Top 10 Films of 2023 (So-Far) July 1, 2023 By: Hunter Friesen Half of 2023 has come and gone in the blink of an eye. Before I knew it, I had seen 67 new releases in six months. I can’t say that there’s been a bountiful amount of great work to bask in, but there’s always a small amount of stuff that deserves to be cherished. So, to give credit where it’s due, here’s my list of the ten best films I’ve seen in 2023 (so far). *Because some of the films I’ve seen so far were at film festivals, I will only be ranking the films that have received a general release in theaters or on streaming* 10. R.M.N. Featuring five different spoken languages (Romanian, Hungarian, German, French, and English) and characters from all different walks of life, Cristian Mungiu’s newest visual essay tells a universal story within one specific Transylvanian village. As is tradition for Mungiu, each scene is realized in unbroken takes, with the climactic town-hall meeting unfolding across 17 minutes and featuring dozens of characters. The naturalism is abruptly broken by the ambiguous final shot, leaving you with a disquieting outlook on this specific village, as well as the entire world. 9. Tori and Lokita The newest film from the Belgian brotherly duo of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne finds them once again examining the miscarriages of social justice within their native country. Their handheld long takes and lack of score capture the harsh reality of society. There’s also a propulsive energy to the film, with the semi-criminal elements keeping the 85-minute feature (a staple length for the brothers) moving at a brisk pace. 8. Air Air is the cinematic equivalent of the final moments of an NBA game. Not every play goes as perfectly as it was drawn up, and there are a lot of mistakes that could have been ironed out in practice. But the sheer athleticism of the players/actors is something to marvel at. And when they take their shots, they make them count. Because both they and we know that when the ball goes through the hoop, and those feelings of victory come striding to the surface, everything that came before that ceases to matter. Full Review 7. BlackBerry Time has not been an ally for the BlackBerry phone, but I believe it will be for this movie. While the other movies in this growing subgenre built themselves largely around the iconography of the brand, Johnson always has his sights set on the people behind the machine, which is what makes this specific story that much more compelling and rewatchable. Full Review 6. Cairo Conspiracy Corruption runs rampant in the holiest of places within Cairo Conspiracy , as faith is used to broker further advances of power. Writer/director Tarik Saleh tells an overlapping story of politics and religion, molding his message within the old-fashioned espionage thriller genre to fantastic results. It’s both entertaining and enlightening, leaving you with something to ponder long after the credits roll. 5. John Wick: Chapter 4 Although I said the character of John Wick has drastically changed over time, the John Wick series has maintained that underdog energy since its initial entry, even though the budgets have increased nearly sixfold. Each sequel tries its hardest to outdo the previous one, offering an improvement on what’s already been done and creating something entirely new. I know it will be done, but I don't know how they’re going to top this in John Wick: Chapter 5 . Full Review 4. Enys Men Mark Jenkin’s Enys Men is the kind of film you stumble upon late at night as a kid where you have no idea what you’re watching and if it was any good, but you couldn’t help but be endlessly transfixed by it. Just as Ari Aster and Robert Eggers have amassed cult followings for their new-wave style of horror, Jenkin deserves the same for his now-signature trips down the psychological rabbit hole. The beckoning of Hollywood doesn’t seem to be having much effect on him, promising more distinctly singular work from this up-and-coming artist. Full Review 3. Chevalier Stuffy, overly serious, slow, and pretentious are all words most often used to describe period pieces. And yet, none of those words can be applied to Stephen Williams' Chevalier , which would have been one of the best movies of 2022 had Searchlight chosen to release it within the bloodbath that is Oscar season. Thankfully, they're smarter than me and waited until 2023, where it now sits firmly on this list among the greats. Full Review 2. Past Lives Perspective and perception are the keys to writer/director Celine Song’s screenplay, which uses a vast amount of space and time to tell an epically intimate story. Nora (Greta Lee) explains in-yun to Arthur (John Magaro) midway through the film. It’s the Korean concept of fate, suggesting that people are destined to meet if their past lives overlapped. Nora shrugs off the idea by saying it’s just “something Korean people say to seduce someone.” While Nora may not take that concept to heart, Song’s use of it within her film had me seduced in the moment, and will likely have me for the rest of time. Full Review 1. Asteroid City At this point in his filmography, you’ve probably made up your mind about Wes Anderson. I’m somewhat of an apologist, with those instantly recognizable production qualities and whimsical tones being music to my ears (and eyes). Asteroid City is another healthy dose of what I’m come to love, with the bonus of seeing an auteur continue to find new ways to channel what they do best. Full Review More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Boy Kills World April 25, 2024 By: Button Tyler Banark Something is going on in Hollywood right now that should be discussed more, which is the rise of stuntpeople being promoted to the role of director. It’s been stunning in the John Wick films, Netflix’s Extraction series, and the films of David Leitch ( Bullet Train and the fittingly titled upcoming The Fall Guy ). There’s a gritty essence to each of these films, with action choreography that always goes above and beyond what’s been done before. While Boy Kills World director Moritz Mohr didn’t have the same upbringing as Leitch or Chad Stahelski, he lets his previous dabbling in special effects and editing allow him to pose in an adjacent camp. Having witnessed the murder of his family and stripped of his ability to talk at a young age, Boy (physically played by Bill Skarsgård, voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) is found and raised by a mysterious shaman who trains him to be a lethal killing machine. Boy only has one goal in mind: kill the powerful Van Der Koy family, who prey on the weak and are responsible for his family’s death. Once a year, the family puts on a Hunger Games-esque show called The Culling, where they hunt down twelve unlucky contestants. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6NibtjmjOk “Graphic” would be an understated word to use to describe the nature of Boy Kills World . Mohr brings a chaotic absurdity akin to the Terrifier series, with blood and guts spraying out in a silly, sadistic manner. Call it stolen, call it made better, but there’s no denying that the action here delivers on its promise without tipping into overkill. The vicious fight choreography is a sight to behold, with its influences from the John Wick films and various forms of martial arts unlocking an arsenal for Boy to play with. Whether it’s a necklace or a cheese grater, the impromptu use of such regular everyday items as weapons in hand-to-hand combat effectively adds to the film’s overall intensity. There is a sense of having been there, done that, such as the use of the cheese grater in last year’s Evil Dead Rise . But if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Skarsgård is the centerpiece as Boy, cementing himself as an action star without uttering a single word. He does the (literal) heavy lifting, while Benjamin expresses his inner monologue in a mostly humorous fashion. We’ll have a full sample of Skarsgård’s action chops once this year’s reboot of The Crow comes out. The rest of the cast is fairly underutilized, something not wholly unexpected considering the marquee positioning of Boy as our protagonist. But much of the satisfaction in the revenge against the Van Der Koys has to come from the characters, who just don’t meet the grade. Brett Gelman is in his usual showmanship mood as the weird member of the family, Michelle Dockery’s girl boss of a sister is a knockoff of Shiv Roy, and Famke Janssen kind of phones it in as the tyrannical matriarch, Hilda. There’s also June 27 (yes, that’s the character’s actual name), played by Jessica Rothe, who acts as both the family enforcer and voice of reason. There are attempts to have her bridge the gap between Boy and the family, but the script, co-written by Tyler Burton Smith and Arend Remmers (with a story credit to Mohr), can’t make the connection. The tasteless (in a good way) action set pieces are at the forefront of Boy Kills World , but that lack of a coherent substantive drive doesn’t make it the cult classic it so desperately wants to be (as evidenced by the film’s world premiere as part of the Midnight Madness section at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival). But even if this doesn’t get etched into history, there’s still a lot of fun to be had in the present with it. Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions will release Boy Kills World in theaters nationwide on April 26th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Monkey February 17, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen The tagline for The Monkey , the new film by writer/director Oz Perkins, says that "everybody dies, and that's fucked up." You know what else is fucked up? Watching a filmmaker you've admired over the years torch all that goodwill with the same hellbent rage that Adam Scott has for the titular toy monkey during the film's cold open. This is not Longlegs , both in terms of the tone and overall quality. How and why Scott came to hate this monkey is a bit of a mystery. Even he's not exactly sure what it does, only that bad things happen whenever you turn the key on its back and let it bang its drum. And the definition of "bad" here isn't just a stubbed toe or missing the bus. It's the kind of bad that results in an extremely gruesome death in a series of events that would even make Rube Goldberg blush. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=husMGbXEIho The simplicity and inevitability of the threat that this primate possesses is where Perkins - adapting from the 1980 short story of the same name by Stephen King - finds his kernel of truth about the balance between life and death. Any of us could die at any time by any combination of causes. "It's like life," reads the box that the monkey comes nicely wrapped in, a sentiment echoed by the mother (Tatiana Maslany) of twin brothers Hal and Bill (played by Christian Convery as kids, and Theo James as adults). The boys learn firsthand on several instances the cruel power that life has to give and take away from you at any moment. Like me, just being aware of the concept of the Final Destination and Dumb Ways to Die franchises gives you more than enough familiarity with this concept. Perkins doesn't offer much of anything beyond the surface-level observations, opting for the comedy-horror tonal balance to do much of the heavy lifting. But between several horribly unfunny and/or funnily unscary sequences, the only facial expression you'll be making is one of annoyance. That weightless unpleasantness also applies to the deaths that litter the runtime. While everything that is happening to the people around the boys is horrifying, Perkins always dons a dastardly smile. A falling shotgun here, a slippery kitchen knife there, it's all supposed to make you simultaneously wince and howl with laughter. The suspense of the unknown in Longlegs has been replaced with the suspense of the inevitable. Granted, that is the point. It just makes everything feel so tedious, with a filmmaker taking us on several extra laps around a track that wasn't that good the first time. What is good is James' dual performance. Most of his time is spent as Hal, the smaller of the twins, who constantly gets bullied and belittled. His ruggedly good looks and tall frame are submerged under glasses and a sheepish demeanor. Between him, the physical monkey doll, and the frames concocted by Nico Aguilar, The Monkey does at least have some visual splendors to enjoy. But the occasional treats for my eyes do not make up for the wretched experience that the rest of my body and soul were put through. Neon will release The Monkey in theaters nationwide on Feb. 21st. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Predicting the Cannes Jury President February 6, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Next to winning an Oscar, presiding over the jury of the Cannes Film Festival is one of the highest honors an artist can receive. Names such as Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, Wong Kar-wai, Cate Blanchett, and Spike Lee have achieved this illustrious status, bestowing one of cinema's biggest prizes, the Palme d'Or, on one of the twenty films within the competition section. Last year's edition was headed by Juliette Binoche, who awarded the first-place prize to Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident , which illustrated a strong creative spirit in the face of political repercussions. With this year's festival right around the corner, it's time we start speculating on who will be granted the presidency. Using a mixture of acclaim, popularity, and festival history, I've come up with a list of ten names that have a viable shot of being chosen. A few ideal candidates, like Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, or Asghar Farhadi, were not predicted because they either would be too busy to dedicate the time, have previously filled the position, or are speculated to have a film in competition this year. Bong Joon-ho In his last two ventures to the Croisette, Bong Joon-ho has joined the very exlcusive clubs for people who have premiered a Netflix production ( Okja ) and won a unanimous Palme d'Or ( Parasite ). The South Korean auteur rivals Guillermo del Toro for the claim of being the most beloved filmmaker in the industry. He tirelessly shares his passion with audiences and his fellow artists, which would make him an ideal candidate for presiding over the jury. Sean Baker France only recently amneded their law stipulating that films must wait at least three years after its theatricla release before they can debut on a streaming service. That dogged rigidity aligns well with Sean Baker's recent statements that he will require his films to be given a 100-day theatrical window in the United States. His apex of four Academy Awards for Anora was consistently aided by Cannes, with that film, along with Red Rocket and The Florida Project , premiering at the Grand Theatre Lumiere. Penélope Cruz Winner of the festival's Best Actress prize for Volver and an Honorary César, Cruz has been one of this century's biggest stars of international cinema. Her frequent pairings with festival legend Pedro Almodóvar have made her a mainstay over the years, always the biggest presence on the buzzy red carpet. Now seems like the right time to have her graduate above being a competitor, with her impeccable taste for projects hinting at a strong case for being president. Jacques Audiard As conflicting as his status might be in America for Emilia Pérez , Jacques Audiard is France's most accomplished director, holding the record for most individual wins in the history of the César Awards with thirteen. He's also premiered six films in competition, winning Best Screenplay ( A Self-Made Hero ), Grand Prize of Jury ( A Prophet ), Jury Prize ( Emilia Pérez ), and Palme d'Or ( Dheepan ). With that many accomplishments over a lengthy career, it seems only right that he be given the keys to the kingdom. Richard Linklater Having returned to the Croisette last year with the ten-time César Award-nominated Nouvelle Vague - a story that fawns over the influence of Cannes and French Cinema - Richard Linklater's popularity within France is certainly at an all-time high. As the defining filmmaker of "hangout movies," he certainly would be a friendly and welcoming presence for the jury. Tilda Swinton Swinton has amassed one of the most impressive filmographies of any working actor, working on multiple occasions with Cannes royalty like Pedro Almodóvar, Joanna Hogg, Jim Jarmusch, Wes Anderson, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. She's the kind of actor every actor dreams of being, even founded her own film festival in the Scottish Highlands. Alfonso Cuarón Cuarón served on the jury once before for the president Sean Penn in 2008. He was also a special guest for the 2022 award ceremony, receiving a strong round of applause. Roma was heavily tipped to have premiered at Cannes had Netflix not go in the way, showing that the festival and filmmaker would like to deepen their relationship. Viggo Mortensen Outside of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Mortensen has always shown an aversion to blockbuster filmmaking, preferring to work with the kinds of international auteurs that Cannes prides itself on. He's also written and directed his own projects, displaying a deft touch that would lend well to the wide range of films that fill the competition section. Plus, he's fluent in six languages (English, Danish, Spanish, French, German, and Norwegian), so he'd be able to form a deeper bond with nearly every jury member! Jodie Foster Not that Jodie Foster was ever in a slump, but she is definitely on a winning streak between her Oscar nomination for Nyad and Emmy award for the fourth season of True Detective . She was also awarded an Honorary Golden Palm by the festival in 2021, and displayed her fluency in French last year with A Private Life . The world could always use more Jodie Foster, so why not put her atop the biggest stage? Guillermo del Toro As much as he loves to campaign for his films, Guillermo del Toro equally loves to champion the works of others. That level of compassion makes him an ideal candidate, as do his ties to the festival, with Pan's Labyrinth still holding the record for the longest standing ovation at 22 minutes. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Crime 101 February 11, 2026 By: Button Hunter Friesen Simply by being a crime film set in Los Angeles that puts a weary cop and a calculating thief on a climactic collision course, the comparisons to Michael Mann’s Heat are rampant and obvious for Crime 101 . Even the author of the novella, Don Winslow, can’t escape scot-free, as he published it in 2020. Then again, despite Heat being the shining pinnacle of its genre, it doesn’t have a monopoly on Los Angeles-based crime, especially when several other entries like Chinatown , Colors , and Point Break already staked their claim. Crime 101 probably won’t ascend to that level of notoriety, but it also won’t be an odd duck if it’s mentioned in the same sentence. Prior planning prevents poor performance. It’s a phrase/code that Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth) religiously lives by, as we first see him going through the rhythms of preparation for his next heist. He brushes off all loose hair and skin flakes, ensuring that not a speck of DNA can be found at the scene. He wears a mask, never resorts to violence, and is in and out within thirty seconds. It’s like clockwork; the sole clue to his plans is that every job takes place along the US 101 freeway in Los Angeles. Detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo) is the only person who seems to have cracked the code, with everyone else being fooled into believing that Mike’s jobs are all just random robberies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5y-cziwmMw Also intertwined in this classic tale of cops and robbers is insurance broker Sharon Colvin (Halle Berry), who hasn’t received the respect and rewards she’s owed after years of catering to the ultra-wealthy slobs who require insurance policies on their multi-million dollar antiquities. On her most recent client visit, a potential buyer revealed to her that he bought a piece of contemporary black art because the current political landscape would cause it to appreciate for future resale. Is there anything more degrading than groveling for less than your worth, only to see a life-changing amount of money thrown as if it’s loose change? With a 140-minute runtime, Winslow’s story, adapted for the screen and directed by Bart Layton, pleasantly takes its time to have its characters meet in the middle, both physically and philosophically. Ruffalo is currently hitting his stride as a worn-down cop, also playing the part in HBO’s Task . He’s chaim smoking as he approaches a crime scene, having already endured what the city has thrown at him. The only reason he’s not higher up on the food chain is that he “doesn’t play by the rules,” which essentially means that he doesn’t turn a blind eye to cop corruption. Added in as a chaos agent is Barry Keoghan, once again renewing his monopolistic license to play the twitchy freak in every movie. It’s not broken, so there’s no need for him to fix it. He’s been tasked to hijack Mike’s big score by their shared handler (Nick Nolte). Layton keeps the tension building as everyone moves on their individual and shared tracks, the camera often being handed off as one coincidentally bumps into another. It’s rather unshowy work, just skilled craftsmanship that achieves the basic task put before it. As much as Hemsworth may walk the walk when committing crimes, he cannot talk the talk when it’s time to be a normal member of society. Hinting at being on the spectrum or still possessing mental scars from childhood, he is a man of little charm outside of his impossibly good looks. It’s those physical features that attract Maya (Monica Barbaro), who both does and doesn’t see through the many red flags Mike flashes. How far would you go to make a relationship work, even in the face of danger? It is tough to review Crime 101 because there is very little that it does either above or below the average. Its biggest accomplishment is giving Halle Berry a role worthy of her talents, something that hasn’t happened in a long time. She’s roaringly good, possessing both movie star wattage and serious dramatic chops. Of course, that’s an unsurprising fact. But sometimes you don’t appreciate just how good something is until you’ve been without it for a long time. Amazon MGM Studios will release Crime 101 in theaters nationwide on February 13th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Tuesday June 13, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Death has come in all different shapes and sizes throughout time and cultures. In Christianity, Death is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Pale Horseman to be exact. In many Romantic language regions (France, Portugal, Italy), it is mostly personified as a female figure, with other areas of Europe seeing it as more Grim Reaper-like, with a skeletal frame and a scythe. And in Asia, Death takes the form of a bureaucrat, an escort between the lands of the living and dead. Considering all the different physical and temperamental interpretations of Death throughout human history, its presence as a talking macaw bird in Daina Oniunas-Pusic’s Tuesday shouldn’t come as anything out of the ordinary. Of course, that’s easier said than done, especially with Oniunas-Pusic introducing us to this celestial being as it traverses the Earth collecting the souls who are at its doorstep, many of them leaving this world in fear and confusion. No matter the form it takes, Death does come for us all, and you’ll never know when and how it’ll show its face. For the 15-year-old titular character (Lola Petticrew), Death has been stalking her for months now in the form of an unspecified terminal illness. It’s felt each time she takes a wheezing breath, and whenever her stay-at-home nurse tries to steer the conversation away from anything too morbid. But when that fateful bird actually does come for her one day, she doesn’t plead or cry. Instead, she tells it a joke and offers to bathe it, as the blackness of death has clouded its bright orange feathers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvqyBWCN39o Like Superman, the bird can hear everyone’s dying thoughts at all times. The piercing sound design elevates the overwhelming fear and discomfort of that situation, a never-ending stream of people revealing themselves in their final moments. On the other end of that problem is Tuesday’s mother, Zora (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who refuses to listen to her daughter’s pleadings about their situation. To reveal anything more about the plot would diminish the experience of witnessing it first-hand. Oniunas-Pusic’s vision for her story knows no bounds, reaching further down the rabbit hole than even your wildest predictions could have covered. And even if I did tell all within this review, you still wouldn’t have all the necessary information to make a decision on whether it all works or not. The directions the film takes have to be felt to be processed; many of them likely not to fully reveal themselves until much later down the road. It’s like trying a new food. Sure, you can read all the ingredients and form an opinion in your head whether you would like it. But you can’t know for sure until you stop thinking and just put it in your mouth. The gamble is part of the process. That inability to fully comprehend everything solely through text complements the actor’s trust in Oniunas-Pusic. Petticrew and Louis-Dreyfus are tasked with extremely challenging jobs, acting opposite a CGI creation (a very convincing one) and navigating the extremely thin tonal tightrope this film often finds itself balancing on. Each of them is dealing with the five stages of grief in their own way, Petticrew being further along into acceptance, and Louis-Dreyfus stuck in denial. Special mention has to be made to Arinzé Kene for his motion capture performance and vocal work as the macaw, both of them making the bird into just as much of a character as what Andy Serkis has done with his creations over the years. Would a conventional narrative track for this story result in a more cohesive and stronger emotional pull? Perhaps. But there are still several tearjerking moments between mother and daughter, one of which takes place on a beach seemingly secluded from the rest of humanity. And fear not, all you haters of weepy terminal illness dramas, as no boy is trying to romance Tuesday in her final days, nor does Zora go through the clichéd motions of dealing with her sadness. It all comes together to make something more than the sum of its parts, which are all equally fascinating to pick apart and dissect. I’m still doing that as I type out this review, and I’m sure to continue doing it throughout the year. Death is not something that can be neatly packaged and processed, so it makes sense that a film about it would refuse to trek down the well-laid path that so many have gone down before. A24 will release Tuesday in select theaters on June 07th, followed by a nationwide expansion on June 14th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

It Was Just an Accident October 28, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Rashid (Ebrahim Azizi) drives home late at night with his wife and young daughter. Due to the open landscape of Iran and the dark conditions, he hits a wild dog. This causes his car to break down a few miles later. Luckily, there’s a mechanic not far down the road who’s still open at this time of night and agrees to fix his car. Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) is one of the mechanics, and, in the void of darkness and silence, hears the limping squeak of Rashid’s prosthetic leg. It’s a sound that sends a shiver down his spine, as it exactly replicates what he heard as he was being tortured by the infamous guard known as Peg Leg over the months he was detained for protesting. Despite its title and initial set of circumstances being born out of coincidence, the creation of It Was Just an Accident is purely intentional. Writer/director Jafar Panahi has been a fervently political filmmaker for over thirty years. Despite securing a historic bevy of awards at the Cannes Film Festival for The White Balloon , he was forbidden from promoting the film in the United States on government orders. It would mark the only film of his career to screen in his home country, the rest all being banned on the grounds of anti-government propaganda. He was arrested in 2010 on that charge, imprisoned in confinement for months until he was released on house arrest. A string of docufiction hybrids was born out of this restriction, including the aptly titled This Is Not a Film , which had to be smuggled out of the country on a USB stick hidden in a cake. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF04v-ze2Yc Panahi was arrested again in 2022, the third director to be detained in a week, along with Mohammad Rasoulof ( The Seed of the Sacred Fig ) and Mostafa Aleahmad. His eventual release was spurred several months later by a hunger strike. Like his previous decade of output, It Was Just an Accident was shot in secret without any permits from the government. But unlike those other films, this is a work of scorching anger, with its unwavering sights set directly on his former captors. This is a thriller in the purest sense of the word, where the suspense of the story stretches far beyond the borders of the silver screen. Determining that a moment like this will never come again, Vahid kidnaps Rashid and locks him in a crate in the back of his van. Rashid denies all claims over his identity, which creates just enough doubt for Vashid to seek out second opinions from his fellow inmates. They are Shiva, a wedding photographer; Goli, the bride at one of Shiva’s shoots; and Hamid, a chaos agent with the most vivid memory of his torturer. Like a jury, all of them must come together to verify the identity beyond a reasonable doubt. Panahi lets these events unfold in a natural progression, never overtly telling us what’s going on or why it’s happening. It’s a slow build-up of tension, with the weight of the filmmaking and performances illustrating all that we need to know about the importance of this moment. Of course, there’s a thick layer of irony in the fact that this review, along with all other press coverage of the movie, eliminates much of those feelings by revealing the synopsis. But Panahi is always one step ahead, imbuing the proceedings with a healthy slice of Coen-esque dark comedy. Vahid is not a trained soldier who can simply kidnap a person, so he just runs Rashid over with his car and stuffs him in the crate, all in broad daylight. Two police officers who notice the group are happy to look the other way once someone taps their debit card on the payment terminal. And no one besides Hamid is fully convinced of the perpetrator’s identity, especially since his wife is about to go to the hospital to give birth. Do they have the heart to kill someone so close to their child’s birth? Like Heath Ledger’s Joker, they’re dogs chasing cars, not knowing what to do once they finally catch it. The seriousness of this very real situation is never lost sight of, as many of the practical and ethical questions largely remain unanswered. An absolutely gripping long take near the end solidifies the rage that is not only felt by the characters but also by the millions of people who are entombed within this system of oppression. At the conclusion of the standing ovation to the film’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the coveted Palme d’Or, Panahi expressed the guilt that he felt for being so lucky to receive acclaim and joy, all while many of his contemporaries are still under persecution. It takes faith to move mountains, and It Was Just an Accident might be the biggest piece of evidence for why we should still hold on to faith, believing that better times are on the horizon. Neon will release It Was Just an Accident in select theaters on October 15th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Civil War April 10, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen Alex Garland’s Civil War is the cinematic equivalent of clickbait. A generic montage of violence is interspersed within an equally generic speech by the president (Nick Offerman) about how the Western Forces of California and Texas have suffered great defeats at the hands of the United States Armed Forces, and that the Florida Alliance is on its last legs. America is now in the final stages of democracy, where the people have risen and the Second Amendment is the ultimate law of the land. From that very opening moment, Civil War begs you to ask questions that it not only can’t - but refuses - to answer. Why have California and Texas seceded from the union and joined forces to overthrow the government? What are they fighting for? And why is Florida on its own side? I suppose Garland’s vagueness about the whole thing is meant to allow you to apply your doom-scrolling mentality to the situation. He’s banking on our collective post-2016 consciousness to fill in the details, almost as if each person gets their own individual puzzle. It’s cowardly and lazy, becoming one of the great modern magic tricks as this “intellectual blockbuster” carries less of a brain than the giant ape vs. giant lizard showcase we just got in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire . I could put my tinfoil hat on and theorize that Garland and A24 sanded down the rough edges of the story to make it appeal to a broader audience. After all, this is A24's biggest production by a large margin, with its reported $50 million budget more than doubling the previous record holder of Everything Everywhere All at Once . The cost of working on a bigger scale is more than just literal dollars; it also requires a willingness to circumvent controversy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDyQxtg0V2w Of course, there’s the glass-half-full approach that none of the other large studios and streamers (Warner Bros., Paramount, Netflix, etc.) wanted to touch this property with a ten-foot pole, so I should be thankful that there’s still someone like A24 that’s willing to pony up the cash to make something that’s not been market tested to the nth degree. But even though that’s all good and true, should I blindly bow down to something just because it’s not like everybody else? Am I asking for Garland to blatantly come out and say that this civil war is about Republicans vs. Democrats, or incorporate some sort of attack on the far-right or far-left? I wouldn’t have minded what Garland had said, just as long as he said something. ANYTHING! It all holds the same weight as your coworker telling you that “our country is really divided right now” and then never elaborating on that opinion. That rotten meat makes it hard to appreciate all the other fine ingredients in this all-American hamburger. In her first role post-Oscar nomination from The Power of the Dog , Kirsten Dunst gives a towering performance as a jaded war photographer named Lee. A not-so-subtle comparison is made between her and a famous real-life photojournalist, Lee Miller (recently played by Kate Winslet in the ho-hum biopic Lee ), by Jessie (Cailee Spaeny, continuing to rise up the ranks of the best younger performers working today), an up-and-coming journalist who’s desperate to be on the frontlines. Sensing that the end is near, Lee and Joel (Wagner Moura) are on their way to the White House to try and get an interview with the president, now serving an unelected third term in office. Their journey takes them down a road from hell, littered with the sight of dead bodies and the sound of bullets and bombs. Garland and his production crew permeate this route with as much tension as possible, with gunfire becoming bone-rattling and trigger-happy soldiers positioned at every corner. IMAX is not the format normally associated with A24 films, and Garland takes full advantage of what he’s been given. It’s a great shame that almost all of these incredibly nerve-wracking action set pieces are undercut by groan-worthy offbeat needle drops. While he doesn’t have ideas about the macroeconomics of this war, Garland does deliver themes on those who document it. Even in a digital world with everything available everywhere, a simple image still contains more power than a thousand words. Garland cuts the action to the photographs being taken by our central characters, giving a glimpse into how chaos can be processed for history. “We record so other people can ask the questions” is the mantra that Lee takes. That’s been enough of a mental excuse for her in foreign lands, but how can you block out something happening in your own backyard? It’s the same question Garland poses to his audience when the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument are being destroyed. We’ve become numb to seeing nondescript Middle Eastern cities being leveled, and now the weapons are pointed back at us. But even though that imagery is admittedly startling and something we haven’t seen before with this intention, it all comes back to the emptiness of the message. It’s all sound and fury, signifying nothing. A24 will release Civil War in theaters nationwide on April 12th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Big George Foreman April 27, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Two weeks ago, I experienced one of the clearest moments of opportunity cost in my life. After experiencing a blizzard that dumped nearly a foot of snow only a week earlier, it was now 80° (that drastic shift should be cause for alarm, but I was just happy to see green grass). The golf courses were open, the bike lanes and soccer fields were cleared, and people were out playing basketball at the nearby park. Everything was laid out right in front of me for an eventful afternoon basking in the sun. But instead of doing any of those fun recreational activities like a sensible person, I decided to sit indoors and watch a movie. I walked into the theater to see the words “BIG GEORGE FOREMAN” plastered all over the screen, along with the hilariously overlong subtitle: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World (I wonder if the person who came up with that title is the same person responsible for the initial title for Birds of Prey ?). I already felt like a chump the moment I sat down in that darkened room, a feeling that was exponentially increased with each passing minute, having to endure this weightless and creatively bankrupt biopic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urKDu40iaXk For all of you who only know the name George Foreman from the grill brand, you’ll be surprised to know that the man first rose to prominence as a boxing icon, only ever bested once by none other than Muhammad Ali. Foreman (played by Kei as a boy and Khris Davis as a man) was a poor and uneducated child in 1960s Texas, which led to him joining the Job Corps with its promises of three meals a day and training for skilled labor. One of the managers (Forest Whitaker) saw boxing as an outlet for Foreman’s pent-up rage. Success came quickly after that, and so did all the other struggles that come with being famous. The term “leave your brain at the door” has often been used to describe horror movies and other blockbusters that are just trying to make a quick buck on spectacle and entertainment. Big George Foreman doesn’t require, expect, or want any of its audience members to be capable of critical thinking. Frank Baldwin and director George Tillman Jr. are incapable of placing any variables into their estate-approved script, sticking so closely to the tired clichés within the biopic formula that it sometimes borders on self-parody. Every choice and personality trait for Foreman is spelled out like it was competing at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Things move at a lightning-fast pace as we cover the entirety of the Wikipedia page. George goes from learning about boxing to an Olympic gold medalist within about ten minutes. He fathers all six of his children and has multiple affairs off-screen, giving off the impression that those things really don’t matter to a person. George says that his sister Mary “always saw the best in him” and that he loved her devoutly. She may have four lines of dialogue in the two preceding hours. That same treatment applies to Desmond (John Magaro), who becomes George’s best friend at the Job Corps and agrees to be his manager. He puts George’s money in “rock solid stocks” (foreshadowing!) and is barely mentioned until after the well has dried up. It also doesn’t help that I’ve experienced more intense boxing fights on Wii Sports than in this movie. Tillman Jr. shoots the action cheaply and flatly, with the announcers never ceasing to over-explain what just happened. There is the presence of blood, sweat, and tears, but none of it comes off the screen. Neither does any of the emotion of Davis’ titular performance, with his blank stares and line deliveries leaving nothing on the table. The biopic genre may be one of my favorites, but that doesn’t mean I’m blind to the fact that many of them just copy each other. Big George Foreman doesn’t even have enough competency to properly cheat off its predecessors. Its subject matter may be about a heavyweight champion, but this story doesn’t even deserve to fight for scraps on the street. Sony Pictures Releasing will release Big George Foreman in theaters nationwide on April 28th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

2026 Sundance Film Festival Preview January 19, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen A melancholic mood will permeate the air at this year’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Now in its forty-second year, this will be the first without the presence of its main founder and spokesperson, Robert Redford, who died back in September. Originally founded as the Utah/US Film Festival in 1978, the festival was eventually renamed after Redford’s most famous character. As much as Redford was a titan of Hollywood, he was a champion of independent films, using his immense stature to find the next great American artist. Redford was Park City, and Park City was Redford. Now that Redford has left Sundance, so must Sundance leave Park City. Announced a month after last year’s edition was the fact that the festival would be leaving its forever home and moving east to Boulder, Colorado, starting in 2027. It makes this edition of the festival feel even more special, a final celebration of the past and present before jetting off into an uncertain future. While a member of the unofficial “Big Five” along with Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Toronto, Sundance doesn’t have the advantage of on-paper pedigree when it comes to the talent it showcases. It also can’t boast about stunning movie stars ascending a red carpet surrounded by palm trees, or arriving on a gondola through a canal. But what it can brag about is that it was the place that gave many iconic filmmakers their start before they graduated to the international limelight. Quentin Tarantino debuted Reservoir Dogs at Sundance in 1992, two years later winning the Palme d’Or for Pulp Fiction . Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape was able to compete for the Palme d’Or in 1989 because of the enthusiastic reviews it received at Sundance a few months earlier. Likely finding no distinction between the Utah mountains and their native Minnesota, the Coen brothers took the festival by storm in 1985 with their debut feature, Blood Simple . Of course, every festival requires a certain amount of star power in order to keep the lights on, and Sundance is no exception. Nestled outside of the competitive sections are the ‘Premieres,’ featuring the stars and directors who grab the headlines when it comes to lineup announcements. Returning to the birthplace of his generational-defining films of The Living End and The Doom Generation is director Gregg Araki, who also hasn’t helmed a feature film since 2014’s White Bird in a Blizzard . He has I Want Your Sex , starring Cooper Hoffman, who becomes a sexual muse to Olivia Wilde. The latter star is also featured in her third directorial outing, The Invite , along with Edward Norton, Seth Rogen, and Penélope Cruz. There’s also In the Blink of an Eye from Pixar leader Andrew Stanton, The Gallerist from Cathy Yan, The Weight with Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, and Charlie XCX’s sort-of documentary The Moment . Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Sundance has been the one festival that has opened its doors to an online audience. Sure, gone are the glory days of 2021 and 2022, when literally every festival selection was made available online. Bad apples who leaked films like Twinless and Selena y Los Dinos last year have pushed away most of the big titles from being available online. Still available are the films in the competition sections, which have played host to acclaimed films like CODA , A Thousand and One , Good One , A Real Pain , and Sorry, Baby . Two musical-related films can be found in this year’s U.S. Dramatic Competition. The first is aptly titled The Musical , starring Will Brill as a playwright putting on a chaotic high school musical. Run Amok has a nearly identical premise, this time with a high school student putting on a musical to commemorate the “one day her high school wishes it could forget.” Director Rachel Lambert’s uber-quiet Sometimes I Think About Dying has grown on me since I saw it at Sundance 2023. She’s back with Carousel, a dramedy starring Chris Pine and Jenny Slate as old flames refinding themselves years later. Writer/director Beth de Araújo had her film Josephine selected for the 2018 Sundance Institute Screenwriting and Directing Lab. After pandemic delays, she’s bringing the finished product to this year’s edition. Gemma Chan and Channing Tatum star as parents of the titular girl, who witnesses an assault near her home. Will Poulter and Noah Centineo star in Union County , a story about an adult-recovery program. Films that I have my eye on that were selected as part of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition include Shame and Money , Big Girls Don’t Cry , Extra Geography , and Levitating . Of course, Sundance wouldn’t be what it is today without its bevy of documentaries. Every year, there are too many to mention, with several likely to feature in the following year’s Oscar race (see The Perfect Neighbor , 2000 Meters to Andriivka , and The Alabama Solution ). As a member of the virtual press, I’ll be cruising through the Dramatic Competition sections during the viewing window of January 28-February 01. It’ll likely be a repeat of my days at TIFF, averaging about three to four films per day. Luckily, this will be from the comfort of my couch, with bathroom and writing breaks scheduled at my leisure. Full reviews for titles will be posted throughout that week, along with a full recap article at the conclusion of the festival. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Marlowe February 17, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen Marlowe is as cheap and dull as its title would suggest. Its titular character, created by Raymond Chandler in the 1920s at the height of the hardboiled detective literary craze, established many of the tropes found within the noir genre, such as seductively dangerous blondes, double entendre dialogue, and the thin line between what is and isn't within the bounds of the law. The likes of Humphrey Bogart and Robert Mitchum have stepped into the role, further planting this character in a different time and place than what modern audiences are used to. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that, as a major sign as to what demographic this movie is aimed at, a 70-year-old Liam Neeson (in his 100th screen credit, many of which have come in this tiredly ongoing post- Taken phase of his career) stars as Marlowe. Never mind that the character is canonically in his mid-30s in almost all of his stories, including The Black-Eyed Blonde , which serves as the source material here. Neeson's Marlowe is too old for this shit, a line that is muttered almost verbatim a few times in a sort of winking fashion to the audience. It's not as unintentionally hilarious as when Marlowe's young employer proposes a little fooling around, which he declines by staring almost directly into the camera and saying, "I can't do that because you're half my age and we have a professional relationship." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brVF7t8VYuM It's tiringly groan-worthy moments like these that make Neil Jordan's adaptation feel lost in time, as it has one foot planted in the creaky old charms of the past and the other in the present sensibilities. It might be why Jordan, speaking at the film's quiet world premiere at the San Sebastián Film Festival back in October, says his film is more of a science-fiction flick than anything else. But this is no Blade Runner , with Marlowe on a case of a missing man everyone claims to be dead, except for his lover, the beautiful Claire Cavendish, who reports having seen him walking about just a few days ago. As he digs for clues, Marlowe comes across a cavalcade of nefarious characters that want nothing less than to have someone poking around their business. Jessica Lange, clearly having the most fun in her thankless role, plays Claire's mother, a once-famous actress who may also be connected to this case. Danny Huston is the manager of the elite club where the missing person was supposedly killed, a detail that he is reluctant to share. And Alan Cumming is reaching far too deep in the well of camp in his role of a sleazy nightclub owner, complete with a phony southern accent and even phonier tirades. Xavi Giménez's claustrophobic framing does as much as possible to hide the fact that Spain doubles for 1930s Los Angeles. Jordan employs some long takes to add a bit of professionalism, but the cheap sets and costumes make everything feel closer to an SNL parody than a true dive into the genre. There's also a clear lack of pacing by Jordan and co-writer William Monahan ( The Departed ), with events progressing in such a lethargic manner that any excitement has to be fully supplied by the audience, who don’t have a good chance at fighting their increasingly heavy eyelids. It's a great shame, but it seems that Neil Jordan is the newest member of the group of once-respected directors that just don't have "it" anymore. Fellow Irishman Jim Sheridan, Wim Wenders, and, somewhat, Werner Herzog have been steady patrons of the club, where the promise is still semi-there on paper, but the continually shoddy execution results in crushing disappointment. Open Road Films and Briarcliff Entertainment will release Marlowe in theaters nationwide on February 15th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Tenet September 3, 2020 By: Button Hunter Friesen Spell it backward or forward, it spells the same. From Christopher Nolan - the virtuoso behind The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception , and Dunkirk - comes Tenet , an action blockbuster on a scale not seen before and that will never be replicated again. Armed with only one word, Tenet, and fighting for the survival of the entire world, a Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real-time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdOM0x0XDMo The plot summary I just gave you is the exact one supplied by the studio. I did this for fear of spoilers and because I cannot confidently give out any more information than what has already been covered. Tenet may be the most incomprehensible and mentally straining movie ever made. It feels like taking a whole semester of advanced physics in only one class period, all while being set in a warzone. I have no doubt there will be case studies and theses done about this movie. Nolan wastes no time throwing his audience over the deep end. He begins the film at a breakneck pace, moving from scene to scene in the blink of an eye. You struggle to grasp the high concept in real-time and are always playing catch-up. This problem only exponentially gets worse as Nolan refuses to hold your hand as he goes further down the rabbit hole. Even one of the characters in the movie says, “Don’t try to understand it, feel it”. It’s almost as if Nolan inserted that quip just for the audience. The inability to follow the movie can be attributed to the out-of-the-box concept, but mostly it falls on Nolan’s embarrassingly weak script. The problems here are the same ones people have been saying about him for years now: that he overuses exposition and under-delivers on the emotional parts of his narrative. Tenet is nearly all exposition and no emotion. Many times, the exposition gives more questions than answers and seems to be intentionally leading us astray. It’s also Nolan’s coldest film, as any emotion is forced through cliche storylines that seem included to check off a box rather than tell a story. On a technical level, Tenet is both Nolan’s most impressive and least impressive film to date. The action set pieces mix both practical and visual effects seamlessly, creating awe-inspiring showcases of movie magic. The use of time inversion in fight sequences, car chases, and entire battles is just some of the moments that you have to see to believe. Hoyte Van Hoytema encapsulates all the gorgeous chaos in stunning widescreen cinematography and composer Ludwig Göransson overtakes your ears with a perfect hard-charging score. What’s a problem here, and has been for some time now for Nolan, is the astoundingly poor sound mixing. Without hesitation, I can say that Tenet is the loudest movie I have ever seen. Every gunshot felt like it went off next to my ear, and every explosion shook my entire body. The ungodly loud sound effects made it near impossible to comprehend much of the dialogue, which was already poorly mixed, to begin with. If you thought it was hard to understand Bane in The Dark Knight Rises , just wait until you try to understand what the characters are saying here. Even with all my gripes, I was still enveloped in the world Nolan has created. There have been dozens of movies where I was lost after a few minutes and checked out for the remaining runtime. With Tenet , I was lost after minute one and completely invested for the remaining one hundred forty-nine. Part of that interest comes from the spectacle, and part of that comes from the likable cast. In a star-making lead performance oozing with charisma, John David Washington plays our protagonist, who is literally called The Protagonist. He’s our vessel as he enters into this strange new world with no previous knowledge and must solve a deadly puzzle that goes against all logic. Robert Pattinson keeps his hot streak going with another charming performance as The Protagonist’s sidekick, Neil. Kenneth Branagh is intermittently good as our Russian villain, Andrei Sator. He’s exceptionally menacing in the quieter moments and cartoonishly over-the-top in his moments of outburst. Elizabeth Debicki plays the most emotionally resonant character as the helpless wife of our villain. Debicki is great in the role but is unfairly used more as an object for the story. Tenet is a full-on assault of the senses that contains unparalleled moments of spectacle and ambition. It’s nowhere near the top of Nolan’s filmography and will surely require multiple viewings to unravel. Make sure to pack some ibuprofen and prepare to have your mind twisted in ways you never thought possible. Warner Bros. Pictures will release Tenet in theaters nationwide on September 03rd. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen