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Ricky Stanicky March 6, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen After climbing the top of the mountain with the Best Picture-winning Green Book and disastrously trying to recapture that lightning in a bottle with The Greatest Beer Run Ever (while not good, also not as bad as the reviews would lead you to believe), writer/director Peter Farrelly has returned to what he knows best: the lowest of lowbrow comedy. Hey, the world has and will always need garbage collectors. It’s a respectable profession in the real world and can be one within cinema as long as you bring a certain kind of panache to it. Farrelly used to have that in his earlier days with his brother Bobby, an indescribable reverent for his characters through insanely grotesque and politically incorrect humor. You couldn’t pass through a junior high lunchroom without hearing someone quote Dumb and Dumber or There’s Something About Mary . But nowadays, the stenchy punchlines and childlike antics feel worn out. You’ve (hopefully) grown up, but these guys haven’t, and I’m not sure what new audience they think is out there to pick up the pieces. Ricky Stanicky feels like that last grasp for the fans of yesteryear, the ones that Farrelly thinks he left behind with his last two features. It’s the kind of movie whose first joke is a kid dressed as a dog with a boner for Halloween who is holding a giant bag of poop that’s about to set on fire. Those first fifteen seconds are a good enough sample for you to decide just how far you’re going to crawl down this garbage chute. The good news is that the first act is by far the roughest stretch, with the rest becoming smooth sailing in comparison. That flaming poop prank ends up burning down half of a house instead of just a front step; leaving Dean (Zac Efron), JT (Andrew Santino), and Wes (Jermaine Fowler) in a world of trouble once someone finds out who did it. Some tampering with the evidence by Dean makes their friend Ricky Stanicky the main suspect. However, Ricky isn’t a real person, he’s just someone they made up to use as a get-out jail-free card. And even twenty years later, they’re still cashing those checks. A coworker’s wedding they don’t want to attend? Ricky is getting out of rehab and they need to pick him up. JT’s baby shower? Ricky is about to have surgery and they need to be by his side. And while everyone thinks they’re being good friends, the trio fulfills their childhood fantasies while avoiding any of the boring chores of adult life. Wait, skipping out on your own son’s baby shower? These guys must really be scumbags, right? Well, yes and no. Farrelly wants you to know that he thinks these guys are degenerates in principle. Of course, lying to your spouses repeatedly for years is bad. But what if, in some twisted way that really only worked in the '90s (and it was a bit of a stretch then too), these guys learned some overly simplistic lesson about growing up and accepting responsibility? Still not good enough? Yeah, I didn’t think so either. Any platitudes that Farrelly and his five other credited screenwriters try to churn out of this are extremely underdeveloped, making the efforts to excuse this behavior almost laughable to the point of parody. But no one is going into this material for life lessons. It’s the “Warning: An R-rated Comedy” tagline that’s pulling in the tickets, or in this case, clicks since this is a Prime Video exclusive. That’s where John Cena comes in, doing most of the heavy lifting as a “man who’s been addicted to steroids since the age of two.” He’s a scummy actor the trio hires to become Ricky for a day after their families start doubting his existence. But he takes it too far, going full method and becoming Ricky forever. Cena is a skilled comedic actor, and he takes full advantage of the less-than-savory tasks he’s required to do, one of which requires him to sing X-rated covers of famous ‘80s songs. Seeing how far he’s willing to go makes up for a lot of other rougher stretches. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Awards Update: Chucking At The Wall And Seeing What Sticks May 11, 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. Christopher Nolan’s ascendancy to Oscar glory with Oppenheimer might have only happened two months ago, but that doesn’t mean the awards train has stopped altogether. As the old saying goes, when one door closes, another one opens. Of course, there is such a thing as opening the door too early, but there’s also a great deal of fun to be had at this time of the year when almost anything is possible. The final few months of any awards season can start to feel repetitive, with the same group of nominees and winners appearing at every successive awards show. And now the puzzle pieces are completely scattered, leaving their final configuration up to anyone’s imagination. Who could have predicted the resurgence of CODA in 2021, or the meteoric sustainability of Everything Everywhere All at Once the following year? How many of us truly thought at this point last year that the famously anti-audience Jonathan Glazer would become such a stalwart contender with The Zone of Interest ? Speaking of The Zone of Interest , its birthplace, the Cannes Film Festival, is just around the corner. Historically located on the French Riviera, the festival’s Oscar influence has greatly expanded over the years, with notable premieres including Cold War , Parasite , Another Round * , Drive My Car , Triangle of Sadness , and Anatomy of a Fall . It’s no surprise that the world’s most prominent international film festival has courted increased favor from the ever-growingly diverse AMPAS voting body. So, what’s on the horizon at this year’s edition? Hot off his very successful Poor Things , Yorgos Lanthimos reunites with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe for Kinds of Kindness , an anthology film rumored to return to the Greek director’s darker roots. While I don’t think the film will reach the heavyweight status of The Favourite and Poor Things , the Academy’s overwhelming passion for Lanthimos’ work signals a willingness to weather the weirdness. I have my eye on Dafoe and Hong Chau getting some overdue narrative buzz. Also overdue are Paul Schrader, Uma Thurman, and Richard Gere, who have Oh, Canada . There’s also David Cronenberg with The Shrouds , which is said to be his most personal work yet. On the international front is Paolo Sorrentino with the stunningly black-and-white Parthenope , Jacques Audiard with the Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldana-led Emilia Perez , and Jia Zhangke’s cryptically long-gestating Caught by the Tides . Almost all of our recent international Best Director nominees have come from Cannes, so it stands to reason that someone in this competition lineup will pop. 2024 is the year of question marks, and no bigger question at Cannes is Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis . Early buzz from industry screenings tells the tale of an enormous film too unusual for the Oscars, so Coppola will need to lean on the critics (and festival jury) to put some wind back in his sails. I’m skeptical about any above-the-line nominations, but could maybe see some movement in the craft categories. Of course, the question of which distributor takes its domestic rights is almost as important as its overall reception. Sticking with the theme of questions, we have a lot of those once we veer our sights later into the year. Warner Bros. has a trio of sequels to huge Oscar hits in Dune: Part Two , Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (premiering out-of-competition at Cannes), and Joker: Folie à Deux . Dune: Part Two seems safe to repeat or improve on its previous iteration’s nomination tally on account of its improved critical and commercial success. I have a little more confidence in Todd Phillips to capture lighting in a bottle again, mostly due to his sequel seemingly pushing itself (and the comic-book genre) in a different direction. The trailer also displayed some immaculate craftsmanship, giving strength to a potential Best Picture repeat. Since the expansion of the Best Picture category to a locked ten system, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever remains the only film to receive more than three overall nominations and not be nominated for Best Picture. Another Oscar-hungry sequel is Gladiator II . Ridley Scott has been hot and cold (mostly cold) with awards since the turn of the century, but the prestige and hype surrounding this project might inspire a decent haul of craft nominations. Other substantial below-the-line players include Wicked , Twisters , and Nosferatu . Looking further into the above-the-line categories, the potentially biggest player is Steve McQueen’s Blitz about the London bombings during World War II. McQueen may have already claimed Best Picture with 12 Years a Slave , but he didn’t receive Best Director. He’s got Saoirse Ronan, Harris Dickinson, and Stephen Graham leading his cast. Focus Features has its own historical prestige project in Conclave , directed by Edward Berger ( All Quiet on the Western Front ) and starring Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, and Stanley Tucci. Despite being a legend in the industry, Fiennes hasn’t been nominated in over twenty-five years, a fact that I think will play very well into his Lead Actor campaign. My biggest no guts, no glory predictions this year revolve around Mike Leigh and his film Hard Truths . It didn’t show up on the Cannes lineup, signaling a debut in the fall. Leigh has seven career nominations to his name, and he’s reuniting with his Secrets & Lies star Marianne Jean-Baptiste. Other competitors in the Lead Actress category will likely be Angelina Jolie for Pablo Larraín’s Maria and Jessica Lange in the film adaption of Long Day’s Journey Into Night . Being that it’s only May, I expect almost half of my initial predictions to be wrong. That’s just the way the game is played. Luckily, I’ll be in Cannes in a few weeks to check out the contenders premiering there, and then be in the thick of the summer blockbuster season. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen

Avatar: The Way of Water December 14, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen You know how video games have tried to be more cinematic these past few generations? Works from Rockstar Games with Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto , or Naughty Dog with the Uncharted and The Last of Us series, have pushed the envelope in terms of making video games into playable movies. Now, James Cameron has taken that path in reverse with Avatar: The Way of Water , making it one of the first movies that truly feels like a video game. Of course, if The Way of Water was a video game, it would be the most polished and best-looking game in history. Thirteen years of waiting was well worth it from a technical standpoint, as Cameron has once again taken special effects to a new level, just as he did with 1989’s The Abyss … and again with T2: Judgment Day … and again with Titanic … and again with Avatar . I’m starting to sense a pattern here. You owe it to yourself and your senses to see this in the highest setting you can, whether it’s IMAX, 3D, 3D IMAX, 4DX, or if you’re really lucky, 4K HFR. Regular 2D will not do this movie justice. You are not just paying to see a movie, you’re paying for a theatrical experience. That statement may be overused at that point since the reopening of theaters from the pandemic, but nothing has symbolized it more than The Way of Water . Saying all that, the experience of watching the original Avatar is more of what people remember than the actual story and characters. The same thing can be said for The Way of Water , as Jake Sully and his Na’vi family of Neytiri and four kids are now living fully within the world of Pandora. Death is not the end of the road for some of the original characters, as Sigourney Weaver’s Dr. Augustine and Stephen Lang’s Colonel Quaritch have returned, just in different physical forms. Both have been cloned as Na’vi avatars, with Augustine being Jake and Neytiri’s adopted teenage daughter (yes, the 73-year-old Weaver plays a character 60 years younger than her), and the Colonel being the leader of a new paramilitary force tasked with hunting down Jake. From here, the story pretty much repeats itself from the original, with Jake once again learning how to interact with this magical planet. There is the caveat, which the title alludes to, that the majority of the action takes place not in the forest, but in the coral reefs, which are inhabited by the Metkayina, a more fish-like species of Na’vi. Even with bringing in Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, the screenwriting pair behind the most recent Planet of the Apes trilogy, Cameron still has never been able to crack the code for writing just as he has for directing. It’s easy to forget that despite a combined 23 Oscar nominations for Titanic and Avatar , neither of them received nods for Cameron’s scripts. A few tin-eared lines come up now and again, mostly from the children, who are the main narrative focus for much of the runtime. Luckily, the performances are not inhibited by what’s on the page, with the cast of new and returning principal actors being more than up to the challenge of motion capture performing. The life-like facial animations capture every movement, with real heart and emotion pouring from moments that you normally would find hokey coming from a ten-foot-tall talking alien. But if there’s anything Cameron has been known for, it’s beating the odds of what has always been deemed impossible. At a reported cost of $350 million, the scale to which The Way of Water plays is unmatched, making many past and future blockbusters look quaint in comparison. Just as it was with Titanic , the final hour of this 192-minute behemoth plays out during a ship-sinking, with tons of crystal clear action and tense moments. It’s a real shame that Cameron’s regular composer James Horner died in 2015 because the work here by Simon Franglen can’t quite match the epicness of what’s on the screen. I wonder if James Wan and Warner Bros are shaking in their boots about Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom because I don't know how they’ll be able to beat what Cameron has done here for water-themed special effects. The two movies were originally supposed to share a release date, but that all changed once the DCEU film was pushed back another year. That move won’t save it from endless comparisons, as it’ll now be sandwiched between The Way of Water and Avatar 3 in 2024, which I’m now anticipating infinitely more than Arthur Curry’s next imitation. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

'Immaculate' Review March 27, 2024 By: Tyler Banark In recent years, Hollywood has found a knack for releasing random religion-themed horror films that either get overlooked or flop altogether. This was evidenced when I saw Neon’s latest fright fest, Immaculate , and got a trailer for the upcoming 20th Century Studios horror film The First Omen . Director Michael Mohan and screenwriter Andrew Lobel craft a twist on the Rosemary’s Baby narrative with one of the hottest actresses working today, Sydney Sweeney. The movie looked like an intense, bloody horror show from the trailers. Ultimately, it’s a boring film that restrains itself from being the scariest thing to come out of 2024. After her parish shuts down in her hometown, American nun Cecilia (Sweeney) is assigned to a convent in rural Italy. As she settles in, she miraculously becomes pregnant and is proclaimed the next Virgin Mary. However, the more her pregnancy progresses, the more Cecilia learns of the convent’s darkest secrets. Although the synopsis seems too familiar, Immaculate initially appears to have the intention of breaking that formulaic mold through some solid cinematography and the casting of such a modern-day actress in Sweeney. But between Will Bates’ stock score and repetitious cycle of loud jumps scares and gotchas, this just feels like another entry in the already watered-down The Nun franchise. Sweeney is on a fascinating streak right now as Immaculate comes nearly one month after the disastrous Madame Web , which in turn came out a month and a half after the box office hit Anyone But You . Both of those polar opposites (as well as this project, which she produced) came after years of her presence on HBO with Sharp Objects , The White Lotus , and the controversial drama Euphoria . Her performance here might not break any new ground, but it does check off the box of being a solo leading lady who can sell a project on a concept and her acting abilities. She has a scream near the end where she’s caked in blood that echoes the signature outbursts from Janet Leigh in Psycho and Jenna Ortega in X . Aside from Sweeney, the cast isn’t very noteworthy, with everyone playing cookie-cutter horror characters. You’ve got the strict mother superior nun, the freaky priest who tries to defuse the situation but doesn’t help, the rebellious friend, and the one nun who thinks she’s better than everyone else. The only one that comes close to breaking out is Benedetta Porcaroli as Sister Gwen, the rebellious nun. When she and Cecilia are talking to each other and making humor out of whatever they’re doing, it’s cute, but it feels forced. If Immaculate is going to accomplish anything, it’s likely just that it’s a horror movie starring Sydney Sweeney and nothing else. There’s a moment where the nuns have a ceremony for Cecilia after the word of her pregnancy gets out. Cecilia is dressed in a lavish blue and yellow dress with a gold crown and see-through veil, metaphorically spotlighting her as the Virgin Mary. Everyone else is smiling and bowing their heads to her, reflecting how numerous viewers see Sweeney today. Then, in an instance, there’s a close-up of Cecilia shedding a tear, a callback to a certain shot of Sweeney in the second season of Euphoria . Are we as a society beginning to worship her as royalty this fast in her short career? Only time will tell, but I can guarantee people won’t look back at Immaculate as the primary reason for her ascendency. Must Read 'Immaculate' Review If this is going to accomplish anything, it’s likely just that it’s a horror movie starring Sydney Sweeney and nothing else SHOP 'Snack Shack' Review I hope to see Hollywood starting to see more of Nebraska than they’ve presumed, and Snack Shack was the first step in the right direction toward getting there. SHOP 'Road House' Review For as much as its faults are glaringly apparent, there’s nothing offensive about it. SHOP 'Robot Dreams' Review It speaks volumes, while never containing a single line of dialogue. SHOP 'Shirley' Review Good intentions canceled out by poor filmmaking and an overly basic approach SHOP

'Snack Shack' Review March 22, 2024 By: Tyler Banark My fellow Nebraskans and Midwesterners, we have a big-name movie set and shot entirely in Nebraska for the first time in years. If you’re reading this and don’t understand the significance, Nebraska is a state that NEVER gets the Hollywood spotlight. When it does, it usually showcases only farmland, cornfields, and the nature of the panhandle/western part of the state. The only times Nebraska has been seen in a light where that’s not the case is in Alexander Payne’s filmography ( Citizen Ruth , Election , About Schmidt , Nebraska ). With Snack Shack , director Adam Carter Rehmeier crafts a love letter to his hometown of Nebraska City, a small town with roughly 7200 people. It’s a delightful treat, as Snack Shack doesn’t focus on the cliches Hollywood created for the Cornhusker State. Instead, it’s a simple teen comedy with the small town as the backdrop and a great heart. It’s 1991, and we meet our two leads, AJ (newcomer Conor Sherry) and Moose (Gabriel Labelle, in his follow-up role to The Fabelmans ), who are skipping their school field trip to the Omaha Zoo to bet on dog racing. These ambitious fifteen-year-olds want nothing more than to make a buck without doing any hard work. AJ’s strict parents catch wind of their rendezvous, and he’s forced to find a real job for the summer. While the two seek a job, their much older friend Shane (Nick Robinson) suggests buying the pool’s snack shack from the city. The two do it, and the shack becomes a hit as kids of all ages pay them hand over fist to get whatever they desire. Meanwhile, they both vie over Brooke (Mika Abdalla), a new lifeguard at the pool that puts their friendship to the test Rehmeier penned the script and does so flawlessly, taking the tropes of the coming-of-age teen comedy and applying them to his own methods. AJ and Moose are ambitious boys who are similar to the likes of duos we’ve seen in the past from the genre (i.e., Evan and Seth from Superbad , Ferris and Cameron from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off ). They try to scheme something big despite being in their early teens and do everything from making/selling their own beer to painting house numbers on curbs. One, in this case, Moose, can be seen as a bad influence while the other is playing along despite his parent's disapproval. It helps that Sherry and Labelle’s chemistry is fun and quick-witted, with comedic timings balancing each other out. Sherry brings a welcoming introduction as he fits the role of AJ perfectly. He doesn’t go overboard or play it safe; instead, he interprets the character to his own persona. AJ’s a dorky kid, and whenever he talks to Brooke, he tries to play it cool simply to impress. Luckily, Brooke finds him cute, and they build something together. On the other hand, Labelle continues to prove why The Fabelmans wasn’t a one-and-done situation. I feared he may not have much of a career after the 2022 hit, but I was proven wrong. Moose is the brains of the duo, but he often gets carried away in their plans to the point where he bosses AJ around. He can often be unlikable, and Labelle ensures that audiences feel that way whenever he does wrong by AJ. His train looks to keep going at full speed as he’s got another big project on the horizon in Jason Reitman’s SNL 1975 , which has become my most anticipated movie ever since Barbenheimer. The rest of the ensemble is fun to see on screen with Sherry and Labelle. Nick Robinson’s Shane is the big brother figure to AJ, and he nails the role. There’s a scene where AJ and Shane eat runzas at a lake when Shane gives AJ the best advice on handling Brooke and Moose. David Costabile and Gillian Vigman play AJ’s parents and are surprisingly funny whenever they scold the boys. Mika Abdalla as Brooke is also a great turn as she casually jokes around with AJ before their relationship blossoms into something more. Some viewers may see her character as one-dimensional or kind of a bland love interest. Yet, Brooke comes off as a love interest who initially intends to build a friendship with AJ, and the sparks fly when they spend time together. Rehmeier paints Nebraska summers just like how I remember them as a teenager. The plot of Snack Shack could have taken place anywhere, but he chose Nebraska City, which was a solid choice. At no point does Snack Shack present what moviegoers expect to see in a movie set in Nebraska, and it’s so satisfying that filmmakers understand that there’s more to the state than rural areas. Although Nebraska City is nowhere near as big as Omaha, it’s a neighborly town where you won’t need cornfields and farms if you find the right places. It also helps that cinematographer Jean-Philippe Bernier captures little idiosyncrasies that encapsulate a Nebraska summer, most notably whenever there’s a shot of a street at dusk with the streetlights starting to turn on. Bernier showcases the humid atmosphere of hot summer nights and how one would want just to stand outside and take it in wherever they are. Whether our characters are at a party, having a cookout, or going for a swim, it’s a refreshing sight to see. Above all, it’s a comforting feeling that only natives would understand, and those unfamiliar need to experience it to understand. Bernier also has some long takes in certain scenes, which looked great, but it made me wish it was done more often. If Snack Shack falters in any other way, it tends to milk a joke too far. When AJ and Moose open the shack, they sell candy, soda, and hot dogs. However, AJ gets the idea to write an obscene word on the hot dogs and charge 75 extra cents. Once the joke is introduced, it recurs numerous times, and by the time the film is over, it’s not as funny. Despite the humor wearing off, Snack Shack is still a fun teen comedy posing as a love letter to the small-town Nebraska that’s never seen on screen. Thanks to Sherry and Labelle's leadership and a solid script, Rehmeier knew precisely what he was going for and accomplished it satisfactorily. There’s no denying Sherry and Labelle’s fun banter and quick reactions with each other and their costars. I can guarantee these two are set for a bright future in Hollywood, especially Labelle, who has nowhere to go but up. As for Rehmeier, he made a statement for himself and the state of Nebraska. In time, I hope to see Hollywood starting to see more of Nebraska than they’ve presumed, and Snack Shack was the first step in the right direction toward getting there. You can follow Tyler and hear more of his thoughts on Twitter , Instagram , and Letterboxd . Must Read 'Snack Shack' Review I hope to see Hollywood starting to see more of Nebraska than they’ve presumed, and Snack Shack was the first step in the right direction toward getting there. SHOP 'Road House' Review For as much as its faults are glaringly apparent, there’s nothing offensive about it. SHOP 'Robot Dreams' Review It speaks volumes, while never containing a single line of dialogue. SHOP 'Shirley' Review Good intentions canceled out by poor filmmaking and an overly basic approach SHOP 'Love Lies Bleeding' Review Every character is ready to pop at any moment, each outburst promising gory results that beg you to look away. SHOP

'Road House' Review March 20, 2024 By: Hunter Friesen Remaking Road House for modern times doesn't sound like a good idea on paper, with immediate expectations slotting it next to the other misplaced-in-time remakes of Ghost in the Shell and Baywatch . There wasn’t exactly a compelling story to the 1989 original, just Patrick Swayze delivering cans of whoop ass on greasy goons with his black belt in karate. And for a film that made less money than you would think, its cultural footprint has persevered throughout the decades thanks to the funny title, cheesy concept, and, for kids closer to my generation, the frequent Family Guy parodies . Even with the setting being transplanted to the modern day, Elwood Dalton (Jake Gyllenhaal) is still a man stuck in the past. He has no phone, a clunker of a car, and simply drifts from town to town scraping by through low-end cage fights. For him, it’s harder to fight the rage inside than any opponent. He’s calm and composed, but there’s always a twinge of insanity ready to let loose. “You don’t want to know me” and “I’m not afraid of him, I’m afraid of what I’ll do,” he says a few times, with brief snapshots of his UFC past (all shot at an actual UFC event) explaining how he fell so far. Like the idea of remaking the film itself, the casting of Gyllenhaal to take over from Swayze is an odd choice. He’s an actor not exactly known for being relaxed, as evidenced by his previous work in Okja , Nightcrawler , and Velvet Buzzsaw . It’s perhaps a case of the chicken or the egg, with Gyllenhaal being a great piece of casting for this newer take on the character, or his involvement changing the tone. Either way, it works out, with Gyllenhaal’s grounded approach never taking away from the fun. Plus, he’s already had fighting experience with Southpaw , so the producers probably saved a nice chunk of change on training costs. Dalton is hired by Frankie (Jessica Williams) to be the bouncer/enforcer of her family bar called The Road House, just one of several hit-or-miss attempts at some tongue-in-cheek humor by writers Anthony Bagarozzi and Chuck Mondry. It’s located on a beautiful beach in Florida, with the only problem being the infestation of bikers and roid ragers. It’s nothing Dalton can’t handle, with his laissez-faire attitude towards kicking the crap out of someone almost making it more disrespectful. None of these guys were worth his time, which leads him up the food chain toward the head of the richest crime family in the area, Ben Brandt (Billy Magnussen). He’s got some dastardly plan and needs the bar taken out of commission by any means necessary, including kidnapping, murder, and explosions. The further the plot progresses, the less fun Road House becomes. It’s a bit of a bummer that the first fight where Dalton dismantles five bikers singlehandedly is by far the film’s best-set piece. Even if they are cartoonishly punchable, there is plenty of guilty pleasure in seeing some hooligans get their comeuppance. However, you can’t exactly fill a two-hour movie with your hero facing no resistance, so former UFC champion Conor McGregor has to be introduced as a bruising wildcard. McGregor won’t find himself with a lucrative acting career like former fighters Dwayne Johnson and Dave Bautista, but he fills his wildcard role enough here to be entertaining. Helming this bare-knuckle brawler is director Doug Liman, who helped revolutionize the action genre in the 2000s with The Bourne Identity and gave Tom Cruise another action vehicle outside of his usual Mission: Impossible films with Edge of Tomorrow . All that prowess quickly goes out the window the longer the fight scenes drag on, with questionable visual effects and camera movements overselling the brutality and undercutting the choreography. Once gasoline explosions and boat jousting get involved, things quickly go all the way overboard. Still, for as much as its faults are glaringly apparent, there’s nothing offensive about Road House . I guess that’s what you get when you do a remake of a movie that wasn’t that good to begin with and have it released exclusively on Prime Video. Must Read 'Road House' Review For as much as its faults are glaringly apparent, there’s nothing offensive about it. SHOP 'Robot Dreams' Review It speaks volumes, while never containing a single line of dialogue. SHOP 'Shirley' Review Good intentions canceled out by poor filmmaking and an overly basic approach SHOP 'Love Lies Bleeding' Review Every character is ready to pop at any moment, each outburst promising gory results that beg you to look away. SHOP 'Kung Fu Panda 4' Review Audiences were wishing for more skadoosh, but they got more of a whimpering pow instead. SHOP

Omaha Film Festival 2024 - A Recap March 17, 2024 By: Tyler Banark Three weeks ago, I attended the 19th edition of the Omaha Film Festival. Smaller in scale compared to the likes of TIFF, Cannes, Venice, Sundance, and NYFF, Omaha focuses on telling Nebraska-based stories along with narratives from around the country and even the world. Although other somewhat big-named movies were part of the festival lineup, such as the documentaries Frida , Chasing Chasing Amy , and the Oscar-nominated short Red, White, and Blue , there were also various feature-length and short films. Here are my thoughts on some of the films I saw this year. Lousy Carter Lousy Carter is a comedy starring David Krumholtz as the titular character, a low-life college professor who finds out he has a terminal illness. He tries to sleep with a student of his graduate seminar on The Great Gatsby and sleeps with his best friend’s wife, all while trying to complete an animated film. Krumholtz turns in a dry but entertaining performance, making Lousy into a character that lets the audience decide whether or not he’s worth cheering for. The supporting cast of Martin Starr, Olivia Thirlby, and Jocelyn DeBoer do their parts well as the other people in his life. Although the movie didn’t offer much other than its dry, dark humor, it’s still a fun comedy thanks to Byington's script. Brave the Dark Following the true story of Pennsylvania teen Nathaniel Deen, Brave the Dark is about a troubled high school student who tries to turn his life around with the guidance of his English teacher (played by Jared Harris). Easily the best I saw at the festival this year, Brave the Dark also won Best Film and Audience Choice Feature Film prizes. The movie is fearlessly made to evoke a no-filter look into a troubled teen’s upbringing and how it transpired into his life. Nathan (played by Nicholas Hamilton, best known for playing Henry Bowers in 2017’s IT ) went through the wringer with his parents, who raised him as a little kid, leading him to the foster care system. Hamilton is great, but Jared Harris is the real MVP. He embodies the inspirational teacher trope we’ve seen (i.e., Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society , Sidney Poitier in To Sir, With Love ) and runs with it as he fights tooth and nail to ensure Nathan gets a second chance at life. The movie’s tone does feel a little melodramatic at specific points, but it still leaves a lasting impression on viewers as it’s a tearjerker that wins over their hearts. Guacamole Yesterdays A spin on Michel Gondry’s 2004 sci-fi romance drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , Guacamole Yesterdays follows a woman using a machine to manipulate memories of a relationship that ended in a painful separation. The two leads, Sophie Edwards and Randy Havens, showcase some excellent chemistry in not only the romantic side of their relationship but also in the darker moments. Hudson Phillips’ script benefits from this, and the movie acts as a meditation on grief and how people handle it differently depending on their situations. Guacamole Yesterdays does pull a plot twist in the vein of Shutter Island in the third act, preventing it from sticking to the landing. Overall, it’s a neat sci-fi drama that may be a bit on the nose regarding the movie it’s spinning off of, yet still gets the job done. Don't Get Eaten Don’t Get Eaten is a family comedy about YouTuber dad Noah, who takes his family on a weekend trip to a cabin in the woods. He hopes to unplug and reconnect with his wife, Rose, as their marriage is on the rocks due to his channel and her on-the-rise career as an entrepreneur. One night into the trip, he and his daughters are attacked by zombies and must hold them off before Rose finds out. This was hands down the worst movie I saw at the festival, as it was tailor-made for families to enjoy, with humor appealing mostly to the current generation of kids. Generational moments such as Noah using a GoPro or watching his videos on a live stream were some of the sight gags that don’t land. The other half of the movie’s head-shaking humor consists of dumb jokes viewers would expect to see from every other kid's movie ever (people getting severely injured from the smallest inconvenience, goofy noises, etc.). It’s a boring watch that families surely enjoyed at the screening, but for the typical viewer, it’s another headache-inducing mess. The Headliner Shot entirely in Omaha with a cast and crew entirely of Omaha natives, The Headliner is a comedy that follows a middle-aged comedian hoping to break out on the stand-up scene in Omaha. Director Tony Bonacci has been making several commercials and short films over the years, one of which is a short film version of this. He brings back Darrick Silkman to play the lead, Chad, a comedian who is out of touch with modern society and is estranged from his wife and daughter. Throughout the movie, audiences see various comedians doing their bits in the Omaha stand-up scene. Although it’s nothing compared to the likes of big cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City, Bonacci uses this chance to give comedians at this scale a platform to be seen. The choice is neat and does its job, but the film’s narrative is lacking because of it. Chad gets offered a stand-up gig in Montreal, which coincides with his daughter’s wedding on the same day. Screenwriter Christine Burright tries to juggle these subplots with others (Chad having an intimate relationship with one of his daughter’s besties and learning how to use an iPhone), but the result is messy. Chad comes off as a one-note character, which is partially Silkman’s fault and potentially Burright’s. In the big picture, The Headliner is a movie that highlights Omaha positively but doesn’t bring a story to keep audiences invested. You can follow Tyler and hear more of his thoughts on Twitter , Instagram , and Letterboxd . Must Read 'Shirley' Review Good intentions canceled out by poor filmmaking and an overly basic approach SHOP 'Love Lies Bleeding' Review Every character is ready to pop at any moment, each outburst promising gory results that beg you to look away. SHOP 'Kung Fu Panda 4' Review Audiences were wishing for more skadoosh, but they got more of a whimpering pow instead. SHOP 'Ricky Stanicky' Review Seeing how far Cena is willing to go makes up for a lot of other rougher stretches. SHOP 'Spaceman' Review The simple sight of the comedian in a lower register isn’t enough to cover up an oversimplified love story with liberally borrowed plot points. SHOP

'Kung Fu Panda 4' Review March 10, 2024 By: Tyler Banark As time has proved, it’s a risky choice for a franchise to leap beyond a trilogy and into a fourth entry. For every John Wick: Chapter 4 , Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol , and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ; there is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Cyrstal Skull, The Bourne Ultimatum , and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides . DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda 4 falls more into the latter bucket by providing the expected stunning visuals, yet also displaying an overfamiliar story that signals a franchise running out of steam and bound to implode. Kung Fu Panda 4 ’s biggest flaw is its script; penned by recurring writers Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, and newcomer Darren Lemke. While the three previous entries mixed plenty of laughs and memorable moments, there wasn’t a single laugh-out-loud moment here, not even for the younger members of the audience. It didn’t help that most of these attempted jokes are featured in a senseless plot. Po has taken the next step in his journey by fulfilling the position of spiritual leader for the Valley of Peace. Because of this, he must step down as The Dragon Warrior and look to find a successor. As he does this, yet another power-hungry villain in The Chameleon (Viola Davis) threatens China by harnessing the powers of all of Po’s past villains. Tai Lung, Lord Shen, and General Kai all return, with Tai Lung being the only one in the spotlight since Ian McShane was the only original voice actor of the trio to come back. Also missing are Furious Five, with their absence being attributed to “other duties.” Of course, Jack Black returns as Po, a character he never seems to take for granted. He’s up to his usual antics, which is enough since seeing Black do his thing is enough of an enjoyable time. Viola Davis’ inclusion in the franchise is great on paper, but it’s not as great in execution considering her character’s copied and pasted motivations. Although he’s not given much screentime, Dustin Hoffman still phones it in as Shifu, which also marks his first appearance in a studio film since 2017’s The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) . Zimmer returns to the maestro’s corner, collaborating again with Steve Mazzaro. Although there are no outstanding pieces, the duo does provide an interestingly Eastern-sounding rendition of “Crazy Train” during a chase sequence. And that’s not the only cover song to be prominently featured, with Black and his band, Tenacious D, covering Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time” during the end credits. It’s a better use of Black’s musical talent than “Peaches” from The Super Mario Bros Movie . Kung Fu Panda 4 feels like a dishonor to the franchise, with almost every aspect being inferior to the previous entries. Even the DreamWorks opening credit logo lacked the personality it once had. From a franchise that has always been willing to take risks, this fourth outing is safe and forgettable. Audiences were wishing for more skadoosh, but they got more of a whimpering pow instead. Must Read 'Kung Fu Panda 4' Review Audiences were wishing for more skadoosh, but they got more of a whimpering pow instead. SHOP 'Ricky Stanicky' Review Seeing how far Cena is willing to go makes up for a lot of other rougher stretches. SHOP 'Spaceman' Review The simple sight of the comedian in a lower register isn’t enough to cover up an oversimplified love story with liberally borrowed plot points. SHOP 'Drive-Away Dolls' Review The results here are a bit scatterbrained, sort of touching on a few too many Coen trademarks with only half the potency they used to have. SHOP 'Dune: Part Two' Review Just as he did with 'Blade Runner 2049,' Villeneuve has accomplished what has long been thought to be impossible. SHOP

'Argylle' Review January 31, 2024 By: Hunter Friesen Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, and behold one of the unexplained mysteries of the universe! What I present to you on the screen is a cat. But it’s also not a cat. It walks like a cat, talks like a cat, and has the overall presence of a cat. And yet, any time you look into its eyes, you are unable to detect any semblance of a soul. How can this be, you ask? The foremost scientists of our time have been unable to determine that answer, nor have they been able to ascertain an answer for why it exists. Did the producers of Argylle not think that cats already exist, and can be trained? Did they recently watch Tom Hooper’s Cats and think that they could go even further down the uncanny valley? Or are they modern Robin Hoods and decided to waste millions of dollars of Apple’s money on something so monumentally stupid? I leave all these questions up to you, ladies and gentlemen. But be warned, the journey to acquire the knowledge that you seek will not be as fun as the marketing would have you believe. A fully CGI cat is only one of several frustrating peculiarities within the freak show brought to us by the “twisted mind” of Matthew Vaughn. At this point, I’d suggest replacing “twisted” with “childish” or “immature.” “Edgy” would also be a good substitute, but only in the context of a twelve-year-old who thinks of themselves as edgy when they tell their first joke that involves swearing or sex. “Original,” however, is a word I would not use for Vaughn or Argylle , no matter how much they try (and let me tell you, they try A LOT ) to make you think they’re one step ahead. In an opening almost ripped straight from Austin Powers in Goldmember (we’re really stealing from the cream of the crop here); we see Henry Cavill sporting one of the most hideous hairstyles in modern cinema, right up there with Taylor Lautner’s flowing locks from Twilight and Nicolas Cage’s from Con Air . He’s on the trail of Lagrange (Dua Lipa), but his role gets flipped to prey once she catches him in a trap. With the help of his two sidekicks (John Cena, Ariana DeBose), Argylle escapes and gets one step closer to solving the ultimate conspiracy. But scratch all that, as Agent Argylle is only a story within a story. The topmost layer has Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) the author of Argylle’s adventures, a series in a long line of successful spy novels. For some reason, almost everything that Elly writes comes true, leading to her life being in danger once a rogue spy syndicate decides to silence her. The only source of help to keeping Elly safe and finding out the full truth is a good spy named Aidan (Sam Rockwell), who claims to know more than he lets on. It’s not that the plot of Argylle is confusing, it’s more that it never registers as interesting or sensical. There’s a lot of moving pieces, but the thread that connects them all together is embarrassingly thin. Before you have time to raise your hand and question why anything is happening, writer Jason Fuchs takes a hard pivot for another “out of this world” twist. The unpredictability of everything becomes tiringly predictable, and even more annoying. What’s also predictable is Vaughn’s staging of the action, which contains no fewer than five set pieces queued to clichéd 60s tunes. To give him credit, one of those scenes contains some nice visual flourishes and choreography. But the rest are bogged down by either horrendous CGI or excessive editing. I’m sure with $100+ million at his disposal, there wasn’t much from Vaughn’s imagination that couldn’t be filmed. But the real question was if he should, not if he could. And the vast majority of this shouldn't have left the brainstorming session. Must Read 'Argylle' Review It's time to find out who the REAL Agent Argylle is! SHOP 'Mean Girls' Review It’s harmless, fun, and will probably be forgotten within due time… kind of like a piece of plastic. SHOP 'The Beekeeper' Review It’s only the second week of January and 2024 already has its best bad movie of the year. SHOP 'The Book of Clarence' Review Samuel is more interested in making this into a good time than a good film SHOP 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom' Review It’s hard to care about something so uneventful and incohesive SHOP