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.

☆☆