After walking out of the empty Broad Street Philadelphia AMC showing of The Dog Stars, I posted:

“The Dog Stars is a prestige bozo post-apocalyptic delicious garbage. Ridley makes a technically fine-tuned movie, as always, but it speedruns through every genre trope. It’s a sweet, meditative hang at times, but ultimately generic. Would have done numbers in the 2010s.”

I stand by everything I said in my quick little blurb that I usually post after watching any movie, but a little bit of my cold heart has melted on The Dog Stars. The thought that Ridley Scott is using the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic world centered around grief and beginning a new life to work through the passing of his brother Tony makes me very emotional. That life isn’t over when you lose the person you love; they will always be with you and would want you to move on and find happiness. If Sir Ridley wanted to spend $100 million to make something this personal to him, with a stellar cast and sick set pieces, then hell yeah, you 89-year-old legend. I will get more into my thoughts on The Dog Stars, but I think it’s fine to give passes to filmmakers all the time, especially with the resume they’ve built and for new filmmakers trying to discover their voice. If you’re a young critic or average moviegoer, it’s okay to look inward and consider not just the film on the surface, but the surrounding factors and what emotional readings you can infer from something you may have found average or even bad! If you find The Dog Stars a trite retelling of stories you’ve seen a million times, I don’t blame you, but I think there’s something deeper at play.

The Dog Stars is set in 2035, after a flu virus wipes out most of the world’s population, leaving survivors to pick up the pieces. We follow former mechanic Hig (Jacob Elordi) and his dog Jasper as he flies his plane into desolate Denver to scavenge for supplies. He lives with Bangley (Josh Brolin) on an abandoned airfield where the two drink and pass the days away defending what’s left with an arsenal of weapons. After a scavenger tribe attacks them, Hig decides to seek out other signs of human life and flies out to a radio signal he’s heard in Grand Junction, Colorado. On the way, his plane malfunctions and crashes near a Father and daughter, Pops (Guy Pearce) and Cima (Margaret Qualley), who help Hig get back on his feet and back in the air. Scavengers keep attacking, and Hig must decide what truly matters to him and whether he can move on from his past.

In terms of making a movie look really good and feel like a real movie, Sir Ridley Scott still has the juice for the craft. Compared to a lot of movies in 2026, it’s shot handsomely and, despite maybe some okay CGI, it’s well made. So many cool shots from sniper towers, and the shots of Elordi flying over the mountains are soothing and almost meditative at times, and I really lost myself in them. Scott still nails an action sequence, too. There is a Brolin night-vision shootout where he takes on like 50 scavengers that’s maybe worth the price of admission. The way we see through the first-person perspective of the green glow as Brolin rips through these Mad Max-looking maniacs is so sick and thrilling that it made me wish for way more of it. Brutal, bloody action I can appreciate; he doesn’t hold back. There is also just some wonderful editing with the action, but also with the flashbacks to the life Elordi once lived, and always coming back to the house where he had his life with his former wife was something I found that worked and was moving. Great dog acting here too, but I wish the first 30 minutes of the movie weren’t Elordi over and over again saying COME HERE JASPER; it got so old, but very sweet dog. Elordi and Brolin also just mother fucking each other and being endearing shitheads to one another worked on me. I could hang with the boys drinking whiskey and throwing fake money at each other for days. I think all the actors are doing their best with the material that they’ve been handed. Especially Brolin, who feels built for this type of role, like his character from Sicario survived the apocalypse and was ready for this. Now the material.

The material is weak. This is an adaptation of the 2012 novel by Peter Heller of the same name, and it feels very out of 2012, at the peak of The Last of Us and The Walking Dead. We rapidly move through so many beats of regret and grief from the previous world to reach acceptance and the love right in front of my face that so many post-apocalyptic stories center on. Those stories usually have more tension or higher stakes, or they try to bring something innovative to the style or substance. We just saw two great examples with 28 Years Later and The Bone Temple, where both take place in post-apocalyptic worlds but at least push the genre forward or have more juice. The writing in The Dog Stars can be awful at times, and whenever one character is talking to another, I get annoyed by cliché after cliché coming out of someone’s mouth. The whole Elordi and Qualley connection stretch felt long, and we got it pretty quickly. It does feel like if you removed half the dialogue, the movie could have been much better. I do think if you’re a fan of this genre and you love later seasons of The Walking Dead or their spin-off shows, when the quality of writing kind of fell off a cliff, you may love this and being in this type of world! I think with a lot of Ridley’s later work it’s a technical and well-crafted film, but the scripts always fall short of the master's work on set. This is a spoiler for the movie so skip the next few lines if you are interested but I do think the civiliation they find in Grand Junction that’s like a 50s throwback cult could be a reading of how conservatives want to go back to when “America was Great” and that they are all evil cannibals which charmed me. Not sure if I’m being generous with that reading, but when all hell lets loose, and Elordi sets flame and shoots everyone with Pearce, I was locked in and loved that we got Chekhov’s grenades paid off.

I will grow to appreciate this over time and have a soft spot for Ridley seeing himself possibly in the Elordi role as someone coming to peace with the universe. Is this just reheated nachos of most post-apocalypse stories you’ve seen before? Absolutely! Those reheated nachos are pretty tasty sometimes though, and I felt genuinely moved by them as time went on. Thank you, nachos, and thank you, Ridley, for keeping on doing your thing. Now stop messing about and let’s get that follow-up to Alien: Covenant.

Final Score: 6/10

Written by Kevin J. Pettit

Coyote vs. Acme is a miracle of a film. It’s a miracle that it got released. It’s a miracle that it exists. It’s a miracle that it works as well as it does. It’s unbelievably meta; a film that deals with the impossibility of defeating corporate monopolies had to do the very same to make it into theaters. Shelved for years for it to possibly be used as a tax write off so a billionaire can buy their next fancy boat while thousands of people poured their blood sweat and tears into a passion project of getting up every day and doing the work despite that big boulder rolling back down that hill every day. Coyote vs. Acme is a zany legal drama that asks what Erin Brockovich would look like with Looney Tunes, with Julia Roberts replaced by Will Forte, and somehow finds a way to be super successful. There’s wondrous hijinks, explosions, and great bits, but the most surprising thing is just how moving the whole Acme package is. Coyote vs. Acme reminds you that you can be the loneliest creature on this planet and still be loved. That despite the odds, or how strange you might be, there is someone out there willing to fill your heart with love. A delightful underdog story in real life and in film, and I truly believe if anyone could be friends with cartoons in real life, it would be Will Forte. Congrats to director Dave Green, everyone who worked on this, and the public for pushing to make it happen.

Coyote vs. Acme follows Looney Tunes legend Wile E. Coyote as he’s become fed up with all his Acme gadgets exploding and failing to ever catch the elusive Road Runner. Coyote discovers there is a down and out lawyer Kevin Avery (Will Forte) who does quick and small time settlement checks for Looney Tunes who have had defective Acme products. Coyote brings his case to Avery, but the firm is reluctant to take on such a massive case, since Coyote has years of thousands of gadgets that malfunctioned. Coyote sneakily gets Avery to take on this huge case against Acme and their intimidating corporate lawyer Buddy Crane (John Cena) and begin to unravel the mystery and coverup at the heart of this lawsuit by the Acme corporation while avoiding Acme trying to take them out at all costs so the truth can never be revealed. Can Avery win this big case for Coyote, and will Coyote be able to use this opportunity to nab Road Runner finally?

The connection between Wile E. Coyote and Will Forte is phenomenal. It’s hard to make a connection with a cartoon. Only so few movies have ever captured it. The best, most likely, is Who Framed Roger Rabbit, with Bob Hoskins playing it completely straight as a fed-up noir detective; it worked so effectively, and we loved how the friendship grew between that reluctant pairing. I think you have a similar dynamic here: Forte reluctantly takes on this case to rebuild his confidence, with Coyote at his side, always pushing him to seek out the truth despite the impossible challenge of taking on a major company with infinite money and resources. Forte’s physical expression and acting alongside Coyote are never cartoonish, but he feels like he belongs in this world with toons and respects them and their antics. Forte can deliver a bit or gag within this universe so seamlessly. Coyote’s silent but his hilarious use of signs and just the empathy we build for this conniving cave dwelling carnivore is so heartwarming that we can’t help but root so hard for these two to succeed and beat the impossible odds. John Cena is doing maybe more of the Hoskins straight-man corporate villain, and his line deliveries and the way he carries himself in this world are so incredibly funny. The speaking-in-Tweety-Bird scene alone had the whole crowd rolling. I love that we have the other Looney Tunes sprinkled into the film, but none of them take center stage over Coyote and his journey for justice. Tweety Bird forced to be a hired gun, Granny with her secret lab of secrets, Daffy Duck in a psych ward, and Bugs Bunny as our Deep Throat All the President’s Men whistleblower is an incredible use of iconic characters that doesn’t feel forced or like jingling the keys of the IP.

There is some great cartoon craziness to be had with rocket skates, falling pianos, and all sorts of classic gadgets and gags we’ve seen over the years. Despite some of the animation not looking amazing, I think the inventiveness and creativity outshine any shoddy animation work. How’s the legal drama of it all? The conspiracy that is brought to light? Well, I worked as a paralegal for many years, fighting against major corporations that make little to no money while also working insane hours, so seeing this Mr. Coyote go to Washington to take on the powers that be filled my heart with so much joy. Of course, Warner Brothers CEO David Zaslav would want to bury this movie. Warner Bros. is dealing with their own major corporate realignment, selling, and becoming part of a major monopoly of media, and this movie is spitting all in the face of that. There’s parts of this reminicent of Michael Mann’s The Insider where corporate interests are sending shady characters to intimidate and stop those from seaking the truth. Maybe not with boulders or dropping an anvil on your head, but as someone who worked in this field, it’s not as far from the truth as you think. I highly recommend David Michaels’ book Doubt Is Their Product, which is all about major corporations fabricating science to get the truth they desire.

I found myself fist-pumping the air and tears streaming from my eyes, leaving the theater of Coyote vs. Acme. I was totally taken aback by how moved I was, and how much heart was in the final 20 minutes of this film, which made me believe even more in each other and the love we can find in the most mysterious places. The love you can find in a rival that feels as though you’re just playing a game of chase. May we continue to get animated works like this that have true passion behind them that are also this well done. That’s all, folks!

Final Score: 8.5/10

Written by Kevin J. Pettit

Director Matt Johnson has really captured that dumb, invincible feeling you have in your late teens and early 20s in Tony. You feel as though you carry this weight of prestige with you, as if you are the smartest person in every room. Lying through your beer-soaked lips and cig-filled mouth to impress everyone but yourself and being a shithead just for the sake of being a shithead. You’re so ambitious, but you’re going to make a lot of mistakes along the way. There is a sense of grand discovery happening all around, and within you that’s so essential to who you’ll become, but you probably deserve a good kick in the head just for a quick humbling. Johnson takes these core coming-of-age tenets and bottles some electricity here in his bittersweet summer escape with Dominic Sessa, invoking the late legend Anthony Bourdain in fantastic ways. Some gorgeous sunsets, youthful idiocies, and Antonio Banderas as the chef sensei I never knew I needed bring together a blast of a summer hang.

Tony follows college-aged Anthony Bourdain (Dominic Sessa) one summer as he works in the back of a restaurant in 1970s Cape Cod. He’s struggling to survive in the kitchen, with his writing, and chasing the girl he has a crush on. We follow his journey of self-discovery and his passion for the culinary arts.

Before I talk about what I liked about Tony, I think it’s important to address the massive elephant in the room that many people have been asking about this film: “Why did this get made?” Anthony Bourdain is a bigger-than-life figure for many people. His book Kitchen Confidential is one of the most important works of the 21st century, breaking down culinary life and the back of kitchens with true insight. His shows were remarkable, and no one had a personality like his. Having passed away less than a decade ago under tragic circumstances, the amount of video and coverage we have of him, and the quote I get seen thrown around a lot from these so-called Bourdain experts and stans is “Tony would have hated this.” I can at least buy those first two points, but the last one, I gotta say, fellas, you did not know this fucking man personally. Bourdain’s close assistant Laurie Woolever had this to say in an article she wrote for Bon Appétit:

“Would he have hated it? I didn’t know the answer, and for a while, I put the question, and the film, out of my mind. When working as Tony’s assistant, a job I started in 2009, I quickly learned not to predict his responses to the many queries that came to him through me. He was often more than happy to do interviews with people whose viewpoints he adamantly opposed. He jumped at the opportunity to appear on Yo Gabba Gabba, a show aimed at toddlers. When Vogue magazine asked him to sit for a fashion shoot, I was certain he’d roll his eyes, but he said to me, “For reasons of overweening vanity, I’m eager to do it,” before rattling off a list of designers he admired.”

Bourdain’s brother Chris later in the article said he thought his brother would hate it, but he also said his brother was complex and more than just the clips, memes, and shrines built for him online. Hey, I was a middle-class white kid growing up in a shitty small town in New Jersey in the late 2010s, and I became obsessed with Bourdain then. I can probably point to episodes of No Reservations or Parts Unknown that I watched a million times and that shaped my love for travel, leftist ideology, punk music, and covering myself in tattoos by age 32, which I am now. In my mid-20s, I probably would have jumped at the chance to call this movie lame from the concept, but I’m so happy I went in with my eyes wide open because Tony is quite good.

Dominic Sessa’s naturalistic acting style was a huge hit in his breakout role in the now-classic Christmas movie The Holdovers, and I think it fits perfectly here as Anthony Bourdain, too. There’s no weird impression or feeling as though he’s trying hard to be Bourdain, but he invokes the spirit of a juvenile version of a man fumbling all over himself. You have Bourdain’s quick wit, bitter delivery, and flat humor that we’ve all come to love, but also that shimmer in his eye of wanting to be great and show the world. Sessa has an insanely punchable face and comes off as a dumb punk who knows some fancy words and nothing about the world, and it’s perfect. Banderas as our soft-spoken master chef working out of this flimsy New England essentially fine dining fast food gives a special mentorship that’s reminiscent of Mr. Miyagi working back of a kitchen. The bond they build over buckets of water thrown in Sessa’s face and true care for the craft in the kitchen is fully earned and rewarding. Emilia Jones plays the girl-next-door role perfectly, keeping Sessa on a thread, and Stavros Halkias’s comedic relief rocks and had our whole theater rolling. Thank you, Stavvy Baby. The real standout, though, in my opinion, which honestly overshadowed the movie at times, was Leo Woodall as Sal. This guy has so much juice. He dominated every scene as that chef you’d want to keep your daughters away from because he is bad news, but also so cool. He can flirt, fight, and snort coke with the best of them. (I’ve been around guys like this who are the ones who say “Let’s get another bag for the night,” and they are so dangerous and fun and have a life expectancy of 0, and they know it.) Great ensemble cast and I could have watched Sessa and Woodall drink beers, jump off docks, and get into hijinks for hours.

Director Matt Johnson, I think, finally chills out and shoots a movie in which he’s not seemingly trying so hard to let you know that he belongs. Johnson, I always thought you belonged here, and I was a big fan of Blackberry and Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie, but this finally feels like a good hang. He’s totally found himself comfortable behind the camera with this coming-of-age story that doesn’t treat Bourdain as this mythical character but as a young dude trying to find his way and will ultimately say something or do something dumb but build themselves up better. There are tons of tropes here, but honestly that’s not necessarily a bad thing; I think choosing this part of this man’s life and making it into a Dazed and Confused inspirational good time fits perfectly. Shooting so naturalistically, with solid framing at times to focus on the faces and moods of those around each other, makes it seem like Johnson isn’t out to wow but just to tell a story for once. Just immaculate shore town vibes that make me want to spend every summer there and find out about love and life. I think toward the end he falls back into that trap of making what feels like trailer-biopic bait that only made my eyes roll slightly, but the confidence to somehow make this all come together in such a fun, gritty, and exciting way is such an accomplishment.

Would Tony have liked this? I don’t know. I’m not sure if that’s terribly important. I know I liked it, and I think a lot of audiences will appreciate the young spirit and freedom, and the principles of such an interesting figure of the 21st century were honored but not jingled in our faces like some product. Gorgeous beaches and adventure, sweet needle drops, LOBSTA ROLLS, and dramatic tension and family found in the kitchen that fans of The Bear will love too. Well done.

Final Score: 8/10

Written by Kevin J. Pettit

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is a loving and sexy ode to the Slasher genre. Director Jane Schoenbrun returns to remind us we can’t let nostalgia and petty bullshit keep trapping us and distracting us all the time. We need to get out there, experience the world, and have some sex! It’s refreshing to have such an experiential tale of sexual awakening done in such a beautiful, bloody fashion. Schoenbrun is reclaiming not just the awfulness of the 8th Friday the 13th or Halloween movie that’s been recycled and regurgitated up for the millionth time, but also the fact that overanalyzing a work or a world, instead of just experiencing life’s true pleasures, is something we can’t afford to miss. Hannah Einbender and Gillian Anderson’s chemistry here is so stimulating, sweet, and soft you can’t help but be magnetized to their hot horror awakenings in a cabin in the woods. Some hilarious shots at the Hollywood horror machine, gorgeous set design and painted backdrops, and banging needle drops make this a must-see for lovers of gallons of blood and steamy romance.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma follows young queer filmmaker Kris (Hannah Einbender), who’s been given the keys to direct a reboot of the fictional slasher series Camp Miasma. She’s been selected to help “woke-up” the series since it’s been deemed transphobic because its lead killer in the series, “Little Death,” was raised as a boy and a girl, and the series has lost all its juice after constant sequels and remakes. Kris, who loves the original series, travels to the Pacific Northwest to meet and cast the original final girl from the first Camp Miasma movie, Billy (Gillian Anderson), who lives at the original movie set campground. Billy quite takes Kris back, and after watching the original movie together, discovers that Billy can only finish during sex if she imagines herself being stabbed by Little Death as the final girl while having sex. Kris tries seducing Billy but falls flat due to insecurity, and the next morning pitches to the studio execs that they are all actually in a Camp Miasma movie, and Little Death feeds off each movie. Kris discovers this and becomes the final girl she’s always wanted to be, maybe starting to enjoy life again instead of overthinking everything.

Lots to love here, but I think most audiences will gravitate toward the hilarious, sexy relationship that blossoms between Einbender and Anderson. Einbender, who starts as this nerdy Velma character, is overanalyzing the new “elevated” wave of horror, which has left them emotionally and sexually dissatisfied. Their line delivery and comedic timing are stellar here, and the way she fully transforms from this shell into a sexually liberated final hot girl is fantastic to be part of this journey of seeing someone let go. Anderson brings an alluring mystique that draws Einbender and the audience in, and it’s special how they feel their pain over the course of the story, accept their fate, and finally find happiness with Einbender. Anderson comes from a generation that seems frustrated with the notion of “elevated” horror and prefers the feelings the art brings out, not the ones being pushed onto us that feel like empty calories. Speaking of calories, I haven’t laughed/squirmed as much as when Anderson held a tray of fried chicken and confessed her love for dipping sauces, while we saw those dipping sauces fully used up close and personal—fantastic stuff. Just fantastic snacks, and as a big fan of sour gummy candies during my movie-watching time at home, I’m glad they got the respect and screen time they deserved. A bed of movie snacks would cure me. Anyway, the connection the two leads build over the course of the movie, and reaching that sexual self-actualization for each other, is sweet and so bloody satisfying. They play off each other so well and are a big reason the film works as well as it does.

Schoenbrun has a magical eye behind the camera, and the way they make us disappear into these dreamlike worlds is, quite frankly, very moving. Whether it be the beautiful backdrops of the camp, Little Death’s “first person” exciting murder rampage sequence set to the massively underrated Counting Crows, and that little gross bodily video store at the bottom of a lake that represents a hole in our lives, it's all so gross but uniquely stunning all the same time. I think I was most impressed this time around by Schoenbrun’s ability to balance more conventional storytelling beats than in I Saw The TV Glow, while still letting their otherworldly fun fill the cracks. The corny camper dialogue mixed with the oceans of blood guisering out of heads is just such a fun treat. Great supporting cast as well; I loved Eva Victor as our Mohawk punk and Sarah Squirm as our fast-moving, slimy LA agent who’s off on the squash court trying to make deals happen just amazing. All of Einbender’s final girl sequence running through the woods happily chased by Little Death, seeing all these losers in her life be cut down satisfyingly, just put a big old smile on my face, and Schoenbrun perfectly executes all of it.

There are some clear shots at the Hollywood Horror Machine that keeps rolling here about late-stage capitalism, inclusivity, and neo-liberal politics that feel like they’re doing the right thing on the surface. Still, it all amounts to a bottom line. What sells? Does queer sell? Does queer horror sell? Who cares! It’s not about feeling anything but the shock and the habituation of safety made by a series you’ve become accustomed to. I think Shoebrun clearly points out that horror has always been political and that not everything needs to be this “elevated” bullshit to be good or to have some sophisticated moment of enjoyment. Stop overthinking and being stuck in the past or in this franchise, and please get out there and touch some grass and have some sex; we are begging. A killer isn’t the only one who can feel satisfied when the blade strikes. Great lesbian horror flick that will for sure be on my end-of-year best-of list, and I can’t wait to listen to this soundtrack on repeat. Shout out to Alex G and awkward corporate Microsoft Teams meetings.

Final Score: 9/10

(Schoenbrun, I too love Jason X; please remake that)

Written by Kevin J. Pettit

To my biggest surprise, the director who gave us It Follows and Under the Silver Lake, has delivered maybe the most fun you will have in a theater this summer. The End of Oak Street is an absolute blast and exactly what summer blockbusters are for. Mixing a little bit of The Burbs, Kramer v. Kramer, and Jurassic Park could have been a cocktail of disaster, but it’s wild how satisfying this sci-fi dinosaur family drama is. I am shocked how well it’s pulled off. It has good 80s nostalgia, but not just for the sake of pointing at the screen like, “Oh, I remember that”; it has tons of cool-looking dinosaurs that are brutal and terrifying, and, most importantly, the kindest, biggest-hearted family pulling together to survive this mayhem. It feels like a zany throwback that we used to get regularly in the 80s and 90s, and I’m so happy that J.J. Abrams produced and pushed for this to get made and get director David Robert Mitchell out of director’s jail and back to work! Easily the best dinosaur movie in a decade as well and has more juice in its pinky than any of those Chris Pratt dino movies. Run from the T-Rex; don’t walk to the theater to see this heartwarming and weird (complimentary) rollercoaster of summer entertainment.

The End of Oak Street takes place in the summer of 1982 in a nice suburban neighborhood where a lovely block party is underway. The movie follows the Platt family: Denise Platt (Anne Hathaway), a secret novelist; Greg (Ewan McGregor), her husband and a man clearly out of work; Audrey (Maisy Stella), their eldest daughter, who is looking to the stars and hoping for college; Brian (Christian Convery) their youngest son running around the neighbord like a young teenager in the 80s does. Denise and Greg’s marriage is on the rocks, and the kids aren’t handling it well. While this family holds on by string mysterious flashes of light and anomalies start popping up around the neighborhood, until one night the entire neighborhood is transported back in time to dinosaur times (I’m not sure what specific time period; let’s say Jurassic). The family must survive this new suburbia that’s overrun by these terrifying and killer dinosaurs and find a way back to their time! Can this family figure out their issues along the way?

Director David Robert Mitchell gave me the Joe Dante Jurassic Park movie I never knew I needed. The obvious Spielberg connections are there from the focus on the family, dynamic camera movement, and dinosaurs. Still, I think the movie’s screwball B-movie feel sets it apart from a straight-up Spielberg rip-off. It just has that silly Gremlins tone mixed with Jumanji chaos. Hathaway and McGregor’s on the brink of divorced energy that’s filled with years of resentment is executed so well but doesn’t fill up the air of every scene. The way the two fight for each other and their family despite their issues, seeing them work this out over fighting dinosaurs, is thrilling and rewarding. The slow reveal of the dinosaurs, where you’re seeing just a tail or movement in the bushes, builds the tension incredibly well, and once all hell breaks loose with the first attack, you’re in for just such a fun ride. Love some cool split-diopter shots, and the race around the neighborhood away from the dinos is part zany insanity but also horrifying. The film doesn’t hold back on the violence despite its light tone around the 80s and family, which is fun. The darkness underneath the nuclear family of the suburbs is one thing, but imagine having ravaging dinos on top of it; real stressful.

The dinosaurs here are awesome. I wasn’t the biggest dinosaur kid growing up, but my little cousin Michael was, and I loved getting him dinosaur toys from the flea market growing up (shout out to Cowtown in south Jersey). The designs of some of these creatures being so bird-like and covered in feathers, fitting what we now know some of these actually looked like, was wondrous to see them fly around 80s suburbs mauling those in their path. I loved the variety of dinosaurs here too, from big and small to weird and intimidating. I feel like if you’re a dino-head, you’re in for a real treat. The lush fauna that takes over the neighborhood makes the setting even better as we see the old world take over the new. The sweet 80s John Hughes backdrop, mixed with ferocious beasts tearing apart the neighborhood, can be horrifying and goofy at times, and the way the film balances it all is a real feat. Hathaway goes full Rambo here, and her protective mother side takes her to some wild places of stabbing and shooting at these beasts after her family. The way the kids and everyone go straight into survival mode and how they all band together just melted my heart, and I was rooting for them so hard.

The End of Oak Street is just so satisfying. The kills are brutal, the jokes are funny, and the family’s big heart feels earned. Is there some dodgy CGI here and there and some awkward dialogue that feels a little cringy at times, sure! What I think you will find is a delightful apocalyptic amusement park ride that’s punching way above its weight. I truly thought this was going to be a stupid mess from the trailers, and I’m so happy to be wrong. A silly, good time and a great dog, too. We love you, Starbuck.

Final Score: 8/10

Written by Kevin J. Pettit

Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa is back with his first-ever period piece, The Samurai and the Prisoner. As a massive Kurosawa fan who loves that his movies take place in and reflect contemporary society’s anxieties and issues, I was curious to see what he would do here in feudal Japan. Well, I am very pleased to report that the master of mood has done it again. Shocker, I know. The Samurai and the Prisoner is an intricate and precise genre-expanding whodunnit that feels like a combination of Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood and Altman’s Gosford Park. On the surface, the film can feel like a straightforward murder mystery being unraveled. The film’s juice lies in the existential crisis of identity in a time when you don’t agree with the status quo, and the looming threat on the horizon, on a grander scale, weighs heavily on all those trapped inside this castle. The violence felt here is that of tradition, and where does that obsession dwell? I could have spent four more hours in this master’s work just taking in every perfectly blocked sequence, soaking in every character’s glance and clue to a murder weapon. I’m a sucker for any whodunnit where someone walks around a room breaking down the crime, but fusing that with a period piece like this and the themes being tapped into, it’s completely elevated to another class of film—one of 2026’s very best.

The story of The Samurai and the Prisoner is set in Japan in 1578, when Arioka Castle is under siege by a fierce warlord called Oda. The lord of the castle, Araki Murashige (played by Masahiro Motoki), blocks the castle and comes up with plans for defeating Oda. Oda sends his able military strategist, Kuroda Kanbei (played by Masaki Suda), as a peace mission to persuade Lord Murashige that his revolt against Oda is pointless. Rather than being convinced, Lord Murashige chooses to imprison Kanbei. As he consults with his retainers and advisers in an effort to bring about an end to the war, strange murders and odd events start to occur around the castle, and this causes great panic. Lord Murashige is now forced to depend on the man whom he has imprisoned to solve the mysteries or to create disorder within the castle.

There’s lots to love here, but for starters, I think the ensemble cast pulled together, and especially the work of our two leads, Motoki and Suda, is exceptional. Their complex relationship of friendship and Stockholm/Lima syndrome drives the whole film forward. Motoki plays this merciful leader who doesn’t believe execution is the way to deal with every problem, and you can see how he’s a man out of time, unable to handle the violence occurring around him and the world’s obsession with it. The man would rather make amazing Mocha, and I get it; those tea urns he has are beautiful. I get freaking out over losing his precious Tora-maru (fancy tea urn). The way Suda’s imprisonment changes him physically, and the way we can feel him breaking down mentally while always keeping this cunning upper hand, is exhilarating to watch when these two amazing actors get in the dungeon together to talk shop about the war and, oh, what happened with this strange murder. I loved so many of Motoki’s retainers, who all had such distinct loyalty and personality to what was happening around them, especially Joe Odagiri, who plays Koori Juemon in the film. Yuriko Yoshitaka played Motoki’s wife in the film. As Chiyoho, I think she helped uncover another level of deep anguish: how this war takes over the minds of common people and what this weird obsession with violence and death is all for. I love the paranoia and impending doom; it chokes me out here.

The staging and blocking in the film is to die for. The way all these bizarre murders are committed and solved was mesmerizing. People dying in weird ways and having these little clues that can lead us to the right answer scratches such a satisfying itch, and I think Kurosawa perfectly guides our brains to the right point of satisfaction with each of them. The way any of the council meetings are blocked and how it’s edited to present us with so many incredible moments of locking in on every glance or doubt or commitment the retainers may have is astonishing work, like each frame a painting at times. You are completely swept up in the mystery; you can find yourself, like many of the characters, being like, “ Hey, isn’t there a war going on?” I think that’s the great trick of the movie that it can be the Throne of Blood samurai epic about power and control corrupting to a fault, but also a Knives Out mystery that has you gripped to the very sweet end.

So what is Kurosawa trying to say about using a period piece now? I think there’s a lot to chew on, and I think a major influence here is Kobayashi’s Harakiri. A look at violence as tradition and what that damage can do to the self and a society. How do we survive a time in which we don’t agree with the status quo, and how do we resolve issues by abiding by those times, and how difficult it is to change those minds so stuck in that way. The violence here of religious influence is all over this film as well, and especially all that Yuriko Yoshitaka’s character spouts late in the film on the necessity of violence to keep peace is soul-crushing. I thought a lot about Lord Murashige’s need to solve these murders not just to keep peace but to keep as a distraction from the war that’s at his doorstep. Kurosawa could be using this as a way for many of us to keep busy in life, as we know there is a looming climate crisis, nuclear war, or genocides happening in the world. It’s a possibly mean outlook on how we need something to keep our brains occupied as the outside world is crumbling. We are helpless to make those status quo changes that would make the world a more peaceful place. Thes sense of anxiety and dread that we are filled with during this slow burn is something I wish more movies would let us sit with all the decisions and what’s happening around us more.

Like Gosford Park, I think you can enjoy it for the simple pleasure of a whodunnit, but there’s something way more interesting and elevated at its core in which Kurosawa is pulling in like the master we know he is. The movie is way funnier and looser than some other Samurai films I’ve seen, and seeing Motoki throw a tantrum over his tea or the way he fully reacts to some of these mysteries is stunning. Yoshihiro Hanno’s sweeping score, like the wind, and Yasuyuki Sasaki’s cinematography don’t just nail all the precise blocking but bring in the natural world in ways that feel like there are forces out there just out of our control and alive in this castle. Great battle sequences and confrontations, all filled with great costuming and production design for this era. It can feel dense with all the moving factions happening off-screen, but I think the intimate and intelligent nature of the film, with Kurosawa’s stylish twist, is something truly special.

Final Score: 9/10

Written by Kevin J. Pettit

Last week I had the great opportunity to see Michael Mann’s Manhunter on the big screen, presented in a gorgeous 4K restoration. I headed down to the Philly Film Society’s Bourse Theater, took the escalator down into this basement filled with screens, and grabbed my large Diet Pepsi (they don’t have Coke products, which kills me a little on the inside each time), large popcorn, and was ready to be totally transported to a world that’s unlike any other. I attest that there’s nothing quite like Manhunter. The mood, the atmosphere, and the general uneasiness that I’m swept under is like nothing else, and there’s nothing else like it in Mann’s filmography. It’s a true one-of-one, and this past viewing felt like something really set in. I was reminded of what my abnormal/psychology professor had once shared with our class, and that I had mentioned previously in my Zone of Interest review back when I had 1 subscriber, and that 1 being my Mum (shout out to Shannon).

“During college, my abnormal and forensic psychology professor presented us with a strong take on the world. In this class, we covered mass murderers, serial killers, and other violent actors to determine causes or preventative measures that we, as a society, could take to protect us from these “monsters.” My professor suggested that not much separates us from these harmful people. The media chooses to cast these actors as demons or boogeymen to create the narrative that these people are anomalies and that the average person could never do such vile acts-- to make us feel secure that this could never happen to us or someone we know. -He would say, “We are closer to these ‘monsters’ than we let on.”

I think about that a lot and how uncomfortable it makes me. I think about how Will Graham, played by William Peterson, says something eerily similar in his humanization of the Tooth Fairy/Red Dragon.

* “My heart bleeds for him, as a child. Someone took a kid and manufactured a monster. At the same time, as an adult, he’s irredeemable. He butchers whole families to pursue trivial fantasies... Do you think that’s a contradiction, Jack? Does this kind of understanding make you uncomfortable?” - a line I find way more sentimental than anything those grifting opportunistic True Crime pods could ever come up with to justify their means.

How do we sympathize with evil? Has that evil always existed? Was it cultivated within society? I think about the ending of Come and See, where the young boy chooses to shoot at a portrait of Hitler, and flashes to when Hitler was a baby. Was that evil always there? Are we no better? For this, and many more reasons, I find myself being drawn back to Manhunter more than The Silence of the Lambs. These Thomas Harris adaptations are both chasing different things while being so close in terms of story beats and the same characters. I think the psychology that’s being explored in Manhunter and the characters within its world fascinate and leave me wondering more about the true nature of darkness and how we can be thrown down this abyss. This retrospective isn’t here to say why I think Manhunter is better than The Silence of the Lambs, but why it should be held up in the same regard. Silence of the Lambs is, to me, a perfect movie, and I think the execution of its ideas is done without fail; even though Manhunter may have more flaws, I think I find myself attaching to it way more. So what is Manhunter?

Manhunter is a 1986 crime thriller directed by Michael Mann. It is an adaptation of Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon that follows FBI profiler Will Graham (William Petersen) coming out of retirement to track down a serial killer known as the Tooth Fairy (Tom Noonan). Graham meets with the incarcerated Hannibal Lecter (Brian Cox) to gain clues and knowledge on how to stop this killer and also confront his own nightmares from the past. Graham will use his meticulous skills of observation, high-tech forensic devices, and cunning to stop this killer before the next full moon.

What I love about Michael Mann films is that they usually involve a man against time, hardcore obsession and drive, the duality of man, and a level of deep melancholy. There’s nothing quite like a Michael Mann blue or the way someone stares off into the ocean. I think even if you don’t jive with Manhunter for plot or characters or script, you can’t deny the stylized look of Manhunter is something that many will latch onto. Those bleached white walls and bars of Lecter’s cell, the blue moonlit night cascading over a bedroom, the shimmering darkness of the streets and rooms in which Graham enters only by flashlight, the gorgeous sunsets and dawns, and the bloody harsh red highlights that cover our protagonist’s face after being filled with a blown-out blue in a testing site. There’s nothing quite like the look and feel of Manhunter, which fills you with so much overwhelming dread. Cinematographer Dante Spinotti’s atmosphere feels like we are diving deeper and deeper into hell. There is just visceral imagery burned into my brain, like the painting of the red dragon, the man on fire in the wheelchair, the tiger’s teeth, the close-up of Graham’s gun, and the opening home footage still haunts me. The woman with white eyes and mouth while Graham is dolly pushed in is insane, and this horror Mann taps into is unbelievable. This unsettling mood is only amplified by the non-diegetic score that totally overwhelms all your senses, like you are further pushed down this rabbit-hole nightmare alongside our protagonist. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida is a mesmerizing track by Iron Butterfly, and Graham’s theme by Michel Rubini is just pure atmospheric dark synth guitar goodness that pulls you deeper and deeper into your seat and world.

Manhunter essentially sets the blueprint for all modern true crime. Do you love Memories of Murder, Mind Hunters, Zodiac, Cure, Seven, Prisoners, etc. Well, a big thank you is to Manhunter. Investigating a murder is nothing new to film; you can go all the way back to Fritz Lang’s M, but the way we analyze and understand murderers and psychos as a whole in media, I think there is a major level of debt that needs to be paid to Manhunter when it comes to the lone detective who needs to get inside the head of evil. William Petersen is the perfect vessel through which we enter this world, and his reconciling his demons of the past becomes just as important as finding this tooth fairy killer. It’s so wild that Peresen does To Live or Die in L.A. and Manhunter back to back, two of my all-time 80s favorites, and didn’t go on to have a bigger leading-man career. I’m sure those CSI checks are amazing, and he’s very comfortable, but what he’s able to channel in both these works is remarkable. Like in Mann’s masterpiece HEAT, he loves looking at both sides of the coin and how similar they really are. Petersen losing his mind and soul as he feels he needs to become closer to these killers to catch and understand them is heartbreaking to see him unravel like that. I think specifically of him staring at his own reflection in the rain and him saying, “It’s just you and me now, sport. And I’m going to find you, goddamn it.” Is he finding this killer or himself? The way Graham needs to seek out Lecter to get back on the scent and place him into this world of death is so interesting that he needs that level of darkness to function.

This brings us to our Manhunter vs. The Silence of the Lambs part of the retrospective, and why have two beautiful queens fight against each other? Both these films excellently explore the complex nature of evil and trauma. I find Manhunter’s characters outside of Jodie Foster’s to be a bit more approachable. Anthony Hopkins delivers an unforgettable and unsettling performance as Hannibal Lecter and deserved the Oscar and all the praise, obviously. That performance, though, is bigger than life and feels as though he is truly an otherworldly demon beyond real approach. Brian Cox’s Lecter feels more blue-collar, or even just a man who’s done unspeakable evil deeds while still having that level of hyper intelligence and wit. Hopkins’ relationship with Foster’s character uncovers her grief, and a symbiotic therapeutic relationship emerges from their connection that’s chilling to see, showing how much they need each other. I just kind of love that Petersen’s character has a previous relationship with Cox and has to pull himself back to the man who maimed him with a knife just to find this killer. Cox is also a lot funnier when he kicks up his legs on his call with Petersen late in the movie, but he’s still able to deliver this cold line: “If one does what God does enough times, one will become as God is.” Hopkins is in the pantheon of evil on screen. Still, I find he falls more into this mythical higher being, like that of a Darth Vader, where Cox is an everyman that Petersen unfortunately relates to in more ways than he likes, which draws me into the psychology of the story way more.

This brings me to the major reason I feel more taken with Manhunter than The Silence of the Lambs at times, and that’s the way Tom Noonan’s (RIP KING) performance as Francis Dollarhyde, aka Red Dragon, stayed in character during the whole shoot. I love Ted Levine’s performance of Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs. Levine is absolutely terrifying from his shout of IT PUTS THE LOTION ON THE SKIN to his Goodbye Horses dance to the night vision chase of Foster; he’s an unreal depiction of evil on screen, but I never find him really approachable. I see him more as what we’ve come to understand of a monster, same with Hopkins performance these psycho murderers who seem to come from a different universe. I don’t see Buffalo Bill in a grocery store or having a normal job, just skinning people. Noonan, on the other hand, is socially awkward and a tad antisocial, but we see him in a nice, normal apartment; we see him at work, and even have a co-worker suggest he takes another one home because they are so comfortable with him. Noonan has this daunting height, but also a deep, withdrawn sadness that you could see people in society sympathize with if you didn’t know about his dastardly deeds outside of work.

There has been a ton written about Buffalo Bill’s motives for becoming a woman and if this interpretation is transphobic and all sorts of other stuff, and I’m not here to weigh in on that. I think Noonan’s soft but cutting performance here has aged so well and reflects incel culture where we are now. As someone who follows the unsettling and disgusting manosphere and red pill culture from afar mostly to see how these people are poisoning our youth, I think there’s something quite similar to their ethos and to the psychology of Noonan’s character. This solitary fantisation that we are weak and unbecoming to women who see them as lesser and out to embarrass them is something Noonan shows throughout. Petersen even reveals that the killer is doing this to become worthy. Noonan’s lack of worth drives him to surveil and kill to seek some validation, maybe, but truly, at his core, he doesn’t love anything but himself. He is a male supremacist who dehumanizes and resents women at their very core, and I think Noonan’s chilling take on this character is not just terrifying but all too real. Hopkins and Levine are these bigger-than-life figures in pop culture, where I think the subtle evil is found within Cox and Noonan, which I prefer.

All that said, The Silence of the Lambs is a masterpiece and does a lot of other things, such as exploring sexism within male-dominated fields and class differences. I think the execution of what they are after is better than Manhunter and more iconic at times. Hopkins saying, “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.” I mean, come on. I’m just put under this dark spell when it comes to Manhunter and traveling deeper into the abyss with it. I feel awful by the time the credits roll because I feel like I’m really living in this world of killers that are similar to myself, and the monsters we label them with are just for our own peace of mind. It’s also just so sick seeing Mann use cool FBI tech and call for jets or choppers immediately on the runway, and Dennis Farina has the best mustache you’ll ever see on the big screen. I highly recommend checking out Manhunter for yourself, either in 4K or whatever version you can find; they are all good, and please let me know if I need to be behind bars for these takes.

Written by Kevin J. Pettit

We did it, folks! We finally got a grounded Tom Holland Spider-Man out of High School and swinging around the Big Apple. There are no Thanos world-ending level events this time around; we have a Peter Parker whose life sucks, and he’s out here trying to get by doing the right thing. The version of Spidey we’ve been dying to see on the big screen with this iteration, so this begs the question: is Spider-Man: Brand New Day any good? Yeah, it’s pretty cute! It may have taken four Tom Holland Spider-Man movies for him to be his own man, but I think the wait was well worth it. We are getting our friendly-neighborhood web-slinger zipping across NYC that we’ve always imagined in the comics with fierce acrobatic combat and heart. It’s nice that Marvel/Sony have finally caught up and delivered us the Spidey we have deserved! Better late than never, I suppose. Brand New Day takes some of the best Spider-Man tropes and archetypes and breathes new life into them. Despite feeling a tad long in the tooth at times, some dodgy CGI here and there, and some more MCU universe buildup bullshit that we’ve all come to expect, I think this is a solid and worthy entry in the pantheon for the wall-crawler.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day follows Peter Parker (Tom Holland) four years after Dr. Strange had the world forget who Spider-Man was. Peter is anonymously saving the city and gaining a local reputation as a hero, even seeing some cool montages of him stopping longtime comic book favorite villains like Scorpion and Tombstone. He spends all his time just fighting crime and ignoring his emotions, leading to his body taking on arachnid changes. A mysterious villain appears and tries to break into the Department of Damage Control by mind-controlling people and jumping from person to person. The villain discovers who Peter is and uses his previous girlfriend, MJ (Zendaya), against him. Peter must find a way to defeat this telepath, protect his friends, and also confront his grief in losing them and his Aunt May.

(The mask stays on in bed)

What a lot of people are coming to see isn’t just Spider-Man, but it’s the Tom Holland show, baby, and god is he charming. Charming in such a sweet and awkward way that makes him unbelievably approachable and always perfect for this role. The pathos of sadness in which Holland observes from the party he crashes to see his former friends, the way he’s able to melt the heart of a psycho killer like Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal), and the way our villain sees that vengeance isn’t the way is all just so convincing. You are just glued to Holland’s ability to pull the best of humanity out of anyone. His one-on-one time with Black Widow (Florence Pugh) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) is also just sweet, memorable moments, and I love seeing how Parker navigates this MCU of wild characters. I think Holland’s internal struggle with choosing between being Peter or Spider-Man, and how that can physically pull the worst out of him, leads to some intense moments where he loses complete control, which I found effective given the nice guy we’ve come to know. I think it would be easy to say that the problems with his powers are a rinse and repeat of Raimi’s Spider-Man 2’s plot. Still, I think this is a core tenet of the character in the comics, where he feels changes happening with him emotionally that outwardly extend into his job as Spider-Man. I think it’s innovative enough to stand on its own. Any issues I have with Holland’s Spider-Man are that his quips as Spider-Man can land rather flat, but if I’m being generous, Spidey can be kind of a dork sometimes, so it’s within character; not all will be laugh-out-loud bangers and come off corny.

As someone who’s a big fan of Insomniac’s Spider-Man video games for the PlayStation, it is clear they’ve taken some major influence from that. From the overall look of the costume to the momentum he swings across the city, the intense armored car sequence feels almost shot for shot from the game, and even the combat dodges and attacks feel right out of it. I found these all to be pretty nice positives. I think it’s cool to see other mediums have that kind of reach, and I think even some of the storytelling beats have taken a cue from the Insomniac games. Peter mixes it up with quite the rogues’ gallery of heroes and villains so seamlessly that it doesn’t feel so forced, and the world feels so lived in, which is nice! The fight choreography for the final fight against the red ninjas felt viscerally satisfying, and well thought out for once in his movies, without relying solely on technology to bail him out. When Bruce Banner loses control of the Hulk, we get an unleashed horror-lite sequence where Spidey truly has to use his intelligence and agility to survive the monster’s onslaught, which kind of rocked! The set-pieces are exciting, but I do think the cute small moments between these characters are what people will latch onto and find some real emotional fulfillment that maybe they’ve found lacking in many of Marvel’s recent output.

(Spoilers about the villain reveal ahead)

The problems I have with Brand New Day and why I don’t think it reaches the heights of some of the Raimi or Into the Spider-Verse movies stem mostly from the film maybe lacking juice in the emotional stakes department and feeling as though we may have squandered that opportunity to do more setup in the MCU instead. The inclusion of Jean Grey (Sadie Sink) as our big bad here, I think, was integrated as best as you could do to do setup for your X-Men movie and not fully take away from Peter’s arc of becoming one with himself and Spider-Man. It does suck that halfway through the movie you kind of clock when they decide to make it the Jean Grey origins movie and do big setup for mutants going forward, but that doesn’t take anything away from Sink’s heartbreaking performance and also intense performance. The Department of Damage Control being the real evil reveal was also so obvious, which can be fine; I just found the execution to be a tad lazy. We got the “proper” Spider-Man, but it feels like things were sacrificed here for the sake of the MCU and not to make the best movie possible, which is a shame. It can drag with all this extra stuff going on, and it lacks clear focus. The CGI does feel a bit dodgy at times too, like some grey, sludgy stuff, and the impact of punches and action can feel a bit floaty to me personally, but overall I think the final bout choreography in the jail cells was excellent and dynamic.

Some final thoughts: It’s kind of insane that Peter Parker has a city facial recognition program that’s totally played for laughs. Surveillance State Spider-Man or Patriot Act Peter Parker, take your pick, but not sure if that’s in character with this Spidey. The connection built between Parker and The Punisher was surprisingly earnest, the chase sequence of Jean Grey mind-hopping person to person had my full attention, and seeing Peter and Ned quote The Fellowship of the Ring together and geek out melted my heart; I can’t lie. Great Tame Impala needle drop, the credits are gorgeous, and Holland and Zendaya just are so sweet on screen. Excited to see where they take Holland’s Spider-Man and also check out that Russian Bath House that Black Widow is in; I’m due for some R&R.

Final Score: 7.5/10

Written by Kevin J. Pettit

Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sex is a silly good time at the movies. It presses into Gen-Z carnal knowledge that can maybe allow the recent generation who have struggled with intimacy a gateway into self-identity. Cooper Hoffman and Olivia Wilde have kinetic and problematic chemistry on screen that leads to a hilarious and intense relationship that’s a wonderful romp. The BDSM hijinks on display did eventually wear thin on me, but I do think the hit rate of the jokes here is quite high. Araki has definitely put out his most conventional and accessible film to date here, which for many will be a great starter to explore this master’s filmography. Still, for me, I feel as though the emotional highs I have felt from his previous works are not here, and the visual look is quite horrid at times. Despite some shortcomings, I think the throughline of the importance of sex into shaping us, not just of what pleasures we seek in the bedroom but what we want out of life, is nailed in a hilarious noir fashion that left me with a big smile on my face by the end.

I Want Your Sex follows Elliot (Cooper Hoffman), a struggling, broke 23-year-old looking for work in L.A., until he stumbles into being the assistant of Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde), a super sexual avant-garde artist. Elliot learns quickly that he’s been hired because Erika has taken a sexual interest in him. They begin a BDSM relationship where Erika is the dom, and Elliot is her sub. The movie opens up with Erika face down in a pool while Elliot explains their intense relationship over the course of the movie to the police. What happened to Erika, and did Elliot go too far down the rabbit hole?!

There’s a ton to love here, but the first thing that grabbed my attention was the massive homages to Billy Wilder’s works. The opening shot of the person face down in the pool is straight out of Sunset Boulevard; the Wilde character is essentially our Norma Desmond, and Hoffman is our Joe Gillis, taken in by an older woman. There is a fake death plot that feels very reminiscent of Double Indemnity, and the overall playful and sexual dialogue that can be witty and quick feels all Wilder-esque at times that worked so well for me! Wilde’s intensity and just glaring presence on screen she pulls off the dominatrix and sexually free artist role without missing a beat. Her over-the-top awfulness is met with a character with clearly worlds of experience over Hoffman that’s trying to push those around them to understand that sex can be everything and also nothing. Hoffman plays this awkward vessel that’s still physically solid, so even though he has taken on this sub role that leads him into wild scenes of him in different types of lingerie, tied up, and surrounded by dildos, he’s still able to hold his own. The two on screen play off each other so well, and any emotional depth is built out of Hoffman’s world crumbling around him as he falls deeper into Wilde’s own mess. Costuming is also AMAZING!!! Was blown away by all the dominatrix fits Wilde had, especially during the three-way sequence, which is my favorite sequence in the movie; she’s literally the sexual devil.

The supporting cast is also solid! I especially loved Mason Gooding as Zap, Hoffman’s coworker, whose dry humor and sensibility over the ridiculousness of the film gave great levity, and his line delivery was stellar. Chase Sui Wonders as Apple, Hoffman’s roommate and best friend, was more of the emotional center at times and gave a great, sad, and hilarious performance, and they explored a three-way with Wilde and their own personal feelings. Charli XCX is also here, and as much as she is my favorite artist personally, I can’t defend some awful accent swings she’s going for here that seem to take dramatic shifts. Still, she serves her purpose in the film as Hoffman’s boring and sexless girlfriend pushing him down this extravagant BDSM affair with Wilde.

My main issues with I Want Your Sex are that the emotional depth the movie is shooting for doesn’t exactly resonate with me, and its overall look doesn’t either. I understand this is a goofy thriller, but I think Araki is trying to touch upon some self-actualization through sex that I think a movie like Pillion was way more successful in exploring. Also, why does this look like a phone commercial? Some scenes feel like they are right out of a Saturday Night Live sketch (derogatory), and from the visual language and feels of other Araki movies, I just expected more! I had this thought that maybe he’s shooting the movie to look like this to maybe emulate a look reminiscent of modern pornography as some thematic message, but that feels awfully generous and still looks not great either way.

There is good fun to be had if I Want Your Sex! I may have some quibbles here and there, but this type of sex dramedy thriller is a real popcorn smash, and I think Araki’s reach to Gen Z about the fun side of sex, and also its consequences, is something he’s overall successful at. Wilde and Hoffman’s relationship is so dynamic, and the physical lengths the two go to here are commendable; being that exposed with their bodies and fully embracing what Araki is going for rocks! Solid laughs and zaniness gave me a delightful summer smile at the theater.

Final Score: 7/10

Written by Kevin J. Pettit

Nicolas Winding Refn is back with another divisive film that’s pulling audiences and critics apart at the seams. Water is indeed wet once again. There has been a ton of online vitriol swirling around this movie, where I’ve personally seen videos and tweets of people saying they walked out of the theater, were repulsed, and believe it’s the worst movie they’ve ever seen. Refn should have his director’s card pulled and sent right to jail for this monstrosity he’s unleashed onto the public. Sophie Thatcher, fire your agent immediately! Now, I’ve also seen on the other side of the spectrum critics and mutuals online were taken aback by Her Private Hell and were completely intoxicated by this Neon dreamscape. Refn has already created a misunderstood cult classic (hate when people call a movie a cult classic when it’s been out a week), and no one creates a vibe or a mood like this Danish freak. So, I’m late to the party, but I’m kind of glad I saw this last night, as the neon fog of war (discourse) has cleared, and with diamond eyes, open hearts ripped out, can’t lose. Has Her Private Hell entered the hallowed halls of being called a prestigious Giallo?! No, and that’s okay; I thought the movie was just fine. Refn has created a visual treat for the eyes that lacks any real substance, but I love the swings and the world he’s engrossed himself in. If I saw this in the 2010s when I was in high school, the imagery on here would have gone triple platinum on my Tumblr just like his movie Drive (2011) became my whole personality. Those who are starving for any director to tap into Argento or De Palma, I think there’s a ton of cool texture that can satiate that hunger, and why I totally get those being over the moon for Her Private Hell, but this Disney Princess dream/hellscape left me feeling like I was shrouded in some gray fog myself.

Her Private Hell is set in a futuristic metropolis where Elle (Sophie Thatcher) is on the search for her father while a killer is on the loose killing young girls. Her story intersects with Private K (Charles Melton), a young soldier on the search for her daughter who’s been abducted by this evil entity that’s appeared with this strange fog. Will the two be able to find the ones they love amongst this doomed world, or will The Leatherman rip them apart?

Refn and cinematographer Magnus Nordenhof Jønck come together to give you candy for the eyes with visuals that are quite stunning at times. You’re totally immersed in this dystopian, wealthy sky rises whose production design is stellar. You’ll find yourself amongst beautiful giant crystals in a sci-fi adventure, and eventually descend into the gritty neon underground of the Yakuza with Charles Melton. It’s a total trip, and I feel as though the film captures this dreamy, faraway feeling of waking/sleeping, of finding some bizarre giallo on your hotel TV in some distant European country, which is something magical and why I can understand the appeal for so many. The flashing red and blue lights striking these gorgeous people can be wondrous to soak in, but at the end of the day, it feels like walking through the perfume section of the mall and finally not being able to take the smell anymore. The conversations early on in the film that don’t involve Charles Melton slashing and fighting off the Yakuza can feel so empty.

Havana Rose Liu plays Thatcher’s evil stepmother, and the two are obsessed with each other. Still, it all falls flat until the climax, when I was finally jolted with some energy from them instead of just being two weirdos saying exactly what’s happening in the story or how they feel. Hey, I think subtext can be for cowards as much as the next guy, but I have a limit. Havana Rose Liu stood out the most for me, like she was doing some special type of bizarness, and every scene with her and Sophie Thatcher I was waiting for a little bit more. There’s a scene that I feel like people were totally weirded out by where they speak like wolves to each other, and honestly found it cute and funny, like give me some more of that. I don’t want this facade of coolness and smoking; give me some substance, please, to these hot and cool people in this world that kind of rocks to inhabit. Outside of Melton’s scenes of wrecking and covering himself in blood fighting the Yakuza, I was vibing with the textures and world but nothing more. Refn’s not really saying anything that I can at least latch onto meaningfully, but that’s cool too. Anything about daddy issues, women’s treatment in Hollywood or the world, and identities at odds with each other all washed over me with glitter and neon.

Couple more things on Her Private Hell: Pinno Donaggio’s score is out of this world and totally works in tandem to elevate the mood and style that Refn is after. Will totally be on repeat for me and wanting to enter my own dreamy, weavy existence. To those weaklings who walked out of the theater because they couldn’t handle this movie, I don’t get that at all. There’s not a scene serious enough to have that type of outrage, like some bloody kills and a little silliness and maybe one scene involving some underwear in a mouth, but come on, watch more movies, I’m begging. This was awfully tame compared to what the public outcry was claiming. It was lovely to have Diego Calva back in a major motion picture, and he’s unbelievably hot here that he might be worth the price of admission. Finally, I smiled at the thought of Charlie from Always Sunny in Philadelphia making his The Nightman Cometh movie, and this is what he imagined with such beauty but the brain of Charlie when it came to the script depth. Anyway, this fully didn’t work for me, but I think there’s a lot there for others to sink their teeth into, and the dreamscape visuals don’t do enough for me to feel much.

Final Score: 6/10

Written by Kevin J. Pettit

Hirokazu Koreeda was already fighting an uphill battle with his latest film, Sheep in the Box. Creating a family drama focused on a robotic humanoid son when Spielberg’s masterpiece A.I. (2001) already exists is tough! Koreeda definitely uses the vessel of the A.I. son to unearth these deep and dark feelings that can sink deep within someone during grief and help reconcile those feelings. Still, I don’t think Koreeda really taps into anything particularly profound with the ideas at play. This sweet and endearing blend of slice-of-life and sci-fi feels a bit emotionally stunted and just fell flat for me. I think there are some wonderful performances here, but I’m not sure I bought into the overall family dynamic and world in which these feelings can come to terms with themselves. Even if I didn’t find anything profound, I did feel as though there are some interesting ideas about our current relationship with generative A.I. and how we are increasingly looking towards that for closure.

Koreeda’s overall outlook on A.I. through the lens of this film seems a little too hopeful, fantastical, or storybook for my liking when I’m seeing the world burn around me due to A.I. I don’t believe he is pro-A.I. or pushing it in any way. He has this kind of sweet idealism in its possible usage or how some have found positive comfort in its use. Weirdly enough, I thought about that story of the woman dating her ChatGPT and getting a tattoo for her A.I. boyfriend, and how loving she felt about it while most on the outside looked in, seeing something bizarre and unsettled by the notion. I think Koreeda meets somewhere in the middle there, but any of the emotional beats here just rang hollow or never exactly hit for me fully. This could be because my brain has become completely rotten by years of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Terminator, Black Mirror, and Ex Machina screaming in my face that A.I. will eventually kill us. Anyway, more on that later, but what is this movie all about?

The Sheep in the Box follows Otone Komoto (Haruka Ayase) and Kensuke Komoto (Daigo Yamamoto), a couple who adopt a young humanoid robot (Rimu Kuwaki) two years after their son’s death. We see how the mother fully embraces the new robot son, the father’s doubts, and the way the family all question if this is good for the mental health and grieving of the couple as a whole. We also see how the robot son makes other robot comrades, finds his own self-identity, and builds his own family along the way. Will the robots connect with this earth, and will the couple finally come to terms with their tragedy and find acceptance?

If there are things I loved about Sheep in the Box, it has to be the direction and shot choices here. Koreeda has reunited with cinematographer Ryûto Kondô, who he previously worked with on Shoplifters and Monster, and their chemistry is presented on screen through these deep hallways, blocked to perfection. As someone who’s recently binged a lot of Ozu, it’s those spaces between people across a house that can leave such an emotional impact on the audience without ever being showy or truly making you aware of why you’re being induced into a sense of either dread or sweetness. Using architecture as your foundation of how you want to combine genres like wood and glass is seriously very cool, and I love its use here. Haruka Ayase and Daigo Yamamoto’s performances definitely landed for me, and you can feel a real tension and history built up over regret for the loss of their son, and how each has handled it vastly differently. Ayase tries to hold on to any semblance of her son’s memory, while Yamamoto feels so at fault that he wants to at least apologize for what feels like his mistake. I think for some this emotional core will land, but just the interaction of this nuclear family never got there for me. If it didn’t take the material far enough or all felt very predictable, I never felt either the shadow of the previous son loom hard enough on this couple or the weirdness of having this robot humanoid replace their dead son. Felt a tad sluggish because of that predictability, but anytime someone called the little robot kid a Roomba, that did make me laugh, so they got me there.

That’s the issue with Sheep in the Box: it feels too simple. We never dive into the cultural or societal ramifications of this new robotic humanoid technology, which is clearly something the director has no interest in. We see some stigma or judgment from the mother-in-law when she unexpectedly comes to visit the house. Still, outside of that, the film is solely focused on the family drama, and the sci-fi elements feel way too secondary—just not enough meat on this bone for me to endorse fully. I do think it’s funny that the ending of the movie feels like the ending of Small Soldiers (1998), where the A. I. children all leave for the woods to create their new Eden. I loved the Gorgonites. Final thought: this outlook on A.I. and our use of it to cope with some of our feelings does seem like a generous reading of the technology’s future use, and maybe it could be used for good, but I don’t know; it left me a bit sour. I see this generative A.I. burning our planet and terrifying artists that see a little robot humanoid help these parents get to the final step of grievance; it’s hard for me to care.

Final Score: 6/10

P.S. It was incredible for Hirokazu Koreeda to show this movie at the Philly Film Society and do a Q&A after. To be in the audience of a legend like that and give such thoughtful answers was such a wonderful moment to be part of.

Written by Kevin J. Pettit

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is a monumental achievement in filmmaking. Taking Homer’s epic tale and somehow making it practical and approachable for the average cinema-goer is a triumph in itself. What’s even more impressive is that this near 3-hour mythical journey doesn’t just deliver the massive scale or spectacle that you’d expect and make it worth every penny you spend on that IMAX ticket, but its emotional heart is just as grand. There are big feelings here to be felt. The weight of original sin and violence we’ve brought on the world, and the damage that reverberates through us all. The Odyssey is an interesting companion piece to Oppenheimer in that regard, of course, but what I find even more fascinating is Nolan’s disinterest in showing the carnage of war itself, but rather the poisonous ripple effect it has. The Odyssey does not show us the entire Trojan War. Still, its aftermath is carried through its world, similar to his previous work, Dunkirk, which showcases a massive evacuation from war and is not focused on the battles themselves but on those on the ground. I think Nolan here chases that Prometheus fire of humanity’s regret and comes out of the darkness with a hopeful NIKE! Cry from the top of the mountain. From an all-star ensemble cast, Ludwig Göransson further establishes himself as the best in the business with his unreal scores, and Nolan dips his toes into grotesque horror that shocked me. To be moved by something so epic is special and can only be found in the theater, so grab a popcorn or Trojan horse some snacks in your pockets ASAP.

(SPOILERS FOR A 3,000-YEAR-OLD TEXT)

The Odyssey follows the legendary king of Ithaca, Odysseus (Matt Damon), on his journey home from the Trojan War. On his perilous voyage home, he encounters mythical creatures and harsh conditions that prevent him from reuniting with his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway). Can Odysseus save his wife, his men, his kingdom, and his humanity along the way?

Christopher Nolan is just kind of our current big set-piece guy at the moment. No one is doing it bigger than him, and the level of practical spectacle seen here on the big screen is jaw-dropping. The sense of scale from the first time you see that Trojan Horse on the beach, you know you are in for something massive. Even though the beginning of the movie got off to a tad sluggish start, and even though I was invested in the political strife in Ithaca during Odysseus’ absence and everyone feeling the shadow of such a mighty figure, it felt as though the movie finally took off once we got to the Cyclops scenes. Most likely my favorite scenes in the movie, seeing Nolan tap into some Guillermo del Toro creature design and horror here had me on the edge of my seat. Following that up with Circe (Samantha Warton)’s witch sequence, where it was the pig scene from Spirited Away come to life with such horrid, visceral sound design, the movie went up a whole notch for me there—loving every second of Damon’s ability to outwit and outwill himself in any of these dangerous situations, taking on the brunt of the emotional toll while convincing us, the audience, just how smart he is. From the claustrophobic Trojan Horse trick and brutal sacking of the city that feels like deep evil being injected into the world by fire, to the harsh storms at sea that leave him completely broken off from his men, the sirens breaking down the soul of Damon, and not an exciting encounter but effective with Scylla and Charybdis and a whirlpool it’s hard not to lean in your seat so many times and never not be engaged with this wonderous journey Nolan and company is taking you on. The final battle scene in the throne room devolves into a cathartic John Wick-style action sequence that is just pure dopamine to the brain. Crazy that Nolan can bring Homer’s larger-than-life myths to the big screen, and amongst all this adventure, there is something quite moving.

The cast is just absolutely stacked. Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway are our two leads here. Still, the film also features Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal, Himesh Patel, John Leguizamo, Bennie Safdie, and Charlize Theron. Damon carries the heaviest burden of them all as our lead; we can feel the weight of every decision he’s made and how the world is falling apart due to the violence he’s helped inflict upon it. The yearning he has for his wife and Anne Hathaway’s fiery performance as Penelope, a woman at her wit’s end who wants all her suitors burned alive and a husband back so badly. Tom Holland is, in fact, here, and I think on first watch I wasn’t exactly fully impressed as the wide-eyed youthful son of Odysseus, living in the shadow of such a great hero and wanting to have a father there to learn and be protected, but by the end I think it’s very earned. Pattinson as Antinous, the slimy and conniving suitor for Hathaway, just rocked; he does sleezeball villain so well and reminded me of his performance in The King (2019), which I adored. I was most impressed by Himesh Patel and John Leguizamo. Patel plays the second-hand man to Odysseus on the journey home, and the way he and Odysseus go back and forth over the right decisions, and the pain he feels on his face, is stunning. Leguizamo, as our blind farmer who remembers the ways of Odysseus, brings levity and calm to this world, which I appreciated, and is a delightful sage in this world of madness and corruption. The three who came in, blew me away, and left an impact on the rest of the film are Elliot Page, Lupita Nyong’o, and Bennie Safdie. All of them with limited screen time, but the punch they all deliver with either just presence or emotional baggage of the crimes of war is so felt and lingers over the Odyssey.

Gosh, this is such a giant movie to write about. I only just saw it 12 hours ago, and I’m still reeling. I’m not sure it’s even possible to fully process or appreciate all the craft and work that went into a project like this so soon. The 1,000 words I could write on just Ludwig Göransson’s valiant score and the way a needle drop hits late in the movie that had me completely vibrating. The storytelling and framing devices perfectly complement its love for the passage of time, memory folding in on itself, and self-identity. The way those IMAX cameras make every detail pop off the screen, the fires burn through the screen the way the water splashes across my face and Damon’s crew survives its treacherous waters. A tear runs down my eye just thinking about how gorgeous a horizon line can look in this movie. The hand-to-hand action set pieces may not be shot or edited as pristinely as I’d like, and I love the opening of the film until we get into the actual adventure. Still, there’s so much epicness (cringe, I know) to appreciate here that it’s a marvel we got something like this. The Odyssey is a mess in itself, and to adapt something of such magnitude and still make it flow and be paced over such a long period of time is phenomenal. Nolan is still reconciling humanity’s awful deeds, but I think, through movie magic, he and we, included, can find a way to a new horizon. (That final shot of the burning Trojan Horse is awfully bleak, though.)

Final Score: 9/10

Written by Kevin J. Pettit

https://podcastfromouterspace.com/

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Olivia Wilde’s The Invite is the adult dramedy many of us have been craving this decade. A propulsive riot of angst and resentment, it’s a hilarious ticking time bomb ready to explode at any second. Taking influence from the wonderful works of Mike Nichols and Woody Allen, we are greeted with our millennial version of Who’s Afraid of Virgina Wolfe?, which feels like a very personal story for Wilde, begging us, the audience, to wonder: what happens when that spark goes out? When that young love you thought would burn infinite has slowly gone out, and the wax has covered the candlestick holder, is there an easy way to reignite it? I know what can fix all our existential love problems: our hot neighbors coming over for an unplanned dinner party! There’s nothing I love more than adults trapped in a room having adult conversations and feeling the tension between them build up inside. The audience is invited into a sleekly directed comedy of errors among adults who all feel lost in distinct ways, trying to guide themselves toward the correct answer, even if there might not be one. It’s sexy, it’s smart, and it’s just an electric theater experience that had the whole crowd I was with hooting and hollering. You don’t want to miss this one.

The Invite follows failed musician Joe (Seth Rogen) one evening as he returns home from work to his stay-at-home wife, Angela (Olivia Wilde), who has sprung a surprise dinner for them with their neighbors. Joe and Angela are clearly in a bad spot with their marriage, with their constant arguing and bickering over the loud sex their neighbors have. The neighbors, Pína (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton), arrive for dinner, and chaos ensues as secrets and emotions run high between the couples. Brutally honest conversations about each other’s marriages and sex lives lead to an opportunity that Joe and Angela must decide: Will this fix us?

I’d love to gush about these performances first and about how well this small ensemble’s chemistry is out of this world and how they play off each other immaculately. Still, I need to begin with Wilde’s direction, which is revelatory here. The way Wilde has perfectly crafted every angle of this apartment to help us, the audience, feel the tension between the parties involved is sublime. Wilde here has perfectly executed the spatial awareness needed for such a small cast to flourish. Every glance, every subtle movement, and the spaces between each move closer or farther away with the chosen frame, are just a complete, intimate insight into the feelings, motivations, and thoughts of couples here. I think combining Wilde’s excellent direction with the perfectly timed comedic editing done here by Yorgos Mavropsaridis and Anthony Boys is a match made in heaven. The choices and the space to know where everyone is and how they relate to each other, to lift the deliveries of some of these lines and build either sexual tension or resentment in the room, filling up like a hot air balloon, are just stellar. The editing and direction are sleek and fast, and there’s a fantastic rhythm that builds, like the jazzy score, pushing the film’s momentum like a roller coaster through unwieldy turns and dives that have you holding on to the seat of your pants.

Will McCormack and Rashida Jones’ intelligent script, based on the Spanish film The People Upstairs by Cesc Gay, works in tandem with all I have mentioned. The script is cutting and genuine. It delves into uncomfortable, open spaces that many people searching for some form of happiness try to grasp. Some more successfully than others. Are my failures my partner’s failures as well? Am I searching for something physical that will enlighten me and bring me back that spark of joy, be it in bed or just in life? Am I really living anymore, or just going through the motions? Because I believe that’s all there really is. These questions are tapped into beautifully, yet somehow hilariously and audaciously in their serious material. I’m also obsessed with the look of this apartment and the film as a whole, thanks to Adam Newport-Berra’s cozy cinematography. I want to be at this dinner party despite the conflict brewing all around me and try out the million different cheeses that Angela picked out for the night. There’s a certain layer of texture of how lived-in and how well each party knows the other that breaks through the screen. All so authentic.

What the hell have I been doing this whole time, and not even mentioning performances!!! Rogen, Wilde, Cruz, and Norton are all playing off each other like the Showtime Lakers. Rogen’s grumpy, begrudging attitude totally grounds the ridiculousness. It makes him come across as a real adult, with pain and regret in his career that he feels ashamed he may have squandered. Wilde’s controlling and obsessive need to be the perfect host stems from her partner’s lack of passion, and the absurd faces and reactions she pulls off here are incredible. Here, she’s a comedic gem and the funniest of the foursome physically. Cruz is so intimidatingly hot and intense, dropping hilarious banger after banger line, just keeping us on our toes with whatever she’s going to say next. Norton is so fucking funny. Sorry, I’ve totally dropped the professionalism in this review because Norton gives off an all-time chill, progressive dude who is totally trying to sleep with everyone vibe that’s so weird and sexy at the same time. Just a chill, seductive dude with something off about him that’s so alluring. The way all four are completely bought into the script and direction, and able to play off each other while the camera sees them through a bedroom window or across the way, has me on the edge of my seat, eager to see where the night takes us. All hilarious, it ultimately leads to a place that’s quite heartbreaking and moving by the end, and crazy- this film truly has it all and balances it so well.

As much as I cried laughing at the absurdity of this dinner party, by the end, I felt completely shattered. To see our two leads, Rogen and Wilde, go through a ringer of the night of reveals and secrets and possible group sex (which, again, the accuracy of the discussions around that is too accurate) to myself crumbling in my seat as I see this relationship reach its ultimate destination left me a tad distraught. To desire to be desired is something you deserve. Sometimes the spark does go out. The fire stops burning, and that’s okay. Those joyous times together still happened, and that love was real. There’s no quick cure, and no Dutch boy’s finger in a dam will hold off the wave of resentment ready to crash through. Those years weighed heavily, but it’s okay to love again and be a person again. Anyway, this movie is a blast, and I can’t recommend this chamber pot of lust and hilarity enough. The adult comedy is officially back.

Final Score: 9/10

Written by Kevin J. Pettit

Leviticus

It’s very rare for me to see a movie and be like, “Wow, I wish that were longer,” but Leviticus is definitely the exception! A less than 90-minute queer horror film that delves into the internalized homophobia that can develop from the church or from your own household, that is a cool play on It Follows, or Doppleganger folklore, is quite a sick concept that I wish gave us just a bit more! The performances here by Joe Bird and Stacy Clauson, as our destined gay duo of yearning and terror, are excellent. Bird especially captures those tormenting feelings of guilt of being who you really want to be and seeing what you want just out of reach across the hall, and wanting it so bad even if it kills you. Some great weight to his performance, and as someone who grew up as a queer man surrounded by similar challenges, I couldn’t help but be moved at times. That’s wonderful stuff. I don’t think the film takes enough time to build out the world or the rules of this evil, which I think could have brought the film to new heights. Just sucks for the movie that It Follows exists. It’s so similar in terms of the horror that it’s hard to separate the two despite the two being about very different themes. Overall, looked solid, and will be very excited to see what director Adrian Chiarella does next and where these promising young actors go!

Final Score: 7/10

They Will Kill You

If I were 13 years old and saw They Will Kill You in theaters, I would think this is the coolest movie ever made. A lone hero taking down an evil cult of immortal rich people with swords in a creepy hotel to save her sister, hell yeah. I’d love how edgy and sick the violence was, the barrage of cursing, and the endless sprinklers of blood and gore; oh, I would be eating this up hard in middle school. Thankfully, I am not 13 and not having to deal with acne, and finally have somewhat of a frontal cortex developed, I can tell you that They Will Kill You is exhaustingly dumb. Calling it the reheated nachos of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill and Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead is insulting to them and to nachos. Those movies aren’t just wild zoom-ins, cursing, and slashing swords with blood spewing out. There’s rich camera movement and intent, and, say what you want about Tarantino the guy, his scripts are incredibly smart and precise, down to the delivery of every line. When I see people rip off Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez, I feel like directors are missing the point: those guys are drawing on cinema's rich history to inspire their work and make it their own. Zazie Beetz is innocent here because she commands the presence of a great action star and carries this awful movie script on her shoulders. Outside of a few flashy action sequences, there’s just not much here. It just feels like we get one of these “Kill the Rich or The Rich are bad” movies with a cult-like following every other week, and Hollywood doesn’t have anything interesting to say in this genre anymore. So please stop.

Final Score: 4/10

I Love Boosters

Comrade Boots Riley! I was so happy to get the opportunity to attend an early premiere of Mr. Riley’s new film at the Philadelphia Film Society a month early and stay for a wonderful Q&A afterward! I mean, the moderator had some fantastic questions and sparked phenomenal dialogue about the film’s themes and great costumes, but, unfortunately, as with most audience Q&As, the audience questions were awful. I mean, I loved that DSA was there supporting the film, but asking Riley what they should be doing to help the cause- like, that’s not his job- and also ASK A QUESTION ABOUT THE MOVIE. Riley was very nice in his response and said, “Looks like you are already making that change.” Love him and his big hats. Anyway, what did I think of his new movie and follow-up to his incredible debut, Sorry To Bother You? I thought it was pretty good! As a leftist who’s tried reading Capital Volume 1 a million times but is reminded that he sucks at math and that Marx loves big graphs and whatnot, I am fully on board with all the themes and messaging he’s pushing here. Workers of the world, unite, of course. The exploitation of black culture, especially in fashion and music, is terribly important to recognize, and seeing Riley’s wildly expressive and surrealist take on it is just cool this movie even exists! The cast is unreal, featuring Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu, Eiza González, LaKeith Stanfield, Will Poulter, Don Cheadle, and Demi Moore, who match the tone and feel Riley is after. Riley’s use of color, classic stop-motion, and a bizarre sense of person and storytelling is something I cherish; it feels like he’s throwing a lot at you in the movie, and the emotional core of this story gets lost in the message he’s trying to convey to his audience. He’s throwing a lot at the wall here, and it feels like it gets a bit lost. If you’re looking for something like Tim Burton developed some class consciousness and also made a good movie in the past two decades (love a shot at Tim Burton anytime I can), then I think you will have some fun with this wild movie. LaKeith Stanfield is also our most underrated actor working, and is the funniest part of the movie by a million.

Final Score: 7.5/10

How To Make a Killing

That Glen Powell sure is charming, isn’t he? I mean, yes, duh, but can he carry a genre movie about killing to move up the social and financial ladder? I’d say kind of. Just as it sucks for Leviticus that It Follows exists, it’s kind of a bummer for director John Patton Ford that No Other Choice came out last year with a similar concept. With all that being said, I would say that this is just a solid genre movie that is a classic ass Hollywood film with a well-rounded cast that I’m happy exists. I’m not the biggest fan of voice-over when it dominates the runtime and feels like a storytelling crutch, but luckily Powell is charismatic enough to pull it off despite my issues with it. I found Powell’s voice-over prowess was better executed in Linklater’s Hit Man, which tapped into the character’s actual psychology in much more interesting and subtle ways. That movie’s humor also hit way harder for me than this one. The film feels like a 90s sexy dark comedy thriller that would have made 100 million on a 10-million-dollar budget for its time. Just feels like the overall juice is missing from How To Make A Killing; it ultimately feels a tad forgettable, and even Margaret Qualley in fantastic suits and Zach Woods being hilarious can’t save it. Shout-out to Ed Harris, still feeling like the most menacing man in Hollywood.

Final Score: 6/10

Hope you enjoyed some ramblings, and hopefully I will catch Olivia Wilde’s The Invite soon as I’m back from the great nation of Ireland and have that review up shortly after!

Written by Kevin J.Pettit