few weeks after this whole ordeal. But the train never slows down, and I’m having too much fun to jump off. FULL RANKING Hamnet Frankenstein Sentimental Value No Other Choice The Testament of Ann Lee Train Dreams It Was Just an Accident Sound of Falling Nouvelle Vague Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery Roofman Two Prosectors The Voice of Hind Rajab The Secret Agent Rose of Nevada Sirāt Eagles of the Republic The Christophers Rental Family Ballad of a Small Player Fuze Hedda The Smashing Machine Nuremberg A Private Life Good Fortune Couture The Wizard of the Kremlin Sacrifice The Choral Tuner Christy The Lost Bus Silent Friend Orphan The Fence Easy’s Waltz Scarlet More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

2022 Winners January 1, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen While it definitely wasn’t as bad as 2020 or 2021, 2022 could still be considered a rough year for most people. But there were a few that rose above the challenges set before them and came out victorious. In this list, I’ll be going through nine of the biggest winners of 2022, whichever way you want to define the term “success.” Of course, plenty more could have been included here, but margin space is tight so some tough decisions had to be made. Make sure to come back tomorrow to see the unveiling of the 2022 Losers list. A24 Just as they always do, the independent distributor offered several genre-drying outings from our best present and future filmmakers. Their presence was felt at every film festival, with Everything Everywhere All at Once (SXSW), Close (Cannes), and The Whale (Venice) grabbing headlines from all over the globe. And with the box office potential for arthouse films falling by the wayside at alarming rates, A24 has continued to position itself as a strong brand geared towards younger demographics, so its future looks as bright as its present. Colin Farrell In terms of both quality and quantity, the Irish actor knocked it out of the park, starring in several productions in varying genres and scales. He started off the year with After Yang at Sundance, reintroducing Kogonada’s film after its 2021 Cannes bow. He then went big, both literally and metaphorically, for The Batman , which has netted him his own future spinoff show. Then there was Ron Howard’s Thirteen Lives , where he and Viggo Mortensen aptly led the inspiring true story of the Thailand cave rescue. And, finally, he returned to his native home country to work again with Martin McDonagh on The Banshees of Inisherin , receiving the best reviews of his career. He’s already picked up a number of critics' prizes and looks to be a prime contender for the Best Lead Actor Oscar. Jenna Ortega No one had a bigger rise to fame in 2022 than Jenna Ortega. She had the one-two punch of The Fallout and Scream in January, proving that she was both able to carry heavy dramatic material and be a box office star. She kept the horror streak going with a supporting performance in Ti West’s X , followed by the titular role in Wednesday , which has already become one of Netflix’s most popular shows of all time. She’ll reprise her role in the upcoming Scream 6 , meaning we may have a new scream queen for this generation. Legacy Sequels Who says a sequel needs to come right away? If 2022 taught us anything, it’s that no movie is too old to get a follow-up. Top Gun: Maverick demolished box office expectations despite thirty-six years between entries, and Avatar: The Way of Water will look to repeat the success of its thirteen-year-old predecessor. Jackass Forever brought back the usual gang of numbskulls after a dozen years apart, resulting in even more hilarious brain trauma. Finally, there was Scream , blending both fan-favorites such as Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox with a fresh-faced group of potential Ghostface victims. Claire Denis The revered French auteur released two movies in 2022, both netting her positive critical remarks and some hardware for her trophy shelf. The first was Both Sides of the Blade , premiering at the Berlin Film Festival and reuniting her with Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon. Denis would pick up the festival prize for her direction just as she was racing around the clock to put the finishing touches on Stars at Noon for it to be submitted for the Cannes Film Festival, her first time there in competition in over thirty years. Her hard work paid off, as the film was jointly awarded the Grand Prize of the Festival (second-place prize) along with Lukas Dhont’s Close . Brian Tyree Henry Between both movies and television, and comedy and drama, Henry reached new heights in his career. He stole the spotlight from both Brad Pitt with his Thomas the Tank Engine-obsessed character in Bullet Train , and Jennifer Lawrence as a grief-stricken car mechanic in Causeway , which might earn him an Oscar nomination. He also concluded his run on Atlanta with the final two seasons, putting him in a prime position for next year’s Emmy awards. Horror Movies While other genres saw dwindling box office numbers, horror movies kept theaters afloat, both in wide and limited releases. Smile was the big winner with over $100 million both domestically and internationally, with Barbarian and The Menu close behind. Damien Leone’s Terrifier 2 proved to be a great investment at a budget of only $250,000, grossing over $10 million despite staying in a small number of theaters. X and Pearl gave arthouse horror fans a surprise treat, Prey reimagined the Predator franchise, and Bones and All told a story filled with both literal and metaphorical heart. Cate Blanchett Considering the high bar Blanchett has set for herself throughout her career, it’s hard to imagine how she would be able to raise it again. But just as she’s always done, she doubted the naysayers, turning in one of best performances of her career in TÁR , writer/director Todd Field’s return to feature filmmaking after a sixteen-year absence. She’ll be a top contender for her third acting Oscar. She also provided monkey noises for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio , and her narration for The School for Good and Evil was the only positive thing critics had to say about that movie. Ethan Hawke The only thing consistent about Hawke’s output this past year was the excellence of its quality. He made his MCU debut, and probably made some good money, as the main antagonist in Moon Knight . He then did three wildly different roles, both in terms of size and range, on the silver screen: Leading The Black Phone , supporting in The Northman , and providing a cameo in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery . But Hawke wasn’t just satisfied with appearing in front of the camera, as he also directed the six-part HBO Max documentary series on the relationship between Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Tyler's Takes: In Defense of Pixar's 'Elemental' June 22, 2024 By: Tyler Banark As I was making my Top 10 Pixar Movie list in preparation for Inside Out 2 , there was one specific movie that, while coming close, didn’t make the cut. It’s been on my mind a lot over the past year and was even the main inspiration for this series I’m starting here. The movie in question is Elemental , a sleeper hit that was initially met with mixed reactions, poor marketing, and a barely profitable box office campaign. It was a fever dream of a film through its unusual release, and, while it does have a misstep here and there, it should have received more love than it got. One could say its biggest laurel placed upon it was a simple namecheck nomination in the Best Animated Feature category at the Oscars, where it was easily trounced by Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Boy and the Heron , the latter being the winner. Still, in a time where Pixar is making films that either feel too safe, don’t stick the landing, or totally miss the mark by a mile, Elemental circumvented all those traps through a valiant risk-taking effort. Spoiler Warning: Specific story points will be mentioned Like many other Pixar films, Elemental is brilliantly animated and presents itself as simple on the surface, yet rich in complexity as it delves into themes of immigration, familial expectations, and social class. These themes are embodied in one of our two main characters, Ember. The first two themes are vital as her parents, Bernie and Cinder, immigrated to Element City in search of a new life, their journey being fraught with challenges, such as finding a place to live while facing xenophobia and prejudice. As Ember grows up, she’s led to solely believe she’ll one day take over her father’s shop. This nuanced exploration of societal issues and expectations adds depth to the film and invites the audience to reflect on these themes. The theme of social class is also seen in Ember and her counterpart/love interest, Wade. Ember comes from a working-class family of immigrants who sacrificed everything and live in a rundown building that houses their home and Bernie’s shop. Meanwhile, Wade comes from a more well-to-do family, as we see them living in a fancy high-rise apartment. The dichotomy of these two character’s financial upbringings was not something I would expect to see in a Pixar film, yet it effectively bolsters the narrative by adding an element of uncertainty to their relationship. Another commendable component of Elemental is its ability to be a family-friendly rom-com, something the marketing department failed to highlight. Posing as the strongest aspect of the film’s script, this subplot sees Ember and Wade’s relationship go through the beats we’ve come to expect within raunchier entries in the genre. Neither of them gets along with the other when they first meet, with Ember wanting nothing more than for Wade, a water person who works as a city inspector, to leave her father’s shop alone. He writes them up for a citation as their pipes aren’t up to city code, while also helping her find a way to have them waived. Hilarity ensues as they spend more time together and meet each other’s families. When Wade meets Ember’s parents, he’s greeted with hostility as he claims to be a food inspector. In doing so, Bernie forces Wade to eat a traditional fire dish that causes him to bubble up from the heat. On the contrary, when Ember meets Wade’s family, they treat her kindly and think nothing of their different elements. Audiences can tell director Peter Sohn took heavy inspiration from numerous rom-coms, most notably Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and Moonstruck , to convey the love story on display. The more time Ember and Wade spend together, from attending a sporting event to building a barricade, the more their feelings mutually grow, eventually settling into a case of opposites attracting. They go out on dates, seen in a beautiful montage accompanied by Lauv’s original anthem, “Steal the Show.” But their relationship is held back by one crucial thing: elements can’t mix without harming each other. When they decide to put this theory to the test, they discover that they can in fact touch each other (change each other’s chemistry, as Wade put it), and share a little dance in celebration. While it is of course beautifully animated and soulfully (no pun intended) written, the uplift during this moment comes from a dreamy score provided by the great Thomas Newman. It encompasses that feeling couples get when the world stops around them, all all they can do is be right here, right now. There’s a reminiscent feel within this scene to the similarly thematic one in WALL-E , which Newman also scored. Have no fear though, as your skepticism surrounding the possibility that the movie would simply follow the rom-com formula beat-for-beat gets subverted. In many cases, the film’s climax happens after the love interests go apart, most likely through a big where they confront each other in public, reconciling their differences and solidifying their love. Right after Ember and Wade have their dance, she tells him it’s over as she remembers that she must stay loyal to her father’s wishes, always putting them above herself. Moments later, Wade crashes Ember’s family party celebrating Bernie’s retirement. Wade monologues about the reasons why he and Ember can’t be together, reminding her that there are “a million nos… But there's also one yes.” If Elemental wanted to make the safe decision to follow every other rom-com, Ember would’ve said it back, proudly telling her family and friends that elements can mix, and Wade is accepted. However, Ember tells Wade she doesn’t love him back and demands that he leave. Wade does so… but they later reconcile and express their love in the film’s climax. Look, this is still a Disney movie after all, there has to be a happy ending. Part of what makes numerous Pixar movies amazing is how complex they are underneath the surface. The Incredibles pushes the envelope of what can be included for a PG movie, Ratatouille and the Toy Story movies tackle the theme of purpose, WALL-E focuses on a show, don’t tell narrative approach rarely seen in family movies, while Up and Coco act as films that discuss the act of letting go of dark clouds. Elemental is no different from them as it acts as a rom-com for the whole family that doesn’t follow the formulaic plot that can come with that subgenre. It stands alone as Pixar’s first movie to land on its feet after a disappointing streak to start the 2020s. Onward and Luca played it safe, Soul and Lightyear bit off more than they could chew, and Turning Red ’s execution didn’t work the way it wanted. Unlike those movies, Elemental was a risk-taking effort that stuck the landing in a way I wish a lot of others could see. You can follow Tyler and hear more of his thoughts on Twitter , Instagram , and Letterboxd . More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

2026 Oscar Nominations - Winners & Losers January 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Christmas morning for cinephiles has come and gone, with many films receiving a bounty of presents or a big lump of coal. Records were broken, tears were shed, and campaigns to win these trophies are now in full swing. With the dust settling (for now), let's break down who the big winners and losers were. Winner: Sinners By taking advantage of the new category for achievement in casting and, surprisingly, getting Delroy Lindo nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Sinners broke the all-time nomination record. Across a total of sixteen categories, Ryan Coogler's film didn't miss a single category it was predicted to be nominated for. With the SAG and PGA awards on the horizon, the film has clearly shown it still has some juice left in the fight for Best Picture. Loser: Wicked: For Good Once the reviews were out, it seemed inevitable that Wicked: For Good would take a step down from the ten nominations its predecessor got. At the very least, we expected the crafts to make a repeat appearance, especially when the costumes and production sets won Oscars last year. Alas, every branch of the Academy collectively shunned the sequel, handing it a big, fat goose egg on nomination morning. Winner: Bugonia The ho-hum initial reactions following Bugonia ’s premiere at the Venice International Film Festival spurred everyone to think this would go the way of Kinds of Kindness or The Lobster instead of The Favourite and Poor Things . Instead, it landed somewhere in the middle, netting four total nominations, including Best Picture. Emma Stone has proved to be her generation’s Meryl Streep / Cate Blanchett, nabbing her fifth acting nomination before the age of 37. She and Lanthimos have four feature films together, with three of them being nominated for Best Picture. Loser: Paul Mescal Between Joseph Fiennes being snubbed for Shakespeare in Love and now Paul Mescal for Hamnet , taking on the role of William Shakespeare is an Oscar curse. Mescal received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor from every major precursor, and Hamnet has been a top-tier Best Picture since its premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in August. Adam Sandler or Miles Caton were predicted to be the possible upset options. However, it was Caton’s Sinners co-star Delroy Lindo who came in with the steel chair, netting his first-ever Oscar nomination in a very long and respected career. Winner: Sentimental Value What started with a 19-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival back in May has culminated in nine Oscar nominations. After being fully blanked by SAG, all four members of its ensemble were Oscar-nominated. The film was even nominated for Best Film Editing, which had a very outside shot at receiving. The battle for Best International Feature is now down to it and The Secret Agent , both of which netted a nomination for Best Picture. Loser: It Was Just an Accident Jafar Panahi’s film has now broken the three-film streak of Palme d’Or winners being nominated for Best Picture. Even a few weeks ago, the film seemed like a surefire bet to get in, performing extremely well at the initial critics' awards. However, cracks started to form right when Oscar voting began, and the film only managed to get in for Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature. With other Cannes titles like Sentimental Value and The Secret Agent overperforming on expectations, it seems likely that Panahi will go home empty-handed. Winner: Warner Bros. For a studio that is supposedly being swallowed up by the Netflix machine, Warner Bros. made quite the statement for itself on Oscar nomination morning. Their Best Picture nominees of Sinners and One Battle After Another combined for a total of twenty-nine nominations, with the former clearing the record with sixteen. It can also take half-credit for the four nominations garnered by F1 , which it distributed with Apple Original Films in the United States. All three of those films are expected to be heavy favorites in multiple categories at the Oscar ceremony, so this level of dominance will likely continue. Loser: Searchlight Pictures Likely regarded as one of the strongest speciality distributors in the awards game, this year marks the first time since 2005 that Searchlight Pictures was fully blanked from the Oscars. Back in the summer, they seemed to have a strong one-two punch in Rental Family and Is This Thing On? . Once both of those films underperformed, they switched horses to The Testament of Ann Lee . That also didn’t go anywhere; the film’s rejection from many shortlists sealing its doom way before Oscar nomination morning. In 2026, they have new films from Tony Gilroy and Martin McDonagh, so they shouldn’t be out of the conversation for very long. Winner: Global Cinema We’ve been living in a Renaissance period for international representation at the Oscars for a few years now. It’s now common for multiple foreign language films to be nominated for Best Picture, with this year’s entries being Sentimental Value and The Secret Agent . Other international films that picked up nominations include It Was Just an Accident (Best Original Screenplay), Sirât (Best Sound), Kokuko (Best Makeup & Hairstyling), and The Ugly Stepsister (Best Makeup & Hairstyling). With borders becoming less and less of an obstacle amongst the cinephile community, this trend will only increase the more we venture into the future. 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Top 10 Films of 2025 December 20, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen When reviewing this annual list in its final form, I’m always amazed at how disparate each entry appears on the surface. In one corner is a wistful comedy about an aging movie star, while the other features a reexamination of history’s most famous monster. The connection between each film lies in its uncanny ability to tell a story that is both specific and universal, crafted by an artist working at the height of their powers. You may not be able to physically take the film home with you once you leave the theater, but a piece of it does become a part of you for the rest of time. And in a moment where the price of everything continues to climb, I’d say that’s money well spent. Here are my picks for the ten best films of 2025. Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order): Black Bag , Blue Moon , Materialists , One Battle After Another , Sinners , The Chronology of Water, The History of Sound, The Mastermind , The Phoenician Scheme , The Testament of Ann Lee 10. Jay Kelly George Clooney is Jay Kelly, and Jay Kelly is George Clooney in Jay Kelly . By centering his film on the actor playing the character as much as it is about the character themselves, writer/director Noah Baumbach investigates the walls that have been built over decades to separate a person’s private and public selves. Clooney turns in one of his best performances, with the movie star wattage turned all the way up. But he’s also self-reflective and regretful, always asking if he can have one more chance, a luxury that can only be afforded on a movie set. The stacked supporting cast is led by Adam Sandler, who is reteaming with Baumbach to deliver another career-best performance. This was some of the most fun I had with a movie all year. Full Review 9. No Other Choice Director Park Chan-wook has been a lifelong fan of the novel The Ax by Donald E. Westlake, endlessly teasing an adaptation as his next project. Those decades of pent-up giddiness are evident in Park’s visuals, with crisp digital cinematography punctuated by fluid camera movements. Increasing financial pressures have twisted the titular phrase into a permission slip for Man-soo (a wonderfully tragicomic Lee Byung-hun) to kill the other applicants for the job he desperately needs. Park grants these men just as much compassion as he has for Man-soo, making the farce of these violent acts all the more tragic. The rich get richer, all while the poor literally kill each other for the ever-shrinking scraps. Full Review 8. Is This Thing On? Whether it was intentional or not, Bradley Cooper’s third outing as a director feels very much like a direct response to all the negative criticisms surrounding the extreme formalistic showmanship of his sophomore feature, Maestro . Unfair as those remarks were, Is This Thing On? is the right move at the right time, a strategic downshift into a less pressurized register, all while retaining an uncanny skill at producing respectful adult entertainment. Having done similarly cathartic work on television, Will Arnett is adept at finding the balance between innocent humor and flawed darkness as he bears it all with strangers on the comedy stage. Laura Dern is positively magnetic, rediscovering her character’s individuality with an endearing attitude. The production is light on its feet and heavy on emotions, with Cooper yet again proving that he can seemingly do no wrong once he has a man, a woman, and a camera. Full Review 7. Resurrection As beautiful as it is incomprehensible, Bi Gan’s magnum opus operates on a different plane of logic. In a future where humanity has lost the capacity to dream, a woman enters the six different dreams of a monster, representing one of the five senses and the mind. Each dream illustrates a piece of twentieth-century Chinese and cinematic history, told in the style of the time. The opening segment is reminiscent of silent German expressionistic monster movies, while the final chapter is captured in a single long take, telling the story of a vampiric romance on the last night of the millennium. How these puzzle pieces logically coalesce is nearly impossible to understand. But to focus on the science of dreams is the wrong way to experience them, as their unexplained majesty is what lures us into a deep sleep each and every night. 6. Train Dreams Impressionistically swaying between the past, present, and future, director Clint Bentley captures the life of Robert Grainier, a humble lumberjack who lived and died in the Pacific Northwest throughout the early to mid-20th century. His existence is a drop in the ocean of time, with exponential growth in technology pushing the world past the point of recognition. Similar to how Terrence Malick was able to use A-listers to build characters who were both of this earth and larger-than-life, so does Bentley with Joel Edgerton, trusting him to carry the entire emotional scope of the film through somber gestures and weighty presence. Years go by in the blink of an eye, yet we understand what took place between then and now. Like life itself, this is a film that often sneaks up on you in its profundity. It may take days or weeks for you to realize just how much one image or piece of sound has stuck with you, offering a new outlook on the existence we carve out for ourselves. Full Review 5. Sentimental Value You will not find a more emotionally intelligent film this year than Sentimental Value . Writer/director Joachim Trier’s story about the reconciliation of an estranged family produces each tear, gasp, and laugh at exactly the right moment. Yet, it's never manipulative, always proudly wearing its heart on its sleeve. Each of the actors in the central quartet is an absolute delight to watch, buoying between the light and the dark. 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 4. Frankenstein Guillermo del Toro, the filmmaker most in love with monsters, finally gets the chance to adapt the story of the most famous one of all. Mary Shelley’s story has long suffered the plague of becoming a copy of a copy of a copy. Endless adaptations and inspirations have taken only the elements deemed the most commercially muscular, leaving out the heart and mind. Through handsome craftsmanship and a deep sense of sympathy, del Toro has picked up those discarded pieces and made it whole again, reminding us why stories like these have, and will, withstand the test of time. Full Review 3. Marty Supreme Marty Supreme is as exhausting as it is exhilarating, the kind of movie where you let out a huge sigh of relief once you leave the theater. With this film added to his oeuvre of Good Time and Uncut Gems , director Josh Safdie has become a master of depicting addiction, the agony and ecstasy of gambling everything for the chance to win anything. Timothée Chalamet’s Marty Mauser is the John McEnroe of table tennis, his mouth moving as fast as his backhand volleys. In one moment, he’s riding high at The Ritz London. The next moment, he’s hiding in a dumpster to avoid the cops. Safdie controls this chaos at every turn, the tracks of this rollercoaster pushing the cart at the right speeds at the right time. Full Review 2. April The beauty of the cinema is not just in the sheer size of the speakers and screen, but the opportunity it gives us to break away from our world and be transported to a different one. Georgian writer/director Dea Kulumbegashvili crafted a film where absolute patience and concentration are a prerequisite. Between the unsettling abstract visuals and the brutal real-life truths about female bodily autonomy, this was one of the most bone-chilling films of the year. It was banned in its home country and barely released in the United States due to the dissolution of its distributor. It was a great shame, as one of the most important films of the year was kept hidden from the people who might need it the most. Full Review 1. Hamnet The story of how the death of William Shakespeare’s child inspired history’s greatest literary tragedy may be the year’s biggest tear-jerker, but there isn’t a single moment where it's cloying at those ducts. Director Chloé Zhao depicts an honest collision course of grief, featuring two of the best actors working today. Jessie Buckley is nothing short of transcendent, and Paul Mescal is heartbreakingly cathartic. A special mention should be given to the child actor Jacobi Jupe for his portrayal of the titular boy, as well as to composer Max Richter for aiding these characters’ journeys. There have been countless splendid adaptations of Shakespeare’s works, and now here is the masterpiece that unearths the roots from which they grew. Full Review More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

MSPIFF 2025 Preview April 1, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Now in its forty-fourth year (which ranks it among some of the oldest in North America), the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival once again features a lineup featuring over 200 films from around the world. Abbredivated as MSPIFF and pronounced "EM-spiff," the festival will host the majority of its screenings at its home base of The Main Cinema, along with a smattering of events across the Capri Theater, Landmark Center, and Edina Mann Theatre. Many of the marquee titles making their Minnesota premieres have already traveled the world as part of the other festival lineups. The Opening Night Presentation will be the documentary Free Leonard Peltier , which recently premiered at Sundance. Director Jesse Short Bull and Producer Jhane Meyers will be in attendance for the screening. Another Sundance title that will be making an appearance is The Wedding Banquet , a queer remake of the 1993 Ang Lee film. Fire Island director Andrew Ahn directed and co-wrote the feature, which boasts a cast of Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-Chan, Joan Chen, and Youn Yuh-jung. A24 will be bringing their Sundance hit The Legend of Ochi , as well as the Tim Robinson-Paul Rudd two-hander cringe comedy, Friendship . Just in time for the announcement of this year's Cannes Film Festival is a group of films from last year's lineup. Portuguese filmmaker Miguel Gomes took home the Best Director prize for Grand Tour , a Southeast Asian adventure I moderately enjoyed. I missed Jia Zhangke's Caught by the Tides at Cannes and TIFF last year, so I'm happy to see it as part of the MSPIFF lineup. I've only seen Ash Is Purest White from Zhangke, and I've been interested in diving deeper. I'll also be checking out Misericordia , which received rapturous reviews out of the Cannes Premiere section and got a decent amount of nominations at the most recent César Awards. Other titles that interest me include When Fall is Coming by François Ozon, By the Stream by Hong Sang-soo (a festival favorite), and Who by Fire by Philippe Lesage. Speaking of Ang Lee, the famed director will be here to receive the festival's Milgrom Award. As part of his tribute, Lee will give an in-person conversation about his career, which includes accolades such as two Academy Awards for Best Direction and the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award. He'll also introduce a special screening for his film Brokeback Mountain , which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Also screening on that day will be one of Lee's most celebrated films: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon . I’ll be publishing full reviews for select titles, with others being condensed for my festival wrap-up article. You can take a look at the full slate of festival titles at the MSP Film Society website . More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen