PHOTO: Universal Pictures On November 20, 2024, I went into a screening of Jon M. Chu’s Wicked with a mix of excitement and skepticism. As a fan of the original musical, I was looking forward to seeing a big-screen version of it, but I was also worried that it might be a major disappointment. While I have some small issues with that film, it exceeded my expectations and is a pretty solid movie musical. Critics and audiences also enjoyed it, as it became a major hit and a cult

PHOTO: Paramount Pictures A Stephen King adaptation directed by Edgar Wright and starring Glen Powell sounds like a slam dunk on paper. After all, Wright has given us such singular creations as Shaun of the Dead , Scott Pilgrim   vs. the World , and Baby Driver , so pretty much anything he puts his name on is sure to pique most people’s interest. Wright is passionate about every film he makes, so his choice to adapt The Running Man  suggests that he has a strong vision that c

PHOTO: Netflix When seeing the words “Un Film de Richard Linklater” during the opening credits of Nouvelle Vague , I couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. This isn’t because I feel that Linklater is ill-equipped for a film like this, but because there’s something surreal about the notion that he’s directing a film almost entirely in French. But then again, Linklater has made a variety of films in different genres and mediums over his career, so maybe it is more surprisin

PHOTO: MUBI The opening moments of Die My Love may feature the best example of tone setting I’ve seen all year. We begin with an extended shot of our two lead characters, Grace and Jackson, entering a dilapidated house in rural Montana. This house belonged to Jackson’s late uncle, but now belongs to them. Grace and Jackson quietly discuss the house during this, and eventually sit on the floor. It is daytime in this scene, and there is a stillness to it that makes the film fee

PHOTO: Focus Features With images of bees and voice-over narration from Jesse Plemons, we are introduced to the world of Bugonia , the latest from filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos. Plemons’s narration tells us about the lives of bees and the hierarchy that exists within their colonies. This illustration informs so much of the rest of the film, and the voice-over does a great job of getting the viewer acquainted with the tone of the film as well as the world view of Plemons’s charac

PHOTO: Lionsgate Representation is important when it comes to media, as being able to watch a film or a TV show and see someone who looks, acts, or feels similar to oneself is an affirming experience. As more and more people find the understanding of their own identities, we have seen an uptick in diverse stories across media. This is a net good, as it helps others feel more connected to the media they view and potentially better understand themselves. But while more media fe

PHOTO: Netflix Filmmaker Edward Berger has experienced a sharp rise in his career ever since his international breakthrough with All Quiet on the Western Front . That film, a German language adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s classic World War I-set novel, premiered on Netflix in late 2022 and became a surprise hit, ultimately winning four Oscars, including Best International Feature. Berger followed up All Quiet ’s success two years later with his English language debut, C

PHOTO: 20th Century Studios There are few artists as ubiquitous as Bruce Springsteen. For decades, he has steadily put out hit records and sold out stadiums, earning his place as one of the most legendary figures in the history of rock music. But beyond that, Springsteen has never been afraid to make the music that he wants to, prioritizing music as a means of artistic expression over profit and fame. Case in point, his landmark 1982 album, Nebraska , which represented a depa

PHOTO: Lionsgate In a year with other films that have commented on American politics, a film like Anniversary is likely to fly under the radar. It isn’t as in-your-face as something like Eddington , nor is an epic like One Battle After Another . Instead, it is an ensemble film that blends elements of family drama and political thrillers and largely stays contained to one location. While I would argue that the other films I mentioned are more effective in their political comme

PHOTO: Amazon MGM Studios Considering that Luca Guadagnino’s latest film After the Hunt comes with the tagline “Not everything is supposed to make you comfortable”, it is clear that he and screenwriter Nora Garrett hope to deliver something provocative and shocking. That tagline is directly lifted from a scene late in the film where Julia Roberts’s Alma Imhoff is confronting Ayo Edebiri’s Maggie Resnick regarding allegations that have shaken up both of their lives. It is a mo

PHOTO: Universal Pictures When you make a successful horror movie, a sequel is practically guaranteed. But what happens when you make a successful horror movie that doesn’t have a clear path to a sequel? If you’re Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, you lean more into the supernatural and borrow some stuff from one of horror’s most beloved franchises. The Black Phone was a great success at the box office and with audiences, but the film’s ending gave little room to make f

PHOTO: Walt Disney Pictures Considering that the Tron franchise already made their big legacy sequel with the aptly titled Tron: Legacy ,...

PHOTO: A24 No matter how famous Dwayne Johnson has become, he will always be known by many as his ring name, The Rock. Johnson’s...

PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures Like other modern auteurs, Paul Thomas Anderson has mostly made period pieces over the past several years....

PHOTO: Lionsgate Loneliness and grief are concepts that have been explored in film many times over, but still manage to connect and evoke...

PHOTO: MUBI As I started watching The History of Sound , I couldn’t help but think of Brokeback Mountain , as the two films share a...

PHOTO: Sony Pictures Darren Aronofsky has made a name for himself by making films that could be described as “cerebral” or “bummers”....

PHOTO: MUBI Anyone who has spent a few minutes on the internet can tell you that modern fandoms are extremely toxic. From gatekeepers to...

PHOTO: Searchlight Pictures In theory, a modern take on Warren Adler’s novel The War of the Roses  isn’t the worst idea, but it is one...

PHOTO: Apple Original Films It takes a bold filmmaker to attempt to remake a classic like Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low , and Spike Lee...