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Tyler's Takes: 2015 and the Popularization of the Legacy Sequel January 25, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Whether you like them or not, legacy sequels have become a common trend in Hollywood over the past decade. 2015 marked a pivotal moment in the evolution of Hollywood filmmaking, giving rise to the phenomenon. Legacy sequels represent a unique blending of nostalgia and modernization. By examining the cultural, technological, and industrial forces that converged in 2015, it becomes clear how this year gave birth to the concept and solidified its role in contemporary cinema. Several major releases in 2015 exemplify the essence of the legacy sequel, including Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens , Jurassic World , Creed , and Mad Max: Fury Road . With it being a decade since their genesis, I figured it’d be a fitting time to look back within that context. The Force Awakens is perhaps the quintessential 2015 legacy sequel. Helmed by J.J. Abrams, the film successfully rekindled the magic of George Lucas's original Star Wars trilogy while introducing a new generation of characters and stories. It masterfully balanced nostalgia—through the return of beloved characters like Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Luke Skywalker—with the fresh appeal of Rey, Finn, and Kylo Ren. Some may criticize it as A New Hope 2.0, but that doesn’t detract from any of the greatness happening on screen. The Force Awakens resonated with both longtime fans and newcomers, earning over $2 billion at the global box office. While the following sequels of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker resulted in the Star Wars sequel trilogy appearing as directionless, The Force Awakens did its due diligence and gave moviegoers a trip back to a galaxy far, far away. Similarly, Jurassic World revived the dormant Jurassic Park franchise with a story that honored Steven Spielberg's 1993 classic while embracing modern sensibilities. Colin Trevorrow updated the familiar elements of dinosaur chaos with themes of corporate greed and scientific overreach. Including nods to the original film, such as the return to the iconic park gates, the subtle use of John Williams's score, and having two boys discover a vintage Jurassic Park jeep, Jurassic World appealed to nostalgic viewers while also thrilling younger audiences. Much like The Force Awakens , Jurassic World was met with more acclaim compared to its successors which took the franchise into a downward spiral. It found success in the form of over $1 billion at the box office, holding the record for the biggest box office opening of all time... which was beaten six months later by The Force Awakens . Meanwhile, Creed , directed by Ryan Coogler, offered a more character-driven take on the legacy sequel. The film expanded the Rocky universe by focusing on Adonis Creed, the son of Rocky Balboa's former rival and friend, Apollo Creed. By shifting the narrative focus to a new protagonist while keeping Sylvester Stallone's Rocky as a mentor figure, Creed honored the emotional legacy of the earlier films while carving out its own identity. Finally, Mad Max: Fury Road , though arguably more of a reboot than a traditional legacy sequel, shared many qualities with its contemporaries. As the only one in this bunch to have the original creative team return to the helm, George Miller’s reintroduction to the post-apocalyptic wasteland weaved a new take on the character of Max Rockatansky while also spotlighting the unforgettable Furiosa, portrayed by Charlize Theron. The film’s blend of kinetic action, practical effects, and thematic depth exemplified how revisiting a franchise could result in both critical acclaim and cultural relevance. Out of all the legacy sequels, and movies to come from 2015 for that matter, Fury Road takes the cake as the best one. The rise of legacy sequels in 2015 cannot be separated from broader cultural and technological trends. Nostalgia has become a powerful force in popular culture, partly driven by the internet's ability to foster communities around shared memories and fandoms. Social media platforms amplified the voices of fans eager for the return of their favorite stories and characters, creating a fertile environment for studios to revisit established properties. Technological advancements also played a crucial role. The rise of digital filmmaking and visual effects allowed filmmakers to recreate and expand upon the worlds of older franchises in previously impossible ways. For instance, Jurassic World featured photorealistic dinosaurs that surpassed the groundbreaking effects of the original Jurassic Park , while The Force Awakens utilized cutting-edge techniques to seamlessly blend practical effects with CGI. These advancements enabled legacy sequels to offer a sense of continuity with their predecessors while delivering a spectacle that met contemporary audience expectations. The emergence of legacy sequels in 2015 also reflected shifts in Hollywood's business strategies. Studios increasingly prioritized "safe bets" with built-in audiences, turning to franchises with proven track records. In an era where theatrical attendance faced competition from streaming services, the familiarity of established intellectual properties (IPs) became a valuable asset. Legacy sequels capitalized on nostalgia while attracting new fans. By appealing to multiple generations, these films maximized their box office potential. The success of The Force Awakens , Jurassic World , and Creed underscored the viability of this approach, encouraging studios to invest further in reviving dormant franchises and reimagining them for modern audiences. While most do their job well, there are some that haven't, such as Independence Day: Resurgence and The Matrix Resurrections . Nevertheless, at their best, legacy sequels are more than just nostalgia trips; they provide opportunities for creative reinvention and meaningful storytelling. The legacy sequels of 2015 set the stage for a wave of similar projects in subsequent years, from Blade Runner 2049 , 2018’s Halloween , Top Gun: Maverick , and Avatar: The Way of Water . These films continue to explore the interplay between old and new, demonstrating the format's enduring appeal. Ultimately, 2015’s contributions to the idea of the legacy sequel reflect a broader cultural desire to connect the past with the present. It’s an approach that seemed invigorating back then, but unfortunately, has gone stale. Yet, in an era of rapid technological and social change, these films offer a sense of continuity and shared experience, bridging generations through the magic of cinema. By blending reverence for history with forward-looking creativity, 2015 birthed a cinematic trend that remains a defining feature of 21st-century Hollywood for better or worse. You can follow Tyler and hear more of his thoughts on Twitter , Instagram , and Letterboxd . More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

The Best Cinematographers Working Today And Where To Find Them Next April 30, 2021 By: Hunter Friesen Cinematography is often the first thing we notice when watching a film, but the person behind the camera creating the magic often goes unrecognized except for the few seconds their name appears in the credits. A Director of Photography (DP) can carry a distinct visual style throughout their body of work, often pairing that style with a like-minded director. There are dozens of cinematographers working today that have produced some truly stunning work. This list highlights fifteen of them in no particular order and gives a brief glimpse into what they are working on next. No list can ever be perfect, and I'll be the first to say that many worthy names have been left off here. But before you get angry about an omission, you have to remember that to qualify for this list; a cinematographer must be officially attached to a film that is expected to be released by the end of 2022. So, quality names such as Rachel Morrison and Bradford Young do not appear because they don't have anything lined up at the moment. Roger Deakins This British-born DP isn't just considered one of the best working today; he's considered one of the best of all time. Deakins has cemented that status with his long-lasting director partnerships with both the Coen brothers and Sam Mendes. He is adaptable to all genres and can work on light comedies such as The Big Lebowski or tentpole epics like Skyfall . And despite being a perennial Oscar loser for nearly twenty years, he has claimed two consecutive wins for his work on Blade Runner 2049 and 1917 , respectively. His next project will reteam him with Sam Mendes for the 2022 release, Empire of Light . Bruno Delbonnel When Roger Deakins isn't available, the Coen brothers have relied on the French-born Delbonnel. He broke out early in France with Amelie and A Very Long Engagement , which showed off his distinct color palette. He's now worked with the Coens and Joe Wright on multiple films, most notably Inside Llewyn Davis and Darkest Hour . It's fitting that each of his following two projects will be with those directors as he has Wright's The Woman in the Window on Netflix in May and Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth later this year. Robert Richardson Regularly working with the likes of Oliver Stone, Quentin Tarantino, and Martin Scorsese, Robert Richardson has built his resume through a who's who of directing talent. He often matches his sharp visual style with a specific project, whether it be the period-accurate hard-lighting in The Aviator , harnessing the power of 3D in Hugo , or shooting on 70mm for The Hateful Eight . Richardson's upcoming project is a reteaming with director Andy Serkis for Venom: Let There Be Carnage , the sequel to the 2018 smash hit. Emmanuel Lubezki Like Richardson, Emmanuel Lubezki has attached himself to some of the top directors of the modern era. He’s had a fruitful relationship with fellow Mexicans Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu, and also with the enigmatic Terrence Malick. His movies often push the limit of the long take and rely heavily on natural lighting. His work has netted him a career of eight Oscar nominations, and he won three years in a row from 2013-2015. After taking a short break, he'll be back in the hunt later this year with David O. Russell's Amsterdam . Matthew Libatique Lover of handheld camerawork and color specificity, Matthew Libatique has traveled around the industry and worked on projects at every level. He's had a lasting partnership with Darren Aronofsky, creating visual horror with the films Black Swan and Mother! . He's shown off his incredible range with Birds of Prey last year, along with A Star Is Born and The Prom . He has two upcoming projects, one of which is a reunion with Aronofsky on an untitled A24 drama. The other is Olivia Wilde's follow-up to Booksmart , which is the 1950s set horror-thriller, Don't Worry Darling . Janusz Kaminski Almost exclusively working with Steven Spielberg since their partnership began in 1993 for Schindler's List , Polish DP Janusz Kaminski has been responsible for some of the most incredible imagery of the past quarter-century. He is known for his heavy lighting of windows and shooting on grainy film stock. He has proven that he isn't dependent on Spielberg, as he did wonders with Julian Schnabel in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and in 2014 with The Judge . Kaminski will be in full musical mode this winter with Spielberg's West Side Story remake set to be released at Christmas. Darius Wolski Also, from Poland, Wolski netted his first Oscar nomination last year for News of the World . Since coming to Hollywood in the mid-1990s, Wolski has worked on several blockbuster productions such as the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy and nearly a dozen films with Ridley Scott. Both he and Scott have three movies in the pipeline, with two of them, The Last Duel and House of Gucci , releasing later this year. The third is a Napoleon Bonaparte biopic with Joaquin Phoenix, which is expected to begin production soon. Greig Fraser Australian Greig Fraser started his career with fellow countrymen such as Scott Hicks, Andrew Dominik, and Jane Campion. His films often have crisp darkness surrounding them, heightening the slow-burn tension his directors like to instill. He began to branch out in the early 2010s, working with Kathryn Bigelow in Zero Dark Thirty and with Gareth Edwards in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story . He netted his first Oscar nomination working with Garth Davis in Lion and recently won his first Emmy for his work in The Mandalorian . He's kept busy recently with two gigantic productions, which are Denis Villeneuve's Dune and Matt Reeves's The Batman . Darius Kohndji Like a fine wine, this Iranian-born DP seems to be getting better with age. His Hollywood hit came in 1995 on David Fincher's Se7en . He then attached himself to Woody Allen from Midnight to Paris to Irrational Man and showed off his prowess with soft lighting with James Gray in the films The Immigrant and The Lost City of Z . But he's also adept at sharp contrasts, which he used to perfection in Nicolas Winding Refn's Amazon series Too Old to Die Young . He's working with Alejandro González Iñárritu on his newest film, Limbo , which is filming now and slated for release later this year. Rodrigo Prieto Replacing Robert Richardson as Martin Scorsese's go-to cinematographer, Rodrigo Prieto burst onto the scene with Alejandro González Iñárritu's internationally acclaimed hit, Amores Perros . He kept up his relationship with Iñárritu while also dabbling in multiple projects with Julie Taymor and Oliver Stone. His visual style has lent itself to sprawling stories, such as the globe-trotting Babel or the decades-spanning The Irishman . Prieto and Scorsese are back together again for a western titled Killers of the Flower Moon , which recently started filming. Maryse Alberti Maryse Alberti has worked with filmmakers such as Darron Aronofsky ( The Wrestler ), Ryan Coogler ( Creed ), and most recently Ron Howard ( Hillbilly Elegy ), carving out a spot for herself as one of the best cinematographers working today. Blending handheld camerawork with striking compositions, her work has a naturalistic quality that helps the stories she's working on to feel grounded yet richly cinematic. She'll next be seen working with actor/director Denzel Washington on A Journal For Jordan (based on the memoir by Dana Canedy), which will reunite her with Creed star Michael B. Jordan and also stars Chanté Adams and Robert Wisdom. Jeff Cronenweth The son of Blade Runner cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth, Jeff cut his teeth on music videos and gradually worked his way into feature films. He's embraced digital photography, crafting some of the sharpest and cold imagery of the past decade in The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo , and Gone Girl . He's recently been recruited by Aaron Sorkin to shoot his upcoming Lucille Ball biopic, Being the Ricardos . Linus Sandgren Favoring rich colors and eye-popping visuals, Sandgren started his Hollywood career with a bang in 2013 with David O. Russell's American Hustle . He stayed with Russell to make Joy just two years later and then partnered with wunderkind Damien Chazelle to make visual magic in both La La Land and First Man . He has a big lineup in the near future, with No Time to Die and Adam McKay's Don't Look Up being released later this year. He's also reteaming with Chazelle for the Hollywood epic Babylon , slated for release on Christmas 2022. Chung Chung-hoon When it comes to shot framing, this South Korean DP is the master. He partnered with fellow South Korean director Park Chan-wook in the films Oldboy , Thirst , and Lady Vengeance . The crowning achievement for the pair has to be 2016's The Handmaiden , a lush tale of deception and intrigue. He's dabbled in the English language a few times, and he can next be found working with Edgar Wright for Last Night in Soho and Ruben Fleischer for the Uncharted video game adaptation. Claudio Miranda Claudio Miranda is second to none when it comes to CG photography. He has embraced the popularization of digital filmmaking, showing off the wonders of technology in TRON: Legacy and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button . He won an Oscar in 2012 for his groundbreaking work with Ang Lee in Life of Pi . He's working with director Joseph Kosinski on two upcoming releases: the highly anticipated Top Gun: Maverick and Netflix's Escape from Spiderhead . Mihai Malaimare Jr. While not the biggest name on this list, this Romanian DP has worked with quite a few high-profile directors. He started with Francis Ford Coppola in his avant-garde trilogy of Youth Without Youth, Tetro , and Twixt . Then in 2012, he and Paul Thomas Andreson collaborated to make The Master , one of the most daring and gorgeous uses of 65mm. He kept a low profile for a while after that but returned in 2019 with Taika Waititi to make the sumptuous Jojo Rabbit . He'll next be seen partnering with newcomer Jeymes Samuel for the black-led Netflix western, The Harder They Fall . More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

The Gorge February 13, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Making a film straight-to-streaming is a low-risk-low-reward proposition for any filmmaker, especially when said streaming service is still in its relative infancy (i.e. they're not Netflix). If the film doesn't work, then it fails quietly, its only legacy being an inconspicuous credit on people's IMDb page. The same fate awaits a film that turns out to be good, all those months of blood and sweat not being met with a big box office haul, only a mention by the CFO at the next quarterly investor call covering subscription growth. While the television side of Apple TV+ has sporadically graduated from this level with hits like Ted Lasso , Severance , and Shrinking , its straight-to-streaming division remains firmly entrenched in the land of anonymity. The titles of Fingernails , Palmer , and Finch mean nothing to the average movie fan. Despite its exceptional quality, director Scott Derrickson's The Gorge is likely destined to repeat that same fate, falling down a cavernous catalog just as deep and mysterious as the one in the film itself. The location of this pit is a classified secret, even kept from the guards stationed in separate watchtowers on either side of it. One of them is Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy, sporting a moderately more believable accent compared to her work in The New Mutants ), your prototypical heartless Russian assassin who dons all black and pulls the trigger without hesitation. The American Levi (Miles Teller) was once like that, but the prolonged years of being in this business have made him care too much. What good is an assassin who's grown a conscience? A mysterious private military figure (Sigourney Weaver) figures that the absence of anything giving him a reason to keep living makes him the perfect expendable soldier. Both Levi and Drasa are essentially part of a suicide mission, standing guard over a cavern that possesses something so evil that the Eastern and Western superpowers have always put aside their Cold War differences and worked together to keep it contained. What the overlords didn't consider when they selected their representatives was what happens when you place two very attractive people in the wilderness with nothing to do but get to know each other. Teller and Taylor-Joy pull off the incredibly difficult task of developing a romantic relationship despite their physical distance initially preventing them from ever sharing the same frame. They communicate through telescopes and whiteboards and even exchange playful sniper fire in games of one-upmanship. Derrickson lends his skills well to this twisted meet-cute scenario, creating montages set to energizing needle-drops. None of the song choices could be considered original or fresh, but they're all incredibly likable and fit the mood. All this fun almost makes everyone forget that they're standing above a gateway to hell, that is until one day when the demons start getting a little too ambitious for their own good. Levi and Drasa are forcibly relocated to the bottom of the gorge, fending off waves of emaciated creatures that have waited for decades for a decent piece of meat to chew on. Derrickson is a filmmaker who's most well-known for his gnarly R-rated features like Deliver Us from Evil and The Black Phone . One would think that the PG-13 rating here would tie his hands behind his back, but the interesting creature design and expert overall craftsmanship never let that thought occur. I can't divulge specifics about what the creatures look like and how they came to be, as that's the central hook, something that the marketers equally valued when they surprisingly kept it a secret in the trailer. Cinematographer Dan Laustsen, a natural fit for this project considering his years-long relationship with creature feature aficionado Guillermo del Toro, creates an unsettling atmosphere through his colorful use of mist and Cold War aesthetics. The composer duo of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross accentuate Laustsen's imagery with their steel wire score. For those who have regularly played the Zombies game mode in the Call of Duty video game series and have longed for it to be brought to the silver screen, this is your dream come true. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Snack Shack March 22, 2024 By: Button 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 . More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Robot Dreams March 18, 2024 By: Button Tyler Banark In a scene midway through Robot Dreams , our two protagonists, aptly named Dog and Robot, explore Manhattan and rollerskate to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September.” Both the music and the pair’s unspoken bond continue from there, with many other activities filling the day. It’s a wonderful sequence of events, with that infinitely catchy song bringing joy to us and the characters as we watch them experience life through each other. It’s moments like these that show how much Robot Dreams speaks volumes, while never containing a single line of dialogue. It’s New York City in the 1980s! Punk rock is at its peak, boomboxes are a hot commodity, MTV actually plays music, and the Twin Towers overlook Manhattan. Amidst all the hustle and bustle, there’s Dog, a lonely canine longing for companionship. As he’s flipping through TV channels late one night, he comes across a commercial for a robot friend. It’s a moment of the right message reaching the right person at the right time, with Dog scurrying to his phone to place the order. He builds Robot with just as much enthusiasm once he arrives, and the two instantly become inseparable. That is, until a beach day goes wrong, as Robot becomes stuck after swimming and lying in the sun all day. Dog tries to get him to move, but the beach closes for the season, and Robot is stranded on the sand. During their time away from each other, Dog and Robot learn some hard lessons about friendship and how it can be found in the unlikeliest of places. The two are innocent, and neither of them could’ve prepared for their separation. Still, the audience holds out hope for them, and the movie accomplishes this thanks to writer-director Pablo Berger’s ability to convey an investing plot without the need for speaking. The animation industry is currently at a crossroads, with studios split between several different art styles, none of which are mutually exclusive. Robot Dreams provides an escape from the business of what you normally see, opting for a traditional hand-drawn style that allows the animators to add little idiosyncrasies for eagle-eyed viewers. Dog always has a hankering for a microwavable macaroni and cheese dinner. The sizzling sounds fill the air and the splattering of cheese on the microwave door. In another instance, Robot has a dream where he’s in a Wizard of Oz -esque landscape surrounded by giant, tap-dancing flowers that eventually take the shape of Dog’s face and change its angles as the scene progresses. It may not add much to the overall story, but it’s a neat creative choice that is worth the effort to see. Because of the absence of dialogue, the overall sound design picks up all of the slack. Berger and his team bring the city that never sleeps to life like never before. Car honks, sirens, subway noises, and even heavy foot traffic fill up the airwaves, yet never overcrowd during the musical sequences. The tap-dancing sounds precise, and Alfonso de Vilallonga’s flawless music adds another strong layer. The sound and animation may be strong suits for what makes Robot Dreams so amazing, but the story and plot are what bring it all home. From Dog and Robot joyfully rollerskating to Robot eventually being found on the beach and thrown into a junkyard, Berger does an impeccable job of caring for our central characters and understanding exactly what they’re going through. Better yet, Dog and Robot’s companionship could be up for interpretation as to how close they were. Were they lovers? Just friends? Perhaps a little bit of both? The ending is when the question of their relationship comes into play. Without going into much detail, “September” is heard again, and we see our two characters dancing the same routine they did in Central Park. Although I let out an audible “You’ve got to be kidding me” (again, no spoilers for why I said that), it’s for the best that this was the method the ribbon was tied. It’s a bit unfortunate that Robot Dreams found itself smack dab in the middle of an ultra-competitive year in the Best Animated Feature category. Although it lost to The Boy and the Heron (and equally likely would have lost to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ) , it was a worthy opponent. And while the film slowly rolls out across the country, all those who have already seen it will never stop reminiscing about the lasting impression it leaves. You can follow Tyler and hear more of his thoughts on Twitter , Instagram , and Letterboxd . More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Freud's Last Session December 12, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen September 03, 1939 was an unlikely day that featured an unlikely meeting between two unlikely intellectual leaders. Dr. Sigmund Freud (Anthony Hopkins), famed psychoanalyst living out his sickly final days in London, is greeted at his door by C.S. Lewis (Matthew Goode), Christian literary scholar and eventual author of the The Chronicles of Narnia . The topic at hand is the existence of God, with the Austrian a staunch denier and the Brit a firm believer. The weight of that subject is paralleled with the events of the day: Nazi Germany has just invaded Poland and the British government is declaring war. It only took twenty years for “the war to end all wars” to be usurped by an even bigger global conflict. Adapted from Mark St. Germain’s 2009 off-Broadway play of the same name, Freud’s Last Session opens up the action from within the confines of Freud’s study. Director Matthew Brown ( The Man Who Knew Infinity ) , who also co-wrote the screenplay with St. Germain, has these two titans interacting with average Londoners as the panic of Nazi bombings starts to set in. It’s in a cramped bomb shelter that inklings of Lewis’ PTSD from World War I start to bubble up to the surface. But rather than allow Goode and Hopkins to tell their own character’s backstories, Brown rashly splices in flashbacks to their youths. None of them match the energy of the central duo, nor do they communicate anything interesting, both narratively and visually. Take for instance the perfunctory scene where Freud as a child is scolded by his father to “never pray for him,” or a scene where Lewis as a child sees God through the beauty of nature. Never would I think historical figures such as these would have the same broad origin stories as superheroes. There’s also the inclusion of a subplot involving Frued’s daughter Anna (Liv Lisa Fries), who would go on to become a highly respected child analyst in her own right. Sigmund’s inoperable jaw cancer causes him unbearable pain and bleeding from the mouth, which often causes him to lash out in anger. Despite the pleas of her partner Dorothy (Jodi Balfour), whom Sigmund disapproves of on the grounds of lesbianism being a symptom of a bad relationship with one’s father, Anna stays devout to her father. Fries is steadfast in her role, but she’s left on an island by Brown, only interacting with Hopkins and Goode briefly in the first act before being shunted off on a B-story. Hopkins and Goode make good (sorry, I couldn’t help myself with that pun) on the material, which is surprisingly more muted than one would expect a debate about God would be. Both of them are polite in their stances, obviously reverential of the work the other has done. The early stages take the form of a drawn out fencing match where one person takes a slight jab, analyzes the opponent’s reaction, and then retreats back. Hopkins (who played Lewis in the 1993 film Shadowlands ) is experiencing one of the highpoints of his career with roles in The Two Popes , HBO’s Westworld , The Father , and Armageddon Time . He’s exceptionally playful with his dialogue here, always prepped with an answer even when he knows he’s wrong. Goode never wavers in the face of confrontation, keeping his guard up through his charming wit and intelligence. The final, and fatal, blow to the movie comes in the postscript, which reveals that this meeting may never have happened. Its inclusion isn’t meant to be a plot twist as the play is very forward with this information and labels itself as a possible work of fiction. But in a film such as this that has lacked so much energy and memorability, it evokes the same feeling as a college professor that has given a tiring lecture and ends it by saying none of it will be on the test. It’s hard to care when you’re told you don’t have to. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm November 5, 2020 By: Button Hunter Friesen Back in 2006, Sacha Baron Cohen shocked the world with his hilarious mockumentary called Borat . Playing the titular fake news reporter from Kazakhstan, Cohen toured America interviewing people from all walks of life. Through the character of Borat, Cohen showed Americans what they truly look like to the outside world: a bunch of overconfident and arrogant snobs that are too dumb to know how dumb they are. The film was an enormous success critically and commercially, which fueled rumors of a sequel for over a decade. Now in 2020, Cohen is back as Borat Sagdiyev. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm or if you want to go by the official title Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan , picks up where the last one left off. Borat has just been released from the Kazakh gulags and is being sent back to America. Once there, he will deliver a special gift (it’s best I don’t tell you what it is) to Michael Pence to regain America’s trust and loyalty towards Kazakhstan. What I just described to you is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the weirdness within this “moviefilm”. Borat’s mission is also just a shameless excuse for the character to return to America to do what he does best. But instead of being joined by his producer Azamat like in the first film, Borat is accompanied by his daughter Tutar, who knows next to nothing of the world outside her village and is accustomed to being told that women are not smart enough to read, have a job, or drive a car. This is all played for laughs, but it also does mock the seemingly backward gender norms found in parts of the world. Similar to Borat in the first movie, Tutar’s visit to the home of the brave will be quite the culture shock. Once there, Borat is quickly recognized by everyday citizens. Knowing that being an instantly recognizable star will jeopardize his mission, he must don an assortment of disguises as he makes his way across the states. He makes stops at the Conservative Political Action Conference, an anti masker rally, and even catches Rudy Guliani doing some questionable acts, for which he has had to defend in the previous weeks. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is a lot like the leftovers you take home after a good restaurant meal. It’s still good, but it’s not as good as it was before and the only thing you can think about while eating it is how much you enjoyed the first meal. Most of the “pranks” that Cohen pulls off as Borat seem to be much more scripted in this go around. Much of the fun of the first film came from the loose and improvised feel. This sequel is much more calculated in what it is trying to say and how it goes about doing it. This feeling of been-there-done-that isn’t completely Cohen’s fault. Unlike back in 2006, Americans have finally started to come around to the idea that we aren’t so special after all. Maybe it’s because of who we have (or had, depending on when this review is published in relation to the election) in the oval office or the idiotic way we are handling the pandemic. 2020 Americans don’t need another reminder that this country kind of sucks. We see it in our news feeds every day as we try to navigate the broken social ladder. Despite being unneeded on a story level, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is a needed reminder of just how talented Sacha Baron Cohen is as he does what he was put on this world to do. This is his brand of comedy that no one comes close to competing in. Whether he’s dressed as Borat, a southern trucker, an extremely antisemitic portrayal of a Jew, or Donald Trump himself, Cohen seamlessly slips into character and has you fooled instantaneously. However, the MVP of this movie is not Cohen, but Maria Bakalova, who plays Tutar. Bakalova follows the same trajectory as Cohen did in the first movie as she expertly pulls off the naivety of a sheltered girl in a lawless land. She also carries the emotional arc of the story as her relationship with her father flourishes with each subsequent hijink. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is a perverse and vulgar film that holds a mirror up to America. While the original was fresh and inventive, this follow-up is just more of the same with less luster. But, far worse movies have gotten far worse sequels, so we should count ourselves lucky that this sequel is redeemed by the comic genius of Sacha Baron Cohen and Maria Bakalova. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Landscape with Invisible Hand August 16, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Aliens have invaded Earth! They came from the sky, descending upon our mortal world after sensing our weaknesses. We are no longer the dominant species of our world, usurped by these higher-dimensional beings. Except, this event was nowhere near as exciting or terrifying as it sounds. It was more like a corporate buyout, as their alien technology was too advanced for us to compete. Every object, process, and idea became obsolete overnight, rendering the entire human race to be managed over with the cold smile of Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta. One of those humans was Adam Cambell (Asante Black), a Rhode Island teen with a lawyer mom (Tiffany Haddish) that has been unemployed since the takeover, and a younger sister (Brooklynn MacKinzie) that doesn’t see any light left in the world. Her feelings are pretty much shared by everybody, especially the teachers, most of whom have been laid off as they “have been underbid by the little boxes on your foreheads.” Adam sees a bit of sunshine in the form of his new classmate Chloe (Kylie Rogers), whose family has been homeless nomads for the past few months. The two develop romantic chemistry quickly, using their happy feelings for each other to escape their downtrodden circumstances. Luckily for them, those feelings can be monetized, as the aliens don’t have the physical capabilities to feel love and will pay top dollar to witness it firsthand through something called a “Courtship Broadcast.” As many Gen Xers would know, putting something online lessens the spontaneity of a feeling. You can’t fully be genuine when you’re trying to be genuine. Adam and Chloe run into this problem after the honeymoon phase dissipates rather quickly. That aspect of social media and modern love is only one of the handful of scattershot ideas within writer/director Cory Finley’s screenplay, adapted from the book of the same name by M.T. Anderson. There are also themes about consumerism, broken families, class divides, immigration, emigration, teenage angst, social norms, life’s purpose, and the value of art. It’s a classic case of too many cooks in the kitchen, with none of the “lessons” being all that insightful. You might not have seen it with these types of characters in these situations, but you can see these plot developments and themes coming from a mile away. Finley’s previous efforts of Thoroughbreds and Bad Education were able to thread the tonal needle with supreme confidence. There’s even a moment within Thoroughbreds where a character explains that the worst thing to be is indecisive. Finley seems to have forgotten that lesson in his third outing, as he loses that edge that made him such a phenom. Every image feels less than the sum of its parts, and you’re left with less energy than you came in with. But all is not totally lost. The cast is quite good. Black and Rogers are nice together, and Josh Hamilton often shines as Chloe’s father who bends so far backwards to not be a failure that he ends up becoming more of one. Tiffany Haddish rises above her thinly written character. There’s also Michael Abels’ (a frequent Jordan Peele collaborator) synth score, instilling that extra drop of sci-fi kitschiness. Landscape with Invisible Hand finds Finley stretching himself thinly across too many ideas and too many characters. It’s respectably ambitious, but never sticks the landing. Ultimately, it’s more of a misstep than a failure, as I expect him to find his footing again, hopefully, sooner rather than later. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

The Old Guard 2 July 2, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen By waiting five years to produce a sequel to The Old Guard , which found a respectable amount of applause and eyeballs during the COVID-19 summer of 2020, Netflix isn’t exactly striking the iron while it’s hot. Then again, five years is just a drop in the ocean for our main characters, their lifespans exceeding several millennia. But for us mere mortals, it’s more like a bucket of water in a kiddie pool. The cobwebs have to be dusted off in the memory bank, and an interest in the continuation of an overarching story has to be rekindled. The Old Guard 2 doesn’t accomplish either of those tasks very well, making the wait just that much more egregious. Only six months have passed since the events of the first film, and Andy’s (Charlize Theron) team is still doing the unappreciated dirty work of keeping humanity safe from themselves. They take out the worst of the worst, which really just means the generic Eastern European mobster we see in the opening set piece. Subbing in for the outgoing Gina Prince-Bythewood is director Victoria Mahoney, who doesn’t make a great first impression. The action is overedited and frenzied, leaving all of the physicality to feel a bit generic. Upping the stakes from the first film’s pharmaceutical villain is an equally immortal opponent in Discord (Uma Thurman). She’s just rescued Andy’s immortal soulmate Quynh (Veronica Ngo) from her five-century imprisonment at the bottom of the ocean, something that Andy failed to do. Discord has a Magneto-mindset to the whole immortals vs. humans debate, and she doesn’t take kindly to Andy continually protecting those who have hindered the progress of immortals. The proposition of Furiosa fighting The Bride is enough to immediately sell a movie. Theron and Thurman have been at the forefront of modern action, with their physicality and screen presence being unmatched. The trouble is that it takes an awfully long time to get to the good part, which isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be either. This is a film that thinks that switching locations is the same as doing something. It hopscotches between Paris, South Korea, Croatia, and Indonesia without much fanfare. The same goes for the flashbacks to illustrate the centuries-spanning backstories. A brief moment of visual imagination comes when Andy walks down a Parisian street, the memories across generations flooding throughout the background. There’s still the problem that none of these characters can die, except for Andy, since she lost her immortality at the end of the previous film. Similar to Deadpool, critical injuries are more of an inconvenience. Broken legs snap back, and bullet holes sew themselves up in seconds. Some contrivances are needed for consequences to be injected into the action. The extremely overqualified Henry Golding and Chiwetel Ejiofor are there to add a bit of gravitas to their sole responsibilities of explaining the rules. And for the second time in as many films, there isn’t so much a conclusion to this story, but a setup for what’s to come next. It feels like a mini-miracle that we even got this movie, so doubling down for another feels like a foolhardy gamble. I really hope it pays off, because I’m starting to consider pulling out my investment. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes May 8, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Dubbed by many as the “thinking man’s action franchise,” the Planet of the Apes films has garnered itself quite high esteem over the years. What started as a single above-average 60s sci-fi blockbuster quickly became a cash-grab franchise, complete with a failed reboot at the turn of the millennium by Tim Burton. A balance of brain and brawn was finally met with Rise of the Planet of the Apes a decade later, followed by two excellent sequels ( Dawn and War ) that proved to be the exception to the rule of the dumbed-down CGI-heavy summer blockbuster. The momentum was too hot to put a cold towel over, prompting a continuation in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (the perfect title for critics striving to hit a certain word count). And just like they proved the doubters over the past decade, Kingdom rises above the notion that it’s an unnecessary addition, as it reaches for newer relevant themes in a world turned upside down. The central ape of the modern reboot trilogy, Caesar, has now passed, with his legend taking different forms in the many generations to follow. Earth is still an ape-dominant world, with them talking in semi-complete sentences and harnessing the power of other animals (eagles, horses, etc.) to progress their clans. It’s a feudal time of several clans all living disparately, one of them being a group of eagle herders deep within the jungle. A young ape named Noa (Owen Teague) knows that there is more to the world than the arbitrary borders his clan elders have drawn. But instead of a great journey inspired by self-discovery, Noa’s adventure is spurred by warring ape factions that seek to dominate and enslave others. The motivation for these aggressive apes is the deification of Caesar into a Christlike figure. Led by Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), who sees himself as the second-coming of the messiah, are essentially medieval crusaders, fighting to purify the land. “Apes together strong” has become one of their commandments, only this time it’s been twisted to brainwash apes into indentured servitude as there isn’t a common enemy in the form of humans, with only a few left who are intelligent enough to speak. Writer Josh Friedman keeps the brain of Kingdom firing at all times, holding up a mirror to the apes just as much as it does to all of human history. The words of Caesar have now become copies of copies of copies, with the loss of meaning being replaced by control and lust to grab hold of the power they possess. While it may sometimes over-explain itself, there’s a lot to appreciate in the moment and the many moments after the lights have gone up. In conjunction with Friedman, who is working from a foundation laid by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, the writers of Rise who James Cameron has recruited to help steer his Avatar films, is director Wes Ball, now also taking a few inspirations from that particular blue franchise. This is a new world from the time of Caesar, with Ball relishing in the time needed to relearn its environment and culture. There’s a patient rhythm to the storytelling, with just as many quiet moments of introspection as there are moments of shrieking bombastic. The overall production qualities are still top-notch, even if they are a mild step down from what director Matt Reeves was able to accomplish with his two most recent entries. The rich, natural colors of War have been replaced with an overly lit palette, and the ape CGI is slightly less expressive in the facial area. And the excellently underappreciated work by composer Michael Giacchino is sorely missing. It doesn’t feel like the highest form of criticism to simply compare the previous films to this new one, but it’s nearly impossible to avoid it after the bar has been set so memorably high. Under all that digital fur are some quality actors, notably Teague as our new hero. It must be catnip for an actor to inhabit a role such as this, especially after Andy Serkis revolutionized and displayed to the world just how seriously the craft of motion capture performing should be taken. There are real emotions on display, with Teague and his other ape castmates deserving just as much credit as the visual effects department. There’s also Freya Allan as the intelligent human Mae, who serves as the main catalyst for the debate over whether humanity has the right to take back that they once held a several millennia-long grip over. That debate will surely rattle on and become more intensive in the successive sequels, which will have the opportunity to follow the same trajectory of the previous sequels by improving on an already solid start. There’s also the possibility that they drag over the same terrain that we’ve become accustomed to. But this franchise hasn’t done us wrong for a while now, so I’ll let the side of optimism take over for the time being. It’s a nice feeling to have, and not one I take for granted. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

The New Hollywood of the 1970s May 4, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen In the late 1960s and early 1970s, many American filmmakers sought to revolutionize Hollywood cinema. For the past several decades, American films were built upon prestige and spectacle, drawing millions to see wondrous images and famous faces on a gigantic screen. Largely influenced by the French New Wave and Italian Neorealism, a new batch of American filmmakers created a movement called the “American New Wave” or “New Hollywood.” This movement defied the nostalgic standards of yesteryear and created a more innovative and artistic style of filmmaking. With the meteoric rise of television and inflated production costs, studios were in a state of financial ruin when this movement was beginning to form. Coupled with the disbanding of the Motion Picture Production Code in 1967, these filmmakers had a golden opportunity of artistic freedom and expression. Two of the most prominent filmmakers in New Hollywood were the Italian-American duo of Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. They modeled their filmmaking process around the auteur theory and did whatever they could to break and reshape the rules of Hollywood. The two films that broke new ground were Coppola’s The Godfather in 1972 and Scorsese’s Taxi Driver in 1976. These two films challenged Old Hollywood storytelling through their use of social messaging, complicated central characters, and attitudes towards on-screen violence. The incorporation of social messaging within movies had been around for some time in Old Hollywood, but it was often lightened for audiences. Stanley Kramer spoke about societal issues in many of his films, such as The Defiant Ones and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner . Despite being released right around the time of the counterculture movement of the 1960s, these films were geared towards older generations of moviegoers, the ones that would better respond to conventionalism and star power. While he revered Kramer, Martin Scorsese didn’t follow in his footsteps when it came to telling his story. Taxi Driver is set in the authentic 1970s version of New York City, filled with pimps, prostitutes, drugs, and murder. In a voiceover, the central character, a lonely taxi driver named Travis Bickle, describes his nightly routine: “Each night, when I return the cab to the garage, I have to clean the c** off the back seat. Some nights, I clean off the blood.” Travis is just a cab driver, and only about three feet separate him from his passengers. And yet, somehow semen and blood end up on his seats. Our imaginations can only run wild with the disgusting things he witnesses every night. Seeing these horrific events nightly slowly pushes Travis to his breaking point, which he was already a bit too close to due to the undiagnosed PTSD he carries with him since his discharge from the Vietnam War. He has no contempt for his fellow man and only sees them as the worst versions of themselves. In one of his monologues, Travis describes the cities residents as ”animals coming out at night – whores, skunk p*****s, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday, a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets.” This quote shows the mental downfall of Travis and how he decides to take matters into his own hands. Scorsese, and screenwriter Paul Schrader, give the audience an honest and unsensitized depiction of what New York City is like. Gone are the days of the glimmering bustle of New York in films such as Guys and Dolls and Breakfast at Tiffany’s . Taxi Driver, along with other New Hollywood films like Midnight Cowboy and The French Connection showed New York as a cesspool of crime and villainy that no decent person should visit, let alone live in. Also set in New York City, albeit a few decades earlier, was Coppola’s The Godfather . Adapted from the novel by Mario Puzo, Coppola steeps his film into the rich Italian immigrant culture, one filled with hardships and stresses the importance of family. Vito Corleone is a character that is given immense psychological development. Many of his actions are done to protect his family and strengthen his relationships with the other crime families. He still can be considered a villain, as he orders men to be killed and works in illegal enterprises. With Brando’s method acting, Vito was an unprecedented authentic depiction of Italian-Americans, distancing the image away from the Tommy Gun swinging depictions in earlier films such as The Public Enemy and Scarface . There could also be an argument made that Coppola’s new image became a harmful stereotype, as The Godfather became immensely influential in how Italian-Americans were portrayed in future films. Similar to Vito, it’s difficult to place the character of Travis Bickle on the spectrum of hero and villain. He takes a complicated journey from an outcast to a killer, with almost everything being under the surface. Scorsese and Schrader avoid what director Sidney Lumet called “the rubber-ducky moment,” a phrase that stemmed from the television specials of the 1950s where characters and their motivations could be easily explained. For example, a person’s rubber ducky was stolen as a child and that’s why they became a deranged killer. Lumet criticized this moment for being too simple and preposterous, as nobody’s personality and persona could come from just one experience. Scorsese and Schrader never simplify Travis as a character. Film essayist Matt Zoller Seitz (2016) noticed the initial complexity by writing: “There is nothing spontaneous or natural about this man. He’s deeply damaged, maybe by the war, maybe by his childhood; we don’t know exactly what his problem is, and ultimately it doesn’t matter.” We never truly know what Travis problems are, and we never know exactly what is going on inside his mind. Based on his monologues previously mentioned, we can only imagine what Travis sees and thinks about. Even if we don’t always know everything that’s happening internally, Scorsese does give us glimpses from time to time. The famous mirror scene is an example of Scorsese using his directorial toolkit to illustrate Travis, but not explain him. Using disjunctive editing, a radical departure from classic storytelling, and a technique reminiscent of the French New Wave, Scorsese breaks up the flow of the scene, separating the viewer from Travis. Travis practices confronting someone with a gun, pointing it at his reflection, and uttering incomplete sentences. In his article, "The Last Temptation of Travis Bickle," author Andre Caron (1997) described this technique as a “sudden distancing process in order to separate the viewer from Travis.” The only conversation Travis can hold throughout the film is with himself, and even that is just fragments of threats and taunts. With the cut-up editing, the viewer is disoriented and begins to mirror the paranoia that Travis has in his head. In the mob genre, there are no two more complicated characters than Vito and Michael Corleone. Before them, the genre was populated with more stereotypical and one-dimensional representations by the likes of James Cagney and Paul Muni. Vito Corleone was an immigrant of the United States looking to make a name for himself and secure a future for his family. He doesn’t see the mafia as a glorious lifestyle. He doesn’t want his youngest son, Michael, to be involved in the family business. Michael initially doesn’t play a part in the family and has no intention to do so. At the beginning of the film, he describes his father’s actions to his girlfriend as “that’s my family, Kay. It’s not me.” Throughout the film, Michael becomes more and more embroiled in his family affairs. After his father is gunned down in the street, he takes it upon himself to enact revenge on those responsible. The restaurant scene is the moment that marks Michael’s transition from innocent war-hero to mafia murderer. Michael meets with Sollozzo and McCluskey in a restaurant. Like Scorsese does in his mirror scene, Coppola uses character-driven editing to not explain Michael, but to give us bits and pieces of his thoughts. As the two men try to excuse their actions, Coppola cuts to a close-up of Michael as he stares at his opponents. He has a personal grievance with the men and a sense of duty to his family, but he still doesn’t know if should go through with the action. The sound of a corkscrew and wine bottle being opened add to the tension bubbling in Michael’s head. After some short conversation, Coppola recommits to the close-up of Michael, now slowly zooming in and overtaking the dialogue with the sound of an oncoming train. At this moment, Michael makes up his mind and commits to the deed, pulling out a gun and killing both men. With the power of sound effects, dialogue, and editing, Coppola doesn’t fall into the easy rubber-ducky trap, as he instead slowly exhibits Michael’s transition and demands the audience to feel the pathos behind his actions. Finally, both Taxi Driver and The Godfather feature moments of extreme on-screen violence, often committed by the main characters. They are both unflinching in execution and don’t shy away from the horrors. In Taxi Driver , Travis acquires his weapons through an illegal dealer. He buys more guns than a person could need, including many that are much more powerful than he requires. To him, the ends justify the means. Being a vigilante and having illegal access to firearms doesn’t mean anything if he has good intentions. While there can be an argument for that mode of thinking, Travis also doesn’t seem to care about the consequences of his actions, so long as they are deemed bad in his eyes. After a few outbursts here and there, the film culminates in a shootout at a brothel. Scorsese lingers on the scene with slow pans to show the aftermath but also uses quick edits when guns are being fired. The scene is brutal, with an extreme focus on the physical damage being done to bodies, and the mental damage being done to Iris, who witnesses the whole thing. Unexpectedly, the media portrays Travis as a hero who took matters into his own hands and saved a girl from prostitution. As the viewer, we know that Travis isn’t a prototypical hero and his actions aren’t ones to admire. This cycle of violence and interpretation goes back to the social messaging Scorsese and Schrader instill into the film. There is a disconnect between the true story and the one printed. Who is to blame for this disconnect, the readers of the paper, or the publications glorifying the disturbing act? The answer is both. The audience (the viewers included) crave violence with a morbid attraction. The media lives to meet that demand, writing stories depicting heroes and villains. Scorsese and Schrader emphasize that violence is inherently evil and that it doesn’t solve the worst problems in the world. No character’s situation is improved after the events in the film, as Travis feels empowered to commit more acts and Iris is forever scarred, both physically and mentally. The Godfather came a few years before Taxi Driver when auteurs were experimenting with the relationship both Hollywood and audiences had with violence. Bonnie and Clyde, The French Connection, and Straw Dogs broke into the mainstream, with their heavy use of screen violence being one of the central elements of their success. The violence within The Godfather does not sensationalize the crime lifestyle. Each death is stripped of stylization, often being shown in gruesome fashion. For example, the garrote scene has Luca Brasi’s eyes popping out of his head, and Sonny’s ambush leaves him in a bloody mess. Finally, the ending follows the massacre of several high-ranking mob bosses, including one being shot in the eye and another being gunned down in bed. None of this violence is played to be heroic or produce good consequences, similar to Taxi Driver and the films mentioned before. Taking a page out of their European contemporaries and defying the methods of their Hollywood elders, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese became two of the most respected filmmakers of the New Hollywood movement. Because of their attitudes towards violence, character development, and social messaging, the pair revolutionized the role that a director played in the filmmaking process and the connection audiences had with cinema. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

The Pale Blue Eye December 22, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen There's no good way to say it, so I better avoid dancing around the subject and just come out with it: Christian Bale has not had a good year. Between the financial and critical disaster that was Amsterdam and the so-so quality of Thor: Love and Thunder , the payoffs have not matched the effort put in. To be fair, it’s not precisely Bale’s fault that those two movies did not meet expectations, as one actor can only do so much to affect the films they appear in. But I also can’t fully absolve him, or any other cast member within Amsterdam , of choosing to work with David O. Russell considering all that’s been revealed about him. So, in comes The Pale Blue Eye during the waning days of 2022, hoping to salvage what remains of the year through its murder mystery story. But unlike the other Netflix murder mystery of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery , this case doesn’t contain a single smile, least of all a laugh. That is unless you’re the kind of sadistic person who thinks that people being murdered and having their hearts carved out is some kind of sick joke. The commanders at the United States Military Academy certainly don’t believe it to be a laughing matter that their cadets are being picked off one by one. The country is still in its infancy period at this moment in 1830, and appearances are vital to becoming a legitimate world power, so having your finest soldiers in perpetual fear of being horribly mutilated isn’t such a good scenario. Hired to solve this problem is Detective Augustus Landor (Bale), who’s been around the block more times than he can count. But the clues to this case don’t line up too well for an outsider like Landor, so he recruits a young cadet and future world-famous poet, Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling), to be his inside man. Writer/director Scott Cooper doesn’t waste any time plunging us into this cold and desolate environment. The opening shot of a hanged victim, with the thick fog shrouding him in mystery, is a primer for the savagery found within this time period and specific location. The sun never seems to shine during the winter months, with the only light being from the candles inside dingy taverns and cottages. The gothic exteriors of the military academy don’t present a very cozy feeling for its recruits, who are much more in line with posh gentlemen than stereotypical hardened marines. Poe seems to be the brightest of all his brothers, displaying genius levels of intellect through his frequent writing and readings of poetry. Melling overindulges on the character’s eccentricities, speaking in an accent similar to Benoit Blanc’s and with such rapid pace. Landor is the John Watson to Poe’s Sherlock Holmes, only this time the power dynamic has been reversed. Bale, who might as well be reprising his character from Cooper’s Hostiles based on his appearance and demeanor, displays a weariness within his character brought by his haunted past. It is a bit of a shame that some of the other members of this all-star cast, specifically Robert Duvall and Charlotte Gainsbourg, are wasted in nothing roles. Ranging from music dramas to mob biopics to westerns, Cooper has always been a chameleon director, molding his style to whatever the story requires. While he’s never done exemplary work, he does bring adequate professionalism, with some flashes of brilliance. The Pale Blue Eye unfortunately doesn’t contain any out-of-this-world moments as Cooper keeps the thread that ties all the clues together close to his chest, not revealing much until the final moments. But by that point, the answers come across a bit like cheating, as everything seems to be connected because of convenience rather than reality. But even with the central mystery within The Pale Blue Eye not entirely living up to the pedigree of its cast or the quality of its gothic production qualities, there are still enough intriguing elements within this world of the macabre. Chances are you’ll be surrounded by snow and frigid temperatures when this drops on Netflix, so you might as well settle in for a slow-burn mystery because I doubt the rest of the cinematic offerings in January will be much better. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen