Tag: comedy
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The Pout Pout Fish; THE REEF IS RESTLESS, BUT THE FISH STILL GLOW
The Pout-Pout Fish expands a tiny children’s book into a colorful, comic ocean quest anchored by Nick Offerman’s dry, endearing performance. The film drifts at times but ultimately delivers a warm, lively adventure about community, courage, and the slow work of opening up.
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SCARY MOVIE VI RISES FROM THE CRYPT AND WHEEZES OUT A LAUGH
The sixth Scary Movie rises from the grave with a cracked grin, a faux‑gothic mood, and enough chaotic energy to keep the franchise’s corpse twitching. It is uneven and often lazy, but the returning cast and bursts of inspired absurdity give it a strangely enduring charm.
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BackRooms: The Hum of Endless Rooms
Kane Parsons’ Backrooms expands an internet myth into a haunting study of space and memory. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve ground the film’s surreal architecture in human tension, making it one of the year’s most atmospheric debuts.
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PROPELLER ONE‑WAY NIGHT COACH FINDS ITS ALTITUDE IN MEMORY AND LONGING
Propeller One‑Way Night Coach is a tender, nostalgic debut from John Travolta, carried by Clark Shotwell’s grounded performance and the film’s devotion to the emotional textures of memory. Its romantic tone and aviation‑soaked atmosphere give the story a gentle lift that lingers.
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Dead Man’s Wire: A Man Demands the World Answer for Itself
Dead Man’s Wire turns the 1977 Kiritsis standoff into a fierce study of grievance, power, and public spectacle. Bill Skarsgård delivers a blistering performance in Gus Van Sant’s sharp, morally charged reconstruction of a crisis America never truly resolved.
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Obsession: The Wish That Wouldn’t Die
Curry Barker’s Obsession turns romantic yearning into supernatural contagion, balancing horror and humor with unnerving precision. A messy, funny, and disturbingly tender debut that earns its B for ambition and emotional rot.
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The Love that Remains: THE WEATHER OF THE HEART
The Love That Remains captures a family in the long aftermath of separation, revealing how affection, frustration, and memory continue to shape their days. Hlynur Pálmason’s direction and Saga Garðarsdóttir’s luminous performance turn ordinary moments into a deeply felt portrait of endurance.
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I LOVE BOOSTERS RUNS ON VOLTAGE AND VISION, EVEN WHEN ITS CURRENT SPLITS
Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters blends fashion‑world satire, labor politics, and surreal sci‑fi invention into a bold, uneven spectacle anchored by Keke Palmer’s fierce performance. The film’s excesses blur its message, but its political heart and visual daring leave a lasting impression.
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Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu: A MASK, A CHILD, AND THE STRAIN OF A GALAXY TRYING TO REMEMBER ITS Pulse
The Mandalorian and Grogu delivers a sturdy, emotionally charged return to the Star Wars universe, even as its dialogue and action patterns fall into familiar grooves. The bond between Mando and Grogu remains the film’s strongest force, giving the spectacle a grounded emotional center.
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THE SHEEP DETECTIVES FINDS ITS STRANGENESS AND STANDS IN IT
The Sheep Detectives blends absurdity and emotional depth into a family mystery that respects its audience and trusts its own strangeness. Hugh Jackman anchors a story that grows richer as its flock uncovers not only a killer but the cost of forgetting.
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Remarkably Bright Creatures; The Tide That Stirs Beneath the Glass
Remarkably Bright Creatures gains its strength from Sally Field’s luminous restraint and Olivia Newman’s patient, textural direction, which together elevate the film beyond its uneven script. The result is a mixed-to-positive meditation on grief, labor, and the unexpected currents that draw people toward one another.
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Dust Bunny and the Hunger Beneath the Floorboards
Dust Bunny blends fairy‑tale dread with hitman precision, creating a world where childhood fear reshapes reality. Bryan Fuller’s ornate vision and Mads Mikkelsen’s controlled performance anchor a story that balances menace, wonder, and emotional truth.
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THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2: POWER, RUIN, AND THE GLINT OF SURVIVAL
The Devil Wears Prada 2 deepens the original’s world with a sharper, colder look at power, labor, and reinvention. Hathaway and Streep anchor a sequel that critiques its own glamour while reveling in the tension it creates.
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The Work of Survival in Park Chan‑wook’s No Other Choice
Park Chan‑wook’s No Other Choice transforms a tale of economic desperation into a dark, lyrical study of ambition, humiliation, and the violence bred by scarcity. Lee Byung‑hun delivers a masterful performance that anchors a film both wickedly funny and quietly devastating.
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ROOMMATES AND THE SHADOW IT CARRIES
Roommates pushes against the boundaries of the Happy Madison formula, revealing the emotional and moral fractures beneath its campus comedy exterior. Strong performances from Sadie Sandler and Chloe East give the film a surprising depth even when the humor falters.
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Exit 8 and the Soft Violence of Turning BackMovie Review
Exit 8 turns a looping corridor into a study of hesitation, responsibility, and the cost of looking away. Genki Kawamura’s tight direction and Kazunari Ninomiya’s restrained performance give the film a steady, lingering resonance.
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Snow, Secrets, and the Slow Burn of Violence: Normal Finds Its Uneven Rhythm in the Hands of Odenkirk and Wheatley
Ben Wheatley’s Normal blends small‑town unease with bursts of chaotic violence, carried by Bob Odenkirk’s steady, weathered presence. The film’s rough textures and tonal fractures create a crime thriller that stumbles in places yet leaves a lingering, off‑kilter charge.
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Merrily We Roll Along; THE TURN OF THE YEARS AND THE TURN OF THE CAMERA
Maria Friedman’s Merrily We Roll Along preserves the emotional sweep of Sondheim’s musical through committed performances from Jonathan Griffith, Daniel Radcliffe, and Lindsay Mendez. Even with its cinematic stumbles, the film remains a worthy addition to the canon and a generous gift to new audiences.
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A Romance in Freefall: Zendaya and Pattinson Keep “The Drama” From Cracking Apart
Kristoffer Borgli’s “The Drama” turns male panic into a cracked romantic comedy held together by Zendaya and Robert Pattinson’s undeniable charm. The film spirals into dark comedy and narrative chaos, yet its performers keep the whole thing strangely touching.
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The Super Mario Galaxy Movie: A Galaxy Spinning on Charm, Chaos, and the Occasional Cosmic Shrug
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie spins through its cosmic adventure with charm, chaos, and a restless imagination, even when its storytelling thins. A mixed but mildly positive sequel, it dazzles in bursts and stumbles in others, carried by a spirited cast and a universe that still glows.
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Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice: A Loop of Trouble, Tenderness, and Trigger-Happy Fate
A bruised, energetic time‑travel crime tale, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice turns betrayal, gunfights, and marital collapse into a sharp, exuberant genre mash. Vince Vaughn anchors a story where the past becomes raw material for reinvention.
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THEY WILL KILL YOU Finds Its Pulse in the Wallpaper
WordPress Blurb (Two Sentences) “They Will Kill You” turns a satanic high-rise into a fevered battleground where Zazie Beetz delivers a performance charged with fury and purpose. The film’s script wobbles, but its production design, gore-soaked invention, and emotional undercurrents keep it gripping.
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PRETTY LETHAL FINDS ITS EDGE IN BLOOD, BALLET, AND THE COST OF GRACE
Pretty Lethal delivers a fierce blend of ballet and bloodshed, carried by a cast of women who attack every scene with conviction. The film falters when it explains too much, but its action sequences and emotional core keep it compelling.
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Is This Thing On?: Bradley Cooper Turns Midlife Upheaval Into a Sharp, Wounded, Very Funny Pulse Check”
Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On? turns midlife upheaval into a sharp, funny, and unexpectedly tender portrait of two people rediscovering themselves. Will Arnett and Laura Dern ground the chaos with performances that reveal the cost of silence and the thrill of starting over.
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Fackham Hall”: A Frothy Send‑Up That Trips, Grins, and Keeps Charging Forward
Fackham Hall is a featherweight but spirited satire of British period dramas, sending up every costume‑drama trope with a barrage of gags and visual mischief. Thomasin McKenzie and a game ensemble keep the chaos buoyant, even when the jokes pile up faster than the plot can breathe.
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SISU: THE ROAD TO REVENGE Finds Its Fury in the Long Walk Home
Sisu: The Road to Revenge” turns grief, endurance, and homecoming into a wild cascade of ultraviolent invention. Jorma Tommila’s stoic force steadies a film that keeps pushing its action pastiche into gloriously unhinged territory.
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“Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” Doubles Down on Class Rage, Carnage, and Samara Weaving’s Relentless Will to Survive
“Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” expands its world of deranged elites with sharper class satire, relentless violence, and a gripping central performance from Samara Weaving. The sequel repeats familiar beats but reinvents them with enough gory invention and emotional weight to stand on its own.
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Project Hail Mary Finds Its Pulse in the Dark
“Project Hail Mary” blends cosmic dread with a warm insistence on hope, carried by Ryan Gosling’s steady performance and a first-contact story that grows into an unlikely partnership. The film softens as it goes, yet its embrace of space’s beauty and terror gives it a lingering glow.
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A Monster With a Pulse: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! Reanimates Shelley With Fire
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! is a wild, time‑shifting resurrection of Mary Shelley’s legacy, anchored by Jessie Buckley’s fierce dual performance. A chaotic, genre‑hopping howl of female creation and rebellion, it pulses with unruly life even when its seams show.
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Hoppers”: A Wild, Warm‑Blooded Fable About Coexistence, Chaos, and the Strange Intelligence of the Animal World
Hoppers is a warm‑blooded, wildly imaginative Pixar fable that blends ecological urgency with absurdist humor and unexpected emotional depth. Daniel Chong and Jon Hamm steer this creature‑chaos into something tender, strange, and deeply alive.
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Slamdance 2026: The Rooms We Borrow: La Clef and the Strange Mercy of Being Seen
La Clef is a drifting, melancholy fable about three men who learn to live by disappearing into other people’s lives, only to discover that invisibility has a cost. Paul G. Sportiello directs a mixed‑to‑positive, quietly absurd tale of friendship, longing, and the fragile dignity of those who slip through society’s cracks.
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Slamdance 2026: Dump of Untitled Pieces: A City in Black‑and‑White: Dump of Untitled Pieces Finds Its Pulse in the Ruins of Art
Dump of Untitled Pieces is a monochrome, jazz‑tinged portrait of two young outsiders navigating Istanbul’s art world with wit, frustration, and unexpected grace. Melik Kuru’s mixed‑to‑positive gem critiques fake intellectualism while showcasing Manolya Maya’s magnetic performance as a photographer caught between authenticity and survival.
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Slamdance 2026: THREE COLORS: PAN-AFRICAN- A Flag Reimagined, A People in Motion
Three Colors: Pan-African reimagines Kieslowski’s iconic trilogy through the lens of the Pan-African flag, weaving three stories of liberation, unity, and prosperity. Its mixed textures gather into a vivid portrait of Black existence shaped by history, community, and aspiration.
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Slamdance 2026: A Story About You: A Boy Examined, A Chorus Remembered, A Week That Won’t Stop Explaining Itself
A Story About You is a mixed but compelling faux‑documentary drama about a young man trying to understand the women who keep redefining him. Joseph E. Austin II’s film over‑explains at times, but its intimate interviews and lyrical tension leave a lingering, searching ache.
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Slamdance 2026: BRB Finds Its Pulse in the Static of Early Internet Girlhood
BRB is a tender, chaotic road‑trip drama that explores sisterhood, early internet longing, and the fragile edges of adolescence. Autumn Best and Zoe Colletti bring raw, searching energy to a story that finds honesty in the static between childhood and adulthood.
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Slamdance 2026: Ten Will: A Man Running From His Shadow, Toward a Future That Won’t Hold Him
Ten Will is a jagged, poetic sprint through Los Angeles, following a man defined by a label he cannot outrun. Max DeFalco’s world‑premiere feature blends graphic‑novel grit with moral ambiguity to create a haunting portrait of redemption, delusion, and the stories we fear to believe.
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Slamdance 2026: MATAPANKI: PUNK FIRE, POLITICAL STATIC, AND THE COST OF WANTING TO FIX A BROKEN WORLD
Matapanki blends punk energy, graphic‑novel style, and political tension into a story about friendship, power, and the chaos of trying to change a country. Diego Fuentes delivers a film that stumbles, surges, and ultimately finds its voice in the improvisation of survival.
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Slamdance 2026: Danny is My Boyfriend: A Comedy of Errors, Alliances, and Almost‑Triumphs
Danny Is My Boyfriend is a clumsy, charming comedy about two women who discover they’ve been dating the same man and form an unexpected alliance. With its mix of parody, heart, and chaotic revenge schemes, the film offers a warm, offbeat take on betrayal and bonding.
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Slamdance 2026: A Parrot Full of Ghosts, A Man Full of Cuba: The Old Man and the Parrot Finds Magic in Exile
The Old Man and the Parrot blends magical realism, Cuban memory, and the restless spirit of exile into a heartfelt tale of grief and release. Ruben Rabasa delivers a luminous performance in a story where myth, family, and faith guide a man toward a hard-won freedom.
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Slamdance 2026: The Circle That Never Breaks: The Plan and the Fever of Belief
The Plan unfolds in a single, breath-held sweep, capturing a group of young believers preparing for an act that will reshape their world. Jessica Barr crafts a thriller of menace, devotion, and fracture, carried by a powerful ensemble led by Ryan Simpkins.
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A Ladder Built From Shadows: How to Make a Killing Finds Its Fierce American Pulse
How to Make a Killing transforms a classic tale into a dark, lyrical study of ambition, faith, and American wealth. Glenn Powell leads a vivid ensemble in a story that glows with sharp satire and spiritual tension.
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My Mother’s Wedding; Winter Vows in a House Filled With Memory
My Mother’s Wedding offers a tender winter portrait of three daughters returning home to witness their mother’s new beginning. Scarlett Johansson and Kristin Scott Thomas guide a story filled with warmth, legacy, and the courage to choose love again.
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Primitive War Finds Fire in the Jungle
Primitive War delivers a fierce collision of Vietnam War tension and dinosaur‑driven spectacle, anchored by Ryan Kwanten’s steady presence. The film’s blend of science, survival, and prehistoric fury creates a wild, irresistible experience.
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Eternity Opens Its Doors: A Mostly Radiant Journey Beyond Time
Eternity offers a radiant exploration of love across lifetimes, carried by Elizabeth Olsen’s stirring performance. David Freyne crafts a poetic afterlife tale where devotion, choice, and self‑knowledge shape the path toward forever.
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A Young Goat’s Ascent: A Review of Goat
Goat delivers a soaring sports tale infused with emotional richness and historical resonance. Caleb McLaughlin shines as Will Harris, guiding the film toward a stirring celebration of ambition and unity.
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Splitsville Finds Its Heart in the Wreckage of Desire
Splitsville explores the tangled threads of divorce, open relationships, and friendship with a tender, searching spirit. Dakota Johnson leads a cast that turns emotional chaos into a story filled with warmth, ache, and unexpected renewal.
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Solo Mio Finds Grace in the Ruins of a Wedding Day
Solo Mio follows Kevin James through a luminous journey across Italy after a wedding day collapse becomes the start of something fuller. The film blends heartfelt comedy, spiritual reflection, and unexpected companionship into a story that celebrates renewal.
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“Send Help”: Sam Raimi’s Island of Gendered Mayhem and Corporate Punchlines
Sam Raimi’s Send Help blends horror, satire, and romantic chaos as Rachel McAdams transforms Linda Liddle into a corporate avenger forged by island survival. The film delivers a comedic exploration of gender roles, ambition, and the wild lengths required to seize power.
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If I Had Legs I’d Kick You: Tides That Carry and Tides That Keep
Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You follows Rose Byrne through a season of exhaustion, devotion, and fragile hope. This intimate drama captures a mother’s struggle with luminous honesty and a lyric sense of survival.
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Sundance 2026: Steering Toward Herself: Lady
Lady follows a Lagos taxi driver whose life expands when she befriends a group of free‑spirited women. Jessica Gabriel’s Ujah leads the film with warmth and quiet strength, guided by Olive Nwosu’s tender direction.
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The Wrecking Crew: The Wrecking Crew: Brothers, Births, and the Bright Pulse of Hawaii
The Wrecking Crew blends action, romance, and family drama as Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista uncover a conspiracy in Hawaii. Angel Manuel Soto guides the film with warmth, giving its double‑birth storyline and romantic arcs a sincere glow.
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Influencers and the Echo of a Self‑Made Myth
Influencers delivers a haunting, stylish tale of identity, longing, and the strange intimacy of online life. Cassandra Naud’s mesmerizing performance anchors a story that blends thriller energy with a surprising emotional undercurrent.
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Sundance 2026: A Ribbon, a Rivalry, and a Song: Reviewing The Musical
The Musical blends rivalry, romance, and schoolhouse spectacle into a warm, spirited story led by Nevada Jose. Director Giselle Bonilla shapes the film with humor and heart, creating a lively portrait of ambition and artistic renewal.
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Sundance 2026: Carousel: A Soft‑Turning Story of Return and Renewal
Carousel brings Chris Pine and Jenny Slate together in a tender story of return, memory, and renewed affection. Rachel Lambert guides the film with a soft, lyrical touch that highlights the beauty of second chances.
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Sundance 2026: “Echoes in a Schoolhouse: Run Amok Finds Its Strange, Stirring Pulse”
Run Amok blends musical invention with emotional reflection as Meg stages a reenactment of her high school’s past. Patrick Wilson, Molly Ringwald, and Elizabeth Marvel bring depth and warmth to NB Mager’s bold, lyrical film.
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A Tender Tangle: The Threesome Finds Fresh Light in Love’s Most Complicated Geometry
The Threesome delivers a heartfelt, emotionally rich spin on the romantic comedy, guided by Zoey Deutch’s radiant performance and Chad Hartigan’s gentle direction. Its sincere approach to pregnancy and love gives the film a warm, memorable glow.
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Sundance 2026: Crossing Paths in Bedford Park”
Bedford Park brings Jefferson White and director Stephanie Ahn together for a tender story of renewal and unexpected connection. The film blends emotional depth with graceful performances, offering a warm, reflective viewing experience.
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Sundance 2026: Ha‑Chan, Shake Your Booty! Finds Grace in Recovery and Rhythm
tender, dance‑driven drama, Ha‑Chan, Shake Your Booty! follows Haru’s return to the ballroom world after a life‑shifting loss. With Damián Alcázar guiding the film’s emotional center, the story glows with renewal, rhythm, and gentle charm.
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Sundance 2026: CHASING SUMMER FINDS GRACE IN THE RUINS
Chasing Summer follows Jamie, played by Iliza Shlesinger, as she returns to her Texas hometown and stumbles into a season of renewal shaped by old flames and unexpected friendships. Josephine Decker’s direction brings a warm, lyrical touch to this story of rediscovery.
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Sentimental Value: A Soft Light on the Lives We Carry
Sentimental Value glows with tenderness as Joachim Trier explores family, art, and the stories that shape us. Elle Fanning brings a radiant presence to a film that celebrates healing through creativity.
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Sundance 2026: Summer Roads and Returning Shadows: Hold Onto Me Finds a Tender Pulse
Hold Onto Me follows 11‑year‑old Iris as her carefree summer shifts with the unexpected return of her father, Aris. Christos Passalis leads a tender ensemble under Myrsini Aristidou’s warm and attentive direction.
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Sundance 2026: Maps of the Heart: Extra Geography Finds Its Own Bright Drift
Extra Geography follows two girls at an English boarding school as they navigate friendship, desire, and a summer assignment that reshapes their understanding of love. Marni Duggan leads a bright ensemble under Molly Manners’ warm direction.
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People We Meet on Vacation: A SUMMER OF RETURNING TO EACH OTHER
People We Meet on Vacation follows Poppy and Alex as they rediscover their bond across years of shared trips, missed chances, and heartfelt reunions. Emily Bader and Tom Blyth bring a warm, lived‑in chemistry to Brett Haley’s gentle, mixed‑to‑positive romance.
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K-pop Demon Hunters: A Song That Glows Through Shadows
K‑Pop Demon Hunters blends fantasy, music, and heartfelt character drama as Huntrix battles demons with the power of song. Arden Cho leads a spirited ensemble in a story that celebrates courage, identity, and the shimmering force of unity.
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Twinless Finds Its Strange, Tender Pulse in the Space Between Brothers
Twinless blends grief, desire, and uneasy friendship into a story carried by Dylan O’Brien’s layered dual performance. James Sweeney guides the film with a tender touch, allowing its strangest moments to bloom into something unexpectedly human.
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Marty Supreme Serves Spin, Swagger, and a Surprising Amount of Soul**
Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme delivers a vibrant, comic portrait of Timothée Chalamet as a table‑tennis prodigy chasing fame, mastery, and meaning across continents. The film blends athletic spectacle with a sharp character study of confidence, desire, and the many forms of power.
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Song Sung Blue Finds Harmony in Love, Tribute, and Thunderbolts of Cheese
Craig Brewer’s Song Sung Blue blends tribute‑act charm with heartfelt family drama, carried by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson’s warm, lively chemistry. The film celebrates Neil Diamond’s music, the art of imitation, and the enduring strength of love and partnership.
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Queens of the Dead” — Sequins, Screams, and Social Commentary Shuffle in Chaotic Harmony
A wild blend of drag pageantry and undead mayhem, Queens of the Dead delivers camp spectacle with affectionate nods to George Romero. Jaquel Spivey leads a vibrant ensemble through a warehouse apocalypse filled with humor, heart, and high‑heeled heroics.
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Anaconda: The Indie Jungle Joyride We Deserve
Tom Gormican’s Anaconda delivers a wildly funny, self‑aware adventure that turns indie filmmaking into a jungle carnival. Jack Black and Paul Rudd lead a spirited ensemble through a story filled with ambition, friendship, and one very enthusiastic anaconda.
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Wake Up Dead Man” Delivers a Holy Whodunnit With Heavenly Style
Wake Up Dead Man delivers a lively, heartfelt mystery filled with humor, spiritual intrigue, and standout performances. Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc shines as he navigates a labyrinth of faith, deception, and resurrection theatrics. Rian Johnson crafts a story that celebrates both the joy of a great puzzle and the resilience of a community seeking renewal.
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Jay Kelly: Clooney’s Jay Kelly Finds Fame, Family, and a Comic Pause Button
George Clooney shines in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, a comic yet heartfelt portrait of an actor wrestling with fame, family, and the roles we play in life. This review explores how the film balances humor with reflection, offering a slightly mixed but warmly positive take on its themes of identity and connection.
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Oh. What. Fun.: Holiday Moms Deserve the Spotlight, and Michelle Pfeiffer Delivers It With Sparkle
Michelle Pfeiffer shines in Oh. What. Fun., a holiday comedy directed by Michael Showalter that finally gives mothers the spotlight in Christmas storytelling. With a star-studded cast and a festive comic tone, the film celebrates the unseen labor that makes the season sparkle.
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Left Handed Girl: A Song of Gentle Courage
This in-depth review of Left Handed Girl celebrates Janet Tsai’s radiant performance and Shih King Tsohu’s tender direction. The film earns an A grade for its warmth, childlike wonder, and luminous ensemble cast. It is a cinematic embrace of individuality, courage, and joy, leaving the viewer with lasting brightness.
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Jingle Bell Heist: Diamonds, DNA, and Deck the Halls
This review of Jingle Bell Heist celebrates Olivia Holt’s standout performance and Michael Fimognari’s stylish direction. With clever twists, festive flair, and a comic tone, the film earns an B+ for its joyful blend of crime and Christmas. A holiday caper that sparkles with heart and humor, it’s a seasonal treat worth revisiting.
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Rental Family: Brendan Fraser’s Joyful Connections
This review of Rental Family, directed by Hikari and starring Brendan Fraser, celebrates its heartfelt performances and layered storytelling. The film earns an A for its exploration of connection, ritual, and chosen bonds. With humor and sincerity, the review highlights the cast’s strengths and the director’s compassionate vision.
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In Our Dreams: The Sandman’s Children and the Fractured Marriage
Step into the haunting dreamworld of In Your Dreams, where siblings Stevie and Elliot confront the Sandman to save their parents’ fractured marriage. Directed by Erik Benson and Alexander Woo, this Grimm-inspired drama balances charm and darkness, offering a tale of wishes, fears, and the fragile bonds that hold families together.
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Nouvelle Vague: Breathless, Blue Moon, and the Long Shadow of the New Wave: Godard, Linklater, and Truffaut
Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless shattered cinematic rules with style and rupture, while Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague and earlier Blue Moon reflect on memory, myth, and endurance. In this essay, I explore how Linklater stands as Truffaut’s American heir, why he chose to dramatize Godard—his opposite—and why I remain a devoted Truffaut fan and a reluctant admirer…
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Watch the Skies: “Forever Young, Forever Searching”
Victor Danell’s Watch the Skies blends alien conspiracy with familial longing in a Swedish sci-fi adventure that dares to ask: what if the truth we seek in the stars is really about those we’ve lost on Earth?
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Blue Moon: Ethan Hawke’s Lorenz Hart is a haunted, dazzling presence in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon—a film that sings, stumbles, and ultimately lingers like a last refrain.
Ethan Hawke delivers a career-best turn as lyricist Lorenz Hart in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon, a bittersweet, one-night elegy of lost love, artistic rupture, and the songs that outlast the men who wrote them.
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Good News: The Loneliness of Good News
A mixed-to-positive review of Good News, Kim Sang-bum’s comedy thriller starring Sul Kyung-gu, which satirizes hijacking, bureaucracy, and the collapse of truth. The film’s tonal high-wire act mostly succeeds, though its final descent loses steam.
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The Twits: A grotesque, glittering mess with moments of genuine heart and biting satire
Joe Johnston’s The Twits, starring Margo Martindale, is a chaotic, satirical fairy tale that blends grotesque humor with heartfelt themes of chosen family, empathy, and resistance to greed. A mixed-to-positive review of a film that expands Roald Dahl’s original into a messy but meaningful portrait of love and loneliness.
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Bad Shabbos: A messy, funny, mournful entry in the Jewish Comedy of Mortification
A mixed-to-positive review of Daniel Robbins’ “Bad Shabbos,” a chaotic comedy of Jewish mortification starring Kyra Sedgwick. The film’s early death scene derails its tone but not its spirit, offering sharp performances and moments of punk joy amid ritual collapse.
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Good Fortune: Wings, Wallets, and the Weight of Want
Aziz Ansari’s “Good Fortune” is a mixed-to-positive riff on body swap comedies and angelic interventions, starring Keanu Reeves as a blank-eyed divine dropout. It critiques capitalism through gig work, explores the consequences of wish fulfillment, and reimagines “Wings of Desire” with tacos and tech bros.
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Roofman: The Gospel of the Gentle Idiot
Derek Cianfrance’s Roofman gives Channing Tatum his most soulful role in years, blending true crime, comedy, and melancholy into a tender portrait of a lonely man trying to be good. It’s a mixed-to-positive miracle.
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Play Dirty: The Wreckage We Walk Through
Shane Black’s Play Dirty is a bruised, chaotic heist thriller that trades precision for personality. Mark Wahlberg stumbles through the wreckage while LaKeith Stanfield steals the show. It’s messy, funny, and unexpectedly mournful.
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Elenor the Great: The Weight of Borrowed Memory
Scarlett Johansson’s Eleanor the Great is a bittersweet portrait of grief, loneliness, and the moral weight of borrowed memory. June Squibb delivers a quietly devastating performance in a film that explores the boundaries between homage and erasure, and the need to speak the unspeakable.
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Sacramento: The Dirt in the Canister
Following the death of his father, energetic and free-spirited Rickey (Michael Angarano) convinces long-time friend Glenn (Michael Cera) to go on an impromptu road trip from Los Angeles to Sacramento. Frustrated by Rickey’s Peter Pan complex, Glenn is encouraged by his pregnant wife Rosie (Kristen Stewart) to go on the adventure to reconnect. In the…
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The Toxic Avenger (2025): Mop, Mutation, and the Mercy of Mayhem
The mop is no longer a cleanliness tool—it’s a weapon of reckoning. In Macon Blair’s “The Toxic Avenger,” Peter Dinklage’s Winston Gooze is not a nerd, not a caricature, but a man on the edge of collapse. The film opens with a whisper of grief and ends in a scream of viscera. It’s a reimagining…
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Classic Review: The Toxic Avenger (1984): A Mop-Wielding Misfit Who Mutated Cult Cinema
In the radioactive stew of 1980s genre filmmaking, few films are as gloriously grotesque, politically irreverent, and culturally enduring as The Toxic Avenger. Released in 1984 by the renegade studio Troma Entertainment, this low-budget black comedy splatter film directed by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz didn’t just birth a mutant superhero—it birthed a movement. What…
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The Roses: Thorns in the Wallpaper
Jay Roach’s The Roses is a domestic demolition derby dressed in gourmet frosting and architectural ambition. It’s a comedy of manners turned feral, where Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch claw through the wreckage of a marriage with the elegance of two people who once loved each other deeply—and now weaponize that love. The film dances…
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Caught Stealing: The Art of Losing Badly
Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing is a bruised valentine to New York’s underbelly, a film that stumbles, bleeds, and occasionally dances through its own wreckage. It’s a comedy of errors, so lacerating it leaves claw marks, a noir so drenched in absurdity it forgets to be cool. Austin Butler’s Hank Thompson is a man who can’t…
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The Thursday Murder Club: Murder, Memory, and Llamas: A Cozy Death at Coopers Chase
The Thursday Murder Club arrives not with a bang, but with a chuckle and a well-folded cardigan. Chris Columbus directs with a gentle hand, letting the film unfold— a retirement home newsletter—pleasant, occasionally poignant, and peppered with gossip. Helen Mirren leads the charge as Elizabeth Best, a retired spy whose gaze could still dismantle a…
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Eenie Meanie: The Gospel of the Gas Pedal
There’s a moment in Shawn Simmons’ Eenie Meanie when Edie, played with feral grace by Samara Weaving, stares down a muscle car like it’s an old lover she’s trying to forget. The engine hums. The past beckons. And the film, for all its genre-bending ambition, begins to gallop. In his directorial debut, Simmons doesn’t just…
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Night of the Zoopocalypse: The Gum-Beast Manifesto
In the tradition of barnyard revolts and dystopian fables, Night of the Zoopocalypse arrives with a snarl, a growl, and a gelatinous thump. Directed with uneven but earnest flair by Richard Curtis and Roderigo Perez Castro, the film is a comic zombie romp set in the Colepepper Zoo, where the animals are not just caged—they’re…
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The Trouble With Jessica: The Trouble with Carpets, Clafoutis, and Corpse Logistics
Matt Winn’s The Trouble with Jessica opens with the kind of dinner party that makes you want to RSVP “no” just in case someone brings a memoir. The film sets its tone early: brittle banter, wine-fueled revelations, and the creeping dread that someone’s going to say something unforgivable—or die. Jessica (Indira Varma), the uninvited guest…
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War of the Worlds: “War of the Wha?”: Surveillance, Aliens, and Baby Showers in the Apocalypse
Rich Lee’s War of the Worlds, starring Ice Cube as Will Radford, is not so much an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ novel as it is a bureaucratic meltdown with aliens, flash drives, and a baby shower that somehow ends the apocalypse. It’s a film that asks: what if the fate of humanity depended on a…
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Americana; Ghost Shirts and Gasoline
Tony Tost’s Americana arrives- a dusty jukebox in a half-lit bar—full of promise and static. It’s a film that wants to sing the ballad of a broken country, and sometimes it does. Sometimes it just hums. With a Lakota ghost shirt as its sacred MacGuffin and a cast of misfits chasing it like salvation, the…
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Nobody 2: The Vacation That Bled
“Nobody 2 arrives not with the sleek vengeance of its predecessor, but with a bruised heart and a broken pinky. Bob Odenkirk returns as Hutch Mansell, the weary assassin who once danced through Russian mobs with a coffee mug and a snarl. This time, he’s limping toward redemption in Plummerville, a theme park that smells…
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Fixed: The Testicle Gospel of Bull
There’s a moment in Fixed when Bull, the Staffordshire Terrier voiced with manic sincerity by Adam DeVine, gazes at his testicles and calls them his “hairy, dangling muses.” It’s absurd, grotesque, and weirdly poetic—an emblem of everything Genndy Tartakovsky’s latest animated fever dream dares to be. This is not a film for the faint of…
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Freakier Friday: Earthquakes, Bake Sales, and the Song That Broke the Curse
Twenty-two years after the original Freaky Friday, Freakier Friday arrives with a cracked mirror and a full heart. It’s a sequel that doesn’t try to outdo its predecessor so much as reflect it—older, messier, and more generous. Lindsay Lohan returns as Anna Coleman, now a music producer and mother, and Jamie Lee Curtis as Tess,…