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Unfrosted May 3, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen We’ve had a lot of corporate biopics over the past year: Air , Tetris , Flamin’ Hot , Pain Hustlers , BlackBerry , The Beanie Bubble , and Barbie (it still counts), just to name a few. And while they’ve ranged from really good to state-run propaganda, they’ve all lacked the one critical thing that separates the greats from the classics: a burning desire to care. Sure, I love basketball (I write this in a euphoric state as my long-suffering Minnesota Timberwolves are finally making a playoff run) and there’s a bit of a compelling underdog story to Air , but how much can I expect myself to care when I know the story ends with everyone making billions of dollars? What sort of satisfaction was I supposed to feel in Tetris when Taron Egerton outsmarts the evil monopolistic businessmen, only for his company to eventually become the same sort of corporate behemoth decades down the road? In steps Jerry Seinfeld, who takes the director’s chair for the first time. The man behind the famously titled “show about nothing” is here to do the opposite of what everyone else has been feigning over the past year. Be honest, do you really need to know the story of how Pop-Tarts came into existence? If so, is that information worth two hours of your life? Of course not! So let’s break the mold of these stodgy rags-to-riches-to-greed biopics and stop pretending to care about the “truth” behind the products that run the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lqRPUhPfho The space race has been replaced with breakfast toaster pastries in Unfrosted . Kellogg’s and Post, both located in the “Cereal City” of Battle Creek, Michigan, have their sights set on being the first to the market. Team Kellogg’s is comprised of product specialist Bob Cabana (Seinfeld), CEO Edsel Kellogg III (Jim Gaffigan), and lab whiz Donna Stankowski (Melissa McCarthy). Across the road at Post is Marjorie Post (Amy Schumer) and her beleaguered second-in-command, Rick Ludwin (Max Greenfield). It’s weird to say a biopic’s best quality is its disregard for reality, but that’s exactly the kind of strength that Unfrosted proudly wears on its sleeve. This is the kind of movie where the now 70-year-old Seinfeld plays a typical suburban dad with two young kids, and someone says, “Pack your bags. We’re going to Moscow!” and then they’ll be there the very next scene. Quite a few people perish along the way to perfecting the Pop-Tart formula, prompting one of the funniest lines from a now-widow, “Why did my husband die!?! Isn’t this a cereal company?!” Seinfeld’s response? A slight shrug. There is a very distinct SNL feel to the whole thing, which only gets increasingly accented with each SNL cast member cameo (Fred Armisen, Kyle Mooney, Beck Bennett, Bobby Moynihan, Darrell Hammond, etc.). Jokes are flying a mile a minute, most of them feeling as if they were written the week of filming and there wasn’t enough time to fully workshop them. There are some classic Seinfeld zingers and wordplay, but nothing to the extent of what he’s produced before. I guess that’s to be expected when a screenplay has four credited writers (Seinfeld, Spike Feresten, Andy Robin, Barry Marder). Hugh Grant as a pretentious Laurence Olivier type who plays Tony the Tiger is often a riot. McCarthy and Schumer are pretty much going through the motions, which still makes for a few decent bits. It’s all a farce that makes for an inoffensive 90 minutes on Netflix. Watch it, or don’t. I don’t think Seinfeld himself really cares, and I don’t think anyone else will either. It’s definitely the lesser of two evils when compared to the forced reverence we’ve been experiencing in this ever-growing subgenre. Netflix will release Unfrosted on its streaming service on May 03rd. More Reviews The Super Mario Galaxy Movie March 31, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen The Drama April 1, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Project Hail Mary March 10, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice March 25, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

A Complete Unknown December 10, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Featuring no less than two documentaries by Martin Scorsese ( No Direction Home, Rolling Thunder Revue ), an inspired-by-the-life biopic by Todd Haynes ( I'm Not There ), and countless other portrayals and parodies, much of cinema has devoted itself to telling the story of Bob Dylan. The sum of it all could lead a person to wonder what's left to be mined. But that's not really the question being asked in the production offices in and around Hollywood. The real question is what audiences are left to hear this story. For all their critical acclaim, documentaries and experimental biopics can only reach a relatively low viewership ceiling, leaving the vast majority of the moviegoing public untapped. That's where A Complete Unknown comes in, a straightforward studio biopic featuring all the trimmings that have defined this cornerstone genre of the industry for decades. And in a year where more than one of these ventures down the Wikipedia page has landed with a sour note ( Bob Marley: One Love , Back to Black ), there's a comforting feeling to seeing the old reliable go off without a hitch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdV-Cs5o8mc It's out with the old and in with the new at the start of the story, although the old was never really born to begin with. Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) finds himself the elder statesman of folk music in the early 1960s, a minuscule subgenre in desperate need of revitalization after decades of weary tales inspired by the Dust Bowl and other rural hardships. Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), Pete's best friend and closest contemporary in terms of star power, sits in a New Jersey hospital unable to speak from the then-unknown Huntington's Disease. During one of Pete's visits, a Minnesota-born drifter named Bobby Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) walks in to perform a song he wrote for Woody. The rest is history from there; a quick rags-to-riches story where the price of fame crashes down on our humble hero. While all of that is more or less true within veteran screenwriter Jay Cocks and director James Mangold's script, Bob Dylan is not humble nor the virtuosic hero of this story. What Mozart is to classical music in Amadeus , Dylan is to folk music in A Complete Unknown . He's a bit of an asshole, denying people common social courtesy and always looking to rebel against the status quo. Luckily for him, everyone else in America is starving for a shakeup to the system. Thanks to his politically active girlfriend at the time, Sylvie (Elle Fanning), Dylan found himself at the forefront of the culture wars. How much this shift in national ideology influenced his early music isn't fully explained, a deft decision by Cocks and Mangold to retain Dylan's titular persona. The constant pouring of musical genius from Dylan lends itself to nearly fifty music sequences, all of them featuring Chalamet vocals and hands on the guitar. Mangold never lets us forget that fact, keeping his camera steady on the target and the editing to a minimum. It allows the performances to breathe, matching the more mellow wavelength that folk songs operate on. The frames often remain beautiful without the melodies, the cinematography by Phedon Papamichael, and the production design by François Audouy illuminating with the warm hues of the decade. Chalamet fits the rest of Dylan's persona with ease. It'd be easy to label the voice, mannerisms, and chainsmoking as overacting, but that's just the kind of person Dylan was. Often up on the stage with him is Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, the pair creating a wonderful harmony. Both she and Sylvie have to experience The Bob Dylan Show at all hours of the day, the mixture of half-truths and tall tales breaking down any hope of a lasting relationship. The only one who gets a portion of a rosy experience is Pete, with Norton surprising in a cuddly performance after several thorny decades. Boyd Holbrook makes a few appearances as Johnny Cash, an almost meta decision considering Mangold's helming of the singer's 2005 biopic Walk the Line . Mangold has learned a thing or two since then, trusting his audience a little more and painting around his protagonists just as much as he does within the lines. Those brushstrokes are big and broad, creating a rich experience that soothes our eyes and ears. Searchlight Pictures will release A Complete Unknown in theaters nationwide on December 25th. 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

Magellan January 24, 2026 By: Button Hunter Friesen Running 160 minutes, Magellan could be considered a short film for Filipino writer/director Lav Diaz. Often also serving as his own cinematographer and editor, it is not abnormal for one of his films to eclipse the three-hour mark. Two of his most acclaimed works are The Woman Who Left (winning the Golden Lion at the 2016 Venice Film Festival) and Season of the Devil , both clocking in at nearly four hours. A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery reaches eight hours, Melancholia and A Tale of Filipino Violence are seven, and From What Is Before is five-and-a-half. Apart from its reduced runtime, Magellan also contrasts on account of its exponentially grander scale and scope. Almost all of the previously mentioned films were shot in black-and-white with consumer-level HD and DSLR cameras, extremely inexpensive compared to traditional productions. For this film, €2 million was allotted, still a small amount for a story taking place on multiple continents and headlined by a major international star in Gael García Bernal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h7rriQD1qc The relative brevity of this film was initially not by design; the project was first announced in 2019 under the title of Beatriz, The Wife . The goal was to depict the life of Ferdinand Magellan through the eyes of his younger wife, whom he married just before his expedition, and then never saw again. True to his form, Diaz is still working on a much lengthier sort of sequel to Magellan with the extra footage , which will fulfill that promise. Here, she is essentially a cameo, a brief moment of solace between Ferdinand’s perilous journeys. That choice is in service to this specific story, as Magellan sees the titular explorer as little more than power-hungry and only out for himself. Magellan left Spain in 1519, seeking to reach the Spice Islands of Southeast Asia. He sailed west, intending to prove that there was a faster route than going under the southern tip of Africa. For two years, he and his crew sailed across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, eventually making landfall in the eastern Philippines. They were the first European contact for the native people, bringing the word of God with them. Of course, this view of Christianity is still strictly conservative, with two homosexual crewmen being executed midway through the journey. All physical renderings of local idols are immediately burned, with any displays of worship being swiftly punished. As Bender once said in Futurama : “The whole world must learn of our peaceful ways... by force!” For many Filipinos, the legend of Ferdinand Magellan is one marked by bloodlust and outsized ambition, a symptom of the European disease to conquer rather than cooperate. Working with cinematographer Artur Tort, a frequent collaborator of the similarly patient director Albert Serra, Diaz constructs breathtakingly painterly frames. Within the 4:3 ratio, both the background and foreground contain a multitude of plot strands, their naked truth revealing the spoken lies. In one moment, Ferdinand kneels to pray to God in gratitude, with several native corpses lying near him. Although he often bristles against the idea of ‘Slow Cinema,’ Diaz is very much a part of that community, along with other revered filmmakers like Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Bela Tarr, and Theo Angelopoulos. The camera sits motionless for minutes on end, equally capturing both the epic and mundane. It replicates the pace of a journey, the ecstasy not all that much different than the endless agony. You’re lulled into the film’s liminal flow of time, a witness to the tragically pathetic expansion of Western civilization. Others may be lulled to sleep, their slumber never interrupted due to the film’s absence of any noise above a whisper. Even with its length, much of Magellan still feels surface-level. Granted, this is not meant to be the definitive portrait of the man, as evidenced by the fact that we don’t get a good look at him until at least an hour in. Diaz is more concerned with repercussions than reinterpretations, the slippery slope this specific part of the world has been on for more than five centuries. Many of the lessons are still being learned the hard way, with the only difference being the way they’re dressed. Janus Films will release Magellan in select theaters on January 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

The Friend March 28, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen I first saw The Friend as part of the Toronto International Film Festival back in September, squeezing it into my schedule on the final Saturday, making it the second-to-last film in my 37-film bonanza. I rushed over to the Scotiabank Theatre from the premiere of The Deb , scarfing down a corn dog as the festival volunteer rattled off the perfunctory introductory remarks. I then scurried out of the theater as soon as the credits began, my body and mind in go mode as I went a few blocks to catch the Midnight Madness screening of The Shadow Strays . What I just described in that four-ish hour chunk illustrates the sins of my gluttony when it comes to film festivals. In the race to see everything, many films become boxes to check off. The Friend was one of those films, largely due to the fact that it didn't grab me right away, making it easy to shrug off. But in the six months since then, it's lingered moderately well, raising my guilt as to how I originally treated it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Df2g0Gl6o If your best friend were to die and their will stipulated that you adopt their miniature horse, would you be able to do it? Let's also preface that question with the fact that you're not a pet person, and you have a rent-controlled apartment in Manhattan that prohibits animals in the building. This is the central question posed to Iris (Naomi Watts) after her best friend Walter (Bill Murray) suddenly dies from suicide. Now, Walter didn't own a literal miniature horse in New York City. No, that would be absurd. But he did have a 185-pound Great Dane named Apollo that he adopted in a spur-of-the-moment decision while he was out on a jog. Now that Walter is gone, the dog has no master and will be indefinitely impounded if Iris doesn't step up to the plate. Suddenly coming home with a horse-sized dog is not a surprising move for Walter. He's also got three ex-wives - Elaine (Carla Gugino), Tuesday (Constance Wu), and Barbara (Noma Dumezweni) - as well as numerous flings with current and former students. He's the Bill Murray type, the life of every party and a lovable headache for everyone who gets close to him, Iris included. Murray's casting is pretty spot-on compared to the description from Sigrid Nunez's novel (she also wrote What Are You Going Through , the basis for the recent Pedro Almodóvar film The Room Next Door ), and his larger-than-life presence is always felt despite his limited screentime. For as much as The Friend would seem like the typical "dog helps a depressed human land back on their feet" kind of film, the writer/director duo of David Siegel and Scott McGehee flips much of that script. Dogs may be known as man's best friend, which would also mean we're their best friend. You'd be depressed if your best friend unexpectedly committed suicide, so why wouldn't a dog? Apollo is played by the canine actor Bing, who showcases his immense skills as a thespian. Bing/Apollo doesn't have the wet eyes of your usual cinematic dogs, something that always felt like a bit of a cheat code to our hearts. His face is blank as he solemnly stares at Iris whenever she tries to command him; his sighs are heavy every time he plops down in her bed. Things still move in a pretty predictable pattern. Iris' initial frustrations eventually become opportunities for her to embrace the chaos and redefine her life. Watts is at her usual best, working with a sturdy supporting cast and a few standout cathartic scenes. Dog lovers are very much the target audience for this story, and I'm sure they're going to eat it up. But even if you're someone like me who is neither a pet person nor found myself immediately hooked by what's being sold, allow it to linger in the days and weeks that follow. Like adopting an animal, this is a long-term investment. Bleecker Street will release The Friend in select theaters on March 28th, followed by a nationwide expansion on April 04th. 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

After Yang March 7, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen What does it mean to be human? It’s a question that has baffled the greatest minds for thousands of years. There is no single answer, and just about every possible answer produces another exponential round of questions. But despite the daunting task set upon by any sedulous searcher, 2021 and 2022 have seen several filmmakers offer their own opinion on the matter. Revered master Apichatpong Weerasethakul gave us Memoria , a film with a meditative atmosphere that not so much answers questions, but leads the viewer down their path of contemplation. Through the process of human cloning, Benjamin Cleary’s Swan Song begged the question, can human identity be passed on and perfectly emulated by inorganic beings? Through the use of two brilliant Mahershala Ali performances, Cleary’s delicate parable of lost love showed the power of interconnectedness. And now, debuting before and after the previously mentioned films with its early Cannes world premiere and its U.S. premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, comes After Yang , a mixture of reality and poetry that breathes through its slow-brew atmosphere. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwp32zLc08c The second half of the title comes from the name of the perfectly human-like android within the multi-racial household of father Jake (Colin Farrell), mother Kyra (Jodie Turner-Smith), and child Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja). Yang was brought into the fold at the same time as Mika was adopted from China as a way to connect her to her ancestral roots. For years, life has gone by as planned with Jake overseeing his tea shop, and Yang acting as Mika’s main point of contact for her identity crises. One day, that peaceful cycle breaks down when Yang enters a catatonic state. As they attempt to bring him back, Jake and Kyra learn more about Yang’s deeper connection to their daughter and the memories he harbored in a life outside his family. Writer/director Kogonada started out in video essays examining the themes of some of cinema's greatest auteurs, such as Alfred Hitchcock, Yasujirō Ozu, and Ingmar Bergman. And now, with only two films to his name, Kogonada is already entering the conversation as one of the best humanistic directors of the modern era. His previous feature, Columbus , made use of precise visuals that synchronized with the gentle storytelling. It was a high-wire act of writing and directing made to look remarkably simple. After Yang maintains that same level of stillness as it transplants its setting from modern Indiana to the distant future, where all of humanity has melded into a semi-perfect homogenous society. Production designer Alexandra Schaller takes an East Asian inspiration for the architecture, complete with straight lines, tranquil gardens, and minimalist spaces. The stillness transfers to the performances as well, with Farrell at his most introspective and compelling. It harkens back a bit to his work with Yorgos Lanthimos in The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer , with the dialed-back emotions and an everyman disposition. He serves as a perfect gateway into this strange, new world. The parts where the film reaches its peak are the sequences where Jake accesses Yang’s memories. In those moments, everything within the film seemingly comes together, as Kogonada (also serving as his own editor) leans into the humanistic side of Alexander Weinstein’s 2016 short story. From his memories, Jake sees the empathy and compassion that Yang experienced and shared over time, and how he passed them on to Mika through everyday lessons. The string-filled music of ASKA brings overwhelming emotional power when it gets paired with heartbreaking visuals. After Yang is full of grace and compassion, with a touch of melancholy to make it a truly reflective experience of the human soul. It merges American sci-fi with the softer side of independent cinema, which makes it a perfect project to be under the A24 umbrella. An official release date has yet to be announced, which has justifiably angered cinephiles who have been left out in the cold. But when the day comes that this gem is opened for all to see, that patience will be greatly rewarded. A24 and Showtime will release After Yang simultaneously in select theaters and on streaming on March 04th. 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

Stars at Noon June 1, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen Despite being one of France’s leading auteurs, Claire Denis's best works have ventured away from her native country. From her directorial debut, Chocolat , to Beau Travail to White Material , Denis has infused her material with her experiences from her upbringing as a West African colonist as a young girl. Because of that life, Denis has always found herself an outsider in French cinema, which bleeds into her characters and the circumstances they find themselves in. Who else would come up with the idea of the “Fuck box” in High Life ? And while still emulating that same feeling of otherness as she transplants two white people into Central America for Stars at Noon , Denis’ English-language feature is a poorly made and uninteresting story of love in the wrong place and time. Set in either the 1980s or modern-day, depending on what logline you’re given (even though the presence of smartphones and COVID-19 kind of makes the 1980s setting a bit of a stretch), Stars at Noon is an adaptation of Denis Johnson’s novel of the same name. While the timeline of the events is different, the plot remains the same, which also inspires several questions. If the events have been changed to the modern-day, why has the ultra-80s plot of the CIA meddling with Central American politics in fear of communism remained unchanged? Maybe Denis is trying to infuse her trademarked otherworldliness into this story, even if it backfires completely and strips away any of her usual political and cultural bite? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg3EQ1_zRow That same tactic seems to have inspired the editing, which, according to reports, was rushed to be submitted in time for the festival. Just based on the eye test, those reports seem to have been true, with scenes being so fragmented they might as well have been transported out of a Terrence Malick film. Margate Qualley plays Trish, a failed journalist stuck in Nicaragua. To make ends meet, she enters into sexually charged relationships with influential figures. Her dead-end way of life soon gets turned around by the sudden appearance of Daniel (Joe Alwyn), another journalist. Daniel’s exact line of journalism is a complete mystery, but he’s got enough money and good looks to become Trish’s next fling. Despite the story saying that the two characters immediately hit it off and fall madly in love, it’s impossible to see that on the screen due to the serious lack of chemistry between the two stars. Reportedly, Alwyn was Denis’ third choice for the role of Daniel after originally casting Robert Pattinson and Taron Egerton. Having either of those two in the role would have spiced things up, but it’s doubtful they could have saved this mess. None of this is to say Denis doesn’t try to make the sparks fly between her two love birds. Approximately eight sex scenes are peppered throughout, each one seemingly being used as a life preserver to sustain waning audience interest. To Qualley and Alwyn’s benefit, no one could make bricks from straw with the dialogue handed to them. During sex scene #5 , Alwyn’s passionless reading of the line “Suck me” seemed to have broken the minds of the uninterested Cannes audience, with unintentional laughter spreading like wildfire throughout the crowd. There’s also the embarrassing Zoom cameo by John C. Reilly, who’s clearly talking to a screen in his backyard, and the odd introduction and relationship of Benny Safdie as a CIA agent tasked with uncovering Daniel’s work, which is never truly revealed. It’s a rare instance of nothing working as well as it should. Because of its down-to-the-wire production timeline, all non-Cannes viewers may benefit from the film being possibly re-worked before general release. But until then, Denis’ return to Cannes after all these years has resulted in a hugely disappointing and slightly embarrassing work that wastes a wonderful opportunity to combine the talents of all those involved. This review was originally published from the world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. A24 will release Stars at Noon in select theaters on October 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

Fair Play February 2, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Netflix must have had big Promising Young Woman prospects when spending a festival-record $20 million on writer/director Chloe Domont's debut feature, Fair Play . Fennell's 2020 Oscar-winning film has laid the path for similarly biting films to gain recognition, and Domont follows close to that model with her thrilling examination of gender politics and relationships within the corporate world. But while Fair Play is quite provocative with its mixture of sex and violence, much of it comes to its detriment when the credibility of its authenticity comes into question during the third-act climax. Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) are the usual extremely motivated Wall Street up-and-comers that you've come to expect. Along with their undying motivation for their careers, they also can't take a break from each other. Their physical passion is unmatched, evidenced by an impromptu hookup in the bathroom at Luke's brother's wedding, which Luke wildly takes as an opportunity to propose. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vICUPlr3EEI Despite now proving their undying love for each other in private, they must keep their relationship a secret in public, as they both work for the same high-stakes hedge fund where office romance is strictly forbidden. The couple makes it work most of the time, professionally speaking to each other and only passing glances when no one is looking. But all bets are off when a senior employee is fired, and his position is up for grabs. The pair must juggle their ambitions with their loyalty to each other, along with keeping their indiscretions under the rug. Domont depicts the world of high finance as a pressure cooker that melts even the brightest people down into monsters. If Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street (smartly) glorified the life of wheeling and dealing, Fair Play offers a sobering reality. A glaring Eddie Marsan sits in his corner office, ready to berate his employees at any moment. The underlings are constantly pitted against each other, with loyalty disintegrated whenever the slightest hint of upward mobility comes into play. Emily and Luke initially try their best to sidestep the rat race, with each offering the usual "may the best man win" rhetoric. But when Luke makes that statement, he means it literally, as it slowly starts to dawn on Emily that he sees a significant difference between them based on their gender. Ehrenreich brings that toxic alpha-male energy to Luke. He's someone who says all the right things to your face (usually laced with an unhealthy amount of curse words), but you know he doesn't believe any of it. This is a world where men usually get what they want, and their inflated egos come crashing down when they’re "unfairly" passed over. Domont doesn’t portray Emily as a saintly female in a sea of testosterone, with Dynevor, already a Netflix star through Bridgerton , packing a hard edge in her performance. There are no heroes in this story, only those who get their hands dirty and those who get them dirtier. The carnal influence of Adrian Lyne (who marked any unceremonious return last year with Deep Water ) is apparent, with Domont blending the dour and gleeful to semi-positive results. There's a hearty (and unhealthy) amount of excitement you get out of people taking down one another, even if the reasoning behind all of it is morally corrupt. Things do come off the rails alarmingly quickly during the climax when the theatricality of the situation greatly overpowers the reality. The messaging is obvious in volume, but a bit murky in tone, leaving things not as nicely wrapped as the presentation would signal. This review was originally published from the world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Netflix will release Fair Play in select theaters on September 29th, followed by its streaming premiere on October 13th. 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 Woman in Cabin 10 October 10, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Keira Knightley stars in The Woman in Cabin 10 , not to be confused with Emily Blunt in The Girl on the Train , Amy Adams in The Woman in the Window , Danielle Deadwyler in The Woman in the Yard , or Kristen Bell in The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window . It might be a worrying sign that studios are still producing entries into this female-driven modern Rear Window subgenre, even after it has reached the point of self-parody. The Woman in Cabin 10 isn't here to be a change of pace, or even to be the sharpest knife in the drawer. That would require it to be positively memorable, which it most certainly isn't. Apart from the occasional statements of red, much of this whodunnit mystery is enveloped in a sea of sleek grey. It's meant to represent the cold indifference that has permeated the modern world, of which investigative reporter Laura Blacklock (Knightley) knows all too well. Her latest piece about Kurdish female freedom fighters caused her source to be drowned in retaliation, and her uncovering of a misappropriation of funds at a well-known NGO didn't make a dent in the headlines. An opportunity for a change of pace comes her way in the form of an invitation to attend the sailing of billionaire Richard Bullmer's (Guy Pearce) mega yacht in remembrance of his wife Anne, who is nearing the end of her terminal cancer diagnosis. The journey will be attended by a group of wealthy elites, and end with a gala celebration where everyone will make exorbitant pledges to Anne's foundation. It's charity filtered through the biggest egos on the planet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QbfJzTPY4w This scenario means that The Woman in Cabin 10 is another movie where the normal main character arrives at a swanky destination under routine pretenses, only to learn that not everything is what it seems. You've probably seen this trope played out multiple times before over the last few years in stuff like Opus , Shell, Blink Twice , The Menu , etc. This movie even has a similar scene where Laura must swap out her shoes to comply with the dress code, and is notified that cell phone services are restricted while on board. This takes place in the third scene, and, if you've seen any of the films already mentioned in this review, you can very accurately guess where the rest of this story is going to go. The ensemble of guests is rich assholes, although they're all extremely generic and uninteresting. Hannah Waddingham is an art dealer, Daniel Ings is an alpha bro, Kaya Scodelario is his fake influencer girlfriend, and Paul Kaye is a vague drug-addled rockstar. Honestly, it doesn't matter, as their entire personalities are devoted to shaming Laura for ruining their weekend when she claims to have witnessed the woman in Cabin 10 being thrown overboard. However, the ship's captain insists that the room was never occupied, and no one else on board has been reported missing. Laura knows what she saw, and only has a few days to prove it before these people disembark and return to their consequence-free empires. "Tell the truth" is a phrase repeatedly used, with writers Simon Stone, Joe Shrapnel, and Anna Waterhouse rallying the everyman against the elites who believe that their wealth and power place them above the law. It's a mission statement inundated with modern culture (I'll spare you from another list of movies that have already done this), almost as if it's become gauche for a movie to simply be a piece of entertainment. The Woman in Cabin 10 is too shallow and ludicrous to be taken seriously, and too dull to have fun with. The less said about the ending, the better, in which the film thinks that all wrongs have been righted (hint: they most certainly haven't). The boat at least looks pretty, giving me another small nudge to finally book that Scandinavian cruise I've always wanted to go on. And Knightley is a very capable lead, effortlessly making the material seem much more elevated than it really is. Her presence has been sorely missed on the silver screen, with only two other films - Boston Strangler and Silent Night - to her name in the last five years. Someone needs to come along with a script worthy of her talents, because we're currently letting one of our best actors languish in mediocrity. Netflix will release The Woman in Cabin 10 on its streaming service 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

Avengers: Endgame May 2, 2019 By: Button Hunter Friesen It’s taken eleven years and twenty-two films, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe has finally reached its long-awaited bittersweet conclusion. Thanos has snapped his fingers, and half of all life on Earth is gone. With the few remaining heroes left, the Avengers embark on a revenge quest against the villain who has stolen their friends and loved ones. But just like all plans, this one doesn’t go right, and the team must now band together for one showdown to save the universe and set things right once and for all. *Forewarning, this review may be a bit shallow at times and free of specific details for the sake of not wanting to give away spoilers. So please give me the benefit of the doubt as I try to be careful with my words. After four outings, brothers Anthony and Joe Russo have firmly planted their position as the MCU’s best directors. Whether it be during somber conversations between characters or in the Lord of the Rings style final battle, the amount of detail and effort that goes into each frame is unparalleled by any other blockbuster. Regular Marvel cinematographer Trent Opaloch’s compositional lighting and camera movement are simply outstanding and keep the film running on all cylinders throughout its three-hour runtime. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcMBFSGVi1c Also keeping the energy high is the lightning pace that brothers infuse into the film’s second and third acts. They may miss the mark a bit during the first hour, but they more than make up for it in the latter two-thirds as they deliver some of the most entertaining material put to screen. Lastly, aiding the brothers is a sweeping score by the always underappreciated Alan Silvestri. His music is swiftly able to go from epic to intimate in the blink of an eye and is a key driver behind many of the overwhelming emotions felt. Co-written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, Avengers: Endgame may mark the first film in the franchise to look back on the past as opposed to solely setting up the future. The specific medium it uses to reminisce may not be the most logical or neat, but the end product is a string of touching moments that pleasantly reward fans who have stuck around all these years. After some time away from each other during Phase Three, the main core of the Avengers is finally back together, albeit under less than ideal circumstances. This initial, tighter cast allows the main troupe to get their time to shine in what could be a few send-off performances. Things start to get messy when the entire roster is put back together. Some characters get the shorter end of the stick in terms of screentime, but I don’t know how it could all be properly done unless this movie were another six hours longer (which I would still approve of). Marvel films have been built since day one on their ability to blend comedy with high emotional stakes. The stakes have never been higher here, and the same can go for the number of quippy jokes. The quality of the humor is surprisingly high throughout, but the sheer amount of one-liners during what should be tense moments verges on borderline overkill. With its bafflingly long cast list, Endgame boasts quite a few key acting highlights. The co-leads of Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans shine brighter than they ever have before. They’ve gotten better with each performance and leave it all on the screen as they share immense chemistry and everyone around them. Josh Brolin is still great as Thanos. While he doesn’t reach the high bar he set for himself in Infinity War , he still delivers another powerful performance that towers over all the other Marvel villains. Both Karen Gillan and Paul Rudd surprisingly stand out as Nebula and Ant-Man, respectively. They each have a more grounded personal story that offers a stark contrast to the epic main narrative. I realize I’m leaving a lot of great performances on the cutting room floor, but it would take a novel to talk about them all. Basically, everyone either did well or was just alright. Nobody was outright bad. Arguably the biggest pop culture moment of all time, Avengers: Endgame is a film that arrived with an infinite amount of expectations and meets every one of them. Within its 181-minute runtime, you’ll laugh, you’ll more than likely cry (I did), and most importantly, be amazed at how a legendary never-ending franchise can reach such a satisfying conclusion that both respects the past and gives confidence for the future. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures will release Avengers: Endgame in theaters nationwide on April 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

Afire August 2, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen With international films receiving more attention than ever, American audiences are becoming increasingly aware of the auteurs of global cinema, many of whom have gone unappreciated for decades. Michael Haneke, Bong Joon-ho, Paweł Pawlikowski, Thomas Vinterberg, and Ryûsuke Hamaguchi are just a few of the names that have become prevalent within the North American cinephile lexicon over the past decade. But one name that has always seemed to elude the bright lights of Western media is German filmmaker Christian Petzold. This streak of unappreciation has become part of his narrative in the United States, with The New York Times running a piece on how he “may be the best German filmmaker you’ve never heard of.” As one of the leading figures in the Berlin School movement within German independent cinema, Petzold’s films often explore themes of identity, displacement, and the impact of German national history on personal lives. He’s been a staple of his native Berlin International Film Festival, winning awards for best director in 2012 for Barbara and the FIPRESCI Prize in 2020 for Undine . His latest feature, Afire , played at the festival, winning the Silver Bear grand jury prize. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzdO_J10kEg While on the surface it may seem that Afire has less to do with Germany’s past compared to Petzold’s earlier works of Phoenix or Transit , it still finds a way to interweave the ramifications of National Socialism on German culture, specifically its works of literature and poetry. The story begins with Leon (Thomas Schubert) and Felix (Langston Uibel) on their way to Felix’s summer house to work on their artistic endeavors. Leon is an author who’s been published once before and is struggling to put the finishing touches on his follow-up manuscript. Felix is a photographer trying to assemble a portfolio to submit to an art school. However, the promise of solitude is interrupted by the introduction of additional parties: Nadja (Paula Beer) and Devid (Enno Trebs). It turns out Felix’s mom double-booked the house for the weekend, much to Leon’s displeasure as he endlessly lectures about the importance of his writing and process. But there’s also one other thing, which is the raging forest fires going on not too far away. The evening sky is red (hence the German title translating to “Red Sky”), and the warning signs are everywhere, yet these characters deny the danger and press on. Petzold took inspiration from Anton Chekhov for this summer story. Besides Leon and Felix, all of these people are new to each other, prompting discovery and conflict around certain behaviors and actions. But Petzold never finds something unique to say in this story, mostly due to the characters lacking enough interest to make up for their unlikability. Leon continually bemoans his past and present, eventually learning the predictable lesson of self-humility. Still, the performances are quite nice, especially Paula Beer, whose red dress symbolizes her radiance. She’s the sunshine that breaks through Leon’s dark clouds. It’s a slight shame that Petzold rarely lets her blossom out of that subservient role. There’s a great fire going on within the story, but nothing seems to crackle off the screen. Sideshow will release Afire in select theaters on July 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

TIFF24 Dispatch #1 September 14, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen All of the films were screened at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Click here for additional full reviews and dispatches. Select films below will receive separate full-length reviews at a later date, most likely in connection to their public releases. Better Man If you squint hard enough into this picture, you can identity the gimmick that director Michael Gracey and Robbie Williams were going for with a biopic on the pop star’s life. And if you can’t make it out, I’ll just spoil it for you (don’t worry, there’s no way Paramount will be able to avoid this revelation once they start marketing it): Williams is played by a CGI monkey using the same technology as the modern Planet of the Apes films. It’s a motif that never distracts from the proceeding action, yet never gets above its surface-level message (He feels different! Do you get it?!?). It’s also the only differentiating factor the film has from every other musical biopic. Gracey recaptures the physical magic of the set pieces from The Greatest Showman , inserting a peppy step into this 131-minute checklist. (3/5) Hard Truths Hard Truths may be Mike Leigh’s return to his trademarked genre of kitchen sink drama, but doesn’t mark his return to the levels that he was regularly clearing. There’s an honesty to this story of a London family dealing with pent-up anger and resentment, with Marianne Jean-Baptiste (reuniting with Leigh for the first time since Secrets & Lies) delivering a powerhouse performance filled with creatively side-splitting insults and pathos. But its message is also a double-edged sword, as it’s also overly familiar to audiences since the conclusion of the pandemic. Even in well-worn genres, such as period pieces and domestic dramas, Leigh has always found a way to provide his own stamp. The only time he starts to unlock a new angle for this story is right as it’s about to end, which is too little, too late. (3/5) I'm Still Here Not to be confused with the Casey Affleck-directed “documentary” on Joaquin Phoenix, Walter Salles examines his crumbling native Brazil, both on the macroeconomic level and within the microcosm of a family. Fernanda Torres, daughter of Fernanda Montenegro, who reunites here with Salles with a small supporting role after 1998’s Central Station , delivers an award-worthy performance as the matriarch of a family caught in the vice that is Brazil’s brutalist regime circa 1971. Salles finds the heart and soul of this family and their house, with love found in every nook and cranny. True heartbreak is felt once everything begins to decay, with the family being left to pick up the pieces and slowly glue them back together in the years to come. (4/5) The Return Director Uberto Pasolini delivers an extremely classical piece of filmmaking, which is both a blessing and a curse. The old-school feel of the production provides an inherent sense of sweep, while the chintzy technicals keep everything outside of believability. Of course, myths aren’t supposed to be real, but this retelling of Odysseus lacks the stamina needed to be special. The two leads, Ralph Fiennes as the title character and Juliette Binoche as Queen Penelope, are unexpectedly fantastic, retaining that romantic touch they shared decades ago in The English Patient . They are stranded, both literally and metaphorically, on an island as the supporting cast ranges from mediocre to embarrassing. Pasolini stated that very few filmmakers have attempted to adapt Homer’s works because it would be impossible to surpass a story with thousands of years of importance placed upon it. It was brave of him to take the leap, but he would have been better off hedging heeding his own warning. (3/5) 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

A Hero July 16, 2021 By: Button Hunter Friesen Without much fanfare, Iranian auteur Asghar Farhadi has become one of the most consistent filmmakers of the new millennium. His work has earned him prestigious premieres at film festivals, two Academy Awards for Best International Feature (2011’s A Separation and 2016’s The Salesman ), and the opportunity to work with some of the biggest international stars. Premiering at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (which usually serves as his launching pad) is his newest film, A Hero . Set within modern Iran, A Hero follows the life of Rahim, who is currently on a two-day parole from his prison sentence, which he is serving because of his inability to pay off a debt to a local lender. When Rahim and his girlfriend find a bag of gold coins at a bus stop, they decide to pawn them off to help pay the debt. Unfortunately, the exchange rate for the coins isn’t ideal, so they decide to do the right thing and return them to the owner. A woman comes forward to reclaim her lost property, which turns Rahim into a local celebrity for his generosity. But after some digging, hidden details start to come to the surface. Rahim’s story is put under a microscope, with many suspecting there’s more than meets the eye. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAJ6_lmr_HQ Barring his 2018 feature Everybody Knows , Farhadi has concentrated his storytelling on his home country of Iran. He has a fascination with showcasing the modern problems that its citizens often deal with, a monumentally difficult task considering the strict censorship the government puts on its artists. Despite the government initially banning him from making the film, Farhadi was able to explore the modern fallacies of divorce and gender in A Separation . A Hero taps into that same vein as Farhadi spins a web of moral and ethical quandaries so dense that it would give the world’s leading philosophers a headache. Often compared to the great Alfred Hitchcock for his knack for suspenseful drama, Farhadi structures his film with a rapid pace, both in terms of setting and plot progression. Taking place entirely throughout Rahim’s two-day parole, the film covers a lot of material in a short amount of time. And this material isn’t clean and dry stuff, as much of it contains complicated details and extensive critical thinking without the guarantee of a satisfying answer. Unlike Hitchcock, Farhadi is quite invisible in his direction. Like the master that he is (which isn’t to say Hitchcock isn’t a master), Farhadi is always present, but never visible. There isn’t anything showy about his work as the story and actors carry the film from beginning to end. His reluctance to overtly showcase his prowess to the audience is a sign of a director confident in his abilities and the crew that he has assembled. A Hero is still filled with a few directorial flourishes, such as a perfectly framed shot here and there, with the final shot rivaling his best visual work. Where Farhadi flexes his muscles is in the jam-packed script. Like Aaron Sorkin’s work in The Social Network , there are mountains upon mountains of dialogue, all going by in the blink of an eye. This is both a blessing and a curse to the film, as it produces a rapidly evolving plot that keeps you guessing, but also overloads itself and spreads its message too thin over too many topics. The ideas of The Good Samaritan and the troubling machinations of the court of public opinion are topics rife with debate that Farhadi is expertly able to dissect, but just not at the same time. At the center of the film is Amir Jadidi as Rahim, who, like all Farhadi performers, is a captivating lead. Despite his myriad of problems, Rahim always carries around a dogged smile on his face and a sliver of optimism in his mind. You’re attracted to him as a character because of this and feel betrayed by him once more light is shed on the truth. While he may not be working at the absolute height of his power, Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero is still a feature by a master storyteller doing what he does best. There’s a lot to learn and digest, with some of the material being quite rough around the edges. Few filmmakers are as gifted as Farhadi at showing the complicated nature of everyday life. This review was originally published from the world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Amazon Studios will release A Hero in select theaters on January 07th, followed by its streaming premiere on January 21st. 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