Pillion - Movie Review

Pillion

Director: Harry Lighton

Primary Cast: Harry Melling, Alexander Skarsgård

1h 47m

A "pillion" is the seat behind the main seat on a motorcycle, the passenger position where one must physically surrender one’s safety to the person at the handlebars. This term is used as a metaphor for a relationship between two men that extends into the dominant dynamics of intimacy and the relinquishing of control to another person in writer/director Harry Lighton’s film Pillion. Making an impactful debut with his first feature, Lighton explores these relationship nuances with an insightful sensitivity that earned the film a premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and two prestigious British Independent Film Awards. Pillion is a fascinating character study that dives deep into the complicated, often misunderstood dynamics of relationships. Lighton handles the subject matter with a deft, steady, comedic, and often romantic hand, ensuring the story feels grounded in human emotion rather than its sexual dynamics.

The film introduces us to Colin (Harry Melling), a man whose life is as quiet and structured as the barbershop quartet he sings in, yet entirely aimless. That stagnation ends when he meets Ray (Alexander Skarsgård), a brooding, imposing leader of a motorcycle club who lives by a rigid, hyper-specific code of relationships.  What starts as a chance encounter becomes an unconventional evolution, one where Colin ditches his boring independence to live by Ray’s rules. It’s a subversion of the typical coming-of-age arc; Colin doesn't find his voice by breaking free, but by finding a sense of belonging within the boundaries of submission.

Writers Lighton and Adam Mars-Jones take what could have been a standard "meet cute" in a bar and stretch it into a deliberate, slow-burning power struggle. Lighton’s direction imbues this journey with rare tenderness; he treats intense sexual encounters with the same grounded intimacy as everyday moments, such as the rhythmic act of cooking dinner, which serves as a strong metaphor for the characters' growth in the film. By emphasizing the domesticity within their arrangement, Lighton builds an evolving relationship that takes its time to breathe. The pacing is meditative but never feels bloated, allowing the shift from strangers to partners to feel earned rather than forced.

Harry Melling, continuing to distance himself from his Harry Potter fame through transformative roles, delivers an incredible performance of physical and emotional vulnerability. Opposite him, Alexander Skarsgård leans into a persona reminiscent of his True Blood character, imposing in a white leather biker outfit, his calculated stillness evident in every scene. Initially, their chemistry seems awkward, but this is a deliberate choice. As the story progresses, the connection within the relationship changes for each of them. It is a delicate balancing act, with both Melling and Skarsgård adjusting their portrayals with subtle precision as the power balance settles into a comfortable, albeit unconventional, groove.

Pillion explores a unique relationship and reveals the dynamics that connect all people looking for love, those who have found it, and those who have lost it. It inquires that no matter how a relationship is defined, be it mutual, dominant, or submissive, there are universal elements that make them work, emotions that need fulfillment, and an identity that requires clarity. Harry Lighton has crafted a fascinating film that displays this diversity with a captivating, deeply moving character study.

Monte’s Rating

4.00 out of 5.00

MONTE YAZZIE

Monte Yazzie is the film reviewer for the North Phoenix publication “The Foothills Focus” and Festival Manager for the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival. He continues to write consistently for www.dailydead.comand their recently launched magazine “Deadly”, and is a regular contributor to the Phoenix Film Festival and IHSFF website. You can find all Monte’s film reviews and work as an independent filmmaker at www.thecodafilms.com

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die - Movie Review

“Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” – Movie Review

Directed by:  Gore Verbinski

Written by:  Matthew Robinson

Starring:  Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson, Juno Temple, Michael Pena, Zazie Beetz, and Asim Chaudhry

Runtime:  134 minutes

‘Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die’ is a wild, hilarious, and frightening midnight-madness flick

“You’re in for a really weird night.” – The Man from the Future (Sam Rockwell)

And how!  

This on-screen night is wonderfully weird, wild, crazy, hilarious, frightening, endearing, and fabulous.  Why is it frightening?  “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” feels like the near future for our own society, as we careen down a designed, destined, and (potentially) dreaded path laid out by technology in 2026.  

Director Gore Verbinski’s (“The Ring” (2002), “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003), “A Cure for Wellness” (2016)) gloriously twisted movie – based on Matthew Robinson’s screenplay – places humanity in a 15-round heavyweight bout against technology, and the gloves are off.

The person to lead this fight is unnamed, so he goes by The Man from the Future (and let’s also call him “Future Man” in this review).  He claims to be from another time, but who knows?  

Future Man could be John Q. Crackpot from 2026 A.D, as he sports a clear, plastic raincoat that covers a vest full of wires, knobs, valves, and switches, an elaborate substitute for a tinfoil hat, perhaps.  He bellows platitudes about a dark, disturbing future after walking into Norms, a Los Angeles diner, as shocked patrons – previously going about their business – are suddenly forced to listen to him spout “nonsense.” 

He attempts to recruit a team from the said eatery and exclaims, “Who’s ready to save the future?”

Future Man eventually drafts his crew that consists of ordinary bystanders:  a couple named Mark (Michael Pena) and Janet (Zazie Beetz), Susan (Juno Temple), Scott (Asim Chaudhry), Bob (Daniel Barnett), Marie (Georgia Goodman), and Ingrid (Haley Lu Richardson), and they embark on this noble but out-of-bounds quest.  

Rockwell’s recognizable, charismatic, and manic charm gusts and gushes like a hectic hurricane, as his new posse dubiously follows him.  Whether they believe he’s from a yet-to-come time or not, they hang on his every word as they try to keep pace with him conversationally and physically, and so do we!  

Sam is perfectly cast for this character, and in a 2025 YouTube interview with Collider Interviews, Verbinski said, “I sent (Sam) the script, and he immediately was like, ‘That’s me!  The Man from the Future.  I love this character.’”

One way that Verbinski and Rockwell hook the audience is that Future Man repeatedly refrains from announcing each next step (and potential landmine) on this treacherous trek on foot in the City of Angeles, even when his new squad – who seem shellshocked and uncomfortable, like unprepared teenagers just picked, and about to be pummeled, for a Darwinian battle of dodgeball – find the courage to ask.  

(For the record, “Good Luck” was filmed in South Africa, not Southern California, and, admittedly, the locale doesn’t quite look like Los Angeles.  It’s close but not exact, but that’s perfectly okay, because the slight unfamiliarity gives the entire setting a dystopian look and feel.)

Sometimes, Future Man is too preoccupied with his focused mission to stop his momentum and explain the dangers that await his new troop, or he’s unwilling to share the impending peril for their own good.   

He says at one point, “I really don’t like to say it out loud.  It’s kind of a morale killer.”  

Tell us, Future Man!  Please! 

This eccentric leader eventually reveals each menacing turn right before they individually blast on the big screen, and the cinematic bends involve slapstick violence, insane visuals, and complicated choreography that beautifully fall into a midnight-madness space where laughter, disbelief, and mayhem playfully and philosophically blend into simultaneous feels.

To help cut away from the here-and-now conflict that threatens humanity’s future, the narrative thoughtfully jumps into Mark and Janet’s, Susan’s, and Ingrid’s compelling backstories during the first and second acts.  

Each flashback offers clarity into their individual perspectives, dramatically increasing our investment in these characters.  These cinematic devices also serve a dual purpose as insightful, valuable 15-minute (or so) jewels that explore different slants on technological nightmares, ones that involve cell phones, the aftermath of gun violence, groupthink, abandonment, and a new meaning for the word “sabbatical.” 

One tale delves into slapstick, as our protagonists run for their lives.  The other two remembrances carry desperation and heartbreak, one is laced with sarcastic humor, while the other is soaked with pain and irony.  

Temple and Richardson deliver a pair of moments where audience empathy will flood theatres everywhere.  Visually, we also learn the reasons for Ingrid donning a princess costume and appearing defeated in the opening diner scene.  Still, she finds herself joining the team through an accidental fall and spin of a well-known condiment bottle that eventually stops and points in her direction.

Verbinski’s film and Robinson’s script have a singular, unique vision, but if one needs more explanation or direction before walking into “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die”, the film’s comical and dystopian tones could be compared to “This Is the End” (2013) and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022).  

“Good Luck”, however, is its own thing and is more impactful than the aforementioned flicks, especially with its distressing vision of our potential destiny, a warning sign that should ring alarm bells in every man, woman, and teenager who relies on technology.  

After experiencing “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die”, you might want to heave your phone, laptop, or smart TV into the nearest lake.  Then again, how could you find your way to that new pub that opened across town, show your ticket at a concert venue, or call your brother, sister, or BFF?  (For the record, do you know anyone’s actual phone number?  Future Man “calls” that out in the diner, by the way.) 

Here’s an almost certain guarantee:  you will use your phone less after watching “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die”, a wonderfully weird, wild, crazy, hilarious, frightening, endearing, and fabulous midnight-madness flick. 

Jeff’s ranking

3.5/4 stars

JEFF MITCHELL

A member of the Phoenix Critics Circle, Jeff Mitchell has penned film reviews since 2008, graduated from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, and is a certified Rotten Tomatoes critic. Follow Jeff and the Phoenix Film Festival on Twitter @MitchFilmCritic and @PhoenixFilmFest, respectively.

"Wuthering Heights" - Movie Review

Directed and written by:  Emerald Fennell

Starring:  Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hong Chau

Runtime:  136 minutes

“Wuthering Heights” is a smutty good time for degenerates with a sense of humor

You will know within the first 30 seconds if Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” is for you. Not to spoil the joy of discovery, but there is a cheeky rug pull before the credits even roll, a feint that makes you think you’re experiencing one nasty thing only to reveal it’s another, much nastier thing. If the fake out delights you, congratulations, you’re a degenerate with a sense of humor and you’re in for a fun ride. If it repels you, well, you’ll always have the 1939 Laurence Olivier “Wuthering Heights.”

If you take your glasses off and squint, the bones of the film are roughly the same as Emily Brontë’s oft-adapted Victorian gothic romance: There’s the brutish orphan Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) taken in by the Earnshaws, who falls in love with his tempestuous adoptive sister Catherine (Margot Robbie), who must marry into a neighboring family for status instead of love, setting off a vengeful chain of events with no happily ever after.

But that’s the extent of the shared DNA between Brontë’s and Fennell’s works. Gone are the second half of the book, the narrative nesting doll of secondhand flashback and literary craft. In its place is unapologetic smut, a tawdry bodice-ripper paperback shot with the excess of giallo. Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” is rife with grotesque details and upsetting textures offending good taste: egg yolks smeared on silk sheets, a finger plunged into a cube of aspic to wriggle suggestively in a fish’s open mouth, a bedchamber with walls of pale freckled skin and a fireplace made of overlapping plaster hands, the whole sordidly lascivious affair anachronistically soundtracked by Charli xcx.

It's a sumptuously filthy backdrop for Heathcliff and Cathy to molest one another with dirty fingers under voluminous skirts. Elordi and Robbie both too old and too pretty (and in Elordi’s case, likely too white) to faithfully play the parts of Cathy and Heathcliff. But Fennell is pointedly not going for faithfulness; she’s using “Wuthering Heights” as a mood board for unabashed smut, reducing Heathcliff and Cathy into a pair of messy emotional terrorists who can’t quit each other even when their lives depend on it.

Robbie and Elordi admirably lean into the lunacy, even though the Oscar nominees are both too famous to get as dirty as the world around them. While servants bridle each other like horses in the barn during sex and Heathcliff chains a woman round the neck and makes her bark like a dog, Robbie and Elordi themselves remain oddly clothed and vanilla in their assignations, too A-list and brand-managed to fully wallow in the filth with all the rest. But gosh, they’re gorgeous to look at, biting their lips and heaving shirtless or in tightened bodices on the mist-shrouded moors.

Fennel is playing dolls with Cathy and Heathcliff, eschewing adaptation and textual investigation for the feeling and fantasy of Victorian gothic romance in a way that reads like trolling. And really, the Oscar-winning writer/director has always been a troll, making creative decisions explicitly to get a rise out of people. It’s been evident throughout the “Wuthering Heights” rollout, down to insisting that press include cheeky quote marks around the title “Wuthering Heights” in every mention. She wants you to know this isn’t your high school English teacher’s “Wuthering Heights,” or even Brontë’s.

All of Fennell’s work to this point has been driven by that same impulse – doing things to get a rise – to either delight or irritation, often both simultaneously. Think of Barry Keoghan licking a soiled bathtub and engaging in improper relations with a freshly filled grave in “Saltburn” (2023) or the entire third act of “Promising Young Woman” (2020). Here, though, for the first time in Fennell’s work, that impulse feels artistically realized, evoking the giddy lunacy of Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet” and the ahistorical playfulness of Sofia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette.”

Those films annoy plenty of purists, as “Wuthering Heights” certainly will. But what Fennell’s doing here to get a rise out of her audience (literally and figuratively perverting the adaptation of a literary classic) reveals how many readers remember the book making them feel when they read it young and dumb and full of hormones. It’s an experience rooted in lizard-brained feminine pleasure and desire. Don’t think about it; give yourself over to it.

Just don’t invite your book club. And definitely don’t take your mom.

Barbara’s Ranking

3/4 stars

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"The Voice of Hind Rajab" - Movie Review

Directed and written by:  Kaouther Ben Hania

Starring:  Motaz Malhees, Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, and Amer Hlehel

Runtime:  89 minutes

‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’:  Ben Hania’s agonizing Oscar-nominated docudrama clearly and painfully speaks

Four Palestine Red Crescent Society workers met Hind Rajab in 2024, but only by telephone and under the most dire of circumstances. 

“I’m on my own,” Hind says. 

The Red Crescent is a humanitarian organization that “works to protect and assist those affected by conflict, providing medical services, supporting detainees, and reuniting families separated by conflict.”

On a January 2024 day, Red Crescent members Omar (Motaz Malhees), Rana (Saja Kilani), Nisreen (Clara Khoury), and Mahdi (Amer Hlehel) cope during several phone calls with Hind, in which she sits in an idle car but in the middle of an active Gaza war zone.  

Hind, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl, pleads with (primarily) Omar and Rana for a rescue, but the firefight at that moment proves to be too hazardous for an ambulance to drive a few minutes to her, pluck her from the said automobile, and whisk her to safety.  

While this child begs for a lifeline, the Red Crescent office is turned upside down with grief and powerlessness in director/writer Kaouther Ben Hania’s disconcerting drama “The Voice of Hind Rajab”, which is based on a true story.  

(Note, there are conflicting messages online about whether Hind is 5 years old or 6 years old during this crisis.)

Ben Hania knew Hind’s tale from social media and the news and felt compelled to make this film.

In a January 2026 Associated Press interview, Ben Hania says, “The movie is about this feeling of helplessness.  It explores helplessness.”   She adds, “To explore it, I needed to do a movie about it, so I can go beyond it.” 

“The Voice of Hind Rajab”, nominated for a Best International Feature Film Oscar, is a docudrama that recreates the said calls, and Ben Hania includes snippets of the actual phone calls on the big screen.  Almost the entire 89-minute runtime is a confined race against time, and the circumstances are beyond Omar, Rana, Nisreen, and Mahdi’s control.  

Ben Hania’s decision to keep the camera inside the humanitarian organization’s office for the vast majority of the movie pulls the audience from their theatre seats and places them in the shoes of the small on-site Red Crescent staff.  The staff members cannot physically see Hind, and neither can we.  Ben Hania and cinematographer Juan Sarmiento G.’s camera floats seemingly inches from the actors’ faces as their on-screen characters listen to Hind and attempt to bestow hope and encourage her to keep her spirits up while she agonizes.   

Unfortunately, the staff also completely recognizes that tangible aid for this child is painfully unavailable.  

First, Omar experiences exchanges with Hind’s cousin and then Hind.  Once he realizes that the compromised city blocks are filled with danger, which in turn prevents the ambulance(s) from having clearance to find her straight away, Omar funnels his desperation and anger toward Mahdi, his office coworker, who is seen as a roadblock to save Hind. 

The explosive moments between Omar’s irresistible force and Mahdi as an immovable object twist the mounting tension.  Omar’s frustration with Mahdi’s failure to endorse and secure a go, or a “green light”, for an actual rescue attempt will spill over to moviegoers as well.  However, Mahdi faces an impossible choice between his obvious desire to save Hind and his simultaneous determination to keep the ambulance drivers safe.  

Ben Hania and Hlehel share a well-placed, convincing gesture that pours infinite volumes of empathy for Mahdi and his quagmire of no easy answers.  

Rana spends ample minutes conversing with Hind as well, and she extends a more soothing tone with this desperate youngster, but also falls into an emotional peril of tears as the minutes and hours painfully tick onward, while unknown and unseen Israeli soldiers may or may not be nearby.  

The claustrophobic pressure in the office and Hind’s despairing, innocent voice resonate deeply like a parent wishing to protect a frightened child or a nurse caring for an ailing patient, but with no tangible solutions to soothe one’s nerves or administer an antibiotic, respectively. 

Granted, “The Voice of Hind Rajab” commits to one side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Still, we also know there is no shortage of other gut-wrenching stories originating from the other side’s point of view.   In this movie, the audience hopes that this little girl doesn’t become an innocent casualty of a complicated conflict.

Jeff’s ranking

3.5/4 stars

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"Send Help" - Movie Review

Director: Sam Raimi 

Starring: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien 

Run Time: 113 minutes

Filmmaker Sam Raimi started as an indie filmmaker, running through the woods with a camera, fake blood, and a group of friends, making a scary movie that would change the landscape of horror with The Evil Dead, a creative, gory horror comedy with inventive camera trickery and a handful of practical effects. Raimi, establishing one of the early blueprints for comic book heroics with the underrated Dark Man, eventually set the foundation for the modern superhero blockbuster with his Spider-Man trilogy. Even in his quieter moments, like the massively underrated drama A Simple Plan or the haunting southern ghost story The Gift, he proved he could handle the human condition with incredible precision. With Send Help, it feels like the director gathered all those different tools from his cinematic toolbox to build a survival story. It has the grit of a thriller, the heart of a character drama, and just enough of that classic Raimi chaos to keep every frame engaging.

Rachel McAdams plays Linda, an awkward corporate data specialist who is frequently overlooked and even mocked by her arrogant boss, Bradley, played by Dylan O’Brien. When their private plane goes down over a remote island, the office hierarchy changes instantly. Bradley is badly injured and completely out of his element, while Linda, a survivalist obsessive auditioned for the television show Survivor, has spent years studying exactly how to handle a situation like this.  While waiting for rescue, Linda grows stronger and more confident, while Bradley becomes impatient and continues to exert a dominance that doesn’t exist anymore. A psychological battle for control erupts between the two colleagues, one that turns manipulative and violent.

What really makes Send Help work is the way the script lets these characters push and pull against each other. The dialogue is sharp and clever, with a twist in power dynamics that is, many times, mean-spirited, but it’s also comedic. As the situation grows more desperate, the story shifts into a game of cat and mouse, which leads to betrayal and, eventually, a brutality that feels very much earned. McAdams and O’Brien have a surprising amount of chemistry together; the two actors bounce and balance their performance between each other in both complementary and comical ways. They make you care about these people even when they are terrible to each other.

Raimi is clearly having a lot of fun leaning back into his horror roots here, a genre trait that appears in different, fun ways throughout the film. He treats the island less like a tropical paradise and more like a carnival fun house, using the dense jungle and the shifting shadows to create an atmosphere where anything can pop out of the bushes, fall from a tree, or float in from the ocean. A scene involving a wild boar brings back his signature gross-out humor, the kind of stuff that makes you want to laugh and shield your eyes at the same time. Whether a gory encounter with a wild animal or a desperate attempt to save a life amid food poisoning, Raimi finds a way to make the physical reality of survival both visceral and oddly comedic. It is a specific tonal tightrope that very few directors can walk, but he manages to make all the bold choices in this film have an undeniable entertainment value.

While the story's format is relatively simple, the character choices lead to interesting emotional moments. There are quiet scenes where the trauma that shaped these two adults comes to the surface, particularly regarding Linda’s past relationship, which adds a layer of weight to the survival moments. These are balanced by sequences of near slapstick violence that are hilariously over-the-top. The story starts to feel a little long toward the final act, and the pacing slows just as you expect it to accelerate. Even with that slight drag at the end, the journey remains consistently engaging thanks to Raimi’s unique style.

Send Help is a great example of a simple story elevated by a director who knows exactly how to manipulate an audience. Raimi takes this survival tale, a story audiences have seen in many forms, and pushes it to its absolute limit, proving once again that he remains one of the finest directors in the business. 

Monte’s Rating 

4.00 out of 5.00

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“A Private Life” – Movie Review

Directed by:  Rebecca Zlotowski

Written by:  Anne Berest, Rebecca Zlotowski, and Gaelle Mace

Starring:  Jodie Foster, Daniel Auteuil, Mathieu Amalric, Virginie Efira, Luana Bajrami, and Vincent Lacoste

Runtime:  103 minutes

Zlotowski’s offbeat but intriguing Parisian mystery and Foster’s gratifying performance make ‘A Private Life’ worth a public look

“Psycho killer.  Qu’est-ce que c’est? Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa, fa.” – “Psycho Killer” (1977) by Talking Heads.

Paula Cohen-Solal (Virginie Efira) died.  This Parisian wife and mother commits suicide, and it came without warning.  It’s a mystery.  

For Dr. Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster), Paula’s psychiatrist for 9 years, her death doesn’t add up, and in “A Private Life”, this American living in Paris attempts to determine why Paula took her own life or if someone stole it from her. 

Director/co-writer Rebecca Zlotowski’s (“Other People’s Children” (2022)) offbeat but intriguing whodunnit places this accomplished shrink in the role of an amateur Detective Hercule Poirot, as Lilian chases clues and leads across Paris, hoping to solve the reason for Paula’s passing. 

Zlotowski and co-writers Anne Berest and Gaelle Mace split time over the film’s 103 minutes between Lilian’s investigation of Paula’s backstory, along with some suspicious happenings, and the good doctor’s imperfect personal life.  

Lilian did not recognize any previous signs of Paula’s self-harm, which causes her to suspect a couple of potential culprits.  Since her patient had a small nuclear family – Paula’s husband, Simon (Mathieu Amalric), and their only child, Valerie (Luana Bajrami) – the movie doesn’t cast a wide net of typical Agatha Christie suspects.  Still, Zlotowski and a shaken Lilian credibly ponder and explore Simon’s and Valerie’s motivations.  

Simon’s caustic meltdown in the first act is particularly effective at simultaneously raising misgivings and feeling empathy for him.  Valerie’s long stares and semi-invasions of Lilian’s space escalate similar vibes.  

Since Lilian focuses on a limited number of suspects, “A Private Life” opens the book on her failed marriage to Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil), an easy-going optometrist.  They don’t socialize often, but they both respect and share tenderness for each other.  Lilian feels out of sorts with Paula’s suicide, and Gabriel (affectionately called Gaby) is a loyal friend to his ex. 

Lilian and Gabriel are also grandparents to a baby boy, but she suffers from a strained relationship with their grown son, Julien (Vincent Lacoste).  While Gabriel exhibits genuine care for Lilian, Julien harbors resentment for some unknown, off-screen “crimes” committed while he was growing up, and Lilian reflects his comparable displeasure.  She calls out, in psychology speak, that it’s always the mother’s fault.  

Foster embraces this nuanced character, a financially successful career woman – as evidenced by her beautiful Parisian flat (in the third Arrondissement, perhaps) and long-standing dedication to her profession – who doesn’t quite have it all.   Lilian is resolute and methodical in her work, always recording every session and cataloging the tapes into a sizable collection in her office.  

Lilian’s organized, pragmatic persona has served her well as a therapist over the decades, but she also struggles with obvious detachment toward family.  Zlotowski and Foster offer a wide-open view into her flawed private life, and Lilian will have to question her well-established routines to solve the troubling puzzle that her patient left behind.  

This includes a couple of unusual explorations of Dr. Steiner’s unconscious feelings and Lilian and Gabriel’s far-fetched third-act inquiry with one of the prime suspects.  

Still, Foster and Auteuil have wonderful, playful chemistry in every second together on-screen, and Foster’s successful steps into Poirot’s practices, Lilian’s self-analysis, and speaking fluent French for almost the entire film make “A Private Life” worth a public look.

Jeff’s ranking

2.5/4 stars

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"Mercy" - Movie Review

Director: Timur Bekmambetov

Starring: Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson, Kali Reis, Annabelle Wallis, Chris Sullivan, Kylie Rogers

Run Time: 100 minutes

Mercy, the new film from director Timur Bekmambetov, dives quickly into a futuristic thriller that features Artificial Intelligence as a primary character. In this modern-designed, dystopian future, AI isn't just a tool; it’s a cold, calculating court system that leverages the full connectivity of modern technology to solve and prosecute crimes. In some ways, Mercy feels inspired by Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report, drawing heavily on the crime-prediction trope and touches of future technology, like flying cars, in a mostly contemporary setting. However, where Spielberg’s exceptional film grappled with the morality of free will, Mercy never quite finds that deeper connective tissue to how our world interacts with AI today; instead, it relies on a clumsy detective story and an overabundance of images that float, fly, and scroll chaotically through the frame. 

The film follows Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt), a champion of the new Artificial Intelligence "Mercy Court" system that is helping to decrease crime in dystopian Los Angeles. The story begins with Raven waking up to find he has been accused of the brutal murder of his wife, Nicole (Annabelle Wallis). He is strapped into an execution chair and given exactly 90 minutes to prove his innocence to Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson), an emotionless AI entity. Using the city’s technology resources, which include a vast network of surveillance and private data from cell phones, Raven must navigate his own muddled memories and digital footprint to prove his innocence before the countdown concludes with his execution.

Mercy quickly establishes a thrilling atmosphere, plunging the audience into the tension of a futuristic thriller with very little exposition, an effort that helps anchor the crime-solving story at the film's center. The introduction spends its time wisely, getting us familiar with Chris Pratt’s detective character as he is forced to defend himself against a system he once believed in. The centerpiece of the film’s story is the computer-generated Mercy Court system, an AI entity played by Rebecca Ferguson, who is doing more than you’d expect for a cold, zero-personality character like Judge Maddox. 

The film quickly runs out of twists as the clock ticks down. The central murder mystery is never particularly complicated, which makes the 90-minute real-time format feel stretched. To bridge the gap, the final act pivots to an outlandish motive that derails the film's pacing. This shift forces action scenes that feel inconsistent with the rest of the movie's established style and tone, moving from a tense procedural to a generic spectacle. Bekmambetov’s use of handheld cameras and multiple screen editing results in pictures that move at a very high speed. The film gives you a lot to look at, but the constant high-motion flickers and rapid zooms can be a literal headache.

Mercy is a high-concept idea that lacks the right story choices and stylistic depth to elevate it. It begins as a gripping exploration of technological overreach but ultimately devolves into a simplistic murder drama that unfolds without much surprise. 

Monte’s Rating

2.00 out of 5.00

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Dead Man's Wire - Movie Review

Directed by: Gus Van Sant.

Written by: Austin Kolodney.

Starring: Dacre Montgomery, Bill Skarsgård, Colman Domingo, and Al Pacino.

Runtime: 105 minutes.

Gus Van Sant returns with stylish hostage thriller ‘Dead Man’s Wire’

Just how crazy does a downtrodden everyman holding an avaricious mortgage broker hostage have to be to lose your sympathy? Depending on your own moral calculus, perhaps just about as crazy as Bill Skarsgård plays Tony Kiritsis in “Dead Man’s Wire.”

Director Gus Van Sant (“Good Will Hunting,” “Milk”) has been fairly fallow the past decade, directing a handful of episodes of Ryan Murphy’s “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” since his last feature film, 2018’s little-noticed “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot.” “Dead Man’s Wire” doesn’t take us back to the halcyon days of Van Sant’s Oscar-nominated turn with “Milk,” it does entertain as another ‘70s-set historical drama based on a real-life story.

“Dead Man’s Wire” is set in the gray and dreary Indianapolis of February 1977, when would-be real estate developer Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård) strolls into Meridian Mortgage with a grievance and a shotgun. He’s there to confront the big boss, M.L. Hall (Al Pacino), whom he discovers took a surprise trip to Florida. Kiritsis pivots, setting his sights instead on the man’s son, mortgage broker Dick Hall (Dacre Montgomery). Before Hall knows what’s happening, Kiritsis has him in a dead man’s wire, a crude device fashioned with wires and a loaded shotgun pointed at Hall’s head. If anything happens to either man – say, if Hall tries to run or if Kiritsis gets tackled by the cops – the gun goes off and Hall dies.

Skarsgård plays hall twitchy and unpredictable, coming across very convincingly as a man who could shoot off someone’s head between quips (“I call shotgun!” he says, leading Hall by, well, shotgun to the getaway vehicle). But he’s also sincere in his belief that Meridian Mortgage ripped him off, financing land for him to develop and then undercutting him so he’d default, getting both pieces of the pie. 

“I’m gonna let the world know what you and your dad have done to me,” Kiritsis tells Hall. And he does, with a little media savvy, calling radio DJ Fred Temple (Colman Domingo), a velvet-voiced local legend who lends a sympathetic ear and his airwaves to the kidnapper’s grievances. Soon, there’s a media frenzy, and Kiritsis the everyman fighting the powers that be begins to turn into an unlikely folk hero even as he gets more deranged with bravado.

“Dead Man’s Wire” has an old-school stylishness about it, handsomely outfitted in period accoutrements and a ‘70s earth-toned palette. The vibe carries it further than characters; while everyone turns in fine performances (especially stylish Domingo, who makes you believe in the power local radio DJs once wielded), the film doesn’t have much to say beyond, “Hey, can you believe this happened?” Kiritsis especially gets lost in the mix, the film showing you too little of his backstory and innerworkings to get you on his side (which it really needs to do if he’s going to be holding a shotgun to a man’s head the whole film). 

The biggest mark against “Dead Man’s Wire” is how willfully it draws attention to other, better films. It’s just a stroke of bad luck that Van Sant deploys Gil Scott-Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” within months of the release of “One Battle After Another,” whose own use of the song is so memorably pivotal amid a cultural zeitgeist of revolutionary politics. But it’s borderline malpractice to cast a phoning-it-in 85-year-old Al Pacino in what’s essentially a discount-bin “Dog Day Afternoon.”

You can find fun stuff in the discount bin, though, and while “Dead Man’s Wire” doesn’t ascend to the lofty heights of “Dog Day Afternoon,” it’s still an engagingly offbeat hostage thriller that seems too wild to be true had it not been televised.

Barbara’s ranking

2.5/4 stars

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“All That’s Left of You” – Movie Review

Directed and written by:  Cherien Dabis

Starring:  Cherien Dabis, Saleh Bakri, Mohammed Bakri, Adam Bakri, Muhammed Abed Elrahman, and Sanad Alkabareti

Runtime:  145 minutes

 ‘All That’s Left of You’ effectively dives deeply into one household’s struggle with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

“I am here to tell you how it started.” – Hanan (Cherien Dabis)

Director/writer/actress Cherien Dabis’ “All That’s Left of You” is a family story told over three generations.  Chronologically, the film begins in 1948, and Dabis includes two critical events that drive the primary plot and give meaning to the movie’s title.  

These two moments form a distressing arc that eventually leads to an emotional conclusion. 

Her film speaks to a specific tale of the Palestinian experience in Jaffa during Israel’s formation and the subsequent ongoing conflict, where Sharif (Adam Bakri) and his family were forced leave their estate and lush orange grove.  

The narrative jumps time periods (and eventually lands in the present day), as we see Sharif’s son, Salim (Saleh Bakri), raise his own family in the West Bank with his wife, Hanan, and their children, including Noor (played by Sanad Alkabareti and Muhammad Abed Elrahman, as an elementary school child and teenager, respectively).  

It’s a fictional narrative but inspired by her own family dynamics.  

Dabis says in a December 2025 Associated Press interview, “It was actually really beautiful to explore the things that I hadn’t spent that much time thinking about.  What inspired me to make the film was really my relationship with my dad and watching the different generations of my own family from my grandfather to my father to me, and how our identities formed in opposition to each other.”

Speaking of family, there is a real-life kinship of actors in “All That’s Left of You”.  Saleh and Adam Bakri are brothers, and their real-life dad is Mohammad Bakri, who plays an older Sharif, living with Salim and Hanan while they raise their children.  

In 1948, Sharif and his family’s displacement is met with disbelief.  He, his family, and friends are shellshocked.  These movements do not show overwhelming violence on-screen.  Some is on display, but opposing military forces stand with intimidating strength and form unfortunate, subsequent refugee camps. 

The tone changes during the late 1970s, as bewilderment transforms into resignation in the West Bank.  

Generally speaking, the Palestinian community seems to manage peacefully, as Hanan raises their kids while Salim, an effective, affable teacher, enjoys educating young people.  However, threats of a confrontation with Israeli forces still exist, and when one such incident transpires, the dynamic between the generations – in this household - changes forever.  

Dabis – born and raised in the U.S. and of Palestinian and Jordanian descent – takes a stance in her film from the Palestinian experience, but she also pays deference to the Israeli perspective through a pair of crucial scenes during the third act. 

In any part of the world, no matter where war exists, warfare can ever-so-easily shatter a peaceful existence across a country, community, or neighborhood.  Rather than extensively explore historical details of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “All That’s Left of You” effectively tightens its focus on its impact - through deliberate blunt instruments and thorough nuance - on one household.  

With a 145-minute runtime, Dabis spends sympathetic stretches about the cataclysmic physical and psychological costs of this conflict under one roof, and these scenes deeply resonate through the discreet, intimate interactions between Sharif, Salim, Hanan, and Noor and the accompanying poignant performances from Adam, Mohammad, Saleh, Cherien, Muhammad, and Sanad.   

The struggle between Salim and the younger Noor is especially troubling to absorb, and credit Cherien's thoughtful screenplay and outstanding work from Saleh and child actor Sanad.  Yes, Hanan tells the audience how “it” started, and when Dabis’ movie ends, moviegoers may feel numb…and reflective.    

Jeff’s ranking

3.5/4 stars

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“Greenland 2: Migration” – Movie Review

Directed by:  Ric Roman Waugh

Written by:  Mitchell LaFortune and Chris Sparling

Starring:  Gerald Butler, Morena Baccarin, and Roman Griffin Davis

Runtime:  98 minutes

 ‘Greenland 2: Migration’: Butler and Baccarin are an appealing on-screen couple, but it’s difficult to buy the story

“You gotta be kidding me.” – John Garrity (Gerald Butler)

When watching “Greenland 2: Migration”, the 2025 sequel to the 2020 disaster-adventure, “Greenland”, one might share John’s sentiment.   

More on this later.  

Well, in the first film, a catastrophic comet named Clarke strikes the planet, and billions attempt to run to safety, including John, his wife, Allison (Morena Baccarin), and their son, Nathan (Roger Dale Floyd).  

The Garrity family thankfully finds refuge in a Greenland bunker, and in this sequel, life picks up five years after the first movie, as they, and an undetermined number of others, make the best of their lives in their below-ground concrete home (that sports yoga classes and 80s music), dreaming of eventually living in the Earth’s natural environment. 

Unfortunately, elevated radiation on the surface persists as a deadly obstruction, but it doesn’t stop folks like John, who don gas masks and sometimes venture outside to gather needed supplies, tools, or darling remnants of life B.C. (Before Clarke), like a flower sandwiched in between pages of a pocket-sized journal. 

As one might expect, the Garritys don’t enjoy a safe existence underground for long because an intimidating, angry fissure soon disrupts their best-laid plans, and John, Allison, Nathan (played by Roman Griffin Davis in the sequel), and a handful of fortunate others escape the earthquake and head southeast towards the UK and Continental Europe.  

Director Ric Roman Waugh, who directed the first film, sends this likable, supportive family on a perilous journey.  The triad hopes to find the actual Clarke crater located in France.  It is rumored to support plant, animal, and human life, rather than be the radioactive wasteland that much of the world has become.  

Disaster movies can – sometimes - be a cinematic radioactive wasteland as well, but that isn’t “Greenland 2: Migration” fate.  Still, the film is often a frustrating experience.  Writers Chris Sparling (who wrote the first movie’s screenplay) and Mitchell LaFortune pen an impossible journey for this nuclear family.  They repeatedly conjure unworkable circumstances but make them work out almost perfectly for the Garritys through sheer incredible luck or beyond generous goodwill during a 3,000-mile expedition by boat, vehicle, or on foot.   

As YouTuber Ryan George often says during his hilarious Pitch Meetings, “It was super easy, barely an inconvenience.”   

For instance, their boat lands in a flooded Liverpool, England, but they, somehow, find their way to an old friend, Mackenzie (Sophie Thompson), who runs a London hospital, and she gladly hands them keys to an Audi SUV and doesn’t ask for a return date.

Sure, please take my car in the middle of a post-apocalyptic event where natural resources and supplies are almost as scarce as snowfall in Singapore.  

Later, they encounter a middle-aged man with a gun who shoots first and asks questions later, but the stranger extends instantaneous trust to our lead family and invites them to a home-cooked meal. 

They stumble into other sticky situations with unfriendly outsiders and face a hazardous environment, complete with sudden electrical storms and a treacherous walking bridge, one inexplicably built like a tightrope instead of a proper collection of planks.

Since “Migration” is an action-adventure film, Waugh, Sparling, and LaFortune bombard John, Allison, and Nathan with loads of dire confrontations to navigate around or through.  With a runtime of just 98 minutes, the collection of recurrent daring escapes and astounding acts of charity becomes a constant, ever-frequent beat of absurd good fortune.  

The Garritys, mind you, are a suburban family choosing this excursion, not a regiment from the British Army, French Foreign Legion, or U.S. Marines.  

No worries, the screenplay says that they got this.

On the other hand, the script, Baccarin, and Butler play to their characters’ domestic strengths, as the movie pauses at times and offers pleasant moments of good cheer, like a Jackson Browne tune, a couple of proper meals, and strong emotional support.  Baccarin and long-time action star Butler are also entirely convincing at conveying trauma, and we easily believe John and Allison love one another and are in for the long game, if they can survive.  

Then again, the family also stops for a breather during the third act and plays a game of “Would you rather read minds or be invisible?”   

Sigh.  Could you read this critic’s mind at that moment?  

The film’s location team dreamt up a realistic wasteland environment, as the crew filmed on eerie, barren Icelandic landscapes, and the CGI looked respectable, as well as a practical effects scene during a getaway at the beach.  

The makeup department also performed admirably by causing Butler’s John to look increasingly worse with each passing second – due to a specific plot point - over the 98 onscreen minutes while inversely fashioning Baccarin’s Allison more beautiful over the same timeline.  Objectively, this really seems to happen, and look, that’s not a stretch. 

However, this story is…over a few thousand miles.

Jeff’s ranking

2/4 stars

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No Other Choice - Movie Review

Directed by: Park Chan-wook

Written by: Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar, and Jahye Lee

Starring: Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin.

Runtime: 139 minute

Park Chan-wook’s ‘No Other Choice’ a killer satire of late-stage capitalism

How far would you go to land a job? Not just any job, but a dream job after months of unemployment, with debt piling up, your marriage fraying and foreclosure notices arriving in the mail?

It’s a question that’s lost none of its urgency in the nearly 30 years since the publication of Donald E. Westlake’s American thriller novel “The Ax,” adapted for a post-global financial crisis world in “No Other Choice” by Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook (“Oldboy,” “Decision to Leave”). Seasonal layoffs have become de rigueur as private equity guts entire industries and AI development is leveraged to cudgel workforces. What is a man, whose entire identity is the loving manufacture of specialty paper, supposed to do in the digital era after he’s lost one of the last good gigs in a dying industry? 

A filmmaker with a sense of humor as mordantly black as Park’s has wicked fun answering that question. “No Other Choice” brings madcap energy to flaying open our current capitalist hellscape, exploring questions of identity and masculinity in a society that marries worth with labor as the plebes play musical chairs with the last few remaining jobs. Here, that music finally runs out. 

Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) has it all: a loving wife, two healthy children, a nice big house (his childhood home, which he was able to buy back after his family lost it), and a job he loves. Man-su takes pride in his labor, manufacturing specialty paper with care. That pride takes a hit when Americans take over his company and he becomes a casualty of workforce reductions.

Papermaking wasn’t just a job for Man-su, though; it was a purpose. You don’t get named “Pulp man of the year” unless you mean it. While Man-su endures a job hunt that plays like a series of humiliation rituals (begging, at one point, from the floor of a public bathroom), he makes do for a while with low-level, unskilled gigs. But the indignities mount: he can’t afford lessons for his cello-prodigy daughter, he defaults on his mortgage, and he even has to send the family’s two dogs to live with relatives because he can’t afford to feed the extra mouths. Openings in specialty paper manufacturing are few and far between and the competition is stiff. But what if Man-su could eliminate some of that competition? Like, with a gun? 

“No Other Choice” will understandably receive a lot of comparison to Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” another dark Korean satire at the intersection of class and capitalism. “No Other Choice” is even more gleefully madcap, going full Looney Tunes with tonal maximalism. Scenes will seesaw between, say, a fart joke and one of the bleakest murders you’ve ever seen committed on screen, along the way lampooning the fragility of male identities tied to work in a system that will never love them back.

“No Other Choice” is certainly a film of the moment, but without the urgency and clear artistic vision of its thematic predecessor. The tonal whiplash can make it hard to find footing in “No Other Choice,” as do characters behaving incomprehensibly on their road to ruin. But even the more minor entries in Park’s filmography are a delight to watch. He can turn even the most mundane interaction into a piece of bravura filmmaking. There’s a shot here of a man drinking a beer that’s so creative, it will leave you marveling at how he shot it. It may not service a story in need of servicing, but who would deny Park the opportunity to show off a little? 

“I am a good person. Losing my job is not my choice,” Man-su chants in a support group, his voice joining a choir of laid-off company men. But the choices he makes after that underline how we are all made complicit in an evil, dehumanizing system. 

Barbara’s ranking

3/4 stars

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Monte’s Favorite Films 2025

2025 bridged the gap between grand-scale popcorn cinema and intimate portraits of the human experience. This cinematic year delivered spectacular technical feats that entertained movie fans, look no further than Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, but was also films that featured deeply personal, original storytelling, Sorry, Baby and Sentimental Value.

The year opened with a surge of auteur-driven projects; Bong Joon-ho's sci-fi odyssey Mickey 17 and Ryan Coogler's vampire epic Sinners set an early, ambitious bar for genre-blending storytelling. The summer box office saw massive theatrical spectacles, with James Gunn's Superman competing with Matt Shakman's The Fantastic Four: First Steps for comic book superhero dominance, while Joseph Kosinski's F1 dazzled audiences with high-octane thrills. At the same time, Danny Boyle's 28 Years Later and Gareth Edwards' Jurassic World: Rebirth reminded genre movie fans that visceral chills are sometimes best captured on the big screen.

The year culminated with diverse highlights for every cinema-lover. From the technical wizardry of Avatar: Fire and Ash and Guillermo del Toro's love letter to an iconic horror character with Frankenstein to the sprawling comedy-thriller of Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another. The 2025 year of film balanced blockbuster energy with intellectual storytelling in creative ways. Here are my personal favorite films of 2025.

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12. Die, My Love

Director: Lynne Ramsay

Featuring an emotionally raw performance from Jennifer Lawrence, Die, My Love is a complicated film that details love, loss, and motherhood. Lynne Ramsay's direction brings an emotionally transparent, at times feverish quality to the screen. When you add Robert Pattinson to the mix, this film becomes a beautiful work exploring the messy intersections of relationships, the fragile nature of human connection, and, at its core, the unseen psychological aspects of motherhood. It is a haunting film that still lingers in my brain.

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11. The Long Walk

Director: Francis Lawrence

Stephen King adaptations have been a staple of cinema for decades, but The Long Walk stands out as one of the best in the last 10 years, ranking among the top three cinematic adaptations of King's work. Director Francis Lawrence seems tailored for this specific project; his extensive experience with the high-stakes, dystopian tension of The Hunger Games translates perfectly here. He captures the grueling, psychological toll of the source material with a steady, unflinching hand, elevating a simple premise into a devastating character study.

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10. Train Dreams

Director: Andrew Haigh

Train Dreams is a quiet film meditation about the trials of life and the persistence of the human spirit. It embraces this quality; regardless of the era, we all feel, suffer, and endure in similar ways. Beautifully shot with a reverence for the natural world, the film features an excellent, grounded performance from Joel Edgerton. It is a story that unfolds at its own pace, using atmosphere to heighten empathy for the characters and situations they endure.

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9. Sinners

Director: Ryan Coogler

A horror film that does so much with its familiar vampire genre tropes, Sinners subverts them into truly dazzling visual sensations. Coogler uses the shadows of the past to create powerful connections to modern recurrences of violence, systemic injustice, and historical trauma. It is a rare feat, a popcorn-horror creature feature that possesses a sharp intellect and a visual palette that is both gorgeous and horror-filled.

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8. Black Bag

Director: Steven Soderbergh

A slick crime drama that oozes coolness, Black Bag charms with its smart characters while creating an intriguing espionage caper. Director Steven Soderbergh composes the film with his signature rhythmic precision, allowing the narrative to move with a unique energy. The film features a fantastic one-two punch performance from Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender, whose on-screen chemistry provides the perfect anchor for this high-stakes game of shadows.

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7. Nouvelle Vague

Director: Richard Linklater

A vibrant love letter to filmmaking and the French New Wave classic Breathless. Full of energy and unexpected insight into the process of art and creativity, Linklater captures the restless passion of pursuing what you love—even when you aren't entirely sure what, when, where, or how it might come to be. Nouvelle Vague is a beautiful sentiment, exposed here through a playful narrative that celebrates the chaos of the creative spark.

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6. It Was Just An Accident

Director: Jafar Panahi

It Was Just An Accident is a thrilling revenge film that offers a nuanced, darkly humorous analysis of trauma and oppression. Director Jafar Panahi, who was imprisoned for his politically charged films yet continues to make movies in his home country despite the constant oppression of his craft, uses personal experience to compose It Was Just An Accident with impressive tension, balancing the weight of its themes, and delivering a genuinely thrilling and thoughtful experience.

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5. Sentimental Value

Director: Joachim Trier

A family drama about the collision of the personal lives we love and leave, and the professional passions we pursue. Sentimental Value explores the passion of art alongside the joys and mistakes of family life. Director Joachim Trier expertly navigates the terrain of missteps, faults, past trauma, and present anger, while still leaving room for the hope of an unexpected future. It is a poignant, deeply felt exploration of how we define ourselves through those we love.

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4. Sirāt

Director: Óliver Laxe

Sirāt is an unexpected journey that argues the path taken is far more important than the destination it chases. Director Óliver Laxe uses the immersive landscapes of the Moroccan desert to frame a story that feels both extravagant and intensely personal. It is a spiritual, sensory experience that rewards the viewer with beautiful, thoughtful moments of reflection.

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3. Marty Supreme

Director: Josh Safdie

How do you balance the emotions of a self-centered, egotistical, and unlikable young man? You get actor Timothée Chalamet to find the humanity in the character and director Josh Safdie to provide the anxious, energetic framing. Marty Supreme is a truly epic journey, both frustrating and endlessly fascinating, documenting the rise to fame of an unexpected contender with unflinching style and cleverness.

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2. No Other Choice

Director: Park Chan-wook

The mastery of Park Chan-wook's filmmaking skills is on full display in No Other Choice. Based on the novel The Ax by Donald E. Westlake, this is a funny and engaging thriller, meticulously composed in every frame. Park Chan-wook balances a dark, satirical tone with a genuine sense of desperation, following a man, played excellently by Lee Byung-hun, who takes extreme measures to secure his livelihood. The technical precision—from the editing to the production design—is exceptional, proving that Park Chan-wook is a master of the craft who commands the medium with unparalleled control and a wicked sense of humor.

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1. One Battle After Another

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another is unlike the filmmaker's most recent films; moving into modern times, Anderson creates an entertaining comedy-crime thriller with a timely message. Featuring fantastic performances, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Benicio Del Toro chew up scenery with fun and lively characters, while newcomer Chase Infiniti wows with a standout performance. The film offers a striking commentary that layers numerous ideas into a story about family, fatherhood, freedom, and faith. The narrative feels both sprawling and intimate, capturing the chaotic spirit of the American experience through an impressive cinematic lens

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Honorable Mentions 

13. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

14. Weapons

15. The Secret Agent 

16. 28 Years Later

17. Bugonia

18. Mickey 17

19. Sorry, Baby

20. Frankenstein

21. Together

22. F1: The Movie 

23. The Phoenician Scheme

24. I Like Me

25. Predator: Killer of Killers 

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Jeff Mitchell’s Top 20 Films of 2025

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2025 is another banner year for cinema, and, once again, the annual best-movies selection becomes a challenging but rewarding responsibility. 

I gladly experienced 226 new films in 2025 and proudly chronicled my 20 favorites, my Top 20 of the year!

Thank you for reading.

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20. “One Battle After Another” – Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio) exclaims, “Viva la revolucion!” And why not! He’s part of the French 75, an assembly of domestic vigilantes, terrorists, or folk heroes, depending on your perspective, in director/writer Paul Thomas Anderson’s action film. Anderson includes plenty of car chases, explosions, and on-foot pursuits, but “Battle” is also effectively grounded in a personal conflict between Bob and Col. Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn) stemming from their opposing sides of a Rebels vs. the State confrontation and the affection over Bob’s girlfriend, Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor). Don’t forget Chase Infiniti, who plays Bob’s daughter, and the always-on Benicio del Toro, who wonderfully steals every scene as Bob’s friend, the never-stressed Sensei Sergio St. Carlos.

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19. “Black Bag” – Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Rege-Jean Page, Naomie Harris, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, and Pierce Brosnan gladly decided to join director Steven Soderbergh’s ultra-cool spy flick. Soderbergh doesn’t waste a moment with a thrifty and intense 93-minute runtime, and neither does George Woodhouse (Fassbender), who is tasked with finding a traitor within the National Cyber Security Centre. Naturally, George and his wife Kathryn (Blanchett), who also works with the agency, invite the top suspects to dinner in their home, and “fun and games” are on the menu. Yes, “Black Bag” is an appetizing time at the movies.

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18. “Splitsville” – Dakota Johnson won the 2025 Worst Actress Razzie for her performance in the unintentionally funny “Madame Web”, but this talented, charismatic thespian shines in this purposefully hilarious comedy from her co-stars, director/co-writer Michael Angelo Covino and co-writer Kyle Marvin. Paul (Covino) and Carey’s (Marvin) friendship becomes ruthlessly strained when Carey tests the boundaries of Paul and Julie’s (Johnson) open marriage. Yikes! Look, “Splitsville” is a rom-com that even men can enjoy, which also includes the longest, unexpected fight scene since the Keith David-Rowdy Roddy Piper clash in John Carpenter’s “They Live” (1988).

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17. “Whistle” – Eighty-eight years ago, Snow White encouraged us to whistle while we work, and the contestants of the Masters of Musical Whistling competition are following her lead! Director Christopher Nelius’ documentary seems like a Christopher Guest mockumentary as several creative, imaginative, and eccentric domestic and international personalities descend on Los Angeles to compete for the World Champion whistler title. Often stressed-out but capable taskmaster Carole Anne Kaufman runs the event like a third-world leader or a caring mom (depending on the moment) to support the whistlers and entertain the audience. Nelius also offers in-depth profiles of the contestants – like Yuki, Molly, Jay, and Anya – both off-stage and on-stage during their biggest moments. Odd, funny, and charming, “Whistle” is a harmonious 84-minute doc.

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16. “The Last Viking” – Anker (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) robs a bank, and just before the police arrive, he instructs his younger brother, Manfred (Mads Mikkelsen), to hide the money. Manfred, however, isn’t entirely reliable, and when the system releases Anker from prison, the pair embark on a dysfunctional treasure hunt for the loot! Director/writer Anders Thomas Jensen pens several colorful characters in a kooky, wild, and violent dramedy that is paired with a haunting Viking tale. Mikkelsen’s physical comedic gifts and flawless timing create a couple of flabbergasting moments, and he also brings convincing dramatic depth to his portrayal of the ever-so-fragile Manfred.

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15. “Marty Supreme” – Director/co-writer Josh Safdie’s sweeping, blustery affair – starring Timothee Chalamet - carries a similar hectic pace as the Safdie Brothers’ “Uncut Gems” (2019), but travels into threatening criminal elements reminiscent of Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” (1990). Cutting through the cinematic chaos, “Marty Supreme”, at its core, is a sports movie, and one unexpectedly about ping pong. Safdie even sprinkles in some eclectic 80s tracks that make appearances 30 years after the film takes place, which make welcome additions to the free-spirited vibes. Meanwhile, Chalamet’s sensational work – that includes showing off ping pong skills that he developed after six years of lessons – could earn him a Best Actor Oscar, and he wouldn’t need any topspin to do it.

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14. “The Voice of Hind Rajab” – Director/writer Kaouther Ben Hania’s agonizing 89-minute movie is almost entirely set in one location: a Red Crescent office in the West Bank, where workers attempt to coordinate a rescue of a six-year-old girl under fire in Gaza. Ben Hania’s movie is based on real events, and she uses actual recordings of the child, Hind Rajab, in peril. Omar (Motaz Malhees), Rana (Saja Kilani), and Nisreen (Clara Khoury) each speak with Hind to reassure her, but they each feel helpless – and so does the audience - because the ambulance that could whisk her to safety has difficulty receiving clearance to reach her. A gut-wrenching film.

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13. “Sound of Falling” – Director/co-writer Mascha Schilinski’s haunting epic captures ordinary and disconcerting milestone events over multiple generations, for over 100 years, in Northern Germany. Schilinski frequently shifts back and forth between the periods at seemingly natural breaks, but also without warning, as connections between individual traumas of each era slowly materialize. With a sprawling 149-minute runtime, stunning imagery, astonishing sound design, and no easy answers, “Sound of Falling” resonates as a tragic work of art and an emotional maze that needs multiple viewings to absorb, see, and hear all its intricate details and messages.

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12. “Homebound” – Chandran (Vishal Jethwa) and Shoaib (Ishaan Khatter) are best friends in a North Indian village, and they aspire to become police officers by taking the national exams. The odds are stacked against them, because of the highly competitive process, but also in the game of life due to the existing caste system. Jethwa and Khatter give heartfelt, convincing performances as their on-screen personas’ friendship is tested during their roller-coaster journey towards hopeful futures. Director/co-writer Neeraj Ghaywan’s movie emphasizes the slim chances for these young men’s success, given the institutional and cultural barriers stacked 10 miles high.

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11. “Deaf President Now!” – Gallaudet University, located in Washington, D.C., is “the only university in the world specifically designed for Deaf and hard-of-hearing students.” For a week during the spring of 1988, the campus became a thunderous epicenter of students’ outrage that sparked a national debate. At the time, the school never had a Deaf president, and the students wanted a “Deaf president now!” Directors Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim, with assistance from their crew and four former students – Jerry Covell, Greg Hilbok, Bridgetta Bourne-Firl, and Tim Rarus – retell the unrelenting fight against the system in an utterly compelling 100-minute documentary.

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10. “Weapons” – At 2:17 a.m. in a suburban town, 17 third-grade children simultaneously wake up, run out of their individual homes, and disappear into the night. The next day, the outraged community suspects the kids’ teacher, Justine Gandy (Julia Garner), but director/writer Zach Cregger methodically leads the audience down a frightening path to solve the baffling mystery. Cregger cleverly constructs his (often) petrifying puzzle through the shifting point of view of the on-screen players, played by Josh Brolin, Benedict Wong, Alden Ehrenreich, and child actor Cary Christopher, but Amy Madigan deserves a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her memorable portrayal in this creepy and compelling horror film.

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9. “I Swear” – A crowd-pleaser! Robert Aramayo delivers an endearing performance as John Davidson, a real-life Scotsman with Tourette syndrome (also referred to as Tourette’s), in a heartbreaking, hilarious, and tender biopic. Director/writer Kirk Jones (“Waking Ned Devine” (1998)), Aramayo, and the terrific supporting cast – led by Maxine Peake, Peter Mullan, and Shirley Henderson – wield the aforementioned emotions and more in a film that dives headfirst and close-up into Davidson’s struggles that began during his teenage years. Unwanted verbal (and sometimes physical) outbursts could occur at any second, which obviously lead to John’s constant anxiety – but also the sympathetic audience’s - in anticipation of the ill-timed, unsavory moments, as we curse the disorder and hope for a cure as much as Davidson does.

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8. “Sentimental Value” – Celebrated director Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgard) returns to his Oslo home to film his new movie and wishes to cast his actress daughter, Nora (Renate Reinsve), in the lead. However, Gustav’s long-standing estrangement from Nora and her sister, Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), complicates his hope to reconnect and make his picture. Director/co-writer Joachim Trier delves into the Borg family’s personal lives, including Gustav’s past emotional abandonment and its present impact on his daughters, as he struggles to find an effective way to repair the damage. Trier also devotes precious minutes to the inside baseball of showbiz, especially script rehearsals and on-location planning, and a zany, unforgettable backstage sequence at a theatrical play that should – by itself – earn Reinsve a Best Actress Oscar nomination. Skarsgard and Lilleaas deserve Oscar nods as well.

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7. “Warfare” – “Alpha Two, we might have guys starting to move on our position.” This position is located at a home in Ramadi, Iraq. On November 19, 2006, Alpha One, a Navy SEAL team, occupies a residence in a residential neighborhood and soon identifies subtle Iraqi rebel movements from across the street. What began as an initially benign encounter then escalates into a ferocious confrontation between U.S. troops and Iraqi insurgents, placing the audience squarely in the middle of the visceral, perilous circumstances alongside the SEALs in “Warfare”, one of the most stressful war films in recent memory. Directors Alex Garland (“Ex Machina” (2014), “Civil War” (2024)) and Ray Mendoza’s distressing and must-see whirlwind movie is based on an actual 2006 clash and the memories of the soldiers who fought for their lives, their country, and each other on that day.

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6. “Checkpoint Zoo” – The human toll of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has been well documented in film and news, but director Joshua Zeman’s documentary captures the war’s trauma on animals, specifically ones living at Feldman Ecopark, located near the Ukraine/Russia border. As Russian shells rain down on the zoo, 5,000 to 6,000 animals – including goats, turtles, ostriches, lions, and more – found themselves in immediate peril. Thankfully, Ecopark owner Oleksandr Feldman, Ecopark workers, and volunteers, including a young veterinarian Tymofii Kharchenko, answered the call and toiled tirelessly in a daring rescue to save thousands of animals. Zeman’s camera fearlessly follows these heroes as they try to transport these Ecopark residents to safety in this nerve-wracking and moving documentary.

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5. “A Horse Named Winx” – Horse racing fans will likely call out Secretariat as the greatest of all time, but there’s a particular Australian mare, Winx, and an entire continent that beg to differ. Director Janine Hosking’s documentary chronicles the extraordinary life of Winx, along with her trainer Chris Waller, jockey Hugh Bowman, a dedicated team, and the country down under who love this cherished horse. (After watching this movie, you will too!) Hosking and narrator Andrew Rule find plenty of on-screen minutes for an incalculable number of informational and affecting behind-the-scenes moments of hardship and joy, and recount Winx’s astonishing winning streak on the track. While watching Winx’s dramatic races and thrilling finishes, you might just leap out of your seat, applaud, and cash in your ticket to buy another viewing of this inspiring doc.

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4. “No Other Choice” – Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) is content, fulfilled, and living his best life! He’s a long-time executive with a paper company and lives in a beautiful, spacious home with his loving wife and two children. However, his happy reality falls into jeopardy when he loses his job, and the bills pile up. Director/co-writer Park Chan-wook (“Old Boy” (2003), “The Handmaiden” (2016)) and Lee determine that our lead’s desperate times call for extreme actions. You see, Man-su has “no other choice” during his uncharted trek to provide for his family, and Park spins his cinematic gifts into the idea that one unfortunate corporate judgment can crumple a secure existence into a precarious, unstable one. Please hand the Best Director Oscar to Park.

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3. “Train Dreams” – Joel Edgerton is Robert Grainier, a lonely soul who sets roots in Idaho during the early 20th century, earns a living as a logger and railroad hand, and finds a new sense of purpose when he meets and falls in love with Gladys (Felicity Jones) in director Clint Bentley’s beautifully constructed, acted, and shot picture that depicts an ordinary man’s journey. Bentley introduces key supporting characters – played by Nathaniel Arcand, Kerry Condon, William H. Macy, and more - throughout the picture who enter our reserved lead’s world and add contemplative words to enrich his perspective. Narrated by Will Patton, “Train Dreams” has some feels of Terrence Malick’s “A Hidden Life” (2019) and Robert Redford’s “A River Runs Through It” (1992), but Robert’s story is uniquely his own while simultaneously offering insight for all of us. Bring tissues.

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2. “Sirat” – Director/co-writer Oliver Laxe’s searing and surreal road-trip movie feels like “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015) meets “Tracks” (2013), and this comparison does not do this movie justice. Set in the desolate, despairing Moroccan desert, a distressed father, Luis (Sergi Lopez), searches for his daughter. He travels with his young son, Esteban (Bruno Nunez Arjona), to a rave in the middle of nowhere with the hopes of finding her. After this rhythmic party breaks up, the fish-out-of-water parent-child duo follows a small group of counter-culture attendees to the next one. However, gas stations, fast-food joints, and Airbnbs are nonexistent in this barren landscape, as the on-screen ensemble hopes that they don’t also become missing. 

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1.  “Nouvelle Vague” – Jean-Luc Godard’s “Breathless” (1960) is a milestone film that helped splash the French New Wave movement into world. Sixty-five years later, director Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague” (which translates to “New Wave”) gives the same planet an insider’s look at Godard’s tricky, unconventional, and minimalist shoot. Guillaume Marbeck is flat-out fantastic as Godard. Marbeck brings bravado and astute comedic timing to his first feature film role, as his Godard confidently delivers his avant-garde instructions to the frequently befuddled cast and crew, including “Breathless” stars Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo, delightfully played by Zoey Deutch and Aubry Dullin, respectively. Meanwhile, cinematographer David Chambille and the location management team recapture the gorgeous look and feel of the famous picture, and the fast-paced, whip-smart script is bound to make cinephiles everywhere smile, reach out again to “Breathless”, and then back to “Nouvelle Vague” for an encore. Bravo! Encore!

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“Song Sung Blue” – Movie Review

Directed by:  Craig Brewer

Written by:  Craig Brewer, based on Greg Kohs 2008 documentary

Starring:  Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson, Fisher Stevens, Jim Belushi, King Princess, Ella Anderson, Hudson Hensley, and Michael Imperioli

Runtime:  133 minutes

 ‘Song Sung Blue’:  Jackman and Hudson are ‘So Good!  So Good!  So Good!’ 

Neil Diamond, 84, has sold over 130 million albums worldwide, and this singer-songwriter legend has countless hits to his name, including, “Song Sung Blue”, “Cracklin’ Rosie”, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”, “America”, “Cherry, Cherry”, “Holly Holy”, and, of course, “Sweet Caroline”.

Neil retired from touring in 2018, but his music continues to thrive in the public consciousness, on music streaming services, in local pubs, and sports stadiums (i.e., “Sweet Caroline”).  

On the West Coast, a Neil Diamond tribute band, Super Diamond, out of Northern California, has been playing live for decades, and this critic finally began to appreciate Mr. Diamond after first catching this band live during the late 90s/early 00s.   

(Yes, Mom and Dad, you were right.  Sorry for arriving late to the party.) 

Director/writer Craig Brewer’s (“Hustle & Flow” (2005), “Dolemite Is My Name” (2019)) “Song Sung Blue” is a biopic about another Neil tribute band, one based out of the Midwest.  Lightning & Thunder, from Milwaukee, became a hit during the 1980s and 1990s.  Mike Sardina (Hugh Jackman) is Lightning, and Claire Sardina (Kate Hudson) is Thunder, and this devoted married couple passionately enjoyed playing Mr. Diamond’s music in front of thrilled (and when they started out, a few not so thrilled) audiences for years.

Director/writer Greg Kohs’ documentary, also titled “Song Sung Blue” (2008), chronicled Mike and Claire’s marriage and musical career, and one might ask why a tribute band would merit a documentary.  

This critic didn’t catch the 2008 doc, but after watching Brewer’s 2025 film, it’s easy to see why. 

The 2025 “Blue” is an inspiring story about passion for music and also commitment in the face of stark adversity.  

First, let’s focus on the former.  

Jackman and Hudson share delightful chemistry on and off-stage as an on-screen husband and wife and co-performers.  Jackman’s musical background is well-chronicled, including a 2004 Best Actor Tony for “The Boy from Oz” and on the big screen with “Les Miserables” (2012) and “The Greatest Showman” (2017).   

Kate Hudson’s singing career is more commercially recent with the release of her 2024 album, “Glorious”, although she’s famously linked to director/writer Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous” (2000) as a Stillwater groupie, Penny Lane.  (Although Penny Lane refers to herself as a band aide, not a groupie.)

Mike and Claire are dynamite – along with their band - at performing ND favorites.  Hugh and Kate look like they are having a blast, and their infectious, positive energy is bound to reach movie theatre audiences as well.  Cinematographer Amy Vincent captures Mike and Claire’s joy in close quarters during rehearsals and gorgeous, colorful feels from the front row of their concerts. 

It seems like our two talented actors have been performing Neil Diamond songs for a decade. 

(This critic watched a screener at home, but there’s no doubt that yours truly will see “Song Sung Blue” in a theatre during the holiday season, and let’s face it, I would throw down a sizeable chunk of change to catch Hugh and Kate on tour.  Is there a taped two-hour performance of the real-life Mike and Claire out there as well?)

To avoid spoiling which Neil tunes they sing, the tracks will not be revealed in this review, including the single that Mike insists should always be their opening song.  

Good things come to those who wait, right?   

Here’s the good news:  The “Song Sung Blue” soundtrack – in which, yes, Hugh and Kate sing - is available now (to stream), but do yourself a favor and wait until after watching the movie to listen.  

Not only do the pair impeccably play the legendary sequined star’s hits, but Mike and Claire display a lovely dating courtship, where these on-screen 30-somethings flourish like college-aged romantics.  

They just fit together.  

Claire gives Mike direction.  She’s intuitive and perceptive, and Mike appreciates her muse-like qualities.  He thrives off her vibes, thoughts, and companionship. 

For example, this is clearly demonstrated when they begin forming their band.  

Claire says, “You don’t want to be a Neil Diamond impersonator.  You want to be a Neil Diamond interpreter.” 

Mike responds, “I was looking for the right way to say it, and you just came right out and said it.” 

Mike, in turn, is Claire’s rock.  Even though he isn’t very financially stable, he has good intentions, a home, and Mike is a caring, thoughtful light for Claire and her children.  He has an ardent heart, even though our on-screen co-lead suffers from heart trouble.  

From the get-go, this couple is exceedingly easy to cheer on for everlasting success, and Hugh and Kate seem to exude love and support for the real-life Mike and Claire. 

We’re hooked.  

We’re bought in, and admittedly, without these two recognizable stars leading the way, audiences would probably not be as enamored with this story if a pair of up-and-coming or working actors played Mike and Claire. 

Granted, it’s terrific to see Fisher Stevens, Michael Imperioli, and Jim Belushi in lovely supporting roles, but Jackman’s and Hudson’s charm and dazzling showman/showwoman gifts elevate the movie’s appeal.  

In fact, during the film’s first act, “Song Sung Blue” seems too lightweight.  Even Mike’s daughter Angelina (King Princess) is BFFs with Claire’s daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson), and Claire’s young son (Hudson Hensley) looks up to Mike as a supportive, loving father.  

Craig, Hugh, and Kate don’t offer difficulties in this blue-collar fairy tale, until they do. 

No couple is adversity-free, and Mike and Claire are not an exception.  A real-life incident the size of nearby Lambeau Field rocks the Sardina household, and the healing will not commence overnight.  

The film’s tone drastically changes, and a significant portion of the 133-minute runtime dwells on hardship.  In effect, the shift in ambiance feels overly melodramatic, like a middling Hallmark plot device.  If one didn’t know “Song Sung Blue” is a biopic, groans, frustration, and impatience could quickly build like a drawn-out avalanche of barnacles methodically gluing themselves on a ship.  

Instead, due to Jackman and Hudson’s charisma and dedication to the material, authentic empathy rather than exasperation will flow through invested moviegoers.   

Will the good times come storming back for Lightning & Thunder, or will a cold reality permanently rain on Mike and Claire’s hit parade? 

Well, we’re hoping that their good times are always “So good!  So good!  So good!”  

Jeff’s ranking

3/4 stars

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“Marty Supreme” – Movie Review

Directed by:  Josh Safdie

Written by:  Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein

Starring:  Timothee Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Koto Kawaguchi, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma, Fran Drescher, and Penn Jillette

Runtime:  150 minutes

 ‘Marty Supreme’:  Chalamet could win the Best Actor Oscar, and he wouldn’t need any topspin to do it

If you didn’t know anything about director Josh Safdie’s new film other than it stars Timothee Chalamet, ping pong would probably be the furthest thought from your mind.  

This was my experience as I walked into the movie theatre, when a colleague told me, 10 minutes before the film began, that “Marty Supreme” is a ping pong movie.   Well, if Timothee is about to star in a sports movie, ping pong makes more sense than, say, powerlifting. 

Although do not underestimate Mr. Chalamet…even with powerlifting.  The man spent five years preparing to play Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown” (2024), and, as a long-time Dylan fan, his remarkable portrayal should have won him the 2025 Best Actor Oscar.  

(Thank you, 2025 SAG Awards for recognizing Chalamet’s work with the 2025 SAG Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.)

Well, Timothee worked with a ping pong coach for six years in preparation for “Marty Supreme”, and by golly, his work certainly shows on the big screen.  He demonstrates the type of masterclass effort that can draw the Academy’s attention. 

Safdie’s film is a sweeping, wild affair that carries a similar hectic pace as the Safdie Brothers’ “Uncut Gems” (2019) but travels into threatening criminal elements reminiscent of Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” (1990).  The movie is about Marty Mauser’s winding, unexpected path towards a hopeful shot at facing ping pong legend Koto Endo (Koto Kawaguchi) in Tokyo. 

Marty’s a broke early 20-something without connections, a family war chest, and good standing to simply hop on a plane and fly to Japan. 

Can he raise the money?  Even if he finds his way to Tokyo, can he even enter the tournament?

Marty Reisman is a real-life ping pong player from the era, but this film – written by Safdie and Ronald Bronstein – is a fictionalized story.  

No matter who Marty was in real life, Chalamet plays him as a fast-talking hustler who is single-mindedly focused on pursuing greatness, and his chosen sport will get him there if he can garner some help. 

“It’s only a matter of time before I’m staring at you from the cover of a Wheaties box,” Marty says. 

To say he’s singular-focused is an understatement as he tries to hustle some bucks with his friend Wally (Tyler Okonma), return a lost dog for a payday, and beg for a sponsorship from a pen mogul, Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’Leary from “Shark Tank” fame, who is flat-out terrific in his first big-screen role).  

Although Marty’s not exactly focused on ping pong titles every waking second, as he has eyes for Rockwell’s wife, actress Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow).  His confidence, assertiveness, quick wit, and top-notch street smarts may just win her over.  

Speaking of confidence, Josh Safdie is unafraid to take chances throughout this rumbling story of ambition.  In addition to O’Leary, Safdie cast magician Penn Jillette (who is unrecognizable) and NBA Hall of Fame legend George Gervin.  

The film also introduces a few unknown septuagenarian or octogenarian men, who are utterly believable in key roles.  These gentlemen could have been locals off the street, long-time character actors, or Safdie’s grandfathers’ best friends or neighbors in a similar fashion as some personalities in “Uncut Gems”.  Remember the ultra-tan gentleman in the third act?  These actors seem to have real-life streetwise credentials.  Odessa A’zion nicely plays Marty’s wobbly co-pilot, and 80s and 90s comedienne legends Sandra Bernhard and Fran Drescher also have supporting roles. 

While we’re at it, some classic 80s musical influences make appearances, 30 years after the film takes place, that make welcome additions to the free-spirited vibes.

“Marty Supreme” is a tale of trying to reach your goals by any means necessary, and these ideas lean into some big-time cinematic surprises.  They say you must break a few eggs while making an omelet, and Chalamet cooks up a dandy of a turbulent performance in an equally tumultuous journey….and you’ll swear that Chalamet has already won a couple of world ping pong titles in his personal life after watching this film.  

Well, the last time that ping pong has taken this bright a spotlight in the movies was 1994’s “Forrest Gump”, and Tom Hanks won 1995’s Best Actor Oscar.  Chalamet could too, and he wouldn’t need any topspin to do it.

Jeff’s ranking

3.5 / 4 stars

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“Avatar: Fire and Ash” – Movie Review

Directed by:  James Cameron

Written by:  James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver

Starring:  Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Oona Chaplin, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Giovanni Ribisi, and Jemaine Clement

Runtime:  197 minutes

 ‘Avatar’ devotees will be fired up for ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’, but the lengthy, repetitive narrative could burn up your patience

Director James Cameron’s “Avatar” (2009) and “Avatar: The Way of Water” (2022) have hauled in a staggering $5.2 billion at the box office.   To put this in perspective, Cameron’s first two Terminator films, “The Terminator” (1984) and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991), grossed $595 million, just a paltry 11 percent!

“Avatar” movies are a cash cow the size of Pandora, so, naturally, manufacturing more celluloid stories of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), his wife, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), and their children living under three suns in a lush, fantastical Alpha Centauri star system environment, 4.37 light-years from Earth, is a no-brainer.  

However, in an August 8, 2025 Variety article, Cameron said, “I’ve justified making ‘Avatar’ movies to myself for the last 20 years, not based on how much money we made, but on the basis that hopefully it can do some good.  It can help connect us.  It can help connect us to the lost aspect of (ourselves) with nature.”

James has captured the attention of a worldwide audience who shares his altruistic intentions and welcomes the cooperative nature of Na’vi and the Tree of Souls.  This positive affirmation, however, has caused an apparent Post-Avatar Depression Syndrome (PADS), where some moviegoers feel sorrow when exiting an Avatar experience after realizing that Pandora is fiction.

For those who love the fanciful lore, technical achievements, or the recurrent action (or those prone to PADS), this cinematic return to Alpha Centauri, “Avatar: Fire and Ash”, should be a homecoming of the senses and feelings.  Proudly sauntering with a 197-minute runtime (which is five minutes longer than “Water”), Jake and company continue to live with the Metkayina clan on the shore, while Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) endures his never-ending pursuit of Jake Sully.  

The military-industrial complex still resides on Pandora, led by Gen. Frances Ardmore (Edie Falco), the smarmy corporate type Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi), and slimy whale hunter, Captain Mick Scoresby (Brendan Cowell).   This collection of creeps poses a constant threat of ripping down forests, shooting Ikran from the sky, or slaughtering Tulkun in the oceans.  

In “Fire and Ash”, Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (who both co-wrote “Water”) – unfortunately - don’t give us anything new from Quaritch and the triad of human losers’ perspective. These antagonists persist in their individual pursuits of Jake and the all-mighty buck, respectively, as the Na’vi and Metkayina fight back through the land, air, and sea.  The bombastic battles pit the locals versus the invaders, but the special effects splendor and storylines are repeats from “Water”, and the clashes run, fly, and swim so often, that one becomes numb to the on-screen spectacle.  

Admittedly, sitting through these frequent, epic action set pieces is an other-worldly (literally) experience, because of Cameron’s obsessive, overachieving tendencies to push boundaries of his virtual cameras and other associated technology that mere mortals (like yours truly) cannot begin to comprehend. 

Admiring Cameron’s technical wizardry is not a matter of beauty being the eye of the beholder because, objectively, just about everyone can marvel at the man’s incredible creations or at least his tireless effort towards them.   

However, divided opinions among “Avatar” moviegoers/beholders rest on embracing the familiar trope of man’s insensitivity towards nature, combined with the willingness to sit through repetitive clashes of man-versus-alien bluster.  

It depends on your devotion to the 10-foot blue characters.  Cameron, Jaffa, and Silver don’t push the Na’vi’s story forward with grand ideas for a combined 389 minutes of screentime (6 hours and 29 minutes!) after the first film.  Instead, they simply meet new clans as allies or enemies.  

In “Fire and Ash”, Varang (Oona Chaplin), a high priestess, leads the Mangkwan, and she has a devilish look of ashen skin and a red headdress.  This intimidating presence is hungry for conquests and finds a willing partner to help fulfill her cravings, but unfortunately, Varang is barely on-screen during the film’s last hour.  

Ironically, perhaps, there just isn’t enough time for Varang with the Sully family’s four subplots that need to be addressed before the end credits:

• Lo’ak’s (Britain Dalton) guilt over his brother’s death

• Neytiri’s anger towards humans (she calls them “pink skins”)

• Kiri’s (Sigourney Weaver) search for deeper connections within nature

• Spider’s (Jack Champion) need for his oxygen mask  

The latter storyline is the most intriguing, but the script doesn’t push the idea far enough, and it gets a bit lost in between whales-versus-ships skirmishes and Col. Quaritch’s sole obsession.  “Fire and Ash” feels similar “Water” with the always-present cat-and-mouse chases that lead to occasional titanic battles.  It’s a film filled with middling platitudes - like “this family is our fortress”, “the day has come”, “weapons of metal are forbidden” – that don’t match (or land with) the weight of a $400 million budget.

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” is a dull and repetitive action movie set in an extraordinary setting. 

Cameron has devoted 20 years of his life to “Avatar” movies, which seems just a tad crazy.  Then again, there are 5.2 billion reasons – and legions of fans - pointing to why he is not.  Geniuses are often misunderstood.  Hey, let’s hope his films do some good. 

C’est la vie! 

Jeff’s ranking

2/4 stars

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Phoenix Critics Circle – 2025 Award Winners

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On Thursday, Dec. 11, the esteemed Phoenix Critics Circle (PCC) film critics gathered at the Phoenix Film Foundation Office for an evening of dinner, cheer, and celebrating movies.  The annual PCC Awards Party announced its best performances, behind-the-camera work, and films of 2025!  

Paul Thomas Anderson’s comedy/crime modern-day classic “One Battle After Another” dominated the evening with six wins, including Picture and Director.   Timothee Chalamet and Jessie Buckley took the top acting honors, and the late Graham Greene and David Lynch were honored as well.  

Here are all the winners. 

BEST PICTURE:  “One Battle After Another”

Other Nominees:

• “Hamnet”

• “It Was Just an Accident”

• “Sentimental Value”

• “Sinners’

BEST COMEDY FILM:  “The Naked Gun”

Other Nominees:

• “The Ballad of Wallis Island”

• “Bugonia”

• “Friendship”

• “Rental Family”

BEST SCIENCE FICTION FILM:  “Frankenstein”

Other Nominees:

• “Bugonia”

• “Companion”

• “Mickey 17”

• “The Running Man”

BEST HORROR FILM:  “Sinners”

Other Nominees:

• “28 Years Later”

• “Bring Her Back”

• “The Ugly Stepsister”

• “Weapons”

BEST ANIMATED FILM:  “KPop Demon Hunters”

Other Nominees:

• “Elio”

• “Predator: Killer of Killers”

• “Zootopia 2”

BEST DOCUMENTARY:  “The Perfect Neighbor”

Other Nominees:

• “Deaf President Now!” 

• “Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery”

• “Orwell: 2+2 = 5”

• “Predators”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:  “Sentimental Value”

Other Nominees: 

• “It Was Just an Accident”

• “No Other Choice”

• “The Secret Agent”

• “Sirat”

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:  Timothee Chalamet, “Marty Supreme”

Other Nominees:

• Leonardo DiCaprio, “One Battle After Another”

• Joel Edgerton, “Train Dreams”

• Oscar Isaac, “Frankenstein”

• Michael B. Jordan, “Sinners”

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:  Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”

Other Nominees: 

• Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”

• Chase Infiniti, “One Battle After Another”

• Jennifer Lawrence, “Die My Love”

• Renate Reinsve, “Sentimental Value”

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:  Benicio Del Toro, “One Battle After Another”

Other Nominees:

• Jacob Elordi, “Frankenstein”

• Delroy Lindo, “Sinners”

• Sean Penn, “One Battle After Another”

• Stellan Skarsgard, “Sentimental Value”

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:  Amy Madigan, “Weapons”

Other Nominees: 

• Odessa A’zion, “Marty Supreme” 

• Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, “Sentimental Value”

• Wunmi Mosaku, “Sinners”

• Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another

BEST DIRECTOR:  Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”

Other Nominees: 

• Park Chan-wook, “No Other Choice”

• Ryan Coogler, “Sinners”

• Jafar Panahi, “It Was Just an Accident”

• Joachim Trier, “Sentimental Value”

BEST SCREENPLAY:  Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”

Other Nominees: 

• Ryan Coogler, “Sinners”

• Jafar Panahi, “It Was Just an Accident”

• Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt, “Sentimental Value”

• Eva Victor, “Sorry, Baby”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:  Michael Bauman, “One Battle After Another”

Other Nominees: 

• Autumn Durald Arkapaw, “Sinners”

• Adolpho Veloso, “Train Dreams”

• Kim Woo-hyung, “No Other Choice”

BEST SCORE:  Jonny Greenwood, “One Battle After Another”

Other Nominees: 

• Alexandre Desplat, “Frankenstein”

• Ludwig Goransson, “Sinners”

• Kangding Ray, “Sirat”

BEST STUNT COORDINATION:  “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning”

Other Nominees:

• “Frankenstein” 

• “One Battle After Another”

• “Sinners”

• “Weapons” 

SPECIAL RECONGINTION AWARDS:

• Contribution to Native Americans in Film – Graham Greene

• Lifetime Achievement in Filmmaking – David Lynch

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“The Thing with Feathers” – Movie Review

Directed by:  Dylan Southern

Written by:  Dylan Southern, based on Max Porter’s novel

Starring:  Benedict Cumberbatch, David Thewlis, Richard Boxall, Henry Boxall, and Eric Lampaert

Runtime:  98 minutes

 ‘The Thing with Feathers’ explores the agony of grief, but its unconventional approach doesn’t quite fly

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all.” – “Hope is the Thing with Feathers” (published in 1891) – Emily Dickinson

In director/writer Dylan Southern’s “The Thing with Feathers”, hope is hard to come by for the lead, Dad (Benedict Cumberbatch).

Unfortunately, nonexistent is more accurate, because when we first see Dad, he is home, having just returned from his wife’s funeral, and this brokenhearted widower attempts to console his two young boys (Richard Boxall and Henry Boxall).  

He’s emotionally paralyzed and grief-stricken, and his behavior tracks because Southern adapts Max Porter’s 2015 novel, “Grief is the Thing with Feathers” for the big screen.  Southern and Cumberbatch follow Dad’s journey to potentially overcome his sorrow over a 98-minute runtime, but it’s painfully clear during the first act that he isn’t ready to come to terms with his spouse’s passing.  

Rather than seeking professional help, like turning to a counselor played by a sensitive Alan Alda type, Dad mostly wallows in isolation or offers surface-level responses when speaking to colleagues, when he’s not tending to his sons, of course.  

Instead, our protagonist’s therapist appears as an intimidating, supernatural being who enters his abode and taunts him.

“The Thing with Feathers” is a troubling family/psychological drama, but it doubles as a horror film, because this eight-foot creature, or the thing with feathers, repeatedly appears in the home – sans invitation - threatens Dad, and even turns to violence.   

Voiced by David Thewlis, this aforementioned judge-and-jury force – designed by artist Nicola Hicks - constantly berates and sneers at Dad, like an unearthly demon.  In a 2025 Screen Rant Plus YouTube interview with Southern, he said that he was impressed by Thewlis and his “rhythmic, angry, spikey voice” and added, “when he came on board, I was over the moon.” 

The film’s special effects team has a few creature technicians (Amy Dudley, Andy Hunt, and James Kernot) on hand, and actor Eric Lampaert wears the costume.  The practical effects have a throwback “Labyrinth” (1986) vibe, resulting in a horrifying presence. 

The story then leans into Dad’s recovery, but also asks: is the thing imagined or real?  Southern plays with the thing’s reality to keep the audience guessing.  However, if one believes the former, then ugly confrontations – where chaos frequently erupts in the household – don’t ultimately have authentic physical consequences, and, therefore, the intended scares don’t land.  

On the other hand, if one believes the latter, then this entity poses a real and potentially lethal threat.  The result is that a somber drama about loss becomes schizophrenic as it quasi-feels like a “A Nightmare on Elm Street” sequel, and if you’ve seen some of the later installments of the horror series, this isn’t a compliment. 

Then again, compliments should be showered in Benedict’s direction, because he works extremely hard to be befuddled and terrified by his menacing new house guest while also attempting to keep order with his kids as a suddenly single dad in a Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman) sort of way (“Kramer vs. Kramer” (1979)).  

Still, the most telling moments might be from the boys’ perspectives, where they opine that their father isn’t the same, and also Dad’s in-laws, where Southern and cinematographer Ben Fordesman’s camera explores their living room and lands on a couple of old photos of their late daughter. 

Dad isn’t the only one suffering.

Perhaps, we needed more of those moments or Alda to appear and insist that Dad lie down on the couch and listen to some supportive words, instead of facing shocking skirmishes with the thing.  For some audiences, “The Thing with Feathers” might be just what the doctor ordered.

Well, at least Southern takes chances to explore grief, but the unconventional approach doesn’t quite fly. 

Jeff’s ranking

2/4 stars

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“Eternity” – Movie Review

Directed by:  David Freyne

Written by: David Freyne and Patrick Cunnane

Starring:  Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller, Callum Turner, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Barry Primus, Betty Buckley, and John Early

Runtime:  112 minutes

 ‘Eternity’ isn’t a timeless classic, but it’s a lovely, gratifying rom-com

The afterlife.  

What happens when we pass away?  Where do we go?  

These are questions that human beings have pondered for as long as we’ve walked the earth.  

Devout believers have absolute certainty about eternal life, while skeptics question the existence of a hereafter.  

Many of “us” fall somewhere in between, hoping for some sort of positive version of existential paradise.  

Director David Freyne’s delightful and contemplative rom-com, “Eternity”, explores an encouraging vision of eternal life, if we - to quote “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989) - “have chosen…wisely.” 

Better yet, will we choose wisely?

Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller, and Callum Turner star in a love-triangle comedy where Joan (Olsen) must make the ultimate choice with absolutely everything on the line.  To spend eternity with Larry (Teller), her husband of 60-plus years, or Luke (Turner), her first husband, who tragically passed away while they were in their 20s. 

Joan built a life with Larry for over six decades but lost her chance with Luke when fate cut their earthly bond short.   

What a difficult choice!

“That sounds stressful,” said my friend when this critic described the film’s premise to her. 

She’s not wrong!  

Larry – who died just a week before Joan – and Luke – who passed 67 years prior – make legitimate rationales to be Joan’s everlasting partner, and Freyne and Patrick Cunnane’s screenplay keeps us guessing throughout the 112-minute runtime. 

Even though Joan faces a taxing, “grave” decision, “Eternity” shares playful banter between the three leads and rollicks with spirited, bouncy surprises in the celestial environment.  

Fans of director/writer Albert Brooks’ hilarious and thought-provoking comedy, “Defending Your Life” (1991) – where Daniel (Brooks) and Julia (Meryl Streep) defend their lives with lawyers in Judgment City - will relish Freyne’s creativity here as well. 

In “Defending”, amusement park trams shuttle the recently deceased – dressed in white robes - to a hotel-like spot, complete with pragmatic courtrooms and celebratory Vegas-style buffets.  

Meanwhile, “Eternity” opts for a train station for the newly departed, and the passengers wear their street clothes.  This otherworldly junction feels like a hotel as well, but Freyne and Cunnane include plenty of laugh-out-loud wonders that won’t be revealed in this review, so that these enjoyable moments can be experienced in your local cineplex for the first time. 

This magical backdrop – created with art director Andrew Li’s and production designer Zazu Myers’ thoughtful touches - by itself won’t complete this theatrical experience.  Thankfully, Olsen, Teller, and Turner share lovely chemistry that invests the audience’s sentiment in Joan’s ultimate choice, one that impacts three fates, as both husbands hang on her every utterance. 

During the first act, actors Barry Primus and Betty Buckley play 80 or 90-something versions of Larry and Joan on Earth, and they physically resemble Teller and Olsen, as all four thespians embody these two characters’ personalities.  This elderly couple banters and bickers about daily tasks, like traffic, while driving to their son’s home for a birthday party, and one spouse declares to the other, “I don’t love to complain.”

Larry and Joan have shared all their stories with one another probably over 1,000 times.  After so many years of marriage, they know each other’s strengths, shortcomings, and every aspect of their physical and emotional makeups.  

Teller and Olsen nicely portray their 80-year-old on-screen selves, where you’d swear that Teller’s Larry will look for a newspaper to clip coupons while Olsen’s Joan frets about paper cut danger.  These octogenarians have tricenarian bodies, and they comically enjoy their newfound youth in a charming moment of a particular calisthenic.

Conversely, Luke is a cool, attractive, suave customer who spent decades waiting for Joan with all the promise of second chances that she never thought the gods would conjure and then grant.

The pressure is on, Joan!  

Luckily, afterlife consultants Anna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and Ryan (John Early) often break the tension with affable supporting performances that give Larry and Joan clearer perspectives and frequent shots of helpful advice. 

Well, here’s some helpful advice.  Find “Eternity” in theatres.  It’s not a timeless classic, but it’s a gratifying time at the movies.

Jeff’s ranking

3/4 stars

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Wicked: For Good - Movie Review

Directed by: Jon M. Chu.

Written by: Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox.

Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jeff Goldblum, and Michelle Yeoh.

Runtime: 138 minutes.

‘Wicked: For Good’ is done for good, thank God

No one mourns the wicked, and I won’t mourn “Wicked” now that its run has come to an end. 

My eyes need a rest from the pink and green — the branded Stanley tumblers, the branded Witches Brew and The Good Witch margaritas at Chili’s, the branded Elphaba’s Cold Brew and Glinda’s Pink Potion Starbucks drinks. Pink and green as far as they eye can see for the second consecutive holiday season because Universal Pictures was more interested in dipping into the same well twice to sell slippers and T-shirts and eyeshadow palettes and wine glasses – heck, there are even “Wicked” Crocs – thank in making an artful adaptation of a beloved musical.

There are downsides to being so popular, as Glinda the Good Witch learns in tedious part two. “Wicked: For Good” picks up five years after we left off. Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is banished in a forest hideout, continuing her fight for animal rights, while Glinda (Ariana Grande) has been elevated to the Wizard’s spokeswoman (or, functionally, his chief propaganda minister). In Oz, Elphaba has become a scapegoat, a boogeyman, while Glinda is its glittering pink-hued hope, engaged now to be married to the dashing Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), captain of the Wizard’s Guard. 

It's a fairy tale ending fit for a fairy tale princess, only it’s founded on a lie. The animals are still enslaved, Glinda is not as happy as she seems, and dashing Fiyero has fallen for Elphaba, who is not the Wicked Witch the people of Oz believe her to be. 

It’s not much of a story, and what’s there is terminally boring. “Wicked” wasn’t high art either, but it had the charisma of odd-couple Elphaba and Glinda playing off each other at school, two enemies nudged to friendship through forced proximity. It’s a winning formula that’s missing in “Wicked: For Good,” which isolates its heroines into their own storylines. Elphaba’s scenes lack weight or purpose, with Erivo doing her level best acting to a green screen, surrounded by dead-eyed CGI animals. 

“Wicked: For Good” gets even more cloying when it introduces (or rather, refuses to introduce) the Dorothy of it all, grinding what there is of a narrative to a halt with winking nods to the pigtailed Kansas girl. And don’t expect the songs to do the heavy lifting. All the good ones are loaded in the front half; there’s nothing in the second half to match the giddiness of “Popular” or the blow-the-roof-off bombast of “Defying Gravity.” 

It would beg the question why “Wicked” was ever broken into two tortured parts that are collectively twice as long as the stage musical they’re based on, but it’s obvious the answer is money. It’s cynical, but why else would a fantasy musical set in a mythical land feel less like a vibrant world in which to escape our own than a tedious exercise in brand management that has all the lived-in authenticity of a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade float? You need a reason to sell those pink and green margaritas at Chili’s, after all. 

Maybe “Wicked: For Good” is the movie we deserve, a snapshot of where we’re at culturally in 2025, when social media platforms are overrun with AI-generated slop and everything is a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy. Of course, a film based on a stage musical based on a book based on a movie based on another book was the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2024.  

At least those margaritas look pretty good. 

Barbara’s ranking

1.5/4 stars

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