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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

Fly Me to the Moon July 10, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen The spirit of Rob Reiner lives gloriously within Fly Me to the Moon , a winning combination of heart and humor aimed squarely at adults. Of course, Reiner is still alive and kicking out films pretty regularly, but the quality has dipped so dramatically that you’d be hard-pressed to know they even exist. I might be the only person in the world who holds the distinction of seeing LBJ and Shock and Awe in a theater, both times having the room all to myself. Director Greg Berlanti and screenwriter Rose Gilroy are here to pick up the slack, emulating the kind of energy Reiner and Aaron Sorkin produced so delightfully in The American President . The only unconvincing thing about Scarlett Johansson’s performance is her wig, which often carries the same spoofy look as Kristen Wiig’s Target Lady. But selling stuff that’s unconvincing is her job, with the first time we meet her character, Kelly is at a Mad Men -esque advertising meeting where she sports a fake baby bump and correctly “guesses” (she bribed their secretaries) which cars each of the men drives. This is Johansson firmly in true movie star mode, her first time doing so away from the character of Black Widow in over a decade. It’s a lot of fun to see her be the brightest and most confident person in the room, often finishing the sentences of Cole Davis (Channing Tatum) as he races to keep up with her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW7enw6mFxs Despite working for America’s preeminent government agency, Cole finds himself in the same position as any director of a nonprofit: underfunded, understaffed, and facing the pressure of the political machine. Public interest in space exploration has crashed back down to Earth after several failed attempts, the most notable being the death of three astronauts from Apollo 1. It also doesn’t help that Vietnam is still raging on, and social upheaval is commanding the streets. Here to put a positive spin on everything is Kelly, who includes ad tie-ins and “punched up” biographies for all those involved. That thin line between lying and selling is what bothers Cole, who has made it his life's work to pull off the hardest task in the history of mankind with both the honor and integrity he believes America has. Things really come to a head when the government deems the Apollo 11 moon landing mission to be too big to fail, which means a contingency plan has to be put in place in the form of a fake recording. Berlanti and Gilroy have fun with the conspiracy-laden idea of the moon landing being faked, including a few jokes about Stanley Kubrick, who’s referred to as an overblown wunderkind who’s only made one good movie. Jim Rash gets more than a few moments to shine as a brash commercial director who’s more than happy to put in the powerful position of faking one of America’s finest moments. Berlanti and Gilroy don’t put too much stock into the ideological tension between Kelly and Cole. There are debates here and there about how Cole is doing this for idealism, and Kelly is mucking it up by treating this like the Thanksgiving Day parade, all while those marketing dollars keep the lights on. What’s more important is the chemistry that Johansson and Tatum have at all times, which is never less than effortlessly charming. The translation into this time period might have been aided by the pair’s appearance in Coen’s Hollywood Golden Age comedy Hail, Caesar! a few years back, although I’m pretty sure they didn’t share any substantial scenes. The horrendous poster and limited marketing would give you the impression that this is some straight-to-streaming cash grab, but real money has been spent on this production. There’s a ‘60s Jetsons sheen to everything, including a giddy Oliver Stone-inspired opening montage about America’s history with space up to this moment. The sets and costumes are light and airy, and so is Daniel Pemberton’s score. Cinematographer Darius Wolski, often seen helming Ridley Scott films, even gets to mimic the famous vacuum of space shot from First Man , only this time more comedically. Fly Me to the Moon is about people and a process, both of which serve as the main attractions. If there were a “They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To” category at the Academy Awards, this would be a strong contender to win. Now I hope people show up so we can start making more of these again. Apple Original Films will release Fly Me to the Moon in theaters nationwide on July 12th. 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 Fabelmans September 10, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen From the opening scene of his most personal film yet (that’s quite the statement), Steven Spielberg lays all his cards on the table. Done in a single take, we find the young Spielberg stand-in (named Sammy Fabelman) scared to see his first movie: Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth . His father pulls him aside and attempts to explain the entire machination process of how films are projected onto the screen. This tactic doesn’t go over well, so Sammy’s mother takes him to the other side and simply explains that “movies are dreams that you never forget.” In the end, the mother wins out, with Sammy’s reaction to the film being a combination of unexplainable terror and wonder. Through this scene, we get a thesis statement on Spielberg’s approach to filmmaking. He’s a born storyteller, pouring his mother’s heart into every frame. And he’s also a master craftsman, leaning on his father’s engineering mindset to construct fantastic sequences that defy belief. The more The Fabelmans tell its story, the clearer that thesis becomes. We learn how one man could be attracted to making movies about a killer shark, a world-traveling archeologist, friendly and unfriendly aliens, the Holocaust, American presidents, World War II, and even modern-day dinosaurs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1G2iLSzOe8 Seeing The Greatest Show on Earth , specifically the train crash scene, spurs something in Sammy. He feels compelled to recreate the memory with his own camera and train set, which he does to his mother’s amazement. A passion is quickly born, one that often gets caught in the crossfire of the distraughtness of the Fabelman family over the subsequent years. Just as he’s done with every genre (except for Westerns, which he claims to be interested in doing for his next project), Spielberg conquers the recent trend of directors making their autobiography about how they fell in love with cinema. You can feel the pure joy Spielberg has in recreating his early 8mm films. Janusz Kaminski’s exquisite Capra-esque lighting and Michael Kahn’s (who's been with Spielberg since Close Encounters of the Third Kind ) editing provide that extra needed touch to every moment. And John Williams’ uncharacteristically sneaky score always finds its way into your heart. Of course, being a Steven Spielberg film means that The Fabelmans contains an overabundance of emotion. But fret not, all of you that are allergic to the Spielbergian touch, because here it’s used to tell a much more layered story. With the help of his Munich and Lincoln screenwriter, Tony Kushner, Spielberg also shines a retrospective light on his parents’ marriage, something he never understood as a child. Michelle Williams and Paul Dano both do wonderful work as Mitzi and Burt, respectively. It’s easy to see how these opposites were attracted to each other, and how that opposition eventually won out in the form of divorce. Newcomer Gabriel LaBelle plays the part of Sammy for the majority of the film. Hopefully, his great performance here will be the first of many to come. Two other performances of note are Seth Rogen as the unofficial Uncle Benny and Judd Hirsch as Sammy’s maternal great-uncle. Both urge Sammy to continue his moviemaking passion in their own way, with Hirsch stealing the show in the two scenes he has. The Fabelmans is a collection of Spielberg's greatest hits, all delivered to their greatest effect. There’s laughter, tears, and wonder in this story that is much more than the sum of its parts. If Spielberg climbs the Dolby Theatre steps to collect his third Best Director Oscar, then it will be one of the few long-overdue wins that came at the right time for the right project. This review was originally published from the world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Universal Pictures will release The Fabelmans in select theaters on November 11th, followed by a nationwide expansion on November 23rd. 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 Father April 1, 2021 By: Button Hunter Friesen Move over Suspiria, The Conjuring , and Hereditary , there’s a new film that has claimed the title as the scariest movie of the past decade. But it’s not demons, witches, or serial killers that make this new movie scary. It’s something that has affected our loved ones and may affect us in the future: dementia. The Father is a triumphant directorial debut by Florian Zeller, who puts us within the deteriorating mental state of our main character, Anthony. We experience his confusion as if it were our own. But the film also takes on the perspective of the caretakers who are left helpless as they try to aid Anthony in making sense of a world he cannot recognize anymore. Zeller’s play, The Father , debuted in Paris in 2012 to rapturous reviews. Its success spurred an acclaimed Broadway run with Frank Langella winning a Tony award for his performance. Now Zeller, with the help of esteemed screenwriter Christopher Hampton, has taken his stage play to the screen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TZb7YfK-JI At the center of the film, playing the character of Anthony is veteran actor Anthony Hopkins (Zeller was so adamant about getting Hopkins for the role that he renamed the character specifically for him). With a nearly sixty-year career in the rearview, including notable roles as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs and Richard Nixon in Oliver Stone’s aptly named Nixon , Hopkins’ performance here may be his very best. He is charismatic, fierce, and vulnerable, sometimes all at the same time. If not for Chadwick Boseman’s untimely death and larger-than-life performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom , Hopkins would be the undisputed favorite to win his second Oscar this year. The world we see is through Anthony’s eyes. Initially, his world is quiet and still, often filled with days listening to classical music in his luxurious London flat and taking walks in the nearby park. But after a while, things slowly start to come apart. He’s displacing items more regularly, days are getting harder to separate, and conversational details are getting lost in the shuffle. One day, his daughter, Anne (Olivia Colman), tells him she’s leaving London to go live in Paris with her new significant other. Feeling he’s being abandoned, Anthony is hurt by his daughter’s decision. But the next morning, Anne is still in his flat and has no recollection of Paris. Maybe that conversation happened a long time ago or never happened at all. Maybe this isn’t Anthony’s flat—maybe it’s Anne’s, and she’s taken him in to stay with her. Maybe she has a husband here named James (or is it Paul?), and she’s now being played by a different actress than before. Like a Charlie Kaufman or Christopher Nolan film, Zeller plays with time and setting to tell his story. Conversations are repeated several times over from different perspectives, adding another level to the complex task of discerning what fact is and what is fiction. Anthony’s physical surroundings seem to be rearranging at impossible speeds, and the chronology of events is becoming increasingly muddled. Production designer Peter Francis and editor Yorgos Lamprinos deserve immense credit for their work here, as their craftsmanship helps tell a complicated story. The confusion and frustration that Anthony feels are equally placed onto us, as we are never sure what is happening and in what order it is happening in. It’s like watching a balloon being inflated and waiting for it to pop, yet it never does as your anxiety keeps building. It's a terrifying and heartbreaking process to watch as Anthony’s mood begins to darken. He never knows what is going to come next and what has just happened. He’s left in a perpetual state of fright and feels that everyone is out to get him. But those around him are equally as confused and scared as he is. Anne doesn’t know what to do with her father and is fighting a losing battle to keep an optimistic look at things. Colman, a recent Oscar winner for her role in The Favourite , acts somewhat as our guide through this mess. Imogen Poots, Olivia Williams, Mark Gatiss, and Rufus Sewell all play well-cast supporting roles. Like Schindler’s List and Requiem for a Dream , The Father is a superb film that you will only want to watch once. Its subject matter may hit too close to home for some viewers or be an introduction for others. No matter your familiarity, the film’s take on dementia and the toll it places on everyone involved is so incredibly well done that it demands to be seen. Sony Pictures Classics will release The Father in select theaters on February 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

Murder Mystery 2 March 31, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen When I’m watching a new movie, I always bring a small notebook and jot down observations and things I want to mention in my final written review. Usually, I fill up about a page or two with bullet points, most of them almost illegible due to me having to write them in the dark while still trying to look at the screen so as not to miss anything potentially important. But for Murder Mystery 2 , now available on Netflix, I wrote only two lines: “Happy Madison logo usually signals a movie being cheap and artificial” and “bad jet ski greenscreen.” Both of those observations were made within the first five minutes, and neither of them required much critical thinking on my part. For the next eighty minutes, I just sat in my chair and watched the movie with as much attentiveness as a student during the last class before Spring Break. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM2F56uK0fs There were definitely things that happened in the movie: people got killed, Sandler and Aniston did their usual married couple banter, and the mystery was resolved through some sort of twist ending. But for the life of me, I can’t recount anything else more specific than that. I was neither fully entertained nor bored, neither liking nor hating what I was watching, and probably was somewhere between asleep and awake during long stretches. That’s the Netflix national anthem at this point, with 90% of their content just being the air that fills the room, with the other 10% that is worth your time ( The Irishman , The Meyerowitz Stories, Private Life ) being suffocated into relative obscurity. This is also why, in an act of full transparency, the information provided in the screener email is doing most of the heavy lifting in this next paragraph that summarizes the setup for the main plot. Nick and Audrey Spitz are now full-time detectives after solving the case in the first movie (I’ll give $100 to anyone who can remember how that movie ended). They’re about as competent as you would think, which is why they gleefully accept an invitation from The Maharajah (also from the first movie) to his wedding on a luxurious island. But the circumstances that seem too good to be true turn out to be exactly that, as the couple finds themselves framed for murder. They must now clear their name once again and unveil the real killer (or killers). I feel like I’m not properly doing my job as a critic by keeping this review so brief, but there’s really not much else to say. If you’re the type of person who wants to watch something like this, then you’re not likely to be stopped by a bad review. And if you’re someone who isn’t immediately clamoring to see this, then there won’t be any good reviews to convince you otherwise. It doesn’t matter which bucket you fall into, as no one is going to be thinking about (let alone talking about) this movie by Monday. Netflix will release Murder Mystery 2 on its streaming service on March 31st. 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

Friendship September 14, 2024 By: Button Tyler Banark Cringe comedy has become a new form that’s slowly been on the rise recently. The situations we see characters get themselves in and how awkwardly they handle them is an odd way to make audiences laugh. Whether it’s watching a guy go on a dating show only for the house’s zipline or seeing someone make obscene comments during a late-night haunted house tour, SNL alum Tim Robinson has found numerous approaches to making us squirm. He’s been behind the rise of this comedic style via his Netflix variety series, I Think You Should Leave . His newest film, Friendship, breathes life into his technique and offers substance to his otherwise dry comedy palette. Making an out-of-place addition to this year’s Midnight Madness lineup at the Toronto International Film Festival, Friendship also boasts one of the most irresistible men in Hollywood, Paul Rudd. He and his neighbors, who find themselves in camaraderie and playing mind games with each other in a plot format Robinson knows all too well. When Austin (Rudd) starts ghosting Craig (Robinson) to hang out with his usual friends, Craig goes to great lengths to fix their relationship, even if it involves him getting into inappropriate positions. Some of the incidents we see Austin and Craig get into often involve troubling circumstances (trespassing, assault). Still, it’s not until they start spending time away from each other that things escalate. Rudd and Robinson play off each other well when these events happen in the movie, and their comedic styles blend surprisingly well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmSPwZIZu6Y Two factors go into making cringe comedy: the writing and delivery. While this may sound like a no-brainer for a comedy, let alone any movie, it’s vital to this specific style. Some of his line deliveries play a part in it, as some can be dumb, but he manages to make it work. There’s a moment where Craig’s trying to intimidate Austin’s friends and says they shouldn’t mess with him because he recently bought a van. This threat shouldn’t work, yet Robinson makes it, and the response is uproarious laughter. Rudd helps him out sometimes, mainly just as a setup to a punchline. The best instance is when the two are exploring a sewer and trying to climb over a wall. Rudd clears the wall, but Robinson struggles, and seeing him struggle is where the joke lands. On one occasion, Rudd does make the joke himself, and it’s when he and his friend group start singing My Boo by Ghost Town DJs. It might simply pose as a random needle drop, but if the boot fits, wear it. Occasionally in Friendship , there is the zany humor that writer-director Andrew DeYoung’s script samples. Craig has a wife, Tami, and son Steven, played by Kate Mara and Jack Dylan Grazer, respectively. There’s a moment in the opening minutes where the three have an interaction with each other that’s met with many laughs, and the three actors do an excellent job of executing it. Grazer and Robinson have more experience in comedy than Mara, but she still helps out in the moment as the joke catches audiences by surprise. On the contrary, some of the humor outside of the cringeworthy jokes isn’t as outstanding. The movie often showcases moments of Craig experiencing a psychedelic trip and tries to get a laugh out of audiences through those moments. If this movie had come out in the 90s, these choices likely would’ve been seen as genius, but unfortunately, they do not, and drag Friendship down. With Friendship , Robinson makes his film debut as a leading man and brings his comedic chops to the forefront. While it translates better on the big screen than as a streaming show, there’s still the looming factor that cringe comedy won’t be for everyone. Regardless, Friendship sees Robinson make a big leap in his career and has an excellent team to work with on it. It might get some viewers to explore more of Robinson and make I Think You Should Leave an even bigger show, but viewers who weren’t too amused by this won’t have their lives changed. As long as viewers are hooting and hollering, it works. This review was originally published from the world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. A24 will release Friendship in select theaters on May 09th. 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

Dear Evan Hansen September 23, 2021 By: Button Hunter Friesen Besides the expected superhero films, the genre that seems to be all the rage in 2021 is musicals. This year sees several different variations of the movie musical, featuring original concepts ( Annette ), musical variations of classic tales (Amazon’s Cinderella ), Broadway adaptations (Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights , and Miranda’s directorial debut Tick, Tick… Boom! ), and even remakes of Broadway adaptations (Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story ). Slotting right in with the rest of the Broadway pack is the film adaptation of the modern stage musical sensation: Dear Evan Hansen . Riddled with social anxiety, depression, and a cast on his left arm, Evan Hansen is a teenager who can never seem to fit in. He writes letters to himself for motivation, in which one haphazardly falls into the hands of the troubled Connor Murphy, who takes his own life shortly after. The Murphys believe the letter to be Connor’s suicide note, with Evan being his best friend. Rather than admit the truth that Connor was his bully, Evan goes along with this opportunity, netting him a newfound sense of popularity and affection from those who never once passed him a glance. He also becomes an unofficial member of the Murphy family, with the parents taking him under their wing and their daughter, Zoe, developing a relationship with him. But like all charades, the lie begins to spin out of control, tangling Evan and those he cares about in a web of deceit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_c_Jd-hP-s Tasked with bringing the stage play to cinematic life is director Stephen Chbosky, who recently had success with Wonder , about a boy with facial disfigurement, and the soon-to-be cult classic/greatest movie ever, according to Tumblr, The Perks of Being a Wallflower . Unlike the musicals mentioned in the beginning, Dear Evan Hansen doesn’t feature large group numbers on sweeping sets. Much of the action occurs in smaller, domestic locations, with the most exotic sets being a school gymnasium and a run-of-the-mill apple orchard. And even when a song features more than one performer, they hardly share the same location, such as “Requiem,” where the Murphys are crosscut and folded on top of each other. The film hangs its heart on the musical numbers, many of which have become anthems to a generation, especially “You Will Be Found,” which has become so iconic that it gets a special Sam Smith treatment during the credits, along with the familiar showstopping rendition that occurs at the midpoint. Schbosky shows middling prowess for the staging of these numbers, opting for the actors to sing live, filming them through extended takes and slower camera movements that accentuate the emotional pull of the material. That stillness also acts as a double-edged sword, as there is a distinct lack of energy that makes the 137-minute runtime feel a lot longer than it is. Ironically, the main problem that keeps this version of Dear Evan Hansen from being a sensation is not the cinematic qualities, but the story itself, which won Best Book of a Musical at the 2017 Tony Awards. The problem with the story is systemic, with Evan’s actions being steeped in selfishness. Screenwriter Steven Levenson tries too hard to have his cake and eat it too as he attempts to scorn Evan’s actions while also finding the silver lining with a poignant message about friendship and grief. The stage may have been able to cover this with its overpowering emotional tunes and acting, but the slowness of the film adaptation allows for that problem to fester until your sympathy for Evan has completely dried up, and you just want him to get caught. Fortunately, the actors aren’t too affected by the script’s problems. Reprising his famous role, Ben Platt proves once again that he was born to play Evan Hansen, despite his 27-year-old face and gangly body signaling that he should have stayed retired. Kaitlyn Dever, who broke out in 2019 with Booksmart , often steals the show as Zoe. Dever finds the right amount of vulnerability as her character deals with the death of a brother she never had much respect for. She and Platt make their relationship seem believable, despite the glaring age difference and underwritten romantic development. Misguided, but not without its merits, Dear Evan Hansen aims for the heart with pinpoint accuracy. There’s an emotional and sweet lesson buried under the creepy candy coating that is the central premise. Once that obstacle is overcome (which is a big task), then there are enough powerful songs to connect with those who sometimes feel alone. Universal Pictures will release Dear Evan Hansen in theaters nationwide on September 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

Mercy January 21, 2026 By: Button Hunter Friesen As a proud Minnesotan, Mercy really isn’t the right movie for the moment. Now entering its third week, the ongoing inhumane ICE raids throughout the Minneapolis area have ravaged the community, forcing citizens to fear those who have supposedly sworn to protect them. Minnesotans have always exemplified a strong communal spirit, so we will prevail. Within the opening scenes of Mercy , there are several moments where masked law enforcement officers arrest vaguely defined bad guys. These officers then make speeches about how they are doing what needs to be done to uphold the law. The country is at war with its morals, and the wrong side is winning. In fairness to Mercy , it was conceived, written, and produced years before today’s headlines, and it certainly had no intention (or courage) to make a statement. But this is also a movie that is not right for any moment, with little to warrant the amount of time and energy that went into its creation. January is always good for one movie that a studio would like to bury with as little fanfare as possible. Mercy is this year’s poster child, falling in line alongside such classics as Flight Risk , The 355 , Mortdecai , Dolittle , Serenity , and the bulk of the Underworld movies. We’ll at least always have my beloved The Beekeeper . Perhaps the only redeeming quality this film has is the presence of a 50-foot-tall Rebecca Ferguson, domineering over her chained-up prisoners. I’d imagine someone will get a kick out of that (not me, of course…). Her existence is a function of the Mercy Program, which has rapidly usurped the traditional legal system within Los Angeles County. Things such as rights and due process were clogging the judicial pipeline, so an artificial intelligence system was promoted to the simultaneous roles of judge, jury, and executioner. In this courtroom, you’re guilty until proven innocent, and you only have ninety minutes to overturn the verdict. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSS4yqd0x6o Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt) was an early proponent of this new system, arresting many of its initial convicts. Now the shoe is on the other foot, with him being locked in the steel chair. The system anthropomorphizes itself through Judge Maddox (Rebecca Reguson), whose sleek looks are matched by the coldness it displays towards humanity. Facts and logic trump emotions, which run hot as Chris stands trial for the alleged murder of his wife, Nicole. Within his allotted time, Chris is given full access to the municipal database, which pretty much lets him do whatever the plot needs of him. An authoritarian near-future sci-fi plot such as this shares several ideas with Philip K. Dick’s Minority Report , which imagines a world where supposedly incorruptible foreknowledge can be used to prevent a crime before it is even committed. Director Steven Spielberg and screenwriters Scott Frank and Jon Cohen brought thought-provoking nuance to this concept in the 2002 film adaptation starring Tom Cruise. Humans no longer trust themselves to be their own police, somehow thinking that a system built by them will be a better replacement. Freedom has been traded away in favor of alleged security. Mercy fully lacks any interest or ability to mingle with those ideals. Director Timur Bekmambetov and screenwriter Marco van Belle would rather disorient the viewer than engage with them. Legal jargon and plot revelations fly at an increasingly accelerated pace, all of it seemingly pulled out of thin air to service whatever needs to happen at this exact moment. And not to spoil the ending, but this film cowardly talks out of both sides of its mouth when it comes to artificial intelligence, government surveillance, and the increased militarization of the police. Bekmambetov was also a leading producer for last year’s Ice Cube-starring War of the Worlds , a cinematic calamity that will always be easy to laugh at. That film was produced during the COVID-19 pandemic, employing the “Screenlife” strategy to make it appear as if the film's events were unfolding on a computer monitor. Used more as a cost-cutting measure rather than a means to upend the cinematic grammar, this aesthetic wholly lacks any sense of cinematic integrity. War of the Worlds at least had the benefit of solely being watched at home through Amazon Prime. Mercy putting it all on a silver screen is just lame, hitting way too close to my usual experience at work. A significant portion of this film’s marketing budget has been used to promote its release in IMAX 3D, a format I imagine would be an absolute nightmare to experience. Pratt is a terrific star when given the chance to feed off other people’s energy, such as in the many seasons of Parks and Recreation and the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. This film fully strips away that asset, locking him in a single location, devoid of all humor or thrills. Rebecca Ferguson gets even less to do as the artificial overlord, dryly reciting lines and mugging for the camera anytime a music sting cues a reveal. This story offers little mercy to their careers and to its audience. Luckily, I’ll be able to get my revenge a year from now when we’re able to discuss the worst films of 2026. Amazon MGM Studios will release Mercy in theaters nationwide on January 23rd. 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

Emancipation December 7, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen With Sarah Polley’s Women Talking and now Antoine Fuqua’s Emancipation , desaturated cinematography seems to have replaced black-and-white as the new stylistic craze for the year. The thematic reasoning behind the decision is sound (the morally gray dilemma in Women Talking , the ultra-grim circumstances in Emancipation ), but the results are far from pleasing to the eye. To paraphrase Roger Ebert: I admire what they’re doing, and I hate it. Thankfully, the garish photography, which stings just a little more considering it’s supplied by three-time Oscar winner and Scorsese/Stone/Tarantino handyman Robert Richardson, doesn’t prohibit Emancipation from reaching its lofty ambitions. This is a nightmarish retelling of a true American horror story, one that shook the world to its core over 150 years ago, and should continue to do so for the foreseeable future. If not for “The Slap,” which transpired only eight months ago when Will Smith assaulted Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars, the King Richard star would likely find himself back there as a nominee this year. I have no sympathy for Smith after what he did. Still, his worthy performance here would honorably fill that vacant last slot in Best Lead Actor behind presumed locks Austin Butler, Colin Farrell, Brendan Fraser, and Bill Nighy. If nothing else, it would also prevent Hugh Jackman from being nominated in a much more heinous film than Florian Zeller’s The Son . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wafyhTpWpUs But the past is the past, and we must now view Emancipation through the lens of a less likable Will Smith. Here, he plays Peter (inspired by the true story of Gordon), a Haitian-born slave who is introduced as he is being sold away from his family. He promises to return to them, no matter the obstacles in his way. His unwavering faith in God provides him the strength to endure the inhumane treatment he receives at a Confederate army camp near the swamps of Louisiana. While there, rumors start to swirl that President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves through the Emancipation Proclamation. Knowing that their captors won’t give them their freedom willingly, Peter and others decide they must take it. They flee from their chains and head towards Baton Rouge, where friendly Union soldiers await. “Follow the sound of Lincoln’s cannons” is their north star as they trek through the treacherous terrain, all with a sadistic bounty hunter (Ben Foster) hot on their trail. One of the more unexpected things to come from Emancipation is Fuqua’s in-your-face, grisly depiction of slavery and general life in the mid-1800s. Captured runaway slaves are beheaded and placed on stakes, others are branded, and many more die because of the grueling working conditions that promote disease and famine. Fuqua also leans into his action director pedigree to bring elements of Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s The Revenant , such as extended long takes and the beastly monsters that await in the murky swamp water. A fight with an alligator is one of the few moments where this aggressively serious film finds itself trying too hard to be “entertaining.” There’s also a large-scale Civil War battle that must have been added to justify the film’s $100 million budget, even if it creakily undermines the more minimalist approach to the first ninety minutes. Overarching all of this is the emotional honesty that Smith’s performance lends to the story of Peter. Dialogue is seldom used as his character overcomes the unimaginable with stoicism. Facial expressions do most of the talking, most noticeable when he is staged for the famous “ Whipped Peter ” photograph that told the story of American slavery to the rest of the world. Emancipation will likely not be the comeback vehicle that Smith desperately needs, but it was also never designed to be that. Through his clumsy past actions, he has turned away most audiences that were likely already on the fence about watching this daunting slave drama. That’s a shame because it means he has wasted a powerful performance that deserves to be seen by more than just the tiny audience it will now attract. Apple Original Films will release Emancipation in select theaters on December 02nd, followed by its streaming premiere on December 09th. 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

Tron: Ares October 8, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen It’s either brave or foolish of Disney to consider Tron a viable franchise after only offering three entries across its forty-three-year existence. Then again, Top Gun is now one of the most lucrative series despite being comprised of two films with a thirty-six-year gap in between. Disney hoped that the director of Top Gun: Maverick , Joseph Kosinski, would make his return to this franchise after getting his Hollywood career started with Tron: Legacy . But he was busy with F1: The Movie , so the director’s chair was handed over to Joachim Rønning, a familiar face to the studio with a resume that includes Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales , Maleficent: Mistress of Evil , and Young Woman and the Sea . He’s a steady hand who understands the assignment, which is why this is a well-assembled, yet mildly forgettable blockbuster. Humans going into the digital world is old news, with digital creations coming into our world being the new craze. Rival corporations ENCOM and Dillinger Systems are in a race to be the ones to pioneer that technology, with the former promising medical breakthroughs and unlimited resources for humanitarian aid, and the latter selling super soldiers to the highest bidder. And if you still can’t tell who the bad guys are, Dillinger’s headquarters is in a top-secret air hangar perpetually bathed in red lighting. The final piece to this digital puzzle is the permanence code, which fixes the bug that limits the lifespan of any creation to just twenty-nine minutes. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and the promise of that power is enough to push Dillinger CEO Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) to print his cyber soldiers and order them to kill ENCOM CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YShVEXb7-ic As Blade Runner and A.I. Artificial Intelligence have taught us, it’s that robots have a desire to understand the human condition. Why a perfectly engineered specimen would want to join the plight of humanity at this exact moment is an unanswered question, one of many within Jesse Wigutow’s by-the-numbers script. For Ares (Jared Leto), the feeling of rain (but not tears in rain) and a sense of empathy from Eve are enough to convince him that Julian can’t be trusted. Endless chase scenes ensue as the pair avoids capture from Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith), Julian’s other unstoppable digital assassin. If that scenario sounds like a perfect excuse to pump the action full of light cycle greatness, then you’d be absolutely correct. Those beaming bikes are on full display in their shiny metallic glory, speeding along streets and cutting through objects like a hot knife through butter. A hacking sequence is visualized like a neon-soaked version of the ending of Zero Dark Thirty , which I’m sure is still more accurate than what they did on NCIS . The whole thing looks and sounds incredible, with DP Jeff Cronenweth (not seen in movies since 2021’s Being the Ricardos ) concocting some dazzlingly sharp images. Speaking of sound, the techno score by Nine Inch Nails frontmen Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross offers the propulsive push this stale story needed. It sits right next to their Challengers score as the best rave music produced in the last few years. I staved off the inevitable question of “am I getting old?” by not being bothered by how ungodly loud the speakers were blasting in the IMAX theater. It’s a shame that Disney was able to hire David Fincher’s cinematographer and composers for this, but not the man himself. Jared Leto is perfectly cast as a robot, both because of his stilted mannerisms and delivery, and his insane ability to look this good at the age of fifty-three. He’s come full circle in the artificial life cycle, first playing the creator in Blade Runner 2049 , and now the created. Good as he is here, one outing with this character is all that I need, especially if it frees Greta Lee to pursue something more worthy of her immense talents. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures will release Tron: Ares in theaters nationwide on October 10th. 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

Opus March 14, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Had Opus been released a decade prior, it might have had a chance to be a decent movie. Probably not, as that conversation would have needed the film to have a single redeeming element. But by coming out in 2025 and after the likes of Get Out , Midsommar, Blink Twice , The Menu , and Don’t Worry Darling , the weight of comparison killed Opus right from the start. This is an A24 film in the derogatory sense, tailor-made to have ironic memes generated and tongue-in-cheek merchandise consumed (if it sounds like I’m venting, it’s because I am). It came as no surprise to witness three of the four other audience members at my screening immediately open Letterboxd to log this as soon as the credits started scrolling. Unfortunately for Opus , that kind of crowd has definitely seen the other mentioned movies, leaving not many green stars to be granted here. I guess I was a little harsh when I said that this film didn’t have any redeeming elements to it. That’s not wholly true, as Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich delivered decent enough performances to keep me in my seat. She plays Ariel Ecton, a young journalist for a major music magazine. We first see her in a pitch meeting, the rest of the room eating up her every word as she pitches a new story on some faded singer. Editor Stan Sullivan (Murray Bartlett) likes the idea but passes Ariel over and hands it off to some other writer. Fate then reaches out and extends its hand in the form of an invitation for Stan, and, surprisingly, Ariel, to join the legendary and long-reclusive popstar Alfred Moretti (Malkovich) at his secluded Utah compound for an unveiling of his new studio album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5owo-kbx8X0 Considering her rookie status, especially when compared to all the other attendees like TV personality Clara Armstrong (Juliette Lewis) and paparazzo Bianca Tyson (Melissa Chambers), Ariel’s presence immediately stands out. It’s that sense of otherness that keeps Ariel on her toes as the weirdness of Moretti and his assembled cult followers gradually becomes too loud to ignore. The comparisons to Midsommar and The Menu also become too loud to ignore right as Ariel and co. arrive at Moretti’s self-proclaimed slice of heaven. Because every cult member smiles all the time and speaks of having their inner selves finally unlocked, you and I both know this is all bullshit and that something sinister is about to go down. First-time writer/director Mark Anthony Green takes his sweet time getting to the destination, littering his script with lectures on celebrity worship and the integrity of entertainment journalism. Besides already being beaten to the punch, Green never feels willing to make a fine point about any of his talking points, leaving everything in a morally muddled mess. I assume he thought the stylization would be enough, a kind of shorthand that forces us to fill in the logic gaps. Worse than the confusion Opus incites is the fact that it never registers as interesting or sensical. What’s the point of asking questions when you never cared what the answer was to begin with? A24 will release Opus 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

Don't Worry Darling September 23, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen No film has ever pushed the quote “There’s no such thing as bad publicity” more to the limit than Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling . So much has happened over the past few months that Cosmopolitan was able to make a full in-depth timeline , which is still ongoing. It wouldn’t be an understatement to expect the film to get its own Heart of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse sometime in the future. And it also wouldn’t be an understatement to think that Wilde wants that documentary to happen so people will have something to remember Don’t Worry Darling , because the movie itself is nothing more than middling. It’s a Mad Men world for Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack (Harry Styles) as they start their new lives in the sun-drenched valley paradise known as Victory. Where it’s precisely located and how it got there is never explained, nor is it allowed to be questioned. The only strings attached to this haven are that you never ask anything, such as how the men spend their time, where the food comes from, or why everyone has the same memories before they got here. Your only duty is to conform, be supportive, and worship the project’s leader, Frank (Chris Pine), who is viewed and behaves like the second coming of Christ. For Alice, these duties unlock everything she’s ever wanted. She has a great husband, a great house, and great friends. It’s all so perfect. This is why things seem so odd when her neighbor, Margaret (KiKi Layne), begins questioning everything. Just as if she were transmitting the common cold, Margaret’s skepticism makes its way into Alice’s head, leading her down a dark path to learning the truth about this modern utopia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgmnKsED-jU On a purely production level, Don’t Worry Darling is quite the accomplishment for Wilde. The period-accurate clothes and needle drops are a far cry from the modern teenage angst with which she announced her auteur status within Booksmart . The influences of Stanley Kubrick and Darren Aronofsky are easy to spot with the impressive sound and camera work. Those qualities should come as no surprise, considering Wilde recruited regular Aronofsky cinematographer Matthew Libatique to lens her film. As a director, she lets the hysteria build and builds, waiting for us to beg for it to be released. But when that moment comes for Wilde to make her big swing, she manages to only hit a single instead of the expected home run. Because just like the town of Victory itself, Don’t Worry Darling often comes across as empty despite being littered with pretty sights (there’s even an unintentionally fitting scene where Alice cracks eggs, only for it to be revealed they’re empty). Re-teaming with her Booksmart writer, Katie Silberman, Wilde’s interrogation of women’s societal roles and the men that oppress them is nothing that hasn’t been done before. Hell, works such as The Stepford Wives , The Truman Show , and even WandaVision have asked similar questions using a similar concept. Even though it’s all impressively done, there’s always this nagging feeling of being there, done that. That feeling also permeates the casting of Harry Styles as Jack, who’s been written as British, most likely to cover over Styles' inability to pick which accent he should be using. A stunt cast such as this may help the box office numbers, but it doesn’t help Florence Pugh, who’s left all alone to keep this ship from sinking under the weight of its ill-advised ambitions. Pugh seemingly can do no wrong, whether it be large-scale work in Black Widow or on a smaller level in Fighting with My Family . And considering the impressive work she did pulling apart the seams for Ari Aster in Midsommar , this performance comes across as child’s play for her. Luckily, she has an equal in Chris Pine as the charismatic Frank. Pine has always been an actor who was cursed by his good looks, as it meant he was forced to play leading parts when he works much better as a character actor. Brad Pitt is another actor in a similar situation. In the brief scenes he shares with Pugh, Pine brings that tech-guru/crypto-bro smarmy charm that makes you believe why people worship him, while at the same time, you just want to punch him in his perfect teeth. If your intention of seeing Don’t Worry Darling is to look at beautiful people in beautiful clothes living in beautiful houses, Olivia Wilde supplies that in spades. But if you intend to see something that digs a little deeper under the surface and provokes ideas that haven't been explored by numerous other (and better) films, then you may want to start worrying. Warner Bros. Pictures will release Don't Worry Darling in theaters nationwide on September 23rd. 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