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The Best Hollywood Screenwriters of All-Time January 5, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen Happy National Screenwriters Day! Observed annually on January 5th, this day honors the often unnoticed and under-appreciated task force behind all those thrilling, adventurous, romantic TV or movie masterpieces. To show my appreciation for the people that build movies from nothing and make them into something special, I’ve compiled a list of some of the best screenwriters in cinematic history. This list will only look at writers who are not directors, so people like Paul Thomas Anderson, Woody Allen, or Spike Lee will not be featured. Some of the writers listed have directed films, but for the most part, they are not known for it, and mainly stick to writing scripts. And before you type in the comments about the omission of Charlie Kaufman or Aaron Sorkin, I have not included them because they have shown their intention to direct their own scripts for the foreseeable future. Plus, they’re probably featured on numerous other lists, so I’d like to give spots to other people that are less known. I will also not list anyone who is a frequent writing partner with a director, such as I.A.L Diamond or Charles Brackett, as the majority of their work was with Billy Wilder. So, without further ado, let’s dive into this list featuring some of the biggest wordsmiths of the cinematic art form. Robert Towne Widely regarded as the greatest script doctor in Hollywood history, Robert Towne’s fingerprints are on several of the best films of all time, whether you know it or not. Francis Ford Coppola thanked Towne during his Oscar acceptance speech for his uncredited assistance on The Godfather , and he kicked off the New Hollywood movement with his (also uncredited) work on Bonnie and Clyde . Towne did receive formal recognition in the form of an Oscar nomination for The Last Detail , and a win for Chinatown the following year. He would direct a few of his screenplays to vary success, with Tequila Sunrise and Without Limits being warmly regarded. And he would become Tom Cruise’s go-to writer for a few years, lending his pen to Days of Thunder, The Firm , and the first two installments of the Mission: Impossible franchise. Eric Roth As the recipient of six Oscar nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, including a win for Forrest Gump , Eric Roth towers over all in modern Hollywood when turning preexisting material into cinematic classics. He’s often been trusted by top directors to bring their biggest projects into the light: Michael Mann ( The Insider, Ali ), Steven Spielberg ( Munich ), David Fincher ( The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ), Bradley Cooper ( A Star Is Born ), Denis Villeneuve ( Dune ). He’s adding Martin Scorsese to that venerable list with the upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon , so a second Oscar may be on the horizon. Paddy Chayefsky At three wins from four nominations, Chayefsky is tied with Woody Allen and Billy Wilder as the most-winning screenwriter in Oscar history. His winning percentage is even more impressive when you factor in that it took Allen 16 nominations and Wilder 12 nominations to reach that win total. Chayefsky initially started in television in the 1950s with director Sidney Lumet, a partnership that would reach its apex with the scathing satire in 1976’s Network . Director Delbert Mann was another figure that Chayefsky frequently worked with during his television days, and they each picked up Oscars for their work in 1955’s Marty , which would also be awarded the prize for Best Motion Picture. Leigh Brackett Brackett was a trailblazer in Hollywood, repeatedly destroying the misconception that women could only write “feminine” dramas. She had no problem working across several genres, from 1940s noir ( The Big Sleep ), westerns ( Rio Bravo ), to 1970s new crime ( The Long Goodbye ). Even for all her genre-hopping, she always called science fiction her home. She would mentor Fahrenheit 451 author Ray Bradbury, and be personally hired by George Lucas to write the script for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back . Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to see her work on that film come to fruition, as she passed away in 1978 just after she handed in her script. But her work still lives on and remains an inspiration for anyone that wants to push boundaries. Steven Zaillian Along with Eric Roth, Zaillian is usually the first person studios call when they need someone to adapt existing material. He received an Oscar nomination for his second screenplay, 1990’s Awakenings . That was only the first of many large dominoes, as he won the Oscar for Schindler’s List , and would be nominated again for Gangs of New York, Moneyball , and The Irishman . Like Robert Towne, he’s also a go-to script doctor for many top directors. He’s done uncredited rewrites and polishes on films such as Crimson Tide, Patriot Games, Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down , and Road to Perdition . William Goldman As the author behind several best-selling books on the art of screenplay writing, it’s easy to see why Goldman is seen as one of the greatest writers ever. His critics would claim that he wrote for the director’s vision, and not for his own original ideas. But that would always be his biggest strength, as he could adapt to any genre between westerns ( Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ), political thrillers ( All the President’s Men ), and nerve-wracking crime dramas ( Marathon Man ). He would eventually become the most sought-after adapter of Stephen King’s work, with Misery, Hearts in Atlantis , and Dreamcatcher . And to top it all off, he even adapted his own novel, The Princess Bride , for the screen. John Logan Don’t let Logan’s directorial debut failure with They/Them last year fool you into thinking he isn’t one of the most lauded screenwriters working today. Whether he’s working with Martin Scorsese ( The Aviator, Hugo ), Ridley Scott ( Gladiator, Alien: Covenant ), or Sam Mendes ( Skyfall, Spectre ), Logan loves to work in pairs with leading auteurs. He’s also dabbled in animation ( Rango ), musicals ( Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street ), Shakespeare ( Coriolanus ), and even television ( Penny Dreadful ). Robert Bolt Between his works with David Lean on Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago , and Ryan’s Daughter, there probably isn’t anyone who writes bigger than Robert Bolt. His first notice would come before all that when he wrote the play A Man for All Seasons in 1954. He would adapt it for the screen himself, winning another Oscar just one year after he won for Doctor Zhivago . 1986’s The Mission , starring Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons, would be his next, and final, brush with awards success, with the film winning the Palme d’Or at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival along with several Oscar nominations. Ernest Lehman The only thing consistent about Ernest Lehman’s output is the excellence of its quality. One of his first scripts would be the 1954 romantic-comedy Sabrina for Billy Wilder. He would jump over to mystery thrillers with Northwest by Northwest for Alfred Hitchcock. Then came a brief settlement into musicals, as he adapted both the Best Picture-winning West Side Story and The Sound of Music from the stage to the screen. Another slight pivot came in the form of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and finally ending with a return to Hitchcock for 1979’s Family Plot . More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F July 2, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen With Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F , Eddie Murphy has joined Adam Sandler and Millie Bobby Brown in Netflix’s flock of golden geese. This marks his third film with the streamer in the last five years, the previous two being career-revitalizer Dolemite Is My Name and the worst film of last year, You People . Also mixed in are two Prime Video exclusives ( Coming 2 America and Candy Cane Lane ), with another one titled The Pickup currently in post-production. If you take a gander at Murphy’s IMDb page, you can see that he hasn’t been in a theatrically released film since 2016’s Mr. Church , which almost doesn’t count since it never got above a couple hundred theaters. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with starring in streaming movies, especially when someone like Netflix is seemingly the only one willing to greenlight Dolemite Is My Name after years of development hell and throw $150 million at a Beverly Hills Cop film after a thirty-year break. But for how smart they are as business decisions in this modern film industry, the creative output that comes from them is sorely lacking. “Good enough” feels like the mantra, something I mentioned in last week’s review of Netflix’s A Family Affair . It seems that Netflix and others have taken the lower barrier of entry for audiences as an excuse not to try as hard. How much would you really care about the experience of watching a film if it didn’t make you leave the couch? Certainly less than if you had to drive to the theater and fork over $10. Everything and everyone just feels like they’re just going through the motions in Axel F . Axel once again has to leave Detroit, a place he destroys more than the criminals he chases, and go to Beverly Hills. This time he’s flying west to save his estranged daughter (Taylour Paige) after she defends a wrongfully convicted cop killer and is threatened by those actually responsible for the murder. Also returning are old costars Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, and Bronson Pinchot; each of them inadvertently being an advertisement for whatever products Murphy uses to defy aging (seriously, he looks phenomenal for 62). Joining the mix is Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a fellow cop and Kevin Bacon as the chief of a new shady task force. “The world has changed” and “in today’s climate” are phrases used a couple of times to try and push the theme of Axel being lost in time just as much as he is often lost in his surroundings. The attempts are heavy-handed, yet never effective as Axel hardly seems to change as a person throughout the film. His relationship with his daughter stems wholly from everything that happened offscreen between Beverly Hills Cop III and now. There’s also the theme of mortality in the line of duty, something that’s already been done in the other Jerry Bruckheimer-produced cop-based sequels, Bad Boys For Life and Bad Boys: Ride or Die . Being that this is a Bruckheimer production, the action is bombastic. First-time director Mark Molloy is often hampered by bad special effects and drab photography. The extended opening chase scene involving a snow plow in Detroit is quite fun, but a later one with a helicopter is garish. Murphy is always having fun with the material, throwing out the same level of one-liners and energy he’s had for decades. There’s never a movie where his presence isn’t welcome, it’s just that most of them (this one included) don’t have any other reasons to care. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

May December May 25, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen May December had its World Premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Netflix will release it in theaters on November 17, followed by its streaming premiere on December 01. Director Todd Haynes’ approach to the material within May December becomes clear immediately. The opening credits arrive accompanied by Michel Legrand's hyper-stylized theme from The Go-Between , harkening back to the pulpy works of Brian De Palma and Old Hollywood melodrama. It’s an immediate disarmament, signaling a lighter attitude toward this true-ish tabloid story of an affair between a thirty-something housewife and her thirteen-year-old co-worker. How could someone find the humor in this situation, you ask? A brief tour of Haynes’ filmography illustrates a filmmaker who has always been fascinated with infiltrating mainstream material with independent ideas. Velvet Goldmine and I’m Not There turned the musician biopic on its head, Far from Heaven used Douglas Sirk pastiche to approach 1950s racism, and Carol tells the age-old tale of forbidden love, this time with a queer angle. Even Haynes’ most mainstream film, the legal thriller Dark Waters , subtlely undermines genre clichés with impeccable mise-en-scene. May December is his most playful exercise in tone and expectations, delivering something that is both mature and overtly theatrical. The illegal affair is only the preface to the main story. Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe (Charles Melton) Atherton-Yoo are still together twenty years after their scandalous romance shocked the world. They live in a Georgia suburban home paid for by their tabloid cover photos. Their youngest children are about to graduate high school, making Joe an empty-nest parent before he’s even the age Gracie was when they met. Despite their attempts to lead a quiet life, the couple is always reminded of how they’re perceived in the public eye, whether it be the infrequent anonymous hatemail or the arrival of actress Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman), who’s playing Gracie in a new Lifetime original movie about the romance and is staying with the family to do research. Gracie hopes that the film and Elizabeth’s performance will help reshape the public’s perception of how she and Joe came to be. Elizabeth totally agrees and presents herself as an ally to the couple, at least on the surface. There’s something off about how Elizabeth injects herself into the couple’s lives. She’s inferred to be on a downward trajectory in her career, so maybe the juicy material will put her back in the headlines? Haynes and cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt - stepping in for Ed Lachmann, as he was off shooting Pablo Larraín’s El Conde in Chile - always have Elizabeth standing a bit off-center, usually obscured by an object or observed through a mirror. Reflections in both its literal and figurative form are the key to Samy Burch’s screenplay (touched up by Haynes). Gracie, Joe, and Elizabeth all have ideas about what they want out of this, but none of them truly know if they’re willing to mine deep inside of them to get it. There’s an artifice to every interaction, with the truth lurking around the corner. Some of these conversations, filled with jagged edges and heightened stylizations, lean a little too close to slapstick, undermining a bit of the emotional resonance. But those interspersed moments of whimsy are also the best parts as they turn up the heat on the oftentimes room-temperature plot developments. The actors are all game for their roles. Moore and Portman have delicious chemistry in their scenes together, with it never being totally established who is observing and manipulating the other. It’s catty as hell, with Haynes never allowing it to be misogynistic. Charles Melton joins Austin Butler as a CW television veteran who has quickly climbed the Hollywood ladder. It's obvious he’s never fully processed his robbed childhood, leaving him still a kid in an adult body. There’s enough camp within May December that smores might as well be served alongside it. It’s morally ambiguous in its message, but never in its approach. At the very least, the high-drama of it all will allow a new generation of Netflix watchers to be introduced to Haynes’ filmography. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

See How They Run September 19, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen “It’s a whodunnit. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.” These are some of the last words used by victim Leo Kopernick (Adrien Brody) to describe Agatha Christie’s murder mystery, The Mousetrap . And after watching the film, See How They Run , I’d have to admit I share the same sentiment. Mine and Kopernick's feelings towards the genre seem to grow out of the common tiredness of it. Whether it be Rian Johnson’s riff on it with his Knives Out films (which I greatly enjoyed the newest edition at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival), or Kenneth Branagh’s classical revivals of Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile (which I greatly despised), there seems to glut of whodunnits. And because I’ve seen one of them, I’ve essentially seen them all. And unfortunately for See How They Run , it has to take up the mantle as the runt of the litter, destined to be cast aside without anyone noticing, or caring. Before his demise (I’m not spoiling anything, they reveal his death ten seconds into the trailer), Kopernick was witness to the 100th performance of The Mousetrap , which is still playing today on London’s West End after nearly 28,000 performances. He’s been brought in to mount a film adaptation of the play. That is unless he can get along with his writer (David Oyelowo), who insists on “elevating” the material above its genre cliches, and his producer (Reece Shearsmith), who is more busy having an affair with his assistant than managing the talent. Once the deadly deed has been done, Scotland Yard’s own Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) is brought in to solve the case. He’s joined by the Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan), an eager rookie who’s a little too ready to nab her first killer. Writer Mark Chappell has assembled all the ingredients for a meta and wink-filled time as he stages a real murder mystery within a fictional version of a real murder mystery production. Anyone who’s seen their fill of community theater and Masterpiece productions will be able to pick on the jabs on well-worn genre tropes such as the butler playing a suspicious part and specific red herrings. And director Tom George, making his feature film debut after several years working on assorted series on the BBC, tries his best to keep things moving at a breezy pace with intricate cross-cutting and split screens. But even with all that's promised on the page and on the screen, there just always seems to be a disconnect that prevents it all from coming together. A joke may land with a thud, but it’s followed by a great cutaway. Or a joke may be a slam dunk, but then the scene plays a little too long and the air is sucked out of the room. There’s never really a moment where everything is flowing as harmoniously as it should. The one thing that consistently stays above water is the cast, even if they aren’t all served equally by Chappell (what’s Ruth Wilson doing in such a nothing role?). Rockwell makes a half-attempt at pulling off an Inspector Clouseau impersonation. It’s never fully explained why his character is so tired all the time, but Rockwell pulls it off well enough to just make it seem like it’s just part of his personality. And Saoirse Ronan is an absolute comedy delight in every moment she is given. Still, at only age 28, she could be in for an all-time career if she keeps up this pace. Although they share no living scenes together, a The Grand Budapest Hotel between her and Adrien Brody is a welcome one. While it may never be as funny or good as it wants to be, there are still a few glimmers of playful genius within See How They Run . It’s just a shame that Rian Johnson has fully harnessed that playfulness for his films, leaving not much room in the public’s collective memory for this so-so affair. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Back to Black May 16, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. We begin near the end of the icon’s journey, only to flash back to where it all began. The icon has a strained relationship with their family, immediately giving them unresolved trauma. But they have a special talent and someone in their family (most likely a grandparent) acts as their motivational coach. They suddenly hit it big, but are blindsided by the pressures of fame and the need to conform. They fall in love with an outsider, which, coupled with the growing stress, leads them to drugs and alcohol. Everyone says they need help while the excuses keep piling up, eventually ending in a burnout that crowns the tabloids. After some soul-searching, they find themselves back at the top performing one of their iconic songs. It ends back where we started, with the untimely death being revealed during the postscript, along with all their other achievements. It would be damn near impossible for you to guess what single movie I was describing. Even if you narrowed it down to just the past five years, you’d still have to decide between Elvis , Bohemian Rhapsody , Respect , I Wanna Dance with Somebody , and Bob Marley: One Love . The musician biopic subgenre has become such a cliché at this point that there’s even a sub-subgenre for parodies like Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story . But even those are starting to feel a little stale, as the jokes don’t have the same punch when you can see them coming from a mile away. Writer Matt Greenhalgh would have only needed to add a few jokes to his Back to Black script to make it into one of those parodies. All the other tropes are already there, so why not make this a comedy? It’s surely not a compelling drama, nor a “definitive” retelling of Amy Winehouse’s life. Everything has been scrubbed with disinfectant several times over, leaving behind a product so basic that you’d barely get the impression that this person was special at all. The one laughable thing is Greenhalgh’s treatment of Winehouse, with his pen always pushing her further down the gutter. Between the alcohol, the ever-growing lineup of drugs, and discussions of self-harm, there’s nothing that Amy isn’t doing to destroy herself. Greenhalgh’s claim that all this self-destruction was predominantly spurred by Amy’s inability to have a child is both borderline insulting and too neat. There’s also the unintentional running joke of Amy saying that she needs to stay true to herself while also perfectly following the rags-to-riches template. Director Sam Taylor-Johnson has previously shown an interest in musicians, helming the 2009 John Lennon origin story Nowhere Boy . The strategy doesn’t seem to have changed in the decade-plus since, with the beats being produced in a forgettably competent manner. The staging of Winehouse’s performances is quite nice, with star Marisa Abela doing a fine impression both physically and vocally. Less than stellar is Jack O'Connell as her sleazy on-again, off-again husband, and the relative sidelining of Eddie Marsan and Lesley Manville. Getting anything out of Back to Black will be a tall order for any viewer, regardless of your familiarity with Winehouse’s life and music. There’s also the unavoidable presence of the Oscar-winning 2015 documentary Amy , which covers more material with more depth in just as much time. But as long as Winehouse's songs see a bump on Spotify, then the producers will be happy. And we all know that’s what really matters in this landscape. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Awards Update: The First Oscar Predictions of the Season June 13, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Welcome to an ongoing series where I cover the 2025/2026 awards season. On a regular basis, I will update my Oscar predictions, taking into account the new information that has been received since the last update. Full predictions in every category can be found on the Home and Awards page. The summer movie season is in full swing, packing the multiplexes with big blockbusters and nine-figure box office grosses. The warm winds also mean it's time to scratch the burgeoning itch that is the upcoming Oscar season through some early scouting and shot-in-the-dark predictions. Luckily, two of the major film festivals of the year, Sundance and Cannes, are in the books. The former featured little to no contenders beyond the usual smattering of documentaries, while the latter debuted a few seemingly strong contenders. As we've learned over the years from Parasite , Triangle of Sadness , Anatomy of a Fall , The Zone of Interest , The Substance , and Anora , to be a Best Picture contender born at Cannes, you must leave there with a prize in hand. That leads us to first look at this year's Palme d'Or winner: Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident . As evidenced by the assortment of festival prizes, Panahi is a revered auteur in the cinephile sphere of influence. This victory was part of a natural progression for him. That momentum and the film's potent political messaging are the main ingredients that could bring it into the Best Picture race. However, there are also several drawbacks. Iran will certainly not be submitting it for Best International Feature, and coproducers France and Luxembourg have previously illustrated that they won't submit non-native films. This will also be a tough sell at the box office, with a low ceiling that might not be high enough to gather public momentum. Distributor Neon clearly has a lot on their plate, and were in a similar situation last year with the Iranian thriller The Seed of the Sacred Fig , which turned out to be an awards disappointment. The company has grown as a campaigner over the years, but it remains to be seen if it can handle pushing multiple films into the top categories. Between the reported 15-19 minute standing ovation, enthusiastic reviews, and headlining stars, Sentimental Value will be Neon's main priority. They bought the film at last year's Cannes Film Festival before production had commenced, so they've had their eggs in this basket for a while now. They also just announced the same mid-fall release date as Anatomy of a Fall and Anora , so there's little reason to doubt that it will be a major player. I expect it to appear at all the major fall festivals before then. From there, it’s hard to gauge how the other prize winners will perform. Rigorous features like Sirât , Sound of Falling , and Resurrection each received acclaim and were picked up by reputable distributors. They likely won't appear in any major Oscar categories, but could factor into the Best International Feature race, should they be submitted to compete. Leaving empty-handed was Die, My Love . The reviews were mixed-positive, with all praise going to Jennifer Lawrence's lead performance. That would normally be enough for an Oscar favorite like her, but it's difficult to predict a lone acting nomination for a film that will be quite hostile towards audiences. Mubi did part with a chunk of change for the distribution rights, so they'll be making a big effort to get the film recognized in more categories. Other than the already premiered films, the rest of the predictions are a patchwork of educated guesses. As a reminder, this phase is solely about the nomination. We won't be thinking about winners until the new year. At this time last year, I had Joker: Folie à Deux , The End , and The Piano Lesson in my Best Picture lineup, so everything here is written with pencil. TIFF already announced its opening night film ( John Candy: I Like Me ), so the fall festival train has already left the station and will be accelerating over the next few months. My next update will come later this summer once we have a clear picture of what will be competing. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen

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Fackham Hall December 4, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen The last several weeks of the year are usually reserved for heavy dramas and blockbusters seeking awards attention. This year’s crop of films exemplifies that pattern. Hamnet explores how the grief caused by the death of William Shakespeare’s son inspired the author’s most famous tragedy. Sentimental Value untangles decades of thorny family relations between an estranged father and his emotionally distraught adult daughters. In Marty Supreme , Timothée Chalamet hustles and scams his way to the top of the table tennis charts, all while riddled with anxiety. Even a self-described comedy like Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On? examines a marriage in freefall and the midlife crisis that ensues for both partners. This is where Fackham Hall (you’d better get used to that pun, because it’s said a lot in the film) makes its mark. From “the studio that watched the first two seasons of Downton Abbey ” comes a film without lofty awards ambitions or a need to secure a placement on a bevy of critics’ best of the year lists. It’s not some sneaky meditation on the human condition, sowing social commentary within the laughter. No, it’s a silly and noodle-brained comedy whose only goal is to make you chuckle as many times as possible within its ninety-seven-minute runtime. That’s a very backhanded way to describe a movie, implying that a film is lesser than another simply because of what it strives to be. It’s not the size of the target that matters; it’s how well you hit it. Many filmmakers will tell you that comedy is exponentially more difficult than it seems. You need to make a structurally consistent film with the same arcs and beats as any other story, all while delivering worthy jokes at a consistent rate. It takes a lot to conceive a funny joke, and expert precision to tell it just right. One half-second of fat on the edit, or a half-baked delivery, can have the best gag land with a thud. All-star British comedian Jimmy Carr knows a thing or two about how to make people laugh. Making his screenwriting feature debut alongside co-writers Patrick Carr and The Dawson Bros. (Steve, Andrew, and Tim Inman), Carr has crafted a parody of upstairs-downstairs period dramas, such as Downton Abbey and Gosford Park , crossed with the laugh-a-minute comedies of yesteryear, like Airplane! and Monty Python . Every piece of signage is an opportunity for crude wordplay, such as the gate entrance to the titular estate displaying the famous Latin quote: “Incestus ad infinitum.” Performing those acts of power consolidation are the Davenports, one of England’s most noble families. The Great Depression has made its way across the pond, and the Davenports have been besieged by tragedy. One by one, all four of their sons - John, Paul, George, and Ringo - have unexpectedly died. One drowned on the Titanic, the other crashed in the Hindenburg, and one was playing golf in a lightning storm. This has forced Lord (Damian Lewis) and Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston) to marry off their eldest daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), to a rich bachelor. Luckily, that man happens to be Poppy’s first cousin Archibald (Tom Felton). At twenty-three years of age, youngest daughter Rose (Thomasin McKenzie) is a “tired and barren husk of a woman, with no hopes of finding a man to give her life worth.” That is, until she meets the new hall boy, Eric Noone (pronounced no-one, and played by Ben Radcliffe). It was love at first sight when she ran him over with her car, and at second sight when he watched her stuff her face with deviled eggs. They are star-crossed lovers, their romance forbidden by the rules of society, and the Davenports need to marry for money. Most of the best bits are in the trailer. And yet, they were just as funny in the final product as they were in the advertisements, and there’s plenty of other chuckles to be had. We witness London’s oldest ever chimney sweep dying at the age of seven, and Rose ignites some passion between her and Eric by revealing that she’s reading “One Shade of Grey.” There are several instances of similar-sounding words being used for extended bits reminiscent of “Who's on First?” Joining forces with the Liam Neeson-starring Naked Gun reboot from this summer, Fackham Hall is here to swing the comedy pendulum back into the realm of slapstick and dirty gags. Sure, it’s not going to win awards or become some cornerstone of the genre. But I think I can guess what the creators and fans of these films say to all those naysayers: Fuck 'em all. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Next Goal Wins September 11, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Next Goal Wins had its World Premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. Searchlight Pictures will release it in theaters on November 17. Based on the overwhelming reactions at the Toronto International Film Festival premiere, Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins should be a shoo-in for the People’s Choice Award or at least a spot in one of the Runner’s Up positions. It felt as if there was a real soccer crowd in that auditorium, as each goal was met with rapturous applause and the boos reigned down after each mention of the opposing team. That immediate passion is a product of Waititi’s unmatched skill at creating sympathy for the underdog, something TIFF audiences are familiar with and have rewarded in the past (2019’s Jojo Rabbit was awarded the People’s Choice Award, ultimately resulting in an Oscar win for Best Adapted Screenplay). The only thing the American Somoan soccer team is known for is being the biggest loser in the world. They lost 31-0 in a 2001 World Cup qualifying match against Australia and had still not scored a single goal in all the games they’ve ever played. Fortunately for them, coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) is on the job market after being fired by the US national team. With no other options, Rongen reluctantly takes the position, setting up a battle between a man who gives up on everything and a team that gives up (even though they probably should). Shot in 2019, it’s a minor miracle that Next Goal Wins is finally seeing the light of day. During the post-screening Q&A, Waititi said he found the silver lining during the endless delays, as it allowed him to have more than enough time to perfect the editing. It paid off, with Waititi’s signature punchlines being delivered with precision. And the soccer matches have great energy to them, pulling you into the drama. Nothing is surprising about the plot, it’s just your average sports drama about an underdog team. Waititi embraces that concept rather than running away from it. Many of the jokes play off the clichés, such as Rongen giving the rousing pre-game locker room speech, only for one of the players to notice that he’s just ripping off the one Al Pacino gave in Any Given Sunday . The style and substance of these jokes never really change, meaning they get a little tiring the longer the film goes on. But even if their effect is progressively diluted, it’s still pretty funny throughout. Michael Fassbender hasn’t been in a film since 2019. Dark Phoenix was in theaters at the same time this was filming. He hasn’t lost a step during that hiatus, delivering the comedy he never gets to do, along with sprinkles of the grizzled drama we’ve come to know him for. Oscar Knightley often steals the show as the overly optimistic soccer federation chief, and Kaimana brings great emotion to her role as Jaiyah, the first openly non-binary and transgender international soccer player. It is a shame that Waititi and co-writer Iain Morris don’t invest enough in her story, leaving her importance a distant second to Rongen’s despite their similar screen presence. Next Goal Wins makes fans out of all of us, both thanks to Waititi’s skill and the simple goal it strives for. It’s effortlessly watchable, uncontroversial, and full of good vibes, making it one of the best options for the family this year. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Alien: Romulus August 14, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen With each passing year, the meeting scene from The Matrix Resurrections gets more and more prescient. Focus group research, marketing trends, brand imaging, and keyword association are the tools of the trade nowadays, especially when you’re working with a franchise as long in the tooth as Alien . It’s not hard to imagine what was yuppied around the 20th Century corporate office when devising the concept for Romulus , which essentially serves as a grab bag of all the recognizable (and liked) aspects of the previous movies. It had to have a Xenomorph skulking around the pitch-black corridors of a steel trap spaceship. It had to have a face hugger, which would eventually lead to someone’s chest bursting open. While people weren’t generally fans of Prometheus or Alien: Covenant , they did enjoy Michael Fassbender’s portrayal of a calculating android companion, so that also has to be an element. There also needs to be a woman in a tank top running around with a gun, and a bunch of crew members that become more expendable as the movie goes on. However enthusiastically co-writer/director Fede Álvarez goes about ticking off all these boxes on his studio-mandated to-do list, there is always the feeling that he’s bowling with the bumpers on. It’s hard to truly appreciate a strike (or, in this case, a modest spare) when the risk of rolling a gutter ball was never there to begin with. But after quite a few missteps in the nearly forty years since the original Alien and Aliens , the thought of “playing it safe” should come as no surprise. There are also no surprises in the methodology Álvarez and co-writer Rodo Sayagues employ to move our central characters into the claustrophobic spaceship housing the most terrifying life form in the universe. Five young individuals have been born and raised in a mining colony, none of them ever laying eyes on the sun. Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her android brother Andy (David Jonsson) have been continually denied permission to leave the planet on account of corporate greed and malfeasance. When a deserted station is found floating right above their heads by some of her fellow poverty-stricken friends, Rain reluctantly sees it as the escape opportunity she’s always been denied. From there, we discover that this station was not abandoned willingly, but taken over by force by an unknown killing machine. Production designer Naaman Marshall does an excellent job of recreating the cold interior through practical means, complete with enough tech to identify the extraterrestrial foe, but never enough to put it down for good. The leisure pacing of the initial half instantly ramps up once blood and guts start spilling, with Álvarez leaning on his visceral skills from his 2013 Evil Dead remake to make you squirm in your seat. Bones crunch loudly as limbs become unattached, and creaks and groans occupy every corner of the ship as the aliens lurk around waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The thought of this original being planned for a Hulu release is almost as sickening, as no home could compare to the sensory-deprived fear you get from the cinema. For both good and bad reasons, “for the fans” would be the correct way to define the energy that Álvarez instills within every moment. Homages, callbacks, and blatant winks occupy much of the foreground and background, creating an unavoidable stench of desperation as the studio hopes your Pavlovian responses kick in at the sight of franchise favorites. A certain famous phrase is reintroduced for climactic effect, although the context of the moment instills more groans than cheers. The young cast hold their own against the decades-old trapping they’re up against. Spaeny has become one of the most dependable young actresses working today, with her work in Civil War marking quite the impressive double bill this year. While androids don’t figuratively possess a soul, Jonsson brilliantly finds the compassion necessary for Andy. He is, without a doubt, the highlight of the film, fully living up to the robotic work that Ian Holm and Michael Fassbender previously did within the franchise. Romulus doesn’t have the benefit of being ambitious, which is why it can count itself lucky for executing well on its surface-level objectives. Ridley Scott’s last two ventures into this universe may have been better for its overall health, but this provides the much-needed steroid for it to continue at all. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Run Rabbit Run February 7, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Run Rabbit Run had its World Premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Netflix will release it on its streaming platform on June 28. Two things are entirely predictable within Run Rabbit Run , debuting at this year's Sundance Film Festival as part of the Midnight Madness section. The first is that Sarah Snook is terrific in the lead role, stripping away her ultra-rich American vibe from Succession and donning her native accent and a plain demeanor. The second predictable thing is the entire plot, right down to character motivations and specific moments where we're supposed to feel scared. It's nearly impossible to feel an authentic level of terror when those elements are so transparent, so all we end up doing is staring blankly at the screen waiting for what we expect to happen to actually happen. Snook plays Sarah (why make things more complicated?), a single-mother fertility doctor in Southern Australia. She appears to be on decent terms with her ex-husband, who pops in to help celebrate their daughter Mia's seventh birthday. But just as one life is being celebrated, another is being mourned. Sarah's father recently passed away, leaving her in charge of the medical care for her senile mother, who is housed in a care facility. Mia has an odd fascination with Sarah's parents, even though she's never met them. She's constantly asking questions about them and decides to take on the persona of Alice to be closer to them. Things continually get darker from there, with Mia’s (or now Alice’s) actions becoming unexplainable, including creepy drawings and claiming to have memories of past lives. Run Rabbit Run is a film littered with symbolism, with the title providing a preview of what animal will be used to conjure up creepy imagery. Director Daina Reid and cinematographer Bonnie Elliot produce some interesting shots, with the white fluffiness of the titular animal providing a stark contrast to the gloomy shadows within Sarah's home and psyche. There's also a decent score provided by the duo of Mark Bradshaw and Marcus Whale, who's semi-regularly partnered with some of Australia and New Zealand's top filmmakers, such as Jane Campion on Bright Star and Top of the Lake . The low strings cut deep to the bone, with occasional pop whenever the terror becomes more in-your-face. "In-your-face" would also be an accurate way to describe Hannah Kent's script, which reveals so many clues early on that it takes little effort to figure out the "twist" ending by the midway mark. Sarah doesn't like to talk about her past, with her mother dropping hints along the way on account of her dementia. A few all too obvious glances at pictures and emphasis on words by the mother tell you all you need to know about what the name Alice means. And if that wasn't obvious enough, the final thirty minutes hammer it home with the same intensity as a nineteenth-century gold miner. It's almost a surface-level cliché at this point to compare this film to The Babadook , but the parallels are so on-the-nose that I feel like I wouldn't be fulfilling my professional duties if I didn't. Plenty of good horror movies have been copies of those that came before them, but they had to earn their keep through inventive ideas surrounding well-worn topics. Run Rabbit Run doesn't do any of that, pedaling the same "elevated" scares that we've partially become numb to at this point. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Last Duel October 18, 2021 By: Button Hunter Friesen At 83 years old, Ridley Scott is quite the inspiration. With a directorial career that spans nearly 2,500 commercials and countless films - such as Alien , the Best Picture-winning Gladiator , and The Martian - no one would blame him to hang it all up and retire to the countryside. But Scott has never known the definition of the word “break” and has tasked himself with increasingly tougher work the more he ages, with 2021 seeing the release of two major tentpole films in The Last Duel and House of Gucci . The latter of that pair bows at Thanksgiving, with the former hitting theatres this past weekend. In an extended prologue surrounding the titular bout between Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) and Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), The Last Duel sets up what to expect, such as the grey dourness of the setting and story, lensed exquisitely by Scott’s longtime cinematographer Darius Wolski. Atop both of the knights is the petulant King Charles VI, who is more than giddy for some bloodshed. And standing between the duelists is Marguerite de Carrouges (a terrific Jodie Comer), whose fate is linked to the outcome. Before any of the men meet their maker, we flashback sixteen years prior, to a time when they were dear friends. Broken up into three chapters, the film follows the unique perspectives of the three central individuals as it tracks the events that led to the duel. This Rashomon - inspired structure is where Scott, along with Damon and Ben Affleck in their first credited screenplay since Good Will Hunting , show off their brilliance. The first chapter is “The truth according to Jean de Carrouges.” In Jean’s eyes, he’s a righteous knight that has been wronged by those that deserve less than him. Despite his proud military record, his squire Jacques is shown favor by Count Pierre (a bleach blonde Affleck), who gifts Jacques with a vast piece of land once promised to Jean. The growing resentment between the two reaches a tipping point when Jean’s new wife, Marguerite, accuses Jacques of rape. But “The truth according to Jacques Le Gris” sees things differently. Jean is headstrong and foolhardy, easily leading Pierre to favor Jacques’s worldliness. Jacques feels that Jean is wasting the sophistication of Marguerite and that he is the only person that truly appreciates her. Therefore, his sexual act cannot be classified as rape, since the two of them are meant for each other. Not that it’s much of a spoiler of what the actual truth is, but “The truth according to Marguerite de Carrouges” displays the words “the truth” for an extra couple of seconds before fading away. This chapter is written by the talented Nicole Holofcener, as Damon and Affleck felt they were unqualified to write from a female perspective. Marguerite’s truth sees both Jean and Jacques as squabbling children using the pretexts of duty and honor to mask their cruelty. The rape scene is played again, this time amplifying the excruciating horror of the act, prompting a necessary uncomfortable feeling within the viewer. Her accusation against Jacques is met with hostility from both Jean and the rest of France, as rape is not considered a crime against a woman, but a property matter. The greatness of the film’s structure is that it creates a puzzle where the pieces are constantly shifting in size and placement. Even a simple act, such as a handshake between Jean and Jacques, is seen from three angles, each eliciting a different response. It’s fascinating to watch as the web of lies and truth becomes increasingly difficult to parse, with Scott supplying the necessary inertia to keep the film moving at a great pace. And the final duel more than lives up to expectations, especially when compared to the high bar Scott has set for himself within his filmography. There have been only a handful of final battles that weren’t already decided by the plot before they begin, and this is one of them. There’s an exciting amount of tension as the knight's exchange blows in agonizing brutality. Bolstered by spectacle and substance, The Last Duel is one of Ridley Scott’s finest films. It’s one of the few films in 2021 to exceed my expectations, and one of the few blockbusters of the modern age to be propelled by collaborative artistry, rather than preconceived properties and overblown budgets. More Reviews 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple January 13, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Rip January 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Dead Man's Wire January 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Chronology of Water January 9, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen