Triangle of Sadness May 28, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen An influencer couple, a Russian capitalist, two British arms dealers, and an American Marxist sea captain all board a $250 million luxury yacht bound for the high seas. What could go wrong? You’ve seen movies better at dissecting economic classism than Triangle of Sadness . You’ve also seen much tighter and more succinct ones. And you’ve definitely seen ones that leave you with a better understanding of an issue than when you walked in. But I don’t think you’ve ever seen a film that doesn't do all of that and still be as wickedly hilarious as Triangle of Sadness . Ruben Östlund has never found an issue he can’t tackle. Whether it be mundane social norms in Involuntary , male ego in Force Majeure (for which he was given the dubious honor of having remade in the English language with the woefully dull Downhill ), or the upside-down art world in The Square , the Swedish filmmaker has always found a playful way to show just how absurd life is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDvfFIZQIuQ And, along with those themes of social skewering, the thing that has stayed most consistent is the praise he’s received. Force Majeure snagged the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, which allowed him to be “promoted” to the official competition with 2017’s The Square . The brighter lights did nothing to hinder his upward trajectory as he added the prestigious Palme d’Or to his trophy shelf. Now in 2022, Östlund’s stock continues to rise with his second consecutive Palme win, joining Michael Haneke and fellow countryman Billie August as the only filmmakers to win the award for back-to-back films. So, with all the awards surrounding Triangle of Sadness as it sets its American theatrical release, the question remains: Does it live up to the hype? Well, yes and no. Taking a page out of the Zoolander school of satire, Östlund’s film opens with a modeling audition. At the age of 25, Carl (both smartly and aloofly played by the rising Harris Dickinson) is getting a little too close to being phased out of his career as the roles in the “grumpy” and “smiley” brands aren’t coming as easily as they used to. He’s left to languish in a slow and painful societal death, which includes losing social media followers and invites to his girlfriend Yaya’s (Charlbi Dean, who tragically passed away just after the film’s premiere) runway shows. This A Star Is Born dynamic threatens the pair’s relationship, which Östlund punctuates with a side-splitting cringe-fueled debate over who should pick up the check at a restaurant. Fortunately, the couple is bound for a superyacht vacation that will act as the final opportunity to mend their connection. On the boat, they become the middle class, stuck between the uber-rich guests and the lowly workers that service every passenger’s whim, which includes going for a swim to assuage their master’s guilt and promising to clean the sails, even though this a motorized vessel. In this second act of the film’s clear three-act structure, Östlund unleashes a tirade of written and visual allegories upon his micro-society, with two standouts being Woody Harrelson’s alcoholic ship captain and the closing scene where the ship fills with literal shit and vomit. Any viewers with a weak stomach have been properly warned. None of what Östlund is saying is revolutionary, but it is oh so funny. But that high level of hilarity can’t sustain itself across the film’s extremely bloated 150-minute runtime, which becomes quite clear during the final, and weakest, act. Through unforeseen circumstances, the passengers have been marooned on a desolate island. Things get even more in-your-face by Östlund as the social hierarchy completely flips, with the white-collar passengers proving to be inept and the “peasants” becoming royalty because of their basic survival skills. From here to the end, most everything only elicits a mild chuckle instead of the belly-aching that the first two hours had accustomed us to. Triangle of Sadness demands to be seen with the largest crowd possible, as its mixture of low and high-brow humor travels like wildfire in the moment. Unfortunately for the majority of the viewers, the post-pandemic theatrical landscape doesn’t create too many opportunities for that level of a collective experience for any non-MCU branded film. It’s a true pity, as my Cannes screening of Östlund’s farce in May has lasted longer in my memory than most blockbusters do the day after. This review was originally published from the world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. Neon will release Triangle of Sadness in select theaters on October 7th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You October 17, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Think back to the worst day of your life, a time when everyone and everything seemed hellbent on punching you down to the bottom. There might have been signs that this was coming, spread out over weeks, months, maybe even years. But you didn't think it would all explode at once, with the only response being deafening silence. The weight of it all made you numb, an almost fight-or-flight response bringing you to a primordial state. For Linda (Rose Byrne), that kind of day seems to happen every day. Her husband (Christian Slater, doing some of the best phone acting of the year) is away on business for weeks, leaving her to be the sole caretaker of their daughter, who has an unlabeled illness that keeps her from eating solid food and must be fed through a tube while she sleeps. Her career isn't much better, with her job as a therapist forcing her to listen to other people's struggles all day long in a dingy office. Even a therapist needs a therapist, but the colleague who's filling that role (Conan O'Brien) doesn't seem to like her and never offers any helpful answers. Every question she has is thrown back with a demeaning tone, as if it's insulting for an adult to have these kinds of problems. Oh, and there's a giant, gaping hole that flooded her apartment, forcing her and her daughter to take an extended stay at a crappy motel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywFDoT7LBbQ However bad things get for Linda, there's always worse for us as we have to witness them through writer/director Mary Bronstein's lens. Annoying little clicks and clacks are pumped in during the opening studio logos, with the opening shot being an unbroken extreme close-up of Byrne's as she's passively aggressively being told by her daughter's doctor that she isn't doing enough. The child is never seen, but her constant complaining and questioning lead us to imagine some sort of bratty little demon. A pizza box falls on the ground, ripping off all the cheese. And then a hamster is run over by a car. At that point, the only choice we have left is to laugh at the pain. All of this makes If I Had Legs I'd Kick You a challenging movie to deal with. Was I annoyed because of the fact that the movie makes its point within the first hour, and then spends the next hour reheating it? Or was I annoyed because that's what Bronstein wanted me to feel, constantly irritated to the point of rethinking my life choices? I'd imagine it was a little from both columns, although the former seems to be the more dominant of the two. I was reminded a bit of Nightbitch from last year, another movie about motherhood with a strong premise and committed lead performance that is ultimately let down by an unwillingness to go beyond the surface. Byrne is a standout in the lead role, acting as the sole reason to keep rooting for her character to finally make the right decision. She both is and isn't trying to be better, caught in a limbo of nothingness that we often find too comfortable. Bronstein is married to Ronald Bronstein, a frequent co-writer and co-editor with the Safdie brothers. The eldest, Josh, is a producer on this film, giving credence to the comparisons to Adam Sandler's anxious downward spiral as Howard Ratner in Uncut Gems . To state that I never want to watch this film again isn't much of an overreaction. Honestly, anyone who willingly puts themselves through this on more than one occasion needs to be medically assessed. Effectively weaponizing this much chaos is an achievement on Bronstein's part, and Byrne's determination is admirable. It's a lot of sound and fury, signifying something, I guess. A24 will release If I Had Legs I'd Kick You in select theaters on October 10th, followed by a nationwide expansion on October 31st. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Longlegs July 12, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) reads a letter at her desk that’s been mysteriously put there without her knowledge. The door to her kitchen is open, with the flickers of light from the porch lights interrupted by a figure passing them. Or were those gaps of light just pieces of our imagination, a symptom of the descent into madness that this story requires? Whether it's from a door, window, or any four-sided structure, every frame is a gateway to hell in Longlegs . They often tend to be a frame within a frame, as writer/director Ozgood Perkins’ camera claustrophobically narrows in on its target, forcing you to project your worst fears onto the tightly restrained information it drips. It’s no surprise that every shot is perfectly composed, each dim corner beckoning you to peel it back, if you dare. Despite a semi-limited sample size of a filmography, Perkins has displayed a mastery of his craft from the director’s chair, holding his audience captive through slow-burning tension (most audiences would rather use the word “tedious”) and dazzling imagery. One of the minor unfortunate side effects of the pandemic was Perkins’ “Better Than It Had Any Right To Be” Gretel & Hansel failing to find another life in everyone’s homes after it floundered in theaters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG7wOTE8NhE Something that is surprising is that all those shots come from first-time feature cinematographer Andres Arochi. The framing is always spot-on, obscuring just enough of Nicolas Cage’s titular character for us to beg for more. Old-school polaroids and grain are the methods of choice when Perkins and Arochi display the gruesomeness that’s going on in this story. Many of these scenes have been sporadically used throughout the viral marketing campaign, which, fortunately, hasn’t diluted their effectiveness in the final product. A 911 call where a father breathes heavily while cryptically explaining how he’ll kill his family sent long-lasting shivers down my spine. The decomposed bodies of other families forced all popcorn munching in my audience to immediately stop. The prime suspect in all this suburban death goes by Longlegs, a ghostly pale freak who loves to leave behind coded messages that spread his Satanic gospel and taunt the ever-frustrated law enforcement. Harker’s procedural work to catch him mixes a blend of Zodiac and The Silence of the Lambs , both aspects kept tightly in check as each clue gradually reveals how the puzzle pieces fit together. That is, until Perkins decides to hurriedly finish it all for us near the end through an expositional monologue. This is a story where the natural dissatisfaction of the loose ends is actually what’s so satisfying about it. Tying everything up with a nice ribbon feels more like a move by Perkins to win back the mainstream crowd after his previous features got battered by CinemaScore. Monroe is sensational in her lead role. She communicates the insular nature of her character flawlessly, keeping us both on the inside and outside. Perkins sets up her unclear psychic premonitions early on, her first vision identifying the house of a serial killer despite no other evidence. While that trait goes largely undeveloped from there, Monroe keeps the mind games going as she gets closer to the man who mentally torments her. Cage is an odd presence for this movie, his star power being too powerful to be effectively shrouded for so long, and his trademarked Cage-isms, including spontaneous singing and screaming, provoking laughter rather than menace. It’s still one of his better modern performances and continues his run of being interestingly employed by genre filmmakers ( Pig, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent , Dream Scenario ). There are a lot of similarities, both technically and thematically, between Perkins’ film and The Black Phone from a few years back. The promise of the happy nuclear family of the mid-20th century was not all it was cracked up to be, with evil lurking within the voids. Both may not have been great enough to wholly grip you as much as they intend to, but there’s definitely enough going on to burrow in your head and go home with you. Neon will release Longlegs in theaters nationwide on July 12th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Pet Sematary April 11, 2019 By: Button Hunter Friesen What if you had the option to bring someone back from the dead? Would you seize the opportunity to get a second chance, or would you turn away and leave the dead as they were? In his 1983 cult classic Pet Sematary , author Stephen King posed and answered this very question with a grisly answer. Centering around the Creed family, the story begins with them having just moved to Maine. They live in a quaint country home that just so happens to have an eerie burial ground for long-deceased pets that sits in their backyard. Just days after moving in, the family cat is found dead. Not wanting to upset his daughter, Louis decides to bury the animal before she finds out. Lending a hand is neighbor Judd, who shows Louis a spot above the burial ground that possesses power beyond human reason. Suddenly, the cat is back from the dead, but this time it is much meaner and more mangy. After some time, another major tragedy strikes the family. Distraught over his loss, Louis returns to the supernatural spot to bring his loved one back. Louis does get his wish, but it doesn’t turn out the way he wanted, resulting in a lesson that teaches that death always wins in the end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VllcgXSIJkE Directed by partners Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer, Pet Sematary is a film that tells a tale of two halves in terms of pacing and excitement. The first half turns out to be quite boring as the story is slowly unfolded in order to touch on the most minute of details. After the pivotal moment that climaxes the buildup, the second half picks up speed and is able to be the horror film it wants to be. Just like the runtime, the scare tactics used in the first half very much pale compared to the latter half. The first hour consisted solely of identically structured jump scares that became more and more predictable as they kept happening. But once the recycled startling is over, the real horror sets in as Kölsch and Widmyer do great work by authentically building up terror through the atmosphere and actor performances. Almost identical to the quality of the directing is the writing by Jeff Buhler. Despite being a pretty simple concept for audiences to grasp, Buhler spends a fairly large chunk of the film tediously explaining every fact surrounding the narrative. This incessant need for overly expository storytelling grinds the film to a crawl and makes me feel like I was in a glorified lecture where the professor would never stop talking. Before I mentioned that the first hour is filled with recycled jump scares. While some of that blame can be put on the directors for not trying hard enough, much of it goes to Buhler for not giving the directors enough to work with. Each scare consisted of the same steps: a character would hear a noise coming from a low-lit area, they would slowly walk over to it, open a door or cupboard, the music cuts out, and then suddenly a loud noise jolts you. You would think adapting a Stephen King would give Buhler a good supply of material to scare people with and stop him from writing a series of mindless startles that everybody experiences on a daily level, but it turns out you’d be wrong. Contrary to most horror films, Pet Sematary boasts some quality acting within its tight-knit cast. Jason Clarke does a respectable job as the tormented father, Louis. Even though his character is the most boring, which is attributable to the writing, Clarke can develop his character beyond the limitations posed to him. Amy Seimetz does great work as Rachel Creed. Her character has an interesting backstory that she uses to its fullest potential, especially in her close-up reaction shots. John Lithgow plays Judd and turns in a good performance as a weathered old man who unintentionally starts and eventually gets caught up in the bloody mess. Finally, considering the amount of work she has to do and the quality of the material given to her, child actor Jeté Laurence ends up being surprisingly outstanding as the young daughter, Ellie. Just like the concept it explores, Pet Sematary is a film that lies dormant in its first half but can resurrect itself and deliver the thrills and chills it promised. You could do worse at finding a horror film that chews up a few hours out of your day. But you could also do better. Paramount Pictures will release Pet Sematary in theaters nationwide on April 05th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Violent Night November 30, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen Do you remember that Saturday Night Live sketch from 2019 where they took the cast of Sesame Street and imagined what they would be like in the world of Todd Phillips’ Joker ? If you don’t, here’s the link to it. Go ahead and watch it and come back to this review. I won’t mind. In that sketch, David Harbour, who was hosting that week, plays the human version of Oscar the Grouch, making fun of Hollywood’s new incessant need for “dark and gritty” adaptations of beloved characters. Seeing a dark version of Sesame Street is fun for a couple of minutes, but we all know there’s only so much that can be done with that ironic concept. I just wish the producers of Violent Night had come to that realization before they decided to make a 100-minute “edgy” take on Santa Claus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a53e4HHnx_s Of course, along with an overall rise in darkness in blockbuster filmmaking (and society as a whole, but I’m not going down that meme-ified road), a violent Santa movie shouldn’t be all that surprising, given the uptick in classical icons being presented with their own dark stories filled with blood and crude language. The filmmakers behind the upcoming Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey have already announced their next feature to be Bambi: The Reckoning , which will see Bambi become “a vicious killing machine” after the death of his mother. These Asylum-level adaptations sound, and will probably be pure garbage. But they’ll make a quick buck purely based on the surface-level irony they create, even though you can get the same amount of enjoyment in much less time through the countless amateur YouTube videos out there. But, even with all the lumps of coal I received from Violent Night , the one thing I can certainly claim as a gift is David Harbour’s committed performance to the bit of playing a Santa that knows how to kick ass and slam down more drinks than Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa . His version of Santa is fed up with the greediness of our modern world, always wanting to get more rather than appreciate what we have. On one of his several billion stops on Christmas Eve, Santa becomes stranded in the mansion of Gertrude Lightstone (Beverly D’Angelo, cast for the chuckle you’ll give after remembering she’s in the MUCH better National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation ). The Lightstone family is being held hostage by a terrorist group led by Scrooge (John Leguizamo), who wishes to rob Gertrude of the $300 million in cash in her vault. Santa must become the John McClane of this story, using a bit of Christmas magic to punish those who are on the naughty list. Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola has already become accustomed to this unique subgenre where subversion of initial expectations is the selling point. His two Dead Snow films saw a group of young adults fight a recently risen division of Nazi zombies, and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunter had the fairytale twins do a lot more damage than just stuffing witches in ovens. Even if he was the right person for the job, Wirkola can’t find anything interesting about this concept other than just seeing Santa beat some goons to a bloody (and snowy) pulp. The first action scene is funny enough, especially with it nearly all taking place in one extended take, showcasing Santa’s inexperience at this sort of thing. But subsequent set pieces leave a lot to be desired, often taking place in dim lighting and rapidly edited to a jolly holiday tune. And writers Pat Casey and Josh Miller think that there's a direct correlation between the number of curse words in your movie and how funny it is. There’s also an extreme overabundance of Christmas puns and wordplay, almost rivaling Batman & Robin for levels of groan-worthy dialogue. I probably come across as a Grinch with this review, but Violent Night did nothing to bring me yuletide cheer. It desperately wants to be the Christmas movie your weird uncle tells the whole family about at dinner, but it does nothing to achieve that beyond doing the bare minimum that we expect. Ho ho... no. Universal Pictures will release Violent Night in theaters nationwide on December 02nd. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Past Lives June 16, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen One of the great things about cinema is that you can give the same idea to a dozen different filmmakers and get a dozen different results. A little over a year ago, A24 was dominating the critical and commercial landscape with Everything Everywhere All at Once . The Daniels’ wildly imaginative multiversal action-comedy resonated with so many (and took home a modern-day record of seven Academy Awards) because of its perfect mix of zaniness and down-to-earth tackling of topics such as “How did I get to where I am?” and “What could my life look like if I had done something differently?” Proving that snowflake cinema theory, writer/director Celine Song has taken those same themes and made something totally different for her debut feature film, Past Lives , which A24 is rolling out into theaters now after overwhelmingly successful showings at this year’s Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals. No matter if it was doomed from the start or received a storybook ending, everyone remembers their first love. For Na Young and Hae Sung, it seemed like they were destined for each other. Both were overachievers at their South Korean middle school, constantly battling to avoid the dreaded runner-up position below the other. Even as children, they and their parents could see that there was something special between them, almost as if they could see into each other’s souls. Unfortunately, that indescribable bond couldn’t overcome everything, as Na Young and her family immigrated to Canada, severing the relationship right then and there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA244xewjcI A dozen years pass before they enter each other’s lives again, this time through Skype as Na Young (Greta Lee), now named Nora, lives in New York, and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) still resides in Seoul. It’s obvious to both of them that that bond still exists, but neither can leap the “we should” level (“We should visit each other,” “We should stay in touch more…”). A dozen more years go by in the blink of an eye. Nora is now married to Arthur (John Magaro), and Hae Sung is coming to visit New York. What will happen when the two childhood sweethearts come face-to-face for the first time in two decades, and how will it affect the lives they’ve each built for themselves over that time? The film opens with an observational shot from across a bar as Nora, Hae Sung, and Arthur sit and talk. Two unseen patrons try to guess what the dynamic of this triangle is. Eventually, the camera pushes in on Nora, with her staring right back at the questioners and us. She smiles, for only she knows the answer. Perspective and perception are the keys to Song’s screenplay, which uses a vast amount of space and time to tell an epically intimate story. There are two versions for each of these characters: the concept that is seen through the eyes of others, and the other version that is only seen by the camera. Shabier Kirchner stunningly photographs each scene, with your eye being effortlessly guided through each absorbing frame. For all its gentleness around the nature of love and destiny, Song instills a sense of tension around the will-they-won’t-they relationship between Nora and Hae Sung. They often stare at each other longingly, mostly examining how they compare to the version they had in their heads all these years. There’s an open dialogue between them, as well as Nora and Arthur, keeping everything above the usual secrets and lies that go into a romantic drama. The questions and answers are much tougher to come by, simply because there are no do-overs or extreme revelations in real life. Nora explains in-yun to Arthur midway through the film. It’s the Korean concept of fate, suggesting that people are destined to meet if their past lives overlapped. Nora shrugs off the idea by saying it’s just “something Korean people say to seduce someone.” While Nora may not take that concept to heart, Song’s use of it within her film had me seduced in the moment, and will likely have me for the rest of time. A24 will release Past Lives in select theaters on June 02nd, followed by a nationwide expansion on June 23rd. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Another Simple Favor May 1, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen On the set of the 2004 film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera , a fellow actress loudly complained that Minnie Driver was playing her character up way too much. Sitting within earshot, director Joel Schumacher glanced up from his newspaper and said, “Oh, honey, no one ever paid to see under the top.” Although they have never worked together professionally and there’s no online record of them personally knowing each other, I would bet dollars to donuts that fellow director Paul Feig has that quote plastered above his office doorframe and repeated it several times throughout the production of Another Simple Favor . None of us is here to witness realism, or a masterclass examination of the human condition. No, we’re all here for the ludicrousness of the murder mystery plot, the luxuriousness of the Italian setting (complete with Italian stallion hunks and mafiosos), and the gaudy costumes worn by lead actress Blake Lively. It’s too bad for Feig that Paolo Sorrentino already beat him to the punch earlier this year with the Naples-set Parthenope , which will most likely be crowned as the year's most beautiful film. But Feig still makes good on his promises, planting his flag on the island of Capri and bringing two vibrant actresses along with him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWajCwdC_TM The story picks up five years after the events of A Simple Favor . Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) has turned all those chaotic twists and turns into a true-crime novel. But interest amongst buyers has been low, and her son has a full-blown case of teenage angst. She needs a spark, something to get her out of the doldrums. That arrives in the form of Emily (Lively), fresh out of prison on appeal and insistent on Stephanie serving as her Maid of Honor at the destination wedding she’s hastily thrown herself into. The celebration includes ex-husband Sean (Henry Golding), Emily’s fiancé Dante (Michele Morrone, a camp legend for his work in the 365 Days trilogy), and a heated rivalry between the island’s mafia families. It’s all the ingredients necessary for a killer cocktail. Feig and screenwriters Jessica Sharzer and Laeta Kalogridis understand that the only thing worse than finding yourself ensnared in a revenge plot is to be unsure if the plot even exists. Apart from some offhanded threats about legal action from Emily, there’s no good reason for Stephanie to jetset off with the woman who previously tried to kill her. But having the characters use their head wouldn’t make for a fun movie, and there is a flirtatious bond between Emily and Stephanie that prevents them from being apart. Kendrick and Lively charge up that magnetism even more in their second go-around, serving a c-word I’m not allowed to say that does get tossed around quite a bit here. I almost wish the whole movie had just been the two of them sitting on opposite sides of prison glass, exchanging catty remarks. In addition to the elements I described earlier, there’s a subplot about an FBI investigation into Emily’s criminal aunt (Allison Janney). Its entirety is what I mostly blame for this runtime being a smidge north of two hours, a nearly unforgivable sin that made me internally recreate Elaine’s reaction to The English Patient . I was never going to be the target audience for this type of film. However, those in that zone seemed to have a wonderful time with it. Unfortunately, once this film debuts on Amazon Prime, their shared theatrical experience will not be shared by everyone else. Like the characters in the film, I recommend cuddling up with a bottle of wine and the minimum amount of brain cells to comprehend the sights and sounds flashing in front of you. Amazon MGM Studios will release Another Simple Favor on its streaming service on May 01st. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Wild Robot September 25, 2024 By: Button Tyler Banark Rarely does a movie establish itself as an awards season contender with its first trailer. But The Wild Robot did just that by establishing its stunning animation and the fitting cover of Louis Armstrong’s "What a Wonderful World." Through this trailer, viewers got a feeling that DreamWorks would be taking a page from prime Pixar by having The Wild Robot be a risk-taking effort with the animation and mature tone. Better yet, it came across like this could be DreamWorks’ most mature movie in years. To top it off, the titular character Roz says, “Sometimes, to survive, we must become more than we were programmed to be,” a line that resonates with the overarching themes on display in the movie. Just as strong as the line is, The Wild Robot uplifts DreamWorks back from the speed bump the studio endured this past spring with Kung Fu Panda 4 . What distinguishes The Wild Robo t from other DreamWorks movies is how seriously it’s advertised. This aspect includes the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy and 2022’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish . The animation contributes to it as the island and setting it inhabits are stunning; meanwhile, the film’s climax uses bright colors to ominously represent fire and other harsh elements of the island’s nature. Now, the movie has a comedic element; this is a family movie after all. The humor works just as much as the darker tone, with the jokes consistently landing and lending a stable heart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67vbA5ZJdKQ Furthermore, lush, detailed landscapes, vibrant colors, and carefully crafted wildlife bring the island setting to life. Every leaf, wave, and animal is rendered with realism and beauty, immersing the viewer in the film’s natural environment. A moment where this truly shines is when Roz helps Brightbill take off with the rest of the flock. She helps give him a running start before he gets himself in the air, then runs to the edge of a cliff to see hundreds of geese flying amongst a pink and blue sky. Thanks to the animation and Kris Bowers’ score, it's a gorgeous scene and one of the best of the year. Roz’s character design is also a key highlight worth mentioning. Her robotic stiffness contrasts with the fluid movement of the animals, but over time, as she learns to adapt to the wild, her movements become more organic. This subtle shift in her animation mirrors her emotional and psychological journey, making her transformation from machine to caregiver all the more powerful. The development vastly grows in a montage where she’s teaching Brightbill to fly, accompanied by the soulful original song “Kiss the Sky,” by country singer Maren Morris. Environmental stewardship and the interconnectedness of life are also handled with care as the film encourages viewers, especially younger audiences, to reflect on their relationship with nature and technology. It does so without being overly preachy, blending these ideas into Roz’s story naturally and organically. The film’s voice cast brings a lot of emotional depth to the characters. Roz is voiced with a calm, almost detached tone at the beginning, which slowly softens as she connects with the island’s inhabitants. Lupita Nyong’o’s portrayal of her gradual emotional awakening is subtle yet powerful, making Roz a genuinely empathetic and relatable character. The supporting cast is equally vital. Pedro Pascal and Kit Connor do brilliant work as Roz’s fox friends, Fink and Brightbill, respectively. Pascal gives a nuanced performance that sees him donning a character unlike anything we’ve seen so far from him. Meanwhile, Connor gives his first film performance since breaking out in 2019’s Rocketman and looks promising. While The Wild Robot is visually stunning and emotionally engaging, its plot is straightforward. The movie closely follows the book's narrative, which is both a strength and a limitation. The story follows a familiar arc of survival, acceptance, and transformation, which sometimes feels a bit formulaic. However, this predictability doesn’t detract from the film’s overall appeal, particularly for younger audiences. The journey of Roz, from an outsider to a valued member of the island’s ecosystem, is compelling and filled with enough emotional depth to keep viewers invested in her story. The film could have delved deeper into Roz's origins and the technology that created her. This backstory is touched upon but not fully explored, leaving some interesting questions about the larger world unanswered. The Wild Robot is a visually stunning, emotionally resonant adaptation of Peter Brown’s novel that skillfully blends survival, empathy, and environmental stewardship themes. While its plot may sometimes feel predictable, the film’s strong voice acting, beautiful animation, soaring music, and heartfelt exploration of nature and technology make it a standout family film. Director Chris Sanders has spent decades playing a part in various successful animated movies, and The Wild Robot is looking to be another addition to his already impressive resume. DreamWorks makes another case for itself here in a day and age where animation hierarchy is up for grabs. The film will captivate younger viewers and leave older ones reflecting on the delicate balance between the human (and mechanical) and natural worlds. Universal Pictures will release The Wild Robot in theaters nationwide on September 27th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Last Night in Soho November 1, 2021 By: Button Hunter Friesen Zippy editing, deadpan comedy from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and a killer soundtrack. These are the characteristics that have come to define the filmography of Edgar Wright. The world first got a glimpse of those three things in 2006 with Wright’s feature debut, Shaun of the Dead . Other features followed, such as the cult classics of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Baby Driver , giving Wright a dedicated following of fans that will always be itching to see what the stylish British director does next. For his next trick, Wright has done away with two of those three trademarks. He’s keeping the soundtrack, but trading away the duo of Pegg and Frost for Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy, as well as trading in humor for horror. The title of Last Night in Soho refers to the famous entertainment district located in London’s West End. From nightclubs to pubs to other seedier establishments, there’s always something to entice your interests. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcVnFrxjPjI For Eloise Turner (McKenzie), that’s the London College of Fashion. She has big dreams to be a designer like her late mother, but her outsider persona doesn’t mesh well with her urban classmates. Eloise finds solace in her antique off-campus apartment, where she's free to play her 60s music and dream about a better time. Her dreams quickly become reality, as Eloise magically gets transported back to 60s London, where she is mysteriously linked to the life of up-and-coming singer, Sandie (Taylor-Joy). These nighttime adventures allow Eloise to live the life she’s always wanted. But the honeymoon period doesn’t last for long, as these dreams gradually devolve into nightmares. The question of what is reality and what is dream begins to get muddled, and the glamorous white lights begin to run red with blood. Coincidentally, 2021 has been the year of nostalgia for 1960s London as both this film and Disney’s Cruella prominently feature the setting. But while the dalmatian-laced feature carried tacky set pieces and a soundtrack that felt like someone just pressed shuffle on a “Best of the 1960s” Spotify playlist, Wright’s film has much more reverence for the era. The dream-like sections of the film reinvigorate your love for cinema, as Wright displays some inventive camerawork throughout his extended tracking shots that weave their way throughout some of London’s historic establishments. The glittering lights and costumes are candy for the eyes, and the hits of “Downtown” and “Got My Mind Set on You” serenade the ears. From a production standpoint, this is Wright’s most accomplished work. Eloise and Wright seemed to be linked to the same fate, as the moment her fortune begins to darken also marks the same point where Wright begins to falter. Once you take away that swinging style, the film topples over as it doesn’t have any legs to stand on in terms of substance. For some people, that may not be a bad thing as Wright’s style goes a long way. But it often feels like empty calories that don’t equal the sum of their parts. Wright, along with co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns ( 1917 ), makes a statement about sexism and toxic men. But specific ideas are scarce, and it all plays as more of a generalized blanket observation on the unfair inequality of gender, something any woman learns at some point (hopefully not first-hand). There is no central villain to this story, with Sandy’s pimp and abuser, Jack (played by the handsomely sinister Matt Smith), being too surface-level to be perceived as an actual person, just an idea. For a while, the villains are the ghoulish spirits of controlling men. But our fear of them diminishes each time they appear, which happens much more than it should, a common problem within this 116-minute film that feels every bit as long as it is. Eventually, there are so many twists and turns that you, as well as Wright, don’t know how to feel about these characters, ending the film on a confounding question mark rather than an exclamation point. Last Night in Soho gloriously indulges in the technical eccentricities that have come to define Edgar Wright. For fans of his work, it is quite a treat to see how far he has come as a craftsman. But all that glitter is not gold, as there's not much underneath the sheen to make this feel anything different than a mild disappointment. Focus Features will release Last Night in Soho in theaters nationwide on October 29th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

TIFF24: Tyler's Time at the Festival September 23, 2024 By: Tyler Banark For the third consecutive year, I attended the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). My first two years were filled with joy, friendships, and little sleep. To the surprise of no one, I got that again, and a little more. I intended to see 27 movies in the span of 9 days. Although I fell slightly short of my goal, as I saw 25 in that same amount of time, TIFF was still a blast, and having a press pass to help with certain films was helpful. I saw screenings from every corner of the festival, from the world premieres showcased in the Princess of Wales Theatre and Roy Thomson Hall to the many compact auditoriums of the Scotiabank Theatre and TIFF Lightbox. I aimed to see various movies, not just the ones with big-name titles and star-studded casts. Here are my thoughts on everything I saw at the 49th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. I kicked the festival off with a press screening of Bird , starring Barry Keoghan. One of the highlights of the Cannes Film Festival, Bird , contains a good start that unravels into some weird moments in the second half. Keoghan gives the second-best performance of his career (behind Saltburn ) while supporting star Franz Rogowski and newcomer Nykiya Adams compliment him. However, the use of Lo-Fi music was a bit off-putting, and the film's intentions didn't add up. Fast forward hours later, I attended the opening night of Midnight Madness with a screening of Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance . As a movie I had strong feelings that I was going to hate, The Substance surprisingly worked for me. Not only does the leading trio of Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid work wonders, but the movie also makes a powerful argument for women's beauty standards in today's society. It also helps that I saw it with a Midnight Madness crowd, one of the best crowds you could experience while seeing a movie at TIFF. On my first Friday, I started with Joshua Oppenheimer's narrative debut, The End . A sci-fi drama that also functions as a musical, it was an okay start to the day that was quickly forgotten. At least Tilda Swinton and Michael Shannon gave noteworthy (no pun intended) solo numbers, and George MacKay had a pleasant tenor voice. That night, I had a double feature of world premieres in Mike Flanagan's The Life of Chuck and John Crowley's We Live in Time . Although The Life of Chuck worked for many TIFF-goers to the point where it won the People's Choice Award, it was slightly underwhelming for me. I personally thought the movie was very schmaltzy to the point where Flanagan was doing his impression of Steven Spielberg. For We Live in Time , I was not a fan of even though I love both the stars: Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. It is a very sappy movie that, without a doubt, was one of TIFF's biggest letdowns this year. I finally got my first dose of solid cinema in Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner, Anora . Although I wasn’t a fan of The Florida Project , Anora worked for me as it contained a strong lead performance in Mikey Madison and a whirlwind of a script reminisced of the Safdie brothers’ Good Time and Uncut Gems . The euphoria I felt with that movie ended when I followed it up with Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl . A film with a heart and lead performance in the right place, The Last Showgirl didn’t have much going for it other than acting as a hopeful career resurgence for Pamela Anderson. Luckily, my neutrality washed away with Ron Howard’s Eden . Dubbed his darkest movie to date, Eden sees a strong cast bringing out the worst in humanity in a true story thriller about a group of Germans living on a South American isle. Ana de Armas became the talk of the town here as her role paints her in a villainous light that we haven’t seen before. Capping off the opening weekend were a couple of religion-infused thrillers in Edward Berger’s drama Conclave , followed by the Canadian premiere of Justin Kurzel’s action piece The Order , and the world premiere of A24’s new horror flick Heretic . Conclave was a rich drama featuring a solid cast led by Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, and Stanley Tucci. The Order dethroned Anora as the best of the fest up until that point, as Kurzel made a gritty action thriller that met my expectations to a tee. Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult led the movie with two mesmerizing performances that shouldn’t go unnoticed by moviegoers. Not only were the action and the acting the prominent points on display in The Order , but the subject matter focusing on a neo-nazi militant group that ran rampant in the Pacific Northwest made the movie more eye-opening. Heretic failed to keep the streak going, as it was an okay horror flick that featured a chilling Hugh Grant turn. It did showcase how much of a double-edged sword religion can be, but it doesn’t break the mold of other A24 horror outings. As the latter half of the festival continued, my thoughts on the other movies I saw were vast and ever-changing. I got some awful outings in Relay , Queer , Nightbitch , and Oh, Canada , where the most vital thing they had going for them was the people working on them. Just because the cast and crew were of respected talent didn’t mean they were the saving graces. Lily James and Amy Adams played sour characters and gave unamusing turns in Relay and Nightbitch , respectively. Daniel Craig provides a good performance as an eccentric traveler in Queer , an otherwise dull film. My disappointment for it was immeasurable as Luca Guadagnino had this as his follow-up to Challengers , which is my favorite movie of the year thus far. Meanwhile, Oh, Canada sees Paul Schrader craft a drama about a man recalling his flees from the US to Canada during the Vietnam War as an unreliable narrator. Films like Megalopolis and On Swift Horses fell towards the middle of the rating scale. Although vastly different, both had strong talent, like the aforementioned movies, but they were closer to being my cup of tea. Experiencing Megalopolis in and of itself was a fever dream, with an interview scene being precisely what I imagined it to be and performances that were all over the place in the best and worst ways imaginable. As for On Swift Horses , the cast of Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Will Poulter, and Diego Calva do what they can with a story that has no substance. A step above these two were The Assessment , Harbin , and Friendship , three more drastically different movies that worked slightly for me but weren’t enough to blow me away. Then there were the movies that worked for me: Saturday Night , Babygirl , The Piano Lesson , The Brutalist , and The Wild Robot . Saturday Night was the best of TIFF 2024 with its star-studded cast that fit into their roles like a glove, layered with impeccable writing from Gil Kenan and director Jason Reitman. The energy was in the air at the TIFF premiere, and the audience ate it up. Babygirl and The Brutalist were also conversation starters at the fest as they were hot off successful world premieres at the Venice Film Festival and were immediately picked up by A24. I intend to see them again once they roll out in theaters because they demand the audience's attention and will get even more people talking about them. The Piano Lesson was a drama that had no business suddenly turning into a horror film in its climax, yet it worked masterfully. Lastly, The Wild Robot will be a major animated film this awards season. Those nine days were a whirlwind for me, but it was the best kind. While I may have recovered my brain, eyes, and circadian rhythm from the ever-changing week, the movies and memories I made at TIFF 2024 will stick with me for a long time. The filmmakers who brought something to the Toronto table this year cooked a divine feast, and I honestly wished it didn’t end. If good things lasted forever, they wouldn’t be as precious. So thank you Toronto for another wonderful year, and I look forward to returning very soon! FULL RANKING 1. Saturday Night(4.5/5) 2. The Order (4.5/5) 3. Anora (4/5) 4. The Wild Robot (4/5) 5. The Substance (4/5) 6. Eden (4/5) 7. The Piano Lesson (4/5) 8. Babygirl (4/5) 9. The Brutalist (3.5/5) 10. Conclave (3.5/5) 11. Bird (3.5/5) 12. Friendship (3/5) 13. The Assessment (3/5) 14. The Life of Chuck (3/5) 15. Harbin (3/5) 16. The Last Showgirl (2.5/5) 17. Megalopolis (2.5/5) 18. Heretic (2.5/5) 19. The End (2.5/5) 20. On Swift Horses (2.5/5) 21. We Live in Time (2/5) 22. Relay (2/5) 23. Oh Canada (2/5) 24. Nightbitch (1.5/5) 25. Queer (1.5/5) You can follow Tyler and hear more of his thoughts on Twitter , Instagram , and Letterboxd . More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Buddy August 25, 2026 By: Button Hunter Friesen Featuring the world's second most popular dinosaur (second only to the T-Rex from Jurassic Park ), Barney & Friends was a flagship educational program on PBS for a generation of kids, myself included. The purple anthropomorphic dinosaur sang and danced as he taught children lessons about growing up, usually with help from his pals Baby Bop, BJ, and Riff. Everyone who grew up during the show's run has the "I Love You" song stuck in their brain, and the perfectly whimsical sets elicit a sense of nostalgia. But what happens when that perfect world gets a little… imperfect? That's the question writer/director Casper Kelly asks with his feature directorial debut, Buddy . It extends his fascination with twisting previously comforting media into something absurdly creepy. His 2014 short film, Too Many Cooks , deconstructed the family sitcoms of the '80s, while Adult Swim Yule Log 2: Branchin' Out takes that iconic Christmas image and adds a murderous element. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mil0YgOtu8 Taking almost complete inspiration from Barney, the titular Buddy (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) is a magical orange talking unicorn mascot who interacts with children in his imaginary park. The children follow along to Buddy's every whim, singing and dancing whenever he politely instructs them to. That is, until one day when a child decides that he doesn't feel like dancing. Buddy doesn't handle rejection well, his cheery disposition replaced by a bloodthirsty rage still masked by his stitched-on smile. That disobedient child is never seen again, leaving behind his favorite book stained with blood, which Buddy laughs off as red paint. Back in the drab real world is Grace (Cristin Milioti), a mother who can't help but feel that something is missing or wrong with her life. Her lame husband (Topher Grace) doesn't believe her, leading to arguments where she gets to spout such cliched lines like "You're not listening to me!" For as much as the children's television segments really commit to the bit through impressive production details and performances, the middle chunk of the film outside of that is an absolute bore. Kelly may have (potentially) beaten A24 and Ayo Edebiri to the punch on riffing on Barney's cultural legacy; there is also the fact that YouTube has largely mined this twisted take for all its worth. I can recall several evil Barney animated videos I watched behind my parents' back, as well as the Don't Hug Me I'm Scared puppet series. Buddy's descent into a murderous rampage is a one-joke premise that is buoyed by a bigger budget and sense of craft than those archaic internet shorts. The child performances are remarkable, balancing the poppy educational showmanship with the terror of a slasher film. Delaney Quinn - who starred as the unseen child from hell in last year's If I Had Legs I’d Kick You - plays the protagonist Freddy. Buddy teaches her early on that you gotta be scared to be brave, something she learns through much more terrifying methods later on. Too bad Kelly wasn't brave enough to fully push his vision into fresher territory. Roadside Attractions will release Buddy in theaters nationwide on August 28th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Wedding Banquet April 18, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Remaking Ang Lee’s 1993 film The Wedding Banquet in 2025 doesn’t make much sense. For starters, gay marriage has been legalized and is more widely accepted than it was then, and the idea of needing to marry is no longer as prescient. However, director Andrew Ahn, co-writing with the original film’s writer, James Schamus, doesn’t let those obstacles get in the way of updating a story that is much more universal than it is specific. Shifting the story from Manhattan to modern-day Seattle, Ahn also doubles the trouble by expanding the central conceit of a gay man going through a sham marriage to ward off his suspecting parents by adding a lesbian couple into the mix. Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) and Lee (Lily Gladstone) have been unsuccessfully trying to have a family through IVF treatment. It’s taken a toll on both the emotional and financial stability of their relationship. Living in their garage is the gay couple of Chris (Bowen Yang) and Min (Han Gi-Chan), the former sitting indecisively at a crossroads in his life, and the latter scrambling to find a way to stay in America before his visa expires and he’ll have to move back home to Korea to work in the family conglomerate business. The simple solution would be for Min and Chris to get married, but Chris can’t pull the trigger, and Min’s family is still in the dark about his homosexuality and wouldn’t take too kindly to it. So Min proposes to Angela instead, offering to pay for her IVF treatment out of his trust fund in exchange for faking a heteronormative wedding so that he can obtain a green card. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWy_IzW04YM Even more so than it did back then, this plan makes no sense. Min is obviously loaded with cash and has been best friends with Angela and Lee for years, so why has he never offered to help out before? How far do Min and Angela expect to take this charade? Min’s grandmother (Youn Yuh-jung) is very adamant about him getting married, so I’d assume grandchildren are also part of her plan. A green card gotten through marriage is conditional for two years, meaning Min and Angela would need to legally stick together for at least that long. There are about five more holes I could poke, but you get the idea. For as much as these gaps sink the boat of logic, they also highlight key societal struggles. The challenge of starting a family is no longer about the fear of public perception, but its financial viability. Gay marriage and homosexual relationships may be fine in this generation and in parts of the world like Seattle, but members of the older generation, like Min’s grandmother, aren’t as open to the idea. Even Angela’s mother (Joan Chen), while a proud lesbian ally now, was very much against the idea of her daughter not following the traditional path of marrying a man. Ahn and Schamus are always precise with the emotional stakes of the story. There are plenty of moments to laugh, cry, or a bit of both. This is also a movie that serves its cast extremely well, all of them performers who have largely never been given the spotlight that they deserve. Any combination of characters, either one-on-one, in pairs, or in a group setting, makes for a sensational scene. The clear standout is Youn Yuh-jung, whose character adds yet another layer when she reveals that her marriage was arranged and that she never got the option to fall in love. If not for her recent Oscar win for Minari , I’d mount a serious campaign for her this year. Then again, the Academy has clearly become more open to awarding performers with multiple Oscars, so anything is possible. There’s a threading of the needle with all of this, melding the charmingly broad implausibility of a studio rom-com with the more serious-minded grounded indies. Whichever flavor you are more inclined to like, Ahn has a slice of it waiting for you. This review was originally published from a screening at the 2025 Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival. Bleecker Street will release The Wedding Banquet in select theaters on April 18th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen