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Another Simple Favor May 1, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen On the set of the 2004 film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera , a fellow actress loudly complained that Minnie Driver was playing her character up way too much. Sitting within earshot, director Joel Schumacher glanced up from his newspaper and said, “Oh, honey, no one ever paid to see under the top.” Although they have never worked together professionally and there’s no online record of them personally knowing each other, I would bet dollars to donuts that fellow director Paul Feig has that quote plastered above his office doorframe and repeated it several times throughout the production of Another Simple Favor . None of us is here to witness realism, or a masterclass examination of the human condition. No, we’re all here for the ludicrousness of the murder mystery plot, the luxuriousness of the Italian setting (complete with Italian stallion hunks and mafiosos), and the gaudy costumes worn by lead actress Blake Lively. It’s too bad for Feig that Paolo Sorrentino already beat him to the punch earlier this year with the Naples-set Parthenope , which will most likely be crowned as the year's most beautiful film. But Feig still makes good on his promises, planting his flag on the island of Capri and bringing two vibrant actresses along with him. The story picks up five years after the events of A Simple Favor . Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) has turned all those chaotic twists and turns into a true-crime novel. But interest amongst buyers has been low, and her son has a full-blown case of teenage angst. She needs a spark, something to get her out of the doldrums. That arrives in the form of Emily (Lively), fresh out of prison on appeal and insistent on Stephanie serving as her Maid of Honor at the destination wedding she’s hastily thrown herself into. The celebration includes ex-husband Sean (Henry Golding), Emily’s fiancé Dante (Michele Morrone, a camp legend for his work in the 365 Days trilogy), and a heated rivalry between the island’s mafia families. It’s all the ingredients necessary for a killer cocktail. Feig and screenwriters Jessica Sharzer and Laeta Kalogridis understand that the only thing worse than finding yourself ensnared in a revenge plot is to be unsure if the plot even exists. Apart from some offhanded threats about legal action from Emily, there’s not a good reason for Stephanie to jetset off with the woman who previously tried to kill her. But having the characters use their head wouldn’t make for a fun movie, and there is a flirtatious bond between Emily and Stephanie that prevents them from being apart. Kendrick and Lively charge up that magnetism even more in their second go-around, serving a c-word I’m not allowed to say that does get tossed around quite a bit here. I almost wish the whole movie had just been the two of them sitting on opposite sides of prison glass, exchanging catty remarks. In addition to the elements I described earlier, there’s a subplot about an FBI investigation into Emily’s criminal aunt (Allison Janney). Its entirety is what I mostly blame for this runtime being a smidge north of two hours, a nearly unforgivable sin that made me internally recreate Elaine’s reaction to The English Patient . I was never going to be the target audience for this type of film. However, those in that zone seemed to have a wonderful time with it. Unfortunately, once this film debuts on Amazon Prime, their shared theatrical experience will not be shared by everyone else. Like the characters in the film, I recommend cuddling up with a bottle of wine and the minimum amount of brain cells to comprehend the sights and sounds flashing in front of you. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Saltburn November 17, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Writer/director Emerald Fennell has wasted no time cashing in her blank check to make Saltburn , a feature-length Calvin Klein ad that slots nicely in the recent "eat the rich" movie trend (see Triangle of Sadness , Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery , and The Menu just last year). Fennell somehow molds all three of those features into one product, creating something that loves to push your buttons and make you squirm just as much as it wants you to laugh out loud. Sometimes you don’t whether to laugh or look away, making this one of the most outlandishly memorable films of the year, both for good and bad reasons. Fennell shifts her sophomore feature away from the American setting of Promising Young Woman to her native England, specifically the most British place there is: Oxford University. The freshman class of 2006 has descended upon the campus and the class divides have already been set. Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) finds himself on the lonely side of the have-nots, while people like Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi) and Farleigh Start (Archie Madekwe) sit atop their ivory towers. The silver spoon kids aren’t necessarily assholes, but there is an aura of “you and I are not equals” that permeates from them. Oliver desperately wants to be part of that clique, and, luckily for him, he gets a foot in the door through Felix, who seemingly takes him under his wing out of pity. Elordi and Keoghan look as if they’re ready to remake the Schwarzenegger/DeVito starring Twins in these opening sections. Keoghan is only a little more sociable than his homicidal character in Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer , but he’s just as carnivorous as he lusts after Felix’s body and lifestyle. It’s hard to blame him when someone like Elordi is standing right in front of you, a golden child who knows he can turn the whole room when he walks in. It’s no wonder why Sofia Coppola cast him as Elvis Presley in this year’s Priscilla . Felix’s ultimate gesture of kindness is inviting Oliver to his family’s sprawling estate, Saltburn, for the summer. There he meets the rest of the Catton aristocracy: aloof father James (Ricard E. Grant), caustic mother Elspeth (Rosamund Pike), and uncontrollable sister Venetia (Alison Oliver). Everything about the house is so sumptuous as it seemingly exists in a plane outside of mortal existence. “Time to Pretend” and “Mr. Brightside” rock the soundtrack as Oliver and the group play tennis in suits/dresses, swim in the private lake, and host parties where the minimum guest list is 200 names. For Oliver, it’s going to be impossible to go back to a regular life once he’s had a taste of the next level. Both he and Fennell ask: Do these nobles deserve the life they have, especially if all they had to do to earn it was be born? The comparisons to The Talented Mr. Ripley are aplenty, but I doubt even the misanthropic callousness of Patricia Highsmith would dare to try and reach the levels of provocation that Fennell instills within her answers. Most of it feels like substance, but some of it feels like it's here just for shock value. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as there are deeds done that you must see to believe. Let’s just say vampirism, bathtubs, and grave plots will have a whole new context when you walk out. Fennell also gets dangerously close to overplaying her hand the further down the rabbit hole she takes us. Things do get a little too outlandish for believability, undermining much of the intricately layered suspense built up over the last few hours. Keoghan, along with Linus Sandgren’s gorgeous 1.33:1 cinematography, paves over many of those faults. Their work in the final sequence makes it one of the best of the year as the knife gets twisted one final time for good measure. Saltburn ’s brain might not always equal its bite, but there’s so much self-assured showmanship that I was glad to get lost in this maze. Between being an Academy Award winner and displaying a strong disinterest in subtly, it’s hard to pin down exactly where Fennell will be pointing her darkly sharp pen and camera next. That’s just the way I want it to stay, as there’s always room for someone to push boundaries by going for broke with each step up to the plate. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

The Ballad of Wallis Island April 7, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen When The Barenaked Ladies performed their song “If I Had $1,000,000,” they mentioned that they would use the money to buy a house, a K-Car, a fur coat, exotic pets, and expensive ketchup. But what about a whole island? Well, that’s exactly what Charles (Tim Key) does in The Ballad of Wallis Island . Of course, you’d need a little more than a million dollars to do that. That’s no problem for Charles, as he won the national lottery not once, but twice. Yes, this slightly oafish man is one of the luckiest people in history. The proceeds from the first win were spent traveling the world with his wife Marie. The money eventually ran out, but not before they filled their fridge door with magnets and postcards from every place on Earth. Charles decided to be a little more fiscally responsible with the second lump sum, buying a small, secluded island in the middle of nowhere and hunkering himself there. Charles is a massive fan of the folk duo Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) & Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan). Unfortunately, the pair broke up nearly a decade ago, with McGwyer embarking on a solo career and Mortimer staying out of the music industry together. But there isn’t a problem time (and a lot of money) can’t fix. Charles separately books them to perform on his island under the guise of an intimate private event for just a few fans. Like Lindsay Lohan’s parents in The Parent Trap , this comedy of errors leads Herb and Nell to reconcile the past and the present. However, this isn’t a Disney movie where everything works itself out in the end. The romantic ballads of Herb and Nell’s past came out of a real infatuation between the two. Basden and Mulligan are great together, the former putting up a tough exterior to hide the pain he feels for being a has-been, and the latter laying it all out on the table. There’s a constant will-they-won't-they dynamic at play, although the presence of Nell’s husband Michael kind of puts a damper on that. This feature is based on the 2007 short film The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island , which Basden and Key both starred and wrote. The duo wrote the feature as well, bringing the original short director James Griffiths along for the ride. There’s a calming reassurance that permeates through the whole thing that could only be bought from nearly fifteen years of care and affection by the creatives. Cinematographer G. Magni Ágústsson provides a warm texture to this charming run-down slice of paradise. Time has also been a double-edged sword for the creatives, with some poor ideas possibly not being killed simply because they had stuck around so long. Charles is lovable, yet has a habitual need to fill any moment of silence with words. It’s a humorous tick at first but the fact that it’s trotted out nearly a dozen more times makes it immediately annoying. I wish more time had been spent on the dynamic between Nell and Herb, as their brief isolated moments are easily the most interesting parts of this story. Basden wrote nearly two dozen songs for the feature, a mixture of folk and rock. They aren’t exactly memorable, but there’s a soothing quality to them that invites you to agree with why someone like Charles would just want to live a quiet life with them as his soundtrack. The Ballad of Wallis Island is kind of like those songs, beckoning you to relax by the fire and gently search your soul. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Final 2025 Oscar Nomination Predictions January 21, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen We’re finally here! After months of festivals, box office results, and precursor awards, it’s finally time to put the chips down on who will find themselves in the Academy’s good graces. Things are much more chaotic compared to last year, where you could place Oppenheimer , Killers of the Flower Moon , Poor Things , and Barbie into nearly every category and come out with a decent record. This all leads me to my most important lesson of Oscar prognosticating: You have to go in with the mindset that you’re going to get 25% of your predictions wrong. The top score over at GoldDerby for last year’s nominations was around 80%. I like to go in with the same mindset I have for golf; which is not to make the most great shots, but to make the least bad ones. A gutsy shot tends to backfire more than it succeeds, which doesn’t bode well in a game where every shot counts. What does that mean here? It means not trying to overcomplicate things, and focusing your attention only on what’s needed. Go with the logical picks that favor the probabilities, and only go out on a limb for something you really feel is going to hit. As a focus tool, I’ve devised each category into three levels of likelihood for a nomination: Locks, Safe, and Shaky. Here’s a breakdown of how those categories are defined: Locks are virtually guaranteed to get a nomination. They’re more focused on winning the Oscar, with the nomination only being a formality. The only time you should spend on them is what it takes to write their names down on your predictions. A lock being snubbed is cause for headlines, and that’s something you can’t predict. Safes seem very likely to happen, and a snub would be a major talking point. They’ve hit pretty much every precursor they could, and have displayed support from the voting body. But there might be a hiccup in their campaign or a nagging feeling that there’s reason for doubt. Someone like Viola Davis in The Woman King fits this description. She was nominated at every precursor and is a titan in the industry. But the film just wasn’t landing in other categories, which led her to lose steam. Shaky is where you find a group of people fighting for those spots. They’ve hit some places and missed others, or their work goes against what the branch tends to favor. They might also have legitimate reasons for being a surprise nomination or a not-so-surprising snub. Something I’ve leaned away from in recent years is stats. There are just way too many variables at play: voter demographics, voter quantity, precursors influence, Academy rules, cultural sentiment, etc. It’s like debating if Magic Johnson or Steph Curry had a better NBA career. How can you compare two players who played in totally different eras and wildly different styles of play? Stats are helpful in some cases, but they should rarely be used as the primary justification for a prediction. As a matter of transparency, I will not be predicting the three short categories: Live-Action Short, Animated Short, and Documentary Short. It’s a fool’s errand to try and provide analysis for a category where I’ve seen none of the contenders and has no precursors to guide the way. I’ll just be going with the GoldDerby consensus. Without further ado, let’s get started! Best Picture Locks Conclave Emilia Pérez The Brutalist Anora Wicked Safe A Complete Unknown The Substance Dune: Part Two Shaky A Real Pain Nickel Boys Sing Sing has exemplified the "we're so back / we're so cooked" theme all season. It's done well at the smaller bodies, only to slip up once the lights get brighter. But it still has nominations for Adapted Screenplay and Lead Actor locked up, which lends just enough support to it holding on. But that PGA nomination for A Real Pain was a huge shot in the arm to go along with Kieran Culkin’s dominance, and Nickel Boys is still one of the most acclaimed films of the year. Unfortunately, I have to kick Sing Sing out, something I didn’t think was possible as I had it as a potential Best Picture winner just a few months ago. Best Director Locks Brady Corbet (The Brutalist) Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez) Safe Sean Baker (Anora) Edward Berger (Conclave) Shaky Coralie Fargeat (The Substance) The director’s branch of the Academy is only rivaled by the Documentary Feature branch in terms of being insular and having its own rules of who gets in and who doesn’t. It’s one of the few categories where you can semi-logically predict a snub for someone who has hit every precursor, or a surprise nomination for someone who hasn’t appeared anywhere else. Although Edward Berger didn't make it in for All Quiet on the Western Front despite that film's overwhelming dominance, he's firmly been promoted from outsider status and has an even bigger Best Picture contender with Conclave . The last spot seems to be between Coralie Fargeat and RaMell Ross, with the former having both the stats (GG, CCA, and BAFTA nominations) and momentum to back her up. Ross may not have either of those, but what he accomplishes in Nickel Boys is exactly the type of auteur-driven work that this branch admires. He would be following in the footsteps of Ruben Östlund and Jonathan Glazer, both of which got in when the stats said that they should be counted out. Best Original Screenplay Locks Anora (Sean Baker) The Brutalist (Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold) A Real Pain (Jesse Eisenberg) Safe The Substance (Coralie Fargeat) Shaky September 5 (Tim Fehlbaum & Moritz Binder) We likely have three films vying for one final slot: All We Imagine as Light , Hard Truths , and September 5 . The PGA nomination for September 5 illustrated that it has the most legitimate shot at a Best Picture nomination of the trio, which pretty much gets it in by default. I would have had a tougher time choosing it over All We Imagine as Light if Payal Kapadia’s film hadn’t had such an unexpectedly lackluster at the BAFTA nominations. Of course, I would not be surprised if Mike Leigh got in instead for Hard Truths , which would be his sixth career nomination in the category. But he wasn't even longlisted by his hometown BAFTA, putting a big dent in those hopes. Best Adapted Screenplay Locks Conclave (Peter Straughn) Safe Emilia Pérez (Jacques Audiard) A Complete Unknown (James Mangold & Jay Cocks) Nickel Boys (RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes) Sing Sing (Greg Kwedar & Clint Bentley) It’s been a bit of a struggle to predict the other four nominees who will eventually lose to Conclave . As I mentioned in the Best Picture category, I had Sing Sing as a cinch to win here a couple of months ago, and now I’m wondering if it stays in. Granted, there isn’t that much competition for the final slot, so I might as well see it all the way through. Best Lead Actor Locks Adrian Brody (The Brutalist) Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown) Ralph Fiennes (Conclave) Colman Domingo (Sing Sing) Safe Daniel Craig (Queer) We've been working with the same group of five men for months now. None of them have wavered, even when they were supposed to (Craig making it in at SAG was truly shocking). Sebastian Stan is the next closest contender, but for which film? The Apprentice did well at BAFTA, and he just won a Golden Globe for his performance in A Different Man . With that kind of intense vote splitting, it's hard for me to make a case for him. Best Lead Actress Locks Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez) Mikey Madison (Anora) Demi Moore (The Substance) Shaky Cynthia Erivo (Wicked) Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here) While the leading men have been sitting comfortably for months, the leading ladies have been thrown into chaos at every precursor. It feels like we've settled on a pretty sturdy set of four nominees, with that last slot being a bloodbath. There have only been two instances in the entire history of the Golden Globes where the winner of Best Lead Actress - Drama wasn't nominated at the Oscars. The first was because of a three-way tie in 1988 between Jodie Foster, Shirley MacLaine, and Sigourney Weaver (MacLaine was not Oscar-nominated), and the second was in 2008 when Kate Winslet won the Globe for Revolutionary Road, only for her to be nominated (and eventually) win in lead at the Oscar for The Reader . This year's winner, Fernanda Torres, gave a wonderful speech and appeared in a beloved movie with many passionate fans. She's still in the bubble because the Globes have been the only place she's shown up at, not even being longlisted by BAFTA. On the other hand, the Globes have been the only place that Marianne Jean-Baptiste has missed (she technically missed SAG, but that was never going to happen), which includes a historic trifecta of victories at NYFCC, LAFCA, and NSFC. Whoever misses between them, it's going to be unprecedented. And even with all that being said, there are still heavyweights like Nicole Kidman and Angelina Jolie. Neither of them has performed that well throughout the precursors, but you can never fully write them off. Best Supporting Actor Locks Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain) Safe Guy Pearce (The Brutalist) Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown) Shaky Yura Borisov (Anora) Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice) Similar to the Best Adapted Screenplay, we're finding four other nominees who will eventually lose to Kieran Culkin. Denzel Washington can get in on name alone (looking at you Roman J. Israel, Esq. ), but his miss at SAG was a little puzzling, and BAFTA was never going to help him (he’s still yet to receive a single acting nomination from them). The ascendancy of Yura Borisov has been one of the biggest stories of the season, and he's gotten in everywhere he could at this point. And then there’s Jeremy Strong, who found his way in after getting both a SAG and BAFTA nomination right as Oscar voting was starting. Best Supporting Actress Locks Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez) Ariana Grande (Wicked) Safe Isabella Rossellini (Conclave) Shaky Felicity Jones (The Brutalist) Jamie Lee Curtis (The Last Showgirl) This is the toughest acting category to predict, with Saldaña and Grande being the only names that will appear on everyone's prediction sheets. Isabella Rossellini feels pretty safe for Conclave . Her missing SAG wasn't great, but she's an industry legend, has enough other precursor support, and appears in a big Best Picture player. The same can be said for Felicity Jones (minus the legend part). I've leaned into The Substance in every other above-the-line category, but Margaret Qualley just hasn’t shown up where she’s needed to. She’s been losing lately to Jamie Lee Curtis, who we’ve learned is one of the most beloved figures in Hollywood. And she’s an excellent campaigner, so good that I just can’t bet against her. Danielle Deadwyler would also make a lot of sense after her SAG revitalization. But we already went down this road with her a few years ago for Till. Could we see a repeat, or will voters make sure this doesn't happen again? Best Cinematography Locks The Brutalist Safe Nosferatu Shaky Conclave Dune: Part Two Maria Last year’s nomination for El Conde showed that Edward Lachmann only needs an ASC nomination to have a legitimate chance of breaking into this category, which bodes well for Maria . The rest of this lineup appeared at both the BAFTA and ASC nominations, pretty much securing their spot here. We’ve known for a while that this branch has a fetish for black-and-white, so I wouldn’t be surprised if The Girl with the Needle were to sneak in. Best Film Editing Locks Conclave Safe Emilia Pérez Anora Shaky Dune: Part Two September 5 Although this category tends to be filled with top-tier Best Picture contenders, The Brutalist finds itself on the outside looking in because of its startling omissions from ACE and BAFTA. It could still get in based on pedigree, pushing out fringe contenders like Dune: Part Two and September 5 . And then there are even films like Challengers and The Substance that showed up at ACE. Best Original Score Locks The Brutalist Conclave Emilia Pérez Safe The Wild Robot Shaky Challengers It's only been a few years since Justin Hurwitz won the Golden Globe Award for Original Score for First Man , only to be totally snubbed by the Oscars. That means this year's winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross ( Challengers ) can't go into nomination morning feeling confident, especially since they were also not longlisted by BAFTA. But they're aided by the fact that there isn't a clear alternative to them. If it had to be someone, I'd look out for branch favorite Alberto Iglesias, who scored Pedro Almodóvar's The Room Next Door and was nominated for their previous collaboration for Parallel Mothers . Best Original Song Locks El Mal (Emilia Pérez) Mi Camino (Emilia Pérez) Kiss the Sky (The Wild Robot) Safe The Journey (The Six Triple Eight) Shaky Harper and Will Go West (Will & Harper) There are three things that are certain in life: Death, taxes, and Diane Warren getting an Oscar nomination. She's on 15 career nominations… with no wins. The Six Triple Eight is a blockbuster compared to the films she's gotten nominated for over the past few years (has anyone watched Tell It Like a Woman?). "Compress/Repress" got in at both the Golden Globes and CCA, so it would make sense to have it take that last slot. But I’m going to throw a bit of a curveball in the form of a documentary song, which this branch tends to favor. Best Sound Locks Dune: Part Two Wicked Emilia Pérez Safe A Complete Unknown Shaky Alien: Romulus Alien: Romulus was shortlisted in quite a few categories, so it would make sense for it to get a nomination somewhere. We had left-field nominees last year in the form of The Creator and Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One . They pushed out expected contender Napoleon , which I think will happen again for Ridley Scott and Gladiator II . Best Production Design Locks Wicked The Brutalist Dune: Part Two Safe A Complete Unknown Nosferatu While it’s hard to glean much information from the Art Directors Guild nominations due to the many categories they employ, the combination of it with the CCA and BAFTA paints a pretty accurate picture. Of course, films like Conclave and Gladiator II are just as likely to make it in, so it’s hard to be fully convinced that this will be the final five. Best Costume Design Locks Wicked Dune: Part Two Shaky Conclave Nosferatu A Complete Unknown Wicked , Dune: Part Two , and Nosferatu were all mentioned by CCA, BAFTA, and the Costume Designers Guild. That leaves two spots left, which I’m giving to the surging A Complete Unknown and heavyweight player Conclave , both netting BAFTA nominations at the exact moment for them to translate to the Oscars. Best Makeup & Hairstyling Locks The Substance Wicked Safe Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Shaky A Different Man Emilia Pérez While most craft categories have steadily given more advantages to Best Picture players over the years, this category isn't afraid to be different. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and A Different Man have highly visible work and were well represented across the various categories at the Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild. Also mentioned was Emilia Pérez , which continued a trend of that film getting mentions where you wouldn't immediately expect it to. Surprisingly, Nosferatu didn't receive a single nomination by the group, although that might have been largely due to timing as the film was released two weeks after the nominations were announced. Regardless, the aversion this branch has to horror makeup makes me hesitant to think it will get in. Best Visual Effects Locks Dune: Part Two Wicked Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Safe Better Man Shaky Alien: Romulus Between Wicked , Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes , Better Man , and Gladiator II , 2024 was the year of the monkey. Being a Best Picture juggernaut secures Wicked 's spot, as does the overall strength of the Planet of the Apes series for Kingdom . Better Man features some extremely impressive work that is intertwined with the DNA of the film, so I think it stands a good chance. Gladiator II definitely had the highest quantity of effects of the bunch, but there were (valid) complaints that they weren't very good, leaving a spot open for something like Alien: Romulus . Best Animated Feature Locks The Wild Robot Flow Safe Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl Inside Out 2 Memoir of a Snail There hasn't been any movement within this category for months now, and no clear alternatives that could make a case for a surprise nomination. It's best to just set it and forget it, as there are so many more fish to fry. Best International Feature Locks Emilia Pérez (France) I'm Still Here (Brazil) Safe The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Germany) Shaky The Girl with the Needle (Denmark) Vermiglio (Italy) I've held onto these five titles for a while now, so I might as well stay the course and go down with the ship. The Girl with the Needle and Vermiglio performed very well at the European Film Awards and other industry precursors (both nominated at the Golden Globes and longlisted by BAFTA). Of course, so many films with pedigree and good stats have found themselves snubbed (I'm still crying about Decision to Leave ). I'll be on the lookout for Kneecap , which had a great showing at BAFTA and BIFA. Best Documentary Feature Safe No Other Land Sugarcane Shaky Black Box Diaries Daughters Will & Harper The absence of Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story on the shortlist illustrated yet another example of this branch's distaste for celebrity bio docs. While not exactly cut from the same cloth, one could assume that Will & Harper might suffer the same fate when it comes time to select the final five nominees. But the buzz has been great for the film, and it does much more than puff up a famous figure, so I think it squeaks in. The rest of the lineup is filled with more traditional contenders, with something like Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat being an alternate pick. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark

The Little Things February 4, 2021 By: Button Hunter Friesen The serial killer genre once was the biggest attraction at the cinema. The Silence of the Lambs (winner of Best Picture), Se7en and American Psycho ruled the box office and were made on big budgets with big stars. With prestige television shows like True Detective and Mindhunter taking up space in the genre, films shifted towards low budgets and horror, which can be seen in Saw and the rebooted Halloween franchise. As one of the first cinematic releases of 2021, Warner Brothers is offering to take us back with The Little Things . Our story opens in 1990 Los Angeles as disgraced police detective Joe Deacon (Denzel Washington) returns to his old precinct. Immediately, he’s sucked into a developing case led by young hotshot Jim Baxter (Rami Malek) that contains similar patterns to the case that destroyed his career many years ago. Young women are being followed to their homes and then stabbed to death by a sadistic killer. The prime suspect is a grimy crime buff named Albert Sparma (Jared Leto). Sparma may look and talk the part of a killer, but there’s no evidence to link him to the murders. In order to stop the killings they suspect he’ll do, Deacon and Baxter race against the clock to gather evidence in a city ravaged by fear. There’s a line in the trailer, and also in the movie, that has stuck with me. At one point Deacon says that “it’s the little things that rip you apart and it’s the little things that get you caught”. While he’s describing how to cover up a murder, those same words can be said about making a movie. It’s the little things like character development, an engaging plot, and a satisfying ending that can rip apart this type of movie. These are the little, or in this case, big things that hold The Little Things back from reaching the heights of its predecessors. Writer/director John Lee Hancock, who’s had an average career with films such as The Blind Side and Saving Mr. Banks is the one to blame for this hollowness. Hancock, for the most part, has written and directed his films, which signifies a certain amount of uniqueness. Similar to Denzel’s quote, I was also struck with the question of what exactly is a John Lee Hancock film? That question can be answered for many writer/directors like Quentin Tarantino, Woody Allen, or Kevin Smith. But for Hancock, there isn’t something special he brings to the table. He doesn’t have a style or any original substance. His films are no different than the usual made-by-committee studio fodder. To give him the benefit of the doubt, he does bring above-average craftsmanship with cinematography and can carry a tense mood for most of the picture. But he still makes the unforgivable sin of delivering a shockingly underwhelming ending to a whodunit mystery. Hancock’s missteps also bleed into the central performances. As one of the best actors of a generation, Denzel Washington is incapable of doing wrong, which is why I’m only partially blaming him for his work here. There is a property in mathematics that stipulates that the product of any number multiplied by zero is zero. So, in the film’s case, with the character of Joe Deacon having zero-depth, the amount of work Denzel puts into his performance does not matter. He must have known this fact on set as he seems to be on autopilot and just doing a job for a paycheck. While Denzel knows he’s too good for this material, Rami Malek proves he isn’t good enough. His performance here is inconsistent, leaning too hard on the eccentricities and genre tropes of the rookie cop who hasn’t tasted defeat yet. His Oscar win in 2018 for playing Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody is looking worse with each subsequent role. As Sparma, Jared Leto is his best in years, even though that is an incredibly low bar since he’s been nothing short of embarrassing since his 2013 Oscar win. Leto is fully hamming it up with his long greasy hair, odd mannerisms, and overall creepy demeanor. It may not be the most nuanced performance, but it sure is the most entertaining, which is worth something in this case. While The Little Things may amount to little, it’s still a harmless return to the bigger-budget serial killer dramas of yesteryear. In a time of year when there are fewer new releases, easy entertainment isn’t the worst thing in the world. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Violent Night November 30, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen Do you remember that Saturday Night Live sketch from 2019 where they took the cast of Sesame Street and imagined what they would be like in the world of Todd Philip’s Joker ? If you don’t, here’s the link to it. Go ahead and watch it and come back to this review. I won’t mind. In that sketch, David Harbour, who was hosting that week, plays the human version of Oscar the Grouch, making fun of Hollywood’s new incessant need for “dark and gritty” adaptations of beloved characters. Seeing a dark version of Sesame Street is fun for a couple of minutes, but we all know there’s only so much that can be done with that ironic concept. I just wish the producers for Violent Night had come to that realization before they decided to make a 100-minute “edgy” take on Santa Claus. Of course, along with an overall rise in darkness in blockbuster filmmaking (and society as a whole, but I’m not going down that meme-ified road), a violent Santa movie shouldn’t be all that surprising given the uptick in classical icons being presented their own dark stories filled with blood and crude language. The filmmakers behind the upcoming Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey have already announced their next feature to be Bambi: The Reckoning , which will see Bambi become “a vicious killing machine” after the death of his mother. These Asylum-level adaptations sound, and will probably be pure garbage. But they’ll make a quick buck purely based on the surface-level irony they create, even though you can get the same amount of enjoyment in much less time through the countless amateur YouTube videos out there. But, even with all the lumps of coal I received from Violent Night , the one thing I can certainly claim as a gift is David Harbour’s committed performance to the bit of playing a Santa that knows how to kick ass and slam down more drinks than Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa . His version of Santa is fed up with the greediness of our modern world, always wanting to get more rather than appreciate what we have. On one of his several billion stops on Christmas Eve, Santa becomes stranded in the mansion of Gertrude Lightstone (Beverly D’Angelo, cast for the chuckle you’ll give after remembering she’s in the MUCH better National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation ). The Lightstone family is being held hostage by a terrorist group led by Scrooge (John Leguizamo) who wishes to rob Gertrude of the $300 million in cash in her vault. Santa must become the John McClane of this story, using a bit of Christmas magic to punish those that are on the naughty list. Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola has already become accustomed to this unique subgenre where subversion of initial expectations is the selling point. His two Dead Snow films saw a group of young adults fight a recently risen division of Nazi zombies, and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunter had the fairytale twins do a lot more damage than just stuffing witches in ovens. Even if he was the right person for the job, Wirkola can’t find anything interesting about this concept other than just seeing Santa beat some goons to a bloody (and snowy) pulp. The first action scene is funny enough, especially with it nearly all taking place in one extended take, showcasing Santa’s inexperience at this sort of thing. But subsequent set pieces leave a lot to be desired, often taking place in dim lighting and rapidly edited to a jolly holiday tune. And writers Pat Casey and Josh Miller think that there's a direct correlation between the number of curse words in your movie and how funny it is. There’s also an extreme overabundance of Christmas puns and wordplay, almost rivaling Batman & Robin for levels of groan-worthy dialogue. I probably come across as a Grinch with this review, but Violent Night did nothing to bring me yuletide cheer. It desperately wants to be the Christmas movie your weird uncle tells the whole family about at dinner but does nothing to achieve that beyond doing the bare minimum that we expect. Ho ho... no. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

The Fantastic Four: First Steps July 24, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Simply by following an unreleased and illegal 1994 production from low-budget maestro Roger Corman, two so-so entries from the mid-2000s starring a pre-Captain America Chris Evans as Johnny Storm, and an embarrassing 2015 reboot that now mostly survives as a piece of mockery, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is… fantastic. Look, I knew I had to use that pun at least once throughout this review, so it made sense to get it out of the way. Beyond just the simple humor of the word play, it’s an apt description for this fourth official introduction to Marvel’s first family. In the thirty-seven entries of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there hasn’t been a film that has committed more to the bit than First Steps . Even the opening IMAX and studio logos are dressed with the retrofuturist space-age design akin to The Jetsons . On this version of Earth, specifically called Earth-828 (the rest of the MCU takes place on Earth-616), live The Fantastic Four. In a quick television special montage, we get their backstories, the origin of their superpowers, and their newfound purpose as protectors. They’re Earth’s mightiest heroes, with the public adoring them for their friendly neighborhood charm and upstanding morals. It was nice to see that director Matt Shakman and screenwriters Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer share our sentiment about pushing past all the cursory facts that we’ve had over sixty years to study. Shakman helmed all episodes of WandaVision , everyone’s favorite pandemic comfort watch. His knack for mixing the stylistic influences of classic and modern television is mimicked here, with the art direction, costuming, and soundtrack greatly supporting the notion that this marks a new, separate entry in the MCU. The Thing casually walks around in a trench coat and fedora, with the rest of the team donning fashionable turtlenecks as their official uniform. The group’s robot butler, H.E.R.B.I.E., is an analog computer with artificial intelligence, zooming around a bit like WALL-E, making beeps and blips as comic relief. Through their mixture of brains and brawn, the Fantastic Four have been able to vanquish every threat that has come their way. That is, until the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) arrives with a warning that this Earth has been marked for death by Galactus (Ralph Ineson), the unstoppable god-like destroyer of worlds. His introduction feels plucked straight out of the concept art, with his sheer size and superior tone reminding these heroes that they are mere mortals. Initially, First Steps makes the refreshing decision not to devolve into an endless punch fest, or a fetch quest for the MacGuffin that will stop the threat from happening. This is not an action-packed movie, as it largely relies on its characters to carry our interest. The well-cast actors accomplish this task with ease. The internet may have officially deemed Pedro Pascal as overexposed (he can currently also be found in theaters with Materialists and Eddington ), but that doesn’t mean his popularity amongst casting agents is unwarranted. His version of Reed Richards takes the blame for the group acquiring what he refers to as ‘anomalies,’ and is frightened by the fact that his status as the smartest man on the planet isn’t enough to outthink the doom that Galactus brings. There’s also the impending addition of a new member to the family in the form of a baby with wife Sue. Vanessa Kirby affectingly portrayed birth and motherhood in real-time in Pieces of a Woman , making this version merely a walk in the park. Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach supply the best interpretations of Johnny Storm and The Thing, respectively. Each punches above their weight class when compared to the material handed to them, notably with the latter actor having to push through the barrier of motion capture performing. Of course, things do end with a variation on the giant sky beam, and there are just as many shoddy special effects shots as good ones. The Incredibles retains its title as the best version of this general concept. We’d have to dive into a thorny chicken-and-egg scenario to define who’s copying from whom. Still, that’s an incredibly high bar to clear, and this valiant effort is worth commending, especially with this serving as one of the final stepping stones until Avengers: Doomsday . More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever November 9, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen To paraphrase James Cromwell’s Captain Dudley Smith from L.A. Confidential : “I wouldn't trade places with Ryan Coogler for all the whiskey in Ireland.” Just on a purely basic level, the bar for the sequel to the box office smash / Oscar-winning / pop culture phenomenon that was Black Panther was almost insurmountable. Add in the untimely death of lead star Chadwick Boseman and the overall decline in reception to the preceding bunch of Phase Four, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for an anxiety attack. To Coogler’s credit, he makes a valiant effort to craft something unique out of his unfortunate situation. It’s just that his efforts didn’t turn into results, with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever feeling more like MCU entry #30 rather than a distinct work by a talented filmmaker. Just as Boseman is tragically gone from this world, so is King T’Challa from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film opens with Shuri (Letitia Wright) unsuccessfully attempting to cure her brother of an unknown illness. She blames herself for his death, leaving her unable to properly grieve the loss. With Wakanda stripped of its chief protector, the superpowers of the world see an opportunity to seize their coveted vibranium resources, leading to hostile relations for Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) to deal with. But, as it turns out, vibranium is not solely located within Wakanda. It’s also found near the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean thanks to a detector built by MIT student and overall wunderkind Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne). Unbeknownst to all, the underwater civilization of Talokan, led by the ankle-winged (an objectively silly concept) Namor, has observed the surface world for centuries and treats their underwater vibranium excursions as the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Namor wishes for Wakanda to join him on his crusade, but his request is swiftly denied. Knowing that the Wakandan forces are the only ones powerful enough to stop him, he wages war on the briefly vulnerable kingdom. The premise of Wakanda Forever is awfully by-the-numbers, especially when compared to its ever-interesting predecessor. The complex arguments from Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger have been replaced by surface-level (pun intended) anecdotes about how “humans are bad” by Namor, who falls far down the MCU villain power rankings. It also doesn’t help that his motives and the design of his underwater kingdom look and sound scarily similar to 2018’s Aquaman , which actually performed better on a technical level. Of course, James Cameron will probably have the last laugh with Avatar: The Way of Water next month. The blandness that Namor suffers from can also be found in Riri, aka Ironheart. Along with America Chavez from this year’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Kate Bishop from Hawkeye , Riri fills the role of the “young protege who needs to be saved by the current hero so that she can take their place.” Florence Pugh’s Yelena remains the cream of that crop, with Riri being adequate, yet entirely forgettable. Still, there are many things that Coogler does within Wakanda Forever that give it just enough personality. One of those things is the emotional heft he conveys through T’Challa’s passing, with the talented cast more than up to the challenge. Wright effortlessly takes on a leading role in this story, and Bassett brings her signature gravitas to every bit of dialogue. Barring the final battle, which, like the first Black Panther , looks shockingly poor, and some off-putting uses of slow motion, the action set pieces are thrilling. Danai Gurira as Okoye remains a venerable badass, wielding her spear with fury. Her introduction out of the shadows is one of the countless beautiful shots. Even with all its shortcomings, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever closes out a beleaguered Phase Four as one of its best entries thanks to its emotional honesty and quality action. Except those commendable attributes are in service to a lacking plot and an (at this point, expectedly) uninteresting villain. This return to the land of Wakanda was a welcome one, but it could have been so much more fruitful. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

The Last Thing He Wanted February 27, 2020 By: Button Hunter Friesen Netflix has been on a roll these past few years. While changing the idea of how television can be consumed, the streaming giant has also financed dozens of films from revered auteurs and budding talent. This level of investment has paid dividends with films such as The Irishman and Roma . But like all portfolios, there are some stinkers such as Bright and The Ridiculous 6 that blemish the hits. Joining the latter pile of garbage is the newest film to be dumped unceremoniously on Netflix: The Last Thing He Wanted . A journalist for The Atlantic Post , Elena McMahon made her mark with hard-hitting investigative pieces detailing the revolutions in 1980s Central America. One day, her secretive father attempts to reconnect with her after years apart. It’s revealed he’s rekindling their relationship because he has fallen victim to Alzheimer’s. With his final days winding down, he confesses that he is a gun smuggler for the Nicaraguan Contras and asks her to complete his final deal. To fulfill her father’s dying wish, Elena must go back to the place where everything began for her. Only this time she’s on the opposite side of the law than before. Reteaming with Netflix after the critical success of Mudbound , director Dee Rees makes some of the most shocking failures a respected filmmaker could make. Her command of the material is nonexistent as the plot and characters move along without any rhyme or reason. For a two-hour movie (that feels twice as long), Rees offers little in terms of suspense and subtlety. The choppy editing lacks any cohesiveness between its revolving door of throwaway characters and locations. Even when Rees is supplied with quality supplemental material, such as the score by Tamar-kali, she cues it at the most obvious times, turning it against her intentions. She does throw in a nice camera movement every once in a while, but it’s painfully obvious that it’s only being done to try and cover up the catastrophe that is being filmed. An example is the laughably bad final shot that looks ripped straight from a parody movie. Adapted by Rees and Marco Villalobos from the book of the same name, The Last Thing He Wanted is one of the most incomprehensible movies ever made. I would feel safe betting someone a billion dollars to watch this movie and then properly explain what they had just seen. The dialogue is both cliched and flowery as it makes even the smallest detail hard to comprehend. Characters speak English in a way so cryptic that it seems they aren’t even speaking English at all. No amount of rewinding or looking through a dictionary could help me understand what exactly someone was saying. Fortunately, the poor sound mixing makes half of the dialogue muddled, saving me from further anguish. Also part of the problem is the script’s overabundance of half-baked storylines and details. I would say that almost every one of these plots and subplots is filled with holes, but I’m not sure of what the plot was, to begin with. Characters and locations come and go, barely leaving a mark on the overall narrative. That is, until the end when Rees wraps a dozen different things up in the final three minutes, ending the film in a pile of disjointed pieces that produces more questions than answers. I know it’s a tired trope to say that a movie should have been a mini-series... but this seriously should have been a mini-series. Anne Hathaway is mediocre as our supposedly tough main character. Hathaway tries her best, but she is woefully miscast and can’t muster a sliver of enough fortitude to convince us of her believability. Ben Affleck plays a CIA agent hot on Elena’s trail. Affleck seems to have been on set for less than a week and has as much energy as someone who just woke up from a nap after downing a bottle of NyQuil. Factoring in his minuscule screen time, it’s safe to say that the main reason he was cast was to put his name on the poster. Playing the ailing father is Willem Dafoe, who has recently been on a career resurgence. Disappointingly, Dafoe falls into the type of hammy overacting that plagued the middle third of his career. The Last Thing He Wanted is a glaring misfire on the careers of the usually dependable cast and crew. It will surely land on many worst-of-the-year lists and may even take the top spot on a few. Thinking about this awful movie is the last thing I ever want to do. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Uncharted February 21, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen In terms of adapting a video game to film, Uncharted should have been the easiest one yet. The cinematic sequences are all there, from the plane ejection and sinking cruise ship in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception , to the train sequence in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves . These levels contained some of the most impressive moments in video game history, with the sound and visuals delivering enough excitement to please even the most adventurous of spirits. Even though it seemed like a slam dunk on paper, publisher Sony struggled for years to get a film adaptation off the ground. They tried to get the ball rolling in 2008, only a year after the first game in the series was released. Things stagnated for a while until The Fighter and American Hustle writer/director David O. Russell was announced to be helming the project in 2010. In hindsight, Russell was an odd choice, and both parties were better off going their separate ways. Little did Sony know that Russell would only be the first of six directors to be attached to the project before leaving shortly after. Eventually, in 2017, Tom Holland was announced for the lead role of Nathan Drake, with Mark Wahlberg, the original choice for Nathan back in the Russell days, playing his older partner, Sully. Zombieland and Venom director Ruben Fleischer came aboard, and the film was finally completed after a decade of turmoil. And yet after all this time, I still would much rather play the Uncharted games a second time than watch the Uncharted movie again. Working as a mix-and-match of different story elements within the game series, Uncharted starts with the street-smart orphan Nathan Drake working at a bar. There he meets Sully, who offers to make Nathan his partner in a search for lost Spanish pirate gold worth nearly $5 billion. Also on the hunt for the treasure is Santiago Moncada, an heir to the family that funded the pirate’s expedition, who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. From there, the two parties bounce off each other in their hunt, which takes them from New York to Barcelona to the Philippines. Except it’s obvious that much of this movie never took place in any of those locations, with dubious green screening utilized as a cheap shortcut. The Uncharted games were often seen as the video game equivalent of the Indiana Jones series, with the bonus that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End was a great fourth entry while Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull gets worse the more that hindsight allows. Both those series made great use of locations, taking the audience around the world on death-defying journeys. 2022’s Uncharted doesn’t have that authentic feeling of adventure, as everything is kept bottled up. The characters in the film are in disbelief at what’s happening, but we as the audience feel none of that. It’s all weightless and formulaic, plodding from one beat to the next. What saves Uncharted from being a total trainwreck is the relative likeability of its cast. No one can argue that Tom Holland has been one of, if not the best portrayals of Spider-Man. But the jury is still out if he can carry a film outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He’s had little success over the years shedding his boyish looks in streaming titles such as The Devil All the Time or Cherry . Even if that same boyishness makes Holland a bit of a miscast, his charm and banterous chemistry with Wahlberg keep the film light on its toes. As far as video game adaptations go, Uncharted is one of the better ones if the bar it has to jump over is generously low. It makes a slightly amusing two hours, with nothing exceptional to make it stick once the credits roll. If you have more time to spare, I’d recommend playing the games. But if you only have two hours, you could do worse than seeing this. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Shazam! April 4, 2019 By: Button Hunter Friesen I would have called you crazy if you had told me that we get both a Captain Marvel and Shazam film in the same year. But stranger things have happened, which is something we’ve had to get used to over the past couple of years. So now the year is 2019 and both of these films have premiered within the span of a month. Unfortunately, as much as I am happy to see these films get their moment to shine, the experience that I got out of both of them didn’t match well with my expectations. This superhero origin story centers around Billy Batson, a troubled kid that has committed his whole life to running away from foster homes and finding his real mom. On one fateful day, Billy is approached by an all-seeing wizard that wishes to transfer his power to him so that he may fight off the seven deadly sins that seek to destroy humanity. By speaking the wizard’s name, Billy is suddenly transformed into the unstoppable superhero Shazam that possesses the combined powers of the Greek gods. With his nearly unlimited new powers, Billy must now set out to do good in the world, while still trying to find his real home. Shazam! is directed by David F. Sandberg, who has made his name with the horror films Annabelle: Creation and Lights Out . One admirable thing that can be said of Sandberg is his intention and ability to make this film a moderately fun ride throughout as it pokes fun at itself from time to time. To my regret, that is probably the only good thing that can be said about his directing, which has a consistent pattern of him pacing so much smaller material into an already overstuffed main narrative. The biggest issue that plagues Shazam! is that it always acts like it’s different from all the other superhero films, even though it really isn’t. This problem can be glaringly seen in the egregious 132-minute runtime, which follows the generic origin path where the hero gets their powers, has some struggles along the way, and then vanquishes evil in a climatic CGI battle. The one thing that this film does differently lies within its effects, which are a lot worse when compared to the competition. Written by Henry Gayden, Shazam! tries really hard (and fails) to be the family-friendly version of Deadpool . The problem that this film repeatedly runs into stems from the fact that Deadpool ’s style works solely on the effortless charm of Ryan Reynolds and its ability to be R-rated, two things that Shazam! sorely lacks. To be fair, a few of the jokes are actually quite funny, but the majority just fall flat and feel like a pale imitation. Another problem with Shazam! is the terrible one-dimensional villain, whose name I couldn’t remember until the credits rolled by. Basically, he’s a supervillain that does bad things because that’s what a supervillain does. Clear motives for his actions or any other defining character traits are nonexistent Retouching on the point of needless subplots, the whole storyline about the missing mother is handled quite amateurishly and laughably underwhelms in its conclusion. Part of the blame can be placed on Sandberg for spending too much time on it, but most of it should go to Gayden for not cutting this tedious and unimportant plot out of an already bloated story. Maybe the finest quality that this film has lies within its lead actor, Zachary Levi, who brings a lot of energy to the titular role. He’s no Ryan Reynolds, which he tries really hard to be, but he does a good enough job to cover many of the storytelling faults. Asher Angel plays Billy and does a below-average job. His performance of Billy as an insufferably meddling kid wildly contrasts with Levi’s and makes it really hard to believe both of them are playing the same core character. The villain role of Sivana is played by Mark Strong. Just like his character, Strong’s dull performance is immediately forgotten after watching. Lastly, Djimon Hounsou underwhelmingly stars as the wizard, who can best be described as a dollar-store version of Gandalf. After seven entries, the DCEU has yet to put out one above-average film. And although Shazam! falls prey to many of the same problems that have besieged the other films in the universe, the one thing that it can hang its hat on is its ability to be quite entertaining for a portion of its runtime. Still, don’t expect to be blown away, just moderately surprised. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen

Dumb Money September 9, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Dumb Money had its World Premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. Sony Pictures will release it in limited theaters on September 15, followed by a nationwide expansion on October 06. The Big Short , Vice , and Don’t Look Up writer/director Adam McKay has been accused by his detractors of thinking his audience is stupid, talking down to them through flashy celebrity cameos and on-the-nose dialogue. It’s not an incorrect opinion, but McKay has still always provided a compelling argument within his theses, with The Big Short offering a sobering retelling of the housing crisis. Craig Gillespie’s Dumb Money , premiering at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, REALLY wants to be The Big Short for Gen-Z, taking down the 1%ers who run Wall Street and rig it against the little guy. But this David vs. Goliath story doesn’t have the necessary charm or smarts to be as deadly as it thinks it is. “Hold the line!,” “Diamond hands!,” “Apes together strong,” and “I just like the stock,” were phrases that became popularized during the pandemic as the GameStop short squeeze rocked not just the financial industry, but the psyche of the American public. It all started on r/wallstreetbets, an internet forum famous for its memes and overly passionate members. Their prophet was Keith Gill (Paul Dano), a mild-mannered Massachusetts financial advisor who goes by “Roaring Kitty” because of his penchant use of cats in his live streams. He’s bullish on the GameStop (GME) stock, thinking that’s it undervalued and that all the hedge fund managers are fools to be in a short position. He seems crazy, but he has the numbers and quirkiness to attract other followers, including debt-ridden nurse Jenny (America Ferrera), GameStop employee Marcus (Anthony Ramos), and college students Riri (Myha'la Herrold) and Harmony (Talia Ryder). “If he’s in, I’m in” is what they all say, creating a surge in the stock price as more and more people jump on. Most of these traders were referred to as “dumb money” by the hedge funds and media. They’re just retail traders who always think they can beat the market but end up giving their money away to the big fish. Writers Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, adapting the novel “The Antisocial Network” by Ben Mezrich, have compassion for these small fries. They’ve all been pushed down their whole lives, and the time is now to stand together. Unfortunately, none of these characters are that compelling outside of Keith, which largely stems from Dano’s charismatic commitment to playing the intellectual fool. They end up being a generic group, with little to separate themselves. The same goes for the villainous billionaires played by Seth Roge, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Nick Offerman. They’re caricatures of unearned wealth, another in a quickly tiring line found in Triangle of Sadness and Glass Onion last year. Gillespie continues his high-energy antics from I, Tonya (also premiering in Toronto in 2017) and Cruella , zipping the editing around this overstuffed cast. It keeps the film on its toes and the 100-minute runtime breezy, but it also keeps the details to a minimum. The exact (or even simplified) machinations of the short squeeze are given little attention, replaced by bright lights and a flurry of newsreel clips. Just like the memes that inspired the movement, Dumb Money is fun in the moment, but has little to no substance underneath the surface. If you’re looking for entertainment, you get just enough of it to make this worthwhile. If you’re looking to be educated on this event, I’d recommend literally anything else. More Reviews One Battle After Another September 24, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen A Christmas Party September 23, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Him September 18, 2025 By: Hunter Friesen Swiped September 19, 2025 By: Tyler Banark Hunter Friesen