An inflated Crowe is the centerpiece of "Nuremberg"

 

Courtroom dramas have, at least for me, exhausted most methods of surprising the audiences in new, inventive ways. In Nuremberg, the surviving Nazi officers, after Germany's fall in World War 2, are tried for their war crimes and crimes against humanity. Leading the charge is Robert H. Jackson (Michael Shannon), an American judge dead set on seeing Hermann Göring (Russel Crowe) get his comeuppance.

But the movie's main focus isn't so much the trial as the psychological state of the Germans. Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek) spends countless hours getting to know Göring. Kelley is hoping to fully understand what causes true evil, in order to prevent future humanity from succumbing to such malevolence again.

Naturally, the final verdict is hardly a surprise. At nearly two and a half hours, the movie is too long - by almost a third. Despite its attempt to inject a foray into the mental aspect, the movie feels like an unnecessary slog - especially when there're so many exciting films during the present awards season.

☆☆1/2

A post-mortum love triangle is elevated by Olsen's undeniable talent

 

After Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) dies and ends up in an afterlife transit city where she's to await her eternal dimension, she runs into Larry (Miles Teller), her husband on earth for sixty five years before his recent passing. But there's also Luke (Callum Turner), Joan's first husband, who died only two years into their long ago marital union. So given a forever, what's a girl to do?

Director David Freyne's Eternity recalls classics like Heaven Can Wait and Defending Your Life, where recently passed protagonists have to make difficult decisions in their new afterlife. The first hour is quite sluggish, and left me wondering how many times I'd check my watch before the final credits. But the final act more than makes up for it, thanks to Elisabeth Olsen's convincing turn as the conflicted Joan. As clever and creative as the production design is, the movie owes its sweet aftertaste due to her authentic, heart-wrenching turn.

☆☆☆

"Accident" is another bold, courageous work from Iran's fearless filmmaker

 

After their car strikes an animal on a rural dark road, the husband/father drives the car (with his wife and daughter) to the nearest garage to fix the damage. Once there, his voice suddenly strikes a familiar tone with one of the mechanics, who remains out of sight but within earshot. The mechanic secretly follows the family home afterwards, and the next day, ambushes the father and kidnaps him, believing him to be his once-upon-a-time captor, who mercilessly tormented and tortured him.

Winner of the 2025 Palme D'or, It Was Just an Accident is a gripping, intense, well acted drama, made in Iran illegally for being critical of the regime, as most of director Jafar Panahi's movies are. Its plot shares a lot of resemblance to the 1994 Roman Polanski thriller, The Death and the Maiden, which will take away some elements of surprise to those familiar with it. 

Nonetheless, It Was Just an Accident will surely be nominated for a International Film Oscar in a few months' time. As things currently stand, I don't see how it loses the award, regardless of the other nominees' quality.

☆☆☆

Leguizamo saves his best for a late career charmer in "Trevino"

 

It's not often that a small movie, featuring a handful of characters sneaks up on you during a busy late year movie season. But that's just what Bob Trevino Likes It manages to pull off. Featuring an overweight, low self esteem young woman, Lily (Barbie Ferreira), whose father, Bob Trevino (French Stewart) continuously neglects her to the point that she mistakenly adds the wrong Bob Trevino as a friend on Facebook. Turns out that this Bob (John Leguizamo) she thinks is her dad is just a construction company manager, himself bored with an uneventful life. Together, each fills the other's emptiness in life, and a surprising friendship emerges, one that transcends cliches and formulaic movie relationships.

Despite some less-than-authentic parts (Lily's father is such a piece of shit that I could hardly believe people like him existed), I was ultimately won over by the final scene. It was so heart-wrenching and  that even the biggest stoics will be moved. Leguizamo has finally, in his mid 60s, done something he'd never done before: he's created a character that many a person would be glad to call a friend.

☆☆☆

Perkins' "Keeper" is a somber example of filmmaking laziness

 

Osgood Perkins has made some memorable horror movies. The Blackcoat's Daughter, Longlegs, and 2025's The Monkey all possessed creepy, genuine thrills that were difficult to shake off. In Keeper, he resorts to kind of laziness uncommon for someone of his resume. By presenting us with a convincing heroine (Tatiana Maslany) who experiences strange visions after being isolated in her boyfriend's middle-of-nowhere cabin, Perkins resorts to low-budget, student short film stretched to feature length gimmicks: a disturbing payoff, preceded by a narrative so thin it may as well be non-existent.

Few actors, and even fewer locations, is sometimes a recipe for uncommon and original creativity. Sadly, however, that is not the case here. Perkins will surely make good movies again (he simply has to); as sure as he does, the horrid aftertaste of Keeper will be behind him - and his fans.

☆

"No Other Choice" hovers around boldness, yet entertains little in its 136 minutes

 

When I first heard of No Other Choice a few weeks ago - and its admirable 100% RT score - I was excited to watch it. Not only is it directed by the great Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden), it is also greatly praised in this competitive movie awards season. Marketed as a black comedy, it was bound to emerge as the underdog that outsmart the competition. Right?

Well, not exactly. The movie begins as a family drama about a dad/husband (Lee Byung-hun) who works for a paper company. Once he gets laid off, he's naturally distressed. Subsequently, he resorts to extreme measures to obtain the next job, where he - LITERALLY - eliminates the competition (other applicants). But instead of treating the protagonist's flight in a comical/clumsy way, reminiscent of wise dark comedies, Chan-wook ultimately leaves the murdering "hero" have his cake, and eat it, too.  It's like following a slasher movie killer as voice of reason, and see no harm come to him at the end.

Tonally, No Other Choice is unsure what it wants to be. A satirical commentary on the income and labor inequality the world over, or an examination of a man who, never having murdered, does it so easily that he never loses sleep over it? The entire concept felt awkward, if not plain wrong. The fact that the film was never truly entertaining or engrossing in the least is an altogether different matter, but alas - it's flatter than a pancake.

☆☆

"Dead Man" is short of previous duo's thrills, but Johnson still pleasantly surprises

 

Rian Johnson's Knives Out series is probably the most entertaining ongoing non-superhero franchise today. Featuring the southern accented Daniel Craig as the Sherlock Holmes-like sleuth, Benoit Blanc, the series repeatedly features a different A-list cast, in addition to some unforgettable locations. They come across as a modern version of Agatha Christie's whodunnit mysteries - but with a considerably higher elements of cinematic fun.

Third time around, Blanc is called to a New York small town rural community - more specifically, a gothic church where Father Monsignor (Josh Brolin) has been murdered. Liked by some, despised by many, his demise is a missed blessing for the locals. Among them is Jud Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor), a young priest whose own violent past haunts him. There're also Lee Ross (Andrew Scott) and Dr. Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), to name just a few. 

Wake Up Dead Man isn't quite up to par on its two predecessors, but that is hardly a surprise. Johnson has set such a high standard that it's natural if some inspiration isn't striking where it previously has. Nonetheless, Knives Out movies are still top notch entertainment. As long as Johnson keeps inventing new mysteries and attracting the best of Hollywood's acting talent, true cinema aficionados will be there in flocks. Here hoping for at least three more installments.

☆☆☆

"Running Man" remake tops the orignal, confims Powell as likeable action star

 

I never much cared for the original The Running Man. Other than featuring Schwarzenegger at the peak of his action movie star career, it was a cheap looking, B-movie, lazily written adaptation of a 1982 Stephen King novel. It was too short to be fully effective - something that Edgar Wright wisely corrects in his 2025 remake.

Glen Powell is perfectly cast as the titular hero, a common man living in an authoritarian dystopia where the rich and corrupt rule over the poor masses, and entertain them with the violent reality TV show. His man on the run climbs down buildings while wearing nothing but a towel, encounters revolutionary  influencers/podcasters who are fighting for the greater good, and engages in a shootout with killer pilots while boarded on an out-of-control crashing airplane. The movie's set pieces are impressive, the timely themes of income inequality quite relevant, and its implementation of advanced technology to fuel its narrative surpasses everything the original dished out.

It's unfortunate this did not find the theatrical audience it deserved. I suppose it could find a second life on streaming platforms, and becomes a cult-classic worthy of its production design. 

☆☆☆

Clooney's timeless charisma keep "Kelly" afloat despite several Fellini-esque tropes

 

Noah Baumbach's Jay Kelly might as well be George Clooney's swan song. Playing the titular character who very much resembles his real life persona, the actor conveys a nostalgic look at his life's successes and ups and downs and missed opportunities where he failed to properly connect with his daughters and old filmmakers who propelled his career into stardom.

Jay Kelly, along with his manager, Ron (Adam Sandler), take a trip to France, where they encounter curious passengers on an overcrowded train, visit Tuscany and meet with Jay's father (Stacy Keach), concluding their journey at a gala tribute in which Jay receives an lifetime achievement (or something along those lines) award. Throughout, both Jay and Ron reminisce about their pasts, and about what could have been, if only they'd made different choices.

The movie has shades of Federico Fellini's 8 1/2, with the nostalgia of an actor taking place those of a filmmaker. Not to be outdone, in an early small cameo, Billy Crudup steals the only scene he's in, as an old friend who's still bitter and holding on to squashed rage. Jay Kelly does not reinvent the wheel, but it is a fitting, timely narrative for one of Hollywood's nicest, kindest actors (from what I've heard).

☆☆☆

"Influencers" not only tops its predecessor; it sets up an even bigger finale in a potential trilogy concluding chapter (fingers crossed)

 

As engrossing and original as 2022's thriller Influencer was, this sequel - which not only adds an extra S at the end of the title - surpasses it in tension and body count (to say nothing of the blood soaked finale). Back is the mysterious Catherine Weaver (Cassandra Naud), a sociopath who steals identities of famous influencers and monetizes off their accounts. To say the story is of a timely nature is an understatement; to state that it's as exciting as any thriller in 2025 is just as accurate.

Writer/director Kurtis David Harder once again takes us across glorious global attractions (France and Bali), and incorporates the modern social media obsession to an exciting effect. Catherine isn't just a bad guy with highly questionable morals: she is also, in a way, someone whose life most of us would like to live, if only we dared to turn off our conscience and morality meter from time to time. 

The final act in Influencers, staged at a luxurious house with a glossy swimming pool, surpassed even my wildest expectations. Hopefully it is a set up for a yet another chapter to encapsulate this engrossing trilogy. I, for one, can not wait.

☆☆☆1/2

Lawrence's raw emotion emboldens otherwise pedestrian "Love"

 

Unlike many snobbish film 'aficionados,' I don't necessarily find Lynn Ramsey's movies fascinating. At least not solely based on her name being attached to them. And every argument can be made that her latest piece, Die My Love, works mostly because of Jennifer Lawrence's fearless performance.

Lawrence plays a bored, lonely wife, Grace, to Jackson (Robert Pattinson). She lives in an isolated house in the middle of nowhere countryside, taking care of her infant boy, while her husband works for extended periods away from home. Suffering with a major case of writer's block, she's haunted by a mysterious motorcycle rider, sporting a dark, concealing helmet; she also crawls, either inside her house or in the lush outdoor fields, a few too many times, either playfully or out of sheer madness - a product of sexually unfulfilling solitude. 

As a story, Die My Love offers little in form of a riveting narrative. But just as Lawrence saved the otherwise unwatchable No Hard Feelings a few years back, here she also inserts herself, body and soul, into Grace's despair. This is not a movie many will say claim to want to see again, but as a vehicle for its uber-talented star, Lawrence's portrayal is up there, along with other notoriously tormented wives (Gena Rowlands and Isabelle Adjani come to mind) of the big screen. 

☆☆☆

"Badlands" overreaches by trying to turn the murderous alien sympathetic

 

Dan Trachtenberg has, in the last decade or so, done more for the Predator franchise than even John McTiernan and Shane Black, the director and writer of the original 1980s Schwarzenegger spectacular sci-fi action movie. Trachtenberg's 2022 Prey was an original portrayal of female empowerment, set in distant history of pre-colonial America. Not to be outdone, this year's animated anthology, Predator: Killer of Killers, is my personal favorite. For him to have now delivered two expensive, high-octane action blockbusters is a major achievement.

But where Trachtenberg has lost me - sort of - is in presenting the typically villainous, murderous extra-terrestrial as a being we should identify with. To top it off, here the anti-hero is presented without his emblematic mask. Watching his ghastly mug was difficult to get past - despite Elle Fanning's humanoid synthetic upper half spitting comic relief and hanging on his back on a planet that hosts the legendary Kalisk - the most difficult thing to kill in the entire universe.

Predator: Badlands is a well made action sci-fi fare. But such a bombastic extravaganza of explosions, bullets, slicing and dicing of blades on flesh, and general cacophony of noise, can be burdensome, after a while. Its narrative is not unlike the much superior Prey, where an undermined warrior has to prove him/herself to their tribe. It will undoubtedly spawn numerous sequels; and just as likely will - eventually - exhaust even its most ardent fans.

☆☆

Pulling few punches, "Christy" is nonetheless stuck in biopic cliche limbo

 

As Christy Turner, the female boxer that made headlines in 1990s and early 2000s, Sydney Sweeney sports an outdated mullet, one that is permanently 1983-ish. She's also rounder than usual, her character struggling with her sexuality in the conservative boonies of West Virginia, and is fiercer than a wild cat in a boxing ring.

Much like Rocky Balboa fifty years prior, Christy is a small time underdog against her bigger name opponents - at least early on. She soon develops into a respected, overachieving woman boxer, hampered from fully reaching her potential only by the counter-progressive stubborness of her trainer turned husband (Ben Foster). He's the ultimate cliche: the kind of man who beats up on his spouse because she justly enquires about him secretly splurging her earnings.

Christy presents us with a real-life heroine, one whose small-town-Americana birthplace likely got in the way of a bigger success. Sweeney does as well as she can, given the blandness of the script. It all plays out like a gritty made for TV fare, truth being told. In an ocean of late year movie releases, this is bound to get buried and quickly forgotten - much like Dwayne Johnson's redundant "The Smashing Machine."

☆☆ 

 

Joachim Trier's latest evokes the cinema of Bergman - much to its detriment

 

For nearly twenty years, Joachim Trier has been the most universal filmmaker from Norway. Movies like Reprise, Oslo August 31st and Louder Than Bombs reached international success far beyond Scandinavia. In his latest, Sentimental Value, Trier touches upon themes of the great Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman. An elderly father, himself a filmmaker (Stellan Skarsgard), estranged from his two daughters (Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), reappears in their life. Subsequently, old wounds are reopened, and an unpleasant tension begins to hang in the air during their family gatherings.

In comparison to Trier's fantastic The Worst Person in the World (2021), Sentimental Value drags under its own slow, meticulous pacing, weighed down by children-vs-father bitterness that never quite reaches the dramatic arc it seeks. It ends with a muffled whimper, rather than any memorable bang.

At 130-something minutes, Value is much longer than it needs to be. It's also hampered by Trier's own previous success: when compared with his earlier fare, it's sometimes pretentious and often dull, when it should be emotional and engrossing.

☆☆1/2

"Predators" exposes questionable ethics of legal procedure for sake of ratings

 

For two decades, NBC's Dateline show, To Catch a Predator, was the most engrossing hour of television. Focusing on the capture and public humiliation of pedophiles (potential and current) caught in mid-act, it put America's sensation starved public in a living room with Chris Hansen. He almost always resorted to a simple question, "What were you planning to do here today?" None dared to place ourselves in the perpetrator's shoes, yet many did anyway.

David Osit's insightful documentary asks the difficult question: other than humiliating these men, who certainly had the worst of intentions when willfully arriving at the home of the "minor" they met online, is anyone anywhere, at all, working on ra ehabilitative program to help these people face the demons that own them? The final sequence is certainly unique in its audacity, and had me on the edge, waiting for the unexpected. I held my breath, worried that Hansen would get jumped by men in SWAT gear, they way those he had no problem shaming in front of running cameras were. 

Predators will, unfortunately, get buried under an avalanche of late-year award winning cinema, and will not nearly get the audience it deserves. It's a shame, because for those familiar with Dateline's (in)famous reality series, it's as riveting as it gets.

☆☆☆1/2

Ethan Hawke recites poetry, quotes movies and ponders about better times in sentimental "Moon"

 

In Richard Linklater's Blue Moon, Ethan Hawke plays Lorenz Hart, a devastated, melancholic, near has-been song writer, pondering about the successful past, while his creative partner, Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott), celebrates his latest play sensation. With a clever bartender (Bobby Cannavale) and a young beauty (Margaret Qualley) lending him their ears at the bar (the film's only setting, for the most part) to his soliloquies, the movie plays out more like a play with only a handful of characters than a cinematic experience.

Yet Hawke manages to charm and impress, as he nearly always does when matched with Linklater. As Hart, he emits an intellectual, glowing somberness that's masked under a thin layer of denial about his career's inevitable cessation. Named after Hart & Rodgers' famous 1934 hit song, Blue Moon is - more or less - a one man show that overachieves where other, more ambitious movies have failed. It's a celluloid version of the song itself, executed with delicate skill and perhaps Hawke's greatest performance yet.

☆☆☆

Lanthimos/Stone magic may be exhausted in tiresome "Bugonia"

 

For three movies (The Favorite, Poor Things, Kinds of Kindness), Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos has teamed up with Emma Stone to (mostly) successful results. In Bugonia, their latest project, the two time Oscar winning actress plays a bossy CEO of a big corporation who is kidnapped by two conspiracy theory loons (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) who believe her to be an extra terrestrial. They keep her locked up in a basement, shave her head, and eventually torture her via electroshock.

The movie begins with an interesting premise, but quickly becomes another dull, mundane portrayal of a captured victim pleading with her tormentors to let her go because blah blah blah (I don't mean to demean the dialogue; I honestly thought no more of it than I've listed here). There is a good hour in the middle of the film that is a tiresome bore, a frailty typically uncommon in Lanthimos' best work (The Lobster and The Favorite). By the time we reach the (surprising? not really, but you be the judge) twist towards the end, the result is a whimper instead of a bang.

Perhaps it's time for Lanthimos and Stone to part ways for some time, and find inspiration with others Hollywood creatives. If last year's Kinds of Kindness was long and underwhelming, Bugonia is an equally uninspired mess that depends too much on shock value than any actual narrative or character cleverness.

☆☆

Poetic "Dreams" evoke best of Terrence Mallick's early works

 

Based on a novella by Denis Johnson, "Train Dreams" is an almost meditative simple tale of a lumberer, Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton), who spent most of his eighty years cutting down trees in the Pacific Northwest. At one point he meets a woman (Felicity Jones), falls in love, and fathers a little girl. He witnesses his co-workers die from heavy fallen branches, and others get hunted by avenging cowboys looking to slay those who've wronged their family.

The movie, gorgeously filmed during the brief magic hour (sunrise/sunset) span evokes Terrence Mallick's "Days of Heaven." The ravishing cinematography and the wise narration magnificently morph image and sound to full effect. Those looking for complex, intense storytelling will be disappointed. But true cinephiles who value poetic, meditative cinema will discover a rare film that doesn't waste a single frame. 

☆☆☆☆

Contemporary American political climate in this "Anniversary" are used only half-effectively

 

On their 25th (titular) anniversary, middle aged couple Ellen and Paul Taylor (Diane Lane and Kyle Chandler) meet their failed writer son's (Dylan O'Brien) girlfriend, Ellen (Phoebe Dynevor). Ellen, who's a professor, recognizes Ellen as a former student, one with radical ideology that is a threat to American democracy.

General storyline of "Anniversary" is not unlike Alex Garland's "Civil War," but with far less gunfire and combat. The movie's locations are limited, more or less, to the Taylor property, where we hear about what's going on across the country, without ever seeing the damage that Ellen's controversial book, The Change, ultimately brings about. Some of the characters, including Cynthia Taylor (Zoey Deutch), are plain old insufferable, in agreement with only the worst ideas and principles.

The film's ending is sudden, and rather unexpected. Its gloominess will linger in the viewer's mind extensively, wondering what exactly the theme was, but especially what Ellen's smirk while staring at the Taylor's family photo is supposed to signify. A mixed bag of a somewhat relevant scenario that fails to fully achieve what I imagine director Jan Komasa and writer Lori Rosene-Gambino were shooting for. 

☆☆

DiCaprio & Penn "Battle" ideologies, (unknowingly) share romantic partners in Anderson's epic

 

Is Paul Thomas Anderson the best pure American filmmaker living today? Looking at his filmography one will catch an array of films. Boogie Nights, Punch Drunk Love and There will be Blood, to name just a few, are Kubrick-esque in their stylistic and thematic diversity. A once upon a time Hollywood wunderkind when in his mid-20s, Anderson's legacy has expanded since his initial arrival in the late 1990s. It will undoubtedly grow still - fingers crossed.

In "One Battle After Another," Leonardo DiCaprio's Bob Ferguson fathers a child with another revolutionary, Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor). Only problem: around the time when their new romance is underway, Perfidia also slept with Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (a terrific Sean Penn). It's anyone's guess, then, whose the child, Willa (Chase Infiniti) that Perfidia brings into the world, really is. Most interested in the circulating rumors, however, is the Illuminati-like group of wealthy white men, consisting of the (seemingly ageless) Tony Goldwyn at the helm. They welcome Lockjaw into their lair, only to reconsider once whispers of his interracial romance reaches their ears.

OBAA is a kinetic, passionate portrayal of modern day American rebels/revolutionaries and their military adversaries in the federal government. Mix in dashes of parental responsibility and devotion, along with tensions and violence that result from a perpetual racial bias of the American elite, and you've got a powerful drama by a master director who hasn't lost a step. 

I will be shocked if the movie doesn't receive a handful of Oscar nominations, acting and otherwise, and if it doesn't gradually morph into an everlasting American classic.

☆☆☆1/2

Rose Byrne dominates every frame of these kicking "Legs"

 

Seldom has a breakdown of woman's psyche been presented with such intense internal torment as Rose Byrne brings to her Linda character in "If I had legs I'd kick you." In nearly every scene, her world seemingly crashes, and her mind (understandably) along with it. If it's not her ailing daughter, then it's her patient, or her absent husband, or even the concierge at the local hotel, where she stays while her flooded apartment awaits repairs that keep getting postponed indefinitely. The fact that she never obtains and pistol and shoots everyone says that she's more patient than I would've been in her shoes.

To speak of the movie's plot is futile, because it doesn't exactly possess one. Instead, it presents us with a series of small catastrophes that suggest an incoming neurosis that is moments away from imploding. Writer/director Mary Bronstein has constructed a complex drama where an adult female's psychological decay is front and center, much like John Cassavetes used to do five decades ago. 

"If I had legs I'd kick you" is not an easy watch. Those with a weak stomach, who will likely prefer more cheerful fare, will deprive themselves one of the best performances of the year. If Byrne isn't nominated for an Oscar next year, it will be a great shame indeed.

☆☆☆ 

Despite an abundance of logical inaccuracies, "Roofman" is Tatum's showcase

 

Based on a true story, "Roofman" tells the tale of a dumb-criminal-genius, Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum), a man who robbed fast food restaurants by breaking through their roofs. After he's arrested and tried, he escapes prison, and hides in a Toys R' Us store for an extended period. While holed up, he manages to attend church and even meet a single mother (Kirsten Dunst) by sneaking out late at night and pretending to be a classified government employee.

This is a charming, likeable dramedy, no doubt. Tatum is often charismatic beyond belief, and here he embodies another real-life persona by exhuming goodness even at times when he's holding a gun and robbing people. However, the movie is loaded by logical inaccuracies, such as how does Jeffrey keep sneaking out of the store, unseen by all during normal daylight hours? The protagonist's fateful decision to stop-off somewhere on his way to the airport dooms his destiny - the same way the gangster we loved to hate did in "Heat".

"Roofman" is entertaining for about seventy-five percent of its running time; for the remainder, it is trying too hard, and left me wondering who's really dumber: the audience that'll buy the absurdity of its so called "real" events, or the employees at Toys R'Us, who were too obtuse to look behind a hollow wall on which bicycles were stacked? You tell me.

☆☆1/2

Del Toro's adaptation of Mary Shelley's masterpiece is most complete "Frankenstein" yet

 

As the immortal creation of Dr. Victor Frankenstein, the monster played by Jacob Elordi not only portrays all the best that an innocent soul can possess, in moments of unimaginable wrath, he's capable of becoming the most dangerous thing on two legs. Unlike most human-born characters in the story, he's the only one not driven by a single impure desire (his thirst for revenge after he's been immeasurably wronged is another story). That he is also one of the nicest looking monstrosities in all of cinema is also worth noting.

Guillermo Del Toro's "Frankenstein" is an epic drama, evoking the costume-&-wig period during which Mary Shelley's legendary science-fiction-y piece of immortal literature. Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz comprise the rest of the star studded cast, some of which play characters not originally envisioned by the author two hundred years ago. The multiple narrations of the tale's events, told from the frigid North Pole, are spectacularly staged, designed and photographed.

The ultimate message of forgiveness is another nice touch that Del Toro has added here, turning his creature into a most forgivable and compassionate one.

☆☆☆1/2

A father-daughter relationship is at center of melancholy "Fairyland"

When her mother dies in a car accident, little Alysia (Nessa Dougherty) is forced to move to San Francisco with her father, Steve Abbott (Scoot McNairy). They're soon rooming with several people, and the little girl watches, with wondrous eyes, her dad romance several men. When she asks him about it, he simply responds, "because I can never love another woman as much as I loved your mother."

The movie premiered at Sundance Festival nearly three years ago (2023), and shot on a grainy stock, it looks and feels old, as if it was made in the time period it's occupying. The subsequent arrival of the HIV epidemic ultimately affects everyone in Steve's and Alysia's life (especially the former's). It was not, ultimately, difficult to predict what the dramatic finale would consist of.

"Fairyland" is a true passion project by director Andrew Durham, and the real life Alysia Abbott, whose memoir the film is based on. Its message is passionate and wise, and will leave the audience with a bittersweet sensation largely unexplored in American cinema.

☆☆☆

"Fortune" pits guardian angels vs. modern gig economy for ultimate blandness

 

A guardian angel (literally!), Gabriel (Keanu Reeves), watches over careless drivers who text while driving in a traffic heavy Los Angeles. For an unexplainable reason, he focuses on Arj (writer/director/star Aziz Ansari), a gig worker who struggles to make ends meet and still lives in his car. When Gabriel decides to show Arj just how lame his life would be if he was to swap places with a wealthy entrepreneur, Jeff (Seth Rogan), realites are switched, and identities as well.

"Good Fortune" tries hard to be a modern day "It's a Wonderful Life"; in addition, there are also shades of 2000's "Family Man," where a valuable what-if scenario is meant to reshape the protagonist's view of their own life. Yet despite its good intentions, the screenplay never quite ventures into true comedy - or heart-felt drama - in ways that are deeper than a typical network TV dramedy.

Ansari is a funny actor capable of great wit, but as a filmmaker, he struggles to keep the characters memorable; not even the great Kiki Palmer's Elena amounts to more than a one-note woman, whose desire to start a union at the home improvement superstore she works at is met with repeated obstacles. Her plight would've made for a much better movie; if only Ansari had been aware.

☆☆

A somber atmosphere is dwarfed by an absence of pay-off in lackluster "Boy"

 

A man moves into his deceased grandfather's country house, only to have his dog, Indy, repeatedly senses a presence of an evil entity. The concept is simple enough, and several of the shots are framed masterfully, with the dog upstaging the humans in ways not explored before. Think of "Call of the Wild," but with a bleak, eerie tone.

Unfortunately, despite the original premise, Ben Leonberg's movie never concludes with a bang that the collection of creepy scenes preceding it promised. Ivy stares at empty walls, hallways, rooms, and occasionally, a shadowy figure will appear before ultimately vanishing, leaving the dog stupefied. This happened so many times that I was exhausted by the film's "empty" promises.

It's never a good thing when a 73-minute movie feels too long, but that's precisely the case with "Good Boy." It possesses an ambitious idea, but its execution stumbles repeatedly. The villain essence that we eventually see hardly amounts to more than a pile of crap; in fact, it appears to be made of such. How ironic.

☆

Gore, bloodshed and an baffling resurrection crash the call on this "Phone"

It's never a good thing when a sequel opts out for gratuitous carnage in order to overcompensate for the lack of surprises that the first movie gave away. In addition, it escalates the supernatural and the ghostly to a whole other level. Its most unforgivable sin, of course, is to resurrect the murdered psycho, Grabber, into a ghost who can actually harm the living. Here, he plays like a poor man's Freddy Krueger, a demonic entity not aware that his aura is so 1980s - and not in a good way.

The original "The Black Phone" was a well conceived thriller. Despite the somewhat familiar trope of children being abducted and murdered, Scott Derrickson's film (based on a short story by Joe Hill), was original in more ways than one. The violence, for the most part, was kept off-screen. The protagonist, a boy named Finney (Mason Thames), struggled to free himself from the basement of the madman called the Grabber, himself concealed behind a devilish mask. It filled the audience with dread, terror, and an insatiable desire to see Finney get away.

I have said nearly nothing the plot of "Black Phone 2," because it is laughably ridiculous. The movie's nothing more than a gimmick, an unnecessary project forced into existence by studio execs looking to further cash in on the Black Phone trademark. Derivative in all the wrong ways, it is a stain on the legacy of the original.

☆

Only thing smashing in this "Machine" is mediocrity

 

As Mark Kerr, an early UFC and mixed martial arts fighter from the late 1990s, Dwayne Johnson's appearance is strange, featuring a somewhat oddly shaped head, and a bulky torso that nearly dwarves his underdeveloped legs. But he is polite enough, a gentle giant who speaks softly to reporters and the occasional fan. At one point he becomes addicted to opioids, an internal battle that, ironically, turns out to be the main psychological obstacle. Meanwhile, Kerr's girlfriend, Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt), is attractive, supportive, but often gets the blunt of his unwarranted frustrations.

"The Smashing Machine" is, ultimately, just an extension of its mundane trailer. Filmed on a gritty, nostalgic 16mm film stock, it features a transformed Johnson, hoping to elevate this most dramatic performance of his career and carry it into the late 2025 awards season. Given the film's lack of emotional depth and its one-dimensional characters, I doubt that anyone involved in it will be rewarded - unfortunately.

Writer/director Benny Safdie has made better movies (Good Time, Uncut Gems), and will undoubtedly make them again. "Machine" is his most ambitious failure yet, a missed opportunity that will be forgotten by the time the year's last leaf falls.

☆1/2

Dystopian authoritarianism and moving short-term friendships illuminate this "Walk"

 

In an alternate 1970s dystopian America, a competitive long walk features lottery winning young men, who can voluntarily trek for hundreds of miles to outlast one another, with the sole winner winning unimaginable riches. The only downside: anyone who slows down below 3 miles/hour or stops for an extended period is immediately shot and killed. In other words, everyone but the champion is sure to die.

Playing out like a fusion of The Hunger Games (its director, Francis Lawrence, helmed the Hunger movies) crossed with Squid Game, "The Long Walk," based on an early Stephen King novel, features Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, among other notable actors. The mostly female-absent movie is at times moving, at times disturbing, but most notably, when it counts the most, surprisingly poignant. 

The ending is refreshingly unexpected, and will likely leave the audiences in an extensive silence. How this story remained unfilmed for nearly fifty years is beyond me, but I sure am glad it finally got the cinematic adaptation worthy of its source material.

☆☆☆1/2

A contemporary couple update "Roses"'s quarrel with modern technology

When Theo Rose escapes a burdensome work meeting in London and, by pure chance, meets Ivy in the restaurant's kitchen, their encounter is 'fuck at first sight' - literally. It's not long before they're relocating to United States and producing two children who will, before long, turn into modern super-athletes. In less time then it takes most movies to establish most protagonist couples, the Roses define themselves as quirky and clever - nearly too clever in their banter-y exchanges.

This update/remake of the 1989 film, The War of the Roses (itself based on Warren Adler's novel of the same name), replaces Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner with Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman as a couple whose career successes gradually alternate, causing an irreparable rift.  

Featuring a wide-ranging cast that includes SNL alumni like Andy Sandberg and Kate McKinnon, Jay Roach's "The Roses" is sometimes dark, often witty, and less often, very funny. However, I found myself wondering if the couple's disdain for one another is really as bad as they believed it to be. This contempt was presented much more convincingly in the original film. 

As a comedy, this remake works moderately well. As a drama, it is slightly more successful, considering that it wisely bails out of the bleak, inevitable outcome before the final credits.

☆☆1/2

Not even the legendary actor can (quite) save the mundane "Anemone"

 

Jem Stoker's (Sean Bean) visit to an isolated cabin in the deep woods is at first a haunting, mysterious trip. Concealed under light blue and white and even pure celestial, the residence proves to be a seclusion of his brother, Ray Stoker (Daniel Day-Lewis), who's been hiding there for decades. Soon, complications from both men's pasts are revealed, during which the characters talk a lot, and the camera is given the burdensome task of staying on their faces for way too long. Father and son relationships, disregard of child by parent - and vice versa - are the central themes in display.

Like some of Ingmar Bergman's more insufferable movies, "Anemone," directed by Ronan Day-Lewis (the lead actor's son), contains way too many scenes where a lot is told and said, yet little is shown. The half-baked script is, fortunately, assisted by some excellent cinematography, as the surrounding nature (purple and orange, and everything in between) becomes a character in and of itself.

"Anemone" is celluloid proof that plugging a legendary performer like Day-Lewis into an underdeveloped script amounts to only a half-success. One can only imagine what this could've been; as can the actor's biggest fans, who may be wondering if it was even worth unretiring for the sake of ... this. Either way, it sure has an awesome poster.

☆☆1/2

"Dynamite" presentation of a global apocalypse is uncommonly compelling

Like a post-modern Dr. Strangelove - without the satire and the laughs - Kathryn Bigelow's latest thriller explores the notion of a global nuclear war. After a mysterious warhead is fired towards USA, politicians and generals and government experts unite to figure out the who and what and why - all in under twenty minutes of a countdown clock. The open ending lands a bigger punch than a conclusive resolution, solidifying A House of Dynamite as an engrossing experience.

The movie rolls out the same doom-scenario from three different perspectives, wisely leaving the reaction of the American President (Idris Elba) for last. The scene inside of the Presidential helicopter, Marine One, where the POTUS and a young naval officer, Robert Reeves (Jonah Hauer-King) discuss the options at hand, are chilling and terrifying in all the right ways. 

I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but that's just the kind of experience AHOD is: devastating in its suggested scenario, yet undeniably riveting in its execution.

☆☆☆1/2

This "Bone" is the worst of all cinematic lakes

Two couples, mistakenly double booked and stuck in a getaway mansion in the deep woods, engage in mind and sexual games that tests the fidelity of the more modest of the two couples (Maddie Hasson and Marco Pigossi). What follows is at first intriguing, then mundane, before turning into a farce whose laughs are, alas, too unintentional.

"Bone Lake" is a prime example of a movie most erroneously marketed. Neither its poster, nor the trailer, present it accurately. Instead of the clever thriller its ad campaign promised it to be, majority of it is poorly acted, lazily written, and staged and directed so embarrassingly in its final act (a scene where a character falls on a chainsaw idiotically sprays more blood in all directions than a geyser) that the final ten minutes made me wish I was enduring a colonoscopy instead.

It is never my goal to take a dump on any film, and "Bone Lake" may not be the worst movie I've ever seen, but out of the one-hundred-plus films I watched so far in 2025, this one won't make the cut of my top 150.

☆ 

Documentaries hardly get more intense than a deranged "Neighbor"

A dispute between two Florida neighbors requires the police to make several visits after one woman is annoyed by another's children playing loudly across the street. Through BWC (Body worn cameras on the police officers), we meet both women and the children, and the ensuing events consist mostly of she said, she said. That is, until a fatality brings the heretofore quarrel to tragic levels.

At its core, "The Perfect Neighbor" pits an elderly, caucasian woman, Susan Lorincz, who ultimately shoots and kills the African American single mother, Ajike Owens, while claiming she did it because she felt her life was in danger. The movie explores the issues of race, the ethics of 'stand your ground' law, and the judicial system's reluctance to immediately charge the deranged Lorincz with murder, when it is clear they would not have hesitated in swiftly charging Owens, if the situation was reversed. 

A documentary as intense and engrossing as Errol Morris' "A Thin Blue Line," Geeta Gandbhir's film is a superb examination of how an undoubtedly damaged mind like Lorincz was allowed to threaten and ultimately kill, when she should've been in a mental institution all along. 

A riveting, heart-wrenching experience. 

☆☆☆☆

Loneliness and charm carry "Baltimorons" across a magical night in Maryland

 

An incident on Christmas Eve forces Cliff (Michael Strassner) to face a dental emergency. When Didi (Liz Larsen) is the only available dentist, a series of coincidences lead the middle aged recovering alcoholic and the divorced woman across Baltimore, ending up in one awkward situation (stealing Cliff's towed car from a locked junk yard; and performing an improv in front of a crowd unsure whether to laugh or cringe) after another. 

Jay Duplass' movie is a quiet, impossible to resist dramedy about broken people looking for comfort in the oddest of places. Cliff and Didi are an unconventional couple, and all the more compatible because, at face value, they appear tangled with incompatibilities. "The Baltimorons" may not be on anyone's re-watch list, but its hundred minutes will pass by swifter than home workout.

☆☆☆

The only "Dead" in this winter is the absence of genuine thrills

 

Barb (Emma Thompson), looking to dispose her deceased husband's ashes inside a lake where they once shared sentimental memories, accidentally sees something she shouldn't. A married couple (Judy Greer and Marc Menchaca) living in rural wilderness is keeping a young woman in captivity. But Barb can't just let it go; she decides to help the woman, despite the impossible obstacles in her way.

"Dead of Winter" is a half-baked thriller, a movie that could've been scarier and a lot more tense if so much wasn't told early on. Extending the mystery would've gone a long way, as well as not giving in to standard cliches, such as the saviors coming to rescue Barb and the girl, only to end up murdered by the villains. 

It's unfortunate that such a gloomy, effective setting of never-ending snow and an eternal winter - not to mention a terrific Thompson - is wasted on a script that never attempts to deliver more than run of the mill 'thrills.' 

☆☆

Obsession and loneliness morph into a somber contemporary drama in "Lurker"

After an up-and-coming pop musician named Oliver (Archie Madekwe) walks into a Los Angeles clothing store, he is charmed by Matthew Morning (Theodore Pellerin), an employee who just happens to play a song Oliver is a fan of. Little does Oliver know, however, to what lengths Matthew will go to remain in the musician's close social circle.

"Lurker" is a feature filmmaking debut by Alex Russell, a producer/writer on the hit TV series, "The Bear." Here he explores themes of altogether different nature: infatuation that turns into obsession, a product of one's worldly irrelevance and perpetual social solitude. The scenes where Morning introduces his old friends to Oliver and his entourage only lead to additional resentment and division.

The movie's dissertation is as relevant as ever. We occupy a world in which one's number of followers define an individual's place in society. For all its standard formula, the ending of "Lurker" is as unexpected as it gets. In exploring the irony of blackmail and extortion, Russell, ultimately, aligns the protagonist and antagonist's paths in unforeseen ways.

☆☆☆

 

Not even Cillian Murphy's recent success can elevate the blandness of "Steve"

Following the success of "Oppenheimer," Cillian Murphy continues his streak of small, local (UK/Ireland set) movies about ordinary people faced with difficult choices. As a wise, titular teacher in a rural school for boys with behavioral problems, Murphy's instructor is insulted by students and told by his supervisors that the school may not remain open for much longer. The quiet scenes where he stares into nothingness, accompanied by booze and tormented by professional problems, have more impact than any speech or line he utters.

Given the array of characters, both in the small student body and teacher staff, "Steve" never manifests itself as anything more than a long episode of a miniseries we've not seen the start - nor the ending - of. The script is overstuffed (too many characters, possessing not enough substance) giving us little insight into the lives of the protagonists, while branding the students as vulgar and sometimes violent, making them difficult to identify with. 

By the conclusion, we feel as if we've accidentally wandered into a place that's part time madhouse, part time rehabilitation program; of any real education there was hardly a trace.

☆☆