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Inside Out 2 June 16, 2024 By: Button Tyler Banark Pixar’s newfound knack for unnecessary sequels rears its head once again with Inside Out 2 . When the inevitable news broke that a sequel to the 2015 hit was going into production, many people (including myself) hesitated to view things positively and pondered the need for its existence. On top of that, Pixar was currently on a losing streak in terms of critical and audience reactions, with the likes of Lightyear and Elemental coming and going without much fanfare. And even with those worrisome trailers, all those negative thoughts left my head once I sat down to watch the final product, which could (and hopefully will) be the start of the studio returning to form. Despite all the pageantry by Pixar to be returning to this property, some of the original key players in the cast and crew are missing. For the cast, only Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, and Lewis Black returned to voice Joy, Sadness, and Anger, respectively. Tony Hale and Liza Lapira took over for Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling as Fear and Disgust, an unfortunate downgrade, as the replacements don’t rise to the occasion. But on a more positive note, Poehler once again knocks it out of the park as Joy, and she’s joined by a bevy of new emotions in Embarrassed, Ennui, Envy, and Anxiety. Ayo Edebiri and Maya Hawke stand out as Envy and Anxiety, respectively, with the latter giving the best voiceover performance of the year thus far, capturing the frenetic chaos and capitalizing on the inner struggle one can have when dealing with it. At the same time, Edebiri brings her bombastic charms to her adorable character. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEjhY15eCx0 Regarding the crew, the most prominent absentees are previous co-writer/director (and overall Pixar legend) Pete Docter and composer Michael Giacchino. Although Docter is still attached to the project as an executive producer and his role as Chief Creative Officer at the studio, his absence is felt in the driver’s seat as veteran studio writer Kelsey Mann takes over. That isn’t to say Mann does a lousy job; there’s just that extra bit of creativity missing to make this all feel truly special. After Anxiety boots the original emotions from headquarters, they come across more concepts that operate the human mind, many of them not seen in the first movie. Riley’s secret vault, brainstorms, Sense of Self, and a sar-chasm are just as generously illustrated as the ones presented in the predecessor. The use of Riley’s beliefs as cords stringing from a pond underneath headquarters to a flower inside it is terrific. The designs of the new emotions felt fitting given their natures - Embarrassment being big and Envy being small - each conveying how those feelings take over once expressed. There’s also a moment where Anxiety creates a tornado when she starts to take over, an apt metaphor that’s as fun to watch as it is relatable. In a more stunning turn of events, the film takes a stab at different animation styles in several scenes. When the original emotions are locked away in Riley’s secret vault, they meet Bloofy, a character from Riley’s favorite children’s show, and Lance Slashblade, a video game character that Riley once had a crush on. Bloofy and Lance are animated differently, with the former (along with his fanny pack sidekick Pouchy) being traditionally 2-D animated and the latter having the design of a late 2000s video game graphic. Although it’s not something I would have expected Pixar to do, it’s a pleasant surprise from their traditional formula. There may be some slight missteps in this sequel, but Inside Out 2 is still a delightful return to the world of emotions, bringing back the spark that we once consistently expected from Pixar. The kids will have fun watching it for its humor, while the grown-ups will find the concepts to be intriguing. How long will it take before Pixar is officially back? Who knows, but there’s no need for longtime fans and moviegoers to get anxious over it. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures will release Inside Out 2 in theaters nationwide on June 14th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

80 For Brady January 20, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Lighter than a feather and filled with enough New England Patriots propaganda to get itself banned in Atlanta, Buffalo, New York, and Miami, 80 for Brady would probably have cleaned up at this year’s AARP Movies for Grownups Awards if it had been given a timely qualifying release. Of course, there’s always next year, where there’s potential for Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon to be upstaged in the categories of “Best Buddy Picture” and “Best Intergenerational Film.” At the time of the film’s announcement, famed Patriots/Buccaneers Quarterback Tom Brady had just announced his retirement from football after 22 seasons, which included 7 Super Bowl titles, 3 NFL MVP honors, 15 Pro Bowl selections, as well as an extended list of other career achievements. It does take a certain amount of hubris on Brady’s part for his first post-football move to be the commissioning of a movie about four fans who worship him as a god. Granted, this is inspired by a true story, even if the script by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins, part of the writing team behind 2019’s Booksmart , takes some very creative liberties with the truth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UeGXB2NjR8 The 80 in 80 for Brady denotes the ages of four friends who have centered their strong friendship over their love of Tom Brady and his New England Patriots. It all started on September 23, 2001 (a date celebrated every year by Patriots fans) when Lou (Lily Tomlin) was stuck at home recovering from her last round of chemotherapy. Her close friends Trish (Jane Fonda), Maura (Rita Moreno), and Betty (Sally Field) tried to entertain her by getting the TV to work, but it was stuck on one channel. At that exact moment, young Tom Brady steps into the pocket after regular starter Drew Bledsoe was taken out of the game due to a nasty sack. From there, the rest is history, for both Brady and his cohort of dedicated octogenarian fans. Fast forward to 2017 and the Patriots are going to another Super Bowl. Instead of staying home like they always do, the group decides to make the trip down to Houston for the big game. “The Super Bowl is no place for four old women,” says Maura, who happens to be right. But that statement being true is what makes for the most of the fun within 80 for Brady , as four Hollywood legends with effortless charm and chemistry blaze through the biggest event of the year. Much of the material is light and fun, made to purely entertain you for the ninety-eight-minute runtime and nothing more. And compared to most of the entries in this specific genre, which include Book Club (plus its upcoming sequel) and Poms , this one works fairly well. Moreno, who technically doesn’t qualify for the club, considering she’s 91, clearly has the most fun within the ensemble. It’s unfortunate that the only dance routine within the film is poorly choreographed and doesn’t allow the original cinematic Anita to show off her long-lived talent. There are some attempts at drama, but it’s all so clean and shallow that it barely even registers. The stakes are pretty much nonexistent, and the jokes can be seen from a mile away. Director Kyle Marvin keeps everything breezy, and cinematographer John Toll (recipient of two Academy Awards) makes the Super Bowl festivities look as appealing as possible. Football fans may not be totally won over by 80 for Brady , but its intended audience of retirees will undoubtedly eat it up. And in a time when one of the largest sustainers of adult theatrical programming is not returning to the cinema, we’ll take all the help we can get. So, take your parents and/or grandparents out for a nice time, and maybe try to convince them to get back into their old cinemagoing habits. Paramount Pictures will release 80 for Brad y in theaters nationwide on February 03rd. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Creed III February 24, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen With Creed III, the reins (or should I say gloves?) of the Rocky franchise have been fully passed down from Sylvester Stallone's The Italian Stallion to Michael B. Jordan's Adonis Creed. And in typical Rocky fashion, Jordan plants himself further into this universe by stepping into the director's chair, taking over after Ryan Coogler successfully revived this tired franchise in 2015 and Steven Caple Jr. adeptly continued that ascending trajectory in 2018. Fortunately for Jordan, he displays a higher quality of skill both in front and behind the camera than Stallone did with his sequels, which have the added benefit of decades' worth of nostalgia to make it palatable. For the first time in this now nine-film franchise, the character of Rocky Balboa is totally absent from the story, with no mention of how he's doing in Vancouver with his estranged son and grandson. Adonis now sits somewhere in between his shoes from the first two films and those of Rocky's, as he decides to hang up the gloves after a successful career. But while he deals with his new post-retirement future, a figure from the past shows up unannounced. It's Damian Anderson, Adonis's older brother figure, from when he was moving between group homes and running from the law. An incident from their youth caused Damian to spend the next eighteen years in prison, stripping him of his "rightful" opportunity to become the best boxer in the world after making a name for himself on the amateur circuit. Adonis tries to make up for lost time by extending an olive branch to Damian in the form of taking him under his wing and preparing him for a title shot. Quickly, things get out of control as Damian's pent-up rage and resentment take over, threatening to destroy Adonis' legacy as a boxer and the future he hopes to build as a leader. So, in the spirit of brotherly love, Adonis must protect what's his through the only means he knows how to: with his fists. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHmCH7iB_IM It may come as a shock to you, especially after that plot description, to know that Creed III spends just as much time debating the morals of fighting vs using your words as it does delivering those bone-crunching blows to the head. But while Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin's script may take its time talking about why fighting doesn't solve everything, the overall narrative and kinetic work delivered by Jordan as a director say otherwise. A small subplot appears in the form of Amara dealing with bullies at school, an on-the-nose metaphor for Adonis and his situation, one that is quickly abandoned as soon as it could really mark a shift in the philosophy of this franchise. Maybe it was foolish of me to think that things could change even a little at this stage, because we know that all the talk of not wanting to fight means nothing once the going gets tough. The going doesn't really need to get tough here either for Adonis to lay down the challenge, just a few inconveniences and shots at his ego, which is subtly examined by Damian as he mentions the privilege the Creed surname has afforded Adonis. Jordan has repeatedly mentioned the inspiration that the anime genre had on the filming of the boxing scenes, a statement that he capably backed up with the final product. Gone is Coogler's fluid camerawork and long takes (except for one modest sequence early on), replaced with a not-egregious-but-still-considerable amount of Zack Snyder slow motion. It's used sparingly, mainly to focus on the split-second decisions made in the ring that can win or lose a fight. The sound of blows landing does rumble throughout the theater, with the final moments having the same raw power as a fighting game character unleashing their combo meter. Majors fills out the role of the final boss with immense theatricality, displaying the unbelievable threat he is with his cagey movements and fighting style. Jordan is the more composed one of the pair, preaching how boxing is more about control and strategy than it is about violence. And the always-great Tessa Thompson is regretfully sidelined to merely being a support figure to Adonis rather than the richer character she was in the original. Creed III may be the weakest of its trilogy, but the fact that the seventh, eighth, and ninth entries are all the best of a franchise is an accomplishment by itself, even more so when you factor in the inherent limitations of the boxing genre. Jordan and Coogler (and Stallone to an extent) have found a way for this cycle of storytelling to remain relevant, even if it sometimes punches below its weight class. Amazon MGM Studios will release Creed III in theaters nationwide on March 03rd. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

F1: The Movie June 17, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) is the kind of driver they don’t make anymore. He races on instinct and adrenaline, pushing aside the fancy gadgets and gizmos. He doesn’t care about fame or money; just the thrill of the ride and where it will take him next. He’s also crashed every kind of car there is, doesn’t play well with authority, and is just a general pain in the ass. He’s a has-been, or, depending on who you’re asking… a never-was. That combination of salt and pepper makes him the perfect Hail Mary pass for the fledgling Apex Grand Prix team, owned by his friend and former racing buddy Ruben (Javier Bardem). He’s got a raw talent in Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), who needs a bit of mentoring before he can start thinking about being the best of the best. The familiarity of that plot doesn’t just stem from its similarities to several other films in the sports subgenre, but also from that of Top Gun: Maverick , also directed by Joseph Kosinski. Sonny is Maverick, Joshua is Rooster, the race team is the other pilots, and the F1 season is the battlefield. It’s as simple as that. One could claim that Kosinski is just playing the same notes, almost becoming a cover version of himself. Others will say that he knows his strengths and what his audience wants. Both sentiments are true on a spectrum, with me leaning closer to the former. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT2_P2DZBR0 There’s plenty of spectacle to go around, all bought and paid for through the combined war chests of producer Jerry Bruckheimer, studios Apple and Warner Bros. Pictures, and the International Automobile Federation. The reported $250-300 million budget is lavishly presented in every crisp image and roaring piece of sound. If Top Gun: Maverick was a not-so-subtle commercial for U.S. Navy aviation, then this is an unabashed love fest for F1 racing. Characters make speeches about growing up with dreams of being here, and real-life famous drivers like Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton (also a producer) make appearances. Just as they did in Top Gun: Maverick , Kosinski and cinematographer Claudio Miranda combine practical driving with convincing visual effects. They avoid the clichéd mantra of “just drive faster,” opting to really dig into the nuts and bolts of racing strategy. When are you going to make a pit stop? What tires are you going to use? When are you going to switch them out? What positioning are you hoping to grab on this next turn? These are the decisions that the drivers have to make in a split second, all while strapped to a glorified 200 mph rocket. It’s thrilling, even if it all follows a pretty similar pattern as we travel across the globe, as the team competes just to stay afloat. All that spectacular showing is what makes the telling especially grating. Kosinski and co-writer Ehren Kruger can’t be faulted for wanting to hold the hands of audience members unfamiliar with this world. But having the announcers commentate on every single move was several steps too far. I’m either being told what’s about to happen or what just happened, neither of which I wanted or needed. What’s the point of building suspense through the intricate visual language when you’re just going to tell me everything right before the big reveal? This might sound like just a nitpick, but it’s one of those game-breaking bugs that would infinitely enhance the experience with its removal. There’s also not as much humility to grapple onto either. Those supposedly thorny but lovable characters are just a bit annoying, never fully earning our respect and admiration. Every character talks about how they just want to hear it straight, which just means they want to hear whatever the plot needs them to. Pitt is still at his most assured coolness, the movie star magic never fading even as he’s fully immersing into the “I’m gettin’ too old for this shit” phase of his career (see last year’s Wolfs ). Kerry Condon gets the blockbuster she deserves after The Banshees of Inisherin , although her interesting individuality gets sidelined for a traditional only-in-the-movies romance with Pitt. Without a thoroughly compelling story and racing scenes that needlessly keep themselves on cruise control, F1: The Movie can only be met with a polite shrug. It’s good enough to be summer escapism, and will likely have you driving home with a bit more lead in your foot. Let’s just hope that doesn’t cause as many crashes as there were in the film. Apple Original Films will release F1: The Movie in theaters nationwide on June 27th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Sinners April 15, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Shot and marketed with IMAX cameras akin to something only Christopher Nolan would do, Ryan Coogler’s Sinners plays big and tall as it spans both centuries and genres to tell a story you’ve never quite seen before. Gangsters, musicians, preachers, conjurers, and vampires collide on one hot summer night, all of them ready to shake away the demons under the power of liquor, the blues, and sweat. Vampires, you say? Yes, those bloodsuckers that have ruined pretty much every protagonist’s day since the birth of cinema are in the Deep South too, and they possess just as much bark as they do bite. Although they live in the shadows very literally, those demons also represent themselves metaphorically through Coogler’s rotational use of the Ultra Panavision 70mm 2.76:1 aspect ratio. Normally reserved for epically scoped projects like The Hateful Eight and Ben-Hur , Coogler and cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw flip the technique on its head, the black bars heavily weighing down on our mortal characters as the grainy photography captures the humid restlessness. Many of them fear that their lives are being drained away by the society that keeps them down, the chains of slavery from just a few generations ago replaced by the invisible shackles of Jim Crow in the 1930s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKGxHflevuk For Sammi (Miles Caton), the son of your usual movie preacher who warns about the dangers of sex, drugs, and rock & roll, there's a world of opportunity outside of Mississippi. But for the Smokestack twins (Michael B. Jordan as both Smoke and Stack), they know that those promises of a land of milk & honey where all men are created equal are just a bunch of fools’ gold. They’ve seen a thing or two to know a thing or two, which is that Jim Crow is a worldwide recipe, the only variable being the intensity of the flavor. The best strategy in a world set against you is to plant yourself where you know your enemy best. That means they’ve returned to their birthplace of Clarksdale, Mississippi, after nearly a decade of ripping off gangsters in Chicago, a city that everybody asks them if it is as good as the legends say it is. The twins leave that question mostly unanswered, as they know the preciousness of hope and that they never were set on honest work to begin with. Fortunately for them, everybody in Clarksdale is a sinner, filling themselves up on liquor and fleshly desires. What’s the point of the future when the outlook is just more of the same shitty present? For as much as the marketing team has cranked up the promise of death and destruction, Coogler spends a large chunk of the first act examining the death and decay of the American dream. “The Klan doesn’t exist no more,” says the heavily assumed racist white owner of the sawmill the twins buy to refurbish into a juke joint. It’s a line that elicited uneasy chuckles from my audience, everyone knowing underneath that’s as much a lie in 2025 as it was in 1932. Between his two Black Panther films and Creed , Coogler has illustrated a near-masterful skill for diffusing incisive social commentary into the muscular frame of a popcorn blockbuster. Jack O'Connell’s vampire Remmick spins a yarn of a vampire world where everyone lives together in harmony, although his appearance signals that the only thing that will change is the ownership of those at the top of the social hierarchy. Without spoiling its specific contents in fear of robbing you of the experience of witnessing it with a clean palette, there’s a certain long take that merges the past, present, and future in an exhilaratingly fresh way that I didn’t think was possible for a $100 million studio film. Even if, for some odd reason, you’re coming into Sinners looking to turn your brain off, Coogler supplies more than a sizable portion of R-rated gnarliness. This is still a horror movie down to the bone, filled with characters who make dumb decisions and moments that will make you jump out of your seat. That long take also shows off the immaculate craft of his production crew: Hannah Beachler’s rich sets, Ruth E. Carter’s snazzy costumes, and Ludwig Göransson’s banjo and electric guitar layered score. Each of them can both open and rip out your heart at the drop of a hat, something the cast also replicates. If I had a nickel for every time a 2025 Warner Bros. film had its lead actor play multiple identical-looking characters, I’d have three nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird it happened thrice. Luckily, this nickel goes to the top dog that is two Michael B. Jordans, and not the multiple clones of Robert Pattinson from Mickey 17 or the double De Niro in The Alto Knights . As twins, Jordan doesn’t play two totally different personas, just a closely overlapping Venn diagram. Hailee Steinfeld, who, believe it or not, hasn’t been in a live-action feature film since 2019, showcases why we shouldn’t have let that fact come to fruition and kept her on the path of being a full-time movie star. In a time when America is having an identity crisis (then again, when aren’t we?), Sinners looks back and ahead with the gumption that only a wild premise such as this could achieve. Coogler has shown you on multiple occasions a new path as part of a well-worn map, so now let him redraw the whole thing in blood and brimstone. Warner Bros. Pictures will release Sinners in theaters nationwide on April 18th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Iron Claw December 18, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen One of the most surprising things about The Iron Claw is how unbelievable this true story feels. Six brothers were born to Fritz and Doris Von Erich: Jack Jr., Kevin, David, Kerry, Mike, and Chris. Five of them would die before their 35th birthday, with Kevin being the only surviving member of that generation. Each of them was relentlessly driven to dominate the wrestling scene in the 1980s, and almost all of them did. They were a force to be reckoned with, just as fortunate in the ring as they were unfortunate outside of it. All of this starts with Fritz (real name Jack Barton Adkisson Sr.) as he’s greeted by his wife and two young sons outside the wrestling arena he just performed at. He tells his kids that nothing will ever stop them if they are fully dedicated to their craft, and tells his wife that winning the world championship will solve everything for them. It’s immediately clear that this will never be the case, as winning the belt won’t quench his undeniable thirst for more, and never getting it will send him into a downward spiral of self-destruction. But everyone believes what he says, especially Kevin (Zac Efron), who sees himself as the family’s best opportunity to rise to the top of wrestling history. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KVsaoveTbw But while Fritz is all pent-up rage and overt masculinity, Kevin and his brothers are more open and caring thanks to their ability to lean on each other. Efron, Jeremy Allen White (Kerry), Harris Dickinson (David), and Stanley Simons (Mike) produce one of the best ensembles of the year. Even though their dad openly admits which sons are his favorite and always expects them to compete for his favor, the brothers are always there to lend a hand and play off each other. Efron is a golden god, an almost dead ringer for Alexander the Great as he struts around the ring with his perfectly bronzed muscles and bleach-blonde hair. Dickinson is the more outgoing brother, the one who serves as the mouthpiece during the more theatrical moments of the bouts. White is probably the most athletically gifted of the group, while Simons’ brother is the least qualified and interested in the ring. Writer/director Sean Durkin finds both the light and (incredible) darkness in this tale of an American dynasty. Any semblances of happiness have been a foreign concept to Durkin throughout his first two features, Martha Marcy May Marlene and The Nest . Even a scene such as the wedding between Kevin and Pam (Lily James) is tinged with the haunting seeds of what’s to come. And once the gates open, there’s no stopping the floodwaters. The guide to this story is Kevin, as he often unfairly finds himself sidelined by his brother’s successes, and has to endure the unimaginable pain of seeing them go away one by one. But that isn't to say this story is solely a one-way trip of depression. There are intermittent stops to bask in the glory of this era for wrestling. Cinematographer Mátyás Erdély keeps things tight and unbroken as he and Durkin show off the physicality needed by these gladiators. It might all be for show, but nothing about what is required is fake, with intermittent moments of unbearable pain and agony. Almost everyone knows that achieving your dreams isn’t just based on being the toughest, fastest, or strongest. There is such a thing as luck, or a curse in the case of the Von Erichs. Fritz was blind to that fact, which Durkin taps to uncover this tragic story of nature and nurture. At the end of the day, the Von Erich name has been etched in the history books, but not fully the way they intended. A24 will release The Iron Claw in theaters nationwide on December 22nd. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Get Out September 21, 2017 By: Button Hunter Friesen By creating Get Out , director Jordan Peele has created the perfect recipe for a great sleeper hit for moviegoers tired of the usual January to February duds. Start with a great psychological horror thriller, add a little bit of comedy, a dash of social commentary, and top it off with a healthy amount of gore. Then combine this perfect recipe with a breakout lead performance from Daniel Kaluuya as Chris and a hilarious supporting performance by Lil Rel Howery as Chris’s best friend. Peele gives the world its first glimpse of his immense skill as a director. He guides the audience through a film that keeps you guessing after every twist and turn. The story of Get Out starts familiar enough for everybody who has been in a serious relationship. Chris and Rose (Allison Williams) have been together for six months and are going away for the weekend to meet Rose’s parents. Chris is cautious about the idea of going since he is black and Rose is white, but she doesn’t see it as a big deal. Eventually, Chris gets the idea that something about the family and house is not right. From here, the story starts to speed up, taking twists and turns to keep the audience guessing as to what is really going on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRfnevzM9kQ This is the part that Peele, also the writer, handles the best. He makes a new psychological horror film where you don’t know how it will end until it does. There is also the bonus of raunchy comedy mixed throughout, most of which comes from Howery’s character, who is almost too proud of his job as a TSA agent. Peele’s experience as a comedy writer/actor on his hit partner sketch show Key and Peele allows him to handle the horror comedy element with ease. Every scare is effective, and every humorous moment is truly funny, and both make the film even more enjoyable Peele describes this movie as a “social horror,” and you can tell why he describes it that way. The whole way through the film, every confrontational or shocking moment is connected to racial differences between Chris and his hosts. When I heard this, I was skeptical of how that element would fit in with horror and comedy. Luckily for me and the audience, the moments that send a message are like small jabs to make you think and aren’t ham-fisted at you the entire time. And what is a horror movie without some gore to make the squeamish look away for a couple of seconds? The film holds back with extreme violence until the end and then lets it all loose with a fifteen-minute sequence that delivers on everything and more that the audience was expecting throughout the beginning and middle build-up phases. Driving this movie along just as well as the writing and directing is the terrific lead performance of Kaluuya as Chris. We’ve seen a small dose of his talent in a supporting role in the critically acclaimed 2015 film Sicario . In his first leading role, he is required to play all types of emotions and tackles each one with the skill of a veteran actor who has been working for decades. The camera is pressed up right next to him several times throughout the film, allowing the audience to see every detail and emotion. By doing this flawlessly, we are immediately connected to Chris as a character because we are going through this experience just as blind as he is. We are just as confused and uneasy about the situation, and hope he gets out of this safely. For every horror protagonist in need of help, there is a best friend on the outside who will stop at nothing to see them safe again. Lil Rel Howery as Chris’s best friend Rod will definitely go down as one of the best supporting performances of the year. He is the only character carrying the comedy element of the film, but he doesn’t need any help since he steals practically every scene. At the end of it all, Jordan Peele, as the director of his own brainchild, is the primary reason this movie works so well. He puts a lot of confidence in his cast, positioning the camera for multiple close-ups during the most important scenes, the biggest example would be the poster shot of Chris with tears down his face. Peele also infuses symbolism into multiple shots through the movement of the camera and the colors being presented, giving slight hints to the audience. Finally, he allows the film to flow together well and not feel disjointed between the multiple boxes this movie tries to check. The comedy and horror remain interluded the entire time, which raises the quality of each by playing off the other. Get Out is one of the best and most important films of the year, which can both entertain and teach us about present-day issues. It should be on everyone’s radar. By the end of the year, I expect to see it on many critics' and fans' lists as the most entertaining and liked film of 2017. Universal Pictures will release Get Out in theaters nationwide on February 24th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Immaculate March 27, 2024 By: Button Tyler Banark In recent years, Hollywood has found a knack for releasing random religion-themed horror films that either get overlooked or flop altogether. This was evidenced when I saw Neon’s latest fright fest, Immaculate , and got a trailer for the upcoming 20th Century Studios horror film The First Omen . Director Michael Mohan and screenwriter Andrew Lobel craft a twist on the Rosemary’s Baby narrative with one of the hottest actresses working today, Sydney Sweeney. The movie looked like an intense, bloody horror show from the trailers. Ultimately, it’s a boring film that restrains itself from being the scariest thing to come out of 2024. After her parish shuts down in her hometown, American nun Cecilia (Sweeney) is assigned to a convent in rural Italy. As she settles in, she miraculously becomes pregnant and is proclaimed the next Virgin Mary. However, the more her pregnancy progresses, the more Cecilia learns of the convent’s darkest secrets. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewxS9Z-XXYo Although the synopsis seems too familiar, Immaculate initially appears to have the intention of breaking that formulaic mold through some solid cinematography and the casting of such a modern-day actress in Sweeney. But between Will Bates’ stock score and repetitious cycle of loud jumps scares and gotchas, this just feels like another entry in the already watered-down The Nun franchise. Sweeney is on a fascinating streak right now as Immaculate comes nearly one month after the disastrous Madame Web , which in turn came out a month and a half after the box office hit Anyone But You . Both of those opposites (as well as this project, which she produced) came after years of her presence on HBO with Sharp Objects , The White Lotus , and the controversial drama Euphoria . Her performance here might not break any new ground, but it does check off the box of being a solo leading lady who can sell a project on a concept and her acting abilities. She has a scream near the end where she’s caked in blood that echoes the signature outbursts from Janet Leigh in Psycho and Jenna Ortega in X . Aside from Sweeney, the cast isn’t very noteworthy, with everyone playing cookie-cutter horror characters. You’ve got the strict mother superior nun, the freaky priest who tries to defuse the situation but doesn’t help, the rebellious friend, and the one nun who thinks she’s better than everyone else. The only one that comes close to breaking out is Benedetta Porcaroli as Sister Gwen, the rebellious nun. When she and Cecilia are talking to each other and making humor out of whatever they’re doing, it’s cute, but it feels forced. If Immaculate is going to accomplish anything, it’s likely just that it’s a horror movie starring Sydney Sweeney and nothing else. There’s a moment where the nuns have a ceremony for Cecilia after the word of her pregnancy gets out. Cecilia is dressed in a lavish blue and yellow dress with a gold crown and see-through veil, metaphorically spotlighting her as the Virgin Mary. Everyone else is smiling and bowing their heads to her, reflecting how numerous viewers see Sweeney today. Then, in an instance, there’s a close-up of Cecilia shedding a tear, a callback to a certain shot of Sweeney in the second season of Euphoria . Are we as a society beginning to worship her as royalty this fast in her short career? Only time will tell, but I can guarantee people won’t look back at Immaculate as the primary reason for her ascendency. Neon will release Immaculate in theaters nationwide on March 22nd. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Bob Marley: One Love February 13, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen So formulaic that it might as well be taught in math class, Bob Marley: One Love is just another entry in a long line of music biopics that merely exist to pump up the brand image of its icon. It’s what the haters of Maestro thought they were watching, all of them unable to perceive the amount of soul poured into that story by an artist working at the height of his powers. One Love takes away the brush and replaces it with the creaky gears of a machine whose only purpose is to deliver the most palatable retelling possible, as if coloring outside the lines would combust the film stock it was printed on. The conventional postscript text isn’t enough from a screenplay credited to four writers (Terence Winter, Frank E. Flower, Zach Baylin, and director Reinaldo Marcus Green), as a copious amount of prescript set the stage for the political landscape of 1970s Jamaica. The Caribbean island nation is in a state of turmoil, with the threat of violence forcing everyone to look over their shoulder. Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) positions himself at the center of this conflict by staging a peace concert. Before he can sing a note, an assassination attempt results in him and his wife Rita (Lashana Lynch) being hit by a bullet. Despite his carefree attitude and unwillingness to accept defeat, Marley realizes this stroke of death is a sign that cannot be ignored. He jets off to England to record his next album, “Exodus,” which will become one of the most successful ever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajw425Kuvtw Green has a “look but don't touch” attitude towards the events of this three-year framework. Almost everything of note is visited but never explored in an interesting way. No amount of ambiguity or complexity is created, with Marley being an almost mystical Christ-like figure floating through a world of pain. He says that “you can’t separate the message from the music,” but his message never seems to be more than just a simple blanket statement for peace. Characters only speak in plotlines, all of them entirely forgettable save for the two leads. In a commendable move, almost all of the dialogue is delivered through authentic Jamaican accents. It may put more strain on the viewer to grasp each word, but it lends the extra ounces of credibility this product sorely needed. Ben-Adir and Lynch disappear into their roles, extending their acting chops beyond just simple mimicry. Their performances are hints of why Paramount was allegedly planning for an awards-qualifying release before punting into the doldrums of February. But those performances are all for naught once the music starts going. The concert scenes are obviously lip-synced, each one more rigid than the last. Cinematographer Robert Elswit struggles to create the illusion of thousands of screaming fans, nor do he and Green capture the uniqueness of reggae. A few flashbacks are splashed throughout to help explain Marley’s fascination with the music and Rastafarianism, but they end up being cheap crutches that only elongate the “feels one hour longer than it is” 104-minute runtime. You need to ask yourself two questions after you’ve watched a biopic. Could I have gotten the same information just by reading the Wikipedia page? A “no” is the ideal answer, but a “yes” isn’t cause for automatic failure. If this is just a Wikipedia entry, was the presentation of the information at least entertaining? One Love is a capital Y-E-S and N-O to those questions, respectively, which begs the question of what was the point of any of this. Millions of dollars and years of work amounted to less than what I could get for free in just a couple of minutes. Paramount Pictures will release Bob Marley: One Love in theaters nationwide on February 14th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Novocaine March 8, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Whether we like it or not (“masochist” is the word of the day), pain serves an essential purpose in our lives. Those unpleasant pangs are a survival mechanism our bodies use to keep us away from all the harmful things the world throws at us. Everyone can remember the first time they placed their hand on the stove as a kid, and those feelings ensured we never did it again. But what if pain didn’t exist? At first, we’d all jump at the chance to feel like Superman, taking all those horrible things that used to hurt us in stride. However, one only has to gaze over at David Cronenberg’s 2022 film Crimes of the Future to know that a world without pain is one without guardrails. In Cronenberg’s dystopian tale, people openly perform surgery on themselves, splice organs for art, and attempt to morph themselves into a new level of evolution. It’s nearly impossible for anyone to know when they’ve gone too far when all the warnings have been shut off. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PyOIlJEdqA In Novocaine , Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid) has CIPA (Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis), a rare genetic disorder where he is incapable of feeling pain or temperature. He lives his mild-mannered life as a bank manager with the utmost safety. Tennis balls are on every corner he could bump into, and all of his digestive needs are met through smoothies, as solid foods could lead him to bite his tongue off. It’s these early moments where Lars Jacobson’s script illustrates that it has more on its mind than just the silly antics that the trailers solely focused on. Studies have shown that most people with CIPA don’t live past thirty, and their quality of life is quite poor on account of the increased anxiety that they endure. It can lead a person to become a hermit, shielding themselves from everything in an attempt to see another day. Like any twentysomething guy who spends almost all of his free time playing video games, the thing that gets him to come out of his shell is a girl. Sherry (Amber Midthunder) is one of the tellers at the bank Nathan works at, and she takes an interest in his awkward personality and odd case. But just as things are about to get serious between the pair, the bank is robbed, and Sherry is taken hostage. Fearing that he’s going to lose the one good thing that’s ever happened to him in his miserable life, Nathan becomes a vigilante, using his condition for his own benefit. From this point, all those injuries that Nathan’s spent his whole life avoiding become the punch-line to the wall-to-wall set pieces. While Cronenberg made a body horror feature, the directing duo Dan Berk and Robert Olsen have made a body comedy feature. At one point during a brawl in a kitchen with one of the robbers, a gun falls into a deep fryer. Sensing that he’s got no other option, Nathan plunges his hand into the oil and grabs the gun. He later gets impaled with a crossbow bolt, which is treated more as a minor annoyance than a serious injury. These gags are all well executed, even if they become entirely repetitive the more we progress through the story. Quaid is a capable lead, recently being promoted from television and supporting roles. His comedic sense makes up for a lot of the dead weight his costars pack on, which includes punchable crooks, Jacob Batalon in his signature role as the best friend to the hero, and cops that are getting too old for this shit. This probably could have been a streaming movie, but then you’d be robbed of all the communal laughing and squirming to all the mishaps, which is worth just enough to cover the admission price. Paramount Pictures will release Novocaine in theaters nationwide on March 14th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

TIFF25 Dispatch - Cannes Catchup September 15, 2025 By: Button Tyler Banark While the 2025 Cannes Film Festival showcased numerous films, many of them were unavailable to be seen within the three days I was allotted. Luckily, Toronto catches on to the titles that made the most waves (interpret that however you may like). While I caught big titles like Sound of Falling , Sentimental Value , Eddington , and The Phoenician Scheme , this year’s heaviest hitters were found in films such as Sirât , The Secret Agent , and the Palme d’Or-winning It Was Just an Accident . Luck is on my side, as the latter titles came to TIFF, so I spent my first day playing catch-up with the films I missed. Sirat Starting as a slow burn and ending as a twisted mind game that'll have you on the edge of your seat, Sirât is one of the most shocking movies of the year and makes its case as to why it was one of the two recipients for the Jury Prize. Óliver Laxe crafts a shocking film that is sure to haunt viewers long after finishing it. Initially, we see crowds of people gathering in a desert to rave. In the midst of it are Luis and his son Esteban, who are looking for their missing daughter/sister, whom they believe is at the rave. They tag along with a group of ravegoers who help them find her. Laxe will have you believe the movie is a grim road trip. However, a flip switches at a certain death, and from then on, Sirât upsets an established order, and everything becomes chaos. As Luis and the crew navigate the Moroccan desert, it becomes a battle of man versus the elements. Nothing will prepare audiences for what’s to come in Sirât . Once it gets to the halfway point, it’s all-out mayhem! (4/5) The Secret Agent Wagner Moura has become a rising name in the South American side of the industry. Better known for voicing the Wolf/Death in 2022’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and playing Joel in last year’s Civil War , his hot streak looks to continue. In May, he won Best Actor at Cannes for his performance in the Brazilian thriller The Secret Agent , a film with a jumbled narrative and an imbalanced quality-to-quantity ratio. It ’s very stylistic, as director Kleber Mendonça Filho doesn’t shy away from making the movie more visually entertaining than substance-driven. The pacing is excruciating as the 2.5-hour runtime doesn't justify its being, and a certain plot point doesn't help the movie get a leg up (if you know, you know). Moura truly is the beating heart, and it feels like he had too much weight to carry for this movie. The Secret Agent could’ve been something brilliant, but unfortunately, it’s muddled and goes out without much fanfare. (2.5/5) It Was Just an Accident This year’s recipient of the Palme d'Or, It Was Just an Accident, was a well-executed Iranian dark comedy. Far from what I was expecting it to be, the movie was a great time, even if the script's intentions were often questionable. Jafar Panahi’s film explores the fine line between justice and revenge. We see Vahid Mobasseri’s Vahid kidnap a man who tortured him for years. As he recruits a photographer, her friend, and a newlywed couple, they face a dilemma that’s bigger than all of them. They all know the man Vahid holds prisoner, but they disagree over how to proceed. To make matters worse, the man has a pregnant wife and daughter who fend for themselves. Panahi’s script raises pertinent questions about the limits of seeking justice and revenge. Is there a right or wrong way to get justice? At what point does getting justice become vengeance? These are all the questions Panahi poses as the plot unfolds. While his intentions are unclear, as if he’s trying to educate, inform, or persuade audiences with this story, Panahi knows when to get serious and sprinkle comedy. The humor is rightfully dark, but it fits the overall tone and objective he’s looking to obtain. At the end of the day, It Was Just an Accident makes it evident that its praise was…to simply put it, no accident. (3.5/5) You can follow Tyler and hear more of his thoughts on Twitter , Instagram , and Letterboxd . More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

You Hurt My Feelings May 24, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen After brief stops in television (directing episodes for Mrs. Fletcher , Extrapolations , and Lucky Hank ) and the Middle Ages (penning the “The Truth according to Marguerite de Carrouges” portion of The Last Duel ), writer/director Nicole Holofcener returns to her New York roots for You Hurt My Feelings , now bowing in theaters after premiering at this past January’s Sundance Film Festival. The older we get, the more we come to realize that the childhood saying “honesty is the best policy” is not the unbreakable rule that we were led to believe. Sure, you should strive to be honest with people, especially those you care about the most. But the real world never invites simplicity, so we have to bend the truth a little to get by with as little damage as possible. What’s the worst that could happen anyway? The obviously clichéd answer to that question is that a lot of catastrophic events would happen, either physically or emotionally (see Dancer in the Dark or The Hunt ). But in all her deftness, Holofcener doesn’t reach for fire and brimstone. Instead, she puts a magnifying glass on a couple that has built a strong foundation, mining relevant truths out of their small-scale situation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20GWk5cWPBs The specimens are Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Don (Tobias Menzies). Beth is a semi-successful writer who is putting the finishing touches on her new mystery fiction novel, which acts as a slight departure from her usual non-fiction work. Don is a therapist who seems to have lost his edge. He looks and sounds so tired that even the endlessly squabbling couple that he regularly sees (real-life partners David Cross and Amber Tamblyn) takes pity on him. Beth has been using Don as a writing resource these past few months, and he’s had nothing but praise for her work. That is, until the nuclear bomb goes off (metaphorically, of course). Beth and her sister Sarah (Michaela Watkins) stumble upon Don and Sarah’s husband Mark at a specialized sock store (this is New York after all). They decide to sneak up on the men, but they end up getting more than they bargained for as they overhear Don telling Mark that he doesn’t think Beth’s new novel is good. He doesn’t have the heart to tell her, but he also feels the strain of letting her on with constant false encouragement. Don’s admittance puts in doubt everything else he’s said over the years, as well as Beth’s belief in her skills as an author. But it’s not like Beth is a total victim here, as the shoe is often on the other foot. She’s always saying how her son’s upcoming work will be great, and that cosmetic surgery is a good idea for Don. Holofcener could have taken the Green Book approach to her story, filling it with well-worn and clearly structured beats and ideas. But she’s smarter than that, as both she and we know this isn’t some problem that can ever really be solved. Most of us have to come to realize that a lot of our lives are comprised of filler words and feelings, with only a few times where we share our honest selves with others. And if that truth hurts, then sometimes it’s best to just keep the peace. Louis-Dreyfus and Menzies have great chemistry together. Their calmness with each other sells their long-standing marriage, as well as pushing past some of the overly simplified final few scenes. While clearly not alike in terms of style, You Hurt My Feelings reminded me of Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster from 2016. Both movies take a stab at the long-standing battle between love and honesty without getting bogged down by solutions we’ve been fed all our lives. They also provide excellent counter-programming during the summer, acting as a refreshing cool down from the noise and explosions in the other rooms. A24 will release You Hurt My Feelings in select theaters on May 26th. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen